United States of America v. Miguel Baez Guevara, a.k.a. “Javi�

We must decide whether an Alaska law regulating campaign contributions violates the First Amendment. At issue are Alaska’s limit on contributions made by individuals to candidates, its limit on contributions made by individuals to election-related groups, its limit on political party-to-candidate contributions, and its limit on the total funds a candidate may receive from out-of-state residents. T... More...    $0 (11-29-2018 - AK)

Challenged in this case are land and water use permits allowing intensive
mineral exploration on State land. The main question we address is whether the
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) had to give public notice before issuing the
permits. Because the Alaska Constitution requires public notice when interests in land
are transferred, the answer to this question depends on wheth... More...    $0 (05-29-2015 - AK)

We address whether copyright registration of a collective work registered the component works within it.

Facts

This case was dismissed for failure to state a claim, so we assume for purposes of analysis that the facts were as pleaded in the complaint.

Alaska Stock, a stock photography agency, registered large numbers of photographs at a time, listing only some of the authors a... More...    $0 (03-18-2014 - AK)

Sea Hawk Seafoods, Inc. sued the City of Valdez for damages after Valdez applied for a grant from the State of Alaska for funding to convert Sea Hawk’s seafood processing facility into a fish meal plant but then declined to accept the $600,000 grant that the State conditionally awarded to Valdez. On pre-trial motions, the superior court dismissed Sea Hawk’s claims for breach of contract, breac... More...    $0 (07-27-2012 - AK)

In 2002, the superior court appointed a professional conservator for a mother suffering from dementia. Her daughter, who also served as special advocate, resisted the appointment. From 2002 onward, the daughter engaged in wide-ranging legal challenges to the conservator’s handling of her mother’s conservatorship. In response, the conservator incurred large legal fees, paid by the estate, in de... More...    $0 (08-19-2011 - AK)

Defendants Family Centered Services of Alaska (“FCSAâ€�) and its officers filed this interlocutory appeal challenging the district court’s conclusion that FCSA’s Therapeutic Family Homes (“Homesâ€�) are covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSAâ€�) and are subject to its overtime provisions. We conclude that the Homes are not covered by that statute because they are not an “instit... More...    $0 (06-23-2011 - AK)

An employee filed suit against her employer for wrongful termination after her union refused to take her grievance to arbitration under the applicable collective bargaining agreement. Relevant federal law required the employee to prove as part of her wrongful termination claim that her union had breached its duty of fair representation when handling her grievance.1 During trial the employer twice ... More...    $0 (04-15-2011 - AK)

A landlord sought re-possession of her condominium from a tenant. The tenant asserted he had an enforceable right to purchase the residence based on an option in his lease (the option right). After a superior court bench trial at which the tenant appeared pro se, the court ruled in favor of the landlord. The tenant appeals, arguing that the trial court erred by: (1) refusing to postpone trial to a... More...    $0 (08-13-2010 - AK)

Terry Smith injured his back while working for CSK Auto, Inc. (CSK) and brought a workers’ compensation claim. CSK arranged for Dr. Patrick Radecki to perform an independent medical examination to assess Smith’s condition. Dr. Radecki examined Smith and reported that he had no physical injury resulting from the incident. But Smith later underwent an MRI which revealed several spinal problems, ... More...    $0 (08-27-2010 - AK)

After the jury returned a favorable damages verdict, the plaintiff moved for attorney’s fees under Alaska Rule of Civil Procedure 68. Despite having a contingency fee agreement with his attorney, the plaintiff requested attorney’s fees based on his attorney’s time and hourly rate. The trial court granted the plaintiff’s motion. The defendant challenges the award, arguing that (1) it was er... More...    $0 (07-16-2010 - AK)

Valdez Fisheries Development Association, Inc., appeals an award of attorney’s fees. It argues that the fee award misinterprets this court’s earlier opinion reversing and remanding the original award of attorney’s fees in this case. We agree, and remand for recalculation of the fee award.

II. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

In May 2000 Chris Froines filed suit against Valdez Fisheries, s... More...    $0 (10-16-2009 - AK)

This case raises the question of the appropriate standard of culpability to apply to a police officer who kills a suspect in the course of investigating a suspicious car parked alongside an Alaska highway, under circumstances that suggest the officer may have helped to create an emergency situation by his own excessive actions. It comes in the context of a lawsuit brought by the parents of the vic... More...    $0 (10-23-2008 - AK)

Gary Jarvill alleges that a design defect in the boat he purchased from Porky’s Equipment, Inc. caused it to sink in its harbor slip less than three years after purchase. Jarvill appeals the superior court’s ruling that the statute of limitations bars his product defect and negligence claims. Because the evidence fails to support the trial court’s finding that Jarvill’s cause of action acc... More...    $0 (08-22-2008 - AK)

An owner of a condominium unit in a community consisting of singlefamily
homes on large parcels of land appealed the Municipality of Anchorage’s
assessment of property taxes. The owner claims that the Municipality erred by assessing
taxes against the land under and around his stand-alone condominium unit and by
inaccurately assessing the home’s value. The owner’s appeal to th... More...    $0 (07-18-2008 - AK)

Department lieutenants and captains. The Board dismissed APDCOA's petition and similarly denied its subsequent motion for reconsideration ... More...    $0 (03-12-2008 - AK)

This appeal represents the second time that this case has come befo... More...    $0 (01-18-2008 - AK)

A state-employed seaman injured on the job presents a declaratory challenge to AS 09.50.250(5), a recently enacted provision rescinding the state's waiver of sovereign immunity from suits under the federal Jones Act and referring state employees exclusively to the state workers' compensation system. The employee argues that the statute violates the Alaska Constitution's waiver of sovereig... More...    $0 (01-20-2008 - AK)

Attorney Nicholas Kittleson filed a consumer protection action against an Anchorage used car dealership on behalf of Danilo and Angelita Nelvis. Kittleson represented the Nelvises under a "hybrid" fee agreement that called for Kittleson to receive a contingent fee unless the Nelvises settled the case "for an amount that will pay less than $175.00 per hour for the time [Kittleson] invest[ed]"... More...    $0 (11-13-2007 - AK)

One January day, Coca-Cola and other private sponsors supported a "Winter Olympics Torch Relay" in Juneau, Alaska. Students were released from school so that they could watch the Olympic torch pass by. Joseph Frederick, then an 18-year-old senior at Juneau-Douglas High School, never made it to school that morning because he got ... More...    $0 (03-14-2006 - AK)

This appeal presents the question whether harassing conduct directed at female employees may violate Title VII in the absence of direct evidence that the harassing conduct or the intent that produced it was because of sex. We hold that offensive conduct that is not facially sex-specific nonetheless may violate Title VII if there is sufficient circumstantial evidence of qualitative and qua... More...    $0 (09-03-2005 - AK)

In an action to collect on a judgment against Raymond Moore, TWS, Inc. obtained a charging order against his interest in a purported mining partnership with Joe B. Hall and subsequently purchased his interest at a foreclosure sale and sued to dissolve the partnership. The superior court found that, although Moore and Hall formed a partnership at will in 1990, the partnership was dissolved i... More...    $57508 (06-23-2005 - AK)

This consolidated appeal challenges the juvenile curfew ordinance enacted by the Municipality of Anchorage. In one case, David Treacy appeals from a hearing officer's finding that he violated the ordinance and that the ordinance is constitutional. In a separate case, the Municipality of Anchorage appeals from a superior court determination that the ordinance is unconstitutional. We conclu... More...    $0 (05-16-2004 - AK)

The Family Recovery Center placed Diana Bryson and Laurence Kompkoff in the same continuing care substance abuse treatment group. According to Bryson, as part of the treatment, the Center encouraged all members of the group to contact and assist each other outside of the group setting. The Center knew that Kompkoff had an extensive criminal history of alcohol-related crimes of violence, inc... More...    $0 (04-26-2004 - AK)

K.H.’s inheritance was rapidly depleted while he was in the care of professional guardians. He sued two prior guardians, the first for breach of fiduciary duty and the second for fraud. The superior court dismissed the claims against both guardians on statute of limitations grounds. However, because neither guardian filed a final accounting that fully disclosed all financial matters, ... More...    $0 (06-20-2003 - AK)

Lois Gilbert appeals the dismissal of two cases that she filed against the Nina Plaza Condominium Association and condominium owner Steven Simonka. The superior court dismissed Gilbert's first case for failing to comply with the pretrial scheduling order. The court dismissed her second case, and subsequently refused to reopen it, for failing to properly serve the defendants. Because the superi... More...    $0 (02-14-2003 - AK)

The University of Alaska Anchorage granted pay increases to nonrepresented faculty members, but not to union members, to remedy perceived salary inequities. The union filed a grievance that progressed through arbitration. The arbitrator found that the university discriminated against union members by failing to include the members in the equity distributions. The university appealed to the sup... More...    $0 (02-21-2003 - AK)

A jury awarded Susan Anderson compensatory and punitive damages against Central Bering Sea Fishermen's Association and its president, Carl Merculief, based upon her claims of constructive retaliatory discharge, promissory estoppel, and defamation. The Association and Merculief challenge various aspects of the damages awards. We agree that the jury's award of lost earnings is excessive; however,... More...    $638000 (09-06-2002 - AK)

Two groups of tenants, the Nilsson plaintiffs and the Engler plaintiffs, sued their landlord, the Association of Village Council Presidents Regional Housing Authority (AVCP), for injuries caused by exposure to carbon monoxide emissions from their gas ranges. The contractor, R.A. Vranckaert Company, had forgotten to convert the stoves from natural gas to propane before turning the housing proje... More...    $0 (05-20-2002 - AK)

We address here claims arising from a letter sent and statements made by Alyeska Pipeline Service Company during negotiations for a proposed three-way transaction involving Alyeska, Sea Hawk Seafoods, Inc., and Valdez Fisheries Development Association, Inc. Because Valdez Fisheries’ complaint against Alyeska did not state a claim on which relief could be granted, we hold that it was not ... More...    $0 (04-19-2002 - AK)

The Cizeks appeal a superior court decision that enjoined their use of a parcel of land as an airstrip after the court held that the airstrip was not a continuing nonconforming use under Anchorage zoning laws. Because a nonconforming use of property is not maintained simply by the property's continual suitability for the use or by sporadic unauthorized use, we affirm the trial court's decis... More...    $0 (02-01-2002 - AK)

John Kaiser's medical malpractice claims were dismissed on summary judgment because he presented no expert affidavit to support his allegations. Kaiser argues that his failure to procure an expert witness arose from the superior court's failure to accurately advise him of his legal options. Because the superior court made adequate allowances for Kaiser's pro se status and did not err in th... More...    $0 (01-18-2002 - AK)

The superior court bifurcated this case, addressing separately the coverage and damages issues before it, and eventually awarded separate attorney's fees for each part. The questions presented are whether separate awards were appropriate and whether the amounts awarded were justified. We answer the first question in the affirmative, but vacate the award as to one part of the case because t... More...    $294411 (12-28-2001 - AK)

Members of the rural electrical cooperative Matanuska Electric Association, Inc. (MEA), unhappy with their coop board's plans to acquire the assets of Chugach Electric Association, formed a group called Rewire the Board (Rewire) and forced a recall election of MEA directors. During ensuing litigation, the superior court held MEA in contempt for four violations of court orders forbidding attempts... More...    $0 (12-07-2001 - AK)

Members of the rural electrical cooperative Matanuska Electric Association, Inc. (MEA), unhappy with their coop board's plans to acquire the assets of Chugach Electric Association, formed a group called Rewire the Board (Rewire) and forced a recall election of MEA directors. During ensuing litigation, the superior court held MEA in contempt for four violations of court orders forbidding att... More...    $0 (12-07-2001 - AK)

In 1999 Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer certified and prepared an initiative petition to increase the statutory excise tax on alcoholic beverages. Shortly thereafter, the Alaska Restaurant and Beverage Association, the Alaska Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant and Retailers Association, and the Alaska Wine and Spirit Wholesalers Association (collectively "ARBA") [Fn. 1] challenged the petition, clai... More...    $0 (11-09-2001 - AK)

Cora Hebert appeals the superior court's grant of defendant Fairbanks Drama Association's Civil Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings. Hebert argues that the superior court should not have granted the motion on statute of limitations grounds because her amended complaint bringing Fairbanks Drama Association (FDA) into her personal injury lawsuit relates back to a timely initial ... More...    $0 (02-23-2001 - AK)

Alpine Industries, Inc. sued Dr. Lori Feyk, a public health official with the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, for libel after she authored a p... More...    $0 (05-11-2001 - AK)

Clayton Petranovich, a lineman, suffered serious injury while working on an energized power line owned by Matanuska Electric Association (MEA). At the time, Petranovich was working for an independent contractor, and was free to choose his own methods for doing the job; MEA did not retain direct control over his work. MEA is not responsible for Petranovich's acts, thus summary judgment for ... More...    $0 (05-11-2001 - AK)