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Federal Civil Practice Bulletin 

Dedicated to federal civil practice and procedure.
Post Frequency: 5.3/day Last Entry: January 13, 2014 at 12:37:00 Recent Entries: 352
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Prof. Pfander Posts Article on Forum Shopping and Federalism
Posted on October 14, 2008Professor James Pfander (Northwestern) recently posted an Article entitled Forum Shopping and the Infrastructure of Federalism on SSRN. Here is the Abstract:The recent effort of environmentalists and others to secure progressive social change at the state level enacts a familiar ritual in the history of American federalism...
Prof. Steinman Posts Article Analyzing Proposed Amendments to FRCP 56
Posted on October 09, 2008Professor Adam Steinman (Cincinnati) has just posted an Essay entitled An Ounce of Prevention: Solving Some Unforeseen Problems with the Proposed Amendments to Rule 56 and the Federal Summary Judgment Process, a piece which is forthcoming in the Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy...
AALS Civil Procedure Section Seeks Information about Future Conferences
Posted on October 09, 2008The Civil Procedure section of the AALS plans to include a listing of upcoming conferences that would be of interest to civil procedure professors and scholars. Please email Thomas Main, who is a member of the section's Executive Committee, any information that you have pertaining to upcoming conferences...
Sedona Conference Releases "Cooperation Proclamation"
Posted on October 07, 2008According to the Legal Blog Watch, The Sedona Conference will hold a virtual press conference tomorrow at noon Eastern time to release its "Cooperation Proclamation," a document that seeks to promote cooperation in civil discovery. The document is available for download at the Sedona Conference Website.
U. Penn Law Review Publishes Articles From CAFA Symosium
Posted on October 06, 2008The University of Pennsylvania Law Review has just published pieces from a recent Symposium entitled FAIRNESS TO WHOM? PERSPECTIVES ON THE CLASS ACTION FAIRNESS ACT OF 2005 (Volume 156, Number 6, June 2008). Here are the articles that appear as part of the Symposium:- The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 in Historical Context: A Preliminary View, Stephen B...
Prof. Eichhorn Publishes Article on Drafting and the FRCP Style Project
Posted on October 02, 2008Professor Lisa Eichhorn (South Carolina) recently published an article entitled Clarity and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: A Lesson from the Style Project, 5 Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Instructors 1 (2008). Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:At the stroke of midnight on December 1, 2007, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure both changed completely and did not change at all...
S.D.N.Y. Holds that CAFA Removal Provision Trumps Non-Removal Provision of Securities Act
Posted on September 30, 2008Per New Jersey Carpenters Vacation Fund v. Harborview Mortg. Loan Trust 2006-4, Slip Copy, 2008 WL 4369840 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 24, 2008):The Plaintiffs argue that CAFA does not override the Securities Act anti-removal provision, and that even if it did, this case falls under one of CAFA's exceptions, § 1332(d)(9)(C), which excepts from federal jurisdiction a class action that relates to the ?rights, duties and obligations arising out of a security...
Brooke Coleman Posts Article on Federal Civil Rulemaking and Access to Justice
Posted on September 25, 2008Brooke D. Coleman (Stanford Law School Fellow) has recently posted an Article entitled Recovering Access: Rethinking the Structure of Federal Civil Rulemaking on SSRN. Here is the Abstract:Access to the justice system, which I broadly define as the opportunity to resolve the merits of a legal claim, is declining...
Drug and Device Law Blog Comments on New FRE 502
Posted on September 24, 2008President Bush signed the new Federal Rule of Evidence 502 into law on September 19. The Drug and Device Law blog posted an analysis of the new rule yesterday. The post can be accessed by clicking here.
Fifth Circuit Joins other Circuits in Holding that Citizenship of LLC for Purposes of Diversity Jurisdiction Is Based on Citizenship of all Members
Posted on September 23, 2008Per Harvey v. Grey Wolf Drilling Co., --- F.3d ----, 2008 WL 4194538 (5th Cir. Sept. 15, 2008):Neither the Supreme Court nor this circuit have previously addressed the question of how to determine the citizenship of a LLC for purposes of diversity jurisdiction...
Court Orders Daubert Hearing as Part of Class Certification Analysis
Posted on September 22, 2008Here's an excerpt from an ABA Litigation Section news report on the trend to conduct full Daubert hearings as part of the class certification process:In what appears to be part of a trend across the country, a federal trial court in West Virginia has ordered a full, evidentiary Daubert hearing as part of deciding a motion on whether to certify a class in a pending action...
Congress Passes Legislation Creating New Evidence Rule
Posted on September 19, 2008Here is an excerpt from an ABA Litigation Section news report on new Evidence Rule 502:Last week, Congress approved legislation creating a new evidentiary rule to address disclosure of information protected by the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine...
N.D. Ill. Applies Twombly to Uphold an Employment Discrimination Claim
Posted on September 18, 2008Mull v. Abbott Laboratories, 563 F.Supp.2d 925 (N.D. Ill. June 30, 2008):As the Seventh Circuit recently reiterated, ?a plaintiff alleging employment discrimination under Title VII may allege these claims quite generally.? Tamayo, 526 F.3d at 1081...
Massachusetts SJC Adopts Twombly Interpretation of Its Own State Pleading Rules
Posted on September 15, 2008Per Iannacchino v. Ford Motor Co., 451 Mass. 623, 888 N.E.2d 879 (Mass. June 13, 2008): The standard for reviewing adequacy of complaints. While we have concluded that the plaintiffs' complaint is insufficient on the basis of the standard described in Nader v...
Congress Passes New Evidence Rule 502: September 8, 2008
Posted on September 11, 2008On September 8, 2008, the House unanimously passed without amendment S. 2450, a bill adding new Evidence Rule 502 to the Federal Rules of Evidence. The Senate had earlier approved by unanimous consent without amendment S...
Prof. Field Posts Article on Federal Circuit's Approach to Choice of Law for Procedural Matters on SSRN
Posted on September 08, 2008Ted Field, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Chicago-Kent has recently posted an Article entitled Improving the Federal Circuit's Approach to Choice of Law for Procedural Matters in Patent Cases on SSRN. Here is the Abstract:Because of its virtually exclusive jurisdiction over patent cases from the entire country, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit faces a unique situation with respect to choice of law for procedural matters in patent cases...
California SCT Holds that an Agreement to Have Judicial Review of the Merits of an Arbitration Award Is Enforceable under Cal. Arbitration Act
Posted on September 03, 2008Professors Arnold Rosenburg and William Slomanson brought the following case to my attention (this is a quotation from Prof. Rosenburg's email):Last week, the California Supreme Court held in Cable Connection, Inc. v. DIRECTTV, Inc., No. S147767 (August 26, 2008) that an agreement to subject the merits of an arbitration award to judicial review for errors of law is enforceable under the California Arbitration Act...
Prof. Nagareda Posts Article on Class Certification
Posted on September 02, 2008Professor Richard A. Nagareda (Vanderbilt) has recently posted an Article entitled Class Certification in the Age of Aggregate Proof on SSRN. The Article is slated to appear in the New York University Law Review in 2009. Here is the Abstract:Few pre-trial motions in our civil justice system elicit as much controversy as those for the certification of class actions...
Seventh Circuit Rejects Government Argument that It May Decide Qualified Immunity Issue before the District Court Can Address the Issue
Posted on August 28, 2008Per Khorrami v. Rolince, --- F.3d ----, 2008 WL 3917557 (7th Cir. Aug. 27, 2008):In the event of a brief pretrial postponement of a qualified immunity argument at the same time as the court is considering a motion under Rule 12(b)(6), the district court is the only judicial tribunal that may revisit the issue...
Federal Circuit Finds Jurisdiction Lacking in Declaratory Judgment Action Seeking to Avoid Patent Infringement Suit
Posted on August 26, 2008Per U.S. Law Week, Volume 77, Number 8, Tuesday, August 26, 2008:A company's desire to determine whether its product infringed patents held by a competitor did not create a case or controversy sufficient to support the district court's exercising jurisdiction over the company's declaratory judgment action, the U...
Seventh Circuit Discusses Split Re Whether a District Court's Order to Remand to Bankruptcy Court is Appealable
Posted on August 22, 2008Per In re Holland, --- F.3d ----, 2008 WL 3844140 (7th Cir. Aug 19, 2008): Circuit courts remain split on which test to apply in determining whether a district court order that remands a case to a bankruptcy court is appealable. See, e.g., In re Lopez, 116 F...
N.D. Fla. Notes Split Re Removal from State Administrative Agencies Under § 1441
Posted on August 20, 2008Per Johnson v. Albertson's LLC, 2008 WL 3286988 (N.D. Fla. Aug 06, 2008): The Eleventh Circuit has yet to decide whether cases may be removed from state administrative agencies pursuant to § 1441, and if so, under what circumstances. See Bellsouth Telecomm...
Third Circuit Holds that Other Courts' Judgments May Be Vacated under Rule 60(b)'s Catch-All Provision
Posted on August 19, 2008Per Budget Blinds, Inc. v. White, --- F.3d ----, 2008 WL 2875349 (3d Cir. July 28, 2008):The power of a court to invoke Rule 60(b) to vacate its own earlier judgment is unquestioned. As we discuss below, however, it is unclear whether a court has the power to invoke Rule 60(b) to vacate a judgment when the court in which the judgment is registered (the ?registering court?) is different from the court that entered the judgment (the ?rendering court?)...
Second Circuit Determines that FSIA Protects an Individual Official of a Foreign Government Acting in His Official Capacity
Posted on August 18, 2008Per In re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, --- F.3d ----, 2008 WL 3474167 (2d Cir. Aug. 14, 2008):This Circuit has not yet decided whether the FSIA protects an individual official of a foreign government acting in his official capacity. . . .We join our sister circuits in holding that an individual official of a foreign state acting in his official capacity is the ?agency or instrumentality? of the state, and is thereby protected by the FSIA...
Most Plaintiffs Who Reject Settlement Offers Do Worse at Trial
Posted on August 15, 2008Here's a story from the ABA Journal Online (8/11/08):By Debra Cassens WeissThe gamble of going to trial doesn?t pay off for most plaintiffs, according to a study of more than 2,000 civil suits from 2002 to 2005. Sixty-one percent of plaintiffs who turned down settlement offers ended up faring worse at trial, according to a New York Times story on the study...
Standing Committee Requests Comments on Proposed Amendments to the Federal Civil Rules
Posted on August 14, 2008The Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States (the Standing Committee) has published proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure for comment. The proposed amendments are to Rule 26 (discovery) and Rule 56 (summary judgment)...
Northwestern University Law Review Publishes Special Edition on Preemption
Posted on August 13, 2008The Northwestern University Law Review recently published a special edition for a symposium entitled Ordering State-Federal Relations Through Federal Preemption Doctrine. Here are the articles included in the symposium:Nury Raquel Agudo & Alison E...
Ninth Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Securities Fraud Claim
Posted on August 12, 2008Per In re Gilead Sciences Securities Litigation, --- F.3d ----, 2008 WL 3271039 (9th Cir. Aug. 11, 2008):Based on our own review, we find the complaint sufficiently alleges a causal relationship between (1) the increase in sales resulting from the off-label marketing, (2) the Warning Letter's effect on Viread orders, and (3) the Warning Letter's effect on Gilead's stock price...
D. Colorado Notes Improper Prolixity of Pro Se Complaint but Addresses Substance Issues of Motion to Dismiss Instead
Posted on August 11, 2008Per Tassio v. Mullarkey, Slip Copy, 2008 WL 3166149 (D. Colo. Aug. 05, 2008):Mr. Tassio's complaint takes the term prolix to new heights. In spite of his efforts to provide an outline of his claims, it is redundant and tedious to the extreme and pleonastic to the point of being indecipherable...
ABA Litigation Research Fund Seeking Grant Applicants
Posted on August 08, 2008The ABA Section of Litigation invites applications to The LitigationResearch Fund which makes individual awards of between $5,000 and$20,000 to support original and practical scholarly work thatsignificantly advances the understanding of civil litigation in theUnited States...
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California's Proposed Student Civil Rights Act Gives Broad Definition to "Religion"
On Tuesday, the California Senate Judiciary Committee approved by ...
Civil Rights Leader Settles Discrimination Lawsuit
Atlanta, GA: Rep. John Lewis has spent a large part of his life fi...
It’s not that easy to rewrite history: Denial of a Variance in the Watershed will fall under traditional Federal Takings Analysis
Topics: Takings; Watershed; Variance With some creative arguments ...
CIVIL COURT CASES CAN REMAIN IN LIMBO
For some, "limbo" describes a transitional place be...
Update on AILF's Legal Action Center Visa Bulletin Litigation (Updated 7/10/07)
The following is the latest update from AILF regarding its pening ...
Privacy Protection Act 42 USC 21A
Federal Newsroom Law
The Civil Rights Act of 1871
Law bans discrimination enacted under color of state law
Heart of Atlanta v United States
Supreme Court Decision: Civil Rights Act Protected by Interstate Commerce Clause
Federal Adoption Tax Credit
Financial Incentive for Adoptive Parents
Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century
TEA-21 - Plus Law 105-178
Gay Marriage Laws
Where same sex couples can marry
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There are several issues here
1. Sub contractor started up a compe...
I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
I was fired on June 3, 2002 in Massachusetts because I reported discriminatory behavior by the employer towards a particular nationality. In July I filed a discrimination/retaliation complaint against the employer with t
It seem sin your case that the fact you filed the complaint prior to being dissa...
In continuation.I received further emails, and regular mail stating they were just awaiting for his most recent retirement statement from his last job he served as a civil servant in the nys retirement system,they then s
you need to speak with a NY tax lawyer & a domestic lawyer - if you were lis...
Divorce in the Philippines between a national and a foreigner?
first of all,eventhough divorce is not legal in the Phil,the fact that you are m...

Can a former employee use photographs of jobs completed whie working for me in marketing material for a new business?
There are several issues here
1. Sub contractor started up a compe...
I have worked for this employer for only three weeks. The employer makes up his own rules as to what he chooses to report for the purpose of property taxes. He tells me to "let them come after us". He defines Entertain
He arrogantly insists, "let them come after us." Well, if you are invo...
I was fired on June 3, 2002 in Massachusetts because I reported discriminatory behavior by the employer towards a particular nationality. In July I filed a discrimination/retaliation complaint against the employer with t
It seem sin your case that the fact you filed the complaint prior to being dissa...
In continuation.I received further emails, and regular mail stating they were just awaiting for his most recent retirement statement from his last job he served as a civil servant in the nys retirement system,they then s
you need to speak with a NY tax lawyer & a domestic lawyer - if you were lis...
Divorce in the Philippines between a national and a foreigner?
first of all,eventhough divorce is not legal in the Phil,the fact that you are m...








