17 results for 'cat:"Commerce" AND cat:"Contract"'.
J. Donovan answers a certified legal question concerning common law and contracts. The court concludes “that the common law contract defenses of impossibility, impracticability, and frustration of commercial purpose are so fundamentally related to contract formation and purpose that they remain viable unless expressly waived. Accordingly, a force majeure clause that protects only one party to a contract should not be deemed, in and of itself, a relinquishment of the other party’s right to interpose those common law defenses.” Remanded.
Court: New Hampshire Supreme Court, Judge: Donovan, Filed On: April 23, 2024, Case #: 2023-0018, Categories: commerce, contract
J. Biggs grants a stockholder’s motion for entry of default judgment against an investment company after he alleges the company failed to issue him 200,000 shares he purchased for $100,000. Although the company claims it would not return the stockholder’s investment because it had fallen victim to an attempt to defraud it, it is still subject to the contract with the stockholder to return his investment, now with interest.
Court: USDC Middle District of North Carolina, Judge: Biggs, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv345, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: commerce, Securities, contract
J. Traum grants the equipment rental company's motion for summary judgment in its employment agreement-related against a former sales rep. The sales rep was hired pursuant to a noncompetition agreement and began communicating with a competitor about job opportunities after having a dispute with his supervisor. After this, the sales rep requested a copy of the agreement to ensure that he was complying with all restrictive covenants and created a 103-page list of customers by taking screenshots of customer information. Sufficient evidence supports the judgment.
Court: USDC Nevada, Judge: Traum , Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: 2:21cv2190, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: commerce, Evidence, contract
J. Worthen finds the trial court improperly denied Union Pacific's motion for summary judgment. The county, pursuant to an agreement modified by ongoing litigation and regulations extending 150 years into the past, sought to keep railroad offices and workers in the city of Palestine, TX in perpetuity after mergers, bankruptcy reorganizations and regulatory influence over the ensuing companies from the original company from which the agreement arose. The Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act preempts the agreement, and because there was neither unreasonable delay nor detrimental reliance by Union Pacific, the county did not establish the affirmative defense of laches. Reversed.
Court: Texas Courts of Appeals, Judge: Worthen , Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: 12-23-00152-CV, Categories: commerce, Transportation, contract
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J. Stearns grants in part a moving subcontractor’s motion to dismiss claims brought against it by a couple, after the subcontractor refused to return items it picked up from the couple’s house or pickup additional items because it hadn’t been paid properly. The claims which allege the subcontractor damaged the couple’s belongings are preempted by the Carmack Amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Stearns, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv10767, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: commerce, Property, contract
J. Lin dismisses the insurance company's claims under the Carmack Amendment to the Interstate Commerce Act accusing the freight forwarding company of directing BNSF Railway to transport the goods by train despite the contract stating the transport should be via truck. BNSF's train caught on fire and damaged the goods. The Carmack Amendment applies and preempts the insurance company's negligence and contract claims because one of the receiving entities in Washington where the goods departed was required to issue a separate Carmack-compliant bill of lading so that the goods could go to the intended arrival point of Ohio.
Court: USDC Western District of Washington, Judge: Lin, Filed On: January 31, 2024, Case #: 2:23cv621, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: commerce, Insurance, contract
J. Conley denies the hair care products company's motion to amend an injunction allowing the salon to be the exclusive distributor of its products in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and North Dakota. The motion, which would permit the company to sell its products on Amazon in the salon's territory, must be denied in part because the company has not met statutory notice requirements or shown good cause under Wisconsin's Fair Dealership Law. The salon's motion to amend its complaint to add the company's Swedish parent company as a defendant is granted, and the parties' joint motion to strike the case's schedule is denied.
Court: USDC Western District of Wisconsin, Judge: Conley, Filed On: November 15, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv695, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: commerce, contract, Injunction
J. Hixson finds the trial court properly entered summary judgment in favor of the car wash owner in this dispute over the sale of several car washes. A settlement agreement was executed by the parties to resolve disputes arising from the seller’s creation of additional companies to effectuate the sale. The purchaser paid himself a $100,000 commission for the project’s closure and withheld this amount from the sale price plus six month’s wages for the seller’s hiring of two of the purchaser’s employees. No party agreed in writing to pay a broker’s commission pursuant to the settlement agreement. The second amended counterclaim alleging contract breach and the third-party complaint contain new and relevant allegations and evidence and the trial court’s dismissal is reversed. Affirmed in part. Reversed in part and remanded.
Court: Arkansas Court Of Appeals, Judge: Hixson, Filed On: November 8, 2023, Case #: CV-21-461, Categories: commerce, Settlements, contract
J. Sannes declines to enter default judgment against one of the transportation firms involved in the loss of the litigant’s cargo, which included $70,000 worth of auto parts, during transport from New York to Texas. The court finds several claims are preempted by the Carmack Amendment governing interstate commerce, and the litigant fails to provide any evidence that firmly establishes the contractual arrangement between itself and those involved.
Court: USDC Northern District of New York, Judge: Sannes, Filed On: October 10, 2023, Case #: 6:22cv1081, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: commerce, Transportation, contract
J. Gorton grants a machine vision manufacturer’s motion to dismiss counterclaims brought against it by an industrial distributor, and denies the manufacturer’s motion to strike the industrial distributor’s jury demand as moot. The distributor did not have a franchise relationship with the manufacturer and has not made or been required to make in the future a payment to the manufacturer. While the distributor purchased demonstration equipment, it fails to prove that this was necessary.
Court: USDC Massachusetts, Judge: Gorton, Filed On: September 8, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv10051, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: commerce, Trade, contract
J. Rodriguez denies two NASCAR shareholders’ counterclaim for summary judgment after they did not comply with an indemnity agreement with a stock car racing team that purchased a charter. When the team discovered a security interest in the charter, it refused to pay the second half of $2 million but eventually did pay after two shareholders signed an indemnity agreement. But a third shareholder did not sign, which the other two argue means that the agreement is unenforceable. But, in North Carolina, the shareholders’ subjective belief about this and their lack of action based on that belief is not sufficient to warrant summary judgement.
Court: USDC Western District of North Carolina, Judge: Rodriguez, Filed On: August 30, 2023, Case #: 3:22cv138, NOS: Recovery of Overpayment & Enforcement of Judgment - Contract, Categories: commerce, Enforcement Of Judgments, contract
J. Russell grants a group of real estate trust firms its motion to dismiss allegations of breach of contract brought by a class of preferred shareholders after one of the firms sold shopping centers and redevelopment projects for $913 million. The same firm also merged with another that was known to be financially distressed and poorly managed. However, the firms are not considered to have breached contract because there was no liquidation or change of control to activate the shareholders’ rights to liquidation payments.
Court: USDC Maryland, Judge: Russell, Filed On: August 1, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv1103, NOS: Stockholders’ Suits - Contract, Categories: commerce, Class Action, contract
J. Duncan finds the district court properly found in favor of a Chinese company, which filled two orders made by a Texas company for computer tablets, the first of which failed on a Home Shopping Network sale. The Texas company then rejected the second batch and was sued for breach of contract. Because the Chinese firm did not breach the first order, the Texas company was not justified in its anticipatory breach of the second and was obligated to pay for the tablets and take delivery. Affirmed.
Court: 5th Circuit, Judge: Duncan, Filed On: July 18, 2023, Case #: 22-40440, Categories: commerce, contract
J. Tostrud denies the chicken processor's motion for summary judgment in its suit seeking a finding that Minnesota statutes and rules establishing parent-organization liability for the unmet obligations of their subsidiaries under certain agricultural contracts are not applicable to its contracts with Minnesota chicken growers. He grants the growers' motion for summary judgment. A choice-of-law clause does not not bind the processor to Minnesota law on its own, but Minnesota's choice-of-law principles otherwise favor applying Minnesota law to the growers' claims against the processor. Minnesota's parent-liability rules and statutes also do not violate the dormant Commerce Clause. The laws and rules therefore apply. The growers' motion for leave to amend their counterclaims is denied, since the proposed amendments are largely unnecessary in light of this and other orders.
Court: USDC Minnesota, Judge: Tostrud, Filed On: June 6, 2023, Case #: 0:19cv3040, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: commerce, Choice Of Law, contract
J. Wicks enters judgment in favor of the defendant railroad freight carriers on a stone supplier’s breach of contract and Carmack Amendment claims alleging failure to deliver stone supplies and return empty railcars in a timely manner, which ultimately resulted in the supplier going out of business. The court finds its contract claims are preempted by the Carmack Amendment, and its Carmack Amendment claims are time-barred.
Court: USDC Eastern District of New York, Judge: Wicks, Filed On: May 10, 2023, Case #: 2:20cv2381, NOS: Commerce - Other Suits, Categories: commerce, contract