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Legal News Report 2-26-2016
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Federal Judge Tells VW To Fix Diesel Cars
Feb 25, 2016 | Wall Street Journal
By Sara Randazzo and Mike Spector
A federal judge instructed Volkswagen AG to produce within a month a fix for the nearly 600,000 diesel-powered vehicles on U.S. roads violating pollution laws, putting additional pressure on the German auto maker after it admitted to duping emissions tests. -
Dow Chemical Settles Lawsuit, Citing Supreme Court Position After Scalia’s Death
Feb 26, 2016 | Wall Street Journal
By Joshua Jamerson
Dow Chemical Co. said Friday that it would settle a class-action lawsuit for $835 million, as its petition against the suit at the Supreme Court was less likely to succeed after the recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia. The move highlights potential implications for businesses following the death of one of the most conservative judges in the U.S.’s highest court and the ensuing political battle over his replacement. -
Judge in Dewey & LeBoeuf Fraud Case Whittles Down Charges
Feb 26, 2016 | New York Times
By Matthew Goldstein
An accounting fraud case at a once prominent New York law firm that captured front-page headlines in 2014 is now looking more ordinary. On Friday, a New York State Supreme Court judge tossed out all of the grand larceny charges against the two remaining defendants stemming from the collapse of the law firm, Dewey & LeBoeuf, in 2012. -
Samsung wins appeal in patent dispute with Apple
Feb 26, 2016 | Reuters
By Andrew Chung
A U.S. appeals court on Friday overturned a $120 million jury verdict against Samsung, finally handing the South Korean smartphone maker a significant win in its longstanding patent feud with top rival Apple.
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Federal Judge Tells VW To Fix Diesel Cars
Feb 25, 2016 | Wall Street Journal
By Sara Randazzo and Mike Spector
A federal judge instructed Volkswagen AG to produce within a month a fix for the nearly 600,000 diesel-powered vehicles on U.S. roads violating pollution laws, putting additional pressure on the German auto maker after it admitted to duping emissions tests.
“It seems to me six months is long enough to determine whether or not there is an engineering process that can be utilized by Volkswagen and will be acceptable to the U.S. government,” U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer said during a hearing in San Francisco.
Judge Breyer gave the company until no later than March 24 to give him a detailed update on how the German auto maker plans to fix the vehicles. If a proposed resolution isn’t approved by authorities by then, “we have to address that,” he said, but regardless, “the litigation will move forward quite quickly.”
The diesel-powered cars in the U.S. that are still polluting are “an ongoing harm that has to be addressed,” Judge Breyer said.
The remarks came during the first major hearing in a multidistrict litigation proceeding unfolding in San Francisco that consolidates more than 500 federal lawsuits filed against Volkswagen. The German company admitted in the fall to using illegal software that allowed diesel-powered vehicles to pollute more on the road than during government emissions tests. Volkswagen’s ensuing emissions-cheating crisis cost former Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn his job and led to mushrooming investigations and financial fallout.
Robert Giuffra, an outside lawyer for the auto maker, told the court the company has been in discussions with the U.S. Justice Department, Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board to come up with a remedy.
Citing a request from the government to not give updates on the discussions publicly, Mr. Giuffra gave few details, but noted that Volkswagen can’t implement any fix without the approval of the EPA and CARB and that “highly complex engineering issues” are involved.
“The goal of Volkswagen is to come up with a fair and prompt resolution of these matters,” he said, adding that the company is “focused on rebuilding public trust.”
Regulators earlier this year rejected Volkswagen’s plans to fix nearly 500,000 of the affected vehicles with two-liter engines. Volkswagen submitted a plan for other problematic vehicles with three-liter engines earlier this month.
The auto maker halted sales of affected vehicles in the U.S., leaving dealers with expensive inventory they’re unable to unload. Vehicle owners, meanwhile, are facing declining resale values and seeking recompense for large premiums they paid for diesel-powered vehicles over similar gasoline-engine models.
Volkswagen currently faces criminal and regulatory probes around the world in addition to widespread litigation. The Justice Department earlier this year sued Volkswagen on behalf of the EPA, seeking damages totaling billions of dollars for violating U.S. clean-air laws. State attorneys general, too, have sued the auto maker.
Volkswagen in December hired victims-compensation expert Kenneth Feinberg to run a program to help compensate affected customers. Mr. Giuffra said in court Thursday that if a settlement is reached through the civil litigation, they expect Mr. Feinberg to administer the settlement. If a deal isn’t reached, Mr. Feinberg will create a separate protocol to compensate drivers.
Separately, a handful of U.S. lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation that would deny regulatory fuel-economy credits to auto makers found circumventing emissions rules. Auto makers can earn and trade such credits for selling vehicles that surpass federal mileage standards. Companies can bank money selling such credits or use them to offset fuel-thirsty pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles that don’t meet standards but are increasingly popular amid plunging gas prices.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-judge-tells-vw-to-fix-diesel-cars-1456425732
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Dow Chemical Settles Lawsuit, Citing Supreme Court Position After Scalia’s Death
Feb 26, 2016 | Wall Street Journal
By Joshua Jamerson
Dow Chemical Co. said Friday that it would settle a class-action lawsuit for $835 million, as its petition against the suit at the Supreme Court was less likely to succeed after the recent death of Justice Antonin Scalia.
The move highlights potential implications for businesses following the death of one of the most conservative judges in the U.S.’s highest court and the ensuing political battle over his replacement.
“With the untimely, unfortunate death of Justice Scalia, it leaves in question the current structure of the court,” Dow Chemical spokeswoman Rachelle Schikorra said. “With this changing landscape, the unknowns, we just decided to put this behind us.”
Dow Chemical said in a statement that changes in the court meant an “increased likelihood for unfavorable outcomes for business involved in class-action suits,” which changed how the company viewed its likelihood of success.
Dow had been found liable in 2013 and was ordered to pay damages for allegedly conspiring with competitors to fix prices for chemicals. The class-action suit had alleged that Dow and other companies overcharged clients by colluding to set prices for certain materials from the late 1990s to early 2000s.
Following Justice Scalia’s death earlier this month, the White House and Congress have been in a debate over whether President Barack Obama should appoint a new justice to the bench during a presidential election year. Conservatives have argued that a newly elected president should appoint the next justice.
If the court remains with 8 justices for the remainder of Mr. Obama’s term in office, it could be well into 2017 before the vacant seat is filled by his successor. Any 4-4 decision by the court in the meantimecould leave decisions by lower courts—such as the Kansas decision with respect to Dow—intact.
Ms. Schikorra said the potential benefits for Dow of continuing the petition looked less attractive amid the possibility of a 4-4 decision.
Dow said Friday that its petition before the Supreme Court, asking it to overturn a 2013 decision by a federal court in Kansas, was largely based on two decisions that were written by Scalia.
Dow’s position at the Supreme Court is that the $1.06 billion judgment violates class action law, and points to two Supreme Court decisions: one regarding Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in 2011 and another in 2013 concerning Comcast Corp.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/dow-chemical-settles-lawsuit-citing-supreme-court-position-after-scalias-death-1456491317
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Judge in Dewey & LeBoeuf Fraud Case Whittles Down Charges
Feb 26, 2016 | New York Times
By Matthew Goldstein
An accounting fraud case at a once prominent New York law firm that captured front-page headlines in 2014 is now looking more ordinary.
On Friday, a New York State Supreme Court judge tossed out all of the grand larceny charges against the two remaining defendants stemming from the collapse of the law firm, Dewey & LeBoeuf, in 2012.
The decision means that prosecutors will go to trial later this year against Joel Sanders and Stephen DiCarmine with just a few criminal charges — none of them the most serious offenses originally charged by prosecutors in Manhattan nearly two years ago.
“We are very gratified by the court’s decision,” said Andrew J. Frisch, a lawyer for Mr. Sanders.
The latest whittling down of the criminal case is another blow to Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, in one of the most notable white-collar cases filed by his office.
Earlier this year, Mr. Vance agreed to deferred prosecution deals to dismiss the charges against two defendants, including Steven H. Davis, the former chairman of Dewey.
Last year, a jury deadlocked on dozens of criminal charges after a six-month trial of Mr. Davis, Mr. Sanders and Mr. DiCarmine. The trial judge, Robert M. Stolz, declared a mistrial.
Afterward, prosecutors on their own dismissed many of the original charges against the three men.
The fourth defendant, Zachary Warren, a low-level employee, recently received a deferred prosecution agreement just a month before he was scheduled to go on trial.
Austin V. Campriello, a lawyer for Mr. DiCarmine, the former executive director of Dewey, said he hoped prosecutors would consider offering a deferred prosecution agreement to his client.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/27/business/dealbook/judge-in-dewey-leboeuf-fraud-case-whittles-down-charges.html?src=busln
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Samsung wins appeal in patent dispute with Apple
Feb 26, 2016 | Reuters
By Andrew Chung
n">A U.S. appeals court on Friday overturned a $120 million jury verdict against Samsung, finally handing the South Korean smartphone maker a significant win in its longstanding patent feud with top rival Apple.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., said Samsung Electronics Co Ltd did not infringe Apple's "quick links" patent, and that two other patents covering the iPhone's slide-to-unlock and auto-correct features were invalid. The court also said Apple was liable for infringing one of Samsung's patents.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-apple-samsung-elec-appeal-idUSKCN0VZ24I
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