Legal News

Case Summaries

Contracts

[12/02] Lawrence v. Graubard Miller
In a suit arising from legal proceedings surrounding the administration of an estate, denial of a motion to dismiss a law firm's petition seeking to compel the payment of legal fees is affirmed where the question of whether the retainer agreement at issue was unenforceable on the basis of unconscionability, either at the time it was entered into or in retrospect, was a factual one that could not be answered at the pre-answer motion stage.

[12/02] Huschke v. Slater
In a matter involving an order for defendant attorney to pay a discovery sanction, motion to dismiss appeal is granted and court imposes monetary sanctions payable to the courts on defendant's counsel where: 1) the dispute between the parties was resolved by a settlement agreement; and 2) defendant's counsel's violation of rule 8.244 was not just unsatisfactorily explained and unreasonable, but was also injurious to the court, other parties, and taxpayers.

[11/10] Sherer v. Green Tree Servicing LLC
In a suit involving Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Fair Credit Reporting Act claims, denial of a motion to compel arbitration is reversed where the arbitration clause in question bound plaintiff to arbitrate his dispute with defendant, even though defendant was not a signatory to the original agreement. (Revised opinion)

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Commercial Law

[12/03] Andrzejewski v. Fed. Aviation Admin.
In proceedings arising after the FAA revoked petitioner's commercial pilot's license via emergency order, pilot's petition for review of an NTSB order reversing an ALJ's decision in pilot's favor is granted and the matter remanded where the NTSB's failure to give the ALJ's implicit credibility determination the requisite level of deference was contrary to NTSB precedent and, therefore, arbitrary and capricious.

[11/25] Glencoe v. Neue Sentimental Film AG
In a matter arising out of a commercial property lease, order denying defendants attorneys fees is affirmed where: 1) when a contract provides that the prevailing party is entitled to attorney fees and the plaintiff dismisses the action with prejudice after the start of trial, the defendant is not entitled to attorney fees as the prevailing party; and 2) the defendant did not make statutory offer to compromise within the meaning of Code of Civil Procedure section 998 and could not recover attorney fees as costs under that statute.

[11/24] LaBarge Pipe & Steel Co. v. First Bank
In a suit alleging tort and contract claims relating to a letter of credit issued by defendants, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part where: 1) a facsimile letter of credit presented by plaintiff was not an original letter of credit, and plaintiff's attempt to draw on the letter was therefore invalid; but 2) an "incurable defect" exception to the provisions of Uniform Customs and Practice Article 16(d) did not apply, and defendant could not raise the defective presentation as a defense to honoring the amount of plaintiff's draw on the letter of credit; and 3) plaintiff did not produce evidence that it relied on alleged negligent misrepresentations by defendants.

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Corporation & Enterprise Law

[12/01] UnitedHealth Group Inc. v. Wilmington Trust Co.
In a company's action seeking a declaratory judgment that its failure to file timely reports with the SEC violated no duties owed to its noteholders, wherein defendant-trustee asserted various counterclaims, summary judgment for plaintiff-company is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's delinquent filing of its form 10-Q did not amount to a default on the notes; and 2) plaintiff met all of its contractual and statutory duties, and noteholders were not entitled to accelerated payments.

[12/01] Crescent/Mach I Partners L.P. v. Dr. Pepper Bottling Co. of Texas
In a statutory appraisal action arising from an acquisition by merger, an order modifying the appraisal opinion is reversed where the dispute had become moot by operation of a settlement agreement, and the purported modification of the appraisal opinion therefore had no legal effect.

[11/26] Glazer Capital Mgmt., LP v. Magistri
Dismissal of a class action complaint alleging false statements contained in a merger agreement with a third party company is affirmed where the plaintiff has not pled facts that would either directly or indirectly give rise to a strong inference of scienter on the part of those officers responsible for making the false statements contained in the merger agreement.

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