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Case Summaries

Family Law

[08/14] Lemons v. Bradbury
In an action brought by voters who signed a referendum, which sought a statewide vote on a legislative act establishing same-sex domestic partnerships, challenging the Oregon Secretary of State's procedures for verifying referendum petition signatures, denial of permanent injunctive relief for plaintiffs is affirmed where the Secretary's procedures for verifying sampled referendum petition signatures did not violate plaintiffs' equal protection and due process rights.

[08/12] Choin v. Mukasey
Russian native's petition for review of a decision denying her application for adjustment of status and ordering her removed is granted where: 1) the BIA erroneously interpreted the "as a result of the marriage of the nonimmigrant" language in INA section 245(d); 2) the plain language of section 245 is ambiguous; 3) nothing in the plain language of section 245(d) suggests that an application that was valid when submitted should be automatically invalid when a petitioner's marriage ends by divorce two years later; and 4) the statute also does not require the automatic removal of immigrants whose marriages end in divorce while their applications for adjustment of status are under agency consideration.

[08/11] Vale v. Avila
Grant of father's petition to return his children to Venezuela under the International Child Abduction Remedies Act is affirmed where the childrens' place of habitual residence was properly determined to be Venezuela, and the custody rights held by father under Venezuelan law were violated by mother's removal of the children to the US.

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Injury & Tort Law

[08/19] Joyce v. Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc.
In a suit by shareholders of a telecommunications company alleging that defendant, while advising the company during its acquisition by another company, failed to advise plaintiffs on minimizing their exposure to financial losses, grant of a motion to dismiss is affirmed in part and vacated and remanded in part where: 1) plaintiffs were bringing a direct action on their own behalf, not a derivative one on behalf of the corporation, and to that extent had standing; but 2) plaintiffs' constructive fraud claim required them to allege that defendant owed them a fiduciary duty, but no such duty never arose.

[08/19] King v. Burlington N. & Santa Fe Ry. Co.
In a malicious prosecution suit alleging that defendant fired plaintiff without probable cause to believe that she had stolen train tickets, denial of plaintiff's discovery motion and summary judgment for defendants are affirmed where: 1) a determination by the System Board of Adjustment that plaintiff had stolen from defendant did not preclude litigation of that question in the context of the malicious prosecution suit; but 2) plaintiff failed to produce evidence of the date on which defendant had filed a criminal complaint against her, and thus would not be able to prove her claim that defendant lacked probable cause at the time of the filing.

[08/19] US v. Flaherty
In an action brought under the False Claims Act alleging that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) provided a reimbursement check to defendant as a result of a fraudulent scheme, dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where qui tam actions cannot be brought pro se.

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