Appellate

  • April 07, 2025

    USAA Wants Full Fed. Circ. To Hear PNC's Patent Board Wins

    A San Antonio-based bank that lost two of its patents covering technology used to deposit checks through smartphones — including one tied to a $218 million jury verdict against PNC Bank — is arguing that a Federal Circuit panel has allowed the patent board "to escape its obligation to explain itself."

  • April 07, 2025

    VLSI Argues Fintiv Memo Withdrawal Enhances PTAB Appeal

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent decision to withdraw guidance on its discretionary denial policy means the Federal Circuit should revive a VLSI Technology chip patent reviewed explicitly based on that policy, the patent owner said Friday.

  • April 07, 2025

    6th Circ. Says Job Performance Dooms Ex-Exec's Bias Suit

    The Sixth Circuit backed security company Idemia's defeat of a former executive's lawsuit claiming he was forced out because he was over 50 and undergoing prostate cancer treatment, finding Monday he couldn't overcome the explanation that his boss had lost confidence in his leadership abilities.

  • April 07, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Stumbles Over The Word 'Unit' In Cross-Patent Fight

    The Federal Circuit spent a chunk of its morning Monday grappling with whether a limitation in a patent specification describes a specific unit or a type of unit as it heard cross-appeals from Mondis Technology and LG Electronics in a patent fight they have been battling out for over a decade.

  • April 07, 2025

    Judges Probe Greek Air Force Contract Dispute's Timeliness

    Skeptical Federal Circuit judges pushed Greece's Air Force on Monday to explain why its $21.75 million suit over faulty reconnaissance cameras wasn't untimely, saying it seemed to be aware of related issues years before suing the U.S. government.

  • April 07, 2025

    Justices Remove Bar On Venezuelan Removals

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled the Trump administration can move forward with its removal of alleged Venezuelan gang members from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act, vacating a D.C. federal judge's order that had temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's invocation of the 1798 wartime law.

  • April 07, 2025

    Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

    The Federal Trade Commission sued to block GTCR BC's planned purchase of a medical device coatings company, the Justice Department's antitrust case against Live Nation survived a dismissal bid and a New York state court found a ski mountain deal hurt competition. Here, Law360 looks at the major merger review developments from March.

  • April 07, 2025

    Conn. Healthcare Facility Seeks To Flip $13.4M Death Verdict

    An assisted living facility has asked the Connecticut Appellate Court to throw out a $13.4 million jury verdict surrounding a patient's death, arguing his estate improperly added a time-barred Patient Bill of Rights claim months before trial and didn't adequately prove a breathing apparatus failed.

  • April 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Says Teamsters Didn't Taint UPS Election

    Teamsters representatives didn't taint the results of a UPS union representation election by chatting with workers in a warehouse parking lot while the vote went on inside, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled Monday, saying the representatives' "brief conversations with three voters … did not constitute objectionable electioneering or voter intimidation."

  • April 07, 2025

    Top Court To Weigh Limits On Atty-Client Talks During Recess

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will take up the Sixth Amendment case of a man convicted of murder who was not allowed to consult with his lawyer about his testimony during a 24-hour break that came in the middle of his time on the stand.

  • April 07, 2025

    Ga. Appeals Court Rips Judge For Denying Recusal Bid

    A Georgia Court of Appeals panel on Monday stripped a child custody case from a Fulton County judge after finding he improperly denied a mother's recusal motion instead of referring it to another jurist.

  • April 07, 2025

    Mass. Firm Prevails Over Ex-Attys In Stolen Client Files Saga

    A Massachusetts appeals panel has found that a law firm may recoup damages from its former attorneys who are accused of smuggling out client files to start a new shop while still employed, the latest ruling in a yearslong legal battle that has played out across the state's trial, appellate and supreme courts.

  • April 07, 2025

    11 States Tell 6th Circ. To Ax Mich. Conversion Therapy Ban

    Eleven U.S. states led by Iowa and South Carolina urged the Sixth Circuit to strike down Michigan's ban on conversion therapy for minors, saying the law censors therapists' speech.

  • April 07, 2025

    GOP Judge's Ballot Challenge Returns To NC High Court

    The North Carolina State Board of Elections and state Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs have asked her colleagues on the high court bench to take up her Republican opponent's election protests following his victory in the intermediate appeals court.

  • April 07, 2025

    Conn. High Court Snapshot: Atty's 'Double' ID Theft Damages

    When it convenes for its next term, Connecticut's highest court will weigh whether an attorney whose identity was stolen can skirt a panel's ruling that he is not entitled to a "double recovery" of damages, and it will consider an insurance agent's responsibilities when a policyholder's coverage is canceled.

  • April 07, 2025

    Meta May Not Scroll Past 'Clever' Instagram Addiction Suit

    Meta Platforms Inc. may struggle to convince Massachusetts' top court to dismiss a suit claiming it illegally hooks kids on Instagram, according to experts, who credit the state's attorney general for a creative legal strategy to thwart web platforms' usual defenses.

  • April 07, 2025

    Mass. High Court Ponders 'Reasonable' Wear In Lease Dispute

    Massachusetts justices on Monday grappled with defining "reasonable" wear and tear on a rental property as they considered whether a property owner can require tenants to have their apartments professionally cleaned when moving out.

  • April 07, 2025

    Justices Enter Fray Over Criminal Restitution As Punishment

    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to wade into what counsel for a convicted Georgia bank robber called a "deeply entrenched" circuit split over the constitutionality of a federal law that requires criminals to continue paying restitution with compounding interest for decades after conviction.

  • April 07, 2025

    Justices Won't Hear Lion Air Family's Boeing Jury Trial Bid

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a more than century-old law governing fatal accidents on the high seas, curtailing an effort from the estate of a 737 Max crash victim to get Boeing to face a jury trial over the 2018 Lion Air incident.

  • April 07, 2025

    Justice Roberts Pauses Return Order In Deportation Case

    Chief Justice John Roberts hit pause Monday on a federal judge's order requiring the Trump administration to quickly bring back a Maryland man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador and imprisoned there, freeing the administration from a late night compliance deadline.

  • April 07, 2025

    Supreme Court Declines Review Of NY Concealed Carry Law

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it won't review a New York state law requiring "good moral character" as a prerequisite to obtaining a gun permit, passing on an opportunity to resolve what firearm rights advocates called a circuit split on how the high court's decision in Bruen is interpreted.

  • April 07, 2025

    Full DC Circ. Lifts Pause On NLRB, MSPB Reinstatements

    The full D.C. Circuit on Monday lifted a March panel decision pausing the reinstatement of National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board members that President Donald Trump fired, saying U.S. Supreme Court precedent blessing limitations on the president's ability to fire agency officials still stands.

  • April 08, 2025

    Justices Skip Fruit Art, Abandoned TM And Sentence Petitions

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined petitions regarding the standard for considering whether unregistered trademarks are abandoned in a case involving T-Mobile, a copyright dispute over fruit taped to walls as part of an art installation, and sentencing guidelines in the theft of trade secrets belonging to General Electric.

  • April 07, 2025

    High Court Won't Hear Case On Employee Status Of Inmates

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a Fourth Circuit opinion finding that inmates working at a Baltimore County, Maryland, recycling facility might be covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act and entitled to minimum wages.

  • April 04, 2025

    Colo. Justices To Hear Title IX Privilege, Claims Clock Cases

    The Colorado Supreme Court next week will hear arguments about whether statements made in Title IX investigations should be privileged from civil liability, how government bodies can properly "cure" transparency violations and when the claims clock should start running after the death of a minor.

Expert Analysis

  • The Post-Macquarie Securities Fraud-By-Omission Landscape

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 opinion in Macquarie v. Moab distinguished inactionable "pure omissions" from actionable "half-truths," the line between the two concepts in practice is still unclear, presenting challenges for lower courts parsing statements that often fall within the gray area of "misleading by omission," say attorneys at Katten.

  • AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex

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    Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.

  • When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law

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    In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • The Future Of ALJs At NLRB And DOL Post-Jarkesy

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    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 Jarkesy ruling, several ongoing challenges to the constitutionality of the U.S. Department of Labor's and the National Labor Relations Board's administrative law judges have the potential to significantly shape the future of administrative tribunals, say attorneys at Wiley Rein.

  • The Tides Are Changing For Fair Access Banking Laws

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    The landscape of fair access banking laws, which seek to prevent banks from denying services based on individuals' ideological beliefs, has shifted in the last few years, but a new presidential administration provides renewed momentum for advancing such legislation against the backdrop of state efforts, say attorneys at Latham.

  • Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

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    Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.

  • Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025

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    Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Disciplinary Rule Updates Every Texas Lawyer Needs To Know

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    Sweeping amendments to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct that recently went into effect provide essential clarity and modernity to rules governing conflicts of interest, client confidentiality and duties to prospective clients, says Robert Tobey at Johnston Tobey.

  • Parsing 3rd Circ. Ruling On Cannabis, Employee Private Suits

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    The Third Circuit recently upheld a decision that individuals don't have a private right of action for alleged violations of New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act, but employers should stay informed as the court encouraged the state Legislature to amend the law, say attorneys at Mandelbaum Barrett.

  • Perspectives

    How High Court May Rule In First Step Act Resentencing Case

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    U.S. Supreme Court justices grappled with verb tenses and statutory intent in recent oral arguments in Hewitt v. U.S., a case involving an anomalous resentencing issue under the First Step Act, and though they may hold that the statute is unambiguous, they could also decide the case on narrow, practical grounds, say attorneys at Bracewell.

  • Series

    Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations

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    In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.

  • Discretionary Compensation Lessons From 7th Circ. Ruling

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    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Das v. Tata established that contract disclaimers don't automatically bar claims under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, underscoring the limits of compensation systems that purport to grant employers unilateral discretion, say attorneys at Schoenberg Finkel.

  • Gas Contract Fight Holds Lessons On Force Majeure Clauses

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    Ongoing litigation over gas deliveries during Winter Storm Uri underscores the need for precision and foresight when negotiating force majeure clauses in contracts — particularly in the energy sector, where climate-related disruptions and market volatility are inevitable, but often unpredictable, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • Justices Likely To Stay In ERISA's Bounds On Pleadings

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    The arguments in Cunningham v. Cornell showed the U.S. Supreme Court's willingness to resolve a circuit split regarding Employee Retirement Income Security Act pleading standards by staying within ERISA's confines, while instructing courts regarding what must be pled to survive a motion to dismiss, says Ryan Curtis at Fennemore Craig.

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