http://www.morelaw.com Estoppel 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=08-35619&s=WA&d=42027 The False Claims Act (FCA) was designed to encourage reporting of false or fraudulent claims that are submitted to the federal government for approval or payment. Typically a relatora whistle-blowing employee, a business partner or competitorbrings suit for the benefit of the United States. Mortgages, Inc. v. U.S. Dist. Ct., 934 F.2d 209, 210 (9th Cir. 1991) (per curiam). The gov Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=13-08-00264-CV&s=TX&d=41974 In five issues, which can be properly construed as two, appellant, Netrana, L.L.C. ("Netrana"), challenges a summary judgment granted in favor of appellee, TXU Business Services Company ("TXU"). We affirm.I. BackgroundOn June 2, 2006, Netrana, a consulting firm, contracted with TXU to provide project management services. The agreement provided the following:ARTICLE 6: TERM OF AGREEMENTThe term du Thu, 12 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=D054136&s=CA&d=41958 Plaintiff Tammy King appeals from a judgment entered in favor of defendant Barbara Johnston. Tammy,1 a beneficiary of the Arthur L. Gilbert Testamentary Trust, sued Barbara in a civil action, alleging that Barbara had unduly influenced the trustee, Lenora Gilbert, to breach the trust.2 According to Tammy, Barbara induced Lenora to transfer a piece of trust property to herself, without consideratio Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=C059800&s=CA&d=41957 Plaintiff George Louie seeks damages against defendant BFS Retail and Commercial Operations, LLC (BFRC) for alleged violation of Californias Disabled Persons Act (Civ. Code, 54 et seq.1 (DPA)), because the countertops in BFRCs business establishments were allegedly too high to allow wheelchair access. The trial court entered judgment of dismissal upon BFRCs demurrer, concluding res jud Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=A-0308-08T30308-08T3&s=NJ&d=41947 Plaintiffs Carl and Della Darst, residents of, and owners of real property in, Blairstown Township, appeal the Law Division's validation of four discrete conditions imposed by the Township's Zoning Board of Adjustment ("the Board") when granting plaintiffs site plan approval for their property. For the reasons stated in this opinion, we affirm the trial court with respect to three of the challenge Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=56,2008&s=DE&d=41948 In this second appeal from the Superior Court, Reserves1 seeks a reversal of the trial judges reduction in damages awarded to Reserves for breach of contract and misrepresentation. Reserves argues that the trial judge erred when he offset damages based on conclusions that were unsupported by the record and the product of an illogical deductive process. With the exception of the offset of $5,461 Wed, 4 Nov 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=09-3001&s=KS&d=41926 Badwey Oil, Inc. (Badwey), appeals from the district courts entry of summary judgment in favor of ConocoPhillips Petroleum Co. (Conoco) on the ground that Badweys breach of contract claims were barred by a statute of limitations. Exercising jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291, we affirm.BackgroundSince 1960, the parties have had a business relationship, initially through their predecessors, Wed, 4 Nov 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=08-17258&s=GA&d=41878 This is an insurance case raising some questions of Georgia law.Without issuing a written reservation of rights, an insurer assumed the defense of a lawsuit for almost eleven months but stopped defending near the end of the discovery period because it decided that there was no coverage. At that point the policy holder hired its own attorneys to defend the lawsuit. About one month after the new att Fri, 30 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=2007-SC-000443-DG%202008-SC-000109-DG&s=KY&d=42017 This is an appeal from a Court of Appeals' opinion reversing the Judgment of the Warren Circuit Court in favor of Appellant/ Cross- Appellee, Tim Emberton ("Emberton"), on the grounds that his personal injury action against Appellee/Cross-Appellant, GMRI Inc . ("GMRI"), was untimely filed and thus barred by the statute of limitations. For reasons that GMRI actively concealed Emberton's probable ca Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=08-2122&s=ME&d=41883 This appeal is the second in continuing litigation by a group of members of the Passamaquoddy Tribe called Nulankeyutmonen Nkihtaqmikon--the phrase means "We Protect the Homeland," and we refer to the group as NN--to challenge a Bureau of Indian Affairs ("BIA") decision; the decision approved a lease of a plot of Passamaquoddy land for the construction and operation of a liquefied natural gas ("LN Thu, 29 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=08-3856&s=IL&d=41913 Patrick Butler, who began working as a police officer in the little village of Round Lake (Illinois) in 1997, appeals from a grant of summary judgment dismissing the case he brought against the village in 2006 under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). The basis for the dismissal was judicial estoppel. We begin with the facts.Based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, 1 it was ranked as the number one too Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=08-2924&s=&d=41770 This matter comes on before this Court on an appeal byappellant Century Indemnity Company (Century) from twoorders of the District Court, one entered May 18, 2006,granting a motion of appellee Certain Underwriters atLloyds, London (Lloyds) to compel arbitration of adisputed claim based on a set of reinsurance-of-reinsuranceagreements, and one entered May 30, 2008, denyingC Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=08-2258&s=NM&d=41849 Mark A. Pallotino, Sr. and Mark S. Pallotino, Jr. appeal from the district courts judgment entered in favor of defendants. Because the district court has not disposed of all of the federal claims presented by plaintiffs in their complaint, we must dismiss the appeal for lack of jurisdiction and remand to the district court for further proceedings.I. BackgroundThe main issue relevant to the disp Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=COA08-1262&s=NC&d=41813 James W. Powell, Jr. (plaintiff) appeals the 27 May 2008 order requiring him to execute a settlement agreement and quitclaim deed. Defendant City of Newton (the city), third-party defendant Shaver Wood Products, Inc. (Shaver), and third-party defendant W.K. Dickson Engineering, Inc. (Dickson) (collectively defendants) appeal the 19 August 2008 order denying their moti Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=COA08-1156&s=NC&d=41811 Ted and Mary Bissette (the Bissettes) appeal from orders: (1) granting plaintiffs and third-party defendants summary judgment motion, (2) dismissing their claim for breach of fiduciary duty, and (3) awarding attorneys fees for contempt and enforcement of subdivision restrictions. We affirm in part and reverse in part.FACTSMoss Creek is a single-family residential development in Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=S-12770&s=AK&d=41735 This appeal addresses a dispute between Jeffrey Labrenz and Shane and Jill Burnett over the use of land described in an easement. Labrenz has a driveway easement over the Burnetts land, and in building his driveway, Labrenz installed decorative rocks, shrubs, trees, a fence, and a gate on the Burnetts property. The superior court agreed with Labrenz that the slope of the Burnetts land nec Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=SC%2018301&s=CT&d=41652 This case presents the narrow issue of whether any claim that may be asserted against a labor and material payment bond required by General Statutes (Rev. to 1995) 49-411 must be asserted within the time limit provided in General Statutes (Rev. to 1995) 49-42 (b).2 The plaintiff, Paradigm Contract Management Company, brought this action against the defendant, St. Paul Fire and Marine Insuran Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=09-60191&s=ms&d=41630 Hurricane Katrina reduced Plaintiff-Appellant Christopher M. Wileys home to a slab. Although he carried a homeowners insurance policy from Defendant-Appellee State Farm Fire and Casualty Company (State Farm), State Farm rejected his claims thereunder because his policy contained a water damage exclusion and an anti-concurrent cause provision. Wiley subsequently entered the Mississippi Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=9-446%20/%2008-1634&s=IA&d=41716 Laura Stoneking appeals from the district courts order granting Federated Mutual Insurance Companys motion for summary judgment. Stoneking filed a petition seeking payment of underinsured motorist (UIM) benefits from Federated after she was seriously injured in an automobile collision while a passenger in a vehicle operated by T.C. Ryan Lee Simon.1 Stonekings father, Dennis Stoneking, had Wed, 7 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=125%20Nev.%20Adv.%20Op.%20No.%2044&s=NV&d=41593 Appellant Dionicia Delgado was injured when the automobile in which she was a passenger collided with another automobile, allegedly as a result of the drivers concurrent negligence. In this appeal, we consider whether a passenger, such as Dionicia, may recover under the permissive drivers insurance policy both liability benefits based on the policyholders negligence and underinsured moto Wed, 7 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=2008-1509,%20-1510&s=CA&d=41522 The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Stanford) appeals a final judgment that the asserted claims of U.S. Patents No. 5,968,730 (730 patent), No. 6,503,705 (705 patent), and No. 7,129,041 (041 patent) are invalid for obviousness. Bd. of Trs. v. Roche Molecular Sys., Inc., 563 F. Supp. 2d 1016 (N.D. Cal. 2008) (Invalidity Opinion). Ro Mon, 5 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=2009%20Opinion%20No.%20119&s=ID&d=41609 Kootenai Electric Cooperative, Inc. (KEC) appeals from the district courts summary judgment dismissal of its claim for repayment from The Lamar Corporation and The Lamar Company, L.L.C. (Lamar) of the amount that KEC paid pursuant to a judgment in a personal injury case. The judgment was rendered against KEC for injuries that James E. Kuntz suffered when he came into contact with one of KECs Fri, 2 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=B212854&s=CA&d=41591 This is an appeal from a judgment on the pleadings in an action against the City of Los Angeles (City)1 brought by two former Los Angeles police officers, Andrew Buesa and Michael Cardenas. Plaintiffs seek damages for a violation of their rights under the Public Safety Officers Procedural Bill of Rights Act (Gov. Code, 3300 et seq. (POBRA)).2 The gravamen of their complaint is that a perjured d Fri, 2 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST kent@morelaw.com (Kent Morlan) http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=2009%20OK%20CIV%20APP%2078&s=OK&d=41994 1 Krista O'Neal filed a claim in the Workers' Compensation Court against D&H Utilities Construction Company for compensation benefits as a result of the death of Jesus Chavez Olvera, (Decedent). She alleged therein she was the surviving common-law wife of Olvera.2 During the course of the workers' compensation proceeding, Plaintiff herein, Jose Gonzalez, was appointed personal representative o Thu, 1 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CST