Federal Civil Practice Bulletin: Miscellaneous

Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Miscellaneous Blogs

OR PHONE (866) 635-1838 for Bankruptcy Help, (866) 635-6190 for Divorce,
(866) 635-2689 for Personal Injury or (866) 635-9402 for Criminal Defense

Find a Local Lawyer

Bankruptcy (866) 635-1838
Divorce (866) 635-6190
Personal Injury (866) 635-2689
Criminal Defense (866) 635-9402

Miscellaneous

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

N.D. Ill. Notes Intracircuit Split Re whether the PSLRA Applies to Section 14(a) Exchange Act Cases

Posted on December 31, 2007
Per In re JPMorgan Chase & Co. Securities Litigation, Slip Copy, 2007 WL 4531794 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 18, 2007):Plaintiffs argue that (1) negligence is not a state of mind, and therefore does not require a pleading of particular facts to give strong inference, and (2) even if it were, the pleadings are sufficient...

S.D.N.Y. Raises Interesting Question Re Scope of Tellabs

Posted on December 28, 2007
Per S.E.C. v. Collins & Aikman Corp., Slip Copy, 2007 WL 4480025 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 21, 2007):In Tellabs, the Supreme Court determined that to plead a ?strong inference of scienter? in the context of the PSLRA, a complaint must allege facts that give rise to an inference of scienter at least as strong as any competing inference...

Prof. Steinman Publishes Article on Appellate Jurisdiction

Posted on December 26, 2007
Prof. Adam Steinman recently published an article entitled Reinventing Appellate Jurisdiction, 48 B.C. L. Rev. 1237 (Nov. 2007). Here is the Abstract:Appellate jurisdiction in the federal system has been properly criticized for both its doctrinal incoherence and its procedural complexity...

Prof. Sack Posts Article on the Domestic Relations Exception

Posted on December 20, 2007
Prof. Emily Sack has recently posted an article entitled The Domestic Relations Exception, Domestic Violence, and Equal Access to Federal Courts on SSRN. Here is the Abstract:This article examines the classic issue of the allocation of jurisdiction between the state and federal courts, with an untraditional focus on family law, domestic violence, and women's access to federal courts...

To access this complete feed in the blog feed reader login or register for free.

Ninth Circuit Holds that Plaintiff is Entitled to New Trial after Premature Grant of JMOL

Posted on December 18, 2007
Per U.S. Law Week, December 18, 2007 (76 USLW 1356, 2007):A plaintiff in a negligence suit against two airlines is entitled to a new trial because a magistrate judge granted judgment as a matter of law before the plaintiff's case was "fully heard," the U...

E.D. Pa. Notes Split Re Applicability of Rule 11 in a Removal Case Where the Defendant Seeks Sanctions for the Filing of a State Court Complaint

Posted on December 13, 2007
Per Dieffenbach v. Cigna Corp., Slip Copy, 2007 WL 4275502 (E.D. Pa. Dec. 04, 2007):The question of the applicability of Rule 11 in a removal case where the defendant seeks sanctions for the filing of a state court complaint is an unresolved one in this circuit...

Fourth Circuit Upholds CAFA Jurisdiction; Declines to Entertain Local Controversy Argument Raised for the First Time on Appeal

Posted on December 12, 2007
Per Lanier v. Norfolk Southern Corp., Slip Copy, 2007 WL 4270847 (4th Cir. Dec. 05, 2007):For the district court to have original jurisdiction over a class action under CAFA, the proponent of removal must show minimal diversity, and it must be clear from the face of the complaint that the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million...

S.D. Fla. Discusses Fraud Pleading Standard under Rule 9(b); Disapproves Use of Passive Voice

Posted on December 10, 2007
Per Cordova v. Lehman Bros., Inc., --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2007 WL 4287729 (S.D. Fla. Dec. 07, 2007):To survive a motion to dismiss, a plaintiff's claims of fraud under � 10(b) and Rule 10b-5 must satisfy the requirements of Fed.R.Civ.P. 9(b), which requires that ?the circumstances constituting fraud or mistake shall be stated with particularity...

DDC Denies Motion to Transfer Venue in Clean Water Act Case

Posted on December 06, 2007
Per Sierra Club v. Van Antwerp, --- F.Supp.2d ----, 2007 WL 4233745 (D.D.C. Dec. 04, 2007):As a threshold matter, this Court first finds that plaintiffs could have originally filed suit in the Middle District of Florida because ?a substantial part of property that is the subject of the action is situated? there...

Ninth Circuit Holds that Either Actual or Inquiry Notice Can Start the Running of the Limitations Period on Federal Securities Fraud Claims

Posted on December 05, 2007
Per Betz v. Trainer Wortham & Co., Inc., 504 F.3d 1017 (9th Cir. Oct. 04, 2007):We have held that the statute of limitations for a federal securities fraud claim begins to run when the plaintiff has either actual or inquiry notice that the defendants have made a fraudulent misrepresentation...

SCOTUS Grants Cert. in Cases Involving FRCP 19 and the Republic of the Philippines

Posted on December 04, 2007
The Supreme Court has just granted cert in the case of Republic of the Philippines v. Pimentel, No. 06-1204. Here is the summary of the ruling below and the questions presented for the Court (per U.S. Law Week's Supreme Court Today): Summary of Ruling Below: In interpleader action brought by custodian of assets of Panamanian corporation owned by former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Republic of Philippines, which enacted law declaring forfeiture of Marcos's assets in its favor and which successfully asserted its sovereign immunity earlier in this suit, is not indispensable party within meaning of Fed...

Federal Circuit Determines that Remand of Removed Case Based on a District Court's Rejection of Supplemental Jurisdiction Is not Reviewable

Posted on November 28, 2007
Per U.S. Law Week Volume 76 Number 20, Tuesday, November 27, 2007:An order remanding a removed case in which the district court declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state claims is not reviewable in federal appeals court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held Nov...

Seventh Circuit Applies Probate Matters/Domestic-Relations Exception to Federal Jurisdiction to Bar Suit Against Guardian of Incompetent Mother

Posted on November 27, 2007
Per Struck v. Cook County Public Guardian, --- F.3d ----, 2007 WL 4145845 (7th Cir. Nov. 26, 2007):The plaintiff appeals from the dismissal of his suit, which the district court held was outside its jurisdiction. The complaint alleged that an Illinois state court had appointed a guardian for the plaintiff's mother because she was incompetent to manage her own affairs, and that the plaintiff had asked the court to revoke the guardianship because the guardian was abusing his mother, refusing to let him visit her, and denying him access to her records, mail, and assets...

D.D.C. Certifies Direct Purchasers Suing Over Contraceptive

Posted on November 26, 2007
Per BNA's Class Action Litigation Report:A federal court in Washington, D.C., Nov. 6 certified a class of drug wholesalers alleging two pharmaceutical companies agreed to hold a generic contraceptive drug off the market in violation of federal antitrust law (Meijer Inc...

SDNY Holds that Former Patients Lack Standing to Assert ADA Claim against Treatment Facility

Posted on November 20, 2007
Per Romano v. SLS Residential Inc., --- F.R.D. ----, 2007 WL 3145076 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 10, 2007):?Title III of the ADA proscribes discrimination against the disabled in public accommodations.? Powell v. Nat'l Bd. of Med. Exam'rs, 364 F.3d 79, 85 (2d Cir...

Ninth Circuit Invalidates Class Arbitration Waiver Clause and Holds that the Invalidation Is Not Preempted by the FAA

Posted on November 19, 2007
Per Shroyer v. New Cingular Wireless Services, Inc., 498 F.3d 976 (9th Cir. Aug. 17, 2007):In this case, we consider whether a class arbitration waiver in New Cingular Wireless Service Inc.'s standard contract for cellular phone services is unconscionable under California law, and whether the Federal Arbitration Act preempts a holding that the waiver is unenforceable...

Class Action Suit Filed in M.D. Tennesee against Hannah Montana Fan Club

Posted on November 14, 2007
Disgruntled members of a fan club devoted to entertainer Miley Cyrus a.k.a. Hannah Montana have initiated a class action lawsuit against the club claiming that promised preferential access to Cyrus concert tickets was not delivered.The suit was filed in the U...

SCOTUS Grants Cert in Equal Access to Justice Act Case

Posted on November 13, 2007
The Supreme Court has granted cert in Richlin Security Service Co. v. Chertoff, No. 06-1717, which presents the following question: Under the Equal Access to Justice Act, may a prevailing party be awarded reimbursement of paralegal services at the market rate, or does the act limit reimbursement for paralegal services to a reimbursement rate based on the cost to the attorney? BNA subcribers may view more information about this case by visiting http://pubs...

Merck Settles Vioxx Claims; WSJ Publishes Several Articles Discussing the Settlement

Posted on November 12, 2007
Although it is by now old news that Merck has reached a $4.85 billion settlement in the Vioxx litigation, the Wall Street Journal has several good articles on the settlement that interested readers should review:- Merck Vioxx Settlement by the Numbers- Vioxx Settlement Vindicates Merck's Tactics- Vioxx Settlement's Next Big Question: Who Makes What?

Milberg Weiss Named Class Counsel in Securities Fraud Action

Posted on November 09, 2007
Per BNA's Class Action Litigation Report (Volume 08 Number 21, November 9, 2007):The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Oct. 26 certified a class of investors in a securities fraud suit against Select Medical Corp. and its officials over alleged misrepresentations and omissions as to the impact of Medicare regulatory changes (Marsden v...

Fulbright & Jaworski Releases Findings of its Fourth Annual Litigation Trends Survey

Posted on November 08, 2007
This fourth installment of the F&J litigation survey has much to say about respondents' views of the impact of the 2006 e-discovery amendments to the FRCP. Readers interested in a summary of the findings may visit Robert Owen's post about the survey by visiting http://www...

New York State Court Holds That Attorney-Client Communications Stored on Employer's E-mail Server Not Protected by A/C Privilege

Posted on November 07, 2007
Per Scott v. Beth Israel Medical Center Inc. --- N.Y.S.2d ----, 2007 WL 3053351 (N.Y.Sup.Oct. 17, 2007):Plaintiff Dr. Scott moves . . . for a protective order requiring defendants Beth Israel Medical Center and Continuum Health Partners Inc. (collectively ?BI?) to return to plaintiff all e-mail correspondence between plaintiff and his attorney...

Related Law Bulletins

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 ...