We round up the most significant appellate decisions relevant to commercial litigation each week.

The courts’ output has slowed as the days grow ever shorter ahead of the winter solstice. Welcome to the Commercial Roundup of December 11, 2024.

  • “You’d think [the new Texas Business Court] would want to resolve this [dispute over its jurisdiction to handle old District Court cases] quickly because the whole idea is you don’t
We round up the most significant appellate decisions relevant to commercial litigation each week.

Welcome to this week’s Commercial Roundup—in which you’ll find links to the most significant rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court and the 13 Courts of Appeals plus the highest courts in Delaware, New York, and Texas. You’ll also see other matters of interest to commercial trial lawyers and the firms and business people they represent.

This week a couple of Latin phrases we learned in the first year of law school headline the list. The first—res ipsa loquitur—means something like “the thing (res) speaks (loquitur) for itself (ipsa)” and provides a shortcut for a party wishing to prove a claim of negligence. The other Latin phrase—forum non conveniens—suggests the plaintiff brought a case in a place (forum) whose remoteness to the parties, witnesses, and sources of proof and lack of expertise in governing law (among other factors) render it sufficiently inconvenient (non conveniens) as to justify dismissing the case in favor of, or transferring it to, a much more convenient forum.

We also have an important First Circuit ruling on a pair of issues that arise often in efforts to enforce arbitration clauses and confirm awards, a “tacking” question regarding priority of trademarks, and decisions on when limitations starts to run in securities fraud cases, insurance coverage for COVID-19 losses, damages remedy for fraudulent transfer, and when prior art “anticipates” a claim limitation without mentioning it.

So here we go—Commercial Roundup for the week of April 5-12.Continue Reading Commercial Roundup – April 12, 2023

Enforcers Roundtable

Like 3,700 or so other folks, I spent a few days last week at a world-class nerdfest—the Spring Meeting of the Antitrust Law Section. You can see my notes from a couple of the half-dozen sessions I attended here and here. You can also see the insights of Matt Stoller, Director of Research at the American Economic Liberties Project and publisher of BIG on Substack, on his experience as a panelist here.

The four days in D.C. again reminded me of the strongly pro-defense orientation of Section members. Many of them spend their days pushing mergers through the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act process. Many others litigate civil and criminal lawsuits charging their clients with price-fixing, abuse of market power, and other violations of antitrust law.

No wonder they believe Robert Bork—the patron saint of trusting in the beneficence of behemoths—hung the antitrust moon.Continue Reading Antitrust Enforcers Must Do More with Less

We round up the most significant appellate decisions relevant to commercial litigation each week.

Welcome to the spring break edition of Commercial Roundup. This week’s highlights include a fantastic round-robin interview of six women lawyers who’ve made their way to the top of antitrust-world and the end of a saga about a non-lawyer who helped mass-tort firms “sign up clients” for money.

This week you’ll find me at the Spring Meeting of the ABA’s Antitrust Law Section in Washington, DC. Send me an email (bbarnett@susmangodfrey.com) if you’ve also come to the this year’s antitrust nerd-fest and either see an especially recondite, funny, or otherwise notable presentation or would like to say hello.

Continue Reading Commercial Roundup – March 29, 2023

We round up the most significant appellate decisions relevant to commercial litigation each week.

Welcome to this week’s Commercial Roundup.

Below you will find headlines and links to appellate decisions and other items of particular interest to business people and lawyers dealing with complex disputes.

If you haven’t already subscribed to The Contingency, I invite you to do it now. Just enter your email address in the box to the right, hit the return button, and click the “Yes, subscribe me to this list” rectangle in the confirmation email you’ll receive.

Now let’s get to the Roundup!

BarryContinue Reading Commercial Roundup–March 23, 2023

The co-managing partners of my firm issued the message below for Susman Godfrey’s friends and clients, including you.

Expect updates on COVID-19 developments here and @contingencyblog.

Be well.

Barry Barnett

To Susman Godfrey clients and friends:
In this time of concern and disruption because of COVID-19, we at Susman Godfrey have taken steps to

Best Lawyer TrophyThe 2015 edition of Best Lawyers has emerged from embargo.

It lists 17 partners in Blawgletter's firm. And, yes, it includes Blawgletter. For the 11th time. Go figure.

Dallas

  • Blawgletter: Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Antitrust, Litigation – Intellectual Property, and Litigation – Patent
  • Ophelia F. Camiña: Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Antitrust,

LIBORGet ready for the Supreme Court to resolve a question that has divided courts of appeals for years:

Whether and in what circumstances is the dismissal of an action that has been consolidated with other suits immediately appealable?

If that doesn't sound sexy enough for you, consider that the issue arises in massive litigation over