- On June 30, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed with prejudice an amended complaint which alleged that eleven producers of “Ultra Processed Foods” (UPFs) had sold Plaintiff UPFs that allegedly were addictive and caused him to develop Type 2 Diabetes and Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD). The initial complaint was dismissed last year for a variety of deficiencies including a failure to explain how consumption of the UPFs led to his diagnoses.
- The Court’s
Lesson. If judgment creditors seek to extend a judgment lien beyond ten years, then a fresh “renewal complaint” should be filed.
Case cite. Autovest, L.L.C. v. Abner, 245 N.E.3d 193 (Ind. Ct. App. 2024)
Legal issue. Whether a second cause of action, pertaining to the same debt owed by a judgment debtor, should be dismissed.
Vital facts. In 2023, Creditor filed a “renewal complaint” against Debtor in connection with an unpaid judgment that Creditor had … Read the rest
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Gary Waetzig filed an age discrimination suit against his former employer, Halliburton. He then dismissed the suit when the company pointed out that he had agreed to arbitrate. When he lost in arbitration and tried to return to federal court, the statute of limitations on the alleged age discrimination had passed, and he asked the court instead to grant relief from the previous order of dismissal, essentially reopening that first case.
At the Supreme Court, his case, Waetzig v. … Read the rest
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The court handed a win to a former-city council member in Texas on Thursday, clearing the way for her federal civil rights claim to move forward. Sylvia Gonzalez contends that her 2019 arrest on charges that she had tampered with government records came in retaliation for her criticism of the city manager in Castle Hills, Tex. In a brief unsigned opinion, the justices reinstated Gonzalez’s claim after a federal appeals court had thrown it out, holding that the lower … Read the rest
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The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.
Organized crime, from the mafia to small-time money laundering schemes, often evades criminal prosecution. To bolster efforts to fight organized crime, Congress passed the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO, more than 50 years ago. In addition to the criminal penalties for violating RICO, the law also … Read the rest