KING, Circuit Judge: This case concerns the remedy under Louisiana law for the purchaser of a newly constructed home with a construction defect that has not resulted in actual physical damage to the home. We are presented with two questions. First, we are asked to decide whether the Louisiana New Home Warranty Act provides the exclusive remedy against a builder for a purchaser of a newly constructed home with a construction defect. Second, we are asked to decide whether a claim brought under...
CARL E. STEWART, Chief Judge: Plaintiff-Appellant R.P., a student in the Alamo Heights Independent School District ("AHISD"), brought suit by her parents, R.P. and C.P., against Defendant-Appellee AHISD under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act ("IDEA"), 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq., for allegedly failing to provide her with a free appropriate public education, as required by the IDEA. The district court granted AHISD's motion for summary judgment. R.P. now appeals. We AFFIRM. I....
HIGGINSON, Circuit Judge: This appeal centers on whether the phrase "any Hurricane Ike cases," in a contract covering "all Hurricane Ike cases that either have been filed or will be filed in the future," encompasses class-action lawsuits. Concluding that it does, we AFFIRM. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS In the wake of Hurricane Ike, hundreds of homeowners, many of them represented by the Mostyn Law Firm ("the Firm"), filed claims against State Farm Lloyds ("State Farm") in Texas state court. In...
WIENER, Circuit Judge: Defendants-Appellants Dr. Arun Sharma ("Arun") and Dr. Kiran Sharma ("Kiran") pleaded guilty to defrauding health-care insurers by billing for pain injections that they never administered. As part of their sentences, the district court ordered them to pay $43,318,170.93 in restitution to thirty-two victims defrauded by the scheme, viz., Medicare, Medicaid, and thirty private insurers. The Sharmas appeal the amount of restitution, contending that it exceeds the...
JERRY E. SMITH, Circuit Judge: Through more than seven years of litigation, Max Moussazadeh has sought kosher meals while confined at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice ("TDCJ"). The district court, on motion for summary judgment, dismissed Moussazadeh's claim on two independent grounds: failure to exhaust administrative remedies as required by the Prison Litigation Reform Act ("PLRA") and lack of sincerity of religious belief as required under the Religious Land Use and...
PATRICK E. HIGGINBOTHAM, Circuit Judge: This diversity suit seeks money damages for breach of restrictive employment agreements under Louisiana law, presenting issues of their scope and the measure of damages. I Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. ("Gallagher") provides insurance-related services throughout the country. Its subsidiary, Gallagher Benefits Services, Inc. ("GBSI"), handles Gallagher's employee-benefit insurance programs. In November 2003, GBSI purchased Babcock Consulting, Inc., a...
KING, Circuit Judge: This case involves three consolidated lawsuits filed by plaintiffs who challenge the lawfulness of various ordinances enacted by the City of New Orleans regulating that city's taxicab industry. After the plaintiffs obtained from a Louisiana state court a temporary restraining order prohibiting enforcement of the ordinances, the City of New Orleans filed a motion for declaratory relief in federal court, seeking to dissolve the restraining order. The plaintiffs, in turn,...
LESLIE H. SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judge: These consolidated interlocutory appeals arise from the district court's appointment of a receiver over Jeffrey Baron's personal property and entities he owned or controlled. The district court sought to stop Baron's practice of regularly firing one lawyer and hiring a new one. This practice vexed the litigation involving Baron's alleged breaches of a settlement agreement and a related bankruptcy. It also created new claims in bankruptcy by unpaid...
E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge: This case tells one of the nightmarish stories that arose from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 — the physical devastation, human diaspora, and struggle of the City to maintain some semblance of law and order, and, in the chaos, a horrific failure of law enforcement. The case also demonstrates again the axiom that a cover-up, with its domino effect, begets more tragedy than the crime. It indeed presents a grim vignette within the larger Katrina story, told here in terms...
W. EUGENE DAVIS, Circuit Judge: In this appeal, Plaintiff-Appellant Fannie Garcia ("Garcia") contends the district court's interpretation of the Stored Communications Act was erroneous. Garcia alleges that the statute applies and protects all text and data stored on her personal cell phone which the Defendants accessed without Garcia's permission. We conclude that the Stored Communications Act, which prohibits accessing without authorization a facility through which an electronic communication...
JENNIFER WALKER ELROD, Circuit Judge: In this fee dispute, we are asked to determine whether the bankruptcy court erred in: (1) awarding a $975,000 fee enhancement to Barclays Capital, Inc. ("Barclays") pursuant to 11 U.S.C. 328(a); and (2) denying Barclays's request for a $2 million "success fee" based on the successful outcome of ASARCO, L.L.C.'s Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. For the following reasons, we REVERSE the $975,000 fee enhancement and REMAND to the district court for further...
CARL E. STEWART, Chief Judge: Plaintiff-Appellant, Deborah Keen appeals the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendants-Appellees, Miller Environmental Group ("Miller") and Aerotek on her negligent hiring claim under Mississippi law. For the reasons provided below, we AFFIRM. I. FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico ("Gulf"). The explosion caused, among other things, a 152-day leak of at least 93.5...
RHESA HAWKINS BARKSDALE, Circuit Judge: Defendants-Appellants Phil Bryant, Governor of Mississippi, and Jim Hood, its Attorney General (Defendants), contest a summary judgment's holding the Mississippi Caller ID Anti-Spoofing Act, MISS. CODE ANN. 77-3-805, violates the Commerce Clause, U.S. CONST. art. I 8, cl. 3. Also at issue is whether the Act: (1) is conflict-preempted by the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, 47 U.S.C. 227(e); and (2) comports with the First Amendment. The judgment...
EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge: Thomas Kenneth Abraham ("Abraham"), doing business as Paddle Tramps Manufacturing Company ("Paddle Tramps"), appeals the district court's order granting a partial preliminary injunction against his use of trademarks belonging to 32 fraternity and sorority organizations (the "Greek Organizations"). The Greek Organizations cross-appeal the limitation on the injunction. We AFFIRM. I Abraham founded Paddle Tramps in Lubbock, Texas in 1961 as a company that...
PRADO, Circuit Judge: Defendant-Appellee, Liberty Mutual Insurance Co., ("Liberty Mutual"), insured Plaintiff-Appellant, PPI Technology Services, L.P., ("PPI"). PPI was retained by several third parties to assist in planning well-drilling operations. After a well was drilled in the wrong area, PPI was sued by the third parties. PPI then sought defense and indemnification from its insurance company, Liberty Mutual. When Liberty Mutual refused, PPI brought suit claiming breach of contract,...
KING, Circuit Judge: Consolidated before us are three cases relating to the Mexican reorganization proceeding of Vitro S.A.B. de C.V., a corporation organized under the laws of Mexico. The Ad Hoc Group of Vitro Noteholders, a group of creditors holding a substantial amount of Vitro's debt, appeal from the district court's decision affirming the bankruptcy court's recognition of the Mexican reorganization proceeding and Vitro's appointed foreign representatives under Chapter 15 of the...
EMILIO M. GARZA, Circuit Judge: Appellant Steadfast Insurance Co. ("Steadfast") appeals from the district court's order denying Steadfast summary judgment and granting summary judgment to Appellees Sosebee, Writesman, and Patillo ("Sosebee"). The district court held Steadfast waived its coverage defense. We REVERSE and render summary judgment in favor of Steadfast. I Tim Sosebee, Mark Writesman, and Dale Patillo were passengers on a chartered fishing boat insured by St. Paul Fire when they...
LESLIE H. SOUTHWICK, Circuit Judge: This case arises from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico. An explosion killed 11 workers, caused the drilling platform to sink, and resulted in a major uncontrolled release of oil. At Presidential direction, those events prompted the Department of the Interior to prohibit all new and existing oil and gas drilling operations on the Outer Continental Shelf for six months. The district court preliminarily enjoined enforcement of the...
E. GRADY JOLLY, Circuit Judge: Appellants, manufacturers and distributors of liquid crystal display ("LCD") panels, jointly removed this case to federal district court on the grounds that (1) the action was a "class action" under the Class Action Fairness Act ("CAFA"), 28 U.S.C. 1332(d)(1)(B), or (2) the action was a "mass action" under the CAFA, 1332(d)(11)(B). The State of Mississippi, Appellee, then moved to remand the case to state court, and the district court granted the motion....
BY THE COURT: A member of the court having requested a poll on the petition for rehearing en banc, and a majority of the circuit judges in regular active service and not disqualified having voted in favor, IT IS ORDERED that this cause shall be reheard by the court en banc with oral argument on a date hereafter to be fixed. The Clerk will specify a briefing schedule for the filing of supplemental briefs.
