Civil Procedure › Business Torts › Commercial Law & Contracts

Re: Sino-Forest Corporation – When is an Indemnity Claim Really Just an Equity Claim?

When public companies are accused of accounting irregularities, class action shareholder litigation often follows. The case of Sino-Forest Corporation (“SFC”) is such an example. Weighed down by allegations of accounting...more

District Court Denies Countrywide’s Motion to Dismiss AIG Suit

On May 6, Judge Mariana Pfaelzer of the United States District Court for the Central District of California allowed American International Group, Inc. (AIG) to proceed with several of its claims against Bank of America and...more

California Civil Depositions Limited To Seven Hours Under New Law

Some attorneys are known for being long-winded time wasters who act with little regard for efficiency, especially when billing at an hourly rate. Although we believe the length of a deposition is often dictated by the...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

New York Appellate Court Reinstates Fraudulent Inducement Claim Against Goldman and M&T Bank

On May 7, New York’s First Department appellate court reinstated CIFG Assurance North America, Inc.’s fraud claim against Goldman Sachs & Co. and M&T Bank. Last May, a New York trial court dismissed CIFG’s claim for...more

District Court Denies Banks’ Motions to Dismiss Litigation Concerning Role of MBS Trustees

On May 6, Judge Katherine Forrest of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Bank of America and U.S. Bank’s motions to dismiss an action relating to their roles as trustees of Washington...more

Trial Tactics for Insurance and Corporate Defense Cases

Insurance companies and corporate defendants often begin a lawsuit at a disadvantage due to the mere fact that they are being sued by a plaintiff who alleges to have been injured and/or damaged. It is therefore crucial to...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

Litigation Management: A Win-Win

Using tools and strategies to effectively and intelligently proceed a case through the litigation process, based on the goals and expectations of a specific client, is an important part of effective legal representation. This...more

Daubert Standard For Expert Testimony Almost Applied In California

The standard for admitting expert scientific testimony in a federal trial under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure was established in the case of Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceutical (US Supreme Court, 6/28/93), then...more

Think the Government’s Claim Against You Is Time-Barred? Not So Fast!

When a company understands that the United States Government may have a claim against it, the company’s directors and officers are usually very aware of the applicable statute of limitations and the passage of time. When the...more

Laying Foundation for Meta Data and Websites

Lawsuits brought in the U.S. that result in judgments against Chinese companies often have problems with enforceability, unless the Chinese company has assets in the US or assets in another country that enforces US judgments....more

Court Issues Summary Judgment Ruling in MBIA’s RMBS Action Against Countrywide

On April 29, Justice Eileen Bransten of the New York State Supreme Court issued an opinion granting in part and denying in part competing motions for summary judgment filed by MBIA and Countrywide in connection with tort and...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

The Use And Misuse Of Expert Testimony In Bad Faith Actions

Modern trials are frequently battles of experts hired by the parties to advocate their respective positions. Bad faith actions are no different. The plaintiff and the insurer will both beat the bushes for claims handlers or...more

Court Upholds Validity of ERISA Fiduciary Indemnification

Ruling rejects DOL challenge of an agreement by a 100% ESOP-owned company to advance defense costs and indemnify a trustee....more

Blaustein, et al. v. Lord Baltimore Capital Corp., et al., C.A. No. 6685-VCN, (Del. Ch. Apr. 30, 2013) (Noble, V.C.)

In this memorandum opinion, the Court of Chancery granted defendants’ summary judgment motion dismissing claims based on the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing under a shareholders’ agreement and further denied...more

Campmor, Inc. v. Brulant, LLC

Order on Motions in Limine

An unusually detailed ruling on various pretrial motions in limine...more

Insurers: Does Your Policy Contain a Broadly Worded EIFS Exclusion? If You’re in Washington, You Might Be in Luck!

Recently, Washington courts have issued a number of opinions resolving a variety of issues against insurers. For instance, the Washington Supreme Court presumed that there is no attorney-client privilege in a bad-faith suit...more

The Illinois Supreme Court 2012: The Year in Review

During 2012, the Illinois Supreme Court filed seventy-one written opinions, thirty-nine in civil cases. Although the total opinion output was down somewhat from recent years, this represents the Court's highest number of...more

Washington Federal Judge Presumes that Liability Insurer May Not Assert Attorney-Client Privilege or Work Product Protection in...

On April 12, 2013, Judge Richard Jones of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington ruled that in a bad-faith lawsuit against a liability insurer, the judge would presume that the insurer has no...more

De-Risking On Trial? U.S. Verizon Litigation Still Active

In our March 13 webinar on de-risking defined benefit pension plans, I stated that the U.S. litigation launched by a group of Verizon retirees challenging the annuitization of their pensions was not dead, even though a...more

Supreme Court of Washington Holds that Insurers Are Not Entitled to Reimbursement of Non-Covered Defense Costs

In a 5-4 decision, the Washington Supreme Court held that an insurer may not recover defense costs incurred under a reservation of rights while the insurer’s duty to defend is undetermined. National Sur. Corp. v. Immunex...more

Bad Faith Sentinel - March 2013

In This Issue: - Southern District Of Ohio: Insurer Does Not Commit Bad Faith By Voiding Policy Due To Insured’s Failure To Promptly And Fully Cooperate With Insurer’s Fire Investigation - Pennsylvania Court...more

Who Owns Your Online Persona?

Originally published in The Recorder on March 22nd, 2013. Eagle v. Morgan, 2013-11-4303 (E.D. Pa. 2013), represents one of the first trials on the issue of who owns social media accounts: the individual employee who...more