Litigation & Appeals

The Kentucky General Assembly has enacted KRS 411.167 which now requires a claimant commencing any civil action against a healthcare provider, or long-term care facility, to file a “certificate of merit” when the complaint is filed.

Design thinking is considered by its adherents to be a “systematic approach to innovation and problem solving that is, fundamentally: user centered, experimental, responsive, intentional, and tolerant of failure.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Lawyers of Color has named Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Demetrius Holloway to its inaugural Nation’s Best list for 2019 in the Southern Region.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—BTI Consulting Group has named Stites & Harbison, PLLC as a best-branded law firm in its BTI Brand Elite 2019: Client Perceptions of the Best-Branded Law Firms.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Nashville Business Journal honored Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Greg Smith with the 2019 Best of the Bar award.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The American Diabetes Association (ADA) of Kentucky has elected Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Demetrius Holloway to its Community Leadership Board.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Go Build Tennessee recently appointed Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorney Jamie F. Little to their Board of Directors.

The Supreme Court of Kentucky recently reaffirmed its decision in Mattingly Bridge Co. v. Holloway & Son Const. Co. which established the standard for assessing the enforceability of a liquidated damages provision.

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Chambers USA selected 16 Stites & Harbison, PLLC attorneys in Kentucky and Tennessee for inclusion in their 2019 guide.

Fuel adjustment clauses (FAC) have been a feature of electric bills in Kentucky since the 1950s. An FAC adjusts on a monthly basis the kWh rate paid by customers for electricity to reflect changes in the cost of fuel, and in many instances, purchased energy.

In what finally may prove to be the effective death knell for most efforts to pursue class-wide arbitration, a closely-divided United States Supreme Court has now held that a party cannot be required to arbitrate claims on a class-wide basis unless the arbitration agreement clearly contemplates such a possibility.

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The 2019 editions of Virginia Super Lawyers and Washington DC Super Lawyers have honored attorneys Robert E. Scully, Jr. and Jeffery P. Langer, Ph.D., of the Alexandria, Va., office of Stites & Harbison, PLLC.

In recent years, as courts have become more congested and business dealings have grown more complex, mediation and arbitration have grown in both prevalence and popularity as alternatives for civil litigation, both locally and across the country.

The patent process can be frustrating and often involves a significant investment of time and money. As such, it may be tempting to assume that when the Patent Office issues a patent it is safe to assert your rights therein. However, as noted in a recent decision from the District Court for the District of Delaware, doing so may leave you on the hook for attorney’s fees.

In October 2018, the Kentucky Supreme Court issued a far-reaching opinion voiding all Kentucky employer-employee arbitration agreements which were made a condition of an individual’s employment. On March 13, 2019, however, the Kentucky Legislature rejected that opinion, passing a bill that not only claws back the ruling but significantly expands employers’ options for imposing conditions on the employer-employee relationship.

On February 4, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Hagen Constr. Inc. v. Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., No. JKB-18-1201, 2019 BL 36862 (D. Md. Feb. 4, 2019), held that written “expressions of frustration” and “general complaints” made by a subcontractor regarding alleged project mismanagement were insufficient to sustain a labor inefficiency claim for additional project costs against the general contractor.