In a recent decision, the United States Supreme Court held that Section 3 of the Federal Arbitration Act requires a court to stay a proceeding pending arbitration and provides no discretion for the court to dismiss the action.

On Friday, April 12, 2024, LuLu Reisman, George Denegre, Carey Menasco, and Melanie Derefinko secured a significant appellate victory for Luv n’ care, Ltd. (“LNC”), an international manufacturer of baby products, against Eazy-PZ, LLC (“EZPZ”), a Colorado-based baby product manufacturer and former Shark Tank contestant, in a patent and trade dress infringement case. 

As a matter of first impression, the Fifth Circuit held that an oil-and-gas royalties class action belongs in federal court based on its interpretation that the “principal injuries” prong of the CAFA local controversy exception requires all plaintiffs sustain their principal injuries in the forum state. 

On March 11, 2024, Liskow lawyers Kathryn Gonski and Melanie Derefinko secured the denial of a motion to remand on improper joinder grounds and the dismissal of an intentional tort claim against Methanex, a major Louisiana plant owner, in Knight v. Turner Industries Group, L.L.C., et al., No. 23-469 (M.D. La.).

On February 15, 2024, Liskow lawyers Kathryn Gonski and Shannon Holtzman secured a unanimous, published United States Fifth Circuit Opinion in Shaw v. Restoration Hardware, Inc., affirming a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal without leave to amend. 2024 WL 640246 (5th Cir. Feb. 15, 2024). Through this opinion, the Fifth Circuit reaffirmed the pleading requirements for breach of contract and quasi-contractual claims.

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has published its new final rule regarding whether workers are properly classified as employees, who are subject to the overtime and minimum wage protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”), or independent contractors, who are not.

In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the Louisiana Third Circuit Appeal affirmed the authority of the Louisiana Tax Commission to correct property tax assessments of #pipelines when a local assessor uses values that are too high or do not reflect fair market value. Cheryl Kornick represented the taxpayer in this matter.

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced today that it will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on October 13, 2022, in order “to help employers and workers determine whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act.”  This marks the Biden Administration’s second attempt to rescind the

Employers may no longer require Covid-19 testing for on-site employees across the board. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on July 12, 2022, that “going forward employers will need to assess whether current pandemic circumstances and individual workplace circumstances justify viral screening testing of employees to prevent workplace transmission of COVID-19.”

This means that