Appellate

  • May 02, 2024

    5th Circ. Pauses NLRB Suit Against SpaceX Amid New Appeal

    A Fifth Circuit panel on Thursday paused an ongoing National Labor Relations Board suit against SpaceX to consider the company's challenge to what it calls the "effective" denial of its bid to block a suit by an agency it claims is unconstitutional.

  • May 02, 2024

    6th Circ. Appears Reluctant To Kick 401(k) Suit To Arbitration

    A Sixth Circuit panel seemed likely Thursday to deny two auto part companies' bid to compel arbitration of a lawsuit from workers who say their retirement savings were mismanaged, though the judges appeared divided on the broader question of whether retirement plans may force planwide claims into individual arbitration.

  • May 02, 2024

    11th Circ. Lets Georgia Island Dock Lawsuit Proceed

    A Georgia conservation group can resume its challenge to federal approval of a private pier on Cumberland Island after a divided Eleventh Circuit panel said regulators could conduct a more rigorous environmental review even though the dock was already built.

  • May 02, 2024

    Calif. Justices To Review Gilead's HIV Drug Negligence Fight

    The California Supreme Court has granted Gilead Sciences Inc.'s request to review an appellate court's holding that the drugmaker must face claims it held back a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on an older medication.

  • May 02, 2024

    Immigrant Bond Co. Buyer Wants In On $811M Fine Appeal

    Libre Immigration Services has moved to intervene at the Fourth Circuit to fight an $811 million judgment against companies it recently acquired that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued over abusive immigrant bonding practices.

  • May 02, 2024

    3rd Circ. Reopens Chinese Tech Worker's Promotion Bias Suit

    The Third Circuit revived a Chinese software engineer's lawsuit Thursday alleging he was denied a promotion and fired by a tax technology company because he complained about racist comments he faced, ruling a lower court evaluated the worker's claims too narrowly.

  • May 02, 2024

    Kushner-Owned Co. Owes $15M For Scrapped Apartment Deal

    A New Jersey appeals panel has ordered a company owned by Kushner Cos. LLC to pay $15 million to real estate sellers in a $186 million deal that fell apart during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • May 02, 2024

    2nd Circ. Skeptical About Ex-TD Bank Manager's Bias Suit

    The Second Circuit appeared unwilling Thursday to wipe out TD Bank's win over a former manager's suit alleging he was ousted because he asked for parental leave and had anxiety, with an appellate panel seeming unconvinced that the bank's claim that unethical conduct got him fired was dishonest.

  • May 02, 2024

    11th Circ. Rules Tribal Co. Is Not Immune In Trade Secrets Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit has revived a tribal-owned defense contractor's suit against another tribal-owned competitor and a former employee for allegedly stealing trade secrets, finding the competitor agreed to federal court jurisdiction when it participated in the bidding process for work on a missile detection system.

  • May 02, 2024

    Colo. Panel Says COVID Can Trigger Workers' Compensation

    A Colorado appellate court panel on Thursday ruled for the first time that COVID-19 can be considered an "occupational disease" under the state's workers' compensation law and affirmed the award of benefits to a woman whose husband died of the novel coronavirus while working at a skilled nursing facility.

  • May 02, 2024

    Split Conn. Supreme Court Says No To 'Ratio' Utility Bills

    In a rare 4-3 opinion, the Connecticut Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a corporate landlord cannot use a ratio utility billing system to divide monthly costs among units not equipped with precise individual meters, stressing a legislative policy of protecting tenants from fluctuating fees beyond their immediate control.

  • May 02, 2024

    11th Circ. Urged To Clear Final Hurdle To Interstate Water Deal

    As the finish line comes into view in Georgia and Alabama's decadeslong fight over water rights, the Peach State, the federal government and a host of local water providers are urging the Eleventh Circuit to reject a bid by environmental groups to block the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' management proposal for the Apalachicola watershed.

  • May 02, 2024

    Split 10th Circ. Spikes $17.3M Atty Fee Over Class Notice

    A split Tenth Circuit panel has vacated for a second time a $17.3 million attorney fee award for reaching a $52 million class action settlement over gas well royalty payments, with the majority writing that the lower court erred by not requiring a new class notice regarding the revised fee bid.

  • May 02, 2024

    4th Circ. Revives Workers' Suit Over SC Plant Explosion

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday revived claims from three workers burned in an explosion at a plastic recycling plant, saying the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Law can't deprive the federal courts of diversity jurisdiction in a case where they would otherwise have it.

  • May 02, 2024

    Coverage Recap: Day 6 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

    Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from day six.

  • May 02, 2024

    Rules Against Judge Shopping Move Forward At Fed Agency

    Federal appellate courts should review most government agency actions, and cases involving those actions that wind up in district courts should be subject to district-wide assignment to avoid judge shopping, according to recommendations approved Thursday by a committee of the federal agency charged with improving government rulemaking.

  • May 02, 2024

    4th Circ. Finds Judge Appointment Legit In Black Lung Case

    The Fourth Circuit ruled that an administrative law judge who presided over a black lung benefits case was properly reappointed by the U.S. Department of Labor, rejecting Dominion Coal Corp.'s contention that his seating violated the Constitution's appointments clause.

  • May 02, 2024

    If High Court Upends Jan. 6 Conviction, What Happens Next?

    If the U.S. Supreme Court decides prosecutors overstepped by charging a rioter who stormed the Capitol with obstruction, the results will likely be mixed for hundreds of other defendants charged with the same crime, particularly those who have been convicted. That post-appeal uncertainty is nothing new, defense attorneys say.

  • May 02, 2024

    11th Circ. 'Emphatically' Upholds JCPenney's Sanctions Win

    The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed a $63,000 sanction against an Alabama shopping mall amid its lease dispute with JCPenney, finding that the mall acted in bad faith by not notifying the court of a lack of diversity jurisdiction, eventually sinking the case — only after JCPenney won partial summary judgment and a later mediation failed.

  • May 02, 2024

    Dilworth Paxson Attys Disciplined Over NJ Eatery Conflict

    Two Dilworth Paxson LLP partners were sanctioned by the New Jersey Supreme Court this week for investing in a restaurant on the campus of The College of New Jersey at the same time they were legally representing another investment group on the project.

  • May 02, 2024

    Schumer Reups Call For His Judge Shopping Bill

    U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday that a suit filed in a controversial Texas court challenging a new firearms policy from the Biden administration underscores the need for his bill to restrict so-called "judge shopping."

  • May 02, 2024

    NJ Group's Challenge To Town's Pot Law Partially Revived

    A New Jersey appeals panel has revived state law claims brought by a group challenging the Borough of Highland Park's cannabis licensing laws, while finding that the federal Controlled Substances Act does not preempt either the town's law or state cannabis law.

  • May 02, 2024

    5th Circ. Asks If Facts Matter In Construction Defect Row

    A Fifth Circuit panel weighed the importance of facts versus the law in a dispute over whether an insurer must indemnify a construction company for a $1.3 million arbitration award for construction defects in a Texas farming cooperative's grain silos.

  • May 01, 2024

    Monsanto Gets $185 Million Wash. PCB Verdict Overturned

    A Washington state appeals court sided with Monsanto on Wednesday, undoing a $185 million jury verdict for three teachers who claimed they were sickened by PCBs at a Washington school site and ruling the case could be limited by the Evergreen state's 12-year statute of repose for product liability claims.

  • May 01, 2024

    5th Circ. Nixes Use Of US Law In Maritime Malaria Dispute

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday overturned an order permitting an Indian man to invoke U.S. law in his lawsuit accusing a Singaporean ship management company of negligence after he contracted malaria during a trip to Gabon while working aboard a Liberian-flagged cargo ship.

Expert Analysis

  • When Trade Secret Protection And Nat'l Security Converge

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    The Trump administration's anti-espionage program focused on China is over, but federal enforcement efforts to protect trade secrets and U.S. national security continue, and companies doing business in high-risk jurisdictions need to maintain their compliance programs to avoid the risk of being caught in the crosshairs of an investigation, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Why Incorporating By Reference Is Rarely Good Practice

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Promptu Systems v. Comcast serves as a reminder that while incorporating by reference may seem efficient, it is generally prohibited by courts and can lead to sanctions when used to bypass a word count limit, says Cullen Seltzer at Sands Anderson.

  • Strategies For Defense Attys To Subpoena A Nonparty Witness

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    Federal criminal defendants seeking to subpoena potentially exculpatory information from nonparty witnesses must satisfy a stringent standard and should consider several often overlooked arguments to assure courts they’re not engaging in a fishing expedition, says James Roberts at Schlam Stone.

  • Series

    Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.

  • ESG Challenges In Focus After Sierra Club Opposes SEC Rule

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    The Sierra Club's recent objection to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosures for investors presents an unusual — pro-disclosure — legal challenge and an opportunity to take a close look at the varying critiques of ESG regulations, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.

  • Opinion

    High Court Should Settle Circuit Split On Risk Disclosures

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    The U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition for writ of certiorari in the Facebook case to resolve a growing circuit split concerning when risk disclosures can be misleading under federal securities laws, and its decision should align with the intent of Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    Why Supreme Court Should Allow Repatriation Tax To Stand

    If the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't reject the taxpayers' misguided claims in Moore v. U.S. that the mandatory repatriation tax is unconstitutional, it could wreak havoc on our system of taxation and result in a catastrophic loss of revenue for the government, say Christina Mason and Theresa Balducci at Herrick Feinstein.

  • For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

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    A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • High Court's Jan. 6 Rioter Case May Have Wide Ripple Effects

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    The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in Fischer v. United States, a case that will determine whether a law enacted after the Enron scandal can be used to prosecute Jan. 6 rioters, and could affect the government’s ability to charge those who impede a range of official proceedings, say Brook Dooley and Sara Fitzpatrick at Keker Van Nest.

  • 5th Circ. Clarifies What Is And Isn't A 'New Use' Of PFAS

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    The Fifth Circuit's March 21 decision in Inhance Technologies v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, preventing the EPA from regulating existing uses of PFAS under "significant new use" provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act, provides industry with much-needed clarity, say Joseph Schaeffer and Sloane Wildman at Babst Calland.

  • CORRECTED: Endoscope Patent Case Offers Guidance On Right To Repair

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    An Alabama federal court's decision in Karl Storz v. IMS reaffirmed that product owners have broad rights to repair or modify their property as they see fit, highlighting the parameters of the right to repair in the context of patent infringement, say Dustin Weeks and Dabney Carr at Troutman Pepper. Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article and headline attributed the Karl Storz ruling to the wrong court. The error has been corrected.

  • Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law

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    A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.

  • How A Motion Before Justices May Help Trump Beyond Court

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    Even if Donald Trump loses his presidential immunity claim before the U.S. Supreme Court, the delay created by the motion may mean a trial can't be completed before the November election, says Paul Tuchmann at Wiggin and Dana.

  • Opinion

    $175M Bond Refiled By Trump Is Still Substantively Flawed

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    The corrected $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump on Thursday to stave off enforcement of the New York attorney general's fraud judgment against him remains substantively and procedurally flawed, as well as inadequately secured, says Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen.

  • Opinion

    Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

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