Correcting an earlier post, there will an en banc sitting on Wednesday, June 13, 2013, when the Sixth Circuit will hear arguments in Jackson v. Segwick Claims Management Serv. The case asks if Michigan’s worker compensation laws provide the exclusive remedy for injured workers, or whether injured workers can sue under RICO for an alleged … Continue Reading
In Lutz v. Chesapeake Appalachia, the Sixth Circuit considered a putative class action complaint brought for breach of contract and other related claims concerning alleged breaches of mineral leases. The district court had dismissed the contractual claims based on Ohio’s statute of limitations, and that was the only basis of the plaintiffs’ appeal, as they … Continue Reading
Creating a split with the Second and Ninth Circuits, the Sixth Circuit has held that Section 11 of the Securities Act, 15 U.S.C. § 77k, which creates liability for false statements in registration statements, provides for strict liability and so does not require allegations of knowledge of falsity. The panel in Ind. State Dist. Council … Continue Reading
Yesterday, a pair of criminal cases emanating from the Sixth Circuit received headlines. In McQuiggin v. Perkins, the Supreme Court reviewed another habeas case from the Sixth Circuit concerning the actual innocence exception to AEDPA. Although the Supreme Court vacated and remanded the Sixth Circuit’s decision applying the actual innocence exception to the statute of limitations, … Continue Reading
In Metrish v. Lancaster, a unanimous Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Circuit’s decision that Michigan courts violated due process when they took away a defendant’s diminished-capacity defense before his second trial, after having allowed it in his first trial. The Supreme Court held that relief was unavailable under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act … Continue Reading
We recently reported on the Sixth Circuit’s practice of curtailing extensions of time and not granting them as freely as in the past. Thus far, the reports related to that are largely anecdotal and there is no formal policy change or related pronouncement from the Court. That could change, as illustrated by a recent Second … Continue Reading
We have previously reported on the Sixth Circuit’s caseload and the trend toward the use of unpublished opinions. We’ve discussed that the number of published decisions per judge, the opinions that are the most important to create precedent, are fairly consistent throughout all circuits. But the latest statistics show an interesting trend toward the use … Continue Reading
In Gardner v. Heartland Industrial Partners, LP, the Sixth Circuit reversed a decision that held that the plaintiffs’ state law tort claims for tortious interference with contract were completely preempted by ERISA. The Sixth Circuit framed the question as one of jurisdiction – in other words, whether plaintiffs’ complaint stated a federal question allowing defendants … Continue Reading
In Kepley v. Lanz , the Sixth Circuit yesterday reversed the dismissal for lack of standing of an action brought by former shareholders of a Kentucky corporation. In response to the defendant’s motion to dismiss, the district court had sua sponte dismissed the action as derivative in nature, meaning that the individuals did not have … Continue Reading
We’re all too familiar with them: Electronic filing mistakes in the Case Management and Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system (now adopted by every Circuit). They include everything from filing in the wrong case to submitting the wrong document. And we’re just as familiar with corrected electronic docket entries. As we all know, the CM/ECF system does … Continue Reading
In Estate of William R. Barney, Jr. v. PNC Bank, the Court framed the issue as “whether Ohio law permits a principal to hold a bank liable for money that the principal entrusted a fiduciary to deposit at the bank in which the fiduciary then withdrew, without the principal’s permission, and squandered.” Answering that question … Continue Reading
Two of the most important issues for deciding when to appeal are often the chances of success and how long will it take to get a decision. This post briefly addresses the newly released statistics for 2012. Because it is an important part of the decision whether to appeal, we have often covered reversal rates … Continue Reading
