Conflict of Laws › Business Torts

Making A Statement: The Two Faces Of Janus In The SDNY

Almost two years after the Supreme Court issued its momentous decision in Janus Capital Group, Inc. v. First Derivative Traders, 131 S. Ct. 2296 (2011), lower courts continue to reach significantly different conclusions...more

Decisions Highlight Split In Application Of Computer Fraud And Abuse Act

Trade secret claims have historically derived from state common law causes of action and, subsequently, most states’ adoption of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which codifies that common law and generally proscribes the...more

First Circuit Oral Argument Considers the Proper Standard Governing the False Claims Act’s “First-to-File” Rule

The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit recently heard oral arguments in United States ex rel. Heineman-Guta v. Guidant Corp., et al. (12-1867). During oral argument, the panel considered, among other issues,...more

Recent Federal Court Rulings Reaffirm Broad Supersession of Common Law Claims under California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act

Last month, two federal district courts reaffirmed that litigants may not plead around California's Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA) by alleging common law tort claims said to protect business information that does not...more

Does The Alabama Trade Secrets Act Limit Remedies For Theft Of Information?

Alabama enacted the Alabama Trade Secrets Act (the “ATSA”) in 1987. However, since that time, there have been relatively few reported court decisions analyzing the impact of the ATSA on common law claims. A federal district...more

Punitive Damages Exception Recognized to General Rule Precluding Direct Liability Against Employers who Admit Vicarious Liability...

The Court of Appeals for the Western District of Missouri has answered in the affirmative a question left open by the Missouri Supreme Court almost two decades ago: whether a claim for punitive damages can in fact serve as an...more

Arbitrate, don't surrender!

One-sided arbitration clauses don't survive judicial scrutiny in Maryland's state and federal courts. Maryland contract law will not enforce an arbitration clause lacking mutuality of consideration....more

Food Litigation Newsletter - February 2013

In This Issue: - Court Rules that Yogurt Dispute Belongs Before the FDA - Conclusory Allegations that Advertising is “False and Misleading” Fail Minimum Pleading Standards - 5-Hour Energy Authorized To Sue...more

Sixth Circuit: FERA False Claims Act Amendment Applies Retroactively to Cases Pending as of June 7, 2008

On November 2, 2012, the Sixth Circuit held that a 2009 amendment Congress made to the liability provisions of the False Claims Act ("FCA") applies retroactively to civil FCA cases pending as of June 7, 2008. U.S. ex rel....more

Supreme Court to Address Circuit Split Over 'Defalcation' Meaning

Originally published in The Legal Intelligencer on November 16, 2012. In a corporate system based in part on the separation of ownership and control, the relationship between principals and agents is riddled with agency...more

The ERISA Litigation Newsletter - September 2012

In This Issue: - Editor's Overview - ERISA Preemption in Provider Misrepresentation Claims: An Overview of the Jurisprudence Leading Up to the Fifth Circuit's En Banc Review of Access Mediquip and What Lies...more

Prominent Amici Urge Reversal Of Court of Chancery Refusal To Grant Preclusive Effect To Prior Rulings

In “Delaware Court of Chancery ‘Overrules’ Federal Court“, I wrote about Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster’s ruling Louisiana Municipal Police Employees’ Retirement System v. Pyott, C.A. No. 5795-VCL (Del. Ch. June 11, 2012)...more

Second Circuit Declines To Apply California Securities Law In Auction Rate Securities Case

In May 2011, I wrote about U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston’s decision allowing a purchaser of auction rate securities to pursue claims under the California Corporations Code against Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. ...more

Conflicts of Interest -- What are they, and must they all be disclosed?

The FAA sets the rule that an arbitration award may be vacated “where there was evident partiality or corruption in the arbitrators.” 9 U.S.C. Sec. 10(a) (2). We know from Commonwealth Coatings Corp. v. Continental Cas. Co.,...more

In Terrorem Impact of Securities Class Actions May Increase After Amgen

On June 11, 2012, the Supreme Court agreed to answer two critical class certification questions in a securities fraud case that could increase the in terrorem settlement value of these actions dramatically. The case, Amgen...more

Supreme Court to Revisit the Fraud-on-the-Market Presumption

Today, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal involving certification of securities fraud class actions. The case, Amgen Inc. v. Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, No. 11-1085, --- S. Ct. ----, 2012 WL 692881...more

Federal Court of Appeals Affirms Dismissal of State Law Claim of Fraud By Combination of State Substantive Law Requirements and...

Stephenson v. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), 11-1204-cv (2d Cir. 2012) (Summary Order), addresses the viability of claims against Canadian-organized PWC for fraud and negligence arising from PWC’s unqualified audit reports...more

Paris International Litigation Bulletin no. 3

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS French legislative and regulatory developments Page 4 French proceedings Page 7 UPDATES The dematerialisation of French civil procedure: More than ever a reality Page 9 Reform of the French Blocking...more

District Court in BP Securities Class Action Dismisses Non-U.S. Securities Claims on the Basis of Morrison and Effective...

In re BP p.l.c. Securities Litigation, MDL No. 10-md-2185 (S.D. Tex. Feb. 2012), is a 129-page decision comprehensively addressing the allegations underlying and the securities claims arising from the BP oil spill of...more

Post-Morrison, State Law Rather Than Federal Supports Claims By Non-U.S. Investors for Alleged Securities Fraud

We have been following the law’s development since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Morrison v. National Australia Bank (No. 08-1191). Morrison held that Section...more

TheFlyonTheWall: A Judicial Paradox? By Robert P. LoBue

Lawyers crave structure. Give them a cause of action that has several well defined elements and you can keep them occupied for days on end, arguing about each prong. If you number the elements so they can converse in code, so...more

Chevron v. Naranjo, et al.

Second Circuit Opinion Dismissing Chevron's Attempt to Bar Enforcement of Ecuador Judgment.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York issued an opinion explaining its decision to overturn a district court injunction barring enforcement of the judgment outside of Ecuador. Chevron filed suit in...more

Paris International Litigation Bulletin no. 2

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS French legislative and regulatory developments Page 4 French proceedings Page 6 European and international law Page 7 FEATURES The so-called inefficiency of the French legal system: Myth or reality...more

Not all Bankruptcy “Core” Proceedings are Created Equal: A Limitation on State Law Lender Liability Claims in Bankruptcy Court...

The scenario has become all too familiar in recent years: a borrower defaults on a loan and, when the lender pursues the loan collateral through foreclosure or other proceedings, the borrower files for bankruptcy protection....more

Does the Use of Foreign Call Centers Violate Privacy and Consumer Protection Laws?

Many companies rely on foreign call centers to help with customer service or other business needs. Now, Plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit allege that the use of such centers violates customers’ privacy and puts personal...more