Securities Litigation Results in Win for Broker and Clarifies Law in the Eighth Circuit
Through an investment bank (acting as broker), clients invested in Reverse Convertible Notes (RCNs). RCNs are a complex “structured financial product” that is sometimes championed as a high-yield, short-term investment promising above-market interest payments but is nonetheless viewed as “perhaps…
Product Liability Appeal Won Due to Analytical Gaps in Plaintiff's Expert Witness Opinion
In a negligence and failure-to-warn case brought against a product distributor, the plaintiff was relying on their expert witness as the sole means to prove that the product at issue came from the defendant. However, the plaintiff’s expert witness failed to pass muster under the relevant legal test…
Company Defeats Alleged Whistleblower Bringing Claim Under Obscure Whistleblowing Law
Companies generally know that certain whistleblowing activities are protected. But this protection is not absolute, and not everything that employees think is whistleblowing actually meets the legal definition necessary for protection. Deciding what is protected activity and what is not can be a…
Arkansas School's Restriction on Student Speech Found "Unreasonable" by Eighth Circuit
September 11, 2020
by Devin R. Bates
An Arkansas school had an unwritten policy of restricting tabling to registered student organizations and school departments. At least generally, there was no problem with this policy. However, as applied to one particular group, the Eighth Circuit recently held that the policy’s distinction…
May the "Force" Majeure Be With You: Is COVID-19 a Force Majeure Event?
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all aspects of our daily interactions. And, its effect on many businesses’ ability to function cannot be overstated. It has been devastating. As you are well aware, the pandemic has also added a number of new words and phrases to our vocabulary—“social…