Case Summaries

Securities Law

[06/26] Horning v. SEC
In a petition for review of an SEC order barring Petitioner from associating with a broker or dealer in a supervisory capacity based on his failure to adequately supervise two of his employees, the petition is denied, where the SEC's order was reasonable and supported by substantial evidence.

[06/24] Warfield v. Bestgen
In an action by the receiver of a foundation found to have engaged in fraudulent investment sales to recover commissions paid to the foundation's salespersons, judgment for Plaintiff is affirmed, where the charitable gift annuities sold by Defendants were investment contracts under federal securities law.

[06/23] Zacharias v. SEC
In a petition for review of the SEC's finding of securities law violations by Petitioners, the petition is granted in part, where the SEC failed to explain its finding that certain omissions by Petitioners involved a material fact; but denied in part, where the scheme at issue clearly involved an "underwriter," which refuted Petitioners' theory that they properly relied on the Regulation S and Section 4 exemptions.

[06/19] Alaska Elec. Pension Fund v. Flowserve Corp.
In a securities fraud class action, the District Court's denial of class certification and grant of Defendants' summary judgment motion are reversed where: 1) the District Court conducted its Fed. R. Civ. P. 23 hearing under an erroneous legal standard for proving loss causation; and 2) a reasonable trier of fact could conclude that one of Defendant's alleged misstatements regarding its earnings caused some portion of Plaintiff's loss after the "relevant truth" began to leak out.

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Elder Law

[06/23] Gdowski v. Gdowski
Trial court issuance of a protective order against defendant under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act is reversed where: 1) a protective order under the Elder Abuse Act may issue on the basis of evidence of past abuse, without any particularized showing that the wrongful acts will be continued or repeated; and 2) the trial court erred in basing its decision in issuing the protective order on counsel's conduct rather than on substantial evidence.

[05/20] Health Care Industry Liability Ins. Program v. Momence Meadows Nursing Center, Inc.
In a dispute involving insurance liability coverage, district court judgment finding that plaintiff had no duty to defend defendant is affirmed where the wrongdoings for which the parties in the underlying suit are attempting to hold defendant liable for are the filing of false claims and unlawful employment actions, not the injuries suffered by residents under defendant's care, and none of the policy provisions cover such claims.

[04/29] People v. Henning
Conviction for financial elder abuse is affirmed where: 1) the jury was given only the erroneous portion of CALCRIM No. 1804 regarding corroboration, and was thus not instructed correctly that the corroborating writing must be false and was not instructed as to the other possible methods of corroboration; but 2) the error was manifestly harmless under any standard of review.

[02/19] Golden Years Homestead, Inc. v. Buckland
In a suit by a nursing home operator against Indiana State Department of Health inspectors alleging violations of its Fourth and Fourteenth Amendment rights, malicious prosecution and abuse of process, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) although defendants focused on certain affirmative defenses and the sufficiency of proof on the federal claims, the defendants sought summary judgment on all claims, thus the district court's order was not an improper sua sponte summary judgment on the state law claims; and 2) summary judgment was also appropriate on the merits since the state law claims required proof of malice or ulterior motive.

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Dispute Resolution & Arbitration

[07/01] Thomas v. Carnival Corp.
In a personal injury action involving a slip and fall aboard Defendant cruise line, the District Court's order granting Defendant's motion to compel arbitration is reversed where, under the parties' agreement, the dispute at issue must have some actual relation to the agreement to arbitrate, irrespective of what ship the claims originated from and when suit was brought.

[06/30] People v. Coventry First LLC
In an enforcement action by the state claiming that Defendant life settlement providers concealed commissions to brokers, who persuaded their clients to accept Defendants' offers, the denial of Defendants' motion to dismiss or compel arbitration is affirmed where: 1) the state was not bound by arbitration agreements signed by Defendants' clients; and 2) the complaint stated a claim that Defendants knew that the life settlement brokers' conduct constituted a breach of fiduciary duty.

[06/26] United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1546 v. Illinois-American Water Co.
In an employment termination action, district grant of summary judgment in favor of plaintiff and the arbitrator's award for plaintiff is affirmed where the arbitrator provided exactly what the parties bargained for, and interpreted what he perceived to be ambiguity within the Last Chance Agreement to address a situation that he concluded the contract did not contemplate by its express terms.

[06/24] Ruiz v. Podolsky
Trial court order denying petition to compel arbitration of the wrongful death action brought by adult children heirs of the deceased is affirmed where: 1) the court correctly concluded the adult children cannot be compelled to arbitrate their wrongful death claims as California's wrongful death statute does not create a derivative action and thus the deceased lacked authority to bind the wife or adult children to the physician-patient arbitration agreement he signed; and 2) the issue of whether the deceased's wife was bound to the arbitration agreement cannot be revisited as she failed to appeal from the court's order compelling arbitration of her claim.

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Banking Law

[06/29] Cuomo v. Clearing House Ass'n., L.L.C.
In an action claiming that certain state fair-lending laws were preempted by the National Bank Act (NBA) and accompanying regulations, an injunction in favor of Plaintiffs is affirmed in part, where the state's threatened issuance of executive subpoenas was an improper exercise of "supervisory power". However, the judgment is reversed in part where a federal regulation purporting to pre-empt state law enforcement is not a reasonable interpretation of the NBA.

[06/18] Bank of Am., N.A. v. Mukamai
In an appeal from the Bankruptcy Court's order voiding a payment made by the Debtor to Plaintiff as a preferential transfer, the order is affirmed where the payments, which were made from the Debtor's other credit card accounts for debt consolidation purposes, constituted "transfer[s] of an interest of the debtor in property" under 11 U.S.C. section 547(b).

[06/12] FAMM Steel, Inc. v. Sovereign Bank
In an action involving liability for plaintiff's business failure, district court judgment is affirmed where: 1) defendant did not breach the covenant of good faith and fair dealing as none of the actions involved dishonesty or were purposely done to injure, and there was insufficient evidence to show defendant misled plaintiff; 2) defendant is not liable for breach of fiduciary duty as no fiduciary relationship arose between the parties; 3) the court did not err in granting summary judgment on plaintiffs' instrumentality theory claim as plaintiffs failed to make the necessary showing that defendant assumed actual, participatory, and total control over plaintiff's affairs; 4) plaintiff's failed to provide sufficient evidence that defendant was liable for fraud or duress; and 5) court properly granted summary judgment on plaintiff's tortious interfered with advantageous business relations claim as there is no evidence that defendant's actions were improper in motive or means.

[06/12] Thomas v. Bank of Am. Corp.
In a class action claiming that a bank committed insurance fraud by selling a bundled insurance product to ineligible individuals, the District Court's order remanding the case to state court is affirmed, where the complaint provided no information indicating the amount in controversy or the number of individuals in the alternative classes.

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