Gary Young

May 07, 2003 | Law.com

The joint press release issued by the EEOC and the Dial Corp. last week sheds little light on why two parties that had been vowing to fight to the finish suddenly agreed to step back from the brink of trial and settle their highly publicized sexual harassment case. Interviews with attorneys suggest that a series of rulings made weeks before trial, most of which went the EEOC's way, overcame Dial's longstanding reluctance to settle the case.

By Gary Young

6 minute read

November 13, 2002 | Law.com

A sharply worded footnote in a legal brief has cost an Indiana attorney a one-month suspension from the practice of law. In a 3-2 decision, the Indiana Supreme Court said that Michael A. Wilkins impugned the integrity of the Indiana Court of Appeals by suggesting that one of its opinions was results-driven. The case raises questions about the free speech rights of attorneys.

By Gary Young

4 minute read

April 23, 2004 | Law.com

A case that divided the circuits, Ceballos v. Garcetti, sparked a debate between two 9th Circuit judges on whether public employees enjoy First Amendment protection for statements made in the ordinary course of carrying out their employment duties. The case was brought by a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who claimed he was demoted for testifying against a sheriff's deputy for alleged wrongdoing.

By Gary Young

3 minute read

November 12, 2003 | The Recorder

High hopes are riding on the HMO liability cases that the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review last week. HMOs and others concerned about the rising costs of medical care hope that the court will reaffirm a 1987 ruling prevented plan participants from bringing state-law tort claims against their HMOs. While [laintiffs' lawyers and patient rights advocates hope that several post-1987 Supreme Court rulings signal a recognition that ERISA does not adequately protect participants' rights.

By Gary Young

9 minute read

April 05, 2001 | Law.com

A Puerto Rican trucking company must pay its drivers overtime wages, even though similar companies operating in the 50 states are exempt from the overtime requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded. The court held that Hector I. Nieves Transport, Inc., owed its drivers more than $800,000 in wages and penalties.

By Gary Young

4 minute read

April 04, 2003 | New York Law Journal

By Gary Young

3 minute read

August 19, 2003 | The Legal Intelligencer

Injuries caused by light or moderate turbulence during an airline flight are not automatically excluded from the definition of an accident for which an air carrier is liable, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

By Gary Young

4 minute read

January 16, 2004 | Law.com

The free speech wars continue to be waged on university campuses, producing their fair share of First Amendment litigation. While campus speech codes that discipline students for offensive or so-called politically incorrect speech have been roundly condemned by the courts, still to be tested are "free speech zones," which confine free speech activities to a specific area of a campus.

By Gary Young

8 minute read

February 20, 2003 | Law.com

In January, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that two IRS attorneys committed a fraud upon the U.S. Tax Court by cutting secret deals to undermine the fair resolution of a test case affecting 1,300 taxpayers. The taxpayers' lawyers estimate that if the 9th Circuit hadn't stepped in, their clients would have paid hundreds of millions of dollars in back taxes, penalties and long-accumulating interest.

By Gary Young

10 minute read

August 04, 2003 | Law.com

The business of litigation finance, which appears to be tolerated in most jurisdictions, took a beating in two courtrooms in the last year. In June, the Ohio Supreme Court resuscitated a common law doctrine to outlaw the offering of cash payments to plaintiffs in exchange for a piece of their verdict or settlement. And a federal court in North Carolina awarded over $500,000 to a law firm that claimed litigation financiers interfered with the attorney-client relationship.

By Gary Young

8 minute read