Litigation

Uber drivers in Florida will be considered independent contractors rather than employees, the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity determined on Dec. 3 in a victory for the app-based ridesharing company.

In today's litigious environment, many California employers, despite their best intentions, are frequently hit with costly wage and hour claims and lawsuits by their employees, as well as the Labor Commissioner's own enforcement agency. This article discusses some of the more common mistakes occurring in this minefield, and strategies to consider when such claims are filed.

Federal Circuit Affirms Anticipation of Claims
Federal Circuit: No Jurisdiction Over Appeal By Interested Third-Party Attorneys When Underlying Case Had Settled
In IPR Appeal, Federal Circuit Reverses PTAB Determination of Nonobviousness

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently affirmed a judgment entered in favor of a group of franchisees who sued for breach of contract when the franchisor charged them royalties and fees that the parties negotiated specifically to exclude from their franchise agreements.

Arbitration provider JAMS is staying neutral, sort of, on an entertainment litigator's claim that it favors big studios in arbitrations and mediations. The claim, made by Bird Marella partner Ronald Nessim in a law review this summer, is essentially that JAMS has a lock on studio business, with the overwhelming majority of studio contracts reviewed by Nessim naming JAMS as the dispute resolution provider.

DJ Logic" Loses Trademark Suit
Second Circuit Affirms Jury Instruction That Cited Only Part of Copyright Act's List of Fair Use Factors
Ticket Sales of Just $180 Don't Bar Statutory Damages of $7,000 Per Song Infringed

Because 'information that an individual shares through social networking websites like Facebook may be copied and disseminated by another,' the expectation that such information is private, in the traditional sense of the word, is not a reasonable one.

The world of free online video games is a big business, including for some law firms. The games derive much of their revenue from a tiny sliver of users who pay real-world money for virtual currency to hasten their advancement or refill their pretend coffers. Plaintiffs in the string of suits claim that the games run afoul of various states' laws by running thinly veiled gambling enterprises.