On June 30, 2017, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed a trial court’s finding of summary judgment granted to a Chicago taxi company finding that there were “material questions of fact” as to whether the driver was the taxi company’s agent when he assaulted the female plaintiff passenger.

Following two hail storms which struck Hidalgo County in 2012, insured homeowners sued various insurers and claims adjustors, alleging underpayment of property damage claims and asserting statutory, contractual, and extra-contractual claims.

On July 5, 2017, the Ninth Circuit, on appeal from the Eastern District of California, issued a ruling reversing the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a defendant Bank, holding, contrary to the district court, that mortgage underwriters were not administratively exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Introduction
Since our August 2016 article on the applicability of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (the “ADA”) to the Internet, litigation involving website violations of the ADA has been on the rise. To date, however, there remains a split among the circuit courts with regard to whether Title III of the ADA applies to websites. To further complicate the issue, the federal government has not yet formally adopted a set standard for website accessibility.

A towing vessel damaged a Shell mooring line attached to a Shell a mobile offshore drilling unit in the Gulf of Mexico. After paying Shell’s damages, the towing vessel owner sued the owner of the assist towboat, claiming indemnity under the Master Service Agreement (“MSA”) between them. 

Atlanta Partner Seth Friedman and Associate Christopher Meeks obtained a ruling from the Georgia Court of Appeals that, absent very limited circumstances, third-party claimants do not have standing to bring a declaratory judgment action against an insurance company prior to obtaining a judgment against the insured. 

On May 11, 2017, the First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s denial of a Joint Motion to Enforce Settlement filed by Plaintiffs and Defendants/Appellants/JR Logging Inc., Jerry Avants, Jr. and Indemnity Insurance Company of North America.