With the internet has come an ever-growing wave of anonymous wrong-doing so businesses and individuals increasingly have to vindicate their rights by bringing a lawsuit against a fictitious entity and then, once the suit is filed, the victims can invoke the court’s subpoena power to discover the name(s) of the wrong-doers (with subpoenas to internet […]
A graph of the income stream of a professional athlete generally starts with a spike and then has a fairly swift drop and, if a player is good and lucky, has a long tail. The average length of an NFL career is three seasons or so. Video clips of particular plays will be watched and […]
Plaintiff functioned as a broker to arrange for the sale of a business in exchange for a broker fee. Defendant Merrill Lynch (and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity Inc.), purchaser, told Plaintiff that the deal could only go through financially if Plaintiff took a fee of $1.5 million rather than the $7.15 million that it […]
It is common if not universal for loan documents to provide for attorneys’ fees for costs of enforcement in the event of default but also somewhat common for courts to be reluctant to award fees — often finding some way to deny requests or discount them substantially, for example. Judge Donovan Frank, however, in this […]
The Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (CFAA), a federal statute, recognizes private causes of action for individuals damaged by computer fraud. From the “plain meaning” of the words Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, one might not think that the law would apply to the admittedly annoying situation of receipt of unwanted SMS texts on one’s […]
In a variant of the classic game show, Let’s Make a Deal, after a jury returned a $100,000 verdict for plaintiff, Judge Ericksen gave plaintiff the choice between a reduced verdict (“remittitur”) of $50,000 or another jury trial on the issue of damages. Plaintiff opted for “Jury #2” and the jury came back with damages […]
Today Yahoo! Inc. voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit brought a month ago against the NFL in the United States District Court to establish its rights to use player statistics in its fantasy football without paying licensing fees. Yahoo presumably brought its case here in Minnesota based on favorable Eighth Circuit law. The voluntary dismissal without prejudice […]
Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the defendant in the copyright infringement case brought against her by the record labels, socked with $1.9 million verdict in $80,000 increments for different songs/different record labels. Most ironic: Reba McEntire’s, “One Honest Heart”? Gloria Estefan, “Rhythm is Going to Get You”? “Don’t Stop Believin’,” by Journey? Sheryl Crow, “Run, Baby, Run”? Thomas-Rasset […]
The Thomas-Rasset trial, discussed below, appears headed to the jury. Below are the jury instructions. Jury Instructions in Thomas-Rasset Copyright Case
Plaintiff Marlyn Riley had a Cordis Corp. stent implanted in a coronary artery and, apparently, suffered a heart attack two years later when a blood clot formed at the site of the stent. The way the stent functions, it prevents build-up of new tissue on implantation by a slow release of medicine but, in doing […]