Shortly before the U.S. Supreme Court embarked on its six-day experiment hearing oral arguments by telephone, the Court affirmed the Eleventh Circuit’s judgment in Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 906 F.3d 1229 (11th Cir. 2018), aff’d sub nom. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 140 S. Ct. 1498 (2020)—a copyright case that we previously covered here and…
Tag: Supreme Court
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…
Supreme Court Will Review Eleventh Circuit’s Decision that Official Code of Georgia Annotated Cannot Be Copyrighted
The Supreme Court yesterday granted certiorari to review the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in Code Revision Commission v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc., 906 F.3d 1229 (11th Cir. 2018), cert. granted, 2019 WL 1047486 (U.S. June 24, 2019). The question presented for review in Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, Inc. is whether the principle that “government edicts,” such as statutes and…
Supreme Court Grants Review of Eleventh Circuit Case, Among Others, to Decide Title VII’s Application to LGBT Discrimination
The Supreme Court today granted certiorari in a number of cases considering whether Title VII prohibits discrimination against LGBT employees, including a case decided by the Eleventh Circuit, Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, 723 F. App’x 964 (May 10, 2018). In Bostock, a panel of Judges Tjoflat, Wilson, and Newsom affirmed, in an unpublished per…
Supreme Court Clarifies Law on Late-Filed Rule 23(f) Petitions
This week, the Supreme Court ruled that the 14-day deadline to file an interlocutory appeal of a district court’s class certification decision is not subject to equitable tolling. Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert, No. 17-1094, 2019 WL 920828 (U.S. Feb. 26, 2019). In Nutraceutical, after the district court issued a decision decertifying the class, the plaintiff…
Supreme Court to Consider TCPA Circuit Split on Interpretation of “Advertisement”
The Supreme Court will address a circuit split over the interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s provision imposing liability for sending unsolicited advertisements. PDR Network, LLC v. Carlton & Harris Chiropractic, Inc., No. 17-1705, 2018 WL 3127423 (U.S. Nov. 13, 2018). The majority view—held by the Eleventh Circuit—is that an unsolicited fax is only…
SCOTUS Business Cases This Term (Part 2 – Arbitration)
The Court has several arbitration-related cases before it this term. Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela concerns whether the FAA permits a state-law interpretation of an arbitration agreement that finds a contractual basis for class arbitration without class arbitration’s being specifically mentioned. New Prime, Inc. v. Oliveira involves the FAA’s exception for “contracts of employment of seamen, railroad…
SCOTUS Business Cases This Term (Part 1 – Class Actions)
The Supreme Court’s October term is underway, and the Court has before it several class-action cases. Frank v. Gaos concerns the permissibility of cy pres relief in class action settlements; Home Depot v. Jackson the ability of a defendant in the original action to remove the action under CAFA; and Nutraceutical Corp. v. Lambert the availability of equitable exceptions to…
Supreme Court to hear Eleventh Circuit Tennessee Valley Authority Case
The Supreme Court granted certiorari over the Eleventh Circuit’s holding that the Tennessee Valley Authority enjoyed governmental immunity in a personal injury suit. Thacker v. Tenn. Valley Auth., 2018 WL 1091117 (U.S. Sept. 27, 2018). The Eleventh Circuit held that the TVA was immune from suit because it was engaged in a discretionary government function…
Supreme Court Grants Certiorari on Copyright Issue
The Supreme Court this morning granted certiorari on a circuit split involving the Eleventh Circuit. The Eleventh Circuit (along with the Eighth) has previously held that the fee provisions of the Copyright Act, which allow recovery of the “full costs” of attendance, do not displace general statutes that limit awards to taxable costs. Artisan Contractors Ass’n…