We continue our profiles of short-listed potential nominees to replace Justice John Paul Stevens with a non-judicial candidate, Jennifer M. Granholm, the current governor of Michigan. As Jennifer M. Granholm is nearing the end of her second and last term as governor of Michigan, she is once again on a short list of possible candidates … Continue Reading
The California Supreme Court, in O’Neil v. Crane Co., No. S177401, is considering the liability of an equipment manufacturer under these circumstances: The manufacturer sells a product pursuant to the buyer’s specifications (say, a valve or pump) that is accompanied by an allegedly defective part (say, an asbestos-containing gasket) made by another, which is incorporated … Continue Reading
An April 21 decision of the US. Supreme Court is must reading for attorneys who collect debts. Making a legal mistake can subject the attorney and the firm to liability under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. In Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA (.pdf), the law firm filed a complaint in … Continue Reading
We continue our profiles of short-listed potential nominees with Leah Ward Sears, former Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. Justice Sears was born in 1955 in Heidelberg, Germany, where her father served as a colonel in the Army. Her family later settled in Savannah, Georgia, and she attended high school there. She received her … Continue Reading
Appellate Strategist’s continuing series of profiles of “short list” candidates to replace the retiring Justice John Paul Stevens continues with Judge Sidney Thomas of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Thomas is notable for his relatively conventional professional path, and his geographic and educational roots. Where many of the current Justices arrived at the … Continue Reading
In Pearson Dental Supplies, Inc. v. Sup. Ct., the court considered an arbitrator’s decision, pursuant to a mandatory arbitration agreement, that an employee’s discrimination claim was time barred. Since by failing to apply the tolling statute CCP § 1281.12, the arbitrator had committed “a clear error of law” which would deprive the employee of any … Continue Reading
Since the days of Robert Bork, it has happened, sooner or later, to every Supreme Court nominee: the uncomfortable moment when a Senator quotes one of the nominee’s writings back to him or her, smiles across the Committee table, and says: “Explain that.” If Solicitor General Elena Kagan is nominated to replace Justice John Paul Stevens … Continue Reading
In conference Wednesday (see list of actions), the Court granted review in Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. City of Manhattan Beach, in which the Court of Appeal upheld vacating a city ordinance banning the use of plastic bags because an environmental impact report was not prepared. See the Environmental update page. In addition, … Continue Reading
California’s Unfair Competition Act has generated an enormous amount of litigation, and has long been a target of tort reform groups. Those reform efforts met with an important success in 2004, when the voters approved Proposition 64, finding that the statute had been “misused by some private attorneys” to file “frivolous lawsuits as a means of … Continue Reading
Demonstrating the potential significance and broad implications of the California Supreme Court’s deliberations in Loeffler v. Target Corporation, so far a total of nine amicus briefs have been filed on behalf of sixteen entities addressing the issue of whether a taxpayer can directly bring suit against a retailer who allegedly charged a sales tax on … Continue Reading
“What do I do with this case?” asked Justice Breyer in the final minutes of oral argument Monday morning in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez [pdf]. Justice Breyer’s question underscored the apparent confusion regarding what exactly was being challenged in the Christian Legal Society’s case against Hastings College of the Law. Despite the acknowledged importance of the … Continue Reading
This afternoon, the Illinois Supreme Court published its May docket for oral arguments, and the Court’s docket includes nine civil cases. The cases, with the issue or issues presented in each, are: May 13: Hurlbert v. Charles, No. 109041: “Under the Supreme Court’s decision in People v. Moore, 138 Ill.2d 162 (1990), does a finding of … Continue Reading
In an 8-1 decision (.pdf), the United States Supreme Court struck down recently enacted 18 U.S.C. 48 which forbids the distribution of images depicting cruelty to animals. In United States v. Stevens, the defendant had been convicted of distributing videotapes of pit bulls attacking other animals. Chief Justice Roberts, writing for the majority, held that the … Continue Reading
As part of Appellate Strategist’s ongoing evaluation of the “short list” of potential nominees to replace retiring Justice Stevens, we turn now to one of the nominees who was also on the short list to replace Justice Souter – Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Wardlaw is a California … Continue Reading
Appellate Strategist has posted several times in the last week about names being discussed as possible nominees to replace retiring Justice John Paul Stevens. But a list of names, however important, says little about the nominees. We therefore begin our series of short profiles of those whose names top the list. We begin with Carlos Moreno, an Associate Justice … Continue Reading
Justice John Paul Stevens has been tagged by many as a “liberal.” Appellate Strategist does not propose to debate that general proposition here. Rather, it’s time to begin assessing what effect his absence might have on the growing body of Supreme Court jurisprudence that has been cutting back, a little at a time, on the blockbuster punitive … Continue Reading
As Appellate Strategist reported a week ago, when Justice John Paul Stevens announced his retirement, most Supreme Court observers believed that the "short list" contained three names: Solicitor General Elena Kagan, Judge Diane Wood and Judge Merrick Garland. But even as the White House is suggesting that a nominee will be named in early May, it … Continue Reading
Many states have enacted statutes automatically invalidating, under one set of circumstances or another, contracts which seem to require mandatory arbitration of disputes. In a 5-0 decision today (with two justices not participating), the Illinois Supreme Court cast such statutes in doubt, holding that two clauses of the Illinois Nursing Home Care Act were preempted by … Continue Reading
On April 9, the Texas Supreme Court granted petitions for review in the following cases: Offshore Specialty Fabricators v. Wellington Underwriting Associates. The case addresses whether an all-risk insurance policy covers weather stand-by charges incurred by the insured. XTO Energy Inc. v. Smith Production Inc. The case will determine whether joint operating agreements for oil … Continue Reading
Today, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed a punitive damage award that had been drastically reduced by the trial judge, and cut still more by the intermediate appellate court, to slightly over $80,000, or 1:1. The State high court affirmed the punitives as reduced to 1:1. This may sound like just another case applying the Campbell … Continue Reading
In conference today (see list of actions), the Court granted review in Brown v. Mortensen, in which the Court of Appeal found that the Fair Credit Reporting Act preempted the restrictions imposed by the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act. See B & P 17200/Class Actions/Commercial update page. In addition, the Court also requested supplemental briefing … Continue Reading
On April 19, the United States Supreme Court will hear argument in Christian Legal Society v. Martinez, the third constitutional law case involving a law school – this time UC Hastings – that has found its way onto the High Court’s docket in less than a decade. The root of the controversy is the law … Continue Reading
CAPPING AT THREE. AB2740, a new version of an old bill pending in the California State Legislature, would cap the amount of punitive damages available in California to a flat three times the jury’s award of compensatory damages. AB2740 The previous version died in Committee. The new iteration (tacked onto a National Guard bill, of all … Continue Reading
Add yet another appellate opinion to the growing list of California courts that have cut punitive damage awards on constitutional excessiveness grounds. In this one, Amerigraphics, the jury awarded $3 million in punitive damages in an insurance bad faith case. The trial court cut that number to $1.7 million, but according to the California Court … Continue Reading
