Legal Radar

Senate Teeing Up on Bill Meant for Patent Litigation

In the previous year, the House of Representative set out strong support for patent reform, especially on measures made to cut back on patent suits. Early this year, the House brought back a bill, the Innovation Act, and just this Wednesday, the Senate backed up the bill with support from influential Senators.

The bill indicated numerous measures to slash patent lawsuits made to promote quick settlements for companies who frequently make payments instead entering legal battles that could be more costly to defend.

The bill will entail plaintiffs to make be more specific and clear. It also adds limitations to the amount to be forked by the patent-litigation holder from firms in the early stages of a suit, in order to protect defendants from “fishing” instances.

It also give courts more leeway to reward lawyer fees to the losing party of the suit as well as plaintiffs seen by a judge to have brought a suit with little or no basis.

Lufthansa to Compensation Claims If Responsible for Crash

Lufthansa may end up paying compensation claims to the families’ victims of the Germanwings crash if the airline happens to be liable.

Experts believe the average damages payment of £100,000 won’t apply as families/relatives will ask for more to respect the 150 passengers killed in the crash.

Preliminary evidence from the airline’s 9252 cockpit recorder indicated that Mr. Lubitz locked himself in the cockpit and had the pilot reprogrammed to bring the plane from 36,000 feet all the way to 96 feet off the ground.

The amount the airline will end up paying will depend on the filed claims.

Lufthansa may deal with higher claims if it so happens the breadwinner of the family was killed in the crash. Survivors can easily sue them for years for lost income.

Experts believe Lufthansa may end up settling with the families/relatives of victims to prevent the case from going to court.

The airliner is immediately providing 50,000 euros for every passenger who died. Such payment is completely separate from the actual compensation.

Lufthansa to Compensation Claims If Responsible for Crash

Lufthansa may end up paying compensation claims to the families’ victims of the Germanwings crash if the airline happens to be liable.

Experts believe the average damages payment of £100,000 won’t apply as families/relatives will ask for more to respect the 150 passengers killed in the crash.

Preliminary evidence from the airline’s 9252 cockpit recorder indicated that Mr. Lubitz locked himself in the cockpit and had the pilot reprogrammed to bring the plane from 36,000 feet all the way to 96 feet off the ground.

The amount the airline will end up paying will depend on the filed claims.

Lufthansa may deal with higher claims if it so happens the breadwinner of the family was killed in the crash. Survivors can easily sue them for years for lost income.

Experts believe Lufthansa may end up settling with the families/relatives of victims to prevent the case from going to court.

The airliner is immediately providing 50,000 euros for every passenger who died. Such payment is completely separate from the actual compensation.

Jury: Palestinian Authority Responsible for Attacks

A federal jury made the Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization responsible for aiding in several terrorist attacks in Israel more than ten years ago. They were ordered to pay $218.5 million to the families of victims.

The decision early this week arrived on the second day of jury deliberations and after several weeks of testimony against the U.S.-based Palestinian political apparatus.

The trial began on a lawsuit filed in 2004 under the U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act, which lets American victims of international terrorism to find justice in a federal court.

The Manhattan federal court jury found that the Palestinian Authority as well as the PLO should be responsible for a number of attacks in Israel in the early 2000s, which killed over 30 individuals, and wounded hundreds of others.

Palestinian leader tried shooting down the lawsuit for years, saying the U.S. courts have no power on them. Instead, U.S. District Judge George Daniels pushed to resume trial.

Lawmaker Gives Warning on Battle Settlement Documents

The House Judiciary Committee head sent out a warning to the Obama administration in a recent hearing that a possible battle with the Justice Department will happen if they pass on documents regarding its multi-billion dollar settlements with major banks.

Republican lawmakers are inquiring what the $36.6 billion worth of settlement was used to pay for, and are concerned on how some of the funds were used to support left-leaning community groups.

Settlements with major banks such as Citigroup Inc. and J.P. Morgan Chase &Co. resolved claims that such firms misused mortgage-backed securities that led to a financial crisis in 2008.

Rep. Bob Goodlatte, the committee chairman, aired out his concerns on how the department may end up subverting Congress budget authority by making use of settlements to support activist groups.

Goodlatte also mentioned that officials have yet to surrender documents describing how consumer relief conditions were negotiated.

Geoffrey Graber of the Justice Department said his agency is still in the middle of looking into the request.

Securities Class Action Restrained this Year

Attorneys for plaintiffs dodged a bullet in the previous year when the U.S. Supreme court spared a 100-year old case, which served as a legal pin in today’s investor class action suit.

Despite such victory, new reports indicated that securities class actions have lost a bit of firepower.

While numerous security class actions filed in the federal court moved only a bit last year, the filing size measured by shareholder losses were a lot smaller in 2014 compared to the year before, according to a report released this week by the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse and by Cornerstone Research

What’s the reason behind the dip last year? One of them is the surge in the stock market last year, as indicated by Joseph A. Grundfest, a scholar from the Stanford Universities securities who helped set up the report.

The size of settlements in the previous year shrank, as reported by the NERA Economics Consulting on yearly trends regarding securities class actions. NERA, which recently revealed its report, observed that the average amount of settlement dipped by 38% to 61% last year compared to 2013, depending on the calculations done.

Condé Nast $8.5M Settlement Approved by U.S. Court

Early this week, Condé Nast won preliminary approval from a federal judge to pay $8.5 million to settle a class action suit by numerous ex-interns who said the publisher paid them too little.

The settlement, which made its way to the public spotlight, is applicable to over 7,500 interns who worked with a number of magazines which include Vogue, the New Yorker, and Vanity Fair.

Ex-interns who were employed at Condé Nast from June of 2007 until now expect to receive payments ranging from $700 all to $2,000.

With the granted preliminary approval, U.S. Judge Henry Pitman from Manhattan indicated the payment to be reasonable enough, saying an estimate conducted by the attorneys of the interns went above 60% of the predicted unpaid earnings.

Outten & Golden, a law firm representing the interns, is planning to go for legal fees amounting to $650,000 or 11% of the settlement fund.

Pitman scheduled the fairness hearing on June 22, 2015, to consider a final approval of the proposed settlement.

Alstom to Make $772M Settlement on Bribery Charges

French company, Alston SA, recently pleaded guilty and will be ordered to make a $772 million settlement payment with the U.S Justice Department claiming the company bribed government officials to acquire businesses all over the globe.

The penalty will put an end to charges related to a scheme that involved millions of dollars of bribes all over the globe. Countries involved include Saudi Arabia, the Bahamas, Egypt, and Indonesia.

The Justice Department indicated Alstom to have paid over $75 million to secure projects worth $4 billion worldwide. Alstom confessed to its criminal acts

Alstom pleaded a guilty in a two-count criminal information filed in a Connecticut federal court. Alstom’s Swiss branch was also found guilty to criminal charges that involved violating federal bribery laws.

The firm’s U.S. power and grid units ventured into prosecution agreements with the Justice Department and confessed to violating bribery laws.

SC Refuses Spill Case; BP Ends with Settlement

The Supreme Court maintained a settlement for the class action case of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. This rejects BP PLC’s request of getting justices to review claims of payouts that went to businesses that didn’t suffer any damage from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010.

The firm believes the settlement it took in 2012 were very loosely administered, allowing some businesses to rake in payments even without proof that they were financially affected by the spill.

Early this year, the 5^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans shot down BP’s arguments in a 2-1 ruling with the firm agreeing to the terms in exchanging to avoiding trial and efficient ways to resolving the claims.

BP indicated the class action rules excludes payments to entities that weren’t affected by the oil spill. The SC early this week turned down the firm’s challenge to the ruling.

BP is still concerned the program is making payments to claims not related to the disaster

Shareholders in Freeport-McMoran Suit Gets Rare Victory

Reports of Freeport-McMoran Inc. closing in on a $100 million-plus settlement to get over shareholder litigation on its oil-and-gas firm purchases back in 2013 is a victory for investors, who have been persistent in challenging the merger.

Freeport is near a deal worth over $130 million, a majority of which will be handed over to its shareholders. The deal, which has yet been finalized, would end claims that the company overpaid when it purchased McMoran Exploration Co. and Plains & Production Co. for a total of $9 billion in 2013.

Shareholders claimed that the deals were made to help out the struggling McMoran, where key executives and board members of Freeport owned shares. Shares of McMoran were in a downward spiral prior to the deal, as the energy firm faced also faced problems at the Gulf of Mexico.

The settlement, in which a majority will be given in the form of a special corporate insurance, will resolve all allegations.