Appeals Court Gives Go-Ahead on BP Investor Suit

Last year, Judge Ellison permitted the certification of a class of investors who purchased BP stocks from April 26 to May 28, 2010. Ellison, however, ruled that investors who purchased BP securities in the 2 ½-year period before the spill were not permitted to sue as a class. Disappointed, both BP and the plaintiffs’ attorneys appealed the rulings. Writing for the unanimous panel, Circuit Judge Patrick Higginbotham found that the question of BP executives’ forthrightness during the early days of the spill was “undeniably common to the class, and is susceptible of a class-wide answer.”



Baltimore Settles with Family of Freddie Gray

Gray’s family will receive $2.8 million during the 2015 fiscal year, which began in July, and $3.6 million next year. The settlement must still be approved by mayoral-controlled spending panel, which is expected on Wednesday. Gray died on April 19th while in police custody, a week after being arrested by Baltimore police. Six officers have been indicted and face a pre-trial hearing on Thursday.


Judge Approves Settlement in Silicon Valley Wage Class-Action Case

The lawsuit depicts Jobs as the mastermind behind the agreement. One email cited by the plaintiffs from 2007 involves Jobs writing to Schmidt about poaching, saying “I would be very pleased if your recruiting department would stop doing this.” Schmidt forwarded the request down the chain of command, writing “I believe we have a policy of no recruiting from Apple and this is a direct inbound request. Can you get this stopped and let me know why this is happening? I will need to send a response back to Apple quickly so please let me know as soon as you can.”


Alleged Cover-up Could Blow Roof off of Asbestos Litigation

The appeals ruling involved a class-action suit filed by relatives of alleged asbestos victims who accused BASF and Cahill of a systematic cover-up involving the destruction of key documents involving Engelhard asbestos litigation. Although the case in itself is not injury related, evidence of a cover-up could revive many previously litigated cases and cases in which plaintiffs settled for less than they would have had they attained access to factual information.


Judge Berman Overrules NFL’s Suspension of Tom Brady

The NFL has already announced that they will appeal the ruling; however it means that Brady will be permitted to start the first game of the NFL season, which begins next week. Depending on the success of the NFL’s appeal, it is still possible that Brady will have to serve the suspension at a later time.


California Joins Solitary Confinement Prison Reform Trend

As per terms of the agreement, those who have been in solitary due to gang-affiliations will have to undergo a two-year program that allows for some privileges before entering the general population. The agreement also calls for restructuring of the SHU facilities for those who are deemed too dangerous to return to the general population. These include prisoners with histories of extreme violence including murder, narcotics possession, attempted escape, and those with severe mental health problems.


Will Class-Action Lawsuit against Uber Remain in California?

I was involved in the exact same type of class-action litigation as a contractor for UPS Supply Chain Solutions, who withheld payments from me in a very similar fashion that Uber drivers are accusing their company, only instead of tips, it was a fuel surcharge. Our case also began in Northern Californa, only to have competing attorneys recruit additional plaintiffs to sue in Florida, which led to the case becoming consolidated and transferred to South Florida District Court. The case I was involved with, Dunakin vs. UPS Supply Chain Solutions, ended up being dismissed with Judge Joan Leonard ruling that individual driver’s cases were too different to be considered part of the same class.


Appeals Court Rules Supreme Court Plaza off-Limits for Demonstrations

The appeals ruling involved the civil rights of protestor Harold Hodge of Southern Maryland. In January 2011 after ignoring three warnings by Supreme Court police, Hodge was arrested while wearing a sign inside of the plaza near the front of the Court’s entrance that read, “The U.S. Gov. Allows Police to Illegally Murder and Brutalize African Americans and Hispanic People.”


9th Circuit to Debate California’s Death Penalty

The hearing also comes as California begins resuming executions this fall, introducing a new single-drug lethal injection procedure. The state had issued a defacto suspension of executions since 2006, joining many states’ concerns over the effectiveness and pain level of the established injection substances. It also comes just weeks after Connecticut’s Supreme Court commuted all of its condemned prisoners’ death sentences to life without parole. Voters in that state abolished the death penalty in 2012; however the law that was adopted only abolished it for future crimes, not for those already sentenced.