COVID-19 is showing its across-the-board implications and triggering quick action from courts. Though the high-profile abortion case of Robinson v. Attorney General, Alabama, 2020 WL 1952370 (11th Cir. Apr. 23, 2020), might not ordinarily be featured in this blog, the case represents the first round of COVID-19 cases to make its way up to the…
Category: Civil Procedure
Eleventh Circuit Considers Issue of First Impression Regarding Rule 41(d) Awards of Costs
Although parties generally bear their own costs upon voluntary dismissal of a federal case, there are, as with most rules, exceptions. For example, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(d), if a plaintiff voluntarily dismisses an action and then files a second action “based on or including the same claim,” the court may: (1)…
Eleventh Circuit Emphasizes Importance of Striking Shotgun Pleadings
In a consolidated appeal of two cases filed against banking institutions, the Eleventh Circuit expressed frustration over being “forced to review a judgment that should never have been entered.” Estate of Bass v. Regions Bank, Inc., 2020 WL 284094 (11th Cir. Jan. 21, 2020). Rather than striking the complaints as impermissible shotgun pleadings and allowing…
Eleventh Circuit Takes the Middle of the Road in Evaluating a Foreign Tribunal’s “Receptivity” to Judicial Assistance from U.S. Courts
In Department of Caldas v. Diageo PLC, 2019 WL 2333910 (11th Cir. June 3, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit held that a district court evaluating a foreign court’s receptivity to judicial assistance from a U.S. Court in the context of an application for discovery under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 need not apply a rigid burden of…
Monkey See, Monkey Do: Eleventh Circuit Affirms Decision that Defendant’s Gorilla Logo Infringed Plaintiff’s Trademark But Vacates Award of Defendant’s Profits
In PlayNation Play Systems, Inc. v. Velex Corp., 2019 WL 2180589 (11th Cir. May 21, 2019), the Eleventh Circuit considered whether the district court erred in determining that the defendant infringed the plaintiff’s trademark and in awarding damages in the form of the defendant’s profits and cancellation of the defendant’s trademark. Plaintiff sold children’s outdoor…
Ex-Wife Who Was Fraudulently Transferred Millions Of Dollars Can’t Get Relief From Paying Her Ex-Husband’s Creditors, But She Doesn’t Have To Pay Punitive Damages Awarded Against Him
The Eleventh Circuit published a fraudulent-transfer decision in Alliant Tax Credit 31, Inc. v. Murphy, 2019 WL 2121297 (11th Cir. May 15, 2019). With appeals from both sides, the court tediously worked its way through numerous issues on appeal. Most of these involved state law questions, but the court in an opinion by Judge Tjoflat…
Dollars from Donuts: Court Applies Georgia Civil Rule on Attorneys’ Fees
A plaintiff whose vehicle was struck by a Krispy Kreme driver appealed a $330,000 verdict in her favor and obtained a reversal, and a chance to win an even bigger verdict, in Showan v. Pressdee, 2019 WL 1891785 (11th Cir. Apr. 29, 2019). At issue primarily was a once fairly obscure provision of the Georgia…
Eleventh Circuit Affirms Judgment for Employer in Paralegal’s FLSA Overtime Action
The Eleventh Circuit clarified the standards for relief under Rule 59 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in Jenkins v. Anton, 2019 WL 1894415 (11th Cir. Apr. 29, 2019). After a paralegal sued her employer for overtime wages under the Fair Labor Standards Act and lost at a bench trial, she was denied relief…
Eleventh Circuit Holds Forum Non Conveniens Requires Consideration of Both Private and Public Interest Factors
The Eleventh Circuit held this week that district courts must consider both private and public interest factors when contemplating dismissal for forum non conveniens, a doctrine relevant when “a foreign forum is better suited to adjudicate the dispute.” Fresh Results, LLC v. ASF Holland, B.V., 2019 WL 1758863 (11th Cir. Apr. 22, 2019). Private factors…
Full Eleventh Circuit Dismisses Car Shop Antitrust Claims against Insurers
In Quality Auto Painting Center of Roselle, Inc. v. State Farm Indemnity Co., 2019 WL 1006973, on March 4, 2019, the Eleventh Circuit, sitting en banc, addressed the sufficiency of five complaints brought under the Sherman Act for price-fixing and group boycotting and state law claims for unjust enrichment, quantum meruit, and tortious interference. The…