FindLaw News

Case Summaries

Administrative Law

[03/09] Tampubolon v. Holder
In a petition for review of the BIA's denial of petitioners' asylum application, the petition is granted in part where the BIA erred in failing to apply disfavored group analysis to petitioners' withholding claim because the record compelled a finding that Christians in Indonesia are a disfavored group. However, the petition is denied in part where the BIA's failure to address two irrelevant cases did not render the proceeding fundamentally unfair.

[03/09] Native Ecosystems Council v. Tidwell
In an action challenging the Forest Service's approval of a project to update grazing allotments in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, summary judgment for defendant is reversed where: 1) because the Forest Service's environmental assessment was based on a nonexistent management indicator species, its habitat proxy analysis was not reliable; and 2) the Forest Service failed to take the requisite "hard look" at the project as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.

[03/09] Najmabadi v. Holder
In a petition for review of the BIA's order denying petitioner's motion to reopen her removal proceedings on the basis of changed conditions in Iran, the petition is denied where: 1) substantial evidence supported the Board's finding that the evidence petitioner submitted in her motion to reopen was not qualitatively different from the evidence presented at the original hearing; and 2) there was no evidence establishing that returnees from the U.S. would likely face persecution.

Read More

Cyberspace

[03/03] Byers v. Intuit, Inc.
In plaintiff's putative class action on behalf of U.S. taxpayers against the IRS and a consortium of companies in the electronic tax preparation and filing industry (FFA) claiming violations of the Independent Offices Appropriations Act (IOAA) in the charging of fees in exchange for providing e-filing services, as well as a violation of section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, dismissal of both claims is affirmed where: 1) the district court was correct in holding that the IOAA does not apply to the FFA members, as it only applies to a government agency and none of the exceptions in Thomas v. Network Solutions, Inc., 176 F.3d 500 (D.C. Cir. 1999) apply; and 2) the district court did not err in dismissing the Sherman Act claim as the FFA members are entitled to conduct-based implied antitrust immunity with respect to the anti-competitive action taken pursuant to the Ceiling Provisions of the 2005 Agreement with the IRS.

[02/26] Office Depot Inc. v. Zuccarini
In a judgment debtor's appeal from an order appointing a receiver to take control of and auction off some of debtor's domain names in order to satisfy the judgment, the order is affirmed where: 1) Kremen v. Cohen, 337 F.3d 1024, 1030 (9th Cir. 2003), was still an accurate statement of California law, and domain names are intangible property subject to a writ of execution; and 2) domain names were personal property located wherever the registry or the registrar were located.

[02/26] Phan v. Pham
In plaintiff's suit for defamation, trial court's dismissal of the action is affirmed as, using the material contribution test from Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates, it is evident that defendant made no material contribution to the alleged defamation in the e-mail he received from the originator and the only possible defamatory content is to be found in the e-mail was the original content received by defendant.

Read More

Banking Law

[03/09] Martinez v. Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Inc.
In an action under Section 8(b) of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA), and California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL), claiming that a mortgage lender charged plaintiffs an illegal underwriting fee, dismissal of the complaint is affirmed where: 1) the clear and unambiguous language of RESPA Section 8(b) did not reach the practice of "overcharging"; and 2) the UCL claims alleging "unfair" and "fraudulent" conduct were preempted by the National Bank Act, and the allegations of "illegal" conduct failed to state a claim.

[03/02] Ma v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.
In an action against Merrill Lynch based on unauthorized transfers from plaintiff's investment account, summary judgment for defendant is affirmed where New York U.C.C. Section 4-A-505, which imposes a one-year statute of repose on certain claims based on electronic funds transfers, bars plaintiffs' common law claims, which had longer limitations periods.

[02/26] Williams v. Fleming
In plaintiff's suit against a bank, the US, and and an FDIC associate examiner, claiming that the associate examiner's racially motivated bias against plaintiff and other African-Americans was the reason he stopped receiving loans from the bank, dismissal of all claims including the Bivens suit against the associate examiner is affirmed where, because the dismissal of plaintiff's suit against the US was on the merits, and not for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, his remaining Bivens suit was properly barred by section 2676 of the FTCA.

Read More