Articles in Channel: Judiciary Law

That May Be A $500 Bow Tie I'm Wearing

Kendall Gray
September 02, 2010 18:16

I will admit it.  My sense of style is not for everyone.  Atypical.  Iconoclastic. Nerdy. Or just bad.  I would accept any of those words as accurate descriptors. But as I sit here in my Brooks Brothers seersucker suit and my Brooks Brothers regimental stripe bow tie, I am...

Supreme Court rules against Betcha.com

September 02, 2010 15:48

The Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that Betcha.com's social wagering site constitutes illegal gambling under the Gambling Act. From Justice Tom Chambers' opinion:  Internet Community & Entertainment Corp., d/b/a Betcha.com (Betcha), is an on-line, person-to-person betting web site...

Tomorrow's opinions, September 2, 2010

September 02, 2010 01:21

The Supreme Court will issue decisions in four cases tomorrow. Fitzpatrick v. Okanogan County, No. 81257-8. This case is on appeal from Division Three Court of Appeals, and presents the Court with the question of whether a landowner may be compensated (via inverse condemnation) for damage caused...

Important Medicare Preemption Decision

August 31, 2010 21:24

At long last, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in the Uhm v. Humana, Inc. (.pdf), matter, finding the Medicare Act’s exhaustion requirements and preemption provision barred all of the plaintiffs’ common law claims. (-- F.3d --  (9th Cir. 2010).) Originally, the...

California Supreme Court Rules That an Insured Seeking to Undo a Settlement Agreement with Its Insurer Must Sue for Rescission and Return the Settlement Proceeds

August 30, 2010 22:10

This case arises out of an insured’s claim against its insurer for property damages caused by an earthquake that struck the Los Angeles area in 1984.  After a protracted dispute (during which the insurer made substantial payments) over the value of the claimed damages, and the extent to...

Last Thursday's Opinions: No-contact orders, stalking, and telephone harassment

August 30, 2010 21:23

State v. Bunker, No. 81921-1. Three defendants, each convicted of violating a no-contact order, appeal those convictions. Looking to a "shall arrest" clause in the statute," defendants argue that the law (former RCW 26.50.110) "criminalizes only those contacts with a...

Duty to Defend Applies to Calderon Proceedings

August 30, 2010 20:10

Whether prelitigation proceedings under the Calderon Act, Civil Code section 1375 et seq., come within a carrier's duty to defend any "suit" is apparently an issue of first impression.  Or at least, it was.  Such proceedings are covered.  In Clarendon...

Nationwide Mut. Fire Ins. Co. v. Lawrence Pollinger, 35 Fla. L. Wkly D1866d (Fla. 4th DCA Aug. 18, 2010)

August 29, 2010 02:04

In this auto accident case, the defendant insurer hired two law firms: one to defend a claim for personal injury protection (PIP) and another to defend a claim for uninsured motorist benefits (UM).  The law firm defending the UM claim served a...In this auto accident case, the...

Doing CRAC

August 27, 2010 18:03

As an adjunct professor, I tend to remember that old saw about those that can, those that can't, and which of the two are teachers.  It's a little scary.  Between avoiding being in the wrong half of that equation, and wondering what the students might ask me next, there is plenty of...

SCOTX: New Opinions and Granted Petitions

Kendall Gray
August 27, 2010 15:13

Several new opinions today from the Supreme Court of Texas.  The most notable is the court's choice to reverse it's position in Marks v. St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, a highly divided case that has been pending on rehearing since last August. I hope to write a future post on whether such...