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...
Litigation
Colorado Supreme Court upholds optional liquidated damages provisions
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....
Electronic Communication in Modern Litigation
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...
Get out of my sandbox! Expulsion of a LLC Member under Wyo. Stat. 17-29-602
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...
Preliminary Considerations in Condemnation Actions
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...
CLAIMANTS MAY SUE INDUSTRY FOR DAMAGES RESULTING FROM EARTHQUAKES
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...
Changes in Colorado’s Rules of Civil Procedure Aimed at Frontloading Litigation to Decrease Costs
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...
The U.S. Supreme Court Disagreed with 10th Circuit’s Analysis in a Refusal-to-Hire Case Focused on the Wearing of a Religious Headscarf
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...
The 10th Circuit Rebuffs Environmental Groups’ Challenges to Keystone XL Pipeline Permit and Verification Letters
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...
Case Management and Rejection of “Lone Pine Orders” in Colorado
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...
Baseball Arbitration
Now that Spring Training is in full swing, let’s talk some baseball! Okay, not that kind of baseball, but another topic in our series on arbitration - “baseball arbitration.” Some parties are reluctant to submit disputes to arbitration because they worry about “split...
Arbitration Pitfalls – Broad or Narrow Scope
Arbitration Series - Part 3 of 3: When drafting an arbitration provision, careful attention should be given to the language describing the scope of disputes to be arbitrated. Unless the parties intend to arbitrate all disputes that may touch on or collaterally...