In an opinion today, Judge Oetken, addressing a question that is unresolved in the Second Court, agreed with a prior opinion of Judge Nathan and ruled that the citizenship of a trust for diversity purposes depends in part on whether the case is brought in the name of the trust itself or in the name of the trustee.  Specifically, after surveying the conflicting authorities, Judge Oetken determined that the “rule is, accordingly, as follows”:
Continue Reading Judge Oetken Explains “Overly Technical,” “Form Over Function” Rules for Citizenship of Trusts in Diversity Cases

In an opinion dated yesterday, Judge Oetken dismissed an SEC complaint against two individuals who made what it contended were highly suspicious trades in the stock of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. shortly before Amgen, Inc. made an unsolicited bid for Onyx that made Onyx’s stock price rise. Judge Oetken ruled that the complaint did not have enough facts to suggest that there was an unlawful tip:
Continue Reading Judge Oetken Dismisses SEC Insider Trading Complaint Containing “All Belief and No Information”

In an opinion today, Judge Oetken dismissed a defamation suit brought by GOP donor Sheldon Adelson because (among other reasons) the allegedly defamatory language hyperlinked to an AP article about a lawsuit, and thus constituted a privileged “attribution” of the assertion to a judicial proceeding.  The suit related to an online petition entitled “Tell Romney to Reject Adelson’s Dirty Money.” The petition stated that Adelson “personally approved of prostitution in his Macau casinos,” and the words “personally approved” linked to an AP article reporting on a lawsuit that made the accusation. Judge Oetken found that the hyperlink was sufficient for the attribution privilege:
Continue Reading Judge Oetken Rules Hyperlinking Constitutes Attribution to Source, Dismisses Defamation Suit by Sheldon Adelson

In an opinion issued this morning, Judge Oetken denied a $6 million fee request from lawyers that voluntarily dismissed a suit charging Citi with awarding excessive compensation. The suit was filed after Citi’s shareholders, in a non-binding “say-on-pay” vote, rejected Citi’s proposed executive compensation plan for 2011. The lawyers argued that the suit caused certain Citi executives to resign and forfeit certain compensation (thus allegedly mooting the action to some extent), but Judge Oetken disagreed:
Continue Reading Judge Oetken Concludes That Dropped Suit Did Not Cause Pay Changes at Citibank, Denies $6 Million Fee Request

In the defamation action stemming from a 2010 New Yorker profile of  Peter Paul Biro (a specialist in art authentication through fingerprint analysis who was featured in the documentary  Who the #$&% is Jackson Pollock?), Judge Oetken yesterday granted a motion  for judgment on the pleadings filed by the New Yorker Defendants (Conde Nast, and David Grann, the profile’s author), and motions to dismiss filed by the Republisher Defendants (Yale University Press, artfagcity.com editor Paddy Johnson, Gawker Media, and Business Insider).
Continue Reading Judge Oetken Dismisses Claims in Biro Defamation Lawsuit Relating to New Yorker Article

Emma Thompson and her husband, Greg Wise, wrote a screenplay about the love triangle between John Ruskin – an influential art critic of the Victorian era – his teenage bride,  Euphemia (“Effie”)  Gray, and John Everett Millais, Ruskin’s protégé. That screenplay has since been turned into a movie – Effie – starring Thompson, Wise, Dakota Fanning, Tom Sturridge, and Robbie Coltrane, due to be released this year.  On Wednesday, Judge Griesa granted Effie Film’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in an action it had filed against Gregory Murphy for a declaration that the “Effie” screenplay does not infringe upon Mr. Murphy’s copyright in “The Countess” – a play and screenplay he authored based upon the same historical events.
Continue Reading Judge Griesa Declares Forthcoming Emma Thompson Film “Effie” Not Infringing of Play Based on Same Historical Events

In a 65-page opinion issued today, Judge Oetken allowed Peter Paul Biro, who is known for art authentication through fingerprint analysis, to proceed with certain of his defamation and related claims arising from a July 2010 New Yorker article raising questions about him. The article itself is appended to the decision. The defendants had moved to dismiss the complaint in its entirety, and, while Judge Oetken concluded that “most of Biro’s claims for defamation based on the express statements contained in the Article or alleged implications that can be drawn from the Article must be dismissed,” he determined that certain specific statements were potentially actionable. Judge Oetken also determined that the “overall impact” of the article was not defamatory and rejected any claim under that theory:
Continue Reading Judge Oetken Allows Art Authenticator to Proceed With Defamation Claims Concerning New Yorker Article