For the fourth time in a little more than two months, the California Supreme Court has overturned a death sentence. Because the jury couldn’t reach a verdict on a second special circumstances charge of torture, the high court said it was forced to reverse the sentence.

Wolf Block has asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to decide if a case by a former partner seeking severance payments can be removed to confidential arbitration. An appellate panel found ex-partner Michael Budin never signed a partnership agreement mandating arbitration and can therefore have his day in court.

In a case that has returned twice in three years because of fresh case law from the U.S. Supreme Court, the 2nd Circuit keeps coming up with the same answer: A class action waiver provision in American Express contracts with merchants is unenforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act.

A federal judge has dismissed individual investors’ securities claims against Vivendi related to ordinary shares they purchased on the Paris Bourse, finding that the claims are barred by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Morrison decision

A man who enticed a 15-year-old girl online, lied to her about his age, went to Connecticut for a sexual rendezvous and then brought her to New York for more sex was appropriately assessed three two-level sentencing enhancements, a divided panel of the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held.