This case presents the question of how a district court should apply the abuse of discretion standard when reviewing a decision by the administrator of an employee benefits plan governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 88 Stat. 829, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001-1461, when that administrator has a conflict of interest. We conclude that a reviewing court must take

Comic-strip writer Bob Thaves famously quipped, “A fool and his money are soon parted. It takes creative tax laws for the rest.” In this case it took the Internal Revenue Service’s (“IRS” or “the Service”) aggressive interpretation of the tax code to part millions of Americans with billions of dollars in excise tax collections. Even this remarkable feat did not end the IRS’s creati

Respondent Cingular Wireless, LLC (Cingular) advertised a cellular phone for sale at half the retail price if the purchaser also enrolled in a calling plan package. The California Code of Regulations requires that sales tax be computed on the non-sale price of the product. The regulation permits, but does not require, that the charge be passed on to the customer. Cingular did so without informing

Sprint Spectrum, L.P. (“Sprint”), sued Platte County, Missouri, alleging that the County’s Planning and Zoning Commission (“Commission”) violated the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (“TCA”) by denying Sprint’s application for a special use permit to construct a telecommunications tower. Sprint argued that the Commission’s decision was neither “in writing” nor “supported by s

This case addresses unsolicited commercial e-mail, more commonly referred to as “spam.”1 While ignored by most and reviled by some, spam is largely considered a nuisance and a source of frustration to e-mail users who, at times, must wade through inboxes clogged with messages peddling assorted, and often unwanted, products and services. The rising tide of spam poses an even greater problem to

Appellants Joe M. Garza, Pay Phone Owners Legal Fund, and Ernest R. Bustos appeal a venue transfer order and the trial court’s grant of summary judgment on all of their claims against appellees Jack P. Reed and Houston Surplus Lines, Inc. We affirm. Appellants are apparently victims of a Ponzi scheme involving the purchase of pay phones. They purchased pay phones from American Telecommunications

Real party in interest David Williams is a qualified medical marijuana patient who uses marijuana upon the recommendation of his physician. Williams belonged to a seven-member collective of medical marijuana patients who agreed to contribute comparable amounts of money, property, and labor to the collective cultivation of marijuana; each then would receive an approximately equal share of the marij

The goal of a mortgage flipping scam is to deceive a potential lender about the value of the collateral. Go-between G finds a building for sale and arranges its sale to Buyer B for more than its market value. B borrows the money for the purchase, assisted by Appraiser A, who certifies to the lender that the property is worth more than the actual purchase price. Someone else (if not G himself) cert

The town of Falmouth (Town), in which the mainland port of Woods Hole is located, serves as the departure point for the ferry to Martha's Vineyard operated by the Woods Hole, Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket Steamship Authority (Authority). The Town is host to a number of open-air parking lots owned by the Authority which provide parking for the ferry's passengers. In 2004, the Town adopted what it

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 (“Act” or “1996 Act”), Pub. L. 104-104, 110 Stat. 56 (codified in part at 47 U.S.C. §§ 251-261, 271), created a complex federal scheme to encourage competition in local telephone service markets previously dominated by state-sanctioned local exchange carrier monopolies. AT&T Corp. v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 525 U.S. 366, 371-72, 377-80 (1999). Sections 251 and

Plaintiff, John Crane Inc. (Crane), appeals from the grant of a preliminary injunction enjoining it from engaging in any other litigation in any forum related to insurance coverage for asbestos claims against John Crane. Certain defendants also appeal the trial court’s denial of their motion to extend the injunction through all appeals in this proceeding. For the following reasons, we affirm the

¶1 The above styled and numbered causes are consolidated for disposition by a single opinion.1 We granted certiorari to consider an issue of first impression: whether Oklahoma courts have jurisdiction over a private party's suit alleging violation of the Telecommunications Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. §227 (2005).2

¶2 We join the almost unanimous pronouncements of extant fed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) appeals the April 1, 2008 decision of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia granting summary judgment that four recently promulgated rules exceed the scope of the USPTO’s rulemaking authority. Because we conclude that the four rules are procedural, but that Rule 78 is inconsistent with 35 U.S.C. § 120, w

Respondent Javaid Iqbal is a citizen of Pakistan and aMuslim. In the wake of the September 11, 2001, terroristattacks he was arrested in the United States on criminal charges and detained by federal officials. Respondentclaims he was deprived of various constitutional protections while in federal custody. To redress the allegeddeprivations, respondent filed a complaint against numerous federal off

The members of the Nebraska Public Service Commission,1 and the Director of the Telecommunications Infrastructure and Public Safety Department2 (collectively NPSC),3 appeal the district court's4 order enjoining the NPSC's enforcement of the Nebraska Telecommunication Universal Service Fund Act (NUSF), Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 86-316 to 86-329, requiring nomadic interconnected voice over internet proto

This class action appeal arises from a finding of no liability under the Illinois Minimum Wage Law (820 ILCS 105/1 et seq. (West 2000)) for the defendant, Tellabs, Inc., after a bifurcated trial. Judge Billik ruled that Tellabs's policy of imposing unpaid days off following or preceding paid holidays to cope with difficult economic conditions satisfied the "salary basis test" because the days off

Axxis Network & Telecommunications, Inc. (Axxis) appeals from the court’s order denying its petition to compel arbitration of former employees’ claims that they had not been paid the prevailing wage rate for work performed on projects for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) as required by Labor Code section 1770 et seq. governing public works projects. We agree with the trial court

Plaintiff, Adrienne Curcio, appeals the trial court’s order granting the defendant’s motion to compel arbitration a n d dismiss her lawsuit. Because the trial court failed to conduct an evidentiary hearing pursuant to section 682.03(1), Florida Statutes (2005), on plaintiff’s unconscionability challenge to the enforceability of the arbitration provision, we reverse and remand for such a hear

Plaintiffs-appellants John Miller, Jr., the Canton Police Patrolman’s Association (“Union”), and Steven Fowler appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendants-appellees the City of Canton (the “City”), Safety Director Bernard Hunt, Chief of Police Dean McKimm, Ronald Shank, and Gregory Boudreaux. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants retaliated against

This appeal presents a dispute between a construction company and two insurers. Plaintiff-Appellee Danrik Construction, Inc. (“Danrik”) asserts that Defendants-Appellants American Casualty Company of Reading, Pennsylvania (“ACC”) and Transcontinental Insurance Company (“TIC”) (collectively, “Insurers”) breached their fiduciary duty to Danrik by failing to pay several claims under D

Plaintiff-Appellant Kam-Ko Bio-Pharm Trading Co., Ltd- Australasia (Kam-Ko) successfully sued Defendants- KAM-KO BIO-PHARM v. MAYNE PHARMA 3193 Appellees Mayne Pharma (USA) Inc. (Mayne) in district court to compel arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). A short time later, however, Kam-Ko filed a new lawsuit in district court seeking a declaration that the ICC’s $220,000

The Sierra Club, along with two other conservation groups (for simplicity we refer only to the Sierra Club), challenges the Forest Service's approval of two forest resource management projects in the White Mountain National Forest ("Forest" or "WMNF"): the Than Forest Resource Management Project ("Than Project") and the Batchelder Brook Vegetation Management Project ("Batchelder Project"). The di

On July 24, 2000, The Williams Companies, Inc. (“WMB”) announced that it would be spinning off its telecommunications subsidiary, Williams Communications Group (“WCG”), in a move that it called “the best way to ensure that both our energy and communications businesses have the efficient and effective access to the capital necessary to pursue the substantial growth that each enjoys.” No

Firstcom, Inc. (“Firstcom”) appeals the district court’s1 order dismissing all of its claims against Qwest Corporation (“Qwest”). We affirm. 2ILECs are “existing telephone companies, which previously held monopolies,” Sw. Bell Tel., L.P. v. Mo. Pub. Serv. Comm’n, 530 F.3d 676, 680 (8th Cir. 2008); see 47 U.S.C. § 251(h), whereas CLECs are “newcomers,” Sw. Bell Tel., L.P., 530

The issue in this case of peer-on-peer sexual harassment is whether Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, 86 Stat. 373, 20 U. S. C. §1681(a), precludes an action under Rev. Stat. §1979, 42 U. S. C. §1983, alleging unconstitutional gender discrimination in schools. The Court of Appeals for the First Circuit held that it does. 504 F. 3d 165 (2007). We reverse. I

Because this case