Stephen A. Miller

May 23, 2011 | Legaltech News

The impact of the insider-trading prosecution of Raj Rajaratnam will be seismic. The verdict is significant, to be sure, but the prosecutors' method of assembling the evidence in the case will be the most lasting legacy -- in particular, the use of wiretaps to prove criminal intent with devastating clarity.

By Stephen A. Miller

4 minute read

January 10, 2011 | The Legal Intelligencer

Each year, the Supreme Court considers several cases testing the contours of the First Amendment's protection of speech. The justices' enthusiasm for these cases should not be surprising. The free speech guarantee is a core element of our country's founding spirit and calls to protect dissident voices appeal to our visceral aversion to tyranny. In addition to those lofty principles, the underlying facts of First Amendment cases are almost always more enticing than, say, the average ERISA case competing for space on the court's docket.

By Stephen A. Miller

10 minute read

June 13, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

The U.S. Supreme Court is presently considering whether federal law pre-empts state design-defect claims targeting generic pharmaceutical products. Just two years ago, the court insulated generic-drug manufacturers from state-law failure-to-warn claims. It seems doubtful that any of the justices in that majority will treat this case differently, and, thus, generic drugmakers may soon enjoy a new immunity.

By Stephen A. Miller and Dylan M. Alper

7 minute read

October 10, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

This term, the U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide three cases posing difficult questions about the limits of the powers of each of the three branches of the federal government.

By Stephen A. Miller and Joshua N. Ruby

7 minute read

February 07, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari this term on two issues concerning the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause. The justices heard oral arguments January 15 on a case focused on the conditions that a land-use agency may attach when issuing a development permit.

By Stephen A. Miller and Dylan M. Alper

7 minute read

September 27, 2011 | The Legal Intelligencer

Next week, the U.S. Supreme Court begins its new term. Before diving into the exciting cases awaiting decision in the coming year, it is worth pausing to examine a few interesting aspects of the court's work from the prior term.

By Stephen A. Miller

7 minute read

January 10, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

In the most recent Supreme Court term, justices heard oral arguments and granted certiorari on several cutting-edge questions of intellectual property law. The court is poised to clarify the legality of importing copyrighted material for domestic sale as well as the use of "covenants not to sue" to pre-empt counterclaims challenging the validity of patents.

By Stephen A. Miller and Jordan S. Fox

10 minute read

May 10, 2011 | National Law Journal

The successful use of secret taping in the Rajaratnam trial may make future convictions tougher because jurors will begin to expect wiretap evidence.

By Stephen A. Miller

4 minute read

November 27, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

In Jesse Jackson's famous Saturday Night Live sketch, every question was moot. Luckily for litigants, our courts take a more forgiving view.

By Stephen A. Miller and Thomas M. O'Rourke

9 minute read

January 24, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Supreme Court's review of several criminal-law cases this year focuses on what can and cannot be seen by the human eye. One of those cases forces the justices to consider whether law enforcement officers' use of global positioning system (GPS) technology requires a warrant, while two other cases address the limitations of eyewitness testimony.

By Stephen A. Miller

8 minute read