News

Construction

[07/28] M/I Homes Reports Second Quarter Results
[07/28] Vecor Group Green Building Materials: Asian Innovation Award Finalists
[07/27] China Integrated Energy, Inc. to Host Second Quarter 2010 Earnings Conference Call on August 5, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. EDT
[07/27] LCS Constructors, Inc. Completes ExxonMobil Quality Assurance Laboratory
[07/27] Mid-Atlantic Waterproofing Donates $41,000 to Doctors Without Borders

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Litigation

[07/23] Lawsuit over rights to film 'Precious' settled
[07/20] Calif. judge to review Toyota case discovery plan
[07/19] RICO law made to combat Mafia used in BP lawsuits
[07/16] Goldman paying $550M to settle civil fraud charges
[07/13] 'Scuse me? Hendrix bandmate sues over '03 release

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Financial Services

[07/29] BNY Mellon Asset Servicing Becomes First Service Provider to Support ETF Short Positions
[07/29] Investment Technology Group Reports Second Quarter 2010 Results
[07/29] Merrill DataSite Remains Virtual Data Room of Choice by Industry Experts for More Than Two Years
[07/29] Publicis Groupe: First Half 2010 Results
[07/29] Foreclosure activity up across most US metro areas

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Labor

[07/29] Bangladesh raises garment workers' pay 80 percent
[07/29] Initial jobless claims drop to 457,000
[07/28] US military investigates contractor work force
[07/22] Additional jobless benefits hinge on House vote
[07/22] New jobless claims jump from two-year low

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Business

[07/29] Chemicals maker BASF sees Q2 earnings triple
[07/29] Microsoft hosts annual financial analyst meeting
[07/29] Southwest reports $112 million 2Q profit
[07/29] UAE official: Japanese tanker was in a collision
[07/29] Nissan returns to profit on sales growth

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Case Summaries

Construction

[06/24] Muscarello v. Ogle County Bd. of Comm'rs
In plaintiff's suit against multiple defendants asserting various claims based on the U.S. Constitution, the Illinois Constitution, Illinois statutes, and the common law, arsing from the county's decision to amend its zoning ordinances to allow special permits for the construction of windmills used to generate power, and in particular, the construction of 40 windmills adjacent to plaintiff's property, judgment of the district court is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's federal takings, equal protection, and due process claims fail to state a claim upon which relief can be granted; 2) plaintiff's state law trespass and nuisance claims are not ripe for review; 3) plaintiff has failed to avail herself of the opportunity to allege and support an independent basis of federal subject-matter jurisdiction over the other seven claims; and 4) the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendant's motion for an administrative stay.

[06/22] US Ex Rel. Miller v. Bill Harbert Int'l. Const., Inc.
In a False Claims Act (FCA) action claiming that five companies and one individual rigged the bidding on three contracts in Egypt funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, judgment for plaintiff is affirmed in part where: 1) the government's claims concerning one contract were not barred by the statute of limitations because they related back to plaintiff's original timely complaint; 2) although the false claims provisions of the Foreign Assistance Act and the FCA did overlap, the two statutes were fully capable of coexisting. However, the judgment is reversed in part where: 1) certain of plaintiff's claims were barred by the statute of limitations because he added them after the limitation period had run; and 2) allowing the government to contradict a factual stipulation called into question the credibility of defendant's counsel, severely impeding counsel's ability to effectively advocate for his client.

[06/21] Thrifty Payless, Inc. v. Mariners Mile Gateway, LLC
In a tenant's suit against the landlord over a lease for new commercial property, trial court's grant of defendant's motion for nonsuit and expert witness fees is affirmed where: 1) trial court's decision granting the nonsuit was proper as a matter of law; and 2) trial court did not err by allowing defendant to recover its expert witness fees pursuant to the lease.

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Labor & Employment Law

[06/25] Malone v. Lockheed Martin Corp.
In plaintiff's suit for employment discrimination based on race and retaliation, district court's grant of defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law is affirmed where, for substantially the same reasons as the court indicated below, the record reveals no significant evidentiary basis for the verdict.

[06/25] Pickett v. Sheridan Health Care Ctr.
In plaintiff's Title VII suit against her former employer for being fired in retaliation for her complaints about sexual harassment by residents of defendant's nursing home, district court's denial of defendant's motions for a new trial and remittitur are affirmed where: 1) plaintiff presented enough evidence to persuade a reasonable jury that her complaints caused defendant to fire her; 2) it was not an abuse of discretion to deny the motion for a new trial on the basis of plaintiff's counsel's closing arguments; 3) it was not an abuse of discretion in denying remittitur on the compensatory damages as enough evidence supported a jury award of $25,000, which is well within the $200,000 cap set out in 42 U.S.C. section 1981a(b)(3)(C); and 4) it was not an abuse of discretion in denying remittitur on the punitive damage award and the logic of Exxon Shipping Co. v. Baker, 128 S. Ct. 2605 (2008) does not apply to this Title VII case.

[06/25] Ruiz v. Cty. of Rockland
In an action against a county for national origin and race discrimination under Title VII and the Equal Protection Clause, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where: 1) the district court erred in finding that plaintiff was not qualified for his position based on evidence of plaintiff's misconduct; but 2) plaintiff failed to raise an inference of discrimination.

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Commercial Law

[06/28] Bilski v. Kappos
In a patent application seeking protection for a claimed invention explaining how commodities buyers and sellers in the energy market could protect, or hedge, against the risk of price changes, the denial of the application is affirmed where: 1) the machine-or-transformation test is not the sole test for patent eligibility under 35 U.S.C. section 101; 2) Section 101 precluded a reading of the term "process" that would categorically exclude business methods; and 3) even though petitioners' application was not categorically outside of section 101 under the two atextual approaches the Court rejected today, that did not mean it was a "process" under section 101.

[06/25] Rathborne Land Co. v. Ascent Engy., Inc.
In an action for breach of defendant's obligations to reasonably develop and explore a leased parcel of oil, gas, and mineral land, judgment for plaintiff is affirmed in part where: 1) plaintiff's letter to defendant met the La. Rev. Stat. Ann. section 31:136 demand requirement; and 2) district court did not clearly err in concluding that plaintiff would have been able to lease the disputed acreage more than once if it had been able to seismically survey the parcel prior to 2006. However, the judgment is vacated in part where neither the district court nor plaintiff could show an adequate ground -- indeed, any relevant precedent -- for awarding consequential damages for lost leasing and seismic revenues on the entire parcel.

[06/25] Bagby Elevator Co. v. Schindler Elevator Corp.
In an action for tortious interference with contract, judgment for plaintiff is affirmed where: 1) under the court's highly deferential standard of review, there was no reversible error in the district court's decision to use the pattern jury instruction; 2) there was sufficient evidence of both malice and gross negligence to support an award of exemplary damages; and 3) there was ample evidence of causation to support the verdict.

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