Section Newsletters

Articles From Michael Todd Scott

U.S. Supreme Court rules that blanket primary elections are unconstitutional By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, July 2000 In 1996, California votes adopted Proposition 198 which changed the State's partisan primary election from a "closed" primary to a "blanket" primary.
Supreme Court of California rules that corporation can recover fees for in-house counsel By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, June 2000   On May 8, 2000 the Supreme Court of California held that a corporation that is represented by in-house counsel may recover attorney fees under Civil Code § 1717. The case is PLCM v. Drexler, and can be found on the Web at: http://caselaw.findlaw.com/data2/californiastatecases/S080201.PDF.
Unauthorized practice of law and in-house counsel By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, June 2000 There has been a lot of discussion lately on unauthorized practice of law (UPL) by in-house counsel.
Fifth District holds that corporation not liable for employee’s alienation-of-affection actions By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, May 2000 In Hargan v. Southwestern Electric Cooperative, Inc., No. 5-99-0010 (5th Dist. 3/2/00), the plaintiff appealed from the trial court's dismissal of his second amended complaint for alienation of affection. The Fifth District affirmed.
Illinois Appellate Court adopts the Adverse Domination Doctrine By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, May 2000 In Lease Resolution Corp. v. Larney, No 1-98-2569 (9/23/99), plaintiffs, the successor general partner of a limited partnership and the limited partnership, appeal from the dismissal of their complaint. 
Illinois Appellate Court holds that Consumer Fraud Statute does not apply to non-Illinois consumers By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, May 2000 In Oliveira v. Amoco Oil Co., No 4-98-0199 (4th Dist, 2/9/00), the plaintiff filed a complaint against Amoco seeking certification of a nationwide class of all purchasers of Amoco premium gasoline.
U.S. Supreme Court holds, per curiam, that 28 U.S.C. 1367 overrules Zahn v. International Paper Co. By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, May 2000 Ever since Congress passed the Judicial Improvements Act of 1990, the issue of whether the new 28 U.S.C. 1367 overruled Zahn v. International Paper Co., 414 U.S. 291 (1973), has been debated by commentators and courts alike. 
7th Circuit rejects the “magic-words” approach when determining whether a Rule 68 offer is unambiguous By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, February 2000 In Norby v. Anchor Hocking Packaging Company, 98-4161 & 99-1146 (Dec. 2, 1999), a suit was filed by a sales representative for breach of contract and statutory violations.
Letter from the editor By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, December 1999 This is the third edition of The Corporate Lawyer for the 1999-2000 year, and we are on track of meeting our goal of bringing you six editions this year.
Seventh Circuit holds that an employee can be liable for a corporation’s discovery abuse By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, December 1999 In Johnson v. Kakvand, No. 97-3893 (7th Cir. Sept. 17, 1999), the Plaintiffs sued Liberty Mortgage Corp. (Liberty) and it's president and sole shareholder, Mike Kakvand, alleging violations of the Fair Housing Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, and the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Practices Act. 
Whether a second dismissal is “with prejudice” under the “two dismissal rule” of Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 41(a)(1) is to be determined when a third action is filed not by a rule 59(e) motion By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, December 1999 In CSMC v. Boeing, No. 97-56439 (9th Cir., Sept. 27, 1999), CSMC filed suit against Boeing in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Later, CSMC filed an identical action in L.A. Superior Court.
11th Circuit holds that plaintiffs do not get choice of new trial when punitive damages are reduced under BMW v. Gore By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, October 1999 In Johansen v. Combustion Engineering, Inc., 170 F.3d 1320 (11th Cir. 1999), plaintiffs sued the owner of a former mining site alleging that acidic water escaped from the site, damaging streams that ran through their properties.
U.S. Supreme Court resolves issue in federal removal case By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, October 1999 In Ruhrgas v. Marathon Oil Co., (May 17, 1998), the Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether subject-matter jurisdiction must be decided before personal jurisdiction in removal cases.
In-house counsel whistleblowers may lose Title VII protections By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, August 1999 In earlier editions of The Corporate Lawyer, we printed the ISBA amicus brief and the supreme court opinion in Jacobson v. Knepper & Moga, P.C.
Letter from the editor By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, August 1999 This is the first issue of the 1999-2000 fiscal year. Our goal this year is to once again increase the number of issues of The Corporate Lawyer we bring you. 
New Rule 23(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure makes class action certifications immediately appealable By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, August 1999 In June of 1997, the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure approved a recommendation from its Advisory Committee on Civil Rules to amend Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to add section 23(f) which authorized the interlocutory appeal of class action certification rulings. 
“Alternate liability,” “enterprise liability” and “market share liability”: A products liability review By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, June 1999 The purpose of this article is to provide corporate counsel an overview of three theories used to impose liability upon manufacturers of a defective product when the plaintiff cannot prove the exact identity of the manufacturer of the individual product which caused the plaintiff's injury.
Letter from the editor By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, June 1999 This is the fifth and final edition of The Corporate Lawyer for the 1998-1999 year. I sincerely hope that our section members found volume 36 to be both interesting and informative and worth the price of membership in the Corporate Law Departments Section.
Letter from the editor By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, April 1999 As this forth edition of The Corporate Lawyer for the 1998-99 year goes to press, we are already completing the fifth edition. Thus, I can now state for certain that we will make our goal of providing you with five newsletters this year.
U.S. Supreme Court rules that Daubert factors apply to all experts, not just scientists By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, April 1999 In Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579 (1993), the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed the trial judge's role as a "gatekeeper" in regards to the admissibility of expert testimony and held that Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence governs the admissibility of novel scientific evidence.
Are your documents protected by the work product doctrine? By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, February 1999 Most large corporations face litigation in many different jurisdictions. As a result, those corporations may have documents which are work product in a case in one jurisdiction which are at issue in another jurisdiction in subsequent litigation
Letter from the editor By Michael Todd Scott Corporate Law Departments, February 1999 This is the third edition of The Corporate Lawyer for the 1998-1999 year and we are still on track to meet our goal of five newsletters this year.

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