Employment: Lifetime ban on employing a former drug addict after he fails a drug test does not violate any disability discrimination laws

A divided 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that a company can impose a lifetime ban on employing a former drug addict after he fails a drug test and such actions do not violate any disability discrimination laws.   The Defendant, a collective bargaining agent and payroll administrator o...
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Judge rejects Google’s $125,000,000 digital library settlement

A  Federal judge on Tuesday rejected a $125 million settlement between Google and authors that would have let Google publish millions of books online to create the world’s largest digital library, stating that the deal gave Google a significant competitive advantage and “would simply g...
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Entertainment & Sports Update: Federal prosecutors respond to Roger Clemens request to throw out criminal indictment

In response to the request made by Roger Clemens a few weeks ago (see our previos blog post)  to throw out a criminal indictment accusing him of obstructing a congressional investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs, Federal prosecutors have returned to court to defend their indictm...
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First Impression: Pre-award attachment in international arbitration where there is no connection to New York by way of subject matter or personal jurisdiction proper

The Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department was recently asked to determine an issue of first impression in New York State of whether a Japanese creditor could be granted the pre-award attachment of assets in New York, for security purposes only, in anticipation of an award that could be...
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Owner recovers dog named “Macho” from friend as Court rules Owner had superior possessory right to dog, despite friend’s claim the dog was gifted

To make a valid inter vivos gift (i.e. during one’s life) there must exist: (1) the intent on the part of the donor to make a present transfer, (2) delivery of the gift, either actual or constructive, to the donee, and (3) acceptance by the donee.  In this case, the Court ruled the owner of [...
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NewsFlash: Timothy Durham, CEO of Nat’l Lampoon, arrested in alleged $200M ponzi scheme

Timothy Durham, 48, and CEO of National Lampoon, is accused in a federal grand jury indictment of defrauding investors through his loan company and using the money to support expensive homes and cars, a 100-foot yacht and travel on a personal jet. Read More...
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NewsFlash: Michael Moore sues Harvey and Bob Weinstein over alleged cheap tricks

Filmmaker Michael Moore has sued movie moguls Harvey and Bob Weinstein for allegedly using “classic Hollywood accounting tricks and financial deception” to cheat him out of at least $2.7 million in profits from his hit documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11.”  Read More...
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Visual Artists Rights Act…not a boat load of help for the creators of La Contessa

The facts of the case as indicated in the court documents are as follows: Plaintiffs Simon Cheffins (“Cheffins”) and Gregory Jones (“Jones”) (collectively “Plaintiffs”) brought and action against Michael Sewart (“Defendant”) alleging conversion and violati...
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The “relation back doctrine” failed when Plaintiff was unable to show that a “unity of interest” existed between new and original defendants

The Supreme Court, Appellate Division, 4th Department held that an owner of underground cables failed to establish that a new defendant was vicariously liable for original defendant’s alleged damage to cables, and as a result there was no unity of interest between the new and original defenda...
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Summary judgment motion granted despite the fact more discovery was needed

A medical malpractice lawsuit filed by a patient against Long Island Jewish Medical Center-Schneider Children’s Hospital was dismissed, when the Court ruled that the “mere hope of [a] patient, that depositions might uncover existence of evidence necessary to defeat summary judgment …was insuff...
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