Corporations often see outside counsel as a necessary evil. It’s not that law firms are evil per se; they just bill that way. As a rule of thumb, in-house counsel should hire outside counsel only when they can’t do the work themselves. Once the decision has been made to stay in-house, it’s about finding the right person for the job. And sometimes, that person is a robot. Right Person It starts with hiring....
Simply put, if you break the law for your employer, you can be punished, criminally. Whether or not that includes going to jail will depend on the law you were asked to break – and whether you did it. The good news is that if you do decide to break the law at your employer’s request, your employer might be in jail right alongside you. But before you go breaking bad for your boss, know that if you tell your employer that you will not break the law the law can provide a remedy if you face retaliation or get terminated for opposing unlawful conduct....
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has remanded and reassigned a professor’s discrimination and retaliation cases against Sam Houston State University and the University of Houston-Downtown, finding that the district court judge failed to be fair and impartial. The judge, who is not named in the appeal, seemingly made up his mind about plaintiff Audrey Miller from the very beginning of her case. A Bit of Background Miller was hired at Sam Houston State University as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Psychology in 2007....
All dogs go to Heaven, or so late 80s children’s movies promise us, but only some make it to the Supreme Court. One such dog is Wonder, who won his first Supreme Court victory yesterday. Talk about a good boy! Alright, Wonder didn’t technically win – his family did. Wonder, you see, is a Goldendoodle service dog for a Ehlena Fry, a 13-year-old Michigan girl with cerebral palsy. The Frys had sued after Ehlena’s kindergarten refused to allow Wonder to accompany her to school....
In a petition for review of the BIA’s order removing petitioner-Yemeni native from the U.S., the petition is denied where: 1) the Court of Appeals lacked jurisdiction to review the factual aspects of petitioner’s challenge to the denial of his request for voluntary departure; and 2) petitioner was not entitled to relief under the Convention Against Torture, because the persecution he would allegedly suffer upon return to Yemen would not originate from pain or suffering either initiated by a public official or inflicted with the consent or acquiescence of such an official....
Let’s say your client made a little money as an investor in (what turned out to be) a Ponzi scheme. The scheme was revealed, and a court ordered your client – though she was never prosecuted in the scheme – to pay back her share of ill-gotten gains. The she declared bankruptcy. How would the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals treat her share of the take? Would it be nondischargeable debt?...
Last September we posted about a Seventh Circuit opinion that admonished an attorney for his conduct – or more specifically, his lack of conduct. Surprised? Don’t be – we’re in the “Benchslappy” circuit, remember? (Hat tip to Above the Law). Well, what started out as a benchslap has turned into a suspension. Michael Finn was Kenneth Clark’s appellate counsel, and oral arguments were scheduled for April 14, 2011. One problem: Finn didn’t show up....
You may have noticed that we’re slightly obsessed with Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner. He’s our law crush because he always writes interesting opinions. We’re not naive: We know that behind every witty judge is a fleet of witty law clerks, but Judge Posner ultimately sets the tone and approves the opinions, so he’s the object of our law crush. (Just wait until we start posting sonnets about him for Valentine’s Day....
Though twelve years have passed from that fateful day on September 11, 2001, for any New Yorker present that day, the heartbreaking sight of the World Trade Center towers collapsing, the stench of death and destruction, and the eerie silence looming over New York City, can be recalled in an instant. Last week, memories of 9/11 came to the forefront as the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision dismissing Con Edison’s negligence claims against the owners, and contractors, of 7WTC, stemming from the tragic events of that day....
When does the timer begin to tick? Julie Heimeshoff filed a claim for long-term disability benefits with Hartford Life & Accident Insurance Co., the administrator of Walmart’s Group Long Term Disability Plan, due to her diagnosis of lupus and fibromyalgia. Her claim was denied after multiple doctors, hired by Hartford, found that even with her condition, she could continue to work her largely sedentary position as a senior public relations manager....
You can’t say bomb in an airport – Ben Stiller learned when protesting treatment by airline representatives. And you can’t say, “some of my friends have guns,” as John Barna should have learned protesting school board actions. “I may have to come after all of yours,” he added in a sequel. That earned him expulsion from Panther Valley School Board meetings, and he responded with a First Amendment lawsuit. His case was dismissed, but the U....
Today, the Seventh Circuit decided two cases involving administrative matters. The first case involves plaintiff’s action, individually and as an administratrix of her late husband’s estate, against the Illinois Department of Resources and several oil companies, and the second involves a challenge to the BIA’s order against an Algerian petitioner. Leavell v. Illinois Dep’t of Natural Res., No. 09-2590, involved a plaintiff’s action asserting procedural due process claims and seeking injunctive relief to prevent the Illinois Department of Resources and several oil companies from plugging oil wells owned by her family and from transferring control over wells to oil companies....
In 2009, Dr. Douglas Weiher, a Wisconsin dentist, started to look for a new insurance disability policy. He found it in Northwestern Mutual, but the company made him promise to cancel one of his two previous insurance policies when he signed up. A few years later, Weiher became fully disabled and sought to collect on his policies. But, it turns out, he had never canceled the earlier policy as promised. That caused Northwestern to rescind his disability insurance, arguing that Weiher’s broken promise to cancel an earlier policy was a misrepresentation....
To what extent can the prevailing party of a civil case transfer the costs of eDiscovery to the losing party in a case? The Third Circuit Court of Appeals addressed this issue in an opinion filed on March 19, 2012. This is an interesting case, largely due to the fact that it was a matter of first impression for the Third Circuit. While other circuits have addressed the issue, the results are conflicting....
Gallimore v. Attorney General, 08-3379, concerned a Jamaican citizen’s petition for review of BIA’s final order of removal on the ground that petitioner’s conviction alone rendered him ineligible for discretionary relief under INA section 212(c). In granting the petition, the court remanded the matter as, because the BIA’s analysis in all likelihood rests on an historically inaccurate premise, it cannot stand. Alternatively, BIA’s opinion fails adequately to explain its reasoning and appears incorrect as a matter of law....
In a wrongful death action brought under the Federal Nursing Home Reform Amendments, district court judgment finding no right of action under the statutes and dismissing the case is reversed and remanded where it is clear that Congress intended to create individual rights in drafting and adopting the Amendments and plaintiff’s mother falls squarely within the zone of interest the provisions are meant to protect. In addition, 42 U.S.C. sec. 1983 provides the proper avenue for relief for the statutory provisions which plaintiff seeks to enforce, as defendant has failed to demonstrate that Congress foreclosed that option by adopting another, more comprehensive enforcement scheme....
Ruling in two more gerrymandering cases in as many weeks, the U.S. Supreme Court left voting districts largely intact in Texas and North Carolina. A majority of the justices prevailed in upholding all but one district in Texas, and they told a lower court to reconsider challenges in North Carolina. With two other cases last week, the High Court has decided more gerrymandering cases this term than it has in more than a decade....
The Professional Golf Association (PGA) has ruled pro golf’s roost for more than a century. But that status is now endangered. A wealthy rival, backed by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, has emerged and is luring away some of the PGA Tour’s top talent. The new challenger is LIV Golf, which has held its first three Invitational Series tournaments this year with payouts that are significantly higher than those of the PGA Tour....
It’s the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that could limit library lending power. In April, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, a case examining “gray market” resale of copyrighted works. Last week, a triumvirate of library groups, (the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, and the Association of College and Research Libraries) asked the Supreme Court to reverse the Second Circuit, noting that upholding the decision could stop libraries from loaning foreign books....
Chalk one up to the #MeToo movement. On February 10, the U.S. Senate approved the End Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act (“abbreviated” as the “EFASASHA"), which President Biden is expected to sign into law. This statute fundamentally transforms how most employers will have to resolve workplace disputes involving sexual harassment and sexual assault claims. ‘Forced Arbitration’ in Employment Agreements According to some estimates, 60 million Americans have arbitration clauses in their employment contracts....
