An appeals court granted a temporary stay sought by the Justice Department after a judge had rejected part of a statute authorizing indefinite detention of terrorism suspects.
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia escalated a war of words with 7th Circuit Judge Richard Posner, saying a recent criticism of Scalia's judicial philosophy was "to put it bluntly, a lie."
The judge ruled that eliminating collective bargaining rights for municipal employees violated the workers' right to free speech, association and equal protection.
ARBITRATION – Quench LLC v. Liquor Group Wholesale Inc.
OPINION – Petitioner moved to vacate an arbitration award, arguing that the arbitrator did not have jurisdiction. Under the FAA, the four bases for judicially vacating an award are 1. Fraud 2. Arbitrator corruption 3. Arbitrator misconduct 4. Arbitrator exceeding powers. The parties had an arbitration clause and none of the four bases have been met; motion denied. (M.D. Fla.)
ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES – Robinson Township v. Commonwealth
BRIEF – Pennsylvania’s Attorney General has asked the state’s Supreme Court to overturn a decision finding that municipalities’ zoning rights are violated by a law mandating them to allow oil and gas operations in all zoning districts. (Pa.)
BANKING – In re Rodriguez; Rodriguez v. Countrywide Home Loans Inc.
OPINION – The 5th Circuit has upheld class certification granted by a bankruptcy judge to a group of former Chapter 13 debtors who allege that Countrywide Home Loans threatened to foreclose on their homes if they did not pay fees unlawfully charged while their bankruptcy cases were still pending. (5th Cir.)
CONTRACTS – Grocery Haulers Inc. v. C&S Wholesale Grocers Inc.
OPINION – C&S contracted Grocery Haulers to truck groceries to Key Food. Sometimes Key Food asked Haulers to deliver to other locations. Haulers billed C&S as if the deliveries were made to Key Food. These deliveries breached the agreement, but there are questions remaining as to materiality of the breach, election of remedies, and damages. (S.D.N.Y.)
CONTRACTS – FutureFuel Chem. Co. v. Lonza Inc.
OPINION – Lonza’s solvent supplier was getting out of the business, and FFCC wanted in. FFCC needed a big commitment from Lonza to justify building a new production facility. The court ruled that the agreement reached was to proceed in good faith and reach a final contract later on, so Lonza’s failure to buy as much as either party expected was not a breach of contract. (E.D. Ark.)
The battle over a law passed in a key swing state in the upcoming presidential election is being watched closely on both local and national levels.
An appeals court vacated a ruling that Medtronic did not violate a patent over the CRT, a device which gives the heart electrical jolts if it fails to pump blood properly.
Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, had sued the Federal Election Commission to try and force the agency to require disclosure.
Justice Clarence Thomas chats about race, religion and useless debates.
Judge Laura Swain held that Gregory Barton's claims for breach of contract and violations of New York labor laws were pre-empted by ERISA and barred by a statute of limitations.
A U.S. crackdown on overseas tax evasion is changing shape as officials move to implement it via country-to-country agreements, rather than by enforcing a single law.
The group's former CEO can pursue a claim for illegal exaction, partly because questions remain over whether the New York Fed was allowed to purchase AIG preferred shares.
A federal judge has granted class-action status to former Wyeth shareholders who accused the company of misleading them about risks associated with the antidepressant.
White Mountains alleges that Allstate did not have the right to lower the purchase price in a May 2011 transaction.
The Chicago mayor has sought an injunction to have the strike, which left some 350,000 students out of school for at least the first two days of the week, declared illegal.
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Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler interviews Justice Scalia on the book he co-authored, “Reading Law: The Interpretation of Legal Texts.”
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