Landing a runner-up spot this week are Lowell Pearson and Michael Raupp of Husch Blackwell who scored a win at the Eighth Circuit for client Cheri Toalson Reisch, a Missouri state representative. In a 2-1 decision issued Wednesday, the appellate court reversed a lower court’s decision finding that Rep. Toalson Reisch violated the plaintiff’s rights by blocking him and others from her Twitter account. The majority found that Reisch’s Twitter account was not used for “official governmental activity,” but as communication “akin to a campaign newsletter” leaving her free to select her audience as she sees fit.
Atif Khawaja and Jeremy Fielding of Kirkland & Ellis also scored runner-up honors for fending off an expedited injunction motion in Dallas County, Texas on behalf of Sagent M&C, a provider of software to mortgage lenders. Lender Caliber Home Loans sought to force Sagent to perform under the terms of a short-term contract renewal that Kirkland lawyers argued was procured based on false representation that the deal would lead to Sagent landing more of Caliber’s business. The lender had already inked a long term deal with a Sagent competitor. After a full evidentiary hearing last Friday, Judge Ray Wheless on Sunday denied Caliber’s injunction bid.
