Motion To Dismiss In Sewage Spill Coverage Suit Denied As Moot Following Stipulation
PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida federal judge on Aug. 7 denied as moot an additional insured’s motion to dismiss following an agreement between the insurer, the additional insured and the underlying plaintiff to dismiss without prejudice the insurer’s claims stemming from a coverage dispute over damages caused by a sewage pipe rupture.
Judge Tosses Federal Claims In Attorney Email Access Suit Against Former Employer
LINCOLN, Neb. — A Nebraska federal judge on Aug. 7 dismissed claims under the Wiretap Act, the Stored Communications Act and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act in a former law partner’s suit against his prior employer over its purported interception of his emails, finding in part that the alleged interception of emails sent to the attorney’s email address with his former employer did not violate the federal laws because the former employer owned the domain and email system and had the authority to access the emails.
Magistrate Judge Says Experts Can Testify On Hiring, Contracts In Deadly Crash Case
AMARILLO, Texas — In separate orders, the latest of which was filed Aug. 7, a Texas federal magistrate judge denied Amazon’s motions to exclude two experts retained by a woman who says she was injured and her husband was killed in a collision with an Amazon delivery contractor’s truck, finding that Amazon can challenge the experts through cross-examination.
Insured Says Res Judicata Question Already Answered In Contamination Lawsuit
SEATTLE — In an Aug. 7 response to an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in an environmental contamination coverage suit, an insured urges a Washington federal court to deny the insurer’s motion because the court already answered the question of whether a state trial court’s 2016 dismissal of similar claims precludes the insured’s claims.
No Errors In PTAB’s Invalidation Of Streaming Patent, Federal Circuit Finds
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in an Aug. 7 opinion affirmed a finding from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that two claims of a company’s streaming-media patent were anticipated by a prior art reference, rejecting the company’s arguments that PTAB erred in its consideration of multiple pieces of evidence.
Judge Adds $567M Abatement Fund To $375M Penalty In Meta Public Nuisance Suit
SANTA FE, N.M. — After a New Mexico state court jury found Meta Platforms Inc. liable and assessed $375 million in penalties against it in a suit alleging that it violated state consumer protection laws and created a public nuisance, a judge on Aug. 6 entered judgment in favor of New Mexico on the public nuisance claim and ordered Meta to pay $567 million into an abatement fund, finding “that the effects of Meta’s activities constitute a public nuisance such that abatement is an appropriate remedy.”
Massachusetts High Court Vacates Ruling In Favor Of Professional Liability Insurer
SUFFOLK, Mass. — The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on Aug. 7 vacated a lower court’s ruling in favor of a medical professional liability insurer in a physician insured’s lawsuit seeking a declaration as to coverage for regulatory defense costs for an underlying administrative proceeding, holding that the underlying allegations that the insured prescribed an addictive medication to a patient with whom he was in a romantic relationship constitute providing a professional service under the policy.
Judgment Vacated In Royalty Dispute After Judge Clarifies Not All Claims Resolved
PITTSBURGH — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Aug. 6 vacated a March 2026 judgment order entered in a class lawsuit over hydraulic fracturing royalties after clarifying that a summary judgment order for the defendant issued that same day as the judgment did not fully resolve all claims.
Florida Panel Reverses Ruling In Suit Against Assisted Living Facility’s Insurer
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A Florida appellate court reversed a lower court’s grant of judgment in favor of an estate in its lawsuit alleging that an insurer breached its contract by failing to defend its assisted living home insured against the estate’s underlying wrongful death lawsuit, holding that there was no claim made on behalf of the injured resident until the wrongful death action was filed in 2014, which was one year after the relevant policy expired.
11th Circuit Reverses Standing Ruling, Affirms Injunction Denial In COVID Mask Row
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying two enrolled students’ motion for an injunction to require a school district to consider COVID-19 masking on a case-by-case basis and reversed the court’s dismissal for lack of standing as to two unenrolled students, finding that the lower court did not err in ruling that the accommodations to prevent infection were effective as to the enrolled students but that the lower court erred regarding the unenrolled students who would have returned with a masking policy change.
N.C. Panel: PCOH Exclusion Bars Coverage For Negligence Suit Over Fatal Crash
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina appellate panel on Aug. 5 affirmed a lower court’s grant of a commercial insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in its lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying negligence action against its smoke shop owner insured arising from a fatal car accident that was caused by an intoxicated driver who inhaled nitrous oxide from a cream charger that was purchased at the insured’s shop, holding that the policy’s products-completed operations hazard (PCOH) exclusion barred coverage.