INSURANCE LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Flora LipskyIn City of Unalaska v. National Union Fire Insurance Co., 591 F. Supp. 3d 440 (D. Alaska 2022),the district court held that under Alaska state law, a Computer Fraud Insuring Agreement in aninsurance policy covered financial losses due to fraud perpetrated over email. (Id. at 453.) Continue Reading »
EVIDENCE LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Jake ShermanIn Garcia v. Vitus Energy, L.L.C., 605 F. Supp. 3d 1179 (D. Alaska 2022), the court held that anexpert makes an impermissible legal conclusion in violation of the federal rules of evidence whenhe comments on an employee’s negligence in a case concerning the employer’s liability fornegligence Continue Reading »
INTERNATIONAL LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Elza BouhassiraIn Malin v. Osprey Underwriting Agency Ltd., 595 F. Supp. 3d 861 (D. Alaska 2022), the districtcourt held that a dispute between crewmembers of a vessel involved in an incident and theunderwriters of the vessel’s insurance policy had to be arbitrated in England as stated in Continue Reading »
ENVIRONMENTAL LAWUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Sam MacDuffieIn United States v. Alaska, 608 F. Supp. 3d 802 (D. Alaska 2022), the court granted the UnitedStates’ motion for preliminary injunction of an Alaskan state order allowing any Alaskan to gillnetfish in the Kuskokwim River. (Id. at 814). The federal Alaska National Interest LandsConservation Act Continue Reading »
NATIVE LAWSupreme Court of Alaska (2022)Sarah CouillardIn Native Village of Chignik Lagoon v. State, Department of Health & Social Services, 518 P.3d708 (Alaska 2022), the supreme court held that a child’s tribe for the purposes of the IndianChild Welfare Act (ICWA) is either a tribe of which the child is a member, or a tribe Continue Reading »
CONSTITUTIONAL LAWSupreme Court of Alaska (2022)Rachel ReissIn Short v. State, Office of Management & Budget, 520 P.3d 142 (Alaska 2022), the supreme courtheld that unappropriated funds from the Higher Education Investment Fund (HEIF) may be sweptannually into the Constitutional Budget Reserve (CBR). (Id. at 144). Alaska’s HEIF providesgrants and scholarships for post–secondary education programs. (Id.). Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL PROCEDUREUnited States District Court, District of Alaska (2022)Scott AndersonIn United States v. Spayd, 2022 WL 4220192 (D. Alaska Sept. 13, 2022), the district court heldthat an indictment sufficiently alleges an element of a crime when it applies the relevant mens rea(state of mind) requirement to the definition of the element. (Id. at *3). Prosecutors Continue Reading »
MARITIME LAWUnited States Court of Appeals, Ninth CircuitAnighya CrockerIn Martz v. Horazdovsky, 33 F.4th 1157 (9th Cir. 2022), the court held that a federal maritimestatute of limitations constitutes a question on the merits and that a written notice of claimsufficient to start the running of the limitations period contains three elements: the notice must (1)be Continue Reading »
CRIMINAL LAWSupreme Court of Alaska (2022)Connor SakatiIn McDonald v. State, Department of Corrections, 519 P.3d 345 (Alaska 2022), the supreme courtheld that an inmate’s request for a court order that the Parole Board reconsider denyingdiscretionary parole should be brought as an application for post–conviction relief, not a civillawsuit. (Id. at 345). However, the court also Continue Reading »
EMPLOYMENT LAWSupreme Court of Alaska (2022)Sarah BrooksIn Workers’ Compensation Benefits Guarantee Fund v. Adams, 518 P.3d 280 (Alaska 2022), thesupreme court upheld the Alaska Workers’ Compensation Board’s (Board) determination that acarpenter’s intoxication while on the job was not a proximate cause of his fall from a ladder. (Id.at 281, 287). While repairing a roof, a Continue Reading »
