No Error In Ordering Insured To Produce Discovery, Colorado High Court Says
DENVER — A trial court did not err in granting an auto insurer’s motion to compel an insured to produce medical records and to undergo an independent medical exam because the Colorado precedent cited by the insured applies only to bad faith claims and, therefore, does not preclude the insurer from seeking evidence that was not available to it at the time it made its claim decision, the Colorado Supreme Court said.
Motion To Quash Granted In Part In Gender-Affirming Care Dispute Involving FCA
GREENBELT, Md. — A Maryland federal judge on June 9 granted a motion to quash a subpoena only as to Children’s National Hospital (CNH) in a bid by families who received transgender health care to quash subpoenas to over 20 health care providers related to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) seeking medical records about transgender medical procedures on children, finding that the CNH subpoena regarding investigations under the False Claims Act (FCA) and the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) is a pretext to fulfill the “well-publicized policy objective to terminate and block gender affirming healthcare.”
Federal Circuit Vacates Dismissal Of Takings Suit But Affirms Discovery Orders
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a nonprecedential opinion saying the U.S. Court of Federal Claims erred by converting a “motion for summary judgment into a motion to dismiss without providing notice to the parties,” the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 9 vacated and remanded dismissal of a suit filed against the federal government over a purported water flowage easement; however, the appellate court affirmed four discovery orders in which the lower court generally upheld the government’s assertion of deliberative process privilege, saying it found no abuse of discretion in those rulings.
2nd Circuit Vacates Judgment In Wine Mark Row That Relied On TTAB Decision
NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated a New York federal judge’s summary judgment ruling that a 2004 U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) ruling had preclusive effect on the issue of likelihood-of-confusion on claims that a California winery infringed an Italian winery’s trademarks; the panel determined that TTAB’s order did not meaningfully consider the parties’ use of the marks at issue in commerce and thus did not have preclusive effect.
Judge Boots 4 Lawyers From Case After Both Sides Caught Misusing AI
ABERDEEN, Miss. — A federal judge disqualified all four attorneys working on a breach of contract lawsuit involving the City of Aberdeen from further participation in the case, revoked the pro hac vice status of two of them and barred the two from practicing in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi for two years, and imposed a total of $8,000 in fines after finding artificial intelligence generated errors in filings by both sides.
Minnesota Panel Partly Reverses Ruling In Dog Bite Coverage Dispute
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A Minnesota appeals court held that a lower court correctly determined that a homeowners insurance policy’s “resident-relative” exclusion did not bar coverage for a minor’s injuries arising from a dog bite but erred in ruling that the “history of biting” exclusion did not bar coverage, partly affirming and partly reversing the lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the injured child’s representative.
Workplace Discrimination, Retaliation Disputes Won’t Be Heard By U.S Supreme Court
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 8 denied three petitions for a writ of certiorari seeking review of workplace discrimination and retaliation claims pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and various state statutes filed by a Michigan brewer, a Turkish-American Texas school district employee and a Russian immigrant who worked at an Alabama Walmart.
Pepsi, Coffee Maker React To Government Discouraging Certiorari In Trademark Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — PepsiCo Inc. and a coffee brewing company filed supplemental briefs on June 8 in the U.S. Supreme Court, reacting to the U.S. government’s call for the court to deny a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by the coffee brewing company that argues the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals “stands alone” in considering a trademark’s strength a question of law and not a question of fact. The briefs follow a recent amicus curiae brief in which the government told the court that certiorari should be denied, even though it believes the Second Circuit’s opinion was erroneous.
5th Circuit: Insured’s Loss Falls Squarely Under Policy’s Deception Fraud Provision
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a federal court’s dismissal of an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking full crime coverage for its losses arising from $1,251,068.34 it paid to a fraudulent account, agreeing with the lower court that coverage is limited to the policy’s $100,000 Deception Fraud Provision.
Federal Circuit: AI Researcher’s Latest Government Takings Claim Rightly Tossed
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held June 8 that a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge was right to find that the court had no jurisdiction under the Tucker Act to consider a pro se computer scientist’s Fifth Amendment takings claim against the U.S. government because copyright claims against the government can be brought only under the statute the plaintiff used to pursue relief in a series of earlier suits.
Minnesota Federal Judge Stays Insurer’s Silica Exposure Coverage Suit For 6 Months
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge on June 8 agreed to stay an insurer’s lawsuit for six months to allow a California federal judge to determine whether the California judge’s summary judgment order, entered in a similar lawsuit filed by the insured countertop manufacturer named in hundreds of underlying silica exposure lawsuits, applies to all of the underlying silica lawsuits or only a select number of the underlying suits filed against the insured.