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Following the 2007-2009 recession, trade secret cases increased to between 7,000 and 9,000 cases per year compared to 770-1,100 per year during the recession. As the United States faces a new economic crisis, companies should prepare for increased trade secret cases in the coming years. Typically these cases start to rise three years after the end of a recession.
According to Tennessee law, when a party involved in a legal dispute moves for summary judgment they bear the burden of submitting evidence to negate the other party’s claims. After Penny Wilson slipped and fell in the parking lot of Weigel Stores, a gas station, the store lost both the witness’s contact information and the surveillance camera video. Wilson filed suit against Weigel for the injuries she sustained in the fall.
On March 4, 2015, the vehicle driven by Jeremy Baird (Jeremy) stuck and killed Angela Gray. The vehicle driven by Jeremy was owned by his father and employer Terry Baird (Mr. Baird). Angela Gray’s husband Shawn Gray filed a wrongful death suit against both Jeremy and Mr. Baird. The trial court granted summary judgment to Mr. Baird. Gray appealed.
As the economy reopens, employers are focused on both keeping their employees and customers safe while returning to business. Before employers implement plans to test employees for COVID-19, they should be aware of the risks. Find best practices and other considerations here.
Following a storm in Liberty, Mississippi, Allstate Insurance Company contracted with Pilot Catastrophe to inspect and evaluate the damage to the roof of Henry Peak’s house, their insured. Pilot dispatched Michael Cohee to complete the inspection. Following his typical procedure, Cohee climbed on Peak’s roof despite being able to determine rotting in the roof from the ground. Cohee fell through the roof during the inspection and sustained numerous injuries.
In a split decision, the Mississippi Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Mississippi Workers’ Compensation Commission on a case featuring an injured nurse. Angela Jones, a nurse at Baptist Hospital, alleges she felt a “pop” in her back at the end of her shift on March 21, 2015. Over the next six months, Jones sought care from three different doctors.
Companies in all industries are experiencing supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19. Contracts in place with your customers and suppliers will determine when and how you can terminate the contracts or negotiate payment or credit terms. Contracts which require a supplier or customer to provide indemnification could provide some financial protection. Now’s the time to review your contracts and determine what protections you may have moving forward.
In one of what is expected to be the first of thousands of COVID-19 legal cases, Pittsburgh-based restauranteur Joseph Tambellini filed a lawsuit against his insurer Erie Insurance Exchange. Tambellini alleged his company’s commercial property policy should provide coverage for business income losses allegedly due to mandated business restrictions related to COVID-19. Erie disagreed.
Last month, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (the CARES Act) to offer financial assistance to US businesses. The CARES Act includes multiple programs aimed at businesses of various sizes and industries. Learn more about these programs, which ones apply to your business, and how to receive funds in this overview.
As businesses realize the current and future impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their business, they are turning to their insurance policies for coverage. Exactly what and how much is covered varies by policy and will likely be the topic of much litigation in the coming months and years. Identifying the cause of business losses is the first step to determining whether or not your policy provides coverage.
Based on the language in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) that applies to federal employees, the United States Supreme Court has ruled federal employees have a discrimination claim if age discrimination played “any part” in
As events around the world are postponed or canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic, organizers have experienced multimillion-dollar losses. A few, like Wimbledon, had infectious disease clauses in their insurance policies. Days after the Committee of Management of The Championships announced the cancellation of the 2020 tournament, reports surfaced that Wimbledon would collect around $141 million from its insurance policy.
Illinois Tool Works, the maker of the leading windshield water-repellant Rain-X, sued it’s competitor Rust-Oleum Corp. over its commercial for a competing product, RainBella. The jury agreed with Illinois Tool Works that Rust-Oleum’s claims were false and misleading. They awarded Illinois Tool Works $392,406 of Rust-Oleum’s profits and $925,617 for corrective advertising bringing the award to a total of more than $1.3 million. The district court reduced the corrective-advertising award.
Stay-at-home orders across the United States have resulted in fewer auto accidents and fewer auto insurance claims than expected. National insurers Allstate, American Family, Esurance, and Encompass are returning some of the money they’ve saved from lower claims to their policyholders. Read more on how insurance companies are handling the payouts.
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Comcast Corp. v. National Association of African American-Owned Media that the plaintiff bears the burden of showing that race was the “but-for” cause of the alleged injury in §1981 cases. Entertainment Studios Network (ESN), an African-American owned television-network operator, approached Comcast Corporation about carrying its channels. Comcast declined to carry the channels due to lack of programming demand, bandwidth constrictions, and a preference for programming not offered by ESN.
In contrast to a recent North Carolina case, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in Lorine Mitchell v. State Farm Fire; Casualty Company finds ‘Actual Cash Value’ does not include depreciation of labor. Mitchell, whose home was damaged in a 2017 storm, made a claim under her State Farm policy. State Farm paid the ‘Actual Cash Value’ of the repairs minus depreciation of both material and labor. Michell claims labor should not have been depreciated. The term ‘Actual Cash Value’ was not defined in the policy, which the court determined made it ambiguous.
A trade secret misappropriation lawsuit against Uber has been given the green light to move forward by the San Francisco Superior Court. Plaintiff Kevin Halpern claims he shared information about his startup idea Celluride Wireless Inc. with former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick in 2006, four years before Uber’s app launched. Halpern did not file his lawsuit until 2015.
When a group of individuals and entities hired a financial services company to assist them in selling a group of oil and gas leases, the financial services company put in place formal bidding procedures and deadlines. Before bidders were allowed access to information about the leases, they signed a confidentiality agreement which included a no-obligation clause.
As organizations throughout the U..S. move employees to remote working additional hazards arise including legal challenges. Baker McKenzie has provided a useful checklist of challenges and strategies to guide your company as you increase telecommuting opportunities.