News & Insights

Texas Supreme Court Holds Joint Venture Liability Cap Inapplicable To Defense Costs

On January 25, 2019, the Texas Supreme Court issued a unanimous ruling reversing the lower court’s holding regarding an insurers’ obligation to pay a significant amount of legal defense costs that resulted from its liability in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  See Anadarko Petroleum Corp. v. Houston Casualty Co., No. 16-1013 (Tex. Jan. 25, 2019).  The…
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The Alabama Supreme Court Reverses Prior Precedent And Clarifies Venue In A Workers’ Compensation Action Against A Foreign Corporation

Venue for actions against corporations, both domestic and foreign, are governed by Ala. Code §6-3-7(a)(3) (1975). The statute provides an action may be brought against a corporation in “the county in which the plaintiff resided, or if the plaintiff is an entity other than an individual, where the plaintiff had its principal office in this…
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Florida District Court Of Appeals Affirms That A Condominium Need Not Be Uninhabitable To Breach The Implied Warranty Of Habitability

In D.R. Horton, Inc. v. Heron’s Landing Condo. Assn. of Jacksonville, Inc., No. 1D17-1941, 2018 WL 6803698 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App., 1st Dist. 2018), the First District Court of Appeals of Florida affirmed a Florida Circuit Court’s ruling that a breach of the implied warranty of habitability did not require a condominium to be uninhabitable….
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Finra Approves Filing With The Sec Rules Prohibiting Compensated Non Attorney Representatives From Practicing In Finra Arbitration And Mediation

FINRA currently allows non-attorney representatives to work with investors filing securities arbitration claims and throughout mediation.  FINRA’s Board of Governors recently approved filing with the SEC amendments to the Codes of Arbitration and Mediation Procedure which would prohibit non-attorney representatives from practicing in the arbitration and mediation forums.  This move comes after FINRA issued a…
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Ninth Circuit Holds Tip Credit Cannot Apply To Certain Types Of Work

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (“FLSA”) establishes minimum wage, overtime pay, record keeping requirements and child labor standards.  It also allows employers to take a “tip credit,” in certain tipped occupations, such as a server, in order to offset the employer’s obligation to pay hourly minimum wage.  Employers can pay as little as…
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Nighttime Nears For Dusky Gopher Frog?

The United States Supreme Court recently held that land may only be designated a “critical habitat” for an endangered species if that same land is first a “habitat” for an endangered species.  In Weyerhaeuser Co. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 139 S. Ct. 361 (2018), the Supreme Court evaluated the United States Fish and…
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District Court Of Appeals Of Florida Upheld The Admissibility Of Expert Testimony Pursuant To Daubert Because The Testimony Was Not Based On New Scientific Methods

In D.R. Horton, Inc. – Jacksonville v. Heron’s Landing Condo. Assoc. of Jacksonville, Inc., 2018 WL 6803698 (Fla. 1st DCA Dec. 27, 2018), the District Court of Appeals of Florida, affirmed the trial court’s decision to allow expert testimony related to construction defects, even though the testimony was admitted pursuant to the Daubert standard, rather…
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Eleventh Circuit Expands Application Of The Flsa

After a recent Eleventh Circuit decision in Asalde v. First Class Parking Systems LLC 894 F.3d 1248 (11th Cir. 2018), more employers are subject to the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). In Asalde, Plaintiffs were valet car drivers who sued their employer alleging violations of the FLSA. The trial court granted summary…
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