by John W. Polk | Sep 9, 2019 | Business Litigation
SANDERS, et al., v. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ___ F.3d ___, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 18-1931 (30 August 2019). Federal law prohibits several categories of persons from buying or possessing a firearm, including anyone who is an unlawful user of...
by John W. Polk | Aug 5, 2019 | Business Litigation
KNICK v. TOWNSHIP OF SCOTT, PENNSYLVANIA, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-647 (21 June 2019) The Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment states that “private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation.” The Supreme Court has long held that property...
by John W. Polk | Jul 9, 2019 | Business Litigation
Antitrust; direct purchaser rule Facts In 2007, Apple introduced the iPhone. The next year, Apple created an electronic App Store where consumers could buy apps for their iPhones. The apps sold to consumers are developed by third-party app developers, not by Apple. ...
by John W. Polk | Jul 3, 2019 | Business Litigation
GAMBLE v. UNITED STATES, ___ U.S. ___ No. 17-646 (2019) I. Facts and lower court rulings In 2008, Terance Gamble was convicted of a felony in Alabama. Subsequently, in 2015, Gamble was stopped for a traffic violation. The officer detected the odor of marijuana...
by John W. Polk | Jun 26, 2019 | Business Litigation
NIEVES v. BARTLETT, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-1174 (28 May 2019). Facts and lower court rulings Russell Bartlett was arrested during an event in Alaska called “Arctic Man,” a winter sports festival in the remote Hoodoo Mountains near Paxson, Alaska. Paxson is a small...
by John W. Polk | Jun 5, 2019 | Business Litigation
FRANCHISE TAX BOARD OF CALIFORNIA V. HYATT, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-1299 (13 May 2019). Although this case does not concern a dispute over a will, this long and costly litigation resembles the fictional Court of Chancery case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce conjured by Charles...
by John W. Polk | May 16, 2019 | Cybersecurity & Data Privacy
LAMPS PLUS, INC. v. VARELA, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-988 (24 April 2019). The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), 9 U.S.C. §2, requires courts to enforce arbitration agreements according to their terms. In Stolt-Nielsen, S.A. v. AnimalFeeds, Int’l Corp., 559 U.S. 662 (2010),...
by John W. Polk | May 9, 2019 | Business Litigation
JAM v. INTERNATIONAL FINANCE CORP., ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-1011 (27 February 2019) The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is an international organization headquartered in the United States. The IFC finances private-sector development projects in poor and...
by John W. Polk | May 6, 2019 | Employment & Labor Law
Biestek v. Berryhill, Acting Commissioner of Social Security, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-1184 (1 April 2019). For many years, Michael Biestek was a construction worker. Because of the rigors of the work, he developed medical problems: degenerative disc disease, Hepatitis...
by John W. Polk | Apr 15, 2019 | Intellectual Property
Rimini Street, Inc. v. Oracle USA, Inc., ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-1625 (4 March 2019) Oracle USA, Inc. (Oracle) develops and licenses software programs that manage data and business operations, and Oracle offers software maintenance services. Rimini Street, Inc. (Rimini)...
