On May 24, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims decided one of what may be many cases involving the terrible flooding wrought by Hurricane Harvey in the Houston, TX region. The Court of Federal Claims has divided thousands of pending claims into “upstream” and “downstream” categories, depending on whether the flooded…
Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
Court of Federal Claims Confirms that EPA Was Responsible for “Taking” Steel Making Byproduct Purchased by a Private Party
On May 18, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims decided the case of Gadsden Indus. Park, LLC v. U.S., ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was responsible for the “taking” of byproduct materials produced by the steel making process and later purchased by plaintiff Gadsden Industrial Park (GIP) in…
SCOTUS: Follow-on Class Claims Time Barred Under American Pipe and Its Progeny
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in China Agritech v. Resh et al., a decision concerning the U.S. Court of Appeals’ application of the tolling rule first stated in American Pipe & Constr. Co. v. Utah and later clarified in Crown, Cork & Seal Co. v. Parker. The Court was called on…
Ninth Circuit Rejects “Omission Theory” for Challenges to Product Labels
On June 4, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit decided the case of Hodsdon v. Mars, Inc., and affirmed the District Court’s dismissal of the plaintiff’s claims that, under California law (the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the unfair competition law, Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17200,…
141-Page Environmental Report Was Legally Sufficient for Small Scale Project
On June 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided the case of Highway J Citizens Group, et al., v. U. S. Department of Transportation. The Seventh Circuit affirmed the District Court’s oral ruling that the Wisconsin highway renovation project was subject to the U. S. Department of…
Seventh Circuit Confirms District Court Doesn’t Have Jurisdiction
On June 4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided the case of John Crane, Inc., v. Shein Law Center, LTD and Benjamin Shein, et al., and affirmed the lower court’s ruling in favor of the defendants. The plaintiff filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court…
State of Texas’ Claims Time Barred by 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act
On June 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decided the case of State of Texas v. U.S., et al. The Court of Appeals held that the petition for mandamus filed by the State of Texas essentially seeking to compel the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to establish a…
NY Law Reviving Time-Barred Claims Not Unconstitutional
On June 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held, in the matter of In re: World Trade Center Lower Manhattan Disaster Site Litigation, that the District Court’s decision to dismiss, as being time-barred, many claims alleging tort and labor law claims arising from the plaintiffs’ participation…
“Positive Limiting Barriers” Are An Open and Obvious Condition, Relieving Owner of Duty to Warn
On June 1, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decided the case of Potvin v. Speedway, Inc., a personal injury case subject to the laws of Massachusetts. In Massachusetts, environmental rules require the installation of “positive limiting barriers” at gasoline service stations to contain gasoline spills of up…
With Liberty and Cannabis for All
Legalized cannabis use is rapidly sweeping the nation. Currently, 29 states have legalized some form of cannabis, effectively turning the majority of the United States green. In this post, we will take a closer look at some of these green states and discuss cannabis real estate trends across both state…