Case Summaries

Corporation & Enterprise Law

[05/15] SEC v. Jasper
In an SEC civil enforcement action against the CFO of a publicly traded company who had illegally backdated employee stock options, the district court's remedies and sanctions are affirmed, where: 1) it was not an abuse of discretion for the district court to admit a Form 10-K into evidence, as it was a properly authenticated business record; 2) the district court was within its discretion to admit a number of the defendant's Fifth Amendment invocations and to instruct the jury that it could draw an adverse inference from them; 3) the district court's exclusion of hearsay testimony under FRE 804(b)(1) was not an abuse of discretion; 4) there was no attorney misconduct warranting a new trial; and 5) the defendant had no right to have a jury find all predicate facts to the remedy of disgorgement.

[05/14] Robertson v. Sea Pines Real Estates Cos., Inc.
In two consolidated putative class actions brought by purchasers of real estate brokerage services in South Carolina, alleging that the real estate brokerages serving as board members of the local multiple listing service (MLS) conspired to unfairly restrain market competition in violation of section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, the district court's denial of the defendants' motions to dismiss the complaints is affirmed, where: 1) the plaintiffs sufficiently pled the plurality of actors necessary for section 1 to apply, as the actions and deliberations of the MLS were not intracorporate activity; and 2) the plaintiffs adequately pled a conspiracy and a restraint of trade.

[05/09] Townsend v. Benjamin Enterprises, Inc.
In a suit by an employee who claimed sexual harassment and a human resources director who was investigating the allegation: 1) summary judgment to the defendants on the human resources director's Title VII retaliation claim is affirmed, as participation in an internal employer investigation not connected with a formal EEOC proceeding does not qualify as protected activity under the participation clause; 2) there was no error in the district court's rulings on proxy or alter ego liability and individual liability; and 3) the attorney's fee award to a plaintiff is affirmed.

[04/30] Husain v. McDonald's Corp.
In a case in which franchisees sought a preliminary injunction permitting them to continue operating three McDonald's restaurants pending completion of trial, it is held that the injunction did not violate California law and policy regarding the availability of specific performance.

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Probate Trusts

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