Business Torts › Civil Remedies

Indiana Supreme Court Upholds Punitive Damages Statute

This week's post explores last week's Indiana Supreme Court decision State v. Doe that upheld the punitive damages statutory cap and allocation of 75% of any award to the state. We also take a look at what this decision...more

Unsuccessful Lawsuit By Condo Owner - The Cost Implications

In a previous blog, we reported on a case, Harvey v. Elgin Condominium Corporation No. 3, where an unhappy unit owner sued the Corporation for various alleged infractions relating to the replacement of existing wooden decks,...more

California Federal District Court Reinstates Order In Overdraft Class Action

On May 14, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California reinstated a prior order enjoining a national bank from engaging in false or misleading representations relating to certain overdraft practices and...more

First Circuit Permits Insurer to Retain Policy Premiums Despite Rescission

Courts often require insurers to return premiums (or at least offer to return them) when rescinding an insurance policy. Some states may even require it under statute. The reason is that rescission is an equitable remedy...more

Sanctions Are Issued Where Court Determines That Special Motion To Strike Was Filed For Improper Purpose

In Kleveland v. Siegel & Wolensky LLP, 2013 DAR 4961(2013) the California Courts of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District affirmed the denial of a special motion to strike and the award of costs and attorney fees as...more

Estée Lauder v. OneBeacon Insurance Group – Expanding the Scope of Discovery in Bad Faith Cases

On April 15, 2013, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York, granted the insured’s request for the production of certain claims file material and previously sealed discovery in Estée Lauder Inc. v....more

VERONICA GUTIERREZ, ERIN WALKER, and WILLIAM SMITH v WELLS FARGO BANK N.A.

CLASS ACTION FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AFTER BENCH TRIAL AWARDING $203 MILLION TO WELLS FARGO'S CALIFORNIA CUSTOMERS

CLASS ACTION FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AFTER BENCH TRIAL AWARDING $203 MILLION TO WELLS FARGO'S CALIFORNIA CUSTOMERS. A California judge ordered Wells Fargo to pay California customers $203 after finding that...more

Assured and UBS Agree to Settle RMBS Litigation for $358 Million

On May 6, monoline insurer Assured Guaranty Ltd. announced a $358 million settlement with UBS and its affiliates stemming from losses on residential mortgage-backed securities that were issued, sponsored or underwriten by...more

California Supreme Court Hears Argument on Whether Insurance Code Limits UCL Lawsuits Against Insurers

On May 8, 2013, the California Supreme Court convened to hear oral argument in Zhang v. Superior Court. The case presents the issue of whether conduct of an insurer, which is related to conduct that would violate California’s...more

Mother’s Day Post: Mother And Son Accused Of Trade Secret Theft

In honor of Mother’s Day, we note a case in which mother and son were both accused of misappropriating trade secrets....more

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA vs. JPMORGAN CHASE & CO.; CHASE BANK USA, N.A; CHASE BANKCARD SERVICES, INC.

Complaint for Fraudulent and Unlawful Debt-Collection Practices against tens of thousands of Californians.

Attorney General Kamala D. Harris today filed an enforcement action against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (Chase) alleging that the bank engaged in fraudulent and unlawful debt-collection practices against tens of thousands of...more

Bad Faith Liability Exposure: an Anvil, a Feather or an Occasional Lever?

Any company faced with a coverage denial inevitably asks the question: Will the insurance company change its position if we sue them for bad faith? The short answer to the question is usually no. In general, insurance...more

It's Not Defamation if No One Knows It's You -- Sammy Hagar Defeats Defamation Claim

The first element of defamation is sometimes forgotten. The defamatory statement must be about the plaintiff. In most instances that will be self-evident, but sometimes the identity of the person being defamed will be known...more

Who Owns an Employee’s LinkedIn Account?

LinkedIn is a social media site catering exclusively to professionals with 200 million registered users in 200 countries. For many businesses, marketing via social media is a critical component to success. Employees use...more

Sheriff Joe Costs Maricopa County Another $1.4M in Lawsuits

An Arizona developer has settled a lawsuit against Maricopa Country, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio and former County Attorney Andrew Thomas for $1.4 million. Conley Wolfswinkel had filed suit after his office was publicly...more

Credit Crunch Digest -- April 2013

This issue of the Credit Crunch Digest focuses on the dismissal of antitrust claims against major banks in Libor-related litigation; settlement in the Merrill Lynch/Bank of America merger case; settlement in the SAC Capital...more

News Of The (Shareholder Derivative) World: Record-High $139 Million Settlement In News Corp. Phone Hacking Suit

Putting an end to shareholder derivative litigation arising from News Corp.’s phone-hacking scandal, the company’s directors agreed last week to a record-breaking $139 million cash settlement. According to the plaintiffs’...more

Someone defamed my business and/or property, is there anything I can do about it?

If someone has damaged your business interests by a false and defamatory statement in Massachusetts, then this post is a must read! Contact: George E. Bourguignon, Jr. Phone: (508) 769-1359 or (413)...more

CMS Aims to Grease the Reporting Wheels for Medicare Fraud and Abuse

Proposed rule would substantially increase rewards for fraud tips and enhance billing revocation authority. On April 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) that...more

National Consumer Law Center Re: Restoring the Wisdom of the Common Law: Applying the Historical Rule Against Contractual Penalty...

NATIONAL CONSUMER LAW CENTER (NCLS) Banks Raking In Billions In Profits From Overdraft Fees The notion behind an overdraft fee — in which a bank customer is charged a penalty for overdrafting his account — is twofold:...more

No Happy Trails For Victorville Tax Increment Bond Financing

For more than thirty years, I’ve driven by, but never stopped at, the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans Museum in Victorville, California. The museum eventually relocated to Missouri but reportedly did not survive for long. Despite...more

How to Use the “Wall of Wrong” to Determine if a Proposed Defamation Case is a SLAPP -- Shaheen Sadeghi v. Delilah Snell

The tale starts with an article in OC Weekly. The article was about a guy named Shaheen Sadeghi. The article was extremely favorable to Sadeghi, referring to him as the “Curator of Cool” and discussing his amazing success in...more

Employer Liability: Respondeat Superior Doctrine

This week we discuss the doctrine of respondeat superior and its application to extend liability to an employer for the actions of its employee that fall “within the scope of employment.”...more

Arbitrator’s Creative IP Remedy Upheld Because It Furthered “General Aims Of Agreement”

In a dispute over whether an arbitrator has authority to grant a video game developer and publisher a perpetual license in the intellectual property as a remedy for the developer’s fraud and breaches of contract, the Fifth...more

What’s That Charge on My Mobile Phone Bill? The FTC Wants to Know

“Cramming” – while it sounds like the experience of being in the middle row of a cross-country flight – actually refers to unauthorized charges on phone bills. Residential and business telecommunications customers have...more