The San Antonio Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment for Marathon Oil Corporation in their defense against a case brought by Michael and Myra Cerny. The underlying litigation alleged that emissions from Marathon plants caused the Cernys various injuries and property damage. However, the Cernys presented no expert medical testimony on the causation of their injuries, instead asserting the injuries claimed were ascertainable by common knowledge available to a lay person. The trial court did not allow defendants’ “discomfort” damages claim to proceed to trial without reliable expert testimony on medical causation, as required in Merrell Dow v. Havner and others.
Oct 19
Appeals Court Requires a Medical Expert to Prove Discomfort Causation
Aug 13
$26 Million Settlement to Hollywood Filmmakers Over Home Video Royalties
The $26 million settlement between Universal City Studios and a class of Hollywood filmmakers has been tentatively approved. The filmmakers believed they had been underpaid based on miscalculated royalties associated with profits from home-video sales.
Jul 23
Another Whistleblower Gets Multi-Millions
The Securities & Exchange Commission (“SEC”) has announced an approximately $3 million whistleblower award to an unnamed company insider who provided information to the SEC regarding a complex fraud that would otherwise been difficult to uncover. Continue reading
Jun 04
Expert Can Still Testify, Despite Opinions Being Thrown Out
A recent case illustrated how expert testimony may still be appropriate even when all of the expert’s actual opinions are deemed inadmissible. In Ross v. Rothstein (March 12, 2015), the Court concluded that an expert’s testimony still offered information helpful to the Court with regard to underlying facts that supported his improper (legal) opinions.
May 21
Court Requires Expert Witness to Have a Body and a Brain
A recent case addressed the interesting question of whether a corporation could serve as an expert witness. The matter involved a breach of fiduciary duty case coordinated with an appraisal proceeding, in re Dole Food Company (“Dole”). The defendants designated Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated (“Stifel”), a corporation, to serve as their expert witness regarding the value of Dole.
May 16
GAO Tells SEC to Look in the Mirror Regarding Internal Control Failures
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), a government watchdog group, recently reported the results of its 2014 audit of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) financial statements. The findings included (i) troubling reports of internal control failures at the very agency tasked with policing the reporting activities of others and (ii) warnings of vulnerability to cyber attacks on the highly confidential information stored at the SEC.
May 06
IRS Workers Found to Have Evaded Tax Payment
A recent report indicated that over a 10 year period approximately 1,600 Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) employees willfully evaded their tax obligations. The wrongful activity included:
- failing to file timely
- claiming improper dependents
- claiming improper first-time homebuyer credits
May 04
Compliance Officer Gets Whistleblower Award
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) recently announced an award of $1.4 – $1.6 million provided to a compliance officer of a large company. Neither the company’s nor the officer’s name was made public due to confidentiality laws, but the information was reported to having pertained to significant financial harm to the company and/or its investors.
Jan 03
The Current Drop in Gasoline Prices Across the US Has Many Influences
With the national average for ’87 octane falling below $3 a gallon, American drivers are paying less at the pump than they have since the beginning of the Great Recession (in terms of seasonality price, the current average is the lowest since 2009, in terms of absolute pricing, an average gallon of gas hasn’t been this cheap since December 2010).
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Jan 02
IRS Continues to Overpay Billions on the EITC
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