Appeals Significant Cases
FMG Attorney Michael Hill Secures Affirmance of Summary Judgment in Case Alleging Violations of a Public Employee’s First Amendment Rights
Silvia Cotriss v. City of Roswell, et al., Case No. 19-12747 (11th Cir., June 29, 2022). FMG Attorney Michael Hill obtained affirmance of a summary judgment award on behalf of the City of Roswell and…
Silvia Cotriss v. City of Roswell, et al., Case No. 19-12747 (11th Cir., June 29, 2022). FMG Attorney Michael Hill obtained affirmance of a summary judgment award on behalf of the City of Roswell and its police officers in the Eleventh Court of Appeals after a former city police officer was terminated for flying a Confederate flag at her home. She filed suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 alleging that her First Amendment right to free speech had been violated. Mr. Hill argued that the officer’s display of the flag could impair the City’s ability to effectively run the police department and could diminish the public’s trust in the police. Applying the balancing test established by the Supreme Court in Pickering v. Board of Education, the Court held that the city’s interest in effective and efficient fulfillment of the police department’s operations outweighed plaintiff’s speech interest. The Court found that the city has a “clear interest” in maintaining a favorable reputation with the public that could be impeded if members of the public associate the symbolism of the Confederate flag with the police department.
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NLRB Affirms Dismissal of Failure to Bargain Complaint
Dallas FMG attorneys Robert Chadwick and Robin Foret obtained a favorable appellate ruling from the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) on behalf of a transportation company. After an evidentiary hearing, an administrative law judge below…
Henry’s Louisiana Grill, Inc. v. Allied Insurance Company of America, 35 F.4th 1318 (11th Cir. 2022). In a case of first impression, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s dismissal of an insured’s claim for…
Siasim Columbia, LLC, v. Scottsdale Insurance Company, Case No. 21-12918 (11th Cir., June 29, 2022). FMG Attorney Philip Savrin obtained an appellate victory in an insurance coverage case that arose from property damage to a…
Richard Durham v. Aerial Funding, LLC, Case No. 21-13847 (11th Cir., July 1, 2022). In appeal handled by Atlanta Partners Michael Freed and Brian Goldberg, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a plaintiff’s wrongful…
FMG Appellate Team Obtains Victory for Nonprofit Corporation in California Court of Appeals
Jason A Bezis v. Livermore Heritage Guild, Case No. A160921 (Cal. Ct. App., June 30, 2020). FMG’s San Francisco appellate team obtained an affirmance from the California Court of Appeals of a trial court’s denial…
Friendship Enterprises, Inc., d/b/a Elevation Chophouse v. Hasty, (Ga. Ct. App.). The Georgia Court of Appeals recently granted a petition for interlocutory review filed by Atlanta Partners Wayne Melnick, Michael Freed, and Wes Jackson, of…
Albert Alikin and Nicholas Directo obtained the dismissal of their client, an insurance carrier, in Nevada federal court in a lawsuit brought by the client’s insured seeking benefits under an occupational accident medical expense policy.…
Dismissal in Bad Faith Claim Arising From Multi-Million dollar default in Kentucky
Barry Miller obtained a judgment on the pleadings dismissing FMG client from a bad faith case that resulted from a $4.25 million default judgment in the underlying auto accident. A federal court ruled that FMG’s…
Summary Judgment in Insurance Coverage Dispute in Georgia
Shawn Bingham and Eric Retter prevailed on a motion for summary judgment in the United State District Court for the Northern District of Georgia before Judge Totenberg. The matter involved a first-party property insurance case…
Summary Judgment in Multi-Million Dollar Class Action Pension Case in Georgia
Ben Mathis, Robert Marcovitch and Bill Buechner recently obtained summary judgment on behalf of Hall County in a class action pension lawsuit brought in the Superior Court. In the lawsuit, Plaintiffs sought over $100 million…
Plaintiff’s Verdict Overturned in Post Trial Motion in Massachusetts
Kevin Kenneally and William Gildea in FMG’s Boston office, won a post-trial motion for JNOV to overturn a $750,000 judgment awarded in favor of the Estate of a nursing home resident who allegedly died as…
Permanent Injunction Granted in Business Solicitation Dispute in New Jersey
Chris Donnelly and Paul Piantino secured injunctive relief in federal court in New Jersey on behalf of a large commercial client, converting a temporary restraining order into a one-year preliminary injunction against our client’s former…