In Doe v. Fairfax Cnty. Sch. Bd., No. 19-2203 (4th Cir. Aug. 30, 2021) (order), denying rehearing en banc of a Title IX case involving sexual harassment, a Fourth Circuit judge calls for curtailing separate dissenting opinions that signal “disrespect for the hard work of the panel and for the full court’s decision not toContinue reading “Fourth Circuit Judge Decries Proliferation of “Advisory” Dissents from Denial of Rehearing En Banc”
Monthly Archives: August 2021
Ninth Circuit Affirms Issuance of Arrest Warrant for Defendant Under Recalcitrant Witness Statute Who Failed to Respond to Paper Discovery
In Invesco High Yield Fund v. Jecklin, No. 21-15809 (9th Cir. Aug. 25, 2021), the Ninth Circuit affirms contempt sanctions against a foreign defendant under 28 U.S.C. § 1826(a), the federal recalcitrant witness statute. The statute provides that when a witness refuses to testify or provide other information, the court “may summarily order his confinementContinue reading “Ninth Circuit Affirms Issuance of Arrest Warrant for Defendant Under Recalcitrant Witness Statute Who Failed to Respond to Paper Discovery”
“Home State” Exception to Class Action Fairness Act Jurisdiction Does Not Apply Where the “Primary Thrust” of the Case Is Liability Against an Out-of-State Defendant, Fifth Circuit Holds
In Madison v. ADT LLC, No. 21-90028 (5th Cir. Aug. 24, 2021), the panel holds that the district court should have disregarded the nominal in-state defendant when evaluating the “home state” exception to the Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA), 28 U.S.C. § 1332(d)(4)(B). It holds that primary defendants include those at whom a lawsuit isContinue reading ““Home State” Exception to Class Action Fairness Act Jurisdiction Does Not Apply Where the “Primary Thrust” of the Case Is Liability Against an Out-of-State Defendant, Fifth Circuit Holds”
Eleventh Circuit Regrets Having Invented a New Burden of Proof for Fourth Amendment Exception, So It Rules En Banc to Wipe “Reasonable Probability” From Books
In United States v. Watkins, No. 18-14336 (11th Cir. Aug. 20, 2021), the en banc Eleventh Circuit unanimously overrules the “reasonable probability” standard it had used since the 1980s to evaluate claims by police under the Fourth Amendment “inevitable discovery” exception, Nix v. Williams, 467 U.S. 431 (1984). It holds that the correct standard, consistentContinue reading “Eleventh Circuit Regrets Having Invented a New Burden of Proof for Fourth Amendment Exception, So It Rules En Banc to Wipe “Reasonable Probability” From Books”
Tenth Circuit Holds That a Single Phone Call That the Debtor Didn’t Even Answer Created Standing Under the FDCPA, Breaking with the Seventh Circuit
In a blog entry dated December 16, 2020, I summarized five decisions by the Seventh Circuit that dramatically crimped Article III standing in Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) cases. In yesterday’s decision, Lupia v. Medicredit, No. 20-1294 (10th Cir. Aug. 17, 2021), the Tenth Circuit expressly rejects the Seventh Circuit’s approach and holds thatContinue reading “Tenth Circuit Holds That a Single Phone Call That the Debtor Didn’t Even Answer Created Standing Under the FDCPA, Breaking with the Seventh Circuit”
Eleventh Circuit Criticizes Expansion of Rooker-Feldman by Lower Courts as “One-Size-Fits-All Preclusion Doctrine”
In Behr v. Campbell, No. 18-12842 (11th Cir. Aug. 12, 2021), the Eleventh Circuit reverses a sua sponte dismissal of a 30-count federal civil-rights complaint arising out of events from a state-court domestic relations dispute. “That kind of sweeping dismissal is not at all unusual—but it is also at odds with the Supreme Court’s clearlyContinue reading “Eleventh Circuit Criticizes Expansion of Rooker-Feldman by Lower Courts as “One-Size-Fits-All Preclusion Doctrine””
Fifth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Where Plaintiff’s Lawyer Did Not Get an Electronic Notification of the Motion
In Rollins v. Home Depot USA, No. 20-50736 (5th Cir. Aug. 9, 2021), the Fifth Circuit affirms summary judgment in “a cautionary tale for every attorney who litigates in the era of e-filing.” The plaintiff’s lawyer missed the filing of a dispositive motion because “his computer’s email system placed that notification in a folder thatContinue reading “Fifth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Where Plaintiff’s Lawyer Did Not Get an Electronic Notification of the Motion”
Split Second Circuit Panel Holds That Collateral Order Doctrine Allows Interlocutory Review of Order of Fugitive Disentitlement, Creating a Circuit Split
In United States v. Sindzingre, No.19-1698 (2d Cir. Aug. 5, 2021), a 2-1 panel decides both its appellate jurisdiction to review an interlocutory order under the fugitive disentitlement doctrine, disagreeing with the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits. The panel majority also holds that the district court erred in holding that the doctrine applied to “a foreignContinue reading “Split Second Circuit Panel Holds That Collateral Order Doctrine Allows Interlocutory Review of Order of Fugitive Disentitlement, Creating a Circuit Split”
Fifth Circuit Adheres to Granting Interlocutory Review of Denial of State-Action Immunity in Antitrust Cases Under Collateral Order Doctrine, Continuing Circuit Split
In Quadvest L.P. v. San Jacinto River Auth., No. 20-20447 (5th Cir. Aug. 5, 2021), a Fifth Circuit panel holds in a Sherman Act case that, despite every other circuit rejecting its view, it will accept interlocutory review of a defendant’s “entitlement to state-action antitrust immunity in a motion to dismiss” under the collateral orderContinue reading “Fifth Circuit Adheres to Granting Interlocutory Review of Denial of State-Action Immunity in Antitrust Cases Under Collateral Order Doctrine, Continuing Circuit Split”
No Interlocutory Appeal of Interim Fee Award Paid Directly by Defendant, Holds Ninth Circuit
In AdTrader Inc. v. Google LLC, No. 20-15542 (9th Cir. July 30, 2021), the Ninth Circuit holds that an interim award of fees in a class action that is paid by the defendant, rather than through a common fund, is not subject to an interlocutory appeal. Google LLC runs advertising platforms for digital ads, andContinue reading “No Interlocutory Appeal of Interim Fee Award Paid Directly by Defendant, Holds Ninth Circuit”
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