Case Summaries

Contracts

[03/08] Lepi Enters., Inc. v. Nat'l Envtl. Serv. Corp.
A judgment and award of damages against defendants in a contract action is affirmed and remanded where the evidence was sufficient to support a jury's findings that a defendant breached the parties' contract, a damage award was supported by the record, but the district court erred in awarding prejudgment interest on lost profits.

[03/08] Robinette v. Comm'r of the Internal Revenue Serv.
A determination that the IRS had abused its discretion in imposing a levy on a taxpayer after finding him in default of an offer-in-compromise is reversed where it was inappropriate for the tax court to set aside an IRS appeals officer's decision.

[03/08] Wegner v. Schillinger
An appeal from an order denying a motion to compel arbitration is dismissed as untimely where defendants could not avoid the consequences of their failure to appeal an earlier order denying a motion to compel and revive their right to appeal by filing a renewed motion for arbitration after the time to appeal had expired.

[03/08] Swift v. Wilcox
A motion for attorney's fees complies with Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.525, which requires service of such a motion "within 30 days after filing of the judgment," if it is served before the entry of a final judgment.

[03/08] Grinnell Corp. v. The Palms 2100 Ocean Beach Boulevard, Ltd.
Petition for certiorari review of a discovery order in a breach of express and implied warranty case involving allegedly defective fire sprinkler pipes is granted in part where the order required defendant to organize and categorize documents and depositions already produced contrary to the dictates of the Florida Supreme Court.

[03/08] Banco Cont'l v. Transcom Bank
Order denying motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction is reversed where failure to pay money in Florida and a correspondent banking relationship with a Florida bank did not provide the requisite minimum contacts to support jurisdiction over the defendant.

[03/08] Stone v. Jackson Nat'l Life Ins. Co.
Dismissal with prejudice of complaint for breach of contract and violation of insurance regulations is affirmed where the action was founded on statutory liability, thus a four year statute of limitations applied.

[03/08] Int'l Airports v. Citrin
Dismissal of an employer's claims against an employee is reversed and remanded where the installation of a computer program to delete files fell within the term "transmission" in 18 U.S.C. 1030, and where the defendant accessed the computer without authority after his breach of the duty of loyalty terminated his agency with the employer.

[03/08] Expert Masonry, Inc. v. Boone County
Summary judgment for defendants on Sherman Act and 42 U.S.C. section 1983 claims that a government purchasing entity and a bidder on two public construction projects unlawfully conspired and deprived plaintiff, a losing bidder, of a vested property interest is affirmed where the injury alleged was not a cognizable antitrust violation under the Sherman Act, and plaintiff could not demonstrate defendant-county abused its discretion in awarding the contracts.

[03/07] Chawla v. Transamerica Occidental Life Ins. Co.
Summary judgment for defendant-insurer on a claim of breach of an insurance contract brought by a trustee of a special trust is affirmed where defendant's rescission of a life insurance policy was appropriate due to misrepresentations made in the life insurance applications.

[03/06] Int'l Paper Co. v. MCI WorldCom Network Servs., Inc.
A motion to dismiss plaintiff's appeal from an adverse summary judgment on its state law claims of trespass, slander of title, and unjust enrichment is granted where any claim plaintiff may have had against defendant-telecommunications company was discharged in bankruptcy.

[03/06] California Ass'n of Prof. Scientists v. Schwarzenegger
Denial of a mandate petition brought by a collective bargaining representative in a challenge to a law creating an alternate retirement program applicable to certain state employees is affirmed where the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying an application to intervene, and properly denied the petition since the law did not impair any vested contractual rights.

[03/06] Ragard v. US
Dismissal of defendant's challenge to his court martial conviction and sentence for sodomy is affirmed where plaintiff failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted since a certain pre-trial diversion agreement involving other offenses did not bar the court martial.

[03/03] Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Le
Summary judgment for an insurer in its declaratory action is affirmed where plaintiffs' claims arose out of the use or operation of an automobile, and thus, were barred by an automobile exclusion of the homeowner's policy in question.

[03/03] Cipes v. Mikasa, Inc.
Appeal of a judgment for plaintiff in a copyright infringement and breach of contract case is affirmed where the defendant waived or forfeited each of its arguments on appeal, and where the court's delivery of an altered copy of jury instructions to jury without immediate notice to counsel constituted harmless error.

[03/03] In re Dillard Dep't Stores, Inc.
A petition for writ of mandamus brought by an employer, department store, seeking to compel arbitration of a retaliatory discharge claim filed by a former employee is conditionally granted where the trial court clearly abused its discretion in denying the motion to compel arbitration.

[02/27] N. Ins. Co. of New York v. Derma Clinic Inc.
Questions of law are certified to Connecticut's supreme court involving insurance coverage for claims arising from an alleged physical and sexual assault that occurred during the course of a massage performed by an employee of a business offering massage therapy.

[02/22] N & P Partners, LLC v. Council of Unit Owners of Bayberry Woods Condo.
Compensation is ordered for defendant, a council of condominium owners, in a dispute between it and a developer as to whether, based on the original condominium documents, plaintiff needed permission from defendant to expand a condominium development, and how to value the consent plaintiff was required to obtain.

[02/22] Madison Real Estate v. GENO One Fin. Place L.P.
A motion for expedited proceedings is denied in a dispute involving competing unregulated tender offers for a portion of limited partnership interests held in defendant where the court's equitable powers were unavailable to satisfy plaintiff's self-imposed precondition to its right to buy partnership interests, and plaintiff did not show a sufficiently colorable claim to justify the public burden of an expedited preliminary injunction hearing.

[01/31] AT&T Wireless Servs., Inc. v. Fed. Ins. Co., Inc.
Defendants' motions to dismiss in an action concerning insurance payments resulting from a shareholders' suit are granted and granted in part where the plaintiff's claims do not fit within the various policies' terms and precedent conditions, but denied in part where a dispute remains as to whether a defendant reasonably withheld payment of defense costs.

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