Legal Book » appeals-court

Court Vacates $99,000 Fee to Counsel for Plaintiff Who Won $650

Master — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:34:40 +0000

A New Jersey appeals court has overturned a $99,000 legal fee on a plaintiff’s $650 recovery in a consumer fraud case, finding the trial court’s measurement scales askew. The appellate panel said the trial judge improperly used his own personal experience to gauge the plaintiffs lawyer’s hourly rate and failed to provide a sufficient analysis for his decision to enhance the lodestar by 45 percent — he only stated his impression that the case “can hardly be classified as ‘typical.’”

Calif. Appeals Court Turns Down Plea to Intervene on Prop 8 Defense

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 05:34:36 +0000

A California appeals court on Thursday denied the Pacific Justice Institute’s petition for a writ of mandamus to force the state’s governor and attorney general to defend Proposition 8 in court, killing the latest attempt by foes of gay marriage to shore up standing for the pending appeal of Chief Judge Vaughn Walker’s July ruling. A motions panel at the 9th Circuit ordered the Prop 8 proponents to “include in their opening brief a discussion of why this appeal should not be dismissed for lack of Article III standing.”

Calif. Appeals Court Approves Contingency Fee Greater Than Client Award

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:59:22 +0000

A California appeals court has sided with Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy in a dispute over a novel contingency fee deal that called for more legal fees than the amount of money the client recovered. Upholding an arbitration award for the firm of $7.5 million, the court rejected arguments that the award — based on a contingency fee of 16 percent of the client’s estimated damages — was unconscionable

N.J. Appeals Court Topples $19 Million Verdict in Delayed-Caesarean Case

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:59:22 +0000

Citing multiple trial errors, a New Jersey appeals court has reversed an $18.9 million verdict against an obstetrician whose delay in ordering a Caesarean delivery a jury found to have caused cerebral palsy in the child. The panel found that the trial judge failed to limit the testimony of a labor-and-delivery nurse, to issue the jury a contemporaneous limiting instruction on the nurse’s testimony and to allow the defendant to admit into evidence a report that had exculpatory value for the obstetrician.

Same-Sex Couple Cannot Get Divorced in Texas, Appeals Court Rules

Master — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:59:21 +0000

A Texas appeals court has sided with the state office of the attorney general, ruling that a same-sex couple cannot get divorced in Texas. The panel said the trial court erred in holding that Texas law violates the Equal Protection Clause, and found that state law “recognizes that only opposite-sex couples are naturally capable of producing children,” and gives them the option of legal formalization “with the legitimate legislative goal of encouraging such formalization and thereby promoting the well being of children.”

N.Y. Court Permits Retaliation Action Based on Overtime

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 04:12:39 +0000

A Manhattan judge has rejected an appeals court precedent in concluding that two beauty salon workers may claim they were fired in retaliation for complaining they had been denied overtime pay, saying the appellate ruling “mistakenly construes” a ruling that court had issued 10 years earlier. The judge noted the panel in the 2009 case had relied on a statement in a 1999 ruling that “there are no provisions governing overtime in the New York Labor Law,” but did not take into account other aspects of the earlier decision.

Citing Attorney’s Inflammatory Language, Court Erases Most of Jury Verdict

Master — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 05:21:39 +0000

A Florida appeals court has erased most of a jury award due to an attorney’s inflammatory and prejudicial language while representing a man injured when granite fell on his head in an elevator. The unanimous panel said lawyer Michael V.

Analysis: Pfizer Appeals Court’s Recognition of New Pharma Cause of Action

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:07:37 +0000

A panel of Pennsylvania Superior Court judges ruled earlier this month that a negligent design defect claim regarding pharmaceutical drugs is distinct from a strict liability design defect claim and can be recognized in the state. Pfizer, however, said that such a distinction between strict liability design defect and negligent design defect doesn’t justify allowing a claim and is asking the appeals court to reconsider or hold a new en banc argument on its ruling that plaintiffs can sue pharmaceutical companies for the alleged negligence.

Reminding Clients of Fiduciary Duty, Court Upholds Dismissal of Malpractice Suit Against Sills Cummis

Master — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 04:22:14 +0000

Warning clients of their own duty to read critical documents, a New Jersey appeals court held Wednesday that a malpractice suit over Sills, Cummis & Gross’ drafting of a bank merger agreement was time-barred and meritless. The panel found that the plaintiffs, four directors of the former West Jersey Community Bank, were experienced in the world of banking and failed to follow their lawyers’ advice to look over the agreement.

Shareholders Win Limited Access to Minutes of Corporate Meetings

Master — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 03:36:52 +0000

In a precedential opinion, a New Jersey appeals court held that shareholders have a right under state law to view corporate board and executive committee minutes, but imposed parameters to prevent “fishing expeditions” for corporate mismanagement. The plaintiffs seeking access to the minutes are also plaintiffs in a shareholders’ derivative action against Schering-Plough over the alleged suppression of unfavorable clinical trial results for the cholesterol drug Vytorin, known as the ENHANCE study.

Plaintiffs Seek Ouster of Master in Fraud Litigation Against Prudential

Master — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 07:13:23 +0000

Plaintiffs in a massive fraud and commercial bribery suit against Prudential Life Insurance have asked a New Jersey appeals court to overturn the appointment of a discovery master, partly because of his $77,265 bill for his first three weeks.

Congress’ De-Funding of ACORN Is Constitutional, 2nd Circuit Decides

Master — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:10:33 +0000

Congress’ decision to strip ACORN and its affiliates of funding in reaction to an embezzlement and mismanagement scandal is not an unconstitutional bill of attainder, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday. The appeals court vacated an injunction issued by New York federal Judge Nina Gershon, who had found that Congress intended to punish ACORN by withholding appropriations that made up some 10 percent of the crippled organization’s national budget.

Fight Continues Over Split of $4.8 Million Fee in Dram Shop Case

Master — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 05:00:41 +0000

Two law firms fighting over nearly $5 million in legal fees in a record-setting dram shop case will battle on, thanks to a New Jersey appeals court decision that reversed the award of more than $4.6 million to one of them. After a $105 million verdict was overturned, the case settled for $25 million, with $4.8 million designated for legal fees. Rosemarie Arnold, whose firm originated the case, and David Mazie, who took it over and brought it to trial and settlement, have been vying over their share of the money.

Case of Blogger Accused of Threatening Judges Is Expected to Go to Jury Soon

Master — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:22:04 +0000

The third trial of Harold Turner, the Internet-radio host charged with threatening to kill three Chicago appeals court judges, is expected to go to the jury as early as this afternoon. With only one witness to go, the two-day trial has been markedly more civil than Turner’s earlier trials, in which his defense attorneys attempted to debate fine points of constitutional law with the three allegedly threatened judges, who each took the stand as witnesses for the prosecution

Texas Appeals Court Affirms Dismissal of Suit Against Board of Law Examiners

Master — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 03:48:10 +0000

Ten years after the Texas Board of Law Examiners declined to admit Kristofer Thomas Kastner to the State Bar of Texas, citing a criminal arrest record and chemical dependency, a state appeals court has affirmed a lower court decision dismissing a suit Kastner had filed against the board and others. In his 2008 suit, Kastner asked for money damages based on his inability to obtain employment as a lawyer. The appeals court affirmed the dismissal of the case on sovereign-immunity grounds.

Recipient of Offensive E-Mails Can’t Force Yahoo to Name Sender

Master — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 03:22:50 +0000

A plaintiff who fails to make out a claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress based on anonymous, offensive e-mails can’t compel the sender’s Internet service provider to reveal his or her identity, a New Jersey appeals court held Tuesday in a published opinion. The ruling instructs how e-mails fit into the contours of the decade-old precedent that allowed for unmasking anonymous posters of injurious comments on the Web if certain tests are met.

Arizona Governor Vows to Appeal Immigration Ruling

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:18:58 +0000

Arizona is preparing to ask an appeals court to lift a judge’s ruling that put most of the state’s immigration law on hold in a key first-round victory for the federal government in a fight that may go to the U.S.

Non-Client Can’t Attack Joint Representation, Court Rules

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 03:31:17 +0000

Non-clients have no standing to disqualify attorneys from jointly representing others, a California appeals court ruled Tuesday, despite a federal trial court ruling that seemed to suggest otherwise. The ruling reverses a trial court’s disqualification of Calabasas, Calif., attorney Bruce Graham and his firm, Graham & Associates, from representing clients with some allegedly opposing interests in a libel and breach of contract suit.

Calif. High Court Won’t Block Malicious Prosecution Suit Against Manatt

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 06:11:37 +0000

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips on Wednesday lost its bid to have the California Supreme Court review a malicious prosecution lawsuit filed against the firm over Franklin Mint’s line of Princess Diana collectibles. In May, an appeals court reinstated the suit, finding that Manatt had no probable cause to bring trademark dilution or false advertising claims against Franklin on behalf of the firm’s clients, the late princess’s estate and The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

N.J. High Court to Review Drunken Drivers’ Right to Sue Bars That Served Them

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 05:53:58 +0000

The New Jersey Supreme Court will decide whether drunken drivers injured in accidents they cause can sue the liquor establishments that served them. State insurance law bars them from bringing personal injury claims against other drivers, but the court has never ruled on whether that statute takes precedence over the dram shop act, which makes liquor establishments liable for serving visibly intoxicated patrons

D.C. Circuit Rules Against Guantanamo Detainee

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 05:43:05 +0000

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has reversed a federal district court’s grant of a habeas petition to a Guantanamo detainee in a ruling that relaxed the evidence standards for the government to hold men at the U.S

Lynne Stewart Gets a New 10-Year Prison Sentence

admin — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 06:01:07 +0000

A stunned Lynne Stewart was re-sentenced to 10 years in prison Thursday, in part because she crowed that she could handle the initial 28-month sentence ordered by New York federal Judge John Koeltl in 2006 “standing on my head.” Koeltl, instructed by an appeals court to reconsider sentencing enhancements for terrorism, perjury and abuse of her position of trust as a lawyer, did just that as he ordered a longer term for the 70-year-old former defense lawyer for providing material support to a terrorist conspiracy.

Sidewalk Liability Suits Curbed Against Mostly Residential Condo Associations

Master — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:31:18 +0000

Primarily residential condominium associations can’t be sued for injuries on adjoining public sidewalks, a New Jersey appeals court held Monday in a case of first impression.

Novel Fee Fight Lands at Calif. Appeals Court

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 04:27:29 +0000

One side calls a case going before a California appeals court this week an “ordinary fee dispute,” while the other insists it raises issues about contingency agreements and arbitration no court has ever addressed.

More Than a Whiff of Weed Needed for Warrantless Truck Search, N.J. Court Rules

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 05:12:07 +0000

The probable cause was so thick you could smell it, but that still didn’t give a New Jersey state trooper authority for a warrantless search of a tractor-trailer cab, an appeals court has found. Applying retroactively a state Supreme Court decision that requires both probable cause and exigent circumstances for a warrantless search, the judges said a strong odor of marijuana could supply the former but not the latter.