Plaintiffs Value Proposed Deal In Mortality Tables Suit At More Than $149 Million
SAN FRANCISCO — An Employee Retirement Income Security Act case challenging the use of allegedly outdated assumptions to calculate annuities for married pension plan participants would be resolved in a settlement that the named plaintiffs say would provide “more than $149 million in combined monetary and prospective relief to” members of a proposed settlement class and subclasses that together would consist of nearly 170,000 individuals; in the preliminary approval motion filed in a California federal court on July 9, the named plaintiffs further say that up to $35 million for attorney fees and costs “would not reduce the monetary benefits to the Class.”
Federal Circuit Affirms JMOL That Negated $107.5M Cancer Treatment Patent Verdict
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 9 saw no error in a Delaware federal judge’s decision to grant judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) on invalidity as to multiple patent claims asserted by a biopharmaceutical company that accused AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP and a related entity of infringing its cancer treatment patents; the panel agreed with the judge that the asserted patents disclosed only broad projected ranges of dosages without clearly explaining how to determine a therapeutic dosage.
Panel Reverses Ruling Making FIGA Pay Disputed Attorney Fees In Coverage Row
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appeals court reversed and remanded a lower court’s ruling enforcing a settlement agreement specifically as to the payment of $21,500 in attorney fees to a homeowner in a coverage dispute with the Florida Insurance Guaranty Association (FIGA) over damage to the homeowner’s property, allegedly caused by a tropical storm, finding that the insured homeowner failed to show that the settlement amount did not include attorney fees.
N.Y. Federal Judge Allows Testimony On Calculations In Agreement Breach Case
NEW YORK — That a party in a dispute involving a breach of a manufacturing and supply agreement disagrees with the opinions of an opposing expert witness is not grounds for exclusion under Federal Rule of Evidence 702, a New York federal judge held in denying two motions to exclude expert testimony.
Calif. Asks 9th Circuit To Vacate Pipeline Orders; Federal Agency Says Case Is Moot
SAN FRANCISCO — Attorneys for the state of California and environmental groups asked a panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to vacate orders issued by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) that restarted the Las Flores Pipelines on grounds that the agency lacks jurisdiction, while an attorney for the pipeline company argued that PHMSA has jurisdiction under federal law and an attorney for the federal government said the agency has since issued a new special permit that supersedes the orders the state challenges, rendering the case moot.
Pennsylvania Panel Affirms Denial Of New Trial After Molded Asbestos-Talc Verdict
PITTSBURGH — A Pennsylvania appellate panel affirmed a trial court judge’s denial of a plaintiff-appellant executrix’s request for a new trial, finding no errors in the judge’s decision to mold the verdict to one in favor of Johnson & Johnson entities after a jury held that the company’s products were not the cause of a man’s mesothelioma but still awarded $22 million in damages.
2nd Circuit: Provisions In In Purchase Agreements Prevent Fund’s Liability
NEW YORK — In what it said was an issue of first impression in the circuit, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel determined that the provisions of an investment funds’ agreements to purchase derivatives from Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. (BBBY) that prevented the fund from obtaining more than 9.99% of the retailer’s common stock at one time, known as “blockers,” effectively prevented the investment fund from becoming a 10% beneficial owner subject to short-swing profit liability under Section 16(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
6th Circuit: Agreements Unambiguously Gave Furniture Company Rights To Lamp Marks
CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Michigan federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a furniture company, agreeing with the judge’s determination that a royalty agreement allowed the company to use and own trademarked designs and names related to creations from influential modernist designer George Nelson.
Split 4th Circuit Affirms Injunction In Federal Officers’ DEIA Assignments Case
RICHMOND, Va. — In holding that the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “has been construed to require federal government agencies to adhere to their own binding regulations,” a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority affirmed a federal judge’s partial grant of a motion for preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by national security workers alleging that they were wrongly forced to choose resignation or termination because they were in temporary assignments related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA).
Appeal Of Order On Silica Exclusion Not Warranted, Federal Judge Says
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied an insurer’s motion for certification for an interlocutory appeal of an order in which the judge found that silica and total pollution exclusions do not bar coverage for underlying silica bodily injury suits filed against an insured after determining that the insurer failed to show that the order presents substantial grounds for a difference of opinion.
Judge Tosses Medicare Fraud Suit Against Staffing Company For Lack Of Jurisdiction
HONOLULU — A Hawaii federal judge on July 7 dismissed without prejudice and without leave to amend a suit filed by UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co. against a staffing company for emergency medicine physicians for alleged Medicare fraud related to submitting a claim through the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process, finding that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because United failed to show that the alleged fraud presented a “substantial” federal issue.