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CASE BRIEFS & ANALYSIS

Scroll through this collection of prominent cases, then choose to purchase and download case briefs, analytical material, or both, for each case.

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Aguilar v. Atlantic Richfield Co.
This is an antitrust action arising from a complaint filed by Theresa Aguilar on behalf of herself and all of the other, by her estimate, 24 million retail consumers of California Air Resources Board, or CARB, gasoline - collectively, Aguilar - against Atlantic Richfield Company, Chevron Corporation, Exxon Corporation, Mobil Oil Corporation, Union Oil Company of California (later succeeded by 76 Products Company), Shell Oil Company, Texaco Refining and Marketing, Inc., Tosco Corporation, and Ultramar Inc. - collectively, the petroleum companies . . .

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Alfaro v. Community Housing Imp. System & Planning Ass'n, Inc.
Plaintiffs are owners of 22 single-family residences in the Moro Cojo inclusionary housing development projects (sometimes "the Projects") outside of Castroville in the County of Monterey. With two exceptions, they obtained their grant deeds directly from either defendant Community Housing and Improvement System & Planning Association, Inc. (CHISPA) or defendant South County Housing, Inc. (South County), both nonprofit corporations (sometimes collectively "defendants") . . .

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Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc.
In New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, it was held that, in a libel suit brought by a public official (extended by later cases to public figures), the First Amendment requires the plaintiff to show that in publishing the alleged defamatory statement, the defendant acted with actual malice . . .

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Armendariz v. Foundation Health Psychcare Services, Inc.
Marybeth Armendariz and Dolores Olague-Rodgers (hereafter the employees) filed a complaint for wrongful termination against their former employer, Foundation Health Psychcare Services, Inc. (hereafter the employer). The complaint and certain documents filed in support of the employer's petition to compel arbitration provide us with the basic factual background of this case . . .

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Bank of the West v. Superior Court
Plaintiffs Industrial Indemnity Company and Industrial Insurance Company of Hawaii, Ltd. (collectively Industrial) have sued for a declaratory judgment determining their obligations under a CGL policy issued to Central Bank. Defendant Bank of the West is Central Bank's successor in interest . . .

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Bell Atlantic Corp. v. Twombly
The 1984 divestiture of the American Telephone & Telegraph Company's (AT&T) local telephone business left a system of regional service monopolies, sometimes called Incumbent Local Exchange Carriers (ILECs), and a separate long-distance market from which the ILECs were excluded . . .

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Brady v. Maryland
In separate trials in a Maryland Court, where the jury is the judge of both the law and the facts but the court passes on the admissibility of the evidence, petitioner and a companion were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. At his trial, petitioner admitted participating in the crime but claimed that his companion did the actual killing . . .

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Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Ry. Co. v. White
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbids employment discrimination based on "race, color, religion, sex, or national origin," 42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2(a), and its anti-retaliation provision forbids "discriminat[ion] against" an employee or job applicant who, inter alia, has "made a charge, testified, assisted, or participated in" a Title VII proceeding or investigation, § 2000e-3(a) . . .

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Cel-Tech Communications, Inc. v. Los Angeles Cellular Telephone Co.
Defendant Los Angeles Cellular Telephone Company (L.A. Cellular) sells cellular telephones and services. Cellular telephones are sold on the open market. As to wholesale sales of cellular services, however, L.A. Cellular has a government-protected "duopoly" status with one other company. In an effort to gain new subscribers for its services and increase overall profits, L.A. Cellular sold telephones below cost . . .

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Celotex Corp. v. Catrett
In September 1980, respondent administratrix filed this wrongful-death action in Federal District Court, alleging that her husband's death in 1979 resulted from his exposure to asbestos products manufactured or distributed by the defendants, who included petitioner corporation . . .

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Crawford v. Washington
Petitioner was tried for assault and attempted murder. The State sought to introduce a recorded statement that petitioner's wife Sylvia had made during police interrogation, as evidence that the stabbing was not in self-defense . . .

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Crawford v. Weather Shield Mfg. Inc.
The basic facts are not in dispute. J.M. Peters Co. (JMP) was the developer, builder, and general contractor of a large Huntington Beach residential project. Weather Shield Manufacturing Co., Inc. (Weather Shield), contracted with JMP to manufacture and supply wood-framed windows for the project. In the contract, Weather Shield promised (1) "to indemnify and save [JMP] harmless against all claims for damages . . .

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Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Petitioners, two minor children and their parents, alleged in their suit against respondent that the children's serious birth defects had been caused by the mothers' prenatal ingestion of Bendectin, a prescription drug marketed by respondent . . .

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District of Columbia v. Heller
District of Columbia law bans handgun possession by making it a crime to carry an unregistered firearm and prohibiting the registration of handguns; provides separately that no person may carry an unlicensed handgun, but authorizes the police chief to issue 1-year licenses; and requires residents to keep lawfully owned firearms unloaded and dissembled or bound by a trigger lock or similar device . . .

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Edwards v. Arthur Andersen LLP
Plaintiff and appellant Raymond Edwards II (Edwards) was hired by Arthur Andersen LLP (Andersen) in 1997. At the time he was hired, Edwards was required by Andersen to execute a noncompetition agreement, which prohibited him from working for or soliciting certain categories of Andersen clients for limited periods after his termination. Andersen eventually went out of business and sold its practice to various entities . . .

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Gall v. U.S.
Petitioner Gall joined an ongoing enterprise distributing the controlled substance "ecstasy" while in college, but withdrew from the conspiracy after seven months, has sold no illegal drugs since, and has used no illegal drugs and worked steadily since graduation. Three and a half years after withdrawing from the conspiracy, Gall pleaded guilty to his participation . . .

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Guz v. Bechtel National. Inc.
This case presents questions about the law governing claims of wrongful discharge from employment as it applies to an employer's motion for summary judgment. Plaintiff John Guz, a longtime employee of Bechtel National, Inc. (BNI), was released at age 49 when his work unit was eliminated and its tasks were transferred to another Bechtel office. Guz sued BNI and its parent, Bechtel Corporation (hereinafter collectively Bechtel), alleging age discrimination, breach of an implied contract to be terminated only for good cause, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing . . .

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Kimbrough v. U.S.
Under the statute criminalizing the manufacture and distribution of cocaine, 21 U. S. C. §841, and the relevant Federal Sentencing Guidelines, a drug trafficker dealing in crack cocaine is subject to the same sentence as one dealing in 100 times more powder cocaine . . .

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Korea Supply Co. v. Lockheed Martin Corp.
This case addresses what claims and remedies may be pursued by a plaintiff who alleges a lost business opportunity due to the unfair practices of a competitor. The Republic of Korea wished to purchase military equipment known as synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems and solicited competing bids . . .

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KSR Intern. Co. v. Teleflex Inc.
To control a conventional automobile's speed, the driver depresses or releases the gas pedal, which interacts with the throttle via a cable or other mechanical link. Because the pedal's position in the footwell normally cannot be adjusted, a driver wishing to be closer or farther from it must either reposition himself in the seat or move the seat . . .

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Lazar v. Superior Court
Lazar was born in New York in 1950. He lived and worked in Long Island, New York until 1990. From 1972 to 1990, he was employed with a family-owned restaurant equipment company. As of 1990, he was president of the company, earning $120,000 annually and living in New York with his wife of 21 years and his two children, ages 17 and 15 . . .

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Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife
Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act of 1973 divides responsibilities regarding the protection of endangered species between petitioner Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Commerce, and requires each federal agency to consult with the relevant Secretary to ensure that any action funded by the agency is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence or habitat of any endangered or threatened species . . .

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McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green
Respondent, a black civil rights activist, engaged in disruptive and illegal activity against petitioner as part of his protest that his discharge as an employee of petitioner's and the firm's general hiring practices were racially motivated . . .

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Miranda v. Arizona
Together with No. 760, Vignera v. New York, on certiorari to the Court of Appeals of New York and No. 761, Westover v. United States, on certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, both argued February 28 - March 1, 1966; and No. 584, California v. Stewart, on certiorari to the Supreme Court of California, argued February 28 - March 2, 1966 . . .

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People v. Doolin
Between November 2, 1994, and September 19, 1995, defendant murdered two Fresno prostitutes and attempted to murder four others. At trial, each surviving victim identified defendant as her assailant. One decedent's boyfriend saw her enter a car defendant was driving on the night she was murdered . . .

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Pearson v. Callahan
After the Utah Court of Appeals vacated respondent's conviction for possession and distribution of drugs, which he sold to an undercover informant he had voluntarily admitted into his house, he brought this 42 U.S.C. § 1983 damages action in federal court, alleging that petitioners, the officers who supervised and conducted the warrantless search of the premises that led to his arrest after the sale, had violated the Fourth Amendment . . .

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Sinaiko Healthcare Consulting, Inc. v. Pacific Healthcare Consultants
In December 2004, plaintiff and respondent Sinaiko Healthcare Consulting, Inc. (Sinaiko) sued defendants for breach of contract, unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, interference with prospective economic advantage and interference with contractual relations . . .

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Spinks v. Equity Residential Briarwood Apartments
The plaintiff in this action is Lori Spinks. The defendants are EQR-Briarwood, a California limited partnership, and Equity Residential Properties Management Corp. Defendants own and operate Briarwood Apartment Homes in Sunnyvale, California, where plaintiff resided in late 2004 and early 2005 . . .

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Strickland v. Washington
Respondent pleaded guilty in a Florida trial court to an indictment that included three capital murder charges. In the plea colloquy, respondent told the trial judge that, although he had committed a string of burglaries, he had no significant prior criminal record and that at the time of his criminal spree he was under extreme stress caused by his inability to support his family . . .

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Taylor v. Elliott Turbomachinery Co., Inc.
During the early 1940s, the five respondents in this appeal supplied various pieces of equipment to the United States Navy for use in the propulsion system of the USS Hornet, a steam-driven aircraft carrier originally commissioned in 1943. The equipment included various valves and pumps, and DFTs . . .

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Terry v. Ohio
A Cleveland detective (McFadden), on a downtown beat which he had been patrolling for many years, observed two strangers (petitioner and another man, Chilton) on a street corner. He saw them proceed alternately back and forth along an identical route, pausing to stare in the same store window, which they did for a total of about 24 times . . .

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Upjohn Co. v. U.S.
When the General Counsel for petitioner pharmaceutical manufacturing corporation (hereafter petitioner) was informed that one of its foreign subsidiaries had made questionable payments to foreign government officials in order to secure government business, an internal investigation of such payments was initiated . . .

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U.S. v. Booker
Under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, the sentence authorized by the jury verdict in respondent Booker's drug case was 210-to-262 months in prison. At the sentencing hearing, the judge found additional facts by a preponderance of the evidence . . .

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Waller v. Truck Ins. Exchange, Inc.
In 1985, defendant Truck Insurance Exchange, Inc. (hereafter T.I.E.) issued a CGL policy to plaintiff Marmac, Inc., a California corporation that [11 Cal.4th 11] provides engineering and design services to aerospace, pharmaceutical, and energy industries. The declarations page of the T.I.E. policy identified Marmac as the named insured, and contained an endorsement naming Lester Amey, among others, as a named insured . . .

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Wyeth v. Levine
Petitioner Wyeth manufactures the antinausea drug Phenergan. After a clinician injected respondent Levine with Phenergan by the "IV-push" method, whereby a drug is injected directly into a patient's vein, the drug entered Levine's artery, she developed gangrene, and doctors amputated . . .

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