Weekly Brief: Patent Jury Awards, Law Firm Hiring, Scalia's Hat
The risk of a large verdict has always been a major factor in any litigation. In recent years, the potential for a punitive damages instruction reaching a jury and a consequent verdict has grown as well. US juries have not...more
As readers of this blog may recall, the Middle District of North Carolina recently denied Dish Network’s request for reversion of $11 million in unclaimed funds from the jury-awarded damages in a TCPA class action trial. See...more
In a procedurally complicated case involving allegations of both utility and design patent infringement, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that a district court’s piecemeal approach to a design patent...more
This morning, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a 24-page opinion affirming the district court’s judgment in favor of Amgen in its four-year long BPCIA patent ligation against...more
Following Supreme Court arguments last month, the final chapter in the long-running legal battle between Energy Transfer Partners LP (“ETP”) and Enterprise Products Partners (“Enterprise”) is finally coming to an end. ETP is...more
The Situation: The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit considered constitutional limits on statutory damages awarded under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA"). The Result: The court affirmed a...more
Eminent domain cases in Virginia involve, often, a two-stage process by which to finally resolve the acquisition of private property for public use. At the end of trial, a condemnation jury (or commission) issues a report...more
On February 25, 2019, the Supreme Court denied Power Integrations, Inc.’s (“Power Integrations”) petition for writ of certiorari. The question presented to the Court was whether a plaintiff who had proven customer demand for...more
Earlier this month, a federal jury in North Carolina hit Walmart with a $95.5 million verdict for its willful infringement of Variety Stores, Inc.’s “BACKYARD” trademarks. The jury awarded $45.5 million as a reasonable...more
A federal appeals court recently upheld a half-million dollar verdict against a small Chicago retailer after it concluded that a male employee was the victim of sex discrimination. Although the employer admitted much of the...more
In Franchina v. City of Providence, 2018 WL 550511, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 1919 (1st Cir., Jan. 25, 2018), the First Circuit offered no sympathy to the City in its appeal of a jury award that found the City’s fire department...more
If you become engaged in litigation in Arkansas, the answer to this question can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential recovery or exposure. As such, pre-judgment interest is an important consideration. This...more
In Madrigal v. Allstate Indemnity Co., Cause No. 16-55830 (9th Cir. June 15, 2017), the Ninth Circuit upheld a jury award assessing $14 million in bad faith damages, even though it was unclear whether the insurer could have...more
The Tennessee Court of Appeals, in Anderson v. Poltorak, No. M2015-02523-COA-R3-CV, filed December 29, 2016, has held that, although the plaintiff’s three (3) convictions for child pornography strictly qualified under Rule...more
Just when is an employer required to hire those taking prescription pain medications? In Clipse v. Commercial Driver Services, Inc., the Washington Court of Appeals held that Commercial Driver Services, Inc. was liable under...more
SC19297 - DiLieto v. County Obstetrics & Gynecology Group, P.C. - Plaintiff received a jury verdict of $4.5 million in this medical malpractice action due to the wrongful removal of certain organs. The plaintiff was...more
Title VII and related federal civil rights laws prohibit employers from retaliating against an employee who files a claim, participates in an investigation or opposes conduct prohibited under anti-discrimination laws....more
Texas Appeals Court Upholds $8.7M Verdict for Policyholder Against Broker - Why it matters: An appeals court in Texas upheld an $8.7 million jury verdict against a broker that procured coverage with significant...more
Trucking Company to Pay $243,000 for Subjecting African-American Employees to Racial Slurs and Nooses, Retaliation - WASHINGTON - In the latest of a series of successes in the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity...more