Every decision we've summarized — searchable, filterable, neutral.
The en banc Ninth Circuit reversed a district court order striking a claimant's civil forfeiture claim based on alleged deficiencies in his responses to special interrogatories. The court held that the claimant had established sufficient standing and that the case-ending sanction was an abuse of discretion.
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment in a dispute over life insurance policy premiums. The court held that ambiguities in the policy documents must be construed in favor of the insureds under Alaska law.
The Seventh Circuit reversed a default judgment entered against a Chinese e-commerce vendor, ruling that the Hague Service Convention prohibits serving defendants in China via email. The court held that the district court must first determine whether the Convention applies before addressing the validity of the service method.
The Eleventh Circuit reversed and remanded a Social Security disability denial because the administrative law judge failed to properly evaluate the claimant's migraine headaches against the relevant medical listing. The court held that the decision lacked sufficient analysis to determine if the migraines medically equaled epilepsy under the applicable regulations.
The Eleventh Circuit held that ERISA requires pension plans to use reasonable actuarial assumptions when calculating annuity benefits. The court reversed the district court's dismissal of claims alleging that the plan used outdated mortality data to reduce participant benefits.
The Eleventh Circuit reversed the dismissal of tortious interference claims, holding that federal common law does not govern the interpretation of forum-selection clauses in contracts governed by foreign law. The court ruled that the scope of such clauses must be determined under the substantive law of the contract, which in this case was Slovenian law.
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court dismissal of Fourth Amendment claims, holding that prior state court orders did not constitute final judgments under Arizona law. The court further determined that the police officers lacked qualified immunity because the arrests were based on an objectively unreasonable dispersal order.
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court ruling that barred a Federal Tort Claims Act lawsuit based on claim preclusion. The panel held that a prior dismissal for untimeliness does not preclude a timely filed suit under California law.
The Sixth Circuit reversed a district court order that had permitted an untimely removal of a class action to federal court. The appellate court held that the thirty-day statutory deadline for removal cannot be equitably tolled, even when the prior remand was based on a judicial error.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed a district court order denying a motion to compel arbitration in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act case. The appellate court held that the defendant was a third-party beneficiary of an online agreement and could enforce its arbitration clause against the plaintiff.
