Civil Procedure

Nevada ratifies Equal Rights Amendment decades after deadline

Nevada’s legislature has ratified the Equal Rights Amendment decades after the deadline for doing so, although it brings the tally to two states shy of adoption if Congress were to extend the deadline, the Associated Press reports. Congress sent the proposed amendment to the states in 1972 for ratification by…

Mar 23, 2017 5:00 PM CDT

House passes two class-action reform bills

Updated: The Fairness in Class Action Litigation Act of 2017, which suggests many changes aimed at reducing class-action lawsuits, was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday.

And Friday morning, the House also passed the Lawsuit Abuse Reduction Act of 2017.

The ABA sent letters to the House earlier this week in opposition to both bills.

Mar 10, 2017 10:45 AM CST

ABA opposes class-action reform legislation in letter to Judiciary Committee

The American Bar Association sent a letter on Monday to the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee opposing class-action reform legislation. In the letter (PDF) sent on behalf of the ABA, Director Thomas M. Susman of the Governmental Affairs Office says that the legislation would “unnecessarily circumvent the Rules Enabling…

Mar 8, 2017 7:00 AM CST

Chemerinsky: Why the Supreme Court’s ruling on race-based evidence matters

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Feb. 22 in Buck v. Davis is important for the criminal justice system on many levels. The court clarified the standard for federal courts of appeals when considering whether to allow appeals from the denial of habeas corpus petitions. Also, the court found ineffective assistance…

Mar 2, 2017 8:30 AM CST

Supreme Court nominee Gorsuch has a plan to revive the near-extinct civil jury trial

Juries try less than 1 percent of civil cases in the federal court system, and U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch has a plan to do something about it. Gorsuch has joined with Circuit Judge Susan Graber to propose changing federal procedural rules to make civil jury trials the default, the Wall Street Journal Law Blog reports.

Mar 1, 2017 10:58 AM CST

5th Circuit tosses challenge to Texas law banning the harboring of immigrants here illegally

Citing a lack of standing by the plaintiffs, a federal appeals court on Thursday dismissed a challenge to a Texas law that makes it a felony to harbor or conceal immigrants who are in the country illegally, The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of appeals dismissed the challenge and…

Feb 24, 2017 11:58 AM CST

9th Circuit panel shows some skepticism as administration defends Trump’s temporary immigrant ban

Members of a federal appeals court panel on Tuesday appeared skeptical while questioning a Justice Department lawyer about President Donald Trump’s power to enact a temporary travel ban on some immigrants in the name of national security. The New York Times described the live-streamed telephone hearing before the San Francisco-based…

Feb 8, 2017 8:26 AM CST

ABA amicus brief opposes expansive view of venue in patent cases, cites perception of forum shopping

The ABA has filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court that argues the patent venue law has been wrongly interpreted in a way that allows the nationwide filing of patent infringement suits. The expansive interpretation, the brief says, has ironically led to a concentration of patent suits in…

Feb 7, 2017 3:03 PM CST

State courts should work to improve civil justice system, the ABA House of Delegates says

The ABA House of Delegates has adopted Resolution 102, a policy urging state courts to develop and implement improvements in the delivery of civil justice. The policy relies on guidance from the recommendations of the report “Call to Action: Achieving Civil Justice for All” (PDF), which was endorsed by the…

Feb 6, 2017 9:52 AM CST

More than 40 suits challenge immigration order and airport detentions; standing is an issue

More than 40 lawsuits have been filed to aid people whose entry into the United States was blocked because of President Donald Trump’s immigration order last Friday. The cases are testing legal theories and seeking to overcome two potential hurdles, Law.com reports. One hurdle is standing and the other is…

Feb 3, 2017 9:22 AM CST

Chemerinsky, other scholars file suit claiming emoluments clause violations by Trump

Updated: Several prominent legal scholars have filed a lawsuit (PDF) that claims payments by foreign powers to President Donald Trump’s companies violate the Constitution’s emoluments clause. The suit was filed Monday in the Southern District of New York on behalf of the liberal group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, known…

Jan 23, 2017 9:24 AM CST

SCOTUS accepts second case in a week on jurisdictions where businesses can be sued

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to decide whether a pharmaceutical company headquartered in New York can be sued in California by plaintiffs who don’t live there. The case is the second case granted within a week that raises jurisdictional issues in cases against corporations. At issue is whether…

Jan 20, 2017 12:48 PM CST

Law students offer free legal services to help transgender people change their names

In July, John Marshall Law School’s Pro Bono Program & Clinic launched the Name & Gender Marker Change Project, through which students help transgender people navigate federal, state and local laws to obtain corrected passports, licenses and other documents.

Jan 1, 2017 2:50 AM CST

Chief justice denies lawyer’s emergency petition to force Garland vote

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has denied a lawyer’s emergency application that seeks to force a vote on the U.S. Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland. Roberts denied the request by New Mexico lawyer Steven Michel on Monday, report Lyle Denniston Law News and Law.com (sub. req.). How Appealing…

Dec 19, 2016 3:47 PM CST

Use of nonlawyers to help litigants navigate NYC housing court has been a success, ABF study finds

The use of nonlawyers to help pro se litigants navigate New York City Housing Court has been a success. That’s according to a new study (PDF) from the American Bar Foundation. According to a Thursday press release, the ABF study analyzed the New York City Court Navigators Program, which utilizes…

Dec 16, 2016 11:45 AM CST