A recent decision of the Kentucky Court of Appeals (by Judge James Lambert) in Allgeier v. MV Transportation, Inc., 2010-CA-001907, issued 5/11/2012, discussed the difference between respondeat superior and negligent hiring/supervision claims, as well as the availability of punitive damages from an employer for the acts of an employee.
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The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled recently that the “May 20, 2010 Order of the Kentucky Supreme Court disbarring [Melbourne] Mills from the practice of law is sufficient basis for precluding coverage under [professional liability] policy’s dishonesty exclusion.”
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A very recent decision written by former Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Joseph Lambert (sitting as a Special Senior Judge of the Court of Appeals) in Snow Pallet, Inc. v. Monticello Banking Co., 2011-CA-696 (4/20/2012), concisely outlined the elements of claims of tortious interference with contractual relations and tortious interference with prospective economic advantage.
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In the recent decision in Gill v. Burress, 2011-CA-332 (4/13/12) the Kentucky Court of Appeals held that a plaintiff who claims a negligent delay in cancer diagnosis may pursue damages.
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In Mark D. Dean, P.S.C. v. Commonwealth Bank & Trust Co., 2010-CA-00050 (rendered 4/6/12), the Kentucky Court of Appeals considered an appeal of a summary judgment dismissing claims against a bank by a commercial escrow account holder whose bookkeeper had embezzled money by kiting checks.
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In O'Bannon v. Allen, 337 S.W.3d 662 (Ky. App. 2011), the Kentucky Court of Appeals, in an opinion authored by Judge Michelle Keller, upheld a trial court's order dismissing a professional negligence action for improper venue where the plaintiff sued in the county where the patient experienced harm rather than the county where the allegedly negligent medical treatment occurred.
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Federal Circuits are split on whether the tort of negligent misrepresentation must be pled with particularity. The Second and Eighth Circuits have held Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b) applies to negligent misrepresentation claims. See Trooien v. Mansour, 608 F.3d 1020, 1028 (8th Cir. 2010), Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v. Aniero Concrete Co., 404 F.3d 566, 583 (2d Cir. 2005). The Seventh and Fourth have held it does not. See Tricontinental Indus., Ltd. v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP, 475 F.3d 824, 833 (7th Cir. 2007) and Baltimore Cnty. v. Cigna Healthcare, 238 Fed. App'x 914, 921–22 (4th Cir. 2007).
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On Feb. 23 I posted about Goodin v. White, 342 S.W.3d 282 (Ky. App. 2011), the first Kentucky appellate decision dealing with Mary Carter settlement agreements. After running the post I received additional information, including the fact that the agreement in Goodin did have the characteristic of a Mary Carter agreement that it rewarded the settling defendant on a dollar-for-dollar basis with a set-off (via indemnity) for damages imposed against the nonsettling defendant.
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Until recently, Kentucky courts interpreted the Kentucky long-arm statute as permitting jurisdiction to the full extent of federal due process, which meant that if federal due process permitted personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant, the long-arm statute did as well. The Supreme Court of Kentucky reversed course in 2011 and held that Kentucky courts may exercise personal jurisdiction over a nonresident only in the nine specific instances set out in the long-arm statute.
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In the case, Mediacom Southeast LLC v. BellSouth Telecommunications, Inc. d/b/a AT&T Kentucky, No. 10-6117 (2012), the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently issued an opinion addressing the Iqbal and Twombly plausibility standard for pleadings.
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