The United States Supreme Court was back in action on Monday, October 2, 2017, and is now moving into what Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg says is going to be a “momentous” upcoming term. This will be the first full term for Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, who replaced Justice Scalia, providing an extended look at his […]
This week the Colorado Supreme Court answered a lingering question about liquidated damages provisions; namely, are they enforceable if the non-breaching party can elect to pursue actual damages instead? The Court said yes. Ravenstar v. One Ski Hill Place, 2017 CO 83. Liquidated damages are an amount the parties designate in their contract as a […]
It goes without saying that use of electronically stored information constitutes a fundamental component of any modern, successful company, but state and federal courts have only recently adjusted their rules of discovery to reflect that. For example, the federal courts recently revised their Rule 37, which concerns sanctions for failing to preserve or produce documents […]
So, you have a bad apple as a member of your Wyoming limited liability company (LLC), how do you get rid of them? The best option is usually to reach an agreement for the company or a specific member to purchase the troublemaker’s membership interest. If, however, an amicable solution cannot be reached, the company […]
In condemnation actions in Colorado, the condemning party must take great care to satisfy legal prerequisites prior to initiating suit and, in most cases, moving for immediate possession of the subject property. By statute, immediate possession will only be granted upon a showing that: 1) a public agency with condemnation power has properly determined that […]
On June 30, 2015, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled in Sandra Ladra v. New Dominion LLC, Spess Oil Co. [and other unnamed companies], that Plaintiff could sue operators of wastewater injection wells in and around Lincoln County, Oklahoma, for personal injury damages resulting from injuries she suffered from an earthquake while in her Lincoln County […]
After testing new rules in a select number of Colorado districts over the past few years, on July 1, 2015, the Colorado Supreme Court adopted new rules intended to significantly change civil litigation, especially the discovery process. This initial stage of a lawsuit – depositions, document requests and production, and interrogatories – is costly in […]
On June 1, 2015, in an 8-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Abercrombie & Fitch and for a Muslim job applicant, Elauf, who had been rejected for employment because her headscarf would conflict with the store’s “Look Policy” which prohibited the wearing of caps on the sales floor. E.E.O.C. v. Abercrombie & Fitch […]
On May 29, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld the entry of judgment for defendant and rejected National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Clean Water Act (CWA) challenges to the validity of Army Corps of Engineers’ Nationwide Permit 12 (NWP 12) for the Gulf Coast Pipeline (the southern segment of […]
On April 27, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition for writ of certiorari to review a Colorado rancher’s attempt to prevent oil development and related access on his ranch. Petitioner Stull Ranches had requested that the high court review and reverse a 2014 decision of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided […]