United States v. Brito, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2020). As discussed here, waiver of an argument occurs when a party intentionally relinquishes or abandons a contention, while forfeiture is the failure to assert an argument in timely fashion, without intent to give up that argument. That sometimes esoteric distinction became important in this criminal case, which involved an appeal of the sentence imposed by the District Court. Judge Bibas summarized well the outlines of this case at the outset of his opinion. “Francisco Brito, a felon, claims that he changed his ways once his daughter...

Premier Comp Solutions, LLC v. UPMC, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2020). Under Rule 15 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, amendments to pleadings are liberally granted. But when a Scheduling Order sets a deadline for amending pleadings, Rule 16(b)(4) requires “good cause” for an amendment. In this case, plaintiff sought to add a defendant after an amendment deadline had passed (and after that deadline had been extended once). Plaintiff’s motion relied only on Rule 15’s “liberally granted” standard. When the UPMC defendants opposed the motion and called...

Pullen v. Galloway, ___ N.J. Super. ___ (App. Div. 2019). This medical malpractice/wrongful death appeal involved the question of whether New Jersey state courts had personal jurisdiction over defendant doctors who were licensed in New York and performed their only services for plaintiff’s decedent, a New Jersey citizen who was referred to those doctors by her New Jersey, physician, in New York. Also named as a defendant, and also contesting personal jurisdiction, was NYU Medical Center, where the medical services were performed. Today, the Appellate Division, speaking through Judge...