RICO, what is it good for?… Business losses arising from personal injury claims?
4/21/25
By: Stephanie N. Miller and Kevin R. Stone
An unlikely alignment of justices1 on the Supreme Court may have opened Pandora’s box for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) claims with their decision in Medical Marijuana, Inc. v. …
12/20/24
By: Richard Jones and Stinelly “Nelly” Peña
The Supreme Court of Florida has finalized a major overhaul of Florida’s civil case management and discovery rules via amendments to Florida’s Rules of Civil Procedure. These rule changes will take effect on …
Back to the basics: Ohio Supreme Court rejects “public-right” exception to standing requirement
12/10/24
By: Aaron N. Kaeser and Spencer M. Sukel
Last week, in State ex rel. Martens v. Findlay Mun. Court, the Supreme Court of Ohio re-considered whether citizens may litigate matters of public importance without first demonstrating any direct personal …
CrowdStrike-Delta lessons for third-party risk management
11/12/24
The world cannot unsee images of the “blue screen of death” across millions of Windows devices on July 19, 2024.1 CrowdStrike, an American Cybersecurity SaaS provider of its Falcon endpoint detection product, released a defective …
Pennsylvania contractors protected by hills and ridges doctrine
9/30/24
The Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed summary judgment in favor of the defense in a slip and fall case involving “dangerous, icy” conditions. Plaintiff filed suit against multiple parties, including the property owner/landlord, the property manager, …
Court’s ruling rocks nursing home arbitration
8/13/24
By: Lili Mikaelian
On June 28, 2024, in Hearden v. Windsor Redding Care Ctr., LLC, the Court of Appeal in California affirmed a trial court decision finding that families of deceased nursing home residents were not bound by the …
Michigan adopts Federal Rule of Evidence 702. Will other states follow?
4/23/24
By: Joshua W. Zhao and Jonathan Schwartz
On March 27, 2024, the Michigan Supreme Court amended Rule 702 of the Michigan Rules of Evidence (MRE), effective May 1, 2024. This amendment makes MRE 702 identical to Rule 702 of the …
Back-to-school driving cautionary tips from a lawyer’s perspective
8/28/23
With Fulton and DeKalb County schools beginning classes August 7, 2023, all major Atlanta Metro school districts are back in session for the 2023-24 school year. While we are glad that our students are back in …
Punitive damages are now permitted to be sought in Illinois wrongful death and survival actions
8/14/23
By: Jonathan Schwartz, Kingshuk K. Roy, and Donald Patrick Eckler
On August 11, 2023, Governor Pritzker signed HB 219, which amended 740 ILCS 180/1, 740 ILCS 180/2, and 755 ILCS 5/27-6, to allow punitive damages to be recoverable …
SCOTUS Clarifies Need to File Post Trial Motions to Preserve Appeal
7/3/23
By: Meaghan Mahon and Lisa Grandner
Those in the legal profession understand the importance of preserving issues for appeal. Yet there has been conflict among the Courts of Appeals over whether a question of law, resolved at summary judgment, must …
3/22/23
In Williamson v. Evans Nails & Spa Corporation, the Illinois appellate court ruled that video footage of a nail salon customer’s fall was sufficient to reverse summary judgment in favor of the salon and allow …
Third Circuit finds no nexus between retailer’s mode of operation and water on store floor
11/21/22
In Saunders v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., No. 21-1941, 2022 WL 832050 (3d Cir. Mar. 21, 2022), the Third Circuit rejected a Plaintiff’s argument that the District Court erred in ruling that the mode of operation doctrine …