SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Illinois Supreme Court on Feb. 2 unanimously affirmed a trial court’s dismissal of an environmental group’s claims that ExxonMobil Coal USA was in violation of the Surface Coal Mining Land Conservation and Reclamation Act (SCMLCRA) and Water Use Act of 1983 for site conditions at one of its mines because the [...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Because the Credit Repair Organizations Act (CROA) does not specifically state whether claims brought pursuant to the act are eligible for arbitration, the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires an arbitration agreement in a credit card agreement “to be enforced according to its terms,” a split U.S. Supreme Court ruled Jan. 10 (CompuCredit [...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 7 ruled that it will not hear an appeal of a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that shareholders have properly pleaded scienter in making their federal securities law claims against two executive officers of Dana Corp. (Michael J. Burns, et al. v. Plumbers & [...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – A federal prisoner suing over his alleged mistreatment behind bars has failed to show that the remedies provided in Bivens v. Six Unknown Named Agents of Federal Bureau of Narcotics (403 U.S. 388 [1971]) are applicable, the attorney representing the prison management company and several of the company’s employees argued Nov. 1 [...]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The government has no right to interfere with a religious school’s employment decisions when it comes to a teacher who taught religious class, led worship and led prayer, the attorney for Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School argued Oct. 5 before the U.S. Supreme Court (Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. [...]

SAN FRANCISCO – Taxpayers may bring class action claims against a local government under Government Code 910, a unanimous California Supreme Court ruled July 25, reversing a Court of Appeal judgment (Estuardo Ardon v. City of Los Angeles, No. S174507, Calif. Sup.; 2011 Cal. LEXIS 7681). LexisNexis® Mealey’s™ Daily Legal News

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – There are several material disagreements regarding what occurred from the time an insured’s quarrying operation began in or about 2001, the Rhode Island Supreme Court found July 12, vacating and remanding a lower court’s grant of a commercial general liability insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment as to coverage for an underlying [...]