Defense Funding: The Next Frontier for Litigation Financing

By Brian Hooven on April 18, 2019 Posted in Asset Management, Litigation

Litigation funders are well aware that half of the potential market is largely untapped. Clients would prefer to focus on their business rather than litigation, and offload some or all of their defense costs to a third-party. Law firms want the fee flexibility that defense-side funding could provide.

So why is defense funding still the exception rather than the rule? To begin with, because the synergies that propel plaintiff-side funding are much more difficult to capture on the defense side. Continue Reading

Tags: "pure defense", asset management, Defense Funding, defense-side funding models, funder, Hybrid Financing, Litigation Financing, private equity, Success Fee

When Gym Gossip Can Change Your Lifetime

By Peter Fishkind on April 15, 2019 Posted in Securities and Shareholder Litigation, Trial Issues

As one of the more closely watched insider trading prosecutions of the past few years heads towards trial, observers can look to the investigation surrounding the 2015 acquisition of Life Time Fitness Inc. as a reminder of the dangers that can befall those who seek to engage in a tipping scheme. Continue Reading

Tags: insider trading, private equity, tippee, tipper, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, U.S. v. Beshey et al., White Collar

“ADApt your Website”: Key Takeaways from the Domino’s Website Litigation

By Blake Cushing on April 1, 2019 Posted in Appellate, Litigation, Telecommunications

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently issued a decision holding that the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) applies to websites that connect customers to goods and services offered at a physical location.

In Robles v. Domino’s Pizza LLC, the plaintiff, who is blind, brought suit against Domino’s for failing to “design, construct, maintain, and operate its [website and app] to be fully accessible to and independently usable by Mr. Robles and other blind or visually-impaired people,” in violation of the ADA. Plaintiff, who utilized screen-reading software that vocalized information on websites, tried unsuccessfully on at least two occasions to order a customized pizza from a Domino’s Pizza location. Continue Reading

Tags: Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), Robles v. Domino’s Pizza LLC, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Weyer v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Will Settling Class Actions Get More Difficult in 2019?

By Elisa M. Cariño on March 7, 2019 Posted in California Rules, Class Action, Litigation

Consumer advocates, defense attorneys, tort reformists, and trial judges are all eagerly awaiting a decision by the Ninth Circuit which all hope will clarify the process for certifying a nationwide settlement class in the Ninth Circuit. Specifically, an en banc Ninth Circuit panel will decide whether “variations in state law can defeat” predominance in class action litigation. Continue Reading

Tags: Class Certification, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure, In re: Hyundai and Kia Fuel Economy Litigation, multidistrict litigation, Rule 23(b)(3), US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

“License and [Copyright] Registration Please”: Key Takeaways from the Supreme Court’s Opinion Clarifying When a Copyright Claimant Can Sue for Infringement

By Monique Curry on March 7, 2019 Posted in Copyright, Litigation

On Monday, March 4, the Supreme Court unanimously decided that a copyright claimant may only bring a suit for copyright infringement after the copyright has been registered by the Copyright Office, not while the registration is pending. Continue Reading

Tags: 17 U. S. C. §411(a), Copyright Act, copyright infringement, copyright infringers, copyright law, Copyright Office, Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v Wall-Street.com LLC, registration, Section 411(a), U.S. Supreme Court

“Sue First, Ask Questions Later” Approach to Records Inspection Suits Rejected by Court of Chancery

By James Anderson on February 5, 2019 Posted in Litigation, Securities Law

Characterizing the decision to bring a books and records inspection action after filing a plenary or substantive action as “[i]nherently contradictory,” the Delaware Court of Chancery recently dismissed a Section 220 action brought by a group of investors. The decision signals that the Court of Chancery remains alert to the use of books and records inspection actions for improper purposes, including to subvert the ordinary conduct of civil discovery. Continue Reading

Tags: CHC Investments LLC v. FirstSun Capital Bancorp, Delaware Court of Chancery, Plenary Action, Records inspection, Section 220

2018 Amendments to Rule 23 – Summarized

By Christopher J. Deck on December 13, 2018 Posted in Commercial Litigation, Rule 23/Class Actions

Effective December 1 of this year, Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – governing class action lawsuits – was amended. Among other things, the amendments modernize the rule with respect to electronic communications, set forth a more unified approach to approving settlements, and discourage bad faith objectors to class action settlements. Continue Reading

Tags: Amendments, class action lawsuits, Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 23(e)(2)

Proskauer’s perspective on developments and trends in commercial litigation.