The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently issued a rebuke to the US Attorneys Office regarding the use of disrespectful or uncivil language in appellate briefs. In U.S. v. Venable, No. 11-4216 n.4 (4th Cir. February 15, 2012), the court stated:
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Blog Archive - "litigation" Category
February 29, 2012
February 1, 2012
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals (DC’s highest court) recently held that piercing the corporate veil, i.e., disregarding the corporate entity (“PCV”) to collect on an arbitration award is outside the scope of an arbitration clause. In a Jan. 5, 2012 opinion, the Court of Appeals refused to compel arbitration of a PCV claim initiated...
January 31, 2012
As discussed in SLS’s December 8th post, John Bergin represented two national general contractors/ construction managers who had formed a joint-venture to design and construct a Major League Baseball Stadium. Plaintiff – the alleged assignee of a subcontractor on the project – had sued the joint venture for more than $20 million. John secured a complete defense...
January 11, 2012
Contracts covering construction disputes often require binding arbitration. Many of these contracts contain language allowing the arbitrator to decide the enforceability of the agreement to arbitrate (the delegation provision). But some courts have been removing this decision from arbitrators and making the arbitration agreement’s enforceability a question for judicial review. ...
December 8, 2011
SLS’s John Bergin obtained a defense verdict in a case involving the construction of a Major League Baseball Stadium after more than eight years of litigation, a six-week trial, and two rounds of post-trial briefs. Plaintiff appealed that verdict and John recently filed a Brief explaining in detail why the Appellate Court should confirm it. John represented two national...
October 18, 2011
Shapiro, Lifschitz & Schram’s Robert A. Foster co-authored the “Commentary” column for the August 19, 2011 issue of McGraw-Hill’s Construction's Daily Journal and its sister publication, ENR Mountain States. The column, entitled “Litigation Issues with LEED Ratings and Checklist Design,” is a must read for any developer, contractor or design...
October 3, 2011
In an issue of first impression for this jurisdiction, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia recently held that the Prompt Payment Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3901-3907 does not create a private right of action for subcontractors to sue prime contractors for interest, penalties and fees.
The Prompt Payment Act (“PPA”) was...
September 20, 2011
Civility among attorneys can help make even highly contentious disputes roll through the legal system more smoothly. Retaining or returning to a modicum of civility is an important enough issue that several states, including South Carolina and Florida, have added civility clauses to their attorney admission oaths. Beyond making things easier and keeping blood pressure down, there is another...
