COVID-19 is showing its across-the-board implications and triggering quick action from courts. Though the high-profile abortion case of Robinson v. Attorney General, Alabama, 2020 WL 1952370 (11th Cir. Apr. 23, 2020), might not ordinarily be featured in this blog, the case represents the first round of COVID-19 cases to make its way up to the…
Author: Wendy Spiro
Too Late Blues for Guitar Maker’s Copyright Ownership Claims
In Webster v. Dean Guitars, 2020 WL 1887783 (11th Cir. Apr. 16, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for a guitar manufacturer in a copyright dispute over the lightning storm graphic on “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott’s iconic guitar, known as “The Dean from Hell.” The district court properly determined that…
Undescribed “Beneficial Interest” in Property Insufficient to Confer Article III Standing to Contest Foreclosure
In Thakkar v. Bay Point Capital Partners, LP (In re Bay Circle Properties, LLC), 2020 WL 1696303 (11th Cir. Apr. 8, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit dismissed an appeal because the only appellant remaining after a settlement lacked Article III standing (and in any event failed to meet the “person aggrieved doctrine” standard for appealing a…
Supreme Court Postpones April Arguments
The Supreme Court has postponed its April argument session due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Having previously postponed the arguments scheduled for late March, the Court now has 20 cases that will have to be reset for argument. While not unprecedented, the Court has adjusted its schedule due to a public health crisis only three times…
Eleventh Circuit Resets Title VII Retaliation Claim Standard
Undaunted by COVID-19, the Eleventh Circuit pressed forward with its work in Monaghan v. Worldpay US, Inc., 2020 WL 1608155 (11th Cir. Apr. 2, 2020), which reversed the district court’s grant of summary judgment for an employer, sending the plaintiff-employee’s Title VII race retaliation claim to a jury. The district court had both applied the…
Eleventh Circuit Affirms Individual’s $41 Million Verdict Against Tobacco Companies
In yet another opinion applying the Florida Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Engle v. Liggett Group, Inc., 945 So. 2d 1246 (Fla. 2006), the Eleventh Circuit affirmed denial of motions for judgment as a matter of law against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Philip Morris USA Inc. in a published opinion upholding multi-million dollar jury…
Appellate Lapses Ding Body Shops’ Antitrust Appeal
In another appeal from the body shops vs. insurers antitrust MDL, Automotive Alignment & Body Service, Inc. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., 2020 WL 1074420 (Mar. 6, 2020), the Eleventh Circuit first delved into two procedural questions arising from lapses by appealing plaintiffs, one concerning appealability; the other, reviewability. The appellants were three…
Eleventh Circuit Considers Issue of First Impression Regarding Rule 41(d) Awards of Costs
Although parties generally bear their own costs upon voluntary dismissal of a federal case, there are, as with most rules, exceptions. For example, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(d), if a plaintiff voluntarily dismisses an action and then files a second action “based on or including the same claim,” the court may: (1)…
Judge Andrew Brasher Confirmed to the Eleventh Circuit
The U.S. Senate confirmed U.S. District Judge Andrew Brasher’s nomination to the Eleventh Circuit with a 52-43 vote on February 11, 2020. Judge Brasher was previously sworn into office as a United States District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama on May 1, 2019. Prior to taking the bench, Judge Brasher served as Alabama’s…
Eleventh Circuit Emphasizes Importance of Striking Shotgun Pleadings
In a consolidated appeal of two cases filed against banking institutions, the Eleventh Circuit expressed frustration over being “forced to review a judgment that should never have been entered.” Estate of Bass v. Regions Bank, Inc., 2020 WL 284094 (11th Cir. Jan. 21, 2020). Rather than striking the complaints as impermissible shotgun pleadings and allowing…