“God offers to every mind its choice between truth and repose. Take which you please - you can never have both. -- Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Intellect"

“I am a trial lawyer. … Matilda says that at dinner on a good day I sound like an affidavit.” – Mario Matthew Cuomo

“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

DECISIONS OF INTEREST

SUPREME COURT

Buckeye Check Cashing, Inc. v. Cardegna, No. 04-1264 (U.S.S.C. February 21, 2006)
With regards to contracts containing an arbitration clause, a challenge to the validity of a contract as a whole and not specifically to an arbitration clause within, must go to an arbitrator, not a court, regardless of whether it is brought in federal or state court.
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/041264.html
 
Dolan v. US Postal Serv., No. 04–848 (U.S.S.C. February 22, 2006)
Dismissal of plaintiff's Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) suit against the postal service for personal injuries suffered when she tripped and fell over mail left on her porch by postal employees is reversed where a statutory postal exception to the FTCA's waiver of sovereign immunity does not apply.
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/04848.html
 

Oregon v. Guzek, No. 04–928 (U.S.S.C. February 22, 2006)
The Constitution does not prohibit a state from limiting the innocence-related evidence a capital defendant can introduce at a sentencing proceeding to the evidence introduced at the original trial.
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/04928.html
 

Scheidler v. Nat'l Org. for Women, Inc., No. 04–1244 (U.S.S.C. February 28, 2006)
Physical violence unrelated to robbery or extortion falls outside the scope of the Hobbs Act. A judgment for respondents, a nonprofit organization supporting the availability of abortions and clinics that perform abortions, is reversed in a case brought under the Hobbs Act, RICO, and other extortion-related laws against individuals and organizations opposing legal abortion.
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/us/000/041244.html
 

2nd CIRCUIT

Skoros v. City of New York, No. 04-1229 (2d Cir. February 02, 2006)
New York City's holiday display policy for its public schools, both on its face and as applied by the defendants, comports with the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment and does not violate a parent's right to control the religious upbringing and education of her children.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/2nd/041229p.pdf
 

3rd CIRCUIT

Springer v. Henry (01/18/06 - No. 04-4124)
Jury verdict and award for plaintiff, a psychiatrist, on his claim of unlawful termination in retaliation for speech protected by the First Amendment is affirmed where there was no error of law, and the verdict was not against the weight of the evidence.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/3rd/044124p.pdf
 

10th Circuit

Aid for Women v. Foulston (03-17-06 – No. 04-3310)
Minors possess a constitutional right to informational privacy. Entry of a preliminary injunction in a challenge to a state’s reporting statute is vacated where the district court abused its discretion in entering the preliminary injunction against enforcement of the statute in the context of minors’ voluntary sexual activity with age-mates.
http://laws.lp/findlaw.com/10th/043310.html
 

11th Circuit

US v. Yates (02/13/06 – No. 02-13654)
Defendants’ convictions for mail fraud and related offenses are vacated where the testimony at trial of witnesses by two-way video teleconference from Australia violated defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to confrontation.
http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/circs/11th/0213654pv3.pdf
 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA CIRCUIT

In re: Grand Jury Subpoena, Judith Miller (02/06/06 – No. 04-3138, 04-3139, 04-3140)
Neither the First Amendment nor the federal common law provides protection for journalists’ confidential sources in the context of a grand jury investigation. If any such common law privilege exists, it is not absolute.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/dc/043138a.pdf
 

NEW YORK COURT OF APPEALS

Country Wide Ins. Co. v. Nat'l R.R. Passenger Corp., No. 7 (N.Y. February 14, 2006)
For purposes of owners' vicarious liability under state law for the negligence of those whom they allow to drive their vehicles, uncontradicted statements of both the owner and driver that the driver was operating the vehicle without the owner's permission will not necessarily warrant summary judgment for the owner. Whether summary judgment is warranted depends on the strength and plausibility of the disavowals, and whether they leave room for doubts best left for a jury.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/ny/cases/app/7opn06.pdf
 

MATTERS OF INTEREST

New York Law Journal

Concerned that many attorneys are cavalierly ignoring the rules on lawyer advertising, the New York State Bar Association is calling for statewide court-monitored oversight to provide guidance for lawyers unsure where the proper line lies, and to commence disciplinary actions against those who simply do not care. Debate on the matter was wide-ranging, with several members expressing concern over an "ambulance chasing" provision that would bar attorneys from contacting accident victims for 15 days.

http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1138788313247
 

BRIEF RELIEF - MATTERS IN PROGRESS

1. New York – enforcing trade secret confidentiality agreement
2. Florida – “look back” provision as to nursing home and home health care
3. Georgia – appeal of dismissal on basis of res judicata and collateral estoppel
4. Illinois – research on definition of churning and damage recoverable by broker
5. Research on issue of arbitration and viability of contract
6. Effect of Fair Debt Collection Act and request for copy of bill