In Silva v. Pro Transp., Inc., __ F.3d __, 2018 WL 3801663 (11th Cir. Aug. 10, 2018) (per curiam), the Eleventh Circuit applied its prior decision in Slater v. U.S. Steel Corp., 871 F.3d 1174 (11th Cir. 2017 ) (en banc) (see our blog post here) to reverse a sanctions award against a FLSA plaintiff…
A Default in Proceeding with Arbitration Does Not Necessarily Authorize a Default Judgment in Federal Court
In Hernandez v. Acosta Tractors Inc., 2018 WL 3761126 (11th Cir. Aug. 8, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit held that a party’s default in proceeding with arbitration after requesting it did not necessarily warrant entry of default judgment against that party in federal court. Julio Hernandez sued his former employer, Acosta Tractors, and two of its…
Foreign Companies Can Acquire U.S. Trademark Rights without Direct Sales to Consumers
Direct Niche, LLC v. Via Varejo S/A, 2018 WL 3687868 (11th Cir. Aug. 3, 2018), emphasizes that foreign companies can acquire trademark and service mark rights in the United States even without selling products directly to consumers domestically. Instead, contracts with third parties and publication of the mark are sufficient to confer rights. The Eleventh…
Failure to Comply with Rule 9(b)’s Particularity Requirement Dooms Claims under the False Claims Act
Payments by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation to an employee responsible for referring HIV-positive patients to healthcare services offered by the Foundation fall within the employee exemption to the Anti-Kickback Statute, 42 U.S.C. § 1320a-7b(b)(3)(B), according to the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Carrel v. AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Inc., 2018 WL 3734278 (11th Cir. Aug. 7, 2018). …
Keep the Change: Eleventh Circuit Rejects Cab Companies’ Constitutional Challenge to Rideshare Ordinance
The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of taxi companies’ claims that a Miami-Dade County ordinance permitting rideshare services to participate in the for-hire transportation market constituted a taking of the cab companies’ property and/or a denial to them of equal protection. Checker Cab Operators, Inc. v. Miami-Dade County, 2018 WL 3721227 (11th Cir. Aug….
London or New York? Beware Inconsistent Dispute Resolution Provisions
Internaves de Mexico s.a. de C.V. v. Andromeda Steamship Corp., 2018 WL 3636427 (11th Cir. Aug. 1, 2018), demonstrates the perils (and costs) of inconsistency in an agreement’s dispute resolution provisions. Internaves and Andromeda were parties to a “charter party” agreement for the transportation of an electric transformer from Brazil to Mexico. The agreement, completed…
Survey of 2017 Eleventh Circuit Decisions Published
The Mercer Law Review recently published its annual survey of noteworthy Eleventh Circuit decisions. The Class Actions article, authored by our own Tom Byrne and Stacey Mohr, analyzes the court’s 2017 decisions on CAFA jurisdiction, the impact of arbitration agreements on class actions, the preclusive effect of prior actions, class action settlements, and class certification disputes….
Britt Grant Confirmed as Eleventh Circuit Judge
Georgia Supreme Court Justice Britt Grant was confirmed by the U.S. Senate yesterday afternoon to fill the Eleventh Circuit judgeship created when Judge Julie Carnes elected to take senior status. The vote was 52-46. Justice Grant, 40, is not the youngest person to be confirmed for an Eleventh Circuit seat since the court was constituted…
Procedural Lapses Short-Circuit Attack on Statute Aimed at Incentivizing Nuclear Plant Construction
The abandonment of the V.C. Summer nuclear project in South Carolina and the questionable status of Plant Vogtle in Georgia have garnered headlines in recent months and raised questions about the validity of state statutes authorizing utility companies to preemptively charge customers for the design and construction of new nuclear facilities using rate hikes. In…
Plaintiff Judicially Estopped from Pursuing Claims Not Disclosed in Bankruptcy
In Weakley v. Eagle Logistics, 2018 WL 3188663 (11th Cir. June 29, 2018), the Eleventh Circuit considered what “facts and circumstances” surrounding a plaintiff’s failure to disclose a pending lawsuit in bankruptcy proceedings will allow the lawsuit to be dismissed on judicial-estoppel grounds. The plaintiff, Timothy Weakley, had filed two separate lawsuits against a number of defendants,…