Legal News

Case Summaries

Admiralty

[08/31] Sinoying Logistics Pte Ltd. v. Yi Da Xin Trading Corp.
In an action seeking to attach defendant's property in New York as pre-judgment security for a pending arbitration in Hong Kong, dismissal of the action for lack of personal jurisdiction is affirmed where the district court did not err in declining to fashion an equitable remedy in circumstances where it was clear that the original attachment order could not be sustained in light of Shipping Corp. of India Ltd. v. Jaldhi Overseas Pte Ltd., 585 F.3d 58 (2d Cir. 2009).

[08/24] Combo Maritime, Inc. v. U.S. United Bulk Terminal, LLC
In an action for contribution and indemnity, and property damage, based on a barge breakaway, summary judgment for third-party defendant is reversed where there were insufficient findings in the record to determine whether the passing vessel presumption should have been applied against third-party defendant.

[08/20] Uralde v. US
In an action against the U.S. claiming that plaintiff's wife died as a result of the Coast Guard's failure to provide her access to timely medical treatment after she was injured during the Coast Guard’s interdiction of their vessel, the dismissal of the action is reversed where, because the Suits in Admiralty Act did not include a reciprocity requirement, plaintiff had no obligation to demonstrate that Cuba would allow Americans to sue its government on similar claims.

[08/12] Scanscot Shipping Servs GmbH v. Metales Tracomex LTDA
In plaintiff's appeal from the district court's order vacating the attachment of certain electronic fund transfers (EFTs) held by garnishee Wachovia Bank in New York City, which the district court had previously attached pursuant to Rule B of the Supplemental Admiralty Rules for Certain Admiralty Maritime Claims of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the order is affirmed where: 1) EFTs for which the defendant is both the originator and the beneficiary are not the property of the defendant and, therefore, may not be attached pursuant to Rule B; 2) when an intermediary bank responds to an order of attachment, later determined to be wrongful, by sequestering the wrongly attached funds in a non-EFT suspense account, a creditor may not then reattach those funds in the new account; and 3) Jaldhi's retroactivity was not subject to a case-by-case rebuttable presumption.

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Injury & Tort Law

[09/02] Lu v. Powell
In an action under the Federal Tort Claims Act against the U.S. and various officials, claiming that an asylum officer demanded sexual favors in return for assisting with plaintiffs' asylum applications, dismissal of the action is affirmed in part where plaintiffs failed to point to any specific duty under the Fifth Amendment or any specific policy to support a claim of unconstitutional policymaking. However, the dismissal is reversed in part where the emotional distress suffered as a result of the demand for sexual favors was an injury distinct from the battery and could be proved by the plaintiffs.

[09/01] Fisher v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
In an action against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and two Missouri police officers following an incident involving counterfeit money orders at a Raymore Wal-Mart store, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where: 1) given these undisputed facts, probable cause supported plaintiff's warrantless arrest; 2) attorney's fees were proper because plaintiff's continued prosecution of her false arrest claim against the officers in the face of the evidence upon discovery was unquestionably groundless and unreasonable; and 3) the record reflected no evidence of racial animus or hostility toward plaintiff.

[09/01] Sprinkles v. Associated Indem. Corp.
In plaintiffs' bad faith action against Fireman's Fund Insurance Company, arising from an underlying suit against defendant and his employer for causing the death of plaintiffs' father in an automobile accident, trial court's judgment sustaining the insurer's demurrer is affirmed as, under the complaint and matters judicially noticed, the defendant-employee was an insured, rendering the automobile exclusion in the GCL policy applicable, and Fireman's Fund had no duty to defend the employer.

[08/31] Mader v. US
In an action against the U.S. under the Federal Tort Claims Act, alleging the Department of Veterans Affairs acted negligently in providing medical treatment to plaintiff's husband, dismissal of the action for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is reversed where a plaintiff meets the Act's jurisdictional prerequisites when she provides the relevant agency with: 1) sufficient information for the agency to investigate the claims; and 2) the amount of damages sought.

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