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The FTCA and the Payment of Tort Damages Image

The FTCA and the Payment of Tort Damages

Janice G. Inman

Federal government attorneys recently unsuccessfully attempted to convince a Federal District Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to rewrite the terms of the Federal Tort Claims Act ('FTCA') to allow the creation of a reversionary trust rather than give a lump-sum award to pay for a medical malpractice plaintiff's future medical expenses.

Features

Cameo Clips Image

Cameo Clips

ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

FILM PRODUCTION/DEFAMATION<br>FILM PRODUCTION/TRADEMARKS, DEFAMATION<br>KARAOKE LICENSES/LANHAM ACT, COPYRIGHT CLAIMS

Features

GA Court to Rule on Suit over TV Show Interactive Element Image

GA Court to Rule on Suit over TV Show Interactive Element

Alyson M. Palmer

Text messages, cell phones, TV game shows, Howie Mandel ' none of these could have been contemplated by Georgia's colonial lawmakers when they first passed a law allowing gamblers to recover their losses through lawsuits. The current version of the law is at the center of a case against NBC Universal and the producer of Mandel's hit show, 'Deal or No Deal,' now being considered by the Georgia Supreme Court.

Features

Fed Court Believes It Can't Consider Copyright Issue Image

Fed Court Believes It Can't Consider Copyright Issue

ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ordered defendant Artisan Pictures to show cause why a suit against it for payment of film-acquisition rights shouldn't be remanded to state court. The federal court noted it 'likely lacks' subject matter jurisdiction over the declaratory suit, even though the case involves whether copyright claims over licenses for film music were time barred.

Features

Exploring the Substantial-Similarity Test in Suits Alleging Breach of Implied Contract Image

Exploring the Substantial-Similarity Test in Suits Alleging Breach of Implied Contract

Stan Soocher

Copyright-infringement cases alleging that a defendant improperly used a plaintiff's work for a movie or TV show often hinge on whether there's substantial similarity between the litigating parties' works. But substantial similarity plays a role in breach-of-implied-contract cases alleging defendants based their film or show on a plaintiff's work. A recent ruling by the California Court of Appeal serves as an informative review of California case law in this legal area and its current application.

Features

Contacting Class Members Before and After Class Certification: The ABA's View Image

Contacting Class Members Before and After Class Certification: The ABA's View

Brent R. Austin, David M. Simon, & Nancy F. Afrasiabi

A question often faced by counsel in a class action is whether to contact absent class members. Pre-certification communications, for example, can be valuable to develop a more complete evidentiary record on the issue of whether a class should be certified in the first place. Courts have not always agreed whether therules of professional conduct permit these communications. American Bar Association Formal Opinion 07-445, issued in April 2007, supports the view that the rules of professional conduct permit these valuable communications before a class is certified.

Features

Question of Law on Bystander Recovery Sent to PA High Court Image

Question of Law on Bystander Recovery Sent to PA High Court

Amaris Elliott-Engel

In the rare exercise of a mechanism that the federal courts may use to consult state courts about purely state questions of law, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to address the permissible scope of bystander recovery under Pennsylvania's product liability law for a little girl whose left foot was mangled by a lawn mower driven by her grandfather.

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Real Property Law Image

Real Property Law

ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

Analysis of recent rulings.

Features

Judges Take Notice of Subprime Mortgage Crisis Image

Judges Take Notice of Subprime Mortgage Crisis

Marvin N. Bagwell

Just in case you missed it, here is the most recent addition to the list of famous last words: "Your honor, you just don't understand how things work." According to press reports, that is how Judge Christopher A. Boyko of the Federal District Court in Cleveland, OH, characterized the foreclosing lender's counsel response to the judge's request for proof that the lender, Deutsche Bank, actually owned the 14 unpaid mortgages that the lender was asking the court to foreclose.

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Case Briefs Image

Case Briefs

ALM Staff & Law Journal Newsletters

Recent rulings of importance to you and your practice.

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