Tag Archives: Appellate Decisions

WV Supreme Court Clarifies “Alternate Forum” Requirement in Doctrine of Forum Non Conveniens

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on August 10, 2011 Posted in Appellate Decisions

Late in its January Term, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia issued a decision dealing with the well-known, but somewhat misunderstood, or at least misapplied, doctrine of forum non conveniens. In essence, the doctrine allows a court to decline to assert jurisdiction over an action before it if another, Continue Reading

Corrected Links for February 26, 2011 Post

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on February 27, 2011 Posted in Appellate Decisions

The link to the National Law Journal article referenced in yesterday’s post may require you to register for the site, which is free, rather than take you to the article. This link should work. Also, the alleged link to the Kentucky Court of Appeals’ docket sheet takes you to the Continue Reading

Kentucky Appellate Court Reverses Summary Judgment Against Fen-Phen Lawyers Based on (Disavowed) Affidavit from Kenneth Feinberg

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on February 26, 2011 Posted in Appellate Decisions

In the course of writing about Stan Chesley’s travails, I was curious to find out what happened in the case described in the final paragraph of the National Law Journal’s story about Chesley: Earlier this month, the Kentucky Court of Appeals vacated a $42 million summary judgment Continue Reading

Appeals Court Affirms Injunction Against Executive’s New Position (Which May Not Matter Anyway)

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on August 10, 2010 Posted in Appellate Decisions

In June, I read this AP story by Maryclaire Dale about an unfair competition lawsuit filed by Bimbo Bakeries USA, better known as the maker of Thomas’ English Muffins – the “nooks and crannies” muffin – Continue Reading

Fourth Circuit Adopts Last-Served Defendant Rule for Removal

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on July 5, 2010 Posted in Appellate Decisions

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Arbitrator, Not Court, Has Exclusive Authority to Resolve Disputes under Arbitration Agreement

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on June 30, 2010 Posted in Appellate Decisions

As promised (or maybe threatened), today I want to discuss one of the two new decisions from the United States Supreme Court dealing with arbitration. Although I had intended to address both, I think that Granite Rock Co. v. International Broth. of Teamsters, 2010 WL 2518518 (June 24, 2010), Continue Reading

WV Supreme Court Limits Scope of Trial Court Review of Arbitration Agreement

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on June 29, 2010 Posted in Appellate Decisions

I want to close out the month by discussing two decisions from the Supreme Court of Appeals that address the scope of the trial court’s review of an arbitration agreement. Tomorrow I’ll write about two new decisions from the United States Supreme Court that also deal with arbitration. In State Continue Reading

WV Supreme Court: Speak Up During Oral Argument If You Disagree with Opposing Counsel

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on June 23, 2010 Posted in Appeals

In March, the Supreme Court of Appeals issued its decision in Perrine v. E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co., 2010 WL 1170661 (W. Va., March 26, 2010), which, among other things, reduced the punitive damages award of nearly $200 million by 40 percent on the Continue Reading

SCOTUS Rejects “Prevailing Party” Requirement in ERISA Attorney’s Fee Awards

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on May 31, 2010 Posted in Attorney Fees

First of all, happy Memorial Day to everyone, and thank you to our active and retired service men and women and their families for the sacrifices they have made and continue to make for all of us. As we reach the end of May, it has been a good month for Continue Reading

Fourth Circuit Vacates District Court Decision Reducing Contingency Fee By 90%

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on May 26, 2010 Posted in Attorney Fees

I want to discuss a new decision from the Fourth Circuit, which Rob Hoskins brought to my attention last week on ERISABoard. The case involves the reasonableness of attorney’s fees in general, and a substantial contingency fee in particular. The facts in In re Continue Reading

WV Supreme Court Issues Decision in DuPont Class Action

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on March 26, 2010 Posted in Appellate Decisions

I have not written since early last month — and have no excuse to offer for my dereliction — but thanks to a much-anticipated decision released this afternoon by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, there is plenty to discuss. The Court has issued its opinion in Perrine v. Continue Reading

Officers of Same Company Cannot Conspire for Antitrust Purposes

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on December 24, 2009 Posted in Antitrust

One of the more interesting decisions — at least to me — issued by the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia during its last term is Princeton Ins. Agency, Inc. v. Erie Ins. Co., 2009 WL 4020269 (W.Va. 2009), which involved an insurance company’s Continue Reading

WV Supreme Court Holds Decisions in Medical Monitoring, Insurance Coverage Appeals

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on December 21, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

In case you haven’t noticed, there are two opinions from the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia that were not released during the term that ended on November 25, and presumably will be issued during the term that begins next month. One of the opinions is Perrine v. E. I. Continue Reading

Fourth Circuit Addresses Ashcroft v. Iqbal’s Pleading Requirements

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on December 9, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

I have previously written about the significance of the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Ashcroft v.Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. 1937 (2009), and its effect on federal pleading standards for both plaintiffs and defendants. And with the issuance last week of Francis v. Giacomelli, 2009 WL 4348830 (4th Cir. 2009), the Fourth Continue Reading

Caperton Files Petition for Rehearing with WV Supreme Court

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on December 2, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

Hugh Caperton is not going down without a fight. Despite losing three times in front of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, most recently on November 12 when the court voted 4-1 to reverse the $50 million verdict that he and his companies recovered against A. T. Massey Coal Co. and Continue Reading

Former WV Supreme Court Justice’s Personal Emails Are Not Public Records

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on November 23, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

Although the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia’s decision on November 12 in Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co., Inc., 2009 WL 380607 (2009), has received most of the attention, the court issued another decision that day that was also a victory, Continue Reading

WV Supreme Court Finds Forum-Selection Clause Requires Reversal of $50 Million Verdict

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on November 14, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

I want to discuss in more detail the Supreme Court of Appeals’ decision in Caperton v, A. T. Massey Coal Co., Inc., which was issued on Thursday. I’ll discuss in a separate post another decision issued on Thursday, Associated Press v. Canterbury, in which Massey was involved but not a Continue Reading

WV Supreme Court Reverses $50 Million Verdict Against Massey for Third Time

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on November 12, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia has again reversed the $50 million verdict obtained in 2002 by Hugh Caperton and his companies against Massey and several of its subsidiaries. Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Co. was before the Court for the third time, following the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Continue Reading

USDC Decision Relies on WV’s Rejection of Learned Intermediary Doctrine

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on November 5, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

A couple of years ago, I discussed State ex rel. Johnson & Johnson Corp. v. Karl, in which the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia declined to adopt the learned intermediary doctrine. In case you’ve forgotten, the learned intermediary doctrine provides that a drug manufacturer does not have a duty Continue Reading

WV Supreme Court Holds Agency Relationship Can Be Inferred from Parties’ Conduct

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on October 7, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

When I first looked at the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia’s decision in Timberline Four Seasons Resort Management Co. v. Herlan, 679 S.E.2d 329 (W. Va. 2009), which was issued at the end of the January Term, I did not realize its holding was quite so limited. But the facts are interesting and its Continue Reading

Fourth Circuit Establishes New, Stricter Standard for Injunctive Relief

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on August 19, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

My thanks to Mack Sperling at North Carolina Business Litigation Report and Rob Hoskins at ERISABoard for the heads-up on a new decision from the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that changes the standard for injunctive relief. In Real Truth About Obama, Inc. v. Federal Election Com’n, 2009 Continue Reading

Proposed Legislation Would Undo Effect of Ashcroft v. Iqbal

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on August 4, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

This is an update to my post a couple of weeks ago about the significance of the Supreme Court’s decision in Ashcroft v. Iqbal, which now requires complaints to be more fact-specific. According to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times, Senator Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) has introduced a Continue Reading

Supreme Court Decision Now Requires “Plausible” Claims, “Common Sense” Review

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on July 21, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

I haven’t written too much lately, which will change, but I did want to write a brief post about an article in yesterday’s New York Times that caught my eye. In his Sidebar column, Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court for the Times, wrote about Continue Reading

“Sophisticated Entities” May Bear Burden of Proving Coverage

By Jeffrey V. Mehalic on July 6, 2009 Posted in Appellate Decisions

For one of its last decisions for the January Term, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia answered certified questions from a federal court attempting to determine insurance coverage for a substantial medical malpractice verdict. In Camden-Clark Memorial Hosp. Ass’n v. St. Paul Fire and Marine Ins. Co., 2009 Continue Reading

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