Balough
December 14, 2013
Attaching a global positioning device on a car to track the suspect’s movements without a warrant does not constitute an unlawful search, the Seventh Circuit has found. However, if the government someday institutes a program of mass surveillance of vehicular movements, then the Court said it would “decide whether the Fourth Amendment should be interpreted […]
Balough
December 14, 2013
An elementary school teacher can be fired for telling her class that she honked her car’s horn in support of demonstrators against the war in Iraq, the Seventh Circuit found. The appellate court said the teacher had been told that she could teach the controversy about the war in Iraq “drawing out arguments from all […]
Balough
December 14, 2013
An attorney who sent a letter to an employer accusing an employee of stabbing an inflatable rat cannot be sued for defamation because the letter was sent to a potential litigant, an Illinois appellate court found. The bar applies even if the attorney did not investigate whether the accusation was true or false. Kevin Atkinson sued […]
Balough
December 14, 2013
A hospital is not liable for a phlebotomist’s casual comment, revealing the results of plaintiff’s pregnancy test, when the comment was made to plaintiff’s twin sister in a bar because the comment was not made in the course of employment, the Illinois Supreme Court found. “The only reasonable inference from the undisputed facts was that […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
Writing in a book that two reputed mob figures were “semijubilant” after paying a Chicago attorney $1 million in cash skimmed from a casino to represent them in a criminal case cannot be innocently constructed but rather is libel per se, the Illinois Supreme Court found. In the book, Double Deal, the authors discussed the […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
A treasure trove of rock ‘n roll posters, tapes and memorabilia of the Grateful Dead, the Doors, Santana and Led Zeppelin that are for sale on wolfgangsvault.com has become the focus of a copyright and trademark infringement lawsuit. The materials were part of the estate of rock concert promoter Bill Graham who operated the renowned venue […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
A development agreement drafted without lawyers did not create a fiduciary duty to prevent one of the “partners” from developing a competing computer touch screen, the Seventh Circuit found. Autotech Technology Limited Partnership and Automationdirect.com (ADC) entered into a contract for joint development and sale of a new touch screen to be called EZTouch. The […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
An attorney can sue an insurance adjustor for libel when the adjustor said that the attorney “just takes people’s money” and that his clients receive less than what the insurance company offered. The court reasoned that the statements were more than mere opinion. The Virginia Supreme Court reversed the trial court that had thrown out the […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
A flyer in a judicial race “full of disparagement and innuendo unbefitting a campaign for judicial office” cannot support a claim for libel or tortuous interference with a prospective economic advantage, an Illinois appellate court found. The flyer was distributed by the Illinois Coalition for Jobs, Growth and Prosperity and was mailed to voters in […]
Balough
December 13, 2013
Google’s sale of trademarks as keywords is not a “use” under the law to support a claim for infringement, a New York federal district court found. Rescuecom Corp. sued Google under the Lanham Act for trademark infringement, false designation, and dilution of its trademark. The court granted Google’s motion to dismiss. Rescuecom alleged that Google’s […]
