In a complaint filed today, Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez sued Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitral panel’s decision to largely uphold his lengthy suspension from baseball. The panel’s decision, which was made public for the first time as an attachment to the complaint, reduced his suspension from 211 games to 162, but rejected A-Rod’s arguments to overturn or more substantially reduce the suspension. A-Rod’s complaint takes aim at the author of the arbitral decision, arbitrator Frederic Horowitz:
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Judge Scheindlin Rules MBS Repurchase Suit is Time-Barred; Splits With Judge Hellerstein
In an opinion Friday, Judge Scheindlin dismissed as time-barred a case alleging that certain mortgage-backed securities were not as represented. The plaintiff claimed that the statute of limitations did not begin to run until the defendant refused to repurchase or cure the defects, but Judge Scheindlin, relying largely on the First Department’s recent decision in ACE Sec. Corp. v. DB Structured Products (see here, starting at pg. 26), disagreed:
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Supreme Court Grants Cert to Review Legality of Aereo Internet-TV Service
The Supreme Court today granted certiorari to review the legality of Aereo, a service that streams live broadcast television over the internet (with a slight delay). In July 2012, Judge Nathan denied the TV networks’ motion to preliminarily enjoin the service, and the Second Circuit affirmed in April 2013. Prior posts on the case are
Apple Seeks to Stay The Work of “Adversarial” Antitrust Monitor Pending E-Books Appeal
In briefing completed this evening, Apple moved to stay the portion of the injunction Judge Cote imposed in the e-books price-fixing case relating to an external antitrust monitor that Apple contends is improperly acting as an adversary in violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers and the federal rules. (We covered Apple’s earlier objection to the monitor here. Prior posts on the case, proving more background, are here.) Apple’s moving brief argues:
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Judge Forrest Denies Tourre’s Motion for New Trial
In an opinion today, Judge Forrest denied the motion of former Goldman Sachs banker Fabrice Tourre for a new trial of SEC charges that he helped conceal from investors that a mortgage security was constructed, in part, by a hedge fund that was run by John Paulson and that was betting against the transaction. She found there was sufficient evidence for the jury’s verdict:
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Southern District Courthouses Closed Today Because of Weather
The announcement appears on the courthouse homepage this morning.
Judge Pauley Dismisses Challenge to NSA Bulk Collection of Phone Data
In an opinion today, Judge Pauley dismissed the ACLU’s challenge to the NSA’s bulk collection of telephone metadata and denied the ACLU’s motion for a preliminary injunction. The opinion begins:
The September 11th terrorist attacks revealed, in the starkest terms, just how dangerous and interconnected the world is. While Americans depended on technology for the conveniences of modernity, al-Qaeda plotted in a seventh-century milieu to use that technology against us. It was a bold jujitsu. And it succeeded because conventional intelligence gathering could not detect diffuse filaments connecting al-Qaeda.
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New Rule: Three-Judge Committee to Have Power to Overrule “Related Case” Determinations [UPDATED]
In an article posted online this evening, the New York Times reports that the Southern District has adopted a new procedure governing related cases. According to the article, a party claiming a new suit is related to another must file a statement “stating clearly and succinctly the basis for the contention.” Any other party
Judge Forrest Dismisses Class Action Against UBS Over $2.3 Billion Trading Loss
In an opinion Friday, Judge Forrest dismissed a class action accusing UBS of securities fraud for statements about its risk controls that allegedly proved false when a rogue trader lost $2.3 billion. The opinion begins:
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Judge Abrams Denies Motion to Dismiss Contract Attorney Class Action for Overtime
In a one-page order today, Judge Abrams denied Quinn Emanuel’s motion to dismiss a class action seeking unpaid overtime for contract attorneys who perform document review. Judge Abrams found there were fact questions as to whether the plaintiff was or was not “engaged in the ‘practice of law,’” which would take him out of the