Legal News

Business [12/31] Stores to airlines, many brands vanished in 2008 [12/31] Officials: tracking bailout money is difficult [12/31] Home improvement chains weather tough storm [12/31] LyondellBasell says bankruptcy is an option [12/31] Food and drug retail stocks a better buy in 2008 More... Litigation [12/29] NJ rules against church group in gay rights case [12/29] Judge rejects class-action status in trailer suits [01/02] RI police investigate small explosion at Starbucks [01/02] Lawsuit: Accused Ga. killer is without an attorney [01/02] 9 Muslims removed from flight get AirTran apology More... Retail [01/02] Karate For Your Body Announces Release of Volume One in Martial Arts DVD Training Series, 'Focusing On Fundamentals' [01/02] New! Safe and Wholesome Interactive Web Site and Toy Line for Children Ages 3-11 Angel Heaven(TM) World.com [01/02] RI police investigate small explosion at Starbucks [01/02] Thousands of shoes tie up Miami freeway traffic [01/02] Car sales plunge in Spain More... Real Estate [12/31] Did You Hear the One About the Dirty Air Filter? [01/02] Commercial real estate in for tough 2009 [01/02] Plan B for retirees who counted on home equity [01/02] Jamaica plans affordable homes for tourism workers [01/01] Bankrate: Mortgage Rates Fall Again More... Supreme Court [12/17] Justice Kennedy rejects 2 more challenges to Obama [12/15] Court revives case of former Gitmo detainees [12/15] Court won't review Obama's eligibility to serve [12/15] Court sides with NY Times in anthrax libel case [12/15] Court allows lawsuits over 'light' cigarettes More...

Admiralty [12/05] In re GlobalSantaFe Corp. In an employee's suit alleging injuries from exposure to asbestos and silica while working on a vessel, petition for writ of mandamus directing the silica multidistrict litigation pretrial court to vacate its order remanding the case to the original trial court is conditionally granted where Texas Civil Practice and Remedies rules were not preempted by the federal Jones Act, and the case could be heard in the pretrial MDL court. [06/04] People v. Laborde In a prosecution for drug possession, denial of defendant's motion to suppress evidence is affirmed over claims that a search of his stateroom on a cruise ship by a customs officer, after the ship docked at the conclusion of a foreign cruise, was conducted without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity in violation of Fourth Amendment. Although the underlying search in the present case was defensible as a "routine border search", wherein reasonable suspicion was not required, there may be circumstances under which the search of a passenger cabin at the border might be deemed non-routine. More... Insurance Law [12/30] Food Pro Int'l, Inc. v. Farmers Ins. Exchange In connection to a tort claim brought by an injured construction worker against plaintiff, judgment in favor of defendant-insurer in plaintiff-insuree's claim for breach of contract and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is reversed where: 1) there was no merit to plaintiff's punitive damages argument; but 2) the trial court erred in finding that defendant-insurer had no duty to defend plaintiff. [12/29] Sanders v. Unum Life Ins. Co. of Am. Insurance company correctly deducted claimant's social security disability payments from the amount owed him under long-term disability insurance. Although his SSDI payments arose from his inability to work due to mental illness, while his long-term disability payments arose from his inability to work due to physical impairments, his inability to work constituted a single disability with both mental and physical causes. More... Commercial Law [12/31] Gen. Store, Inc. v. Van Loan Revocation of a federal firearms dealer license for willful violations of federal and state firearms laws is affirmed. A violation of the Gun Control Act requires a willful violation that is "a deliberate, knowing, or reckless violation of its requirements," and both of plaintiff's violations satisfied this standard. [12/31] US Motors v. Gen. Motors Europe District court correctly dismissed this case, brought by domestic and foreign plaintiffs against a foreign defendant, for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The presence of foreign parties on both sides of the dispute destroyed the complete diversity required by 28 U.S.C. section 1332(a)(2). More... Injury & Tort Law [12/30] Food Pro Int'l, Inc. v. Farmers Ins. Exchange In connection to a tort claim brought by an injured construction worker against plaintiff, judgment in favor of defendant-insurer in plaintiff-insuree's claim for breach of contract and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing is reversed where: 1) there was no merit to plaintiff's punitive damages argument; but 2) the trial court erred in finding that defendant-insurer had no duty to defend plaintiff. [12/30] Doe v. SexSearch.com District court correctly dismissed this suit, brought against an online adult dating service by one of its subscribers. Plaintiff failed to state a claim in alleging that the service is at fault for his sexual relationship with a minor and the harm that resulted from his arrest, notwithstanding that the service requires each subscriber to promise that he or she is at least eighteen years old. More... Property Law & Real Estate [12/31] Anderson v. US Dep't of Hous. & Urban Dev. Class certification was incorrectly granted to a group of displaced residents of four storm-damaged public housing developments in New Orleans. District court's authority to certify a class under Rule 23 does not permit it to structure a class around claims that the displaced residents never pled. [12/31] In re: Belcher District court erred in allowing bankrupt husband to claim a homestead exemption in marital home because wife's name alone appeared on the title. Husband's potential equitable property interests in the home under divorce law, and his "possessory interest" in the family residence as spouse of the homeowner, were insufficient to permit him to claim the homestead exemption. More...