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This Week's Double Feature
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U.S. Supreme Court Has Issued Two Recent Opinions That Fundamentally Alter Established Precedent
By Jana H. Woelfel, Strasburger & Price, LLP
The last month yielded several game-changing employment decisions for employment law practitioners. In the first decision, the Supreme Court disposed of a case by holding there is no “mixed motive” burden shifting framework under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) in a case where neither party had raised that appellate question. In the second case, the Supreme Court held that an employer may not reject promotion criteria out of fear, not founded in strong evidence, that it will give rise to a disparate impact claim. These decisions have come from a closely divided Supreme Court whose makeup is in a state of flux. Moreover, in the last six months, the U.S. Congress has shown a willingness to enact legislation to overturn Supreme Court decisions with which it disagrees.
[FULL STORY]
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The Employment Implications of "Doocing" Employees for Their Actions on the Internet
By Helen C. Adams, Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.
Social networking sites are an integral part of the Internet communication network. Two of the most famous such sites are Facebook and MySpace. It was only a matter of time before employers were dealing with employees’ usage of such sites with significant potential legal implications, particularly when such activity is conducted off-site and after normal working hours. A Google search will locate examples of employees terminated from their jobs as a result of Internet activity.
[FULL STORY]
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DRI News
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DRI Announces Committee Name Change
The Government Enforcement and Corporate Compliance Committee (f/k/a Corporate Integrity and White Collar Crime Committee) is pleased to share its new moniker with the DRI community. It is strongly felt that this committee's new name better reflects the interests of the practice area. The committee is chaired by David L. Douglass of Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP and the vice chair is Mark Srere of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.
[FULL STORY]
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DRI Awards — Nominations due August 1
DRI’s Annual Professional Achievement and Service Awards celebrate and honor outstanding performance by SLDOs, DRI law firms and individual members. Brochures detailing the awards and nomination criteria have been emailed to all members, and you may also view the brochure online. We encourage you to recognize the accomplishments of your peers and submit entries for each of the awards. The call for nominations deadline is August 1, 2009. The awards will be presented at the Awards Luncheon, Thursday, October 8, with Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois Joseph H. Hartzler, the government’s lead counsel in the Oklahoma City bombing case, as guest speaker. To register for the luncheon and other events at the Annual Meeting, click here.
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Brand New Publication!
The newest publication in the Defense Library Series, Punitive Damages: A State-by-State Compendium, covers the law of each state (plus the District of Columbia and Canada) governing punitive damages. Each chapter is authored by experienced practitioners who are members of the DRI Product Liability Committee. The following topics are addressed in detail: background and basics; pleading; discovery; proof; defenses; jury instructions; amounts recoverable; who recovers; insurance/indemnity issues; appeals; miscellaneous considerations. Click here to pre-order your copy today and for more information on this new release!
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DRI’s Construction Law Seminar will be held September 10-11, 2009, at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco. This year’s seminar presents outstanding educational and networking opportunities that should not be missed. An impressive group of nationally recognized speakers will share their knowledge and expertise on a wide range of important topics for construction lawyers and their industry and insurance clients. Several emerging topics in the construction industry will be addressed, and topics of ongoing interest will be updated.
[FULL STORY]
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And The Defense Wins!
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The Eighth Circuit recently upheld a summary judgment decision obtained by Halleland Lewis Nilan & Johnson shareholders and DRI members Cynthia Arends and Sandra Jezierski in Chial v. Sprint/United Management Co., --- F.3d ---, 2009 WL 1767533 (8th Cir.(Minn.) Jun 24, 2009). The plaintiff, a former store manager in a Sprint store, alleged that she was wrongfully terminated for blowing the whistle on a fraudulent commissions practice and that Sprint defamed her through the termination.
[FULL STORY]
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DRI member John W. Bell, a shareholder at Johnson & Bell, Ltd. in Chicago, teamed with another shareholder recently to secure a directed verdict in favor of their client, Commonwealth Edison, one of the nation’s largest electric utilities. Prior to the trial, the plaintiff sought $950,000.00 and a waiver of his workers’ compensation lien. Plaintiff’s counsel asked for $3.5 million in closing argument.
[FULL STORY]
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Ryan Ryan Deluca LLP partner Kevin M. Tepas in Stamford, Connecticut, obtained a defendants’ verdict recently in Danbury Superior Court for an internist and his group. The plaintiff, the patient’s widow, claimed that the defendant internist failed to detect that an electrocardiogram of the patient during a routine physical exam demonstrated a prior heart attack, a condition that required an aggressive work-up of the patient’s cardiac health. The plaintiff also claimed that the internist failed to appreciate the patient’s high risk for coronary artery disease, including his abnormal lipid profile and, as a result, failed to aggressively treat the patient’s elevated cholesterol.
[FULL STORY]
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In February, DRI member John W. Patton, Jr. of Patton & Ryan, LLC in Chicago defended Metra in a case involving a train derailment with admitted liability. The plaintiff was a pregnant single 28-year-old mother with quadriplegia and permanent brain damage who will require 24-hour a day care for the rest of her life. Attorney Patton was able to obtain an extremely favorable verdict for the defendant before a Cook County jury.
[FULL STORY]
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On May 19, 2009, DRI member Jonathon L. Beck of Young & Alexander Co., L.P.A.'s Dayton, Ohio office won a defense verdict in the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court. Mr. Beck defended Xerox Corporation and its employee-driver in a rear-end auto case. The defendants admitted negligence. The plaintiff claimed $238,000 in medical specials, including a spinal fusion and another surgery allegedly related to the accident, plus resulting permanent disability, $178,000 in lost wages, and $378,00 in future lost income.
[FULL STORY]
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Keep those defense wins coming! Send a short summary and recent photo of yourself to Barb Lowery by email (blowery@dri.org).
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New Member Spotlight
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DRI is pleased to welcome new members William J. Marsden, Jr., Thomas B. Walsh IV, and Carl Bruce of Fish & Richardson P.C., a firm that has been cited by Managing Intellectual Property for three years in a row as the largest IP firm in the United States, was identified in the National Law Journal’s 2008 “Appellate Hot List” as one of the top appellate firms in the country (and the only IP firm on the list), was recognized by IP Law & Business as 2008’s #1 go-to firm for patent prosecution, and named by IP Law & Business as the #1 patent litigation firm for seven of the last eight years in terms of total number of patent cases and as the #1 firm by number of cases in which a firm is representing defendants.
[FULL STORY]
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Legislative Tracking
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CALIFORNIA (Contributor: Amir Nassihi, Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP)
ELECTRONIC DISCOVERY
• AB 5 Electronic discovery.
• Status: Signed into law on June 29, 2009.
• Notes: Enacts electronic discovery provisions in California.
HAWAII (Contributors: Dawn T. Sugihara & Anne T. Horiuchi, Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel LLP)
COMMERCIAL LITIGATION
S.B. 1005, relating to Publicity Rights
• Establishes property rights in the commercial use of a person’s name voice, signature, photograph, or likeness. (CD1)
• 06/30/09: Governor issued a Notice of Intent to Veto.
[MORE]
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Quote of the Week
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Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.
— Robert Louis Stevenson
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DRI Cares
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Young Lawyer Gives Back to the Community
DRI member Jennifer B. Groszek, a 32-year-old associate with Gunty & McCarthy in Chicago, was featured in the February 2009 issue of the Chicago Lawyer Magazine, along with her husband, attorney Robert Groszek, for their community service and pro bono work. Ms. Groszek is the chair of the Young Lawyers Division of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel (IDC), which has a very active Young Lawyers section. In her capacity as chair, she plans monthly substantive programs with speakers and coordinates events like a blood drive, a children’s reading program and a school supply drive. She was awarded the 2008 Rising Star Award from the IDC.
[FULL STORY]
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Sending Your Submission
Are you or your law firm actively involved in community service or pro bono work? If so, DRI would like to hear about it. Please send a short article (750 words max) describing your involvement to Barb Lowery (blowery@dri.org). Representative submissions will be selected for inclusion in The Voice.
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DRI CLE Calendar
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DRI's National Workers' Compensation Review
August 17-18, 2009
Orlando World Center Marriott, Orlando, Florida
Construction Law
September 10-11, 2009
The Palace Hotel, San Francisco, California
Nursing Home/ALF Litigation
September 10-11, 2009
The Westin Kierland, Scottsdale, Arizona
Strictly Automotive
September 24-25, 2009
Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, La Jolla, California
Appellate Advocacy
November 5-6, 2009
Hilton La Jolla Torrey Pines, La Jolla, California
Asbestos Medicine
November 12-13, 2009
Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Miami, Florida
For all other seminars, webconferences and webcasts, click here.
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Current Issues in Medical Liability and Health Care Law
Defending Damages Claims in Business Tort Cases
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