Law Advice

NEW ORLEANS – The Louisiana Supreme Court on Jan. 24 overturned a judgment for a woman injured in a trip and fall accident on a municipality’s sidewalk, concluding that the deviation on the walkway did not present an unreasonable risk of harm (Arlene Chambers v. Village of Moreauville, No. 2011-C-898, La. Sup.; 2012 La. LEXIS [...]

In an obscure insurance fraud case that grew into a federal courthouse spectacle, the 9th Circuit has held that a party to a joint-defense agreement doesn’t unilaterally waive privilege for the other person by lodging an ineffective-assistance of counsel claim. View full post on Law.com – Newswire

SAN FRANSISCO – The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 20 reversed a lower court’s ruling that technology liability and commercial general liability insurers’ duty to defend its insured terminated, further finding that the lower court erroneously found that an excess insurer had a duty to defend (National Union Fire Insurance Company of [...]

VENTURA, Calif. – There are issues of material fact regarding primary and excess insurers’ intent in entering into a tender agreement, a California appeals panel ruled Jan. 24, reversing a lower court’s orders in favor of the excess insurer in a dispute over $ 3.5 million that the primary insurer paid to settle a lawsuit [...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A California federal judge did not err in deeming a disputed patent invalid for claiming ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S. Code Section 101, but the same cannot be said for findings that a related patent is noninfringed, according to a Jan. 20 ruling by a divided Federal Circuit U.S. Court of [...]

RICHMOND, Va. – A West Virginia prison inmate cannot possibly meet the definition of “volunteer worker” under a general insurance policy, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 20, reversing and remanding a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling against an insurer (National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa. v. Lambert, et [...]

CHICAGO – A panel of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 20 reversed a district court ruling and said that an investor who lost millions when the company she had invested in went bankrupt had standing to sue the trustee and attorneys who advised her to make the investments (Mary Bucksbaum Scanlan [...]

WILMINGTON, Del. – The Delaware Supreme Court on Jan. 20 reversed the dismissal of a suit in which a bank seeks a portion of an equity firm’s sale of a European seafood company (Cambium Ltd. v. Trilantic Capital Partners III LP, No. 363, 2011, Del. Sup.). View full post on LexisNexis® Mealey’s™ Daily Legal News

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In a 5-2 decision reached Jan. 19, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that a farm tractor is a “dangerous instrumentality,” overturning an appellate court decision upholding the dismissal of a personal injury action (James Earl Rippy v. James Shepard, No. SC09-1677, Fla. Sup.; 2012 Fla. LEXIS 73). View full post on LexisNexis® [...]

DENVER – A lower court erred in holding that “Other Insurance” policy provisions mandated equal sharing of the defense costs in an underlying patent and trademark infringement lawsuit, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found Jan. 18, reversing and instructing the lower court to adopt the Utah Supreme Court’s recommendation to apportion the underlying [...]