 Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.
9th Circ. Doubts SPAC Investors Can Sue Lucid Over Merger (Law360) "A Ninth Circuit panel appeared skeptical Thursday of investors' bid to revive a proposed class action alleging that Lucid duped them into buying stock in a special-purpose acquisition company ahead of the electric-vehicle maker's $11.75 billion merger, with two of three judges doubting that the SPAC investors have standing to sue. U.S. Circuit Court Judges Ryan Nelson, Ronald M. Gould and Richard C. Tallman sat on the panel."
Ninth Circuit Asks for Briefs in Washington Abortion Pill Suit (Bloomberg) "The US Supreme Court’s decision to continue allowing wide access to a drug that causes abortion prompted a federal appeals court to order supplemental briefing in a similar case. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Thursday told states to address Food & Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, and how it affected the issues being considered by the appeals court, including standing."
9th Circuit Weighs Endangered Species Act Pre-Emption of Klamath Water Rights (Capital Press) "The three-judge 9th Circuit panel overseeing the case raised concerns about the case potentially being rendered moot because OWRD withdrew the order in question after the 2023 ruling in federal court. However, litigants on both sides of the dispute agreed the underlying legal question about federal discretion to curtail water rights under ESA remains active."
Altera Claims Are Stronger After Conservation Easements Ruling (Bloomberg - Analysis) By Edward Froelich and Susan Ryba: "The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Altera v. Commissioner reversed a unanimous Tax Court opinion that the Section 482 regulation requiring sharing of stock-based compensation costs was invalid. The discussion of stare decisis in Valley Park Ranch inspired us to consider the options available to both Ninth Circuit and rest of world taxpayers who, like us, believe the Tax Court got it right in Altera."
Jury Finds Infringement in Chart Copyright Case (Law360) "In a Thursday verdict, a jury court found that Mary Lippitt and her company Enterprise Management were able to show Construx Software Builders Inc. infringed two copyright registrations. ... A Ninth Circuit panel last year reversed a summary judgment decision against Lippitt and vacated a jury verdict that Construx and McConnell were not liable for infringement. The panel said that Lippitt had a right to sue for allegedly copying registered work as well as earlier versions of that work predating the registration."
Ending Flores Settlement Won't Endanger Children, Feds Say (Law360) "Attorneys with the U.S. Department of Justice said in a reply on Wednesday to a complaint by human rights groups opposing partial termination of the settlement that the groups ‘cannot seriously dispute’ that the refusal by several states to license programs for unaccompanied children in federal custody makes compliance with the settlement's requirement for children to be placed in state-licensed facilities unfeasible.”
Judge Asks If Amazon Is Doomed to Stay in Wiretapping Suit (Law360) "A Washington federal judge questioned Thursday if Amazon Web Services Inc.'s terms of use with Capital One for call center technology ‘doom’ the cloud-computing giant's attempt to avoid a proposed class action accusing it of violating California's wiretapping law. While Amazon has said it was simply providing a service to Capital One, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin [W.D. - WA] said the key question was which company controlled the information about the calls."
Zoom's $150M Investor Deal Nears OK, but $50K Award Iffy (Law360) "A California federal judge indicated Thursday that he'll preliminarily approve Zoom's $150 million deal to end claims it misled investors by stating that it offered end-to-end encryption on its videoconferencing software, but told the plaintiffs' lawyers, ‘You're going to have to persuade me’ to award the lead plaintiff $50,000. U.S. District Judge James Donato told the parties during a San Francisco hearing that the settlement looked good at first glance, but he wanted to see more online outreach to the class members via email, social media and through a notice on the Zoom website."
'Just Crushing': Allegedly Defective IVF Products Targeted in Spate of Lawsuits (The Recorder) "Lawyers from Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein have filed four more products liability complaints in a week against medical device maker Cooper Companies and one of its subsidiaries, CooperSurgical, in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuits alleged ‘manufacturing defects’ in a product used for in vitro fertilization treatments. Twenty-seven lawsuits have been brought against the company this year in the Northern District of California."
Court Blocks Enforcement of Title IX Rules Protecting Transgender Students (Washington Post) "A federal court temporarily blocked the Education Department from enforcing new regulations aimed at protecting transgender students in schools, finding that opponents who sued to stop it are likely to prevail when the case is fully considered. It was challenged in federal court by four states — Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana and Idaho. The preliminary injunction applies in only those four states, though similar challenges are pending in other states. Thursday’s order was the first ruling in any of the cases."
High Court Refuses to Tighten Requirements for Migrant Deportations (Courthouse News) "Three migrants who said the government skirted immigration rules by sending them removal hearing notices with incomplete information lost their Supreme Court challenge on Friday when the high court found they had adequate notice of the appearances."
Bump Stock Ban Tossed Out by Supreme Court in Gun-Rights Win (Bloomberg) "A divided US Supreme Court dealt a fresh blow to firearm-regulation efforts by throwing out the federal ban on bump stocks, the attachments that let a semiautomatic rifle fire at speeds rivaling a machine gun. On a 6-3 vote along ideological lines, the justices voided a criminal prohibition put in place by the Trump administration after the 2017 Las Vegas concert massacre, when a man using bump stocks killed 60 people. The attack was the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history."
‘Very Positive Step,’ US Judge Says of New Judgeships Bill Advancing (Law.com) "’It’s a long time in coming. It’s a very positive step. We’re just holding our breath and hoping that this time the stars align and action is actually taken,’ said [U.S. District Judge Dale] Drozd [E.D. - CA], who noted that the six active-member court he sits on is now fully staffed but judges still handle an above-average caseload. The JUDGES Act would authorize 63 new permanent district court judgeships across the country over 10 years, including in states like Texas and California where judges are dealing with particularly high caseloads. A companion bill in the House has not yet been voted on." See also: Senate Judiciary Committee advances bipartisan bill to add dozens of judges to federal courts (Courthouse News)
DOJ: Phoenix Police Used Excessive Deadly Force, Violated Civil Rights (Courthouse News) "After a nearly three-year investigation into reports of misconduct amounting to civil rights violations, the Department of Justice said the Phoenix Police Department used excessive and unjustified deadly force and discriminated against Black, Hispanic and Native American people. Phoenix says it has already enacted reforms in the areas of focus in the Justice Department's investigation."
FERS 1.1% Can Significantly Boost a Federal Employee’s Pension (FedSmith) "When a FERS employee retires meeting all the criteria, age 62 and at least 20 years of service, the pension calculation changes from 1% x high-3 x years of service to 1.1% x high-3 x years of service. Did you catch the change? The factor went from 1% to 1.1%. That doesn’t seem like much, but that is a 10% raise. This would be a 10% raise in your pension for the rest of your life."
View on library website
|
