Photo of Kim Rinehart

Kim Rinehart

Subscribe to Kim Rinehart's Posts

Kim focuses on class action defense, professional liability matters, complex commercial disputes, appeals and health care litigation. She is passionate about learning the intricacies of her clients’ businesses, crafting novel legal arguments, and devising creative litigation strategies. Her goal: an effective and efficient approach tailored to the unique needs of each case.  

Follow:Read more about Kim RinehartKim's Linkedin Profile

We’re back, with something for everyone: federal jurisdiction junkies, conspiracy aficionados, and, yes, even the pun-loving admiralty practitioners among you.

In Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc. (11-982), the Justices ushered what otherwise might have been a hotly contested trademark claim out of the federal courts entirely. It all began when Nike sued athletic shoemaker Already, alleging that Already’s “Sugars” and “Soulja Boys” shoe…
Read More Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc. (11-982), Sebelius v. Auburn Regional Medical Center (11-1231), Lozman v. City of Riviera Beach, Florida (11-626) and Smith v. United States (11-8976)

The Court is off to a quick start in the new year, with four decisions in two days. This Update will cover Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense Council (11-460), on what constitutes a “discharge of pollutants” under the Clean Water Act; and the consolidated cases of Ryan v. Valencia Gonzales (10-930) and Tibbals v. Carter (11-218), regarding the…
Read More Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense Council (11-460), Ryan v. Valencia Gonzales (10-930), and Tibbals v. Carter (11-218)

We’ve been slightly remiss in our Updates due to the crush of other December deadlines, but we’re back with two decisions, a bevy of other interesting items, and a New Year’s resolution to do better. The decisions came in Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. United States (11-597), on whether government-induced temporary flooding constitutes a taking, and Kloeckner v. Solis (11-184), resolving a…
Read More Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. United States (11-597), Kloeckner v. Solis (11-184) and Order List

The spirit of agreement marches on: the Court is now three unanimous decisions for three. The most recent, a per curiam decision in Nitro-Lift Technologies v. Howard (11-1377), addressed an ever-popular topic among the Justices – the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”).

Nitro-Lift and two of its employees entered into confidentiality and noncompetition agreements that contained an arbitration clause. After leaving Nitro-Lift, both employees went…
Read More Nitro-Life Technologies v. Howard (11-1377) and Order List

Today we bring you the first signed decision of the Term, and several interesting cert grants.

The decision came in United States v. Bormes (11-192), finding that the Little Tucker Act, 28 U.S.C. §1346(a)(2) does not operate to waive the sovereign immunity of the United States with respect to alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), 15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq. The FCRA…
Read More United States v. Bormes (11-192) and Order List

And so it begins. The Court issued its first opinion of the 2012 Term yesterday – a four-page per curiam decision in Lefemine v. Wideman (12-168) addressing the availability of attorney’s fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 where a party has failed to secure any damages and has won only a prospective injunction requiring compliance with the law. (The Court issued another per curiam decision…
Read More Lefemine v. Wideman (12-168) and Order List