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Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton

(United States Supreme Court) - Addressed what law applies on the Outer Continental Shelf, holding that California wage-and-hour law was inapplicable to a worker on an offshore drilling platform. Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, if federal law addresses the relevant issue, state law is not adopted as surrogate federal law. Justice Thomas delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.



  • Oil and Gas Law
  • Labor & Employment Law
  • Admiralty

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PDR Network, LLC v. Carlton Harris Chiropractic, Inc.

(United States Supreme Court) - Addressed whether the Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibits unsolicited fax advertisements that promote free goods, such as no-cost magazine subscriptions and catalogs. The specific issue here had to do with whether the district court was required to adopt the Federal Communications Commission's interpretation of the statute. The U.S. Supreme Court stated that it found the question difficult to answer, and remanded with directions for the lower courts to resolve two preliminary issues. Justice Breyer delivered the Court's opinion.




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Dutra Group v. Batterton

(United States Supreme Court) - Held that a mariner may not recover punitive damages on a claim that he was injured as a result of the unseaworthy condition of the vessel. After a hatch blew open and injured his hand, the deckhand filed suit under federal maritime law and sought punitive damages, among other things. However, the U.S. Supreme Court concluded that punitive damages are unavailable in unseaworthiness actions. Justice Alito delivered the opinion of the 6-3 Court.




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Tweet from @_brianhamilton on May 9, 2020 9:58 AM

https://t.co/rl92rXlZSQ




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PEOPLE v. MIDDLETON

(NY Court of Appeals) - No. 24




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(500) https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/justice-dept-moves-to-void-michael-flynns-conviction-in-muellers-russia-probe/2020/05/07/9bd7885e-679d-11ea-b313-df458622c2cc_story.html

RT @mrbromwich: I have been in and around DOJ since 1983. I have never seen a case dropped after someone has pled guilty and the underlying facts demonstrate beyond any shadow of a doubt he is guilty. This is simply a pardon by another name. A black day in DOJ history.




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(500) https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/05/06/george-conway-trump-lashed-out-me-twitter-its-because-he-knows-truth/

Behind every Trump attack is self-revelation. Every counterpunch is a self-punch. @gtconway3d: “Because he fears being revealed as a fake or deranged, he’ll call others fake or deranged. Because he fears losing, he’ll call them losers instead.”




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Harrington: Ryder Cup 'will not go ahead without spectators'




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Harrington: Ryder Cup may need to 'take 1 for the team' without fans




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Trustees of Boston University v. Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Held that a patent claim relating to light-emitting diodes was invalid because it did not meet the enablement requirement. After a jury found that the defendants had infringed Boston University's patent, the defendants appealed on the ground that the patent was invalid because it did not adequately teach the public how to make and use the invention. Agreeing with this argument, the Federal Circuit held that the defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.




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NEWTON v. MORGANTOWN MACHINE HYDRAULICS OF WEST VIRGINIA INC

(WV Supreme Court of Appeals) - No. 18-0653




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Trustees of Boston University v. Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Held that a patent claim relating to light-emitting diodes was invalid because it did not meet the enablement requirement. After a jury found that the defendants had infringed Boston University's patent, the defendants appealed on the ground that the patent was invalid because it did not adequately teach the public how to make and use the invention. Agreeing with this argument, the Federal Circuit held that the defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.




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Wilson v. Dynatone Publishing Co.

(United States Second Circuit) - Held that a copyright ownership claim was timely filed. The statute of limitations was not triggered by the defendants' act of registering their competing claim of ownership in the Copyright Office. Denied a petition for rehearing, in a dispute over ownership of renewal term copyrights in certain musical compositions and sound records.




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Springboards to Education, Inc. v. Houston Independent School District

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that an education services company could not proceed with its Lanham Act lawsuit against a school district for using its marks in the course of operating a summer reading program. Affirmed summary judgment for the school district, finding that the allegedly infringing marks created no likelihood of confusion as a matter of law.




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Barrington Music Products, Inc. v. Music and Arts Center

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Addressed a damages issue in a case where a jury found that a musical instrument retailer infringed another retailer's trademark. Affirmed the denial of the plaintiff's motion amend the judgment.




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Wanderers hold firm against Wellington

The Wanderers won’t be relaxing after a draw against the Wellington Phoenix with their sights now set on Brisbane Roar.




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StoneEagle Services, Inc. v. Gillman

(United States Federal Circuit) - The district court's orders purporting to clarify a preliminary injunction and enjoining defendants from using various materials and processes first developed by plaintiff, are vacated and remanded, where the district court lacked jurisdiction over this case when plaintiff initiated this lawsuit because plaintiff's complaint does not allege a sufficient controversy concerning inventorship, but instead concerns only ownership of the disputed patent.




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Ashton was born to be a gymnast

Swinging, climbing, and taking risks has always been in Ashton Jamieson’s nature. So his parents made the decision early on to enrol him in gymnastics.




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Klocke v. University of TX at Arlington

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Reversed and remanded. The Texas Citizens Participation Act does not apply to diversity cases in federal court.




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Saher v. Norton Simon Museum of Art

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirmed an art museum's title to two oil paintings that the Nazis had stolen from the plaintiff's father-in-law during World War II. The plaintiff sued the museum to recover the two Renaissance masterpieces, but the museum insisted it had good title because the Dutch government validly conveyed the paintings after the war to the person who sold them to the museum. Concluding that the act-of-state doctrine applied here, the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the museum.




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Lewis v. Mutond

(United States DC Circuit) - Revived an American citizen's claim seeking damages from two foreign officials of the Democratic Republic of the Congo who allegedly subjected him to torture. Held that the Congolese officials did not qualify for foreign official immunity under the common law. Vacated a dismissal, in this lawsuit brought under the federal Torture Victim Protection Act.




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Freedman v. Redstone

(United States Third Circuit) - Dismissal of a shareholder action alleging that defendant Board of Directors and the individual members failed to comply with its 2007 plan which would render tax deductible certain incentive compensation paid to the company's executives, which allegedly resulted in the payment of more than $36 million of excess compensation, is affirmed, where: 1) with regard to the derivative suit, plaintiff did not make a pre-suit demand to the Board of Directors or present sufficient allegations explaining why a demand would have been futile; and 2) with regard to the direct suit, federal tax law does not confer voting rights on shareholders not otherwise authorized to vote or affect long-settled Delaware corporation law which permits corporations to issue shares without voting rights, so plaintiff's contention regarding defendant-company's issuance of non-voting shares fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted.




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Mosier v. Stonefield Josephson, Inc.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In a tort action brought by a court-appointed receiver against defendant accountants who audited the financial statements of PEMGroup, whose former directors and managers defrauded $950 million from investors, the district court's grant of summary judgment to defendants is affirmed where the receiver failed to raise a genuine issues as to causation by failing to show that the involved companies or its investors relied on the audits at issue.




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Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. v. Ironshore Specialty Insurance Co.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - In an insurance dispute following an explosion and fire on an oil rig in Ohio, addressed arbitrability and personal jurisdiction issues. Affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision below.




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Evanston Insurance Co. v. William Kramer and Associates, LLC

(United States Second Circuit) - Held that an insurance company may not proceed with a negligence lawsuit against an adjuster for allegedly botching a claim for hurricane damage. The lawsuit was not filed within the statute of limitations.




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Harville v. City of Houston, Mississippi

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Affirmed. The court affirmed the dismissal of a suit claiming race discrimination and retaliation under Title VII in the firing of a deputy clerk of a city that was part of a group of layoffs intended to offset a budget shortfall. The plaintiff failed to present a genuine issue of material fact that her race was the motivating factor in her termination or that there was a causal connection between an EEOC complaint and the termination.




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Franco v. Greystone Ridge Condominium

(California Court of Appeal) - Reversed. Plaintiffs, employees of Defendant, signed an agreement with Defendant requiring binding arbitration of employment disputes after the complaint was filed. The trial court denied Defendant’s motion to compel arbitration agreeing with Plaintiff that the arbitration agreement referred to future claims not the past ones brought by Plaintiff against Defendant. The appeals court disagreed stating that the agreement to arbitrate was clear and there was no qualifying language as to past or future events.



  • Dispute Resolution & Arbitration
  • Labor & Employment Law

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Harrington v. Berryhill

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Declined to hear a challenge to Treasury Offset Program regulations. A law firm ended up with nothing in legal fees because the government administratively offset fees awarded to its Social Security recipient clients under the Equal Access to Justice Act against the clients' various debts to the government. On appeal, the Seventh Circuit held that the offset matter was better suited for a separate action under the Administrative Procedure Act, and declined to exercise ancillary jurisdiction over a collateral challenge to the pertinent regulations.




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US v. Bolton

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Affirmed the convictions and sentences of a husband and wife in connection with attempted tax evasion and filing false tax returns.




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Washington State Dept. of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc.

(United States Supreme Court) - This case involved the State of Washington's tax on fuel importers who travel by public highway. The Yakama Nation contended that its 1855 treaty with the United States forbids that tax from being imposed upon fuel importers who are tribal members. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the tribe. Justice Breyer's plurality opinion was joined by only two other justices. Justices Gorsuch and Ginsburg concurred in the judgment.




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Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton, LLP v. J-M Manufacturing Co., Inc.

(Supreme Court of California) - Held that a dispute over legal fees should not have been submitted to arbitration because the arbitration clause in the parties' agreement was unenforceable. A law firm recovered its outstanding fees through arbitration after it was disqualified from a case due to a conflict of interest. On review, however, the California Supreme Court held that the matter should never have been arbitrated because the law firm's failure to disclose a known conflict rendered its agreement with its client, including the arbitration clause, unenforceable as against public policy. The high court also held that the conflicts waiver the client signed was ineffective.



  • Dispute Resolution & Arbitration
  • Ethics & Professional Responsibility
  • Attorney's Fees

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Bridgepoint Construction Services, Inc. v. Newton

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirmed an order disqualifying an attorney from representing a client due to a conflict of interest. The attorney argued that there was no conflict, but the California Second Appellate District concluded otherwise. The panel stated that when an attorney represents more than one client, all of whom seek damages from a pool of money controlled by another party, the conflict is self-evident: there might not be enough money to satisfy each client's claim.



  • Ethics & Professional Responsibility

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Facebook Inc. v. Touchstone

(California Court of Appeal) - Granting a petition for writ of mandate in the case of a criminal defendant awaiting trial on the charge of attempted murder who sought the Facebook posts of the victim directing the respondent superior court to vacate its order denying Facebook's motion to quash subpeonas duces tecum and vacate order allowing subpeona duces tecum and enter a new order granting the petitioner's motion because the Stored Communications Act prohibits electronic communications service providers from knowingly divulging the contents of a communication and no exception applied.




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Stone Basket Innovations, LLC v. Cook Medical, LLC

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming a district court order denying a motion for attorney fees following the dismissal of a patent infringement suit with prejudice because attorney fees are only available in exceptional circumstances and the court decision was not an abuse of discretion.




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Trustees of Boston University v. Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Held that a patent claim relating to light-emitting diodes was invalid because it did not meet the enablement requirement. After a jury found that the defendants had infringed Boston University's patent, the defendants appealed on the ground that the patent was invalid because it did not adequately teach the public how to make and use the invention. Agreeing with this argument, the Federal Circuit held that the defendants were entitled to judgment as a matter of law.




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In re Sand and Stone Corp.

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In an environmental action, challenging a Town Board's positive declaration under the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) and requiring a draft environmental impact statement, the trial court's dismissal of the petition is affirmed where the positive declaration is not justiciable and the case not ripe for judicial review.




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Stonehill Capital Management v. Bank of the West

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In a contracts action arising from a dispute over the auction sale of a syndicated loan, the Appellate Division's grant of defendant's motion for summary judgment is reversed where the lack of a written sales agreement and plaintiffs' failure to submit a timely cash deposit were not conditions precedent to the formation of the parties' contract and do not render their agreement unenforceable.




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US v. Thornton

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. The court's imposition of conditions on supervised release could not be appealed as violations of due process rights by the convicted because they failed to object to them in district court and therefore waived the issue.




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Kennedy v. Bremerton School District

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirming the denial of preliminary injunctive relief in an action brought by a high school coach who alleged First Amendment violations when he was suspended for kneeling and praying in the middle of a football field immediately after football games because while coaching he was a public employee, not a private citizen.




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Mann v. Palmerton Area School District

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment in the case of a student football player who took some hard hits and ended up diagnosed with traumatic brain injury because the coach was entitled to qualified immunity and there wasn't enough evidence to warrant a jury trail against the town.




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Findleton v. Coyote Valley Band of Pomo Indians

(California Court of Appeal) - Affirmed that a construction contractor was entitled to recover attorney fees he incurred in seeking to enforce his right to arbitrate a claim that an Indian tribe failed to pay him for his work.




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Harrington v. Berryhill

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Declined to hear a challenge to Treasury Offset Program regulations. A law firm ended up with nothing in legal fees because the government administratively offset fees awarded to its Social Security recipient clients under the Equal Access to Justice Act against the clients' various debts to the government. On appeal, the Seventh Circuit held that the offset matter was better suited for a separate action under the Administrative Procedure Act, and declined to exercise ancillary jurisdiction over a collateral challenge to the pertinent regulations.




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Wilson v. Dynatone Publishing Company

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirming the dismissal of a state law accounting claim and otherwise vacating and remanding the case of a musical group called Sly Slick & Wicked who challenged the collection of royalties during the renewal period of the copyright of their song, entitled Sho' Nuff, which had been sampled by Justin Timberlake and J. Cole because their repudiation of the original terms of the copyright many years earlier did not also constitute a repudiation of the renewal terms, resulting in a time-bar to their claims.




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Wilson v. Dynatone Publishing Co.

(United States Second Circuit) - Held that a copyright ownership claim was timely filed. The statute of limitations was not triggered by the defendants' act of registering their competing claim of ownership in the Copyright Office. Denied a petition for rehearing, in a dispute over ownership of renewal term copyrights in certain musical compositions and sound records.




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More Ozzy TV- Arctic Monkeys 'Four Out Of Five' Video, Muse Concert Film Preview, Cliff Burton Documentary, Sevendust, Free Volbeat Show and more

More Ozzy TV- Arctic Monkeys 'Four Out Of Five' Video, Muse Concert Film Preview, Cliff Burton Documentary, Sevendust, Free Volbeat Show and more




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Washington State Dept. of Licensing v. Cougar Den, Inc.

(United States Supreme Court) - This case involved the State of Washington's tax on fuel importers who travel by public highway. The Yakama Nation contended that its 1855 treaty with the United States forbids that tax from being imposed upon fuel importers who are tribal members. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with the tribe. Justice Breyer's plurality opinion was joined by only two other justices. Justices Gorsuch and Ginsburg concurred in the judgment.




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Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. v. Ironshore Specialty Insurance Co.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - In an insurance dispute following an explosion and fire on an oil rig in Ohio, addressed arbitrability and personal jurisdiction issues. Affirmed in part and reversed in part the decision below.




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Parker Drilling Management Services, Ltd. v. Newton

(United States Supreme Court) - Addressed what law applies on the Outer Continental Shelf, holding that California wage-and-hour law was inapplicable to a worker on an offshore drilling platform. Under the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, if federal law addresses the relevant issue, state law is not adopted as surrogate federal law. Justice Thomas delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court.



  • Oil and Gas Law
  • Labor & Employment Law
  • Admiralty

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Klocke v. University of TX at Arlington

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Reversed and remanded. The Texas Citizens Participation Act does not apply to diversity cases in federal court.




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Ananya Joins Forces With Sean Kingston For 'Day Goes By'

One Of The First Collaborations Between Major Artists From India And The West