Maryland Business Litigation Lawyer BlogHomeowners in Florida hired Silverman Thompson to defend a breach of contract and mortgage foreclosure action filed in the Circuit Court for Broward County, Florida. Mark Edelson and Michael J. Levin moved to dismiss the complaint and aggressively pursued their clients’ defenses, arguing that certain key documents were unsigned and therefore violated Florida’s Statute of Frauds, section 725.01, Florida Statutes.
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A New Era of Accountability for Attorney Fees in Debt Collection: Anderson, et al. v. Hammerman, et al.
In a landmark decision in Kathleen Anderson, et al. v. Evan Hammerman, et al., the Maryland Supreme Court ruled that attorneys can be held liable under consumer protection statutes like the Maryland Consumer Debt Collection Act (MCDCA) and the Maryland Consumer Protection Act (MCPA) for submitting false or inaccurate fee affidavits in debt collection lawsuits. This holding is a departure from the traditional protections afforded by the litigation privilege and signals a shift in the legal landscape surrounding attorney fees in debt collection lawsuits.
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Howard University Settles Class Action for $2 Million
On October 1, 2024, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (D.C. District Court) entered a final judgment and order in the matter of Adavenaixx v. Howard University, approving a class action settlement and release that the parties had executed on May 6, 2024 (which the court had preliminarily approved on June 18, 2024). That judgment came after the court held a final approval hearing the same day at which it granted plaintiff’s motions for final approval of class action settlement and for attorneys’ fees, expenses, and service award. The court approved over two million dollars to be distributed to a class of Howard University students who were unable to attend in-person classes at the university during the height of COVID-19.
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Understanding the Maryland Appeals Process
This article outlines the appellate process in Maryland State court in five parts:
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How to Get a Baltimore County Liquor Board License
The Board of Liquor License Commissioners for Baltimore County (BLLC) is responsible for regulating and controlling the number of establishments permitted to sell alcohol in Baltimore County.
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Federal Judge Blocks FTC Non-Compete Ban, Leaving Agreements Enforceable
On August 20, 2024, U.S. District Judge Ada Brown of the Northern District of Texas struck down a proposed rule by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that sought to impose a nationwide ban on non-compete agreements. Ryan, LLC v. FTC, –F. Supp.3d – (N.D. Tex., Aug. 20, 2024). The decision halts what would have been a significant shift in employment law across the country had the rule taken effect.
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Supreme Court of Maryland Reiterates Important Clarification to Rules of Contract Interpretation
If you’ve litigated a contract dispute in Maryland, you’ve likely referred to the “four corners” rule, which means the reviewing court interprets a contract based on the language within the document itself. If that language is unambiguous, the terms of the agreement control regardless of the parties’ subjective intent. A court considers “parol” or extrinsic evidence (evidence outside the contract itself) only if the terms of the contract are ambiguous. This foundational rule of contract interpretation appears in many cases, so a litigator could hardly be faulted for describing it this way. See, e.g., Walton v. Mariner Health of Maryland, Inc., 391 Md. 643, 660 (2006). But, as two recent Maryland Supreme Court opinions make clear, it’s not exactly right.
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Under Armour Settles Securities Class Action for $434 Million
On Friday, June 21, 2024, Under Armour announced that, subject to court approval, it had settled a pending securities class action in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. The settlement closes a case originally filed in February 2017, which had twice been dismissed with prejudice before finding new life after it was reported in the fall of 2019 that the Securities & Exchange Commission and United States Department of Justice had fined Under Armour for the conduct alleged here. That announcement proved the tipping point in the case, as thereafter, Judge Richard Bennett allowed the case to return from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (where the dismissal had been on appeal), reversed himself on the dismissal, and ultimately certified a class and denied summary judgment and Under Armour’s motions in limine. The case was scheduled to begin a two-plus-week jury trial on July 15, 2024.
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How to Get a Baltimore City Liquor Board License
The Board of Liquor License Commissioners for Baltimore City (BLLC) is responsible for limiting and/or restricting the number of establishments permitted to sell alcohol in Baltimore City. The BLLC is responsible for processing applications for and transfers/renewals of licenses to sell beer, wine and liquor; conducting period inspections of licensed businesses; collecting all license fees and fines; fining, suspending, or revoking licenses; and licensing and regulating adult entertainment business in Baltimore City.
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Silverman Thompson Legal Victory in Montgomery County to Allow Client to Secure Full Ownership of His Home of 64 Years
In February 2023, Silverman Thompson initiated an action in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County on behalf of its client, a 105-year-old World War II Veteran.
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The United States Supreme Court Overturns Chevron Deference
Forty years ago, the Supreme Court decided Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense, which gave deference to federal agencies to implement their charging statutes. In its latest term, the Court’s 6-3 decision in Loper Bright Enters. v. Raimondo overturned Chevron and dramatically altered the balance of power between federal agencies and the federal judiciary.
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Your Customer Filed for Bankruptcy: Now What?
Many business creditors know that their customers are in financial distress before a bankruptcy filing. In this post, we cover two major issues that creditors must be aware of when a business or individual, perhaps a customer, borrower, or supplier, files a petition for bankruptcy protection: (1) the automatic stay and (2) the proof of claim and its firm deadline.
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Latent Defect Discovery After Home Purchase
What if I purchase a home “as-is” and later discover latent defects that are significant and expensive to repair?
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Federal Court Grants Motion to Remand in Putative Class Action Against Johns Hopkins Involving Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law
On May 23, 2024, after nearly a year of motions practice, Judge George L. Russell III of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland granted plaintiff’s motion to remand its putative class action to state court. Serving as local counsel, Silverman Thompson filed the class action in the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on January 19, 2023. The plaintiff, who has been employed as an hourly, non-exempt worker at Johns Hopkins Hospital (“Johns Hopkins”) for over thirty years, contends that Johns Hopkins has a policy of rounding employees’ hours resulting in illegal withholding of wages, failure to pay minimum wage, and failure to pay overtime wages in violation of the Maryland Wage Payment and Collection Law.
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Silverman Thompson Scores Remand in Third Circuit that Revives Client’s Complaint Against Business Rival for Tortious Interference
In fall 2021, Silverman Thompson filed suit in federal court in Pennsylvania on behalf of a provider of inmate communication services for prisons. The suit alleged that just as Silverman Thompson’s client was about to finalize a contract with a county prison, the incumbent service provider and business rival used illegal, anti-competitive tactics to scuttle the deal and secure a renewal of its contract with the prison. After extensive preliminary motions practice, the district court dismissed the complaint for failure to state a claim, but gave Silverman Thompson’s client the opportunity to amend. Confident in its claims as drafted by Silverman Thompson, the client elected to stand on the complaint and appealed the dismissal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.