News

Case Summaries

Civil Procedure

[04/21] Tur v. YouTube, Inc.
In a copyright infringement action that Plaintiff voluntarily dismissed, Defendant's appeal from the denial of summary judgment is dismissed, where the appeal was moot because the fact that the resolution of the order might have preclusive effect in another action did not create subject matter jurisdiction.

[04/21] Ministry of Def. v. Elahi
In an action seeking to attach a judgment obtained by Iran, the District Court's order permitting the attachment is reversed, where Plaintiff could not attach the judgment because he waived his right to do so, as the U.S. paid Plaintiff as partial compensation for his judgment against Iran under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act.

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Bankruptcy Law

[04/20] U.S. Bank, N.A. v. EPA
In a bankruptcy proceeding, the Bankruptcy Court's order granting the EPA's claim against the Debtor for groundwater cleanup compensation under CERCLA is affirmed, where: 1) the Bankruptcy Court did not err in determining that the Debtor assumed its predecessor's liabilities; and 2) the Bankruptcy Court had no notice of the Trustee's intent to rely on a late-filed expert report.

[04/16] Cardinal Stritch Univ., Inc. v. Kuehn
In a bankruptcy action involving a university and its former student, district court's judgment ordering plaintiff to provide a transcript and pay damages and attorneys' fees is affirmed where defendant had a state-law right to receive a certified copy of her transcript, and plaintiff's refusal to honor that right until defendant paid her back tuition constituted an act to collect her unpaid pre-petition debt, thereby violating the automatic stay and discharge injunction against plaintiff.

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Dispute Resolution & Arbitration

[04/21] Ministry of Def. v. Elahi
In an action seeking to attach a judgment obtained by Iran, the District Court's order permitting the attachment is reversed, where Plaintiff could not attach the judgment because he waived his right to do so, as the U.S. paid Plaintiff as partial compensation for his judgment against Iran under the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act.

[04/17] Century 21 Chamberlain Assoc. v. Haberman
Trial court order deny defendant's anti-SLAPP motion to strike the complaint of plaintiffs and continuing a hearing on her motion to compel arbitration is affirmed where: 1) the anti-SLAPP statute does not protect the act of initiating private, contractual arbitration and thus plaintiff failed to meet her burden to show that plaintiff's cause of action arose from activity protected by the statute; and 2) the court did not rule on her arbitration motion and consequently no appealable order exists with respect to plaintiff's motion to compel arbitration.

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Asset Forfeiture

[04/08] Illinois Inv. Trust No. 92- 7163 v. Am. Grading Co.
In an action involving the assignment of rights to a landfill after a bankruptcy, district court's judgment is affirmed where: 1) the failure of third party RTC to pay the advance royalty was a material breach that justified defendant's invocation of the termination provisions of the lease; and 2) the terminated lease between defendant and third party RTC means that the rights to the landfill are not available to any of RTC's creditors, and thus plaintiff-creditor cannot obtain the lease by assignment.

[03/31] For Your Ease Only, Inc. v. Calgon Carbon Corp.
In an action involving judgment enforcement and the transfer of assets brought under the Illinois Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act, district court order is vacated where the transfer of the defendant-company's assets by defendant Schneider to a company owned by Fournier is voidable under the UFTA as the transfer was not accepted in good faith. Case is remanded to the district court to decide whether co-defendant HSN violated the third party citation order by transferring the assets of defendant Schnieder's entities to Fournier's company.

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Military

[04/21] Shinseki v. Sanders
In an application for veterans' disability benefits, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's holding that the Department of Veterans Affairs erred in denying benefits is reversed, where the Federal Circuit's "harmless-error" framework conflicts with 38 U.S.C. section 7261(b)(2)'s requirement that the Veterans Court take "due account of the rule of prejudicial error."

[04/16] Matar v. Dichter
In an action brought by survivors of Israeli bombing in Gaza, seeking damages for war crimes and violations of international law, district court's dismissal of plaintiff's claims for lack of jurisdiction on grounds that defendant is immune from suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act is affirmed where, although questions exist as to whether the Act applies to former officials like defendant or not, common law principles that predate and survive the enactment of the Act still apply and recognize the immunity of former foreign officials for acts performed in their official capacity.

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Family Law

[04/14] In re Jeremiah G.
In a juvenile dependency action, juvenile court order removing defendant's son from her custody and denying her reunification services is affirmed where the court properly proceeded without Indian Child Welfare Act notice as a claim that a parent and minor may have Native American heritage is insufficient to trigger ICWA notice requirements if the claim is not accompanied by other information that would reasonably suggest the minor has Indian ancestry.

[04/13] In re C.C.
In an action involving parental visitation rights, juvenile court order denying visitation and conjoint therapy is reversed where although the issues raised in the appeal are effectively moot, the court's finding of detriment and its visitation order were not made in accordance with the proper standard, and thus the order is reversed to avoid any possible collateral prejudice to defendant.

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