Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 72: Tackling a California Bar Exam Essay: Civil Procedure
The Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar resolved a Circuit split regarding the implied certification theory as a basis for False Claims Act (FCA) liability. While...more
Because qui tam claims sound in fraud, under precedent and Rule 9(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, relators are required to plead their claims with a heightened degree of specificity that many, having limited...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has expanded its view of what a hostile work environment looks like and lowered the bar in terms of what a plaintiff must show to sufficiently allege a race-based hostile work...more
On October 17, 2022, the Supreme Court denied certiorari in three cases asking the court to resolve a circuit split regarding the application of the particularity pleading requirement for allegations of fraud in False Claims...more
Securities fraud litigation based on regulatory mishaps, environmental disasters, data breaches, sexual harassment revelations, the COVID-19 pandemic and other well-publicized events that affect stock prices has been on the...more
Several recent Delaware decisions have analyzed allegations attempting to plead breach of fiduciary duty claims against executive directors even though the underlying transaction was approved by a...more
Yesterday, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, joined by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R.-Ky., introduced the SAFE TO WORK Act, which would provide substantial and comprehensive liability protection from coronavirus-related...more
Impact of COVID-19 on Cross-Border Disputes - Cross-border disputes in the year 2020 are likely to be significantly impacted by the current outbreak of COVID-19, and disputes involving Latin America are no exception. The...more
Although courthouse activity has slowed over the past month due to COVID-19 social distancing efforts, federal courts continue to conduct business, even if remotely. Many judges have utilized this time to finalize decisions...more
This issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between October 2019 and January 2020. ...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts recently granted a TCPA defendant’s motion to dismiss, in part, because the plaintiff failed to allege plausible facts supporting an assertion that the defendant,...more
A recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit demonstrates that courts will carefully scrutinize whether civil RICO plaintiffs have satisfied the statute’s complex (and stringent) pleading...more
In August 2019, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed rulemaking that potentially would make it harder to bring disparate impact discrimination claims under the Fair Housing Act. The proposed...more
Several securities litigation trends over recent years show no signs of abating in 2020. Federal securities class action filings seem likely to remain at elevated levels. Last year, for the third consecutive year, more than...more
The law is the law, but the procedural rules and local customs and practices in federal court differ in many ways from Michigan’s state court system. Originally published in the Michigan Bar Journal Of Interest - January...more
Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! Today, we are walking through the July 2017 California bar exam question on civil procedure. This is part of our series of podcasts talking about how to approach questions on the...more
Alabama’s materialman’s lien statute (specifically, Ala. Code § 35-11-211) was intended to provide construction lenders priority over materialmen as to debts relating to construction projects, and this intent was recently...more
The US' ongoing trade wars—with various trading partners and particularly with China—are everywhere in the news. Putting politics and policy aside, the "trade wars" reflect a basic disagreement over the rules that should...more
In a text message case, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently granted Atlantic Coast Enterprise, LLC’s (“Ace”) motion to dismiss upon finding that the plaintiff had failed to plausibly allege...more
It’s common sense that, to protect a trade secret, the information must remain secret. However, when trade secret misappropriation claims arise and litigation ensues, the court and the parties involved need to understand at...more
The recent federal court opinion issued in United States ex rel. Integra Med Analytics, LLC v. Baylor Scott & White Health, et al, illustrates the continued importance of examining the plausibility of allegations made in qui...more
On July 31, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision to grant summary judgment to hospital operator HCA and dismiss relator Thomas Bingham’s allegations. Bingham v. HCA (S.D....more
On February 25, 2019, the Third Circuit held that the Federal Trade Commission cannot bring litigation in federal court based on past conduct, absent factual allegations demonstrating that a defendant “is violating or is...more
On February 25, 2019, in FTC v. Shire ViroPharma, Inc., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit confirmed that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cannot plead its way into federal court via Section 13(b) of the FTC...more
Real Property Update - Homestead: injunction for municipal violations, which prevented a spouse from returning to the property, did not destroy or "abandon" homestead protections (preventing one spouse from selling the...more