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Case of the Day: Berg v. Ciampa
The case of the day is Berg v. Ciampa (D. Mass. 2022). I wrote about the case in January 2022. According to the complaint, Oscar and Mary Nelson established an inter vivid trust for the benefit of their daughters, Mary Ann Birmingham and Elaine Ciampa. When Birmingham died, her daughters, Deborah Berg and Karen Bedenbaugh,……
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Lago Agrio: Steven Donziger Seeks Supreme Court Review
Steven Donziger has filed a petition seeking Supreme Court review of the Second Circuit decision affirming his conviction for criminal contempt of court. The petition is very well-done, and Donziger is in good hands with Stephen Vladeck. There is no question in the petition about Donziger’s factual guilt. Instead, the question is the constitutionality of……
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Elephant Habeas: NhRP Loses Again On Venue
Never have I ever seen someone as devoted to a pointless and overly simplistic kind of forum shopping as Steven Wise of the Nonhuman Rights Project. A few months ago, Mr. Wise’s organization brought a habeas corpus petition, supposedly on behalf of elephants kept at the Fresno Zoo. The NhRP didn’t bring the case in……
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Event Announcement: WILG 2022 Convention
I’ll be speaking at the Workers’ Injury Law & Advocacy Group 2022 Annual Convention in Scottsdale, Arizona on October 1. You may be wondering why I would be invited to speak at a convention of worker’s compensation lawyers. Good question! (Although longtime readers may remember that Merlini v. Canada, the case I successfully litigated against……
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In re BMW: Litigation Funding and Section 1782
The case of the day is In re BMW (N.D. Ill. 2022). BMW was a defendant in German patent litigation brought by Arigna Technology Ltd., an Irish “patent assertion entity.” BMW came to Illinois to seek discovery from Magnetar, an investor in Arigna’s patent portfolio, seeking among other things communications regarding the patents. This may……