KMK Law Complex Litigation Blog

Last week, the Sixth Circuit issued a ruling which defined the standard in the Sixth Circuit for liability under Section 11 of the Securities Act of 1933, created a circuit split, and likely garnered the attention of the Supreme Court. 

A quick glance at  Dictionary.com reveals the following definitions for the word ‘vendor’ vs. the word ‘partner’:

vendor:
-noun
1.        a person or agency that sells.

partner:
-noun
1.        a person who shares or is associated with another in some action or endeavor; sharer; associate.

How do you and your organization view your relationship with your external e-discovery service provider(s), as those of a vendor, or those of a partner?  Frequently razzed about my overt avoidance of the word ‘vendor’ when seeking e-discovery RFP project consultations and bids at the onset of a new litigation matter, the word ‘vendor’ still never fails to leave a sour taste in my mouth. 

The law firm of Keating Muething & Klekamp represented Rumpke Sanitary Landfill in a three‑year long battle to have the largest sanitary landfill in Ohio declared a public utility under the Township zoning statute and, therefore, exempt from zoning restrictions.  It is the first case decided in Ohio declaring a sanitary landfill a public utility. 

Law school; first-year; civil procedure exam question: May a court assert personal jurisdiction over a non-resident defendant who ships millions of packages into Ohio, and is paid millions of dollars in return by the resident plaintiff? Be careful, 1L’s (and practitioners).

The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently denied the defendant's joint summary judgment motion in the case Fish, et al. v. Greatbanc Trust Co., et al., where the defendants moved for summary judgment on the grounds that the plaintiffs' claims were barred by ERISA's 3-year statute of limitations.

On May 26^th, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled that, under the Stored Communications Act of 1986, postings to a user’s Facebook “wall” (and, similarly, to the “comments” page on MySpace – although nobody actually uses MySpace anymore) are considered private so long as the user has his privacy settings set such that only “friends” can see his wall postings.

In The Drees Company, et al. v. Hamilton Township, Ohio, et al., Appeal No. 2009-11-150, currently pending before the Twelfth District Court of Appeals of Ohio, Plaintiffs — including The Drees Company, the Homebuilders Association of Greater Cincinnati, and others — are claiming that an impact fee passed in May 2007 by Hamilton Township on new construction is, in fact, an illegal tax.

A criminal antitrust case involving two bagged ice producers that pleaded guilty to conspiring "to supress and eliminate competition" was recently concludeded in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati.  While KMK was not involved in this case, it does bring to mind a few key considerations for companies and their attorneys to weigh when faced with bet-the-company criminal and civil litigation.

For a more theoretical and mildly controversial read regarding class actions, follow the argument and articles (like the recent article in the February 8, 2010 issue of Forbes) of Northwestern University School of Law Professor Martin Redish, who is now suggesting that Rule 23 may be unconstitutional.

Justice Sotomayor wrote her first substantive opinion as a Supreme Court Justice, and it is a good read and a good wake up call for class action practitioners.