Chicago Business Litigation Lawyer Blog
Super Lawyers named Chicago and Oak Brook business trial attorney Peter Lubin a Super Lawyer for 2011 in the Categories of Class Action, Business Litigation and Consumer Rights Litigation. DiTommaso Lubin’s Oak Brook and Chicago business law attorneys have over a quarter of a century of experience in litigating complex class action, consumer rights and business and commercial litigation disputes. As a Chicago business law firm handle emergency business law suits involving injunctions, and TROS, covenant not to compete and trade secret lawsuits and many different kinds of business disputes involving shareholders, partnerships, closely held businesses and employee breaches of fiduciary duty. We also assist businesses and business owners who are victims of fraud.
Stephen Breyer: The Court, The Cases And The Conflicts
NPR Reports: “Stephen Breyer: The Court, The Cases And The Conflicts”
This fascinating broadcast reveals how Justice Breyer makes decisions through a “living Constitution”. The broadcast states:
In Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge’s View, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer outlines his ideas about the Constitution and about the way the United States legal system works.
USA Today Reports: “Home Mortgage Modification Snags Spark Class-Action Lawsuits”
USA Today Reports:
Permanent mortgage modifications, which lower mortgage payments have been given to only about a third of the 1.3 million borrowers.
The class-action lawsuits allege that the trial payment plans are contracts that obligateBank of America and other servicers to abide by them and to give permanent loan modifications to homeowners who otherwise can’t pay their mortgages and would face foreclosure and loss of their homes.
AP reports: “Judge: Movie Studios Can Subpoena Internet Users’ Names, Data In File-Sharing Cases”
Movie Studios Can Subpoena Internet Users’ Names, Data In File-Sharing Cases
AP reports:
A federal judge on Friday allowed the holder of a movie copyright to subpoena the names of people accused of illegally downloading and distributing a film over the Internet.
The Wall Street Journal Reports: “A Boom in ‘Overtime’ Lawsuits? Blame Technology”
A Boom in ‘Overtime’ Lawsuits? Blame Technology
The Wall Street Journal reports:
It’s something the world is growing accustomed to, for better or worse: the ever-shrinking divide between work and leisure time. Ubiquitous Internet-access, Blackberrys, cell phones — all sort of technological advances — make it easier to take a “work from home” day when a child is sick. At the same time, the advances give employers the ability to make 24/7 demands, and expect 24/7 responses.
With the blurring of “on” and “off the clock,” lawsuits have arisen. Two recent suits, the WSJ reports on Monday, raise the following question: should hourly workers be paid for time spent responding to work calls or emails while off the clock?
Last month, three current and former employees sued T-Mobile USA Inc., claiming they were required to use company-issued smart phones to respond to work messages after hours without pay. In a March suit, a former CB Richard Ellis Group Inc. maintenance worker seeks pay for time spent after hours receiving and responding to messages on a work-issued cellphone.
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act says employees must be paid for work performed off the clock, even if the work was voluntary. When the law was passed in 1938, “work” was easy to define for hourly employees. As the workplace changed, so did the rules for when workers should be paid.
Video of What Not to Do at a Deposition
This video compilation of the Bill Gate’s deposition in the United State’s government anti-trust case against Microsoft provides good examples of how not to behave at a deposition.
Based in Chicago and Oak Brook, Ill., DiTommaso Lubin represents clients throughout Illinois and across the United States who are involved in serious or high-stakes business litigation. Our Illinois business lawyers work for both plaintiffs and defendants in cases of share holder freeze outs, closely held family business disputes, contract disputes, intellectual property infringement, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, indemnification and any other claims that could have a serious effect on the finances and future of the business. Our clients include companies in every field and businesses of all sizes, from small family businesses to major corporations. To learn more or speak to an experienced Chicago business litigation attorney, please contact us through our website or call 630-333-0333 today.
The Wall Street Journal Reports: H-P Sues to Stop Ex-Chief’s Job
H-P Sues to Stop Ex-Chief’s Job
By ROBERT A. GUTH, BEN WORTHEN And JOANN S. LUBLIN .
The Wall Street Jornal Reports:
Hewlett-Packard Co. sued to block its former chief executive from joining rival Oracle Corp. as a senior executive, alleging Mark Hurd’s hiring breaches his exit agreement and will inevitably lead to a transfer of its trade secrets to a competitor. …
While it isn’t unusual for companies to sue departing executives to enforce exit agreements, H-P’s suit Tuesday against Mr. Hurd is atypical in that former CEOs are rarely subject to such legal actions, experts said.H-P’s suit focuses on a confidentiality agreement, which restricts Mr. Hurd from disclosing sensitive information about his former employer.
New York Times Reports: Landis Files Whistle Blower Suit Against Armstrong
Landis Said to File Suit Against Cycling Team
By JULIET MACUR
Published: September 3, 2010
Floyd Landis, who was stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping, is claiming that Lance Armstrong’s former team defrauded the government. This article in the New York Times describes the entire scandal and the lawsuit Landis has filed.
The New York Times article states in part:
Landis is claiming that team management was aware of the team’s widespread doping when the contract with the Postal Service clearly stated that any doping would constitute default of their agreement, the people said. They did not want their names published because the suit is still under seal.
Bloomberg Reports: Tougher Standards for Filing Lawsuits Makes it Harder to Bring Employee and Investor Lawsuits
Wall Street Banks Benefit From Tougher Suit Standards in U.S.
By Thom Weidlich – Sep 8, 2010
This Bloomberg article should be read in full at the above link. It describes how all knids of lawsuits will be tougher to pursue in federal court with stricter standards for setting forth facts in order to even proceed with a lawsuit. The article states in part:
Two U.S. Supreme Court decisions making it tougher to pursue lawsuits may have begun to bear fruit for corporations fighting investor claims or employee litigation.
Where once it was enough to give a defendant “fair notice” of a claim and the grounds on which it rested, the high court’s 2007 holding in Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly required an antitrust complaint to contain enough facts to show a claim that is “plausible on its face.” Two years later, in Ashcroft v. Iqbal, the court applied Twombly to all federal civil suits.
The Supreme Court rulings mean that someone who wants to sue in federal court “should not subject a defendant to the costs and burdens of litigation when there is no plausible basis for their claims,” Lisa Rickard, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Legal Reform, said in an e-mail.