The legal arguments advanced in these court cases mainly concern whether the FTC has the statutory authority to enact such a ban. Shortly before the September 4, 2024 effective date of FTC’s ban on covenants not to compete,...more
By statute, judgments of state courts are entitled to the same preclusive effect in subsequent federal litigation as they would have in subsequent state court litigation. 28 U.S.C. § 1738. A recent decision by the U.S. Court...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of Delawares recent decision in Landbridge Port Services (Hong Kong) Ltd. v. Notarc Port Investment LLC further deepens the split among U.S. federal courts regarding jurisdiction under...more
On February 29, 2024, the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in Lexington Insurance Co. v. Smith (Suquamish Tribe). The Court affirmed the tribal court’s subject-matter jurisdiction over Lexington pursuant to the Tribe’s...more
The number of securities class action lawsuits increased slightly in 2023, reversing the trend of decline over the last three consecutive years, according to a report released today by Cornerstone Research and the Stanford...more
On January 12, 2024, a northern California federal district court dismissed the PFAS-related class-action case of Lowe v. Edgewell Personal Care Company on the grounds that its plaintiffs had not plausibly alleged injury from...more
Companies facing lawsuits involving alleged claims of willful acts have had a rude awakening following the ruling in The Wonderful Co. LLC et al. v. Starr Indemnity & Liability Co. by a California federal court that came at...more
How do you determine whether a case should be heard in state court or federal court? Lawsuits can be filed in either state or federal court, depending on where the litigants live or do business, the type of case, the amount...more
The London Engineering Group’s LEG 3 exclusion—one of three standard form provisions issued by the London Engineering Group addressing coverage arising from construction or design defects—is an increasingly common defects...more
On November 2, 2023, the Federal Court dismissed The Winning Combination (TWC)’s application for judicial review of Health Canada’s decision to refuse a natural health product licence for Resolve, a smoking cessation aid:...more
The Federal Court of Canada (Court) released its decision on November 16, 2023, in Responsible Plastics Use Coalition v Canada, which held that the Federal Government's labelling of all Plastic Manufactured Items (PMI) as...more
As we near a standoff in Congress on the budget, we write to remind clients about how a government shutdown would affect patent and trademark operations at the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), copyright operations at the...more
A federal judge has struck down final regulations regarding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and the program itself may not survive. The DACA program was established unilaterally in 2012 by an Obama...more
Like most healthcare entities, Indiana’s Trinity Health collects, stores, maintains and uses a large volume of particularly sensitive information about patients and others, including Personally Identifiable Information (PII)...more
Even practitioners well-accustomed to federal practice often overlook the critical rule regarding the deadline for removal when a defendant has been served through a statutory agent, an agent appointed to receive process by...more
The Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial captured the world’s attention in 2022. Two years after the couple divorced, Heard described surviving domestic violence in an op-ed for The Washington Post. Although Heard never mentioned...more
Labor lawyers, take note. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that doesn’t address employment law directly, but it certainly does indirectly. Labor lawyers in particular need to watch this. In Axon...more
This spring, join our Smart & Biggar trademark experts and gain new insights at our popular Canadian Trademarks webinar series. Each webinar provides practical tips and strategies for global brand protection in Canada, with a...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has collided with the constitutional requirement that “infamous” crimes be charged by a grand jury. For the first time in United States history, grand juries in federal courts have been suspended because...more
We all know that federal courts are courts of limited jurisdiction. What does that mean in the arbitration context? Something new as of March 31st! Federal courts do not have stand-alone jurisdiction to hear any...more
On April 28, 2022, the California Court of Appeal issued a much-anticipated decision in Wong v. Restoration Robotics, Case No. A161489, enforcing a forum selection clause contained in a corporate charter provision that...more
In a series of significant recent decisions, Judge Pamela K. Chen of the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, held that federal courts lack jurisdiction to hear claims alleging violations of New York’s wage...more
The United States District Court for the District of Kansas, applying Kansas law, has held that the notice-prejudice rule does not apply to claims-made policies. Philadelphia Indem. Ins. Co. v. Great Plains Annual Conference...more
The Federal Court of Appeal in Canada released its first ever judgment involving the review of a decision by the Pest Management Regulatory Agency (the PMRA), allowing the judicial review appeal, returning the issue to the...more
Enforcement actions by the California Department of Financial Protection typically involve either administrative proceedings or civil actions in the California state courts. Recently, however, the DFPI announced that it and...more