On April 24, 2025, the California Supreme Court held that contract clauses that limit damages for injuries caused by willful tortious conduct are prohibited by Section 1668 of the California Civil Code....more
In response to a request from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to interpret the scope of California Civil Code section 1668 and its rule that parties may not contract away liability for “willful injury to the person or...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, applying California law, has affirmed a district court’s determination that California Insurance Code § 533 barred indemnity and defense costs coverage for a lawsuit...more
In the wake of a significant rise in harassment reports (6,000 more anonymous hotline submissions were reported in 2023 than the previous year) businesses face a critical question: How can they handle a rising volume of...more
On September 17, 2024, the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) issued a final rule adopting changes to federal regulations governing research misconduct involving federally funded research (Final Rule). The regulations have...more
Cases in which plaintiffs advance a claim for imposition of punitive damages are among the most likely to keep a defense lawyer up at night. Several recent cases from Florida district courts of appeal have reinforced the...more
n Mid-Century Insurance Co., v. HIVE Construction, Inc., a Colorado court of appeals recently reversed the decision of a lower court that had refused to apply the economic loss rule to a negligence claim alleging wanton or...more
Three recent decisions of the Commissioner of Education illustrate an increasing lack of tolerance for board member misconduct. A board member who violates his/her oath of office, the code of conduct or ethics or who...more
Fear of COVID-19 was not a valid reason for walking off the job, according to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania’s recent decision. Shortly after the lockdown orders were issued by Gov. Tom Wolf in March 2020, a Certified...more
In Texas, most Master Service Agreements related to the oil and gas industry provide indemnities based on who or what was injured rather than who caused the injury. For example, the standard knock-for-knock indemnity will...more
A recent Fifth Circuit decision, United States v. Nora,1 reversed a clerical employee’s convictions for conspiring to commit health care fraud, conspiring to pay or receive illegal health care kickbacks, and aiding and...more
Welcome to Consumer Law Hinsights?a monthly compilation of nationwide consumer protection cases of interest to financial services and accounts receivable management companies. This edition highlights our interactive COVID-19...more
In Robare, the D.C. Circuit clarifies the negligence and willfulness standards under Sections 206 and 207 of the Act. On April 30, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued its...more
In In re Muhs, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit was called upon to decide whether “the meaning of ‘willful and malicious’ under Alaska law is identical to the meaning of ‘willful and malicious’ under...more
In a triumph of reason over complexity, the D.C. Circuit has held that an investment adviser cannot negligently commit an intentional act. In so holding, the second highest court in the land has (once again) overturned a...more
Federal Circuit Finds Claims Issued from Reexamination Co-Pending with Appeal Ineligible Where the Changes Did Not Affect Section 101 Eligibility - In SAP AMERICA, Inc. v. InvestPic, LLC, Appeal No. 2017-2081, the...more
Federal Circuit Summary - Before Reyna, Bryson, and Hughes. Appeal from the Northern District of California. Summary: Breach of a duty of disclosure to a standards-setting organization may constitute implied waiver,...more
Federal Circuit Summary - Before O’Malley, Mayer, and Reyna. Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Summary: A case may be exceptional if: (1) fact witnesses are compensated based on the...more
In recent years the buzz in organizational criminal liability has come from so-called “individual liability” for acts of corporate wrongdoing—the idea that managers and employees are not immune from individual prosecution for...more
District Court Abused Discretion in Ignoring Federal Circuit Mandate to Reconsider Attorneys’ Fees Under Octane Fitness - In Adjustacam, LLC v. Newegg, Inc., Appeal No. 2016-1882, the Federal Circuit held that a district...more
Merck Ordered to Pay $14 Million in Attorneys’ Fees to Rival Gilead After a Patent Infringement Trial Involving Hepatitis C Drugs - On July 14, 2017, in a stunning reversal of fortune, a federal court in San Jose, CA,...more
After a two week trial in 2013, a jury convicted Mitchell J. Stein, a lawyer, of mail, wire, and securities fraud based on evidence that he fabricated press releases and purchase orders to inflate the stock price of his...more
On February 1, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed the decision of the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission (“Commission”) which imposed serious willful citations under the...more
On November 21, 2016, in a case entitled In re Monson, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the Bankruptcy Court’s decision, which held that a debtor’s conduct constituted a willful and malicious injury to a...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini commented on a case in which a former trader fraudulently purchased $1 billion in Apple shares that ultimately forced the closure of the trader's firm, Rochdale Securities. Rochdale...more