WLF Legal Pulse

Cross-posted at WLF’s Forbes.com contributor page Not even a year after fighting a bruising and costly battle over the “California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act” (Proposition 37), proponents and opponents of mandatory biotech food labeling are poised for a rematch in the state of Washington. In February, the Secretary of State’s office certified [...]

Cross-posted at WLF’s Forbes.com contributor site Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, which in part authorizes the imposition of sanctions on attorneys who sign frivolous pleadings in federal court, is not used nearly as much as it should be.  But that may be changing a little, at least in the U.S. Court of Appeals for [...]

On this third anniversary of WLF’s introduction of The Legal Pulse, we want to thank: All current and former WLF staff who have authored posts on a wide variety of issues; Our ever-growing group of Guest Contributors whose contributions lend great credibility to our humble blog; Our Featured Expert Contributors, whose ranks will be growing [...]

Featured Expert Column Beth Z. Shaw, Brake Hughes Bellermann LLP The Federal Circuit reversed a $593 million dollar judgment last week against Cordis Corporation (Saffran v. Johnson & Johnson and Cordis). An Eastern District of Texas judge had upheld a jury’s calculation of damages and had awarded an additional amount in interest, bringing the total [...]

In light of Comcast v. Behrend decision, Supreme Court remands two high-profile class actions to lower courts (On the Case) That mandatory parking fee you pay along with your concert ticket doesn’t constitute violate antitrust ruling against “tying,” says one federal judge (Antitrust Today) Is there a lesson for defense-side lawyers in the Kentucky Bar [...]

Guest Commentary by John Andren* Does a federal law making it a crime to destroy personal property or threaten an individual with a “reasonable fear of death” unconstitutionally chill free speech? It’s not surprising that the animal rights movement, whose most radical factions are prone to that sort of criminal behavior, thinks such a law [...]

The plaintiffs’ bar has long sought to impose duties under state law on doctors and manufacturers anytime there is an off-label use of a medical device.  In Riegel v. Medtronic, the Supreme Court held that states may provide a damages remedy for any claims that “parallel” federal requirements, so long as such an award does not [...]

Featured Expert Column Frank Cruz-Alvarez, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P. (co-authored with Talia Zucker, Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P.) On March 19, 2013, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a unanimous opinion in Standard Fire Insurance Company v. Knowles, No. 11-1450, 2013 WL 1104735 (2013), derailing a plaintiff’s efforts to sidestep the provisions [...]

After obtaining extension after extension from the U.S. Supreme Court (something our Rich Samp criticized here a few weeks ago), the time had come this week for the federal government to “fish or cut bait,” as it were, on whether it would urge reversal in one case involving the FDA’s graphic tobacco warnings, and oppose [...]

As we’ve mentioned before, the EPA has been stepping up its focus on “environmental justice.”  Recent evidence of EPA’s methods of EJ advocacy came with the quiet release of a draft policy paper concerning their enforcement of Title VI Civil Rights Act violations, entitled “Adversity and Compliance with Environmental Health-Based Thresholds.” (“Paper”)  WLF has serious [...]

Featured Expert Column Beth Z. Shaw, Brake Hughes Bellermann LLP A patent includes a list “claims.” The claims are supposed to describe and limit the scope of an invention. Those who draft and prosecute patent applications labor over which words to choose that will best protect and properly describe the invention. And exactly how those [...]

Cross-posted at WLF’s Forbes.com contributor page At a time when all their attempts to impose “sin taxes,” more regulation of advertising, and bans on certain products have been shot down, advocates of government intervention into America’s food choices have ratcheted up their below-the-belt demonization campaign. Words such as “toxic,” “poison,” “manipulation,” “addictive,” and “inherently dangerous” [...]

Any article authored by three current or former economists from the world’s most powerful antitrust institutions would merit the free enterprise community’s attention (even if their bylines include the standard disclaimer that their views don’t necessarily reflect the views of their employers). But the context in which a recent Competition Policy International article was released [...]

Guest Commentary by John Andren* Once directed at controlling the “social ills” of smoking, alcohol, and gambling abuses, sin taxes have become a favored tool of policy makers in their quest to make consumer’s food and drink choices for them as well. With little scientific evidence to support the effectiveness of such taxes and overwhelming [...]

Featured Expert Column Beth Z. Shaw, Brake Hughes Bellermann LLP The Federal Circuit vacated a district court’s grant of summary judgment in Move, Inc. v. Real Estate Alliance Ltd. (REAL) and remanded for a determination on induced infringement. The three judge panel (Chief Judge Rader and Judges Lourie and Moore) held that the district court [...]

At the end of our post about New York City’s much lampooned ban on certain sugary drink delivery devices (based on size), NYC Department of Health Supersizes Government, Approves Sugary Beverage Ban, we proclaimed “Let the legal challenges begin.” Of course, they were filed soon after the ban was approved. This afternoon, on the eve of [...]

Supreme Court grants Solicitor General argument time in generic drug preemption case, Mutual Pharmaceutical (Pharmalot); read WLF post to learn why this may not be a good thing California legislator pushes yet another attempt to deny “citizens” (in other words, corporations) from being able to deduct punitive damages from taxes (California Punitive Damages) FDA (with [...]

Cross-posted at WLF’s Forbes.com contributor page Gum, crackers, granola, fruit punch, cheese, nuts and nut mixes, lemonade, stuffing mix, gelatin, easy bake mac-and-cheese. A good day’s shopping for most, but for some, such as California resident Susan Ivie, this basket full of goods represents a lawsuit in the making. Ms. Ivie purchased these products, produced [...]

Cross-posted at WLF’s Forbes.com contributor page The Environmental Protection Agency has not been shy in its embrace and promotion of the “environmental justice” (EJ) movement. “Working for Environmental Justice” was one of seven priorities on EPA’s regulatory agenda last year. And its February “Plan EJ 2014 Progress Report,” full of loaded terms like “overburdened communities” [...]

Cross-posted at Forbes.com’s WLF contributor page The Supreme Court this week ruled that a group of American lawyers lack standing to challenge the 2008 law that expanded the U.S. government’s authority to engage in electronic surveillance of overseas aliens suspected of terrorism.  To hear the reaction of the ACLU and other civil liberties groups to [...]