On April 8, 2014, the Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments in an asbestos case concerning the liability of a defendant who has sold a component part to a manufacturer who then incorporates the part into its own products. See Aubin v. Union Carbide Corp., No. SC12-2075. On review was a decision from the … Continue Reading
Governor Jerry Brown has nominated Stanford law professor Mariano-Florentino Cuellar to fill the most recent vacancy on the California Supreme Court created by the impending retirement of Justice Marvin Baxter. Cuellar is “a renowned scholar who has served two presidents and made significant contributions to both political science and law,” Brown said. “His vast knowledge and … Continue Reading
On June 20, 2012, the Florida Supreme Court accepted review of a Fourth District Court of Appeal case that certified the following question of great public importance: “In a civil appeal, shall error be held harmless where it is more likely than not that the error did not contribute to the judgment?” See Special … Continue Reading
On June 12, 2014, the Florida Supreme Court decided two cases that involved whether municipal ordinances imposing penalties for red light violations detected by devices using cameras were invalid because they were preempted by state law. See Mason v. City of Aventura, No. SC12-644; City of Orlando v. Udowychenko, No. SC12-1471. At issue in the cases was … Continue Reading
Courts that oversee class actions can use class sampling and other statistical methods to manage litigation involving large numbers of plaintiffs and the vast amount of data associated with them. In California, however, those methods must be reliable, and cannot strip defendants of the right to litigate affirmative defenses. The California Supreme Court recently announced its … Continue Reading
Our reports on the oral arguments of the May term of the Illinois Supreme Court conclude this morning with Consiglio v. Department of Financial and Professional Regulation. Consiglio involves a constitutional challenge to amendments the General Assembly enacted in 2011 to the Department of Professional Regulation Act. The amendments provide that a health care worker’s license is … Continue Reading
Our reports on the oral arguments of the Illinois Supreme Court’s May term continue with Keating v. City of Chicago. Keating poses an important question for Illinois motorists: are municipal red light ordinances constitutional? Our detailed summary of the facts and lower court holdings in Keating is here. Chicago has had a red light ordinance since July … Continue Reading
Our reports on the oral arguments during the May term of the Illinois Supreme Court continue with a direct appeal pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 302 – LVNV Funding v. Trice. LVNV began when the defendant used a credit card to pay for plumbing services. When the defendant failed to pay the credit card issuer … Continue Reading
Our reports on the oral arguments during the May term of the Illinois Supreme Court continue with Bruns v. City of Centralia. Bruns poses a question with the potential to blow a significant hole in the open-and-obvious peril doctrine of tort law: does the doctrine apply when a reasonable property owner can reasonably expect visitors … Continue Reading
In its second significant decision on public employee pensions of the morning, the Illinois Supreme Court has reversed the Appellate Court in The People ex rel. Madigan v. Burge. In an opinion by Justice Anne M. Burke, joined by Justices Thomas, Karmeier and Theis, the Court holds that the Circuit Courts lack jurisdiction to hear most … Continue Reading
The Illinois Supreme Court has issued its much-anticipated opinion in Kanerva v. Weems. Kanerva represents the Court’s first opportunity to address the state Constitution’s Pension Protection Clause since the Illinois General Assembly enacted pension reform eight months ago. In the wake of the 6-1 decision, the task facing defenders of reform likely has gotten significantly more difficult. Our … Continue Reading
The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that opinions in two cases addressing public employee pensions, Kanerva v. Weems and People ex rel. Madigan v. Burge, will be filed tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. With the Governor having signed a comprehensive state pension reform act only eight months ago, the opinions – Kanerva in particular – might provide … Continue Reading
Our reports on the oral arguments from the May term of the Illinois Supreme Court continue with Goldfine v. Barack, Ferrazzano, Kirschbaum and Perlman. Goldfine poses a number of issues about legal malpractice actions arising under the Illinois Securities Law. Based on the number and tenor of the Court’s questions, several Justices seemed troubled by the breadth … Continue Reading
On June 19, 2014, the Florida Supreme Court amended the Code of Judicial Conduct and six rules of procedure relating to senior judges who also serve as mediators. To view the opinion click here. Senior judges were first authorized to perform dual service when a new Code of Judicial Conduct was adopted in 1994. … Continue Reading
Our reports on the oral arguments from the May term of the Illinois Supreme Court continue with Lake County Grading Company, LLC v. The Village of Antioch. Lake County – which comes to the Court from the Second District – poses the question of whether subcontractors can look to local governments for payment when the general … Continue Reading
A unanimous Illinois Supreme Court added a new complication for plaintiffs’ counsel handling wrongful death cases late last week, unanimously holding in In re Estate of Perry C. Powell that an attorney representing the decedent in a wrongful death action owes a duty of due care akin to the duty owed his direct client – … Continue Reading
In child custody cases where the parent awarded primary custody of the children has significantly greater resources than the non-custodial parent, can a court order the custodial parent to pay child support to the non-custodial parent? Late last week in In re Marriage of Turk, a unanimous Illinois Supreme Court held that the answer is “yes.” … Continue Reading
Yesterday, the California Supreme Court at least partially retreated from a long-standing reluctance to enforce many business arbitration agreements. In an opinion by Justice Goodwin Liu, a 6-1 court affirmed in most respects the decision of the Court of Appeal in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles LLC, including on the crucial point of class action … Continue Reading
The California Supreme Court has announced that it will hand down its much-anticipated decision in Iskanian v. CLS Transportation Los Angeles, LLC this morning. According to the Court’s Pending Issues Summary, Iskanian presents the following issues: (1) Did AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion (2011) 563 U.S. __ [131 S. Ct. 1740, 179 L.Ed.2d 742] impliedly overrule … Continue Reading
Our reports on the civil arguments during last month’s term of the Illinois Supreme Court begin with Slepicka v. State of Illinois, a decision from the Fourth District which poses two important and closely related issues for administrative law: what is the proper venue when challenging an administrative agency’s decision, and what happens if the … Continue Reading
In the closing days of its May term, the Illinois Supreme Court agreed to decide whether an academic at the University of Illinois could obtain injunctive relief from the Circuit Court to halt an ongoing University investigation into plaintiff’s alleged research misconduct. The Court allowed a petition for leave to appeal in Leetaru v. Board … Continue Reading
Although Illinois courts are courts of general jurisdiction presumed to have subject matter jurisdiction, this presumption doesn’t apply to workers’ compensation proceedings. Pursuant to Section 19(f)(2) of the Workers’ Compensation Act (820 ILCS 305/19(f)(2)), in order to vest the circuit court with jurisdiction to review an award made by the Commission, a party must file … Continue Reading
In the closing days of its May term, the Illinois Supreme Court allowed a petition for leave to appeal from a decision of the Appellate Court for the Second District in Ferris, Thompson and Zweig, Ltd. v. Esposito. Ferris, Thompson poses the question of whether the Workers’ Compensation Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over a … Continue Reading
It’s one of the most fundamental rules of appellate practice: the notice of appeal has to be timely filed, or the appellate court is without jurisdiction to do anything other than dismiss the appeal. In the closing days of the May term, the Illinois Supreme Court allowed a petition for leave to appeal in Williams … Continue Reading
