On June 27, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States decided McDonnell v. United States, No. 15-474, holding that under the Hobbs Act and federal honest services fraud statute, the “official act” that is exchanged for...more
A defendant may be convicted of conspiring to violate the Hobbs Act, 18 U. S. C. §1951, based on proof that the defendant reached an agreement with the owner of the property in question to obtain that property under color of...more
On April 19, 2016, the Supreme Court decided Franchise Tax Board of California v. Hyatt, No. 14-1175, holding that under the Full Faith and Credit Clause, U.S. Const., Art. IV, § 1, a State may not decline to apply the law of...more
On March 22, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Sturgeon v. Frost, No. 14-1209, vacating a decision of the Ninth Circuit and leaving open the possibility that Section 103(c) of the Alaska National Interest...more
3/23/2016
/ Administrative Authority ,
ANILCA ,
Declaratory Relief ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Land Preservation ,
National Park Service ,
Preemption ,
SCOTUS ,
State Sovereignty ,
Sturgeon v Frost ,
Vacated
On March 22, 2016, the Supreme Court decided Tyson Foods, Inc. v. Bouaphakeo, No. 14-1146, holding that a court may properly use representative, statistical evidence to certify a class action where each individual plaintiff...more
3/23/2016
/ Admissible Evidence ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Doffing ,
Donning ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
SCOTUS ,
Statistical Sampling ,
Tyson Foods v Bouaphakeo ,
Unpaid Overtime ,
Wage and Hour
On March 21, 2016, the Supreme Court decided Caetano v. Massachusetts, No. 14-10078, reversing the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision upholding a Massachusetts law prohibiting the possession of stun guns. The...more
On March 7, 2016, the Supreme Court decided V.L. v. E.L., No. 15-648, holding that the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the United States Constitution requires Alabama courts to grant full faith and credit to an adoption...more
On March 7, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Americold Realty Trust v. Conagra Foods, Inc., No. 14-1382, holding that, for purposes of diversity jurisdiction, a “real estate investment trust” established...more
On March 1, 2016, the Supreme Court decided Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, No. 14-181, holding that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) pre-empts Vermont’s regulatory scheme requiring...more
On December 14, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States decided DIRECTV v. Imbrugia, No. 14-462, holding that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts a California court’s interpretation of a contract to require...more
On December 1, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States decided OBB Personenverkehr AG v. Sachs, No. 13-1067, holding that the commercial-activity exception to the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act did not apply to a...more
On June 25, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc., No. 13-1371, holding that a disparate-impact claim is cognizable under the Fair...more
On June 22, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided City of Los Angeles v. Patel, No. 13-1175, holding that facial challenges can be brought under the Fourth Amendment and that a municipal ordinance requiring hotel operators to...more
6/23/2015
/ City of Los Angeles ,
City of Los Angeles v Patel ,
Due Process ,
Fourth Amendment ,
Guest Registry ,
Hotels ,
Judicial Review ,
Local Ordinance ,
Right to Privacy ,
SCOTUS ,
Warrantless Searches
On June 22, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Kinsgley v. Hendrickson, No. 13-1175, holding that to prove an excessive force claim, a pretrial detainee need show only that an officer’s deliberate use of force was...more
6/23/2015
/ Detainees ,
Due Process ,
Excessive Force ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Harmless Error ,
Jury Instructions ,
Kingsley v Hendrickson ,
Legitimate Business Interest ,
Objective Unreasonableness Standard ,
Police ,
SCOTUS
On June 15, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Kerry v. Din, concluding that when the government denies a visa to enter the United States to the alien spouse of a U.S. citizen based on the alien’s terrorist activities, the...more
On June 8, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Zivotofsky v. Kerry, No. 13-628, holding that the President of the United States has the exclusive power to grant formal recognition to a foreign sovereign.
...more
On May 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Wellness International Network, Ltd. v. Sharif, (No. 13-935), holding that Article III does not prevent bankruptcy judges from entering final judgment on claims that seek only...more
5/28/2015
/ Alter Ego ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Judicial Authority ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Stern v Marshall ,
Trust Assets ,
Wellness International Network v Sharif
On May 26, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided Commil USA, LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc., No. 13-896, holding that a defendant’s belief regarding patent validity is not a defense to a claim of induced patent...more
On May 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Kellogg Brown & Root Services, Inc,. et al., No. 12-1497, holding that the Wartime Suspension of Limitations Act (WSLA) does not apply to civil claims brought under the False...more
On May 18, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided Tibble v. Edison International, No. 13-550, holding that under the Employment Retirement Income Securities Act (ERISA), a plaintiff may timely commence a claim for...more
On May 18, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided City and County of San Francisco v. Sheehan, No. 13-1412, holding that police officers were entitled to qualified immunity against a constitutional claim based on...more
On May 18, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Harris v. Viegelahn, No. 14-400, holding that when a debtor in bankruptcy converts from a Chapter 13 payment plan to Chapter 7 liquidation, any of the debtor’s post-petition...more
On May 4, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Bullard v. Blue Hills Bank, No. 14-116, holding that a bankruptcy court’s order denying confirmation of a Chapter 13 debtor’s proposed repayment plan is not a final order and...more
On March 9, 2015, the Supreme Court decided Dept. of Transportation et al v. Ass’n of Am. Railroads No. 13-1080, holding that, based on the federal government’s control and supervision of Amtrak, Amtrak may act as a...more
On March 9, 2015, the United States Supreme Court decided Perez v. Mortgage Bankers Association, No. 13-1041, holding that a federal administrative agency does not need to use the Administrative Procedure Act’s (APA)...more