Saranac Hale Spencer

September 27, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

A suit alleging a natural gas drilling operation violated the Clean Air Act has survived a motion to dismiss in federal court and raised novel questions about abstention.

By Saranac Hale Spencer

5 minute read

February 22, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Philadelphia School District violated the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by denying parents of autistic students the opportunity to participate in discussions about where their children would be placed from year to year within the school system, a federal judge ruled in a pair of opinions issued this week — the other one granted class certification to the plaintiffs.

By Saranac Hale Spencer

5 minute read

July 11, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

The expansion of Philadelphia's airport shed one legal impediment when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Friday tossed the claims made by Tinicum Township, which neighbors the airport.

By Saranac Hale Spencer

6 minute read

May 21, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

President Obama has made nominations for the two open seats on the federal bench in the Middle District of Pennsylvania, which had been operating at half capacity until Robert Mariani was confirmed last year. If the latest two nominees, Matthew Brann, a Republican, and Malachy Mannion, a Democrat, are confirmed by the Senate, the bench will be at full strength.

By Saranac Hale Spencer

5 minute read

May 17, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

Wading into the politically-charged waters of President Obama's recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit set narrow parameters for the definition of a Senate recess that would allow the president authority to make appointments.

By Saranac Hale Spencer

5 minute read

July 23, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

A federal judge has dismissed most of the claims against HSBC Mortgage Corp. regarding its practice of "force placing" insurance on borrowers who hadn't maintained sufficient property insurance, but he allowed claims for breach of contract to survive.

By Saranac Hale Spencer

4 minute read

August 02, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

A federal appeals court has reduced the amount of money an insurance company owes an attorney following his dispute with the company to fund his defense in sanctions proceedings.

By Saranac Hale Spencer

7 minute read

April 11, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Easton Area School District doesn't want to demonize "boobies," its lawyer, John Freund, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Tuesday.

By Saranac Hale Spencer

5 minute read

February 21, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

The 14 judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit who sat en banc to hear arguments on a school speech case demonstrated the difficulty in finding a unified answer to one of the case's central questions: whether or not the word "boobies" on a breast cancer awareness bracelet is sufficiently lewd to be banned from a middle school.

By Saranac Hale Spencer

4 minute read

November 06, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

In a case alleging that 26 major banks and businesses infringed on patented cellphone application technology allowing for the transfer of money, a federal judge has ruled that the defendants didn't meet their burden to impose a prosecution bar on the patent holder's lawyers.

By Saranac Hale Spencer

6 minute read