(United States Fifth Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. Subject matter jurisdiction is determined when the federal court's jurisdiction is first invoked, so although subsequent changes eliminated the basis for jurisdiction the propriety at the time of filing supported the continuation of the case. [...]

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Affirmed. The bankruptcy court's rejection of a Texas Port Authority's claims of sovereign immunity and fraud in their gambit to invalidate a bankruptcy sale that extinguished an easement they held was affirmed because there was no Eleventh Amendment violation or basis to claim fraud. [...]

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Affirmed. A bankruptcy court's denial of a request to discharge a 60 year-old disabled former student's debt was affirmed. She failed to establish a showing of undue hardship. She had shown an inability to maintain a minimal standard of living because expenses exceeded income, but couldn't establish that her current condition would persist for a significant portion of the loan repayment period. [...]

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. A district court decision affirming a Bankruptcy Court order to remit funds to the trustee of a bankruptcy estate was part of the proceeds of an unauthorized post-petition transfer. [...]

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. The Illinois Child Care Assistance Program could not collect overpayments made to debtors under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program who filed for bankruptcy. [...]

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Held that bankruptcy debtors could not appeal the denial of their motion for sanctions, because they had not filed a petition for permission to appeal, as required under Federal Rule of Bankruptcy Procedure 8006(g). Criticized two circuit precedents that appeared to recognize exceptions to this procedural requirement. [...]

(United States Supreme Court) - Clarified the circumstances in which a court may hold a creditor in civil contempt for attempting to collect a debt that a bankruptcy discharge order has immunized from collection. Held that there should be "no fair ground of doubt" that the order barred the creditor's conduct. Justice Breyer delivered the opinion for a unanimous Court. [...]

(United States Supreme Court) - Held that a bankrupt company's rejection of a trademark licensing agreement did not deprive its licensee of the rights to use the trademark. The U.S. Supreme Court interpreted Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code, which enables a debtor to reject any executory contract, meaning a contract that neither party has finished performing. Justice Kagan delivered the opinion of the 8-1 Court. [...]

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Reversed and remanded. Plaintiff received over-payment of Social Security disability payments and the SSA sought to recoup the over-payment. Plaintiff claimed that the SSA collected the over-payment before considering plaintiff's waiver request. Plaintiff also filed for bankruptcy and lodged an adversarial proceeding against the SSA which the bankruptcy court dismissed. The issue for the Fifth circuit was whether the bankruptcy court had jurisdiction to hear plaintiff's claims. The Fifth circuit ruled that the bankruptcy court had jurisdiction and remanded to the bankruptcy court. [...]

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Held that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy debtor was not entitled to a discharge of debt because of fraudulent omissions in financial disclosures. Affirmed a ruling after a bench trial. [...]

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that a bankruptcy trustee could conduct a public auction of certain real estate owned by a Chapter 7 debtor, even though one of the tracts of land was already under contract. Affirmed the decisions below. [...]

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Held that a shareholder could not seek statutory damages from a creditor after helping a debtor company defend against an involuntary bankruptcy petition. Affirmed the decision below. [...]

(United States Fifth Circuit) - In a lien contest among creditors of a bankrupt commercial farm, held that a bank's lien outranked the agricultural liens of nurseries that sold the farm trees and shrubs. Affirmed a summary judgment ruling. [...]

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In the bankruptcy proceeding of a distributor of bulk petroleum products, held that a consignor's unperfected security interest in fuel and monetary proceeds was subordinate to the trustee's interest. Affirmed the judgment below. [...]

(United States Second Circuit) - Held that a bankruptcy trustee may attempt to obtain property that Bernard Madoff's investment firm transferred to foreign entities that subsequently transferred it to other foreign entities. The transferees contended that the Bankruptcy Code's provisions did not extend extraterritorially in this manner. Disagreeing, the Second Circuit held that neither the presumption against extraterritoriality nor international comity principles barred the trustee from recovering in these consolidated actions. The panel vacated the bankruptcy court judgments and remanded. [...]

(California Court of Appeal) - In a case where a creditor sought to collect a judgment, held that California's Uniform Voidable Transactions Act may apply to a fraudulent agreement between spouses to prevent collection of the debt. The debtor's premarital agreement here said that each spouse's earnings and other property acquired during marriage would not become community property. [...]

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that bankruptcy trustees are entitled to qualified immunity for personal harms caused by actions that, while not pursuant to a court order, fall within the scope of their official duties. Affirmed the dismissal of an adversary proceeding against a bankruptcy trustee. [...]

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that energy companies emerging from bankruptcy did not have to pay certain creditors a contractual make-whole amount, even though the companies were now solvent due to a rise in commodity prices. Vacated and remanded. [...]

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Held that a fired chief executive officer could sue the company's secured creditor in state court. Affirmed that his tortious interference claim belonged in state court rather than in the company's bankruptcy proceeding. [...]

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In a case involving the City of Stockton's municipal bankruptcy, dismissed an appeal filed by a person who objected to confirmation of the city's Chapter 9 plan. Held that his appeal was equitably moot. Also held that his claims failed on the merits. [...]

(California Court of Appeal) - Dismissed. Plaintiff and Defendant were married and shared a dental practice. When they divorced they each opened competing dental practices. Plaintiff filed suit alleging misappropriated trade secrets, economic damage, and unfair competition. Defendant brought an anti-SLAPP motion on the grounds that advertising and notices to patients were protected activities. The trial court found that anti-SLAPP motion fell into the commercial speech exemption under CCP section 425.17. The appeals court agreed stating that the commercial speech exemption was not immediately appealable and therefore the appeals court had no jurisdiction to hear the appeal. [...]

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Reversed. The court reversed the dismissal of a class action consumer fraud and deceptive business case involving cat food labeled prescription cat food that was not materially different from regular cat food. The fraud claim was sufficiently pled and the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act's safe harbor didn't apply. [...]

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendant in an action under the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act, which prohibits the use and disclosure of personal information derived from Department of Motor Vehicles records. [...]

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Reversed district court’s dismissal of Plaintiff’s enforcement action against Defendant for alleged fraud in precious metal sales. Defendant maintained that there was an exception in the Commodity Exchange Act for retail commodity sales. Held that the burden was on the Defendant to prove that the exception applied and the exception could be satisfied if the commodity sat in a third-party depository. However, that was not the case in this suit. Plaintiff was not barred from bringing suit and the action should not have been dismissed. Remanded for further proceedings. [...]

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirmed. An organization of wireless providers appealed the district court's denial of a preliminary injunction in their challenge of a Berkeley ordinance requiring cell phone retailers to warn potential buyers that carrying a phone could cause them to exceed FCC guidelines for exposure to radio-frequency radiation. [...]

(California Court of Appeal) - In a debt collection action, the court found that Defendant was liable for the debt, but found that the trial court erred by awarding Plaintiff attorney fees related to the defense of counterclaims. [...]

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Plaintiff brought class action suit against Defendant, Coca-Cola Company alleging misleading naming and marketing of “Diet Coke”. District court dismissed all claims under Federal Rule 12(b)(6). Appeals court that the adjective “diet” referred to caloric content and carries a relative meaning and not an absolute meaning. [...]

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In an enforcement action brought by the Federal Trade Commission, affirmed a preliminary injunction freezing the assets of companies that allegedly had made deceptive representations regarding loan modification services. [...]

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Held that a car purchaser did not raise a triable issue that a dealership failed to provide customers promised add-ons. Also addressed an issue under the Class Action Fairness Act relating to removal jurisdiction. Affirmed the decision below. [...]

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Revived a tenant's lawsuit against a company that screens prospective tenants. He brought the suit after being denied housing due to criminal history disclosures appearing in his tenant screening report. Reversed the dismissal of his claims under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and several California statutes. [...]

(California Court of Appeal) - Upheld sanctions that the Department of Motor Vehicles imposed on a car dealer. The dealer should have returned buyers' down payments when it repossessed the cars after the buyers failed to obtain financing. [...]

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Held that the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's structure is constitutionally permissible. A law firm raised the argument in contending that it was not required to comply with the bureau's investigative demand to respond to interrogatories about its debt relief services and marketing. The Ninth Circuit rejected the law firm's position. [...]

(United States Second Circuit) - Held that tribal sovereign immunity did not bar borrowers from pursuing legal relief against an online lending business owned by an Indian tribe. The borrowers contended that the loans had unlawfully high interest rates. Affirmed the denial of a motion to dismiss on grounds of sovereign immunity. [...]

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Revived businesses' claims that they were sent unsolicited fax advertisements in violation of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Reversed a dismissal, in a case raising issues of standing to sue. [...]

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Revived a consumer's claim that a nonprofit corporation involved in student loans was vicariously liable for violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, because it had ratified student loan debt collectors' illegal calling practices. Reversed a summary judgment ruling. [...]

(California Court of Appeal) - Reversed most of a judgment against a mobile home park. The residents contended that the park breached their contracts and violated various laws, and a jury rendered a verdict in their favor. However, the California Court of Appeal held that the award of damages could not be sustained under any of the theories of liability presented to the jury. [...]

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Held that a debt collector did not violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act by reporting to a credit bureau that a debtor had nine unpaid bills of $60, rather than simply indicating an aggregate debt of $540. Reversed the district court, in this case involving co-pays for physical therapy sessions. [...]

(United States Second Circuit) - Held that thirteen collection agencies violated federal law in collecting payday loan and other debts. Affirmed summary judgment in favor of the Federal Trade Commission in this civil enforcement action against the collection agencies and their co-owners. [...]

(United States Second Circuit) - Held that an arbitration clause in an online consumer contract was unenforceable because the consumer did not have reasonable notice of and manifest his assent to it. The consumer was suing a company that sells protection plans for consumer products. Affirmed the denial of the company's motion to compel arbitration. [...]

(California Court of Appeal) - Held that the trial court improperly reduced the amount of attorney fees to which vehicle purchasers were entitled after prevailing in a lemon law suit. Reversed and remanded with instructions to award the plaintiffs reasonable attorney fees. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - Conviction for criminal possession of a weapon is affirmed where: 1) defendant failed to preserve his argument that the trial court erred by re-imposing the original sentence after reversal on appeal; and 2) defense counsel's failure to challenge the resentencing was not ineffective assistance of counsel. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In a negligence action, the Appellate Division's grant of defendant's motion for summary judgment is reversed where there is a material question as to whether the escape of defendant's calf onto the road was a proximate cause of decedent's death in car accident while she was trying to assist. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - Conviction for manslaughter is reversed where the trial court abused its discretion by prohibiting defense counsel from questioning prospective jurors about their views on involuntary confessions. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - Conviction for coercion in the first-degree relating to defendant's harassment of his ex-girlfriend, both while still living at her apartment and from jail, is affirmed where: 1) defendant failed to preserve his argument that the court committed Apprendi error; and 2) defendant's sought jury instruction for second-degree coercion as a lesser-included offense was not warranted. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - Conviction for second-degree murder is affirmed where defendant's trial counsel did not commit ineffective assistance of counsel in pursuing a misidentification defense while not advancing an inconsistent justification defense, after defendant decided on the strategy and denied that he was the person depicted shooting the victim on a surveillance video recording. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - Conviction for manslaughter and possession of a weapon is affirmed where the trial court's supplemental instruction to the jury to continue deliberating, following the jury's return of a verdict which polling determined not to be unanimous, did not deprive defendant of a fair trial. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In a contracts action arising from a dispute over the auction sale of a syndicated loan, the Appellate Division's grant of defendant's motion for summary judgment is reversed where the lack of a written sales agreement and plaintiffs' failure to submit a timely cash deposit were not conditions precedent to the formation of the parties' contract and do not render their agreement unenforceable. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In an election law action, concerning whether Steven Glickman, a candidate for the state senate, is eligible to run for that office, the Appellate Division's judgment that he was eligible is reversed where Glickman's 2014 registration to vote in Washington, D.C. precludes him as a matter of law from establishing the five years of continuous residency in New York required by the state constitution. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - Conviction for multiple counts of robbery and larceny is affirmed where the People's use of defendant's non-privileged telephone conversations, made while in custody at Rikers Island, did not violate defendant's Sixth Amendment right to counsel and the dissemination of recordings of conversations at the District Attorney's request does not violate state law. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - Conviction for assaults and related offenses is affirmed where a parent or guardian can vicariously consent on behalf of a child to create an audio or video recording of a conversation to which the child is a party, pursuant to Penal Code section 250.00 (2), provided that the parent or guardian has a good faith, objectively reasonable basis to believe that it is necessary in order to serve the best interests of his or her minor child. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In a personal injury action, arising after plaintiff, a minor child, was exposed to lead at her grandmother's apartment where she was cared for during the day, the Supreme Court's dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where plaintiff child' did not 'reside' at her grandmother's apartment for the purposes of section 27-2013[h][1] of the Administrative Code of the City of NY, which requires landlords to remove lead-based paint in any dwelling in which a child six year of age and under resides. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In a health action challenging the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPHRP)'s regulation prohibiting smoking in certain outdoor locations, the Appellate Division's order is affirmed where the OPRHP acted within the confines of legislation in enacting the regulation at issue. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In an injury and tort action, brought against defendants ABC News, a hospital, and attending physician for the nonconsensual filming and subsequent broadcast of decedent's treatment and death at the hospital, the Appellative Division's order is modified and affirmed where: 1) the broadcasting of the footage as part of a documentary series about medical trauma was not so extreme and outrageous as to support an intentional infliction of emotional distress claim; but 2) plaintiffs have stated a cause of action against the hospital and treating physician for breach of physician-patient confidentiality. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In a trusts and estates action, the Appellate Divisions' order is affirmed where defendant, the wife of decedent, founder of the Benihana restaurant chain, failed to raise a triable issue of fact that two irrevocable releases signed by decedent were signed as a result of fraud or other wrongful conduct. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - Conviction for first-degree burglary and assault is affirmed where: 1) defendant's right to a trial by jury was not impaired by the trial court's failure to adhere to the statutory procedural protection for excusing potential jurors for hardship; 2) the trial court did not abuse its discretion by excluding defendant's third-party culpability evidence as not probative and speculative; and 3) the prosecutor's reference to defendant's gender in summation was inexcusable and irrelevant, but defense counsel's failure to object was not ineffective assistance of counsel. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - Conviction for murder in the second degree and related offenses are affirmed where the trial court: 1) properly permitted the People to call a government witness who invoked his Fifth Amendment rights before receiving immunity; 2) properly permitted the government to use a redacted statement for the limited purpose of impeaching its own witness; and 3) did not abuse its discretion by precluding defendant's expert from testifying with regard to the effects of event stress on eyewitness identification. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - Conviction for murder in the second degree and related offenses are affirmed where the trial court: 1) properly permitted the People to call a government witness who invoked his Fifth Amendment rights before receiving immunity; 2) properly permitted the government to use a redacted statement for the limited purpose of impeaching its own witness; and 3) did not abuse its discretion by precluding defendant's expert from testifying with regard to the effects of event stress on eyewitness identification. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In a real estate and property action, arising after the Manhattan Department of Buildings revoked plaintiff's erroneously-issued permit for a large outdoor advertising sign, the order of the Appellate Division is reversed where: 1) plaintiff did not acquire a vested right to maintain the sign on its property through its reliance on the erroneously issued permit; and 2) the issue of plaintiff's good-faith reliance on the erroneously-issued permit is properly raised in an application for a zoning variance. [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - In a false arrest case contending that police invented a false confession to aid in the prosecution of plaintiff, in violation of 42 U.S.C. section 1983 and New York common law, the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to defendants is: 1) reversed where plaintiff has pleaded sufficient facts to constitute violations of New York's false arrest and malicious prosecution claims and 42 U.S.C. section 1983 claims against individually-named plaintiffs; and 2) affirmed as to the City of New York and New York City Police Department in accordance with Monell v. N.Y.C. Dept. of Soc. Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978). [...]

(Court of Appeals of New York) - Conviction for course of sexual conduct against a child in the first degree and endangering the welfare of a child are affirmed where defense counsel did not render ineffective assistance by: 1) not calling an expert witness to testify that the absence of physical evidence on the victim three years after the last alleged incident could indicate the victim was never anally raped by defendant; and 2) failing to object to testimony of various prosecution witnesses recalling the victim’s statements that she was being sexually abused. [...]