FAMILY LAW CASES

• CMI Capital Market Inv., LLC v. Gonzalez-Toro
• Spool v. World Child Int'l Adoption Agency
• Carrascosa v. McGuire
• In re Marriage of Best

U.S. 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, March 18, 2008
CMI Capital Market Inv., LLC v. Gonzalez-Toro, No. 06-2623
In a suit alleging fraud, breach of contract, and various tortious violations of the Puerto Rico civil code against defendants, their conjugal partnership, and several corporations controlled by one defendant, summary judgment for plaintiffs is affirmed where: 1) the district court was within its discretion to deem the facts in plaintiffs' statement of material facts admitted after defendants failed to challenge; 2) the fraudulent activities of one defendant were for the benefit of the conjugal relationship, thus the relationship was liable; and 3) the wife was jointly and severally liable for the acts of her husband since the evidence supported a finding of "fault" on the part of the wife. Read more...

U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, March 18, 2008
Spool v. World Child Int'l Adoption Agency , No. 06-5698
In an action alleging civil violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) and the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), dismissal of plaintiff's amended complaint is affirmed where: 1) the alleged facts established neither a close-ended nor open-ended continuity to prove a pattern of racketeering activity for a substantive violation of RICO; and 2) plaintiffs did not challenge the dismissal of their CFAA claims. Read more...

U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, March 20, 2008
Carrascosa v. McGuire, No. 07-1748/4130
In a case involving the incarceration of a parent who violated terms of a Parenting Agreement for failure to return her child from abroad, denial and dismissal with prejudice of a petition for a writ of habeas corpus to end detention is affirmed over claims that the district court erred in: 1) finding the Spanish courts departed from the mandate of the Hague Convention's Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction; and 2) failing to afford comity to the decisions of the Spanish courts. Read more...

Illinois Supreme Court, March 20, 2008
In re Marriage of Best, No. 104002
In a dissolution of marriage action, the appellate court's sua sponte reversal the trial court's declaratory judgment order addressing the validity and effect of a premarital agreement is reversed where the second prong of the declaratory judgment statute was met even though a final dissolution order had not been entered. Determination that the spousal support and insurance coverage waivers in the premarital agreement apply only if the parties are legally separated is affirmed. Read more...