Alright, we’ve returned from a hiatus and bring you up to date for May 2021 with this edition of Commercial Appeals Roundup.
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Commercial Appeals Roundup
The summer doldrums have slowed but not halted the flow of rulings by the U.S. Courts of Appeals, but you can’t say the same about the highest courts in Delaware, New York, and Texas.
Despite the more languid pace of federal-court opinions, we have a cornucopia of them–28 in all. I’m happy to say the backlog is a result of having quite a lot to do in my day job at Susman Godfrey.
The state-court pipelines have paused their deliveries since July 31 (in Delaware), July 17 (Texas), and June 29 (New York)–yielding just one opinion (on a rare instance of declining to order a shareholder meeting to elect directors).
Below the jump you’ll find the latest roundup of blurbs-with-links.
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Commercial Appeals Roundup
Appeals courts kept churning out rulings in the commercial sphere last week, but even more than usual dealt with IP issues—10 of 12 by my count, with one oil and gas and one class action rounding out the dozen.
The Supreme Court Itself spoke up, ruling in a trademark death-match that the end of previous
Commercial Appeals Roundup
Here are the Commercial Appeals Roundups for the weeks of April 20-24, 2020 and April 27-May 1, 2020. The Roundups describe a key aspect of precedential appellate rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the highest appeals courts in Delaware, New York, and Texas and provide links directly to
Commercial Case Roundup
Because my practice focuses on complex commercial disputes–especially cases involving antitrust, oil and gas, and patents–I keep daily track of important decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, the 13 U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the highest appeals courts in Delaware, New York, and Texas.
You can follow along during the week on Twitter (@contingencyblog) or here at The Contingency each Monday with this Commercial Case Roundup.
Why Lawsuit Funding May Go Mainstream
Big verdict
Hulk Hogan’s case against Gawker Media made headlines four times — but only twice because of what the jury did.
You’ll recall that a trial in Florida produced a verdict in favor of Mr. Hogan on his claim that Gawker had gone too far with a sex video. Jurors awarded the Hulkster (Terry
Chaos in the Lower Courts?
How will lower federal courts react to the loss of a 5-4 pro-business majority on the U.S. Supreme Court?
How to Make the Real Bad Guys Pay
The Times’s Gretchen Morgenson asked in her “Fair Game” column whether making “financial executives personally liable for a portion of any . . . legal settlements” in class actions — regardless of personal fault — would cut down on bad conduct.
I bet it would.
But I have a better idea.
Promise to pay class action lawyers big bonuses for finding the actual bad guys and making them pay.
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The Cost of Third-Party Litigation Funding
Sizable expenses
A big commercial case can cost millions in expenses — by which I mean out-of-pocket costs that the plaintiff or its counsel must pay net of attorneys’ fees. A portfolio of cases — for infringement of a patent or family of patents, say — can run many millions more. Who will bear that burden? And what will it cost?
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High Rates and Better Outcomes
Contingent fee ruling
A couple of months ago, the Fifth Circuit upheld a fee agreement that entitled the lawyers to full-price hourly fee plus a 15 percent contingent-fee on any recovery. An arbitration panel had ruled that the lawyers might never have received anything, including the hourly portion, in