On behalf of Robert N. Levin, PC posted in Class Action Litigation on Thursday, May 23, 2013
A large church in Maryland was targeted in a recent class-action lawsuit. The civil litigation accused the organization, its branches and some of its pastors of child sex abuse and conspiracy to keep the violations a secret. The issue is that most of the lawsuit has been dismissed by a judge because the plaintiffs must sue within three years of turning 18, something the majority of the plaintiffs did not do. The allegations of abuse were not addressed by the judge after the major dismissal based on a statute of limitations.
Many people are still hoping to bring Sovereign Grace Ministries and its pastors to justice, though. There is not a statute of limitations on felony crimes in the state of Maryland, so it is possible the individuals accused in the civil suit will be brought to court on criminal charges. In one instance, a female toddler was allegedly molested by a babysitter from the church. Her mother called the family's pastor to address the situation and was allegedly told not to call the police. Instead, both individuals--the alleged abuser and victim--were brought in and the pastor made the victim forgive the babysitter.
On behalf of Robert N. Levin, PC posted in Criminal Appeals on Thursday, May 16, 2013
A major Supreme Court case recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. The case, known as Brady v. Maryland, has played a large role in many criminal appeals cases. The highest court in the nation used the appeal made by a convicted criminal to declare that prosecutors are constitutionally obligated to share any evidence that may lessen a sentence or negate a charge against the defense. The ruling came in 1963.
Despite the fact that many people praise this judgment, the actual ruling struggles to get enforced. The well-known exoneration of John Thompson, a man who was on death row for more than a dozen years, proves this. According to experts, many prosecutors violate the Brady rule. A law professor commenting on the matter noted that it is impossible to know how many violations related to the ruling occur because many are only discovered by chance.
On behalf of Robert N. Levin, PC posted in Civil Litigation on Thursday, May 9, 2013
It seems that a title company in Columbia, Maryland, may be in hot water. According to a civil litigation suit filed by a couple from Howard County, the title company and one of the largest real estate firms in the country have been working together, breaking the law by doing so. If the allegations are true, the couple is seeking $11 million from the defendants; the money will become a class action settlement fund for thousands of buyers who purchased a home from the realtor.
The lawsuit has not gained class action status as of yet but if it does, it will affect all home buyers that used the Creig Northrop Team of Long & Foster Real Estate, as long as they purchased their properties after 2000. In addition, Lakeview Title Company Inc. must be the settlement company used for the transaction. The title company was allegedly making payments to the real estate firm as kickbacks for referring buyers to the title company. The lawsuit indicates that Northrop has received more than $500,000 over the past 13 years. The plaintiffs say that this violates the federal Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.
On behalf of Robert N. Levin, PC posted in Class Action Litigation on Thursday, May 2, 2013
Many changes can cause a person to wonder if they will have health insurance in the upcoming future: job loss, death and divorce, to name a few. But when those changes happen and the only option is to apply for Medicaid, one would think that the determination would occur at a reasonable pace. Civil litigation was filed in Maryland against the state government because determinations were not happening as quick as they are legally required, instead being delayed for a number of months.
The backlog was so bad that several low-income and disabled advocacy groups banded together to file the class action lawsuit. According to reports, the delay had caused the average applicant to wait one year before hearing a determination. During this waiting period, many people needed to seek medical attention and could not do so because they did not have health insurance. This left a number of people without the ability to address conditions and sicknesses, allowing them to worsen over time and potentially increasing the cost of addressing the issue.
On behalf of Robert N. Levin, PC posted in Class Action Litigation on Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that has already affected hundreds of class action lawsuits. Groups in Maryland intending to snowball their claims into one large lawsuit should be aware of this ruling as it could alter the likelihood that their cases will succeed. For instance, a number of people were suing a payday-loan company despite the customers having signed a contract that barred them from filing suits.
This is where business litigation gets complicated. The contracts stipulated that any dispute would be settled through arbitration, not a lawsuit. This clause included class action suits, but a judge later ruled the contracts were invalid, allowing upset customers to file their suits together. The customers were angry with the company because they believed it was charging outrageous interest rates for its check cashing service.
On behalf of Robert N. Levin, PC posted in Federal Appeals on Monday, April 15, 2013
Methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, has been at the center of several suits filed over the past decade. MTBE is a potentially hazardous substance that has been shown to cause certain types of cancer in mice and rats when consumed at mid-levels or higher. It is an additive that some companies were putting in their gasoline. The issue was that this chemical was reportedly leaking into drinking water. Since this discovery, claims have been filed - some resulting in federal cases - against the companies that used the substance.
Two major cases in Maryland saw plaintiffs get awarded a total of $1.65 billion from Exxon Mobil. But those verdicts were recently reversed by the state's Court of Appeals. The suits were filed because of an underground gas leak that occurred in 2006, releasing MTBE into the water, causing property damage and financial harm.
On behalf of Robert N. Levin, PC posted in Civil Litigation on Monday, April 8, 2013
The Supreme Court has undertaken some serious decisions this year. The much-publicized hearings on DOMA and Prop 8 came and went with no clear-cut answer. However, two other highly publicized cases regarding "race" have made it through the appeals process, allowing them both to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. These cases will address questions regarding the need for voter registration protection for minorities as well as whether minorities should receive preference during university admission processes.
The justices on the current court seem to be divided on issues such as this, leaving room for heavy debate. In regards to the first case, the conservative members of the Supreme Court want to eliminate voter registration protections. They believe that increased rates of registration and turnout among minorities in the South indicate that laws protecting the rights of these individuals are no longer necessary.
On behalf of Robert N. Levin, PC posted in Criminal Appeals on Wednesday, April 3, 2013
The U.S. Supreme Court has a lot on their hands as of late. A recent decision from the highest court in the nation found that using drug dogs near a home is against the fourth amendment, making any evidence gathered in this manner invalid. The ruling in Washington, D.C., came about because of a criminal appeals case that started in 2006 when police officers were watching a home that someone had tipped them off about.
According to the anonymous tip, the house was an illegal drug-growing operation. Police detectives and agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began observing the home on Dec. 5, 2006. An officer went to the front door with Franky, a drug-sniffing dog. As trained to do when sensing illicit materials, the animal supposedly sat down after sniffing the front door. Officers used that behavior to get a search warrant from a judge.
On behalf of Robert N. Levin, PC posted in Class Action Litigation on Thursday, March 28, 2013
A class-action lawsuit may be over after four years in court, if a judge approves the settlement.. The civil litigation suit claimed that Citigroup, a major lender, was presenting misleading information on disclosures issued to investors. The class that filed the suit was a group of investors that participated in purchases of stocks and bonds between 2006 and 2008. During that time, Citigroup had four dozen offerings, allowing investors from many places -- including Washington, D.C. -- to make a purchase.
The suit claimed that there were omissions and misstatements in the disclosures that the bank provided to its investors. If this is true, then investors may have possessed a distorted view of what they were investing in. In addition, the plaintiff group contended that Citigroup understated its loss reserves associated with mortgage loans that were high risk. Such risky investments were reportedly portrayed as if they possessed a high credit quality, potentially misleading investors even more.
On behalf of Robert N. Levin, PC posted in Civil Litigation on Thursday, March 21, 2013
Regulators have agreed to settle a case against Google Inc. According to reports, the Internet giant was involved in , the results of which will see the company pay $7 million to more than three dozen states as well as Washington, D.C.civil litigation
Allegations against the company suggest that programs were used to gather private information from residences with open Wi-Fi networks. Households and businesses were both involved, having their communications intercepted by Google. This reportedly began in early 2008 and ended in spring 2010. That means that Google has two years' worth of communications between countless numbers of people.
