Can lawyers have judges as Facebook friends? No, according to a Florida judicial ethics advisory panel. The panel opined that online “friendships” could create the impression that lawyers are in a special position to influence their judge “friends.” The issue remains unresolved in Louisiana.

Can an attorney who receives electronic documents from opposing counsel, by discovery or otherwise, violate any ethics rules by searching for confidential metadata that may have been transmitted inadvertently in the documents? Vermont has said that the lawyer may violate the rules, but there is a split among states on the issue. See Vermont Bar Association Professional Responsibility Section, Opinion 2009-1.

The U.S. Fifth Circuit, en banc, has ruled that the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards is a treaty and not an act of Congress, and it applies to compel a Louisiana self-insurer to arbitrate its dispute with two reinsurance companies despite R.S. 22:629, which bars arbitration agreements in insurance contracts. Safety National Cas. Corp. v Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, ___ F 3d ___ (2009) (Clement, J. concurs; Elrod, Smith and Garza, JJ, dissent)

Under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association, the arbitrator has the power to require one of the parties to pay the full deposit for the arbitration hearing. Such a ruling is left to the discretion of the arbitrator, and a court should not interfere with it. Dealer Computer Services Inc. v Old Colony Motors, Inc., ___ F 3d ____ (5th Cir. 2009)

The amendment to CCP Article 561(A)(2) governing abandonment of claims where the failure to take a step in the prosecution or disposition was a direct result of hurricanes Katrina and Rita should not be applied retroactively where the three year period had not run on August 26, 2005, but had tolled before the July 9, 2007, effective date of the amendment. Henry v SBA Shipyard, Inc., Third Circuit, No. CW 09-426 (11/10/09) (en banc; Cooks, Saunders and Gremillion, JJ, dissent) See also Morgan v La. Dept. of Pub. Saf. & Corr., Third Circuit, No. CA 08-750 (11/25/09)

The Supreme Court concludes that no fault medical payment provision in an insurance policy is payable irrespective of the defendant’s liability in tort, and thus payment of the medical expenses only, without other acts by the insured, does not constitute an acknowledgment of general liability for damages.  Titus v IHOP Restaurant, Inc., No. 09-CC-951 (12/1/09)

The Fifth (La.) Circuit has concluded that a court may impose penalties under both CCP Arts. 863 and 1471 and under R.S. 22:1220. In the instant case, the court found that the defendant failed to name all relevant insurance policies on discovery, and that the insurer subsequently was found in violation of its duty of good faith and fair dealing by actions which suggested that the coverage afforded to plaintiff’s claim was much lower than it actually was.  Dufrene v Gauthreau Family LLC, No. 09-CA-153 (11/10/09)

A person who is not an insured for liability purposes is not an insured for uninsured motorist purposes; a driver who is excluded from liability coverage under an insurance policy, pursuant to R.S. 32:900(L), also is precluded from recovering under the policy’s UM coverage.  Filipski v Imperial Fire & Cas. Ins. Co., Supreme Court, No. 09-CC-1013 (12/1/09)