Category Archives: Business Law

Information about legal issues affecting small businesses, including big business. The latest news, videos, and discussion topics on Legal Issues involving business and money.

Blog, Business Law, Criminal, Drug Companies, Legal News, Supreme Court

Legal medical marijuana passes Iowa Senate on 45-5 vote


A wide-ranging bill authorizing the use of medical marijuana for ailments from cancer to post-traumatic stress disorder was passed Monday night by the Iowa Senate, although it’s unlikely to win approval in the Iowa House.…

DES MOINES — The Senate voted 45-5 Monday to approve an expanded medical marijuana law that would allow making and dispensing cannabis products in Iowa for adults to legally possess and use under a doctor’s care to treat an array of medical conditions, but under tight regulation.

“I think this is the right thing to do,” said Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, who said many of the ill people who advocated for Senate File 506 have died waiting for the Legislature to act.

Senators passed “The Compassionate Use of Cannabis Act,” a new law that would replace Iowa’s existing but limited cannabis oil statute.

It lays out an expanded approach to reclassify marijuana and open it as a limited medical alternative under tight regulation and supervision. The bill now goes to the House, where its prospects are uncertain.

“Let’s do the right thing for the people out there who are suffering,” said Sen. Brad Zaun, R-Urbandale. The bill was supported by 25 Republicans 19 Democrats and one independent, while four Republicans and one Democrat opposed it.

Under provisions of SF 506, Iowa would license up to four manufacturers to “possess, cultivate, transport or supply medical cannabis” by July 2, 2018, so up to 12 licensed dispensaries could begin distribution to qualified adult Iowans by July 16, 2018. Interested makers and dispensers would pay a non-refundable $15,000 state fee.

 

Full Read – http://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/iowa-senate-advances-medical-cannabis-expansion-20170417

Blog, Business Law, Legal News, Personal Injury, Supreme Court

Supreme Court Sides with Goodyear Over Personal Injury Dispute


The Supreme Court handed down a unanimous decision today siding with Goodyear Tire & Rubber (GT) in a dispute regarding a $2.7 million payment the company and its lawyers were ordered to pay in a personal injury case, the AP reports.

An Arizona family injured in a 2003 motor home incident sued Goodyear after a tire failed on their motor home, causing it to flip off the road.

After settling the case in 2010, the family discovered the Goodyear hadn’t turned over key testing data.

The justices today sent the case back to a lower court to determine if  the family is entitled to the entire $2.7 million.

A federal judge said nearly all of the family’s attorney fees could be blamed on the misconduct. A federal appeals court agreed.

Read Full – https://www.thestreet.com/story/14090682/1/supreme-court-sides-with-goodyear-over-personal-injury-dispute.html

Blog, Business Law, Legal News, Supreme Court

Court Ruling on Celebrity Photos Raises New Copyright Risk for Websites

Jeff John Roberts
Apr 10, 2017

When a gossip site posted a photo of a pregnant-looking Beyoncé, it probably didn’t anticipate the fallout: A major copyright decision that could imperil the site’s business model and undermine a legal defense used by other websites that depend on user content.

The decision, handed down Friday by a federal appeals court in California, came as a defeat for LiveJournal, which hosts the popular blog called “Oh No They Didn’t,” a forum for users to upload news about celebrities and chat about them.

The ruling came after a paparazzi operation called Mavrix, which the court describes as “specializing in candid photographs of celebrities in tropical locations,” sued Live Journal for copyright infringement over the Beyoncé photo and 19 other photos.

Full Read – http://fortune.com/2017/04/10/dmca-ruling-livejournal/

Blog, Business Law, Legal News, Personal Injury

Judge tosses $1 billion taxi lawsuit over Uber law

BY DOUGLAS HANKS

dhanks@miamiherald.com

The taxi industry’s legal challenge over Miami-Dade’s Uber law hit a roadblock this week after a judge declared the year-old county law a reasonable attempt to regulate the taxicabs’ new competitors.

“Taxicabs have not, for now, become obsolete,” U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles wrote in an opinion released Monday. “As with all services and industries, markets ebb and flow, and change requires adaptation and innovation.”

The decision granting Miami-Dade’s request for dismissal of the lawsuit billed as seeking $1 billion in damages comes nearly a year after taxi companies filed the long-shot court challenge a day after the County Commission passed an ordinance legalizing Uber, Lyft and other ride-hailing services.

The phone-based ride companies have devastated taxi industries around the country by tapping modern technology and a fleet of freelance drivers that usually charge less than taxis, and by offering an easier booking process. Taxi leaders warn Miami-Dade’s decision threatens the very existence of the tourism economy’s taxi industry, a service still sought after by some visitors and many low-income residents without the credit card or cellphone needed to “call an Uber.”

In suing Miami-Dade, taxi companies Miadeco, Checker and B&S Taxi touched on many of the same points made in their arguments to commissioners before the law passed.

One was unfair treatment: Ride-hailing companies, for example, can raise prices as high as they want while taxi fares are capped by county rules. Another argument centered on the economics of taxi ownership: The county-issued licenses (known as “medallions”) that allow a cab to operate plummeted in value on the resale market once Uber came to Miami-Dade in 2014. Taxi owners say they deserve compensation.

Courts have dealt with similar arguments around the country, and Uber and its allies almost always emerge the victor. Gayles cited similar cases in tossing Miadeco vs. Miami-Dade, saying the law allows competition to disrupt well-established industries.

“Plaintiffs’ property rights derived from their medallions do not confer on them a fully restricted market or a monopoly of all for-hire transportation,” Gayles wrote.

Ralph Patino, the Coral Gables lawyer who filed the suit and sought to represent about 2,000 Miami-Dade holders of taxi licenses, was not immediately available for comment. At a press conference announcing the suit on May 4, Patino said he planned to ask for $1 billion in damages tied to lost business and diminished value on behalf of the county’s taxi industry.

Michael Hernández, communications director for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez, hailed the decision as a win for consumers.

“Mayor Gimenez and a majority of county commissioners supported providing our residents and visitors with mobility options,” he wrote. “We are happy the court agreed with our arguments.”
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/broward/article144223529.html#storylink=cpy

 

Blog, Business Law, Civil Rights, Criminal, Family, International, Legal News

Gordon Ramsay’s father-in-law pleads guilty to hacking celebrity chef’s computer

BY EMILY PENNINK 
  • 09:42, 11 APR 2017

Gordon Ramsay‘s father-in-law today pleaded guilty to hacking the celebrity chef’s computer.

Christopher Hutcheson, 68, admitted the offence at the Old Bailey.

Hutcheson Snr, who is now estranged from the foul-mouthed TV favourite, and his son and daughter, ran Ramsay’s business empire for 12 years alongside the firebrand chef as a “committee of two” until October 2010.

A legal settlement two years later cost Ramsay £2million to cut all professional ties with his father-in-law.

Hutcheson Snr was charged under Operation Tuletta with conspiring to cause a computer to access programs and data without authority.

Three of his children – Adam Hutcheson, 46, Orlanda Butland, 45, and Chris Hutcheson Jnr, 37 – also faced the same charge.

They appeared at the Old Bailey before Judge Gerald Gordon and spoke to confirm their identities.

The defendants pleaded guilty apart from Ms Butland, who denied the charge.

The prosecution accepted the pleas and offered no evidence in relation to Ms Butland.

Hutcheson Snr is the father of Ramsay’s wife, Tana.

The charges relate to an alleged plot to hack the computer system at Gordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd between October 23, 2010 and March 31, 2011.

The defendants, Butland, of Wycombe Place, Earlsfield, south-west London, Hutcheson Snr, who has a home in Druillat, France, but gave the same address as his daughter, Hutcheson Jnr, of Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, and Adam Hutcheson, of Sevenoaks, Kent, were on bail.

The judge agreed to the preparation of pre-sentence reports and said all sentencing options were open. He adjourned sentencing to June 2.

Full Read – http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/gordon-ramsays-father-law-arrives-10200050