Posted by Kathy Bazoian Phelps Below is a summary of the activity reported for February 2020. The reported stories reflect at least 5 new Ponzi schemes worldwide; at least 5 guilty pleas and convictions; over 19 years of newly imposed sentences for...

Defendant company developed a system where a person could purchase and sell plans of the company. What the purchaser was really buying was the chance to collect a commission by bringing other purchasers to the company. Plaintiff Securities and Exchange...

Respondent Marvel Entertainment's corporate predecessor agreed to purchase petitioner Stephen Kimble's patent for a Spider-Man toy in exchange for a lump sum plus a 3% royalty on future sales. The agreement set no end date for royalties. As the...

The day after President Ford signed the Presidential Recordings and Materials Preservation Act into law, former President Nixon instituted an action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, invoking its exclusive jurisdiction...

Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act provides that employees shall have the right to join or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively, and "to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other...

Plaintiff contractor brought suit to recover amounts allegedly due for the construction of a building on defendant's land. The parties signed duplicate written contracts covering the work but, as a result of the third-party drafter's fraud, each...

A Virginia jury convicted petitioner Williams of robbery and capital murder, and, after a sentencing hearing, found a probability of future dangerousness and unanimously fixed his punishment at death. Concluding that such punishment was "proper"...

Plaintiff Charles Smith, a vocal critic of Defendant Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (Wal-Mart) created websites displaying designs and slogans that negatively parodied Wal-Mart’s registered marks. Smith also sold novelty items printed with graphics that...

In the three actions underlying the appeal, petitioners servicemen, while on active duty and not on furlough, sustained injuries due to the negligence of others in the armed forces. Two courts of appeals affirmed the trial courts' dismissal of the...

Defendant Keyshawn Jones was overpaid because a payroll processor accidentally typed "$120,000" instead of "$1,200" into a payment processing system, resulting in a total payment (after deductions) of $118,729.49. The next morning...