March 2012 Archives

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has no sympathy for counterfeiters, probably because the court is located close to the Canal Street counterfeit corridor. (The mumbled chorus of "Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton" promises en route to the subway gets old quickly.)

Thursday, the circuit upheld a $3 million infringement lawsuit judgment against the proprietors of one of the largest counterfeiting rings in the U.S., finding that the district court did not err in permitting overlapping civil and criminal trials against the defendants.

There aren’t enough wheelchair-accessible taxis in New York City, according to a lawsuit filed against the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (ironically, TLC). Plaintiffs in the case, Noel v. New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, claim that the lack of wheelchair accessible taxicabs are a result of TLC’s policies and regulations, thus TLC denied disabled persons who use mobility assistance devices the opportunity to use the NYC taxicab system.

In December, U.S. District Judge George Daniels ruled that TLC violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by not providing cabs for customers with wheelchairs. Judge Daniels also ordered the Bloomberg administration to present a plan to correct the deficiency, and mandated that new cabs added to the city’s fleet must be wheelchair-accessible, reports The New York Times.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals takes crayons seriously.

The New York-based appellate court ruled this week that the Valley Central School District did not violate a 10-year-old’s First Amendment rights when he was suspended for six days for expressing a “wish” for violence towards his school and teachers in a classroom drawing assignment.

Our spidey-sense tells us that we haven’t seen the last of the Stan Lee lawsuits.

Stan Lee Media Inc., (SLMI) lost a challenge in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals this week to intervene in a seven-year-old settlement between Stan Lee (the man) and Marvel over rights to some of Lee’s most famous characters.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed a conversion claim against Coca-Cola this week in a dispute over expropriated property.

The appellate court ruled that an Israeli family that lost its land to the Egyptian government during an anti-Jewish campaign failed to state a cause of action against Coca-Cola for wrongful possession of the property.

Beware the Ides of March, Judge Rakoff.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals announced Thursday that it will delay the SEC-Citigroup civil fraud trial, finding that the litigants are likely to prevail in their settlement appeal, reports The Wall Street Journal. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff had previously scheduled the trial to begin in July.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals last week that the court should require the Central Intelligence Agency to disclose records detailing waterboarding interrogation methods used against terrorism suspects in 2002, reports Reuters.

The CIA claims that the Agency can deny a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for the waterboarding cables because waterboarding is an “intelligence method,” even though President Obama has since declared it illegal. The ACLU counters that the government cannot withhold details of an intelligence method that it has declared unlawful.

Legal finger-pointing for subprime mortgage securities fraud isn't exclusive to U.S. courts, but plaintiffs pursuing litigation in foreign courts sometimes need assistance from U.S. courts to find evidence about the extent of the fraud.

This week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals clarified the scope of when district courts can subpoena witnesses within their jurisdictions to give testimony for a foreign proceeding.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled this week that two provisions of Rule 7.4 of the New York Rules of Professional Conduct are invalid.

Buffalo attorney J. Michael Hayes challenged the provisions, which mandated disclaimers for attorneys who advertised as legal specialists in various fields, arguing that the disclaimer requirement was unconstitutionally vague and violated his free speech rights.

The Bronx Household of Faith can meet in a New York City school for now.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a district court injunction allowing churches to resume holding worship services in New York City public schools this week. The appellate court, however, urged the district court to expedite the case and reach a decision before mid-June, reports The Washington Post.