LATEST SUMMARIES

ATTORNEY'S FEES, CIVIL PROCEDURE, CIVIL RIGHTS, INJURY AND TORT LAW, REMEDIES
• Torres-Rivera v. O'Neill-Cancel

CIVIL PROCEDURE, COMMERCIAL LAW, CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW, CONTRACTS, INJURY AND TORT LAW, MANUFACTURING
• Trans-Spec Truck Serv., Inc. v. Caterpillar Inc.

CIVIL PROCEDURE, CORPORATION & ENTERPRISE LAW, INJURY AND TORT LAW, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW
• Lupu v. Wyndham el Conquistador Resort & Golden Door Spa

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE, GOVERNMENT BENEFITS
• US v. Herrera-Martinez

LATEST SUMMARIES

ATTORNEY'S FEES, CIVIL PROCEDURE, CIVIL RIGHTS, INJURY AND TORT LAW, REMEDIES
Torres-Rivera v. O'Neill-Cancel, No. 07-1806
In a civil rights suit wherein plaintiffs were granted attorney's fees pursuant to the Civil Rights Attorney's Fees Awards Act of 1976 but denied additional recovery for services rendered in subsequent proceedings, the fee award as well as the order denying plaintiffs' supplemental motion for additional fees are vacated and remanded where: 1) the district court used an inappropriate methodology in apportioning the original fee award; and 2) despite the plaintiffs' presumptive entitlement to further relief, the district failed adequately to explain its denial of the supplemental motion. Read more...

CIVIL PROCEDURE, COMMERCIAL LAW, CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW, CONTRACTS, INJURY AND TORT LAW, MANUFACTURING
Trans-Spec Truck Serv., Inc. v. Caterpillar Inc., No. 07-1476
In a case applying the accrual and statute of limitations provisions of the Massachusetts U.C.C. to breach of warranty claims brought against an engine manufacturer, dismissal of plaintiff's warranty and Massachusetts Gen. Laws chapter 93A claims as time-barred, as well as summary judgment for defendant on plaintiff's negligence claims, are affirmed where: 1) the breach of warranty claim, accruing on the date of delivery of goods, was filed after the expiration of the limitations period, and plaintiff's equitable estoppel arguments were unavailing; and 2) plaintiff made no compelling argument and cited no specific facts which would invalidate the exculpatory language contained in a negligence exclusion clause. Read more...

CIVIL PROCEDURE, CORPORATION & ENTERPRISE LAW, INJURY AND TORT LAW, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW
Lupu v. Wyndham el Conquistador Resort & Golden Door Spa, No. 07-1659
In an action against a former employer for termination of employment in violation of Puerto Rico statutes, summary judgment for employer is affirmed where: 1) plaintiff's allegations of employer's violation of Puerto Rico's Act No. 115, prohibiting retaliation against certain defined whistleblowers, stretched the statutory language beyond any fair reading; 2) based on undisputed facts, plaintiff could not make out a factually supportable negligence claim under Article 1802, P.R. Laws Ann. Tit. 31, section 5141. Read more...

CRIMINAL LAW & PROCEDURE, EVIDENCE, GOVERNMENT BENEFITS
US v. Herrera-Martinez, No. 07-1363
Convictions stemming from defendant's use of personal information, including a Social Security number, that did not belong to defendant in order to secure subsidized housing under a federal program, are affirmed over claims that: 1) a conviction under 18 U.S.C. section 641 requires proof of elements not present in her case; 2) 42 U.S.C. section 408(a)(7)(B) prohibits the use of a false Social Security number only to obtain a Social Security payment, not to obtain other benefits; and 3) she was entitled to acquittal of aggravated identity theft because it required, as a predicate, one of the other two offenses. Read more...