recent decisions

Pleading Standards and Bernie Madoff

March 12, 2010 16:06

The SEC's civil action against defendants allegedly involved in the Madoff ponzi scheme ran up against federal pleading standards in a recent decision from the Southern District of New York. The case is SEC v. Cohmad Securities Corp., No. 09-CV-5680,...

Claim Against Donald Rumsfeld Survives Motion to Dismiss (and Iqbal)

March 08, 2010 14:30

Last week Judge Wayne Andersen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's motion to dismiss a lawsuit that was filed against him by two contractors who allege they were...

Further Commentary on Reed Elsevier v. Muchnick

March 03, 2010 20:26

Readers who are following yesterday's SCOTUS decision in Reed Elsevier v. Muchnick may be interested in today's commentary by Professor Howard Wasserman (Florida International) over at PrawfsBlawg: Copyright and the (hopefully) end of drive-by jurisdictional rulings. See also additional coverage...

Commentary on Reed Elsevier v. Muchnick: A Win for Jurisdictional Clarity

March 02, 2010 16:30

Below, Professor Scott Dodson (William & Mary) comments on today's SCOTUS decision in Reed Elsevier v. Muchnick: Today, the Supreme Court decided Reed Elsevier v. Muchnick and held that ยง 411(a) of the Copyright Act is not jurisdictional. At issue...

SCOTUS Cert Grant of Interest: Harrington v. Richter

February 25, 2010 18:17

This week the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Harrington v. Richter, No. 09-587, a habeas case out of the Ninth Circuit. Here are links to the opinion below, the docket, and SCOTUSblog's wiki on the case. From a federal-courts standpoint,...