The Law Blog of Plaintiff's Attorney Max Kennerly
At the WSJ Law Blog:
This just in: A federal jury on Monday cleared Chevron Corp. of responsibility for any human rights abuses during a violent protest on a company oil platform in Nigeria a decade ago. Click here for the recent AP story; here for a longer takeout on the case from the WSJ’s
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California, intent on proving it has too much democracy, has bought itself some tricky legal questions.
First, did the voters just revise or amend their constitution (and does that matter)? LATimes reports:
Lawyers for same-sex couples argued that the anti-gay-marriage measure was an illegal constitutional revision — not a more limited amendment, as backers
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Concurring Opinions picks up an interesting dispute between a Western District of Pennsylvania trial judge and the Third Circuit:
["How Closely Can Judges’ Opinions Mirror Filings?"] was the question at issue in the remand of Bright v. Westmoreland Cty., 341 F.Supp.2d 525, where the Third Circuit had suggested that the district judge’s opinion was
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The NYTimes has an article today:
Until recently, the impact of Title IX, the law forbidding sexual discrimination in education, has been limited mostly to sports. But now, under pressure from Congress, some federal agencies have quietly picked a new target: science.
The National Science Foundation, NASA and the Department of Energy have set
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You could do worse than to read this elegant critique by Jack Balkin of Scalia’s opinion.
And here is the point: The argument that the Second Amendment constitutionalized the right of self-defense does not follow directly from the Amendment’s original meaning, as Scalia claims it does. Just because a reading is consistent with original meaning,
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SCOTUSBlog, of course, gets the jump on the first analysis of Heller v. DC, striking down the gun ban, noting:
Second, what standard of review will apply [to future cases]? Scalia rejects rational basis (note 27 page 56, which the District did not urge) and says that the District law falls under any other
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From the Exxon v. Baker decision, which, under federal maritime law (foreshadowing future rulings on state civil law), cut a $2.5 billion punitive damages award down to $500 million, for a 1:1 ratio with compensatory damages:
The common sense of justice would surely bar penalties that reasonable people would think excessive for the harm
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Via How Appealing:
The Boston Globe today contains an article that begins, "The Wilmer Hale law firm, one of the largest and most respected in Boston, has a reputation for championing unpopular causes: President Nixon during impeachment. The US Army during the McCarthy hearings. Even defending serial killer Ted Bundy. But the firm’s past
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A question about employment discrimination in Pennsylvania:
I have recently been terminated from my place of employment. The reason give was failure to ring up my employee meal, which I did once brought to my attention. A manager was not around to do so at the time. They have been cutting back my hours
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West Virginia Business Litigation details an interesting case:
The lawsuit alleges that Frank, a former West Virginia Grand Master, was expelled from the Masons as a result of his successful efforts to reform the organization and eliminate practices that were, at best, anachronistic and, at worst, illegal …
Plaintiff Haas’ goal was to make
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