http://www.morelaw.com Corporation Law - MoreLaw.com en-us © Copyright 2008, MoreLaw.com Inc All Rights Reserved. Recent Cases kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=S-13042&s=AK&d=42050 Robin Pepper sued an Anchorage debt collection agency and its lawyers, claiming that they violated Alaskas Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act (UTPA) when they: (1) sued Pepper in state district court without first sending a written demand, (2) misrepresented to the court that Pepper was competent, and (3) applied for default judgment without first informing Peppers attorney. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=09-1004&s=CO&d=42034 Plaintiffs-Appellants Berry & Murphy, P.C. and Timothy H. Berry, P.C. (plaintiffs) appeal the district courts grant of summary judgment to Defendant- Appellee Carolina Casualty Insurance Company (Carolina Casualty) on plaintiffs claim for insurance coverage for a malpractice lawsuit. Plaintiffs filed their action in state court and Carolina Casualty removed the case to federal co Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=125%20Nev.%20Adv.%20Op.%20No.%2054&s=NV&d=42044 Appellants Patricia Fierle and her husband, Daniel Fierle, filed a complaint against Dr. Jorge Perez, members of his staff, and his professional medical corporation. The complaint stemmed from an incident where Patricia suffered severe burns from chemotherapy treatment that Dr. Perezs staff administered. After initially failing to attach an expert affidavit to the complaint, the Fierles then Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=B201439&s=CA&d=42041 Plaintiffs and Appellants St. Jude Medical S.C., Inc. (SC) and Pacesetter, Inc. (Pacesetter) (collectively, St. Jude), along with employees Deana Dowell, Steven Chapman and Claudio Plaza, sued Defendant and Cross-appellant Biosense Webster, Inc. (Biosense) to enjoin it from enforcing noncompete and nonsolicitation clauses in employment agreements used in California, including agreements it had wit Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=B200006&s=CA&d=42029 In this products liability lawsuit, plaintiffs Richard Merrill and Tamara Merrill sued defendants Leslie Controls, Inc. (Leslie Controls) and Elliott Company for Richard Merrills injuries caused by exposure to asbestos-containing products. Leslie Controls appeals from a judgment for plaintiffs. We conclude that plaintiffs have not shown that Leslie Controls manufactured, supplied, or distribute Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=A137804&s=OR&d=42046 Medford School District 549C adopted a policy that prohibits its employees from possessing firearms on school district property or at school-sponsored events. Plaintiff, a school district employee who wishes to carry a handgun while teaching, initiated this declaratory judgment action challenging the lawfulness of that policy. The scope of that challenge is a narrow one: Plaintiff contends that Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=C%2008-03251%20WHA&s=CA&d=41987 ORDER RE CROSS MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENTIn this copyright-infringement action, plaintiff Apple, Inc. and defendant Psystar Corporation have filed cross motions for summary judgment. For the following reasons, Apples motion is GRANTED and Psystars motion is DENIED.STATEMENTPlaintiff Apple Inc. launched its Macintosh computer in 1984 and its Mac OS X operating system in 2001. Apple has manu Sun, 15 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=05-08-01564-CV&s=TX&d=41983 TexVa, Inc. (TexVa) and R. Bradley Bierman (Bierman) appeal the trial court's order granting the special appearances of Cindy Hayes (Hayes) and James Boone (Boone), both residents of California. Appellants contend that the trial court erred in sustaining the special appearances of Boone and Hayes. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that Hayes' and Boone's contact Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=08-07-00121-CV&s=TX&d=41980 Is it reversible error to permit a jury to decide a case based on an instruction that is neither supported by the evidence, intended by the trial court, nor properly defined? Because we conclude that it is, we reverse and remand.FACTUAL SUMMARYDoris Penrod appeals from a take nothing judgment entered in favor of David R. Schecter, M.D., Individually, and d/b/a Schecter and Blumenfeld, P.A., follo Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=10-08-00204-CV&s=TX&d=41978 Crosstex North Texas Gathering, L.P. appeals the trial courts dismissal of Crosstexs condemnation proceeding after granting Fort Worth & Western Railroad Companys and Cen-Tex Rural Rail Transportation Districts plea to the jurisdiction. We reverse and remand. Crosstex sought to place a natural gas pipeline under a railroad right-of-way of tracks owned by Cen-Tex and operate Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=WD70525&s=MO&d=42023 Edwin Hardt and Karl Hardt (the Hardts) appeal from the circuit courts judgment dismissing for lack of standing their petition to enforce their charitable gift and the conditions thereon to the Vitae Foundation, Inc. (Vitae). We affirm.Factual and Procedural BackgroundAppellants Edwin Hardt and Karl Hardt are executors of the estate of Selma J. Hartke. Pursuant to Ms. Hartkes wi Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=S-0800225&s=WY&d=42037 [1] Alan Lords hired Joshua Collings to assist him in restoring an older home. Collings was injured while using Lords table saw. Collings filed a complaint, alleging negligence on the part of Lords. The district court granted summary judgment for Lords, and we affirm.ISSUE[2] Collings states the single issue as follows:Did the District Court err in granting summary judgment and concluding t Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=07-5596&s=TN&d=41909 This copyright-infringement case is one of several hundred filed by [Bridgeport Music, Inc., and Southfield Music, Inc.] against entities and/or individuals associated with the rap or hip-hop music industry, seeking declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, and damages from some 800 defendants for copyright infringement under the federal copyright statute, 17 U.S.C. 101 et se Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=08-6145&s=&d=41907 Plaintiff-Appellant Memphis Biofuels, LLC appeals the dismissal of its suit against Defendant-Appellee Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc. for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. Because we agree with the district court that Chickasaw Nation Industries, Inc. enjoys tribal-sovereign immunity, we AFFIRM.I. BACKGROUNDMemphis Biofuels, LLC (MBF) is a biodiesel refining company incorporated in Fri, 6 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=3:04-cv-00291-SWW&s=&d=41890 Clifton Lee, Sr., Cornelius Bennett, Larry McBride, Ozzie Green, Rodney Washington and Sylvester Rogers sued Nurcor Corporation, and Nurcor-Yamato Steel Company on civil rights violation theories claiming that they were discriminated against because of their races.The defenses asserted by Defendants are not available. Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=WD70189&s=MO&d=42026 Lees Summit Honda (Honda) appeals the judgment denying its motion to compel Ms. Ashlee Ruhl to arbitrate her individual claims against it. Ms. Ruhl filed a class action against Honda, seeking damages for its unauthorized practice of law, section 484.020,1 and its deceptive practices connected with the sale of merchandise under the Missouri Merchandising Practices Act (MPA), sections 407.010-407 Tue, 3 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=A-10/11-08&s=NJ&d=41946 The principal issue in this appeal is the award and computation of attorneys' fees arising out of a breach of contract action. Plaintiffs sought $9 million in damages for the alleged breach of two provisions in the contract and for fraud. The jury found that defendants breached one provision of the contract, rejected plaintiffs' other claims, and awarded plaintiffs $2.3 million in damages. The tri Mon, 2 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=08-30289&s=LA&d=41844 Jebaco Inc. appeals the dismissal of its federal antitrust claims against Pinnacle Entertainment and Harrahs Operating Company, Inc., along with five Harrahs subsidiaries (Harrahs). The district court dismissed the claims 1 under Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 12(c) as barred by the state action doctrine and Noerr- Pennington petitioning immunity. We affirm on the alternate ground, fully brie Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=S-12207&s=AK&d=42055 A property owner leased gravel mining rights to a lessee. The lessee in turn leased its rights to a sublessee. The sublessee assumed the lessees duty to pay royalties to the property owner and agreed to pay overriding royalties to the lessee. The lessee later assigned the overriding royalties to an assignee. After more than a decade of operating under these arrangements, the sublessee purchased Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=07-36039&s=WA&d=41838 We must decide whether the district court abused its discretion by preliminarily enjoining the enforcement of new rules promulgated by the Washington State Board of Pharmacy (Board) that require pharmacies to deliver lawfully prescribed Federal Drug Administration (FDA)approved medications and prohibit discrimination against patients, on the ground that the rules violate pharmacies Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=2006-SC-000140-DG&s=KY&d=42016 This is a consolidated appeal from a decision of the Court of Appeals in an attorney/ malpractice action and an insurance company/ bad faith action arising out of a workers compensation case. Both the successful litigant at the trial and appellate level, the Landrum 8, Shouse law firm, and the unsuccessful litigant, Kuhlman Electric Corporation, petitioned this Court for discretionary review. The Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=09-1089&s=MA&d=41881 Plaintiffs Joseph P. Donahue (Donahue) and Sonoran Scanners, Inc. (Sonoran) appeal from an order of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts granting summary judgment to defendant PerkinElmer, Inc. (PerkinElmer) on claims for breach of contract and violation of Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 93A, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A 11. These claims arise fro Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=08-3725&s=&d=41912 Three months after Derek Lewitton stopped working for ITA Software, Inc. he attempted to exercise options to purchase 138,900 shares of ITA stock. According to Lewitton, those shares vested pursuant to his employment contract during his 25- month tenure with ITA. When ITA refused to allow Lewitton to purchase more than 34,722 shares, Lewitton filed this suit in Illinois state court claiming that I Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=06-4304&s=UT&d=41858 Plaintiffs-Appellants Amy Thomson, individually and as guardian ad litem for her two children, and the estate of Chad Thomson, through Ms. Thomson as its personal representative, challenge the district courts grant of summary judgment for Defendants-Appellees Salt Lake County and Deputy Alan Morrical. First, Plaintiffs argue that it was error to grant summary judgment to Deputy Morrical on the Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=08-4120%20&%2008-4121&s=CO&d=41857 This case involves a dispute over which of two energy companies, Trans-Western Petroleum, Inc., or Wolverine Gas and Oil Corp., currently holds a valid oil and gas lease on a portion of land in Utah. Trans-Western asserts that it has a valid lease with a lease term beginning on August 17, 2004. Wolverine acknowledges that the primary term of its lease expired on August 17, 2004. However, Wolverine Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST