Recently in Contract Law Category

In plaintiffs' declaratory judgment action claiming that defendants were not entitled to compensation under an alleged contract involving real estate development, summary judgment for plaintiffs is vacated and remanded as there is no federal subject matter jurisdiction over the case because the only federal issue in the case arises as a possible defense to a state law claim.  Furthermore, this conclusion is not altered by the fact that the statute at issue is the Securities Exchange Act, nor is this a case where a state law claim necessarily raises a stated federal issue, actually disputed and substantial, which a federal forum may entertain without disturbing any congressionally approved balance of federal and state judicial responsibilities.     

Read Playa Marel, P.M., S.A. v. LKS Acquisitions, Inc., No. 08-3072

Appellate Information

Argued: October 16, 2009

Decided and Filed: November 9, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Circuit Judge Rogers

Counsel

For Appellant:  Jeffrey Joseph Harmon, Cors & Bassett, LLP., Cincinnati, Ohio

For Appellee:  Walter Reynolds, Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP., Dayton, Ohio

In plaintiff's suit against defendant for breach of its duty to defend and indemnify arising from antitrust lawsuits brought against plaintiff, summary judgment for defendants and dismissal of all of plaintiff's claims is affirmed as there are no allegations made against plaintiff in the antitrust complaints or amended complaints based on principles of successor liability, and the antitrust cases do not state claims that potentially or arguably fall within the purview of the asset purchase agreement duty to defend.      

Read Ferro Corp. v. Cookson Group, PLC, No. 08-3624

Appellate Information

Argued: June 19, 2009

Decided and Filed: November 6, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Circuit Judge Marbley

Counsel

For Appellant:  James B. Niehaus, Frantz Ward, LLP., Cleveland, Ohio

For Appellee:  Roxann E. Henry, Howrey LLP., Washington, DC

In plaintiff's case against the defendants for repudiating an agreement whereby defendant was to deliver diesel fuel and soybean oil to plaintiff's refinery facility, dismissal of the suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is affirmed as the defendant, a federally chartered tribal corporation, enjoys tribal-sovereign immunity.   

Read Memphis Biofuels, LLC. v. Chicksaw Nation Indus., Inc., No. 08-6145

Appellate Information

Argued: October 6, 2009

Decided and Filed: November 4, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Circuit Judge Cole

Counsel

For Appellant:  John R. Branson, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz, PC., Memphis, Tennessee.

For Appellee:  Donna Brown Jacobs, Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens & Cannada, PLLC., Jackson, Mississippi.

In United States Air Force's (USAF) suit against Commemorative Air Force (CAF) for breach of contract, replevin, and a declaratory judgment that it violated the terms of a 1996 donation certificate concerning an F-82 aircraft, district court's order granting summary judgment in favor of plaintiff and denying CAF's motion for summary judgment is affirmed, as there is no genuine issue of material fact that CAF's attempt to trade the F-82 violated the terms of the 1996 donation certificate, which called for title to revest in the USAF if CAF no longer desired to return the aircraft. 

Read Sec'y of U.S. Air Force v. Commemorative Air Force, No. 08-4084

Appellate Information

Argued: October 14, 2009

Decided and Filed: November 2, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Circuit Judge Rogers

Counsel

For Appellant:  Garry L. Montanari, Michealis, Montanari & Johnson, PC., Westlake Village, California.

For Appellee:  Patrick D. Quinn, Assistant United States Attorney, Dayton, Ohio.

District court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant is affirmed in part and vacated and remanded in part where: 1) with respect to plaintiffs' claims for withdrawal liability under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act, the court's judgment is vacated and remanded for a determination whether the defendant had an obligation to contribute to the fund under applicable labor-management relations law; and 2) district court's judgment with respect to plaintiffs' claim for breach of contract is affirmed.     

Read Cent. States, SE & SW Areas Pension Fund v. Int'l Comfort Prods., LLC, No. 08-5949

Argued: March 10, 2009

Decided and Filed: October 22, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Circuit Judge Kethledge

Counsel

For Appellant:  John Joseph Franczyk, Jr., Rosemont, Illinois

For Appellee:  Lee T. Polk, Barnes & Thornburg LLP, Chicago, Illinois

In a copyright infringement case involving software licensing agreements, district court's summary judgment to plaintiff Cincom Systems, Inc. (Cincom) is affirmed as defendant Novelis did not abide by the express terms of Cincom's license and gain prior written approval before impermissibly transferring the software license when it underwent internal reorganization.   

Read Cincom Sys., Inc. v. Novelis Corp., No. 07-4142

Argued: September 8, 2009

Decided and Filed: September 25, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Gibbons

Counsel

For Appellant:  Irene C. Keyse-Walker, Tucker, Ellis & West LLP

For Appellee: Joseph Michael Callow Jr., Keating, Muething & Klekamp, PLL

In a dispute involving insurance coverage brought against policyholder-yacht dealer and marina operator, district court's order and judgment granting defendant's motion to dismiss pursuant to its discretion to decline to exercise jurisdiction over claims brought under the Declaratory Judgment Act is reversed as the court incorrectly assumed that it had jurisdiction, and thus, its analysis of the abstention issue is vacated.  However, the district court's judgment dismissing plaintiff's claims is affirmed as, looking at the interests insured by the policy sub judice, the weight of authority indicated that the insurance policy at issue was not a maritime contract because its primary objective does not relate to maritime commerce.   

Read New Hampshire Ins. Co. v. Home Savings & Loan Co. of Youngstown, Ohio, No. 08-3902

Appellate Information

Argued: March 13, 2009

Decided and Filed: September 24, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Clay 

Counsel

For Appellant:  Edward R. Goldman, Rendigs, Fry, Kiely & Dennis, LLP., Cincinnati, Ohio

For Appellee:  Robert S. Fulton, Newman, Olson & Kerr, Canfiled, Ohio; Rosemary Taft Milby, Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., LPA., Cleveland, Ohio. 

In an ERISA action seeking a declaration that plaintiffs-employees were entitled to lifetime health benefits under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), summary judgment for plaintiffs is affirmed in part where the CBA unambiguously granted plaintiffs benefits. However the ruling is reversed in part where the CBA and related documents said nothing about subsequent modifications to these benefits, and the application of the relevant provisions suggested that the parties contemplated reasonable modifications.

Read Reese v. CNH Am. LLC, No. 08-1234

Appellate Information

Argued: March 3, 2009

Decided and Filed: July 27, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Sutton

Counsel

For Appellants:

Bobby R. Burchfield, McDermott, Will & Emery LLP, Washington, DC

For Appellees:

Roger J. McClow, Klimist, McKnight, Sale, McClow & Canzano, P.C., Southfield, MI

In an action alleging that defendant-insurer breached its insurance agreement in bad faith by refusing to defend plaintiff in an arbitration, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where defendant properly refused to defend plaintiff because the allegations in the arbitration did not state a claim potentially within the scope of the policy's coverage.

Read Ganim v. Columbia Cas. Co., No. 08-3945

Appellate Information

Argued: June 9, 2009

Decided and Filed: July 23, 2009

Judges

Opinion by Judge Martin

Counsel

For Appellant:

Michael David Zaverton, Walter & Haverfield LLP, Cleveland, OH

For Appellee:

Andrew L. Margulis, Ropers, Majeski, Kohn & Bentley, New York, NY