In re SuperValu, Inc.

Opinion handed down August 30, 2017

15.4 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2016.[1]  Data breaches are becoming more common, and some consumers want to sue the company that suffered the data breach.  There is a circuit split regarding whether the consumers whose information was stolen satisfy the injury element of standing.[2]  The Eighth Circuit contributed to that split in In re SuperValu by holding that the consumers did not satisfy the injury requirement because they had not yet and may never suffer identity theft.[3]

Gittemeier v. State of Missouri

Opinion handed down September 12, 2017

            After his felony and misdemeanor convictions were affirmed, Paul Gittemeier filed a pro se post-conviction relief motion. Mr. Gittemeier’s appointed counsel filed an amended motion for post-conviction relief and received an extension of time from the motion court. Before that brief was filed, Mr. Gittemeier retained private counsel who also received an extension of time from the same motion court. When the court denied the motion for untimeliness, Paul asserted the doctrine of abandonment. The Supreme Court of Missouri held that the abandonment doctrine only applies to appointed post-conviction counsel, not privately retained counsel. The abandonment doctrine was put in place to help individuals whose attorneys abandon them during the post-conviction process; limiting this rule to appointed counsel only defeats the purpose behind the rule and punishes individuals who retain counsel.