Criminal Law Library Blog
From: Findlaw Opinion Summaries March 26, 2008.
AEROSPACE & DEFENSE, CIVIL PROCEDURE, GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS, INJURY AND TORT LAW, MILITARY LAW, PRODUCT LIABILITY
I”n re ‘Agent Orange’ Prod. Liab. Litig., No. 05-1760
“In a products liability action arising from the alleged injuries, mostly forms of cancer, caused by veterans’ exposure to the chemical defoliant “Agent Orange” used during their service in Vietnam, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed over claims that the district court: 1) erred in concluding that the government contractor defense applied to bar plaintiffs’ claims; and 2) abused its discretion by denying them discovery beyond what was available in files from prior Agent Orange litigation.”
CIVIL PROCEDURE, CONSTITUTIONAL LAW, IMMIGRATION LAW
Brito v. Mukasey, No. 06-3974
“Petition for review of the BIA’s denial of an application for adjustment status is denied where: 1) petitioner failed to exhaust before the agency the issue of his designation as an arriving alien; 2) the IJ lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate petitioner’s present application for adjustment of status as it is new and separate from his previously filed application; and 3) petitioner lacked standing to assert his claim that regulations withholding from immigration judges jurisdiction to adjudicate adjustment of status applications are ultra vires”
CIVIL PROCEDURE, ERISA, GOVERNMENT BENEFITS, HEALTH LAW, INSURANCE LAW, LABOR & EMPLOYMENT LAW
Krauss v. Oxford Health Plans, Inc., No. 06-0343
“In an action against defendants-plan administrators for various violations of ERISA and the Women’s Health and Cancer Rights Act, summary judgment for defendants is affirmed where defendants did not violate either statutes or the terms of the insurance plan in declining to reimburse the plaintiffs for: 1) more than $30,000 of plaintiff’s $40,000 doctor’s bill for bilateral breast reconstruction surgery where the maximum reimbursement for a single such surgery would have been $20,000; or 2) private-duty nursing following the reconstruction surgery. Claims for breach of fiduciary duty pursuant to ERISA and remaining claims are also without merit.”