Justia U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals Opinion Summaries

Intervenors, a group of police unions, challenged the ruling of the district court that the City of New York's "stop-and-frisk" policy was carried out in a discriminatory manner, as well as its imposition of various reforms to that policy. These cases were previously ordered to be reassigned to a different district court judge. The new district judge denied the unions' motion to intervene in these cases and the unions appeal. At issue was whether public-sector unions may intervene into a litigation where the actual parties to that litigation, including a newly-elected mayoral administration, have agreed to a settlement. The court held that the unions' motions to intervene are untimely and do not assert an interest that the law seeks to protect; the unions knew, or should have known, of their alleged interests in these controversial and public cases well before they filed their motions; granting the unions' motions in the wake of the mayoral election would essentially condone a collateral attack on the democratic process and could erode the legitimacy of decisions made by the democratically-elected representatives of the people; and the unions' interests in their members' reputations and collective bargaining rights are, as a matter of law, too remote from the "subject of the action" to warrant intervention as a "party." View "Floyd v. City of New York" on Justia Law

NASDAQ conducted the initial public offering (IPO) for Facebook in May 2012. UBS subsequently initiated an arbitration proceeding against NASDAQ seeking indemnification for injuries sustained in the Facebook IPO, as well as damages for breach of contract, breach of an implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, and gross negligence. NASDAQ initiated a declaratory judgment action to preclude UBS from pursuing arbitration. The district court granted a preliminary injunction and UBS appealed. The court concluded that federal jurisdiction is properly exercised in this case; the district court properly decided the question of arbitrability because the parties never clearly unmistakably expressed an intent to submit that question to arbitration, and such an intent cannot be inferred where, as here, a broad arbitration clause contains a carved-out provision that, at least arguably covers the instant dispute; UBS's claims against NASDAQ are not subject to arbitration because they fall within the preclusive language of NASDAQ Rule 4626(a), and the parties specifically agreed that their arbitration agreement was subject to limitations identified in, among other things, NASDAQ Rules; and, therefore, the court affirmed the district court's order preliminarily enjoining UBS from pursuing arbitration against NASDAQ. The court remanded for further proceedings. View "NASDAQ OMX Grp., Inc. v. UBS Sec., LLC" on Justia Law

Dynegy filed a voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. Charles Silsby then filed a securities class action complaint against Dynegy and others alleging dissemination of false and misleading information and failure to disclose material facts about Dynegy's financial performance and prospects, in violation of securities laws. Stephen Lucas was appointed lead plaintiff in Silsby v. Icahn, the securities class action litigation. In this appeal, Lucas challenged the district court's conclusion that he lacked standing to opt out of or object to the joint reorganization plan on behalf of the putative class in the securities litigation. The court concluded that Lucas' status as lead plaintiff of the putative class in the district court securities litigation did not automatically extend to the bankruptcy proceedings; because Lucas did not seek application of Rule 23 in bankruptcy court, he represented no one but himself; and since he opted out of the release in his individual capacity, Lucas lacks standing to appeal the order confirming the Plan. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "In re: Dynegy, Inc.," on Justia Law

This case arose out of the collapse of SIV, managed by Cheyne and structured by Morgan Stanley. PSERS and Commerzbank appealed from the final order of judgment denying class certification, dismissal of Commerzbank's claim for lack of standing; and dismissal of PSERS's claim because its presence as a party would destroy complete diversity, the sole basis of subject matter jurisdiction. The court affirmed the denial of class certification and dismissal of PSERS; held that it was not a permissible exercise of discretion for the district court to limit Commerzbank's ability to establish its standing; certified to the New York Court of Appeals the question of whether a reasonable trier of fact could find that Commerzbank had acquired from a third party that had purchased securities a fraud claim against Morgan Stanley; and certified the question whether, if Commerzbank has standing, a reasonable trier of fact could hold Morgan Stanley liable for fraud based on the present record. View "Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System v. Morgan Stanley" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs filed suit against the City of Hartford and Officers O'Hare and Pia for damages stemming from the officers' warrantless entry into plaintiffs' home where O'Hare shot and killed the family dog. Because the police officers lacked a warrant or probable cause plus exigent circumstances to invade plaintiffs' curtilage, and because defendants cannot offer any other basis on which the officers' intrusion would be lawful, the court concluded that defendants violated plaintiffs' Fourth Amendment rights; defendants are not entitled to qualified immunity for this violation because, under the undisputed facts, it would not have been objectively unreasonable for them to have believed that their conduct was lawful; and, therefore, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. View "Harris v. O’Hare, et al." on Justia Law

In these consolidated appeals, holders of unredeemed consumer gift cards issued by the former book retailer (Borders or Debtors) seek to vacate the district court's dismissal as equitably moot appellants' challenges to three Bankruptcy Court orders. The court held that the analysis outlined in Frito-Lay, Inc. v. LTV Steel Co., which governs the Circuit's equitable mootness analysis in Chapter 11 reorganizations - also governs the court's mootness analysis in Chapter 11 liquidations; appellants are subject to the presumption of mootness created by the liquidation Plan's substantial consummation, and have failed to satisfy the five Chateaugay factors, as would be necessary to rebut that presumption; and the district court acted within its discretion in dismissing the appeals as equitably moot. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "In re: BGI, Inc." on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, law firms that seek to collect debts, obtained a judgment from the district court declaring that New York City's Local Law 15, which regulates debt collection agencies, was void as applied to plaintiffs. Because this case raises unresolved and significant issues concerning the scope of New York State's regulatory authority over attorneys, the court certified the following two questions: (1) Does Local Law 15, insofar as it regulates attorney conduct, constitute an unlawful encroachment on the State’s authority to regulate attorneys, and is there a conflict between Local Law 15 and Sections 53 and 90 of the New York Judiciary Law? and (2) If Local Law 15’s regulation of attorney conduct is not preempted, does Local Law 15, as applied to attorneys, violate Section 2203(c) of the New York City Charter? View "Eric M. Berman, P.C., et al. v. City of New York, et al." on Justia Law

Defendant appealed his conviction following a guilty plea to unlawful possession of a firearm, contending that the district court's acceptance of his plea based on the possession of a different weapon from the one identified by the grand jury constructively amended his indictment. Defendant also contended that the district court's failure to inform him of his rights under the Grand Jury Clause prevented him from entering a knowing and voluntary guilty plea. The court concluded that defendant failed to establish that his conviction on the basis of a different weapon plainly constituted a constructive amendment of his indictment, and therefore, the court affirmed the judgment of the district court. View "United States v. Bastian" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs Golodner and STS filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983 against the City and two officials, alleging retaliation against Golodner for exercising his rights under the First Amendment when he filed an earlier suit against the City and others. The court affirmed the district court's denial of summary judgment where the complaint in the earlier suit constituted speech on a matter of public concern protected under the First Amendment and Golodner's right to engage in this form of speech was clearly established at the time of the alleged retaliation. Golodner's speech was an attempt to vindicate his constitutional rights under the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments in the face of alleged police misconduct directed against him as a private citizen. The court remanded for continued proceedings. View "Golodner v. Berliner, et al." on Justia Law

Plaintiffs, family members or trustees of the estates of victims of state-sponsored terrorism, seek to enforce their 2009 Florida state court judgment obtained against Cuba by attaching the blocked assets of that state under section 201 of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 (TRIA), 28 U.S.C. 1610 note. Plaintiffs seek to satisfy the underlying judgment from electronic fund transfers (EFTs) blocked under the Cuban Assets Control Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 515. The court concluded that the EFTs are not attachable under section 201 because no terrorist party or agency or instrumentality thereof has a property interest in the EFTs. In this case, it is undisputed that no Cuban entity transmitted any of the blocked EFTs directly to the blocking bank. Accordingly, the court reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment for plaintiffs and remanded for further proceedings. View "Hausler et al., v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., et al." on Justia Law