The court has consolidated these appeals on its own motion.(1) See Fed. R. App. P. 3(b)(2). In case No. 03-3065, David Novak (whom we shall call "Mr. Novak" to distinguish him from his father, Dr. Alfred Novak), acting as "authorized agent" for the Estate of Alfred Novak, appeals from the district court's order affirming a decision of the bankruptcy court granting the trustee's motion to sell a

The four cases consolidated in this appeal involve challenges to the national do-not-call registry, which allows individuals to register their phone numbers on a national "do-not-call list" and prohibits most commercial telemarketers from calling the numbers on that list. The primary issue in this case is whether the First Amendment prevents the government from establishing an opt-in telemarket

A creditor of an insolvent estate objected to its closure on the ground that the deceased had made fraudulent transfers. Without deciding whether this claim merited further inquiry, the court ordered the estate closed. Since property transferred in fraud of creditors is potentially estate property, we conclude that it was error to close the estate without addressing the validity of the clai

The Pittsburg County Rural Water District Number 7 (Pitt-7) is a rural county water association in Oklahoma. The City of McAlester (McAlester) is a municipality in Oklahoma. Both Pitt-7 and McAlester are subdivisions of the State of Oklahoma, and both are water providers. Pitt-7 sued McAlester and a number of other entities under: (1) 42 U.S.C. § 1983, based on the claim that the defendants vio

In August 1983, Mr. Shertzer filed an application for black lung benefits against McNally, claiming he suffered from a respiratory illness that prevented him from engaging in his regular employment. He made the claim pursuant to the Black Lung Benefits Act, 30 U.S.C. §§ 901 - 944 ("the Act"). The Director, Office of Workers' Compensation Programs ("the Director") denied his claim in November 19

Gary Tull, ("Appellant"), appeals from a judgment entered against him in which his daughter, Terri Straub ("Respondent"), was awarded damages arising from his acts of childhood sexual abuse against her. In the trial below, a jury awarded Respondent $25,000.00 in actual damages and $85,000.00 in punitive damages. We affirm.

In his sole point relied on, Appellant maintains the trial court erre

1 Plaintiff/Appellant B. Diane Gates (Plaintiff), individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Carol L. Spray (Decedent), seeks review of the trial court's order granting the motion to dismiss of Defendant/Appellees Integris Baptist Medical Center (Hospital) and Dick Heigle, M.D. (Doctor, or collectively with Hospital, Defendants) on Plaintiff's negligence claim. In this acceler

This appeal involves the settlement of a national consumer class action against Blockbuster, Inc. There have been two prior appeals in this cause - Peters v. Blockbuster, Inc., 65 S.W.3d 295 (Tex. App.--Beaumont 2001, no pet.) where we determined the trial court did not abuse its discretion in certifying a settlement class; and Johnson v. Scott, 113 S.W.3d 366 (Tex. App.--Beaumont 2003, pet. fi

This appeal involves the relationship between an action brought in the state courts of New Mexico by Deborah Berardinelli, whom we shall call the plaintiff, 1See In re General Am. Life Ins. Co. Sales Practices Litig., 302 F.3d 799 (8th Cir. 2002) against General American Life Insurance Company, and an earlier settlement of a class action against General American in the United States Distri

Linda Werner, an incapacitated adult, appeals the circuit court's judgment ordering that she remain subject to a guardianship. Because she did not meet her burden of proving that she has been restored to her capacity, we affirm the circuit court's judgment.

On September 3, 1999, the circuit court determined that Werner was totally incapacitated and totally disabled. The court appointed Platt

Appellant Teresa Johnson ("Johnson") appeals a judgment of the Circuit Court of Cole County upholding the decision of the Administrative Hearing Commission ("AHC") that Johnson's license to practice as a professional nursing home administrator in Missouri was subject to discipline by the Missouri Board of Nursing Home Administrators (" Board") and upholding the order of the Board revoking Johns

In Weinberg v. Sprint Corp., 173 N.J. 233 (2002), we concluded that the filed rate doctrine effectively barred plaintiffs from seeking monetary and injunctive relief against telecommunications carriers under the Consumer Fraud Act, N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 to 20, because the doctrine precluded plaintiffs from pleading a claim of ascertainable loss capable of surviving a motion for summary judgment. In thi

This appeal stems from complex commercial litigation involving an airplane that made an emergency landing near Kansas City's Downtown Airport. The parties to this appeal include the airplane's owner/operator; the company that insured the airplane; and the company that hauled the airplane after the landing. The plane's owner/operator sued the insurance company and the hauler to recover damages purp

Relator, Candice Merriweather Barnett ("mother"), sought our preliminary order in prohibition to prevent enforcement of respondent's order requiring her and her daughter ("child") to submit to genetic testing. The order was entered in a new case challenging paternity filed by father ten years after a default judgment had been entered declaring him to be child's father. We issued a preliminary orde

Appellants, five members of the Phillips County, Arkansas, Quorum Court ("QC") appeal the district court's grant of summary judgment for defendants, various Arkansas state and county officials. Appellants' federal civil rights and constitutional claims arose from their four-day incarceration for refusing to vote in favor of an ordinance that would have referred a tax initiative to Phillips

At issue in this case are the duties of disinterest and disclosure of an examiner appointed to facilitate a reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The issues arise from the appointment of J. Baxter Schilling to serve as the examiner in the reorganization of Big Rivers Electric Corporation, which was unable to meet obligations on $1.2 billion in debt and whose September 1996 bankru

Plaintiff appeals the district court's order granting summary judgment to Defendants. Plaintiff DeGidio argues that the district court erred when it determined that his mark, LAWOFFICES, was descriptive and that it had not acquired secondary meaning. We affirm.

BACKGROUND

This case represents an attempt by Plaintiff, Anthony DeGidio, to obtain trademark protection for the mark LAW

In 1998, the United States and several of the States filed a civil action against Microsoft Corporation in the District of Columbia for violations of the Sherman Act. The district court in that action found that Microsoft (1) illegally maintained a monopoly in the market of "licensing of all Intel-compatible PC operating systems worldwide," (2) attempted to monopolize a "putative browser m

In these appeals, we consider for a second time challenges to the settlement of a defendant class action arising out of the 1992 bankruptcy of Integra Realty Resources, Inc. ("Integra"). See Weinman v. Fid. Capital Appreciation Fund (In re Integra Realty Res., Inc.), 262 F.3d 1089 (10th Cir. 2001) ("Integra I"). The appellants contend that the district court erred in approving the class settleme

Houston contracted with Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc. to purchase a billboard for a reconstruction project. Months later, Houston contacted Clear Channel and informed it that because the billboard was impermissible, Houston was not obligated to compensate the owner for any illegal improvement. After Houston refused to pay, Clear Channel sued Houston for breach of contract. Houston then filed a

Appellant, Carousel's Creamery, L.L.C. (Carousel) appeals a judgment in favor of Appellee, Marble Slab Creamery, Inc. (Marble Slab). We affirm in part and reverse and remand in part.Background

In the mid-nineties, intending to increase the size of its franchise system, Marble Slab distributed to potential franchisees a Uniform Franchise Operating Circular (UFOC), which contained

This case involves an environmental law challenge to United States Air Force ("U.S. Air Force") plans to permit the German Air Force to station, for training purposes, thirty fighter aircraft at Holloman Air Force Base ("Holloman"), in addition to the twelve already there. The suit was brought by ranchers and livestock raising associations (referred to collectively as "Appellants") located near Ho

The Cooper County Commission deemed unreasonable the salary of the deputy juvenile officer, 18thJudicial Circuit. The Judicial Finance Commission agreed. The Circuit petitioned this Court for review. Mo. Const. art. V, sec. 4; section 477.600.7 RSMo.(FN1) Reversed and remanded.

For several years, the officer's salary was funded by the Division of Youth Services, Department of Social Service

William Gomez received a jury award of $3.76 million in a negligence action against Construction Design, Inc. ("CDI"). The trial court remitted that award to $2.76 million and conditionally granted CDI a new trial if Gomez declined to accept the remitted award. Gomez accepted the reduced amount, and CDI appeals. Gomez cross-appeals, claiming that the remittitur was improper. The judgment is affirm

This is an appeal from a judgment entered by the Henry Circuit Court following the court's entry of summary judgment as to the civil liability claims against appellant which held him liable for the assault and battery of appellee, M.M., and which resulted in a jury award of $200,606.70 in damages. Appellant claims that the judgment should be reversed and remanded for the reasons that (1) sum