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Researcher Asks Supreme Court for Help
Headline News |
2007/08/20 17:50
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| A cancer researcher is asking the Supreme Court to block a decision handing ownership of thousands of blood and tissue samples to a university. Dr. William Catalona spearheaded creation of a repository of more than 3,500 prostate tissue samples and 100,000 blood samples during a 27-year career at Washington University in St. Louis. In 2003, Catalona became director of the Clinical Prostate Cancer Program at Northwestern University in Chicago, asking participants in former research efforts that he oversaw at Washington University if they would consent to transferring their tissue to Northwestern. Donors of 4,000 tissue samples agreed to the transfer, but Washington University sued to keep the samples there, and won rulings from a U.S. District Court judge and the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. In papers filed with the U.S. Supreme Court, Catalona says he and the research participants could suffer irreparable harm if the appeals court decision is allowed to go into effect. Washington University could use the tissue in studies the patients would find objectionable, or publish research results in a way that could identify the patients, Catalona's lawyers argued, raising the possibility that participants or their family members might be denied health, life or disability insurance. In June, Dr. Larry Shapiro, dean of Washington University's School of Medicine, called the appeals court decision a precedent that assures the right of research institutions to use repositories without fear they will be taken or disrupted. A dozen major research universities, as well as the American Cancer Society and associations of medical colleges and universities, had filed briefs supporting Washington University. Catalona's lawyers asked Justice Samuel Alito to delay the appeals court decision until the full Supreme Court decides whether it will review the case. |
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Comcast Wins Legal Battle With Direct T.V.
Lawyer Blog News |
2007/08/20 17:05
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A legal battle between Comcast Corp. and the DirecTV Group in Los Angeles ended in DirecTV having to stop attacking Comcast in its ads.
The two companies charged each other with false advertising, but Comcast won out last week when U.S. District Judge John Grady told DirecTV it can't cite false studies claiming its High definition product is better than Comcast's, said The Hollywood Reporter Sunday.
DirecTV was using "favorable results" from a TNS survey in recent ads, though the judge said the survey compared a DirecTV digital signal to an analog signal from Comcast.
Another ad cited a survey from Alliance Consulting Group of professional home-theater installers that claimed they preferred the picture quality of DirecTV over cable, though the judge deemed that one unfair, as well.
Grady's ruling said DirecTV must "immediately cease and refrain in any territory in which Comcast provides cable television" advertising any claims stemming from the TNS or Alliance Consulting Group surveys. |
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Whole Foods Takeover of Wild Oats on Hold
Court Feed News |
2007/08/20 17:01
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A federal appeals court said Monday it needs more time to consider whether to block Whole Foods Market Inc. (WFMI) from buying Wild Oats Markets Inc. (OATS).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit temporarily put the deal on hold until it can hear more arguments although the three-judge panel said the decision "should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits" of the case.
The Federal Trade Commission on Friday asked the court to stay a decision Thursday by U.S. District Judge Paul L. Friedman that allowed the transaction to proceed. The agency wants to block the deal on antitrust grounds.
The panel ordered the FTC to explain by Wednesday afternoon why it appealed. Whole Foods will have until Thursday to respond. The accelerated schedule suggests the court plans to move quickly.
Whole Foods is blocked "from taking any further steps to acquire the stocks, assets or any other interest" in Wild Oats until the judges issue a further ruling.
Shares of Whole Foods fell $1.15, or 2.6%, to $43.19 Monday, while shares of Wild Oats fell 7 cents to $17.85. |
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AT&T Class Action Suit to Proceed
Class Action News |
2007/08/20 16:59
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A lawsuit alleging that AT&T's mobile phone customers received inferior service after the company's wireless division was sold to Cingular Wireless can proceed as a class action, a federal appeals court ruling, quoted by an Associated Press report said.
The Associated Press report said at issue was a clause in old Cingular contracts that forced customers to litigate their grievances independently, instead of grouping together for a class action lawsuit.
A three-judge panel in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the contract was a violation of California law.
The ruling is further condemnation of so-called "class action waivers," which other courts have ruled illegally shield companies engaged in potentially harmful conduct, the report said.
The court took a "clear position protecting consumers and their right to pursue class action relief," Bill Weinstein, one of the plaintiffs' lawyers, was quoted by the report as saying.
The case was filed as a national class action lawsuit in 2006 by Kennith Shroyer of Porterville, California, the report said.
Shroyer had switched his AT&T cell phone accounts to Cingular after Atlanta-based Cingular's $41 billion acquisition of AT&T Wireless Services in October 2004.
Shroyer claimed Cingular let AT&T's service deteriorate in a scheme to force AT&T customers to switch to Cingular under less favorable contract terms.
The US District Court for the Central District of California ordered the case into individual arbitration last year because of the class action waiver in Shroyer's contract, the report added.
The company said the ruling is based on language in an old contract, but didn't provide details as to how its new contracts differed. |
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Granholm appoints 2 judges to Michigan appeals court
Law & Politics |
2007/08/20 11:56
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| Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Monday appointed two new judges to the 28-member Michigan Court of Appeals. Elizabeth L. Gleicher, of Pleasant Ridge, will replace Judge Jessica Cooper, who stepped down to start a private practice. Jane M. Beckering, of Grand Rapids, will replace Judge Janet Neff, who recently was appointed to the U.S. District Court in western Michigan. Gleicher, 52, most recently was an attorney in private practice after four years as owner and partner of a Royal Oak law firm. She is a member of the Board of Visitors for Wayne State University Law School, where she once served as an adjunct faculty member. Gleicher earned her law degree from Wayne State University and got her bachelor's degree from Carleton College in Minnesota. Her term will expire Jan. 1, 2009. Beckering, 42, most recently served as an attorney with Buchanan & Beckering, PLLC law firm and as a mediator for the Kent County Circuit Court. She earned her law degree from the University of Wisconsin and received her bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan. Last year, Beckering ran unsuccessfully as a Democratic nominee in the Michigan Supreme Court election. Her term will expire Jan. 1, 2009. Granholm, a Democrat, has appointed five judges to the appeals bench since taking office in 2003. Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Clifford Taylor has said within recent months that four of the 28 appeals judgeships can be cut to save money during the state's budget crisis. But Granholm was unlikely to agree to limit her ability to replace vacancies on the appeals court, which former Republican Gov. John Engler filled with conservative-leaning appointees. |
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Court to decide on new Taylor trial delay
Legal World News |
2007/08/19 21:46
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The Hague - Judges presiding over the war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor are expected to decide on Monday when the case will resume after his new defence team asked for a delay.
The trial chamber of the Sierra Leone tribunal, moved to The Hague for Taylor's trial, will hold a procedural hearing Monday to discuss the request of Taylor's new lawyers to postpone the trial until January 7, 2008. The prosecution has supported the move but said in a separate motion that the length of the adjournment should be decided by the judges.
Taylor, 59, the first African head of state to stand trial before an international court for war crimes, sacked his first lawyer on the grounds that he had no chance of receiving a fair hearing.
His trial officially opened on June 4 but the case got bogged down by the legal wrangling about Taylor's defence and was delayed several times.
Finally a new defence team was installed mid-July but lead counsel Courtenay Griffiths has argued he need more time to prepare. The defence already has about 40 000 pages of witness statements and documents to read through with many more expected to come as the case moves forward.
Once one of Africa's most feared warlords, Taylor has pleaded not guilty to all 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder, rape and using child soldiers during the brutal 1991-2001 civil war in Sierra Leone.
Around 120 000 people were killed in the Sierra Leone conflict, with rebels mutilating thousands more, cutting off arms, legs, ears or noses.
Taylor is accused of arming, training and controlling Sierra Leone's notorious Revolutionary United Front (RUF), responsible for many of the mutilations, in exchange for still-unknown amounts of diamonds used to fund war.
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