The Roundup is a monthly publication that covers the previous month’s notable class action decisions from federal appellate courts, as well as notable Supreme Court cert petitions related to class actions....more
ChatGPT may be smart enough to pass the bar exam, but lawyers should take caution before relying on the Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) platform to conduct any legal business. On June 22, 2023, Judge P. Kevin Castel of...more
New York Lawyer Who Cited Non-Existent Cases Generated by ChatGPT Now Faces Sanctions Hearing - Brief Summary- Faced with what it called an "unprecedented circumstance," a federal district court in New York (Judge P....more
On March 31, 2023, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, in the matter of Desire v. Dreamwear Inc., imposed Rule 11 sanctions in favor of an employer based on the filing of a frivolous Second...more
In an opinion first publicly released on November 3, the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) took the somewhat usual, but not unheard of, step of sanctioning the government for mishandling the administrative record (AR) in a bid...more
Circuit courts of appeal are solidifying the reach of the Supreme Court’s June 2018 decision in China Agritech v. Resh and curtailing the availability of equitable tolling in class contexts. The Supreme Court’s decision in...more
No. Micro Processing Technology, Inc. sent a letter to Plasma-Therm alleging that Plasma-Therm was infringing MPT’s patent. Plasma-Therm filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration that it did not infringe....more
...For those of us who practice regularly in the ediscovery realm, the December 1, 2015 amendment to Rule 37(e) was a much needed game-changer. In simple terms, amended Rule 37(e) eliminated the risk of the severest sanctions...more
Last year at this time, we posted about two recent orders from a federal judge in Arkansas that found Rule 11 violations and abuses of the judicial process by attorneys for both the plaintiffs and the defense. Specifically,...more
Caffeinate Labs, Inc. filed patent infringement and other unfair business practices claims against defendants Vante, Inc. and Alex Shlaferman. One claim alleged infringement of a design patent. The defendants moved to dismiss...more
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between February 2017 and April 2017. The cases address developing trends in class actions, ERISA, fiduciary duties,...more
Lawyers seeking to settle class actions pending in federal court by dismissing and refiling in state court beware! In two recent orders, a federal judge in the Western District of Arkansas ruled that the attorneys...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office recently amended 37 C.F.R. § 42.11 to include a certification requirement similar to that of Rule 11. Section 42.11 prescribes the duty of candor owed to the Patent Office. As...more
Be careful what you wish for. That was the message Middle District of Florida Judge Carlos Mendoza delivered in Claudet v. First Federal Credit Control, Inc., 14-CV-2068 (M.D. Fla. Nov. 17, 2015) to the filer of an improper...more
This month, for the second time in the last two months, Judge McGuire of the NC Business Court entered Rule 11 sanctions against a party whose attorney relied on inaccurate information from the client in making claims against...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit reversed an order sanctioning an attorney under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, holding that the district court abused its discretion in finding the attorney’s tactical...more
In Law v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (2015 S.O.S. 13–56099 – filed August 27, 2015), the Ninth Circuit joined the shortlist of Circuit Courts to hold that sanctions for bad-faith litigation tactics under 28 U.S.C. section 1927...more
It is probably a good idea for a corporation to avoid making fiduciary duty claims against its employees (unless they are also officers and directors). Clients (or their lawyers) who insist on making such claims are liable...more
On October 16, 2014, United States Magistrate Judge Jeremiah McCarthy of the Western District of New York issued a Report and Recommendation to District Judge William Skretny in which he recommended dismissal with prejudice...more
Worldwide Home Products, Inc., v. Bed, Bath and Beyond, Inc., et al. Case Number: 1:11-cv-03633-MHD - Worldwide sued Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBB) for patent infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7938300 (“Nestable...more
New York District Court Judge Shira A. Scheindlin found class counsel’s allegation that they were experienced and competent was false because they could not provide any case in which they were certified as class counsel or...more
Source Vagabond Sys. Ltd. v. Hydrapak, Inc. - Addressing the reasonableness of a pre-filing claim construction analysis in the context of Rule 11 sanctions, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the imposition of Rule 11 sanctions of $5,000 on a plaintiff’s attorney for exaggerating allegations in a complaint. As the court explained, the mere “presence of some...more
During the past several weeks public servants of all stripes have jumped into the fray with ideas on how to solve the problem of abusive patent troll litigation....more
Plaintiffs’ counsel beware: to avoid Rule 11 sanctions you might actually have to talk to “confidential witnesses” yourself and corroborate their statements before citing them in a securities fraud complaint....more