Author Archives: johnpolk
by John W. Polk | July 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 emanating from Gamble’s vehicle, and he…
by John W. Polk | June 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 community of a few dozen residents. …
by John W. Polk | June 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 Dickens in his novel Bleak…
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), the Court held that a court may compel…
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 developing countries. The IFC financed the construction of a power plant in India. Local…
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 C, and depression. Eventually, he stopped working and applied for…
by John W. Polk | April 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) sells software maintenance services to Oracle’s customers and competes with…
by John W. Polk | April 8, 2019 |
Business Litigation
Lorenzo v. Securities and Exchange Commission, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-1077 (27 March 2019) SEC Rule 10b-5(b) makes it unlawful to “make any untrue statement of a material fact . . . in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.” In Janus Capital Group, Inc. v. First Derivative…
by John W. Polk | April 2, 2019 |
Employment & Labor Law
Nielsen v. Preap, ___ U.S. ___, No. 16-1363 (19 March 2019) If the government arrests an alien, because the government believes that the alien is in the United States illegally and therefore deportable, then generally the alien may apply for release on bond or parole while the question of his…
by John W. Polk | March 25, 2019 |
Employment & Labor Law
Dawson v. Steager, ___ U.S. ___, No. 17-419 (20 February 2019) In McCulloch v. Maryland, 4 Wheat. 316 (1819), the Supreme Court invoked the Constitution’s Supremacy Clause to invalidate Maryland’s attempt to tax the Bank of the United States. Chief Justice Marshall wrote: “the power to tax is the power…
