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Litigation

Northwest Business Litigation Blog

Resource for in-house counsel, business executives, human resource managers and others who monitor litigation and legal issues affecting Northwest USA businesses.
By Ater Wynne LLP

Post Frequency: 2.4/day

Last Entry: March 24, 2011 at 15:41:58

Stimulus Bill provides opportunities in Indian Country

Posted on February 20, 2009
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, otherwise known as the the Stimulus Bill, provides tribal governments and Indian-owned businesses access to more than just the $2.5 billion in tribal-specific appropriations. Tribes and their business partners can take advantage...

Out-of-state lawyer gets a pass in federal court

Posted on February 19, 2009
A claim of unauthorized practice of law figured into a dispute over attorney fees resolved this week by the Ninth Circuit. In a lawsuit for breach of a severance contract filed in federal court in California, plaintiffs sought to recover...

Ninth Circuit orders rehearing of biggest-ever class action certification

Posted on February 17, 2009
The Ninth Circuit last week ordered en banc rehearing of the landmark class certification in Dukes v. Wal-Mart. The order comes two years after a three-judge panel approved the largest class in history, consisting of 1.5 million current and former...

Opportunities for Public Comment on OFLA Regs

Posted on February 12, 2009
BOLI will be accepting comments on the new federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations that went into effect on January 16, 2009, to determine whether to amend Oregon Family Leave Act (OFLA) regulations on points where they now differ...

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U.S. Supreme Court weighs in on beneficiary designations and ERISA plans

Posted on February 07, 2009
Divorce can be a painful event for retirement plans as well as for the parties involved. A recent U.S. Supreme Court case illustrates some of the difficulties that Plan administrators face from strict statutory requirements and forgetful plan participants...

President Obama signs workplace-related legislation into law

Posted on January 29, 2009
On January 29, 2009, President Obama signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, expanding the time frame in which workers can sue for discrimination they have experienced based on gender, race, national origin or religion. The legislation is...

Update your policies now to comply with ADAAA

Posted on January 29, 2009
The February 2009 issue of Washington Healthcare News includes an article by blog contributor Kathy Feldman, who practices employment law in Ater Wynne's Seattle office. The article addresses the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which significantly expands the original ADA...

Ninth Circuit limits tribal court commercial jurisdiction

Posted on January 22, 2009
In its first tribal civil jurisdiction case since last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Plains Commerce Bank (see our blog entry about the case), a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Philip Morris v. King Mountain...

BOLI to hold off on issuing new OFLA regulations

Posted on January 20, 2009
The new federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) regulations went into effect on Friday, January 16, 2009. FMLA is applicable to employers with 50 or more employees. Oregon employers with 25 or more employees are covered by the state Oregon...

Ninth Circuit interprets Oregon's anti-SLAPP statute, dismisses appeal

Posted on January 15, 2009
Oregon is one of a number of states that have enacted "anti-SLAPP" statutes designed to prevent certain types of abusive lawsuits. SLAPP stands for "strategic lawsuit against public participation," and the anti-SLAPP statute creates a procedure for dismissing at an...

No private right of action under Sarbanes-Oxley section 304, Ninth Circuit holds

Posted on December 24, 2008
In a case originating in the District of Oregon, the Ninth Circuit recently held there is no private right of action under Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which provides for the forfeiture of bonuses and profits when corporate officers...

Ater Wynne on the move to the Pearl

Posted on December 11, 2008
On December 15 Ater Wynne's Portland office will relocate to the new Lovejoy Building in the Pearl District, at NW 14th and Lovejoy St. See details here.

Ater Wynne among Most Admired Companies in Oregon

Posted on December 10, 2008
Ater Wynne LLP is one of the top three professional services firms in Oregon, according to the Portland Business Journal. See details of the 2008 Most Admired Companies award here.

U.S. Supreme Court again wrestles with Oregon punitive damages verdict

Posted on December 04, 2008
When it agreed to review the judgment in Philp Morris v. Williams for a third time, the U.S. Supreme Court asked whether the Oregon Supreme Court properly affirmed the punitive damages based on a state law defect in Philip Morris's...

Egyptian Goddess and design patent infringement: The Federal Circuit quashes a judicial innovation

Posted on December 03, 2008
For the past two decades, finding infringement of a design patent -- a patent protecting the ornamental rather than utilitarian features of an invention -- required satisfying two distinct tests. However, a recent en banc Federal Circuit opinion in Egyptian...

U.S. Supreme Court to hear argument in Oregon punitive damages case

Posted on December 02, 2008
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument in an appeal from the Oregon Supreme Court. In Philip Morris USA, Inc. v. Williams, a Multnomah County jury awarded $79.5 million in punitive damages -- equal to 97 times...

California wage laws may affect Northwest employers

Posted on December 01, 2008
Employers beware: you may be required to comply with California wage and hour laws if your employees perform work in California. On November 6, 2008, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held in Sullivan v. Oracle, Corp. that California's Labor...

Judge Mosman offers a new perspective on oral argument

Posted on November 24, 2008
Judge Michael W. Mosman, one of Oregon's federal district court judges, has written an article titled "Five Oral Argument Tips - For Judges." Here, courtesy of the blog How Appealing, is Judge Mosman's article, originally published in the October 2008...

Oregon Supreme Court finds no right to jury trial for enforcement of settlement agreement

Posted on November 19, 2008
In McDowell Welding & Pipefitting, Inc. v. U.S. Gypsum Co. et al., the Oregon Supreme Court recently held that specific enforcement of a settlement agreement taking the form of an executory accord is an equitable claim, as opposed to a...

Ninth Circuit extends tribal sovereign immunity to casino employees

Posted on November 18, 2008
The Ninth Circuit issued a fascinating Indian law ruling on Friday, November 15, in a case named Cook v. AVI Casino Enterprises. In Cook, plaintiff sued a Tribal casino enterprise organized as a Tribal corporation under Tribal law, and two...

Oregon Court of Appeals finds landlord not liable for assault by tenant

Posted on November 17, 2008
Last week in Miller v. Tabor West Investment Co., LLC et al., the Oregon Court of Appeals held that a landlord is not liable under a theory of negligence for an off-premises assault committed by one tenant upon another tenant...

Apparent authority supports warranty liability, Oregon Supreme Court holds

Posted on November 06, 2008
The Oregon Supreme Court today addressed the scope of an agent's apparent authority in a case involving failed stucco siding. In Taylor v. Ramsay-Gerding Construction Co., a building owner expressed concerns during construction about the performance of the stucco exterior...

Business method patents redux: The Federal Circuit speaks

Posted on November 03, 2008
Messers. Bilski and Warsaw and their patent attorneys are scratching their heads now that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) has tossed out their business method patent applications. Bilski and Warsaw are inventors of a commodities trading...

Ninth Circuit outlines attorney liability for securities fraud

Posted on October 27, 2008
Today the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion stating that an attorney who undertakes to make representations to prospective purchasers of securities can be liable for securities fraud under federal law if the representations turn out to be...

Federal Vaccine Act does not preclude civil remedy, Oregon Court of Appeals holds

Posted on October 13, 2008
Last week, the Oregon Court of Appeals held the federal Vaccine Act, which creates a special program for compensation for a vaccine-related injury or death, does not bar family members of a person who has suffered a vaccine-related death from...

Oregon Supreme Court: City not liable for erroneous statement to business owner

Posted on October 06, 2008
The Oregon Supreme Court held last week that a government body cannot be liable for negligently providing incorrect information. In Loosli v. City of Salem, the court concluded that a used car dealer can't recover damages resulting from the City...

Controversial medical testimony is admissible, Oregon Court of Appeals holds

Posted on October 03, 2008
Oregon courts should not exclude scientific expert testimony simply because it is controversial or arguably invalid, according to an opinion issued this week by the Court of Appeals. In Kennedy v. Eden Advanced Pest Technologies, plaintiff claimed he suffered from...

Government-Mandated health benefits vs. ERISA, Round 5

Posted on September 30, 2008
We previously discussed an ordinance adopted by the city of San Francisco that requires employers to provide their employees with health benefits costing at least certain amounts or to pay those amounts to the city to fund the city's public...

Update on ADA Amendments Act

Posted on September 29, 2008
On September 25, 2008, President Bush signed S. 3406, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. You can read our earlier coverage of the new law here.

New Federal Rule of Evidence could reduce litigation costs

Posted on September 22, 2008
Parties engaged in litigation in federal courts could see cost savings thanks to a new rule affecting pre-trial discovery. On September 19, President Bush signed into law S. 2450, which adopts new Federal Rule of Evidence 502 concerning discovery of....

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