On December 10, Jammie Thomas-Rasset filed a petition for a writ certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court (meaning that she seeks review of an intermediate appellate court’s ruling against her) asking to have a jury verdict reduced on the grounds that the award is excessive and violates her due process rights. Thomas-Rasset shared 24 songs […]

When it rains, it pours. And, when your neighbor’s field dike doesn’t work properly, it floods your farm. In a new decision, the Eighth Circuit addressed this important question: How long can I wait to sue my neighbor for flooding my property?  The Answer:  2 years.

The only word that comes to mind to capture the long fight between Louis E. Kemp, Superior Seafoods, its lawyers, and Tyson Foods is “clusterf**k.”  Over the years, the dispute was litigated in California, in Minnesota state court, in Minnesota federal court, involves a concurrent lawsuit for legal malpractice against Plaintiff Kemp counsel, at least […]

In a published opinion released today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (Smith, Bye, Colloton, opinion by Smith) reaffirmed its long-held and not controversial view that “being very busy” does not qualify as “excusable neglect” for missing a court deadline and, as a result, the plaintiff in an employment discrimination case lost […]

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit heard oral argument on 1/12/10 on a case of first impression, to be decided under Missouri law as to whether an insured’s invocation of his Fifth Amendment rights violates the “cooperation clause” in his insurance policy and thereby voids coverage under the policy. The facts of […]

Strange as it may seem, the answer under current law in the Eighth Circuit and, in fact, in many federal courts across the country, is unclear. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has identified the uncertainty and two Second Circuit Judges, Leval and Cabranes, reach opposite conclusions. Having researched this some years […]

In third quarter ’09, this blog reported an Eighth Circuit decision holding that a business that did not enter into an arbitration agreement could not compel arbitration based on an arbitration clause to which it was not a party.  In today’s decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit (Melloy, J.) held under […]

Blogging on Administrative Law and the Public Sector, E.L. Lipman on his blog Within The Scope, sums it up well.

Federal courts favor enforcing arbitration clauses as a general matter; they are just following the dictates of the Federal Arbitration Act. On the other hand, litigants cannot bury their “arbitration card” and play it after first trying their luck in the federal court — a “get out of court free card.” In case there was […]

Neither disparate bargaining power nor public policy preclude enforcement of waivers in the context of ski resorts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held today.  There is no Minnesota Supreme Court decision on point, but the Eighth Circuit, analogizing the case to sky-diving or horseback-riding, activities where Minnesota courts have upheld liability […]