De Ritis v. McGarrigle — civil rights — reversal — Krause

The Third Circuit today emphatically rejected a former public defender’s claim that his First Amendment rights were violated when he told others that he had been transferred because he took too many cases to trial. The court reversed the district court’s denial of summary judgment based on qualified immunity. Among the court’s holdings was that an attorney’s idle chatter with other lawyers in court during breaks between proceedings is not protected by the First Amendment.

Krause was joined by Vanaskie and Nygaard. Arguing counsel were De Ritis pro se and Mark Raith of Holsten & Associates for the public defender.

Halley v. Honeywell Int’l — class action — affirmance in part — Scirica

The Third Circuit upheld approval of a $10 million class action settlement of a large chemical pollution suit. The court rejected several challenges to the settlement, including various arguments that the court lacked a sufficient factual record for approval. The court also upheld the $2.5 million attorneys’ fees award, but remanded for reconsideration of the award of costs because the lower court failed to adequately explain its reasoning.

Joining Scirica were Ambro and Vanaskie. Arguing counsel were Thomas Paciorkowski of Jersey City for the objector and Anthony Roisman of Vermont for the appellees.

Duquesne Light Holdings v. C.I.R. — tax — affirmance — Ambro

A divided Third Circuit panel today affirmed a tax-court ruling applying the Ilfeld doctrine that, absent clear Congressional intent, the tax code should not be interpreted to give taxpayers the equivalent of a double deduction. The tax-liability dispute here is, to my inexpert eye, arcane.

Joining Ambro was Krause; Hardiman dissented. Arguing counse were appellate powerhouse James Martin of Reed Smith for the taxpayer and Arthur Catterall for the government.