Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA

Merits Briefs Brief for Petitioner Karen L. Jerman Brief for Respondents Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA Reply Brief for Petitioner Karen L. Jerman Amicus Briefs Brief for the United States of America in Support of Petitioner Brief for Public Citizen, et al. in Support of Petitioner Brief for New York, et al. in [...]

Everything you read about the Supreme Court is wrong (Updated)

Ideologues on both the left and right, as well as the public generally, frequently repeat their own received wisdoms that the Supreme Court is an easily categorized institution and that the Justices are committedly “liberal” or “conservative,” with Justice Kennedy as the lone swing vote.  Liberals and conservatives also consistently accuse their opposites of being [...]

Shakespeare in bankruptcy

Below, Stanford Law School’s Sina Kian recaps Monday’s opinion in Hamilton v. Lanning, No. 08-998. [DISCLOSURE: Howe & Russell and Akin Gump represented the respondent in the case, but Sina was not involved in the proceedings.] In March, Professor M. Jonathan Hayes, who writes the BankruptcyProf Blog, previewed and recapped the oral argument for SCOTUSblog. [...]

This week on the Wiki

Following this week’s oral arguments – the last scheduled for this Term (and the last for Justice Stevens) – we have updated our sister site, SCOTUSwiki, to include new recaps and commentary.  To the case page for Rent-A-Center v. Jackson, which was argued on Monday, we have added a preview by Stanford Law School’s Aaron [...]

Debt collectors and “ignorance of the law”

Below, Jonathan Eisenman of Akin Gump recaps last week’s opinion in 08-1200, Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich LPA.  Check the Jerman page on SCOTUSwiki for further information.  [DISCLOSURE: Howe & Russell represented the petitioner in the case.] People who unwittingly violate criminal laws frequently run aground on the aphorism that “ignorance of [...]

This week on the Wiki

The Court handed down four new opinions earlier this week, and we’ve updated our sister site, SCOTUSwiki, to include new materials on the cases that were decided.  The case page for United States v. Stevens, in which the Court handed down its opinion on Tuesday, now includes a link to the ruling, as well as [...]

This week at the Supreme Court: In Plain English

What a week it has been at the Supreme Court!  There has been intense speculation over who will replace Justice Stevens, as well as the ninetieth birthday of this young-at-heart Justice.  On the legal landscape, it’s been a notable week for the First Amendment.  We finally had a decision in what most consider to be [...]

Thursday round-up

Even with three decisions and an oral argument yesterday, Supreme Court chatter was still dominated by the President’s moves in selecting a successor to Justice Stevens. Here’s the latest: President Obama met with Senate leaders from both parties and called nine Judiciary Committee members yesterday to discuss the choice. (Politico, Christian Science Monitor) Although the [...]

Today’s opinions

Our apologies that the “live” blog did not appear this morning, due to problems with our server.  The Court issued three opinions: In No. 08-1200, Jerman v. Carlisle, the Court  reverses and remands the lower court decision, with Justice Sotomayor writing for the majority.   On a 7-2 vote, the Court holds that in defending against [...]

The past week on the Wiki

Tracking the recent fast pace of the Court, SCOTUSwiki, our companion site, was substantially updated over the past week. To begin, we added a new feature on the Wiki to keep it closely connected with the blog: whenever we update a case page with writing originally published on the blog, we are including with it [...]

The FDCPA and legal errors

The following is a recap of Jerman v. Carlisle (08-1200), which was argued Wednesday morning.  Check the Jerman SCOTUSwiki page for more information. [Note: Howe & Russell represent the petitioner in this case, though the author of this post is not affiliated with the law firm.] Oral argument last Wednesday in No. 08-1200, Jerman v. [...]

Thursday round-up

One decision, two arguments, and a stay kept Supreme Court journalists and bloggers busy yesterday. Drawing the most attention was the Court’s five-to-four decision to continue its temporary stay of a plan to broadcast the Proposition 8 trial to five federal courthouses across the country.  The New York Times and this blog noted that the [...]

Today’s transcripts

Links to transcripts of today’s arguments are now here for American Needle v. NFL and here for Jerman v. Carlisle.

Jerman v. Carlisle: Argument Preview

The following is a preview of Jerman v. Carlisle (08-1200), which will be argued this morning.  Check the Jerman SCOTUSwiki page for more updates. [Note: Howe & Russell represent the petitioner in this case, though the author of this post is not affiliated with the law firm.] Background In 2006, respondent Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer, [...]

Today at the Court

Like yesterday, the Court will issue one or more opinions at 10 a.m. this morning, and SCOTUSblog will be live-blogging again.  Then the Court will hear oral arguments in the following two cases: 10 a.m. – At issue in American Needle Inc. v. NFL (08-661) is whether the National Football League and its independently owned teams [...]

The week ahead

Welcome back from the holiday recess!  This week the Court will release opinions on both Tuesday and Wednesday. The Court will also hear oral arguments in the following cases: Monday, Jan. 11: Alabama v. North Carolina (132 Original) — enforcement of a regional pact on disposal of radioactive wastes Briscoe v. Virginia (07-11191) — Confrontation [...]

The Rest of the Civil Docket in Plain English

This is a catch-all group of civil cases the Court is hearing this Term.  There are important cases to the business community, such as the Bilski patent case.  The Court also has an unusually high number of cases regarding the processes by which the federal courts operate.

Last week on the Wiki

As Erin wrote last Thursday on the blog, we’ve just opened up five of our SCOTUSwiki case pages for editing.  For the first time, three cases – Health Care Service Corp. v. Pollitt, Astrue v. Ratliff, and Jerman v. Carlisle – will be open for content-editing by our readers, while two others – Kawasaki Kisen [...]

SCOTUSwiki goes (a little more) public

Starting this evening, we’re introducing a new feature on SCOTUSwiki.  For the first time, the “pages” for five cases are now open to various degrees for editing.  For each case before the Court,  SCOTUSwiki hosts a wiki page with links to its briefs, analysis by SCOTUSblog, and media coverage.  Until now, editing of these pages [...]

The week ahead

No oral arguments are scheduled this week.  Orders — but no opinions — are coming this morning. As for merits briefs, the petitioner’s replies are due in American Needle v. NFL (08-661), Abbott v. Abbott (08-645), and Jerman v. Carlisle (08-1200) on Thursday, Dec. 17.

New feature: “This week on the Wiki”

Starting today, we will be instituting a new weekly post called “This Week on the Wiki,” where we will recap all substantive updates made over the past seven days to the case pages on SCOTUSwiki, our companion site.  Email us at SCOTUSblog.feedback@gmail.com to let us know your thoughts on this new feature! Earlier this week, [...]

This Week at the Court

For the second week in a row, no oral arguments are scheduled.  The Justices will hold their private conference on Tuesday, grants from which will likely be announced on Monday, November 30.  If any orders are released on Wednesday, we will cover them promptly. The schedule of merits briefs due this week appears below the [...]

January argument calendar

The Supreme Court on Monday released the list of cases to be argued in the sitting beginning Mon., Jan. 11.  It can be found here.  There will be no afternoon arguments.  The first case of each day begins at 10 a.m.  The day-to-day list of cases on the calendar, with a summary of the issues involved, [...]

Solicitor General briefs in cert. and merits stage cases

The Solicitor General has recently filed the following briefs: Petition Stage Invitation : No. 08-998: Hamilton v. Lanning (supporting certiorari; other cert. filings here) Merits Stage Amicus : No. 08-661: American Needle v. National Football League et al. (supporting petitioner; all case filings here) No. 08-1200: Jerman v. Carlisle (supporting petitioner; all case filings here)  [...]

Merits Brief in Jerman v. Carlisle

Today Howe & Russell filed the petitioner’s brief in Jerman v. Carlisle, No. 08-1200.  The petitioner’s brief is here.  The question in the case is whether the so-called “bona fide error” defense of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies to mistakes of law.  Howe & Russell represents the petitioner, along with the Stanford Supreme [...]

Yesterday’s Grants in No. 08-645, Abbott v. Abbott, and No. 08-1200, Jerman v. Carlisle

We represent the petitioners in two cases that were granted yesterday, No. 08-645, Abbott v. Abbott, and No. 08-1200, Jerman v. Carlisle.  In Abbott, the Court will construe the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, to which the United States is a party.  Under the Convention, a parent whose child has [...]

Filings in today’s grants

Below the jump are petition filings in the seven cases granted certiorari today for OT09. Here is this morning’s order list and here is this afternoon’s order list.

Petitions to Watch | Conference of 6.25.09

This edition of “Petitions to Watch” features cases up for consideration at the Justices’ private conference on June 25, the final conference of this Term. As always, the list contains the petitions on the Court’s paid docket that Tom has deemed to have a reasonable chance of being granted. We’ve also listed the cases considered [...]

New Filing: Cert. Reply Brief in Jerman v. Carlisle, et al.

Today Howe & Russell is filing this cert. reply brief in No. 08-1200, Jerman v. Carlisle, McNellie, Rini, Kramer & Ulrich.  The case, which is slated to be considered by the Justices at their June 25 conference, deals with the scope of the bona fide error provision of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Ed [...]