Federal Civil Practice

The newsletter of the ISBA’s Section on Federal Civil Practice

ISBA Members, please login to join this section

2009 Articles

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L. Ed. 2d 868 (May 18, 2009) By Patrick T. Driscoll, Jr. & Patricia M. Fallon September 2009 In May, a closely divided Supreme Court ruled that former Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller could not be held liable for the actions of subordinates after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Caution for copyright owners before filing suit for infringement By Jeremy M. Roe June 2009 Generally, the owner of a U.S. copyright registration may enforce its rights by bringing an infringement action against a would-be infringer. However, one court’s recent ruling may send caution to copyright owners moving forward.
Complying with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34(b): Best practices By Peter LaSorsa December 2009 Rule 34 (b)(2)(E)(i) provides that a party must either produce documents “as they are kept in the usual course of business” or it “must organize and label them to correspond to the categories in the request.” 
Conflict: The treacherous path By Edward Clinton December 2009 William Ruehle, the Chief Financial Officer of Broadcom, a California corporation, and Henry Nichols, a co-founder of Broadcom, were indicted by a Federal grand jury for conspiracy, securities fraud, false certification of financial statements, wire fraud and other crimes in the United States District Court for California. These charges arose from the alleged backdating of options granted to officers of Broadcom.
Electronic Discovery Project in the Northern District of Illinois June 2009 Chief Judge James Holderman of the Northern District of Illinois has empaneled a special committee to examine issues relating to electronic discovery in the Northern District. A preliminary report would be presented to the Judicial Conference in May, 2010.
Enforcing federal court monetary judgments By Travis J. Ketterman December 2009 Although obtaining a judgment is a worthwhile endeavor, a plaintiff is only truly successful if the defendant actually pays the judgment. This article reviews the various actions taken by plaintiffs to collect money after obtaining a judgment in federal court.
From the Chair By Timothy J. Howard September 2009 A message from Section Chair Timothy Howard.
Joinder of an essential party under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 19 By Patrick T. Driscoll, Jr. September 2009 An overview of the case of Carl Askew v. Sheriff of Cook County, Illinois, and Bernardo Lopez.
A new Rule 26 may change the way we communicate (or don’t) with experts By Camille M. Knight March 2009 The Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure has published proposed amendments to Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure which, if approved, will take effect in 2010. 
News you can use: Yet another reason to join the ISBA By Patricia M. Fallon June 2009 Fastcase is an unbelievably cost-effective alternative to Westlaw and/or Lexis.
The Supreme Court clarifies the standards for vacating or modifying arbitration awards in federal court By Travis J. Ketterman March 2009 Parties cannot obtain heightened judicial review when seeking to vacate or modify an arbitration award under the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.
Supreme Court to hear corporate diversity jurisdiction case By Peter LaSorsa June 2009 The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in Hertz Corporation v. Friend, in which the Court will consider whether the location of a nationwide corporation’s headquarters can be disregarded by a court in determining a principal place of business for the purposes of diversity jurisdiction.