J. VanMeter finds that a seller did not have a security interest in a horse because the thoroughbred horse, which had valuable breeding rights, was a farm product under the food security act. Affirmed.
Court: Kentucky Supreme Court, Judge: VanMeter, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 2021-SC-0561-DG, Categories: Agriculture, Contract
J. Hendrix finds for a bank on an insurance company's claims it is entitled to a defaulting third-party's accounts receivable, which had allegedly been placed in a trust for the insurer. The language of the trust provision and agreement does not show an intent to create a trust, whereas the bank has a superior security interest in the accounts receivable at issue.
Court: USDC Northern District of Texas , Judge: Hendrix, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv151, Categories: Bankruptcy, Trusts, Banking / Lending
J. Zilly denies the automobile accessories manufacturer's motion to preclude the aftermarket auto parts company and the auto accessories company from asserting invalidity defenses for the manufacturer's claim that the aftermarket company infringed on its two patents. The manufacturer does not successfully argue that there is inconsistency between the other two companies' earlier contentions about "why a stay pending the PTAB’s determinations would conserve judicial resources and their current efforts to challenge the patents-in-suit based on arguments not raised in the IPR proceedings."
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Zilly, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv278, Categories: Civil Procedure, Trademark
J. Keller finds that the lower court properly held that a total knee replacement was compensable following a work injury because the employee had not had knee problems prior to the work injury. Affirmed.
Court: Kentucky Supreme Court, Judge: Keller, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 2022-SC-0119-WC, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. Glickman finds the superior court properly dismissed a tenant's housing-related claims after determining the complexity of her case required it to be heard on a separate civil calendar. The tenant fails to show the superior court's decision to dismiss, rather than certify her case directly, was erroneous.
Court: DC Court of Appeals, Judge: Glickman, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 21-CV-0217, Categories: Civil Procedure, Landlord Tenant
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J. Deahl upholds the superior court's dismissal of an art gallery's challenges to the jurisdiction of the California trial court that initially heard its case regarding the return of art and $1 million to a trustee. The California Court of Appeals has already fully litigated and rejected the gallery's challenge. Affirmed.
Court: DC Court of Appeals, Judge: Deahl, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 21-CV-0695 , Categories: Jurisdiction
J. Bassett reverses defendant's domestic violence and assault convictions. The trial court improperly refused to instruct the jury on self-defense despite some evidence it was warranted, and the error was prejudicial. Reversed in part.
Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court, Judge: Bassett, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 2021-0360, Categories: Assault, Domestic Violence, Self Defense
J. Robinson finds that the district court properly dismissed class claims seeking to recover tuition and fees for New York University students affected by the Covid-19 pandemic shutdown during the spring 2020 semester. Lead plaintiff, the mother of a co-ed, lacked standing to bring the action, but her request to amend claims to add a current NYU student should not have been rejected as futile because contract, unjust enrichment, and money had and received claims brought by the student would survive a motion to dismiss. Affirmed in part.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Robinson, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 21-1333-cv, Categories: Covid-19, Class Action, Contract
J. Chen awards the prevailing litigant in a labor case $20,000 in attorney fees. The initial request of $81,929 in fees and $5,314 in costs is overly excessive.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Chen, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 1:18cv7341, Categories: Attorney Fees, Labor
J. Sullivan finds that the district court properly granted the motion in which the consumer financial protection bureau sought to enforce a demand for documents in an underlying case because intervening precedent clarifying the appointment status of the agency's director had no bearing on the demand. Affirmed.
Court: 2nd Circuit, Judge: Sullivan, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 20-3471, Categories: Debt Collection, Agency
J. Vilardo rules against a debtor in claims contending a collector repeatedly called his cell phone with an automated dialing system despite being told to stop because it is unclear whether the messages were prerecorded. Meanwhile, that the collector possessed the debtor's phone number did not constitute consent to call him regarding debt.
Court: USDC Western District of New York, Judge: Vilardo , Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 1:17cv6, Categories: Debt Collection
J. Komitee dismisses a jewelry retailer's copyright claims alleging a competitor infringed its website, either on the basis of its individual photographs and text, or as a compilation. Either argument is unavailing, as the retailer does not have an actual copyright for the website itself and there's a question as to whether or not it could be copyrighted at all because the photos and text included are not sufficiently original to merit protection under the law.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Komitee, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv5949, Categories: Copyright
J. Chen grants Goldman Sachs' motion to dismiss an individual's putative class claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Although The individual alleges Goldman Sachs reported inaccurate information regarding a debt for an Apple Pay credit card to credit agencies, he was unable to provide enough evidence to back up his assertion the information the creditor reported was factually inaccurate.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Chen, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv4807, Categories: Consumer Law, Class Action
[Consolidated.] J. Sheridan finds for a company in trademark claims concerning a nonprofit's name because the permanent injunction entered against the nonprofit imposed internal controls to evaluate effectiveness, and thus the expert is fully qualified to determine whether donations had been properly forwarded.
Court: USDC New Jersey, Judge: Sheridan, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 3:14cv7770, Categories: Trademark, Experts
Per curiam, the appellate division finds that an inmate was properly found guilty of violating prison rules by engaging in violent conduct that left a fellow inmate bleeding from a fractured skull because medical testimony indicated not that the injuries occurred when the victim fell out of bed but that they had been inflicted either by fists or boots. Meanwhile, a large amount of blood had been present on the inmate's hands and boots. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 535203, Categories: Evidence, Prisoners' Rights
J. Lynch finds that the lower court properly dismissed a married couple's action seeking an order of protection against a relative because the cited conduct did not constitute a family offense. The relative's request for an order of protection was also dismissed because the request concerned a single isolated offense. Affirmed.
Court: New York Appellate Divisions, Judge: Lynch, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 533406, Categories: Family Law, Restraining Order
J. Bastian dismisses the nonprofit organization's claim that the government agency discharged pollutants, including heated water, grease and oils, into the Columbia River System. Per their settlement agreement, the government agency shall submit written requests to Oregon Department of Environmental Quality every six months, while also providing the nonprofit organization with copies, for an update on the status of each of its permit applications.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Washington, Judge: Bastian, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 4:21cv5152, Categories: Environment, Government, Settlements
J. Richard Nelson grants the disinfectant manufacturer's motion to exclude the expert opinions and testimony of the allegedly injured cleaners' retained industrial hygiene expert. The foundation for the expert's opinions, namely an experiment in which he obtained a product claiming to be the manufacturer's from a third party and tested the concentrations of a claimed dangerous substance after using the product in a closed space, is unreliable. The cleaners have not shown that the product used in the experiment was the same as the manufacturer's and that it was properly stored and unexpired.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Richard Nelson, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 0:20cv0892, Categories: Product Liability, Experts
J. Brennan finds that the lower court improperly dismissed the employees' excessive recordkeeping fees claim and share-class claim in this ERISA suit. The employees need not rule out every possible alternative explanation for an ERISA fiduciary's conduct to survive dismissal. Nor can the university dismiss claims at this stage by arguing that a prudent alternative action was unavailable, as this argument requires further factual development. Reversed in part.
Court: 7th Circuit, Judge: Brennan, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 18-2569, Categories: Erisa
J. Celebrezze finds defendant did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel during his drug and firearms trial. Defense counsel's decision not to object to the admission of credit cards discovered in defendant's vehicle that did not match his name was part of a reasonable trial strategy based on defendant's claim the car was not his own. Furthermore, although the prosecutor may have misled the jury during closing arguments when he mentioned marijuana found in the car, given that defendant was charged only with possession of methamphetamine, the trial court's correction during jury instructions prevented any prejudice. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Celebrezze, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-928, Categories: Drug Offender, Firearms, Ineffective Assistance
J. Celebrezze finds the trial court properly granted the doctor's motion for a directed verdict on the patient's medical malpractice claims. The patient's expert witness failed to testify the doctor's insertion of a mesh plug caused any of the pain or swelling after the surgery to repair a hernia that was later discovered to have been misdiagnosed. The expert never provided a direct link between the doctor's actions and the patient's pain, which he admitted could have been caused by preexisting conditions. Affirmed.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Celebrezze, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-934, Categories: Experts, Medical Malpractice
J. Gallagher finds the lower court improperly dismissed a husband's claims in a case where his wife retained the right to bring a primary cause of action against her doctor after their doctor-patient relationship was terminated by the doctor's employer. The husband has standing, as he is able to bring derivative claims for loss of consortium after his wife was left without any care provider. Reversed in part.
Court: Ohio Court Of Appeals, Judge: Gallagher, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 2023-Ohio-931, Categories: Civil Procedure, Medical Malpractice
J. Molberg finds that the lower court improperly denied by operation of law the appellants' motion to dismiss certain counterclaims pursuant to the Texas Citizens Participation Act. Some of the counterclaims were based on the appellants' exercise of the right to petition. Specifically, certain "counterclaims are based on appellants' petition, which is a communication made in a judicial proceeding." The business disparagement and defamation claims should have been dismissed, along with the breach of contract and unfair competition claims, "insofar as they were based on the petition." Reversed in part.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Molberg, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 05-21-00798-CV, Categories: Civil Procedure, Defamation, Contract
Per curiam, the Florida Supreme Court finds that the proposed amendments to the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure are approved and become effective July 1, 2023.
Court: Florida Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: SC22-1125, Categories: Judiciary
J. Doty denies the prisoners' motions to certify a class and appoint class representatives and counsel in their suit challenging a jail's Covid-19 policies which have restricted their ability to exercise. The proposed class is not ascertainable, in part because of an open-ended date range for potential new members. While the class is sufficiently numerous, it does not share sufficient commonality and the claims raised have not been showed to be typical of the class. Class treatment would also be unmanageable for such a class.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Doty, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 0:21cv1301, Categories: Civil Rights, Class Action, Prisoners' Rights
J. Hurd denies, in part, motions for summary judgment filed by a district attorney, local police investigators and even a babysitter on a widower's allegations they conspired to used fabricated evidence and coerced witness testimony to charge him for the murder of his wife who was last seen in 2001 and whose body was never recovered. After receiving two separate convictions on the charges, the litigant was imprisoned but later released after a neighbor came forward to claim he saw another man with the victim shortly before her disappearance. Evidence indicates a jury could rule in the litigant's favor on his malicious prosecution, conspiracy, fabrication of evidence and municipal liability claims.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Hurd, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 3:17cv932, Categories: Malicious Prosecution, Police Misconduct
J. Woods finds that the defendant zipper manufacturer was entitled to documents withheld by the plaintiff patentholder showing that rights to the disputed Japanese patents were not properly assigned to plaintiff until years after the date it had originally represented, and rights to patents in Taiwan were never formally transferred to plaintiff. The plaintiff shall be sanctioned for its grossly negligent in failing to turn over these documents.
Court: USDC Southern District of New York, Judge: Woods, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 1:15cv3411, Categories: Patent, Sanctions, Discovery
J. Hoch finds that the state's environmental health hazards agency properly considered iodide uptake inhibition to establish a public health goal of 1 part per billion in drinking water for the contaminant perchlorate, which is found in rocket fuel, road flares and other products. The agency was within its authority to set the level for the acutely toxic substance where it expected iodide uptake inhibition would begin, since that key level is where the onset of adverse health effects are anticipated. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoch, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: C093351, Categories: Administrative Law, Environment, Water
J. Berg allows claims to continue against owners of an insured building that caught fire prior to sale. The insured was not entitled to immediate appraisal since contractual issues among the new building owners, the insurer, and the insured must be resolved prior to submission of the appraisal.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Michigan, Judge: Berg, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv11599, Categories: Insurance
J. Younge dismisses sua sponte this insurance coverage claim dispute concerning a roofing company's liability in a fire that occurred while it was installing a roof. The related underlying case is being litigated in court, and the insurer's questions of coverage can be answered by the lower court.
Court: USDC Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Judge: Younge, Filed On: March 23, 2023, Case #: 2:22cv1654, Categories: Insurance, Property, Jurisdiction
