Appellate

  • October 24, 2024

    High Court Asked To Toss Texas Stay Of Green Card Rule

    An immigrant rights group asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to wipe out a Texas order freezing a new program that would allow certain noncitizen relatives of U.S. citizens to stay in the country while seeking green cards, arguing the court improperly used a procedural tool to effectively issue injunctive relief.

  • October 24, 2024

    Bank Groups Appeal Loss In Suit Over CFPB Small Biz Rules

    Lender trade groups that sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over its reporting requirements for small businesses have appealed to the Fifth Circuit after a Texas federal judge granted the bureau's request for summary judgment in August.

  • October 24, 2024

    2nd Circ. Says Healthcare Arbitrations Were Properly Halted

    The Second Circuit affirmed Thursday that a lower court properly halted a group of healthcare providers from pursuing thousands of arbitrations against State Farm as part of an alleged massive fraudulent scheme, ruling in a novel opinion the injunction did not violate federal arbitration law.

  • October 24, 2024

    IP Forecast: Inhibrx Co-Founder Faces Biotech Secrets Trial

    A Wilmington federal jury next week will hear a trade secrets lawsuit that accuses a biotech executive of helping himself to confidential information about cancer treatment antibodies while being employed as an expert in an unrelated $200 million arbitration proceeding. Here's a spotlight on that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

  • October 24, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Revives Lenovo Bid For SEP Anti-Suit Injunction

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday gave Lenovo a new shot at securing an order that could bar Ericsson from enforcing injunctions in South America amid the companies' globe-spanning standard-essential patent dispute, faulting a lower court's reasoning for rejecting Lenovo's request.

  • October 24, 2024

    No Tax Break For Bad Debt Investors, Wash. Justices Say

    The Washington State Supreme Court said Thursday that a group of funds that buy and sell distressed credit card debt can't claim a state business tax deduction on investment income because those investments were not incidental to their main business purpose.

  • October 24, 2024

    Trade Orgs Back Google's Bid For 9th Circ. Play Store Pause

    Trade groups and cybersecurity experts have told the Ninth Circuit to extend the pause on the mandate forcing Google to open up its Play Store and help rival app stores compete through that distribution mechanism, backing Google with amicus briefs warning of major disruptions to the app ecosystem.

  • October 24, 2024

    7th Circ. Doubts Satanic Temple Can Wage Abortion Fight

    A Seventh Circuit panel appeared skeptical Thursday that the Satanic Temple had standing to challenge Indiana's near-complete abortion ban, with questioning turning contentious when one judge pointed out that the religious organization would be blocked from providing abortion drugs through telehealth appointments even without the law. 

  • October 24, 2024

    Judges Doubt 'Troublesome' Comments Warrant New Trial

    Washington appellate judges appeared skeptical Thursday that a handful of comments could've triggered jury bias and tainted the trial of a Palestinian woman's medical malpractice case, though one judge called it "troublesome" that defense counsel told jurors the accused doctor was "from this part of the world."

  • October 24, 2024

    Wash. High Court Lets Anti-Tax Ballot Measure Show Impact

    Elections officials are permitted to place financial disclosure information next to a Washington state ballot measure that would repeal the state's tax on capital gains, the Washington Supreme Court ruled Thursday, upholding a trial court.

  • October 24, 2024

    4th Circ. Affirms Dismissal Of Crypto Theft Coverage

    The Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court's ruling that an individual's homeowners policy didn't cover his loss of $170,000 in cryptocurrency to an alleged scam, agreeing with a Virginia federal court that the loss didn't constitute a "direct physical loss."

  • October 24, 2024

    FCC Won't Hold Off Prison Phone Rate Caps During Suits

    The Federal Communications Commission has turned down three bids for the agency to shelve new prison phone service rate caps during legal appeals of the FCC's rule, saying such lawsuits are unlikely to prevail.

  • October 24, 2024

    DOJ Pushes Justices To Revive Bid-Rigging Conviction

    Federal prosecutors told the U.S. Supreme Court that the Fourth Circuit got it wrong last year when it vacated the bid-rigging conviction of aluminum pipe maker Contech's former executive, arguing Wednesday that agreements between firms can be per se unlawful even when they have a vertical relationship.

  • October 24, 2024

    Enviro Attys Must Teach Judges Science, Wash. Justice Says

    Attorneys shouldn't assume that judges are up to speed on scientific evidence that they're reviewing and instead should work on building judges' knowledge and helping them "feel smart," a Washington Supreme Court justice told environmental lawyers on Thursday.

  • October 24, 2024

    Colo. Justices Hesitant To Extend Personhood To Elephants

    Colorado Supreme Court justices appeared unlikely Thursday to grant habeas corpus rights to elephants in a zoo, repeatedly asking an animal rights group seeking to send the elephants to a sanctuary where the court should draw the line on personhood.

  • October 24, 2024

    Ga. Elections Official To Appeal Certification 'Discretion' Loss

    A Fulton County, Georgia, elections official who recently lost a lawsuit in which she tried to assert her purported "discretion" to certify vote results said Wednesday she plans to appeal the decision to the state's Court of Appeals.

  • October 24, 2024

    TikTok Won't Get 3rd Circ. Rehearing Of Section 230 Ruling

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday turned down TikTok's request for an en banc rehearing of a panel decision that the social media company's "For You Page" algorithm isn't entitled to immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in a case over a 10-year-old's death.

  • October 24, 2024

    EPA Can't Rush Truck Electrification, DC Circ. Hears

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a trucking industry group have thrown their support behind challengers' attempts to upend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles, telling the D.C. Circuit that the agency is trying to accomplish too much too soon.

  • October 24, 2024

    Meet The Candidates Vying For Texas Supreme Court Seats

    A trio of Republican incumbents are looking to maintain the full GOP makeup of the Texas Supreme Court in next month's general election amid challenges from Democratic candidates looking for promotions from lower state courts.

  • October 24, 2024

    DC Circ. Ruling Endangers Distressed Texas Area, Port Says

    The owner of the Port of Brownsville in Texas is urging the D.C. Circuit to consider the devastating impacts a panel's decision to vacate Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reauthorization orders for two major liquefied natural gas projects threatens to impose on the region.

  • October 24, 2024

    Incoming NJ Judge Wins Appellate Ruling To Collect Pension

    A former deputy attorney general and Camden County prosecutor will be able to collect her state pension while serving on the Superior Court of New Jersey, a state appeals court ruled Thursday in a published opinion.

  • October 24, 2024

    Pot Processor Can't Get Reversal Of Ohio License Denial

    An Ohio state appeals court won't let a would-be cannabis processor undo the denial of its bid for a provisional processing license, saying there's no indication that the state regulators abused their discretion in scoring the company low regarding security and contamination risks.

  • October 24, 2024

    Conn. High Court Snapshot: $13M Tax Appeals, Will Dispute

    The Connecticut Supreme Court's second term of the 2024-2025 season will commence Monday with a dispute over whether an attorney bungled a will that sought to divide a $845,368 TD Ameritrade account among five beneficiaries, only one of whom received any cash.

  • October 24, 2024

    Pa. Justices OK In-Person Votes For Nixed Mail-In Ballots

    Voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania whose mail-in ballots are rejected as defective and uncountable haven't technically "voted," and can replace those votes with provisional ballots to be verified and counted, a split state Supreme Court ruled late Wednesday.

  • October 24, 2024

    Atty Escapes Suspension Over $1M Fee Bid For $125K Awards

    A Pennsylvania Supreme Court panel on Thursday denied a 90-day suspension recommendation by the Disciplinary Board against a Lackawanna County personal injury attorney who filed a petition for more than $1 million in attorney fees from an insurance company he sued on behalf of his client.

Expert Analysis

  • Conn. Court Split May Lead To Vertical Forum Shopping

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    As shown by a recent ruling in State v. Exxon Mobil, Connecticut state and federal courts are split on personal jurisdiction, and until the Connecticut Supreme Court steps in, parties may be incentivized to forum shop, causing foreign entities to endure costly litigation and uncertain liability, says Matthew Gibbons at Shipman & Goodwin.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Fla. Insurer-Breach Cases Split On Unrepaired Property Issue

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    A Florida appellate court's recent decision in Universal v. Qureshi is directly at odds with a 2020 decision from another Florida appellate court, and raises important questions for policyholders and insurers about the proper measure of damages in breach claims involving unrepaired property, say Andrea DeField and Yaniel Abreu at Hunton.

  • Revisiting The Crime-Fraud Exception After Key Trump Cases

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    Evidence issues in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and classified documents cases involving former President Donald Trump offer an opportunity to restudy elements and implications of the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege and the work product doctrine, noting the courts' careful scrutiny of these matters, say Robert Hoff and Paul Tuchmann at Wiggin and Dana.

  • Enviro Policy Trends That Will Continue Beyond The Election

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    Come October in a presidential election year, the policy world feels like a winner-take-all scenario, with the outcome of the vote determining how or even whether we are regulated — but there are several key ongoing trends that will continue to drive environmental regulation regardless of the election results, say J. Michael Showalter and Samuel Rasche at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 2 High Court Securities Cases Could Clarify Pleading Rules

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    In granting certiorari in a pair of securities fraud cases against Facebook and Nvidia, respectively, the U.S. Supreme Court has signaled its intention to align interpretations of the heightened pleading standard under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act amid its uneven application among the circuit courts, say attorneys at V&E.

  • Opinion

    Failure To Use Apportionment Has Distorted Patent Damages

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    Apportionment is the solution to the problem of inflated patent infringement damages, and courts should return to focusing on the smallest saleable unit as the starting point for apportionment analysis, say William Lee at WilmerHale and Mark Lemley at Stanford Law School.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • A Look At Recent Case Law On Expedited Judgment In NY

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    A number of recent New York state court decisions clarify and refine the contours surrounding Civil Practice Law and Rule 3213, providing landlords, lenders and other payees guidance on how to seek accelerated judgment in certain litigation, says Alexander Lycoyannis at Holland & Knight.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Must Halt For-Profit Climate Tort Proliferation

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    If the U.S. Supreme Court does not seize the opportunity presented by Honolulu v. Sunoco to reassert federal authority over interstate pollution regulation, the resulting frenzy of profit-driven environmental mass torts against energy companies will stunt American competitiveness and muddle climate policy, says Gale Norton at Liberty Energy.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Allergan Ruling Reinforces Value Of Patent Term Adjustments

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Allergan v. MSN, which held that patent term adjustment awards for first-filed, first-issued patents cannot be stripped away by later-issuing child patents that expire earlier, means practitioners must consider the potential impact of any action that might reduce the adjustment amount, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • A Class Action Trend Tests Limit Of Courts' Equity Powers

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    A troubling trend has developed in federal class action litigation as some counsel and judges attempt to push injunctive relief classes under Rule 23(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure beyond the traditional limits of federal courts' equitable powers, say attorneys at Jones Day.

  • What's In The Cards For CFTC's Election Betting Case

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    A D.C. federal judge's Sept. 12 ruling, allowing KalshiEx to offer derivative contracts trading on the outcome of the U.S. congressional elections over objections from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, could mark a watershed moment in the permissibility of election betting if upheld on appeal, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

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