Law Advice

NEW ORLEANS – A unanimous Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued an opinion on Sept. 26 reversing a decision by a federal judge in Texas to distribute residual funds from an arsenic exposure class action to charities after concluding that the distribution was an abuse of discretion; on remand, the $ 830,000 is [...]

HARRISBURG, Pa. – A man’s testimony that he used a company’s product yearly and another nine separate times, combined with evidence from which a jury could conclude that the products contained asbestos and were distributed in Pennsylvania, meets the frequency, regularity and proximity standard, a Pennsylvania appeals court held July 27 (Theresa Porretta, et al. [...]

A New York judge has barred a private equity firm executive from presenting in a pending divorce expert psychological evidence that “his unique personality traits,” or “personal capital,” enabled him to amass $450 million during a marriage of more than 30 years. View full post on Law.com – Newswire

DALLAS – A long-running dispute between former diet drug users and an attorney with whom they had not contracted was again resolved in favor of the attorney on July 14; the Fifth District Texas Court of Appeals decided that the plaintiffs had no say in how attorneys divided a contingent fee to which plaintiffs had [...]

NEW YORK – A federal judge on July 12 granted a motion filed by the liquidation trustee for Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) to disburse funds to more than 1,000 BLMIS customers who lost their investments in the Ponzi scheme (Securities Investor Protection Corp. v. Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, No. 08-1789, [...]

The New York Court of Appeals has dealt a setback to federal agencies seeking to recover funds from the ex-wife of a man charged with securities fraud, ruling that state law may allow her to keep money she got in their divorce even if it was the proceeds of fraud. View full post on Law.com [...]

Cinema Blend Legal Bickering Erupts Over 'The Crow' DistributionLatino ReviewNot really a legal battle, more of a humorous bickering session has erupted between TheWeinstein Company and Relativity Media over the remake of the 1994 film, 'The Crow' from director Alex Proyas and starring the …Weinstein Co. launches legal battle over 'The Crow'Entertainment WeeklyThe Crow reboot [...]

Brew distribution laws hinder charity beer salesChicago Sun-Times“The way the law stands right now, the only way to get beer out of here is in half-gallon growlers we fill at the taps,” said Ken McMullen, head brewer at Limestone Brewing Company, “unless we sign on with a distributor.” That problem has pulled …and more » View [...]

After a four-year battle with the 2nd Circuit over whether a required five-year minimum sentence for child pornography distribution is too harsh, a federal judge has proposed cutting in half the minimum sentence of a man who pleaded guilty. View full post on Law.com – Newswire

Kraft has filed suit against Starbucks in federal court, seeking to block Starbucks from terminating a 12-year-old deal with Kraft to sell its packaged coffee in grocery stores. View full post on Law.com – Newswire