Appellate

  • July 17, 2026

    Conn. Justices Bar Town From Killing Errant Forest Tax Break

    A Connecticut municipal assessor did not have the authority to terminate a property tax break for forest use that was erroneously granted, the state Supreme Court said Friday, suggesting that state lawmakers could clarify the law on the matter.

  • July 17, 2026

    Ex-FDIC, CFPB Chiefs Back Colo. In 10th Circ. Rate Law Case

    Two former members of the FDIC's board of directors, one of whom also led the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, filed an amicus brief urging the Tenth Circuit to uphold a panel's ruling reinstating a Colorado law intended to curb high-cost lending in the state that a lower court initially shot down.

  • July 17, 2026

    Fla. Justices Uphold ISIS-Radicalized Teen's Sentences

    The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that a double life without parole sentence handed down to a juvenile convicted of murder who was radicalized by ISIS propaganda on the internet does not violate state law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent forbidding mandatory life sentences for young people.

  • July 17, 2026

    DC Circ. Backs Maximum Prison Term For Trump Tax Leaker

    The D.C. Circuit has upheld the maximum prison sentence handed down in the case of an IRS contractor who pled guilty to leaking President Donald Trump's tax returns, along with thousands of others, ruling Friday that the punishment was "reasonable."

  • July 17, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Cops Had Reason To Search Felon's Home

    A Sixth Circuit panel has rejected a convicted felon's appeal seeking to suppress evidence from a search that found three firearms and contraband in his house, saying police had a reasonable suspicion that he was hiding criminal activities at the house.

  • July 17, 2026

    BIA Says Girl's Foster Care Risk Can't Block Dad's Removal

    The Board of Immigration of Appeals disagreed that a 6-year-old girl could face "exceptional hardship" in foster care after her Guatemalan father was deported, when he could just take her along instead, overturning a cancellation of removal an immigration judge granted.

  • July 17, 2026

    Conn. Justices Uphold Nonprofit Center's Renovation Plan

    The Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday said a nonprofit cultural center was legally clear to have renovated a building on its nearly 80-acre New Canaan property, finding a town zoning appeals board in 2019 correctly denied neighbors' challenges to a permit obtained from a zoning enforcement officer.

  • July 17, 2026

    Medical Groups Urge 1st Circ. To Back Vaccine Panel Freeze

    The American Academy of Pediatrics and other public health organizations on Friday defended before the First Circuit a Massachusetts judge's decision to block Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s vaccine policy committee appointments, countering claims that the judge overreached.

  • July 17, 2026

    Top Transportation Rulings: Midyear 2026 Report

    --EDITING-- U.S. Supreme Court rulings determining that freight brokers can face state-based negligence lawsuits and that last-mile drivers can also be exempt from arbitration are among the biggest court decisions of the first half of 2026 impacting the transportation industry. Here, Law360 highlights a few of the biggest transportation-related rulings of 2026 so far.

  • July 17, 2026

    Bankrupt Pa. City Can Keep Disputed Revenue, 3rd Circ. Says

    The Third Circuit ruled Friday that the bankrupt city of Chester, Pennsylvania, gets to keep income from a casino, a trash incinerator and other sources that secured its debt, finding that its creditors' liens on the revenues did not survive Chester's Chapter 9 filing.

  • July 17, 2026

    7th Circ. Admonishes Atty Over 'Astonishing' Bogus Citations

    The Seventh Circuit has admonished but declined to sanction an attorney for a brief that included what a judge called "an astonishing number of erroneous and even hallucinated citations."

  • July 17, 2026

    4th Circ. Says MS-13 Threats Didn't Support Asylum Bid

    The Fourth Circuit declined to revisit a Guatemalan man's request for asylum, finding he was not specifically targeted by MS-13 because of his membership in a particular group or his beliefs, but instead was a victim of general gang activity.

  • July 17, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Upholds PTAB Ax Of Treadmill Patent Claims

    The Federal Circuit on Friday backed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board finding that claims in a Woodway patent on its line of Curve treadmills were invalid, finding the company misinterpreted how the board analyzed key patent language.

  • July 17, 2026

    The Biggest Trade Secret Rulings Of 2026: A Midyear Report

    The Federal Circuit issued two of the year's most consequential trade secret rulings within days of each other, wiping out Insulet's victory in a wearable insulin patch pump case while reopening a software company's path to potentially larger damages in a dispute with Ford Motor Co. Here, Law360 highlights the biggest trade secret decisions so far this year.

  • July 17, 2026

    2nd Circ. Backs Public Defender's Firing For Computer Misuse

    The Second Circuit has backed a district court's dismissal of a former public defender's lawsuit against Oneida County, New York, for firing him after he used his work computer to work on his private practice on county time, agreeing that the county did not violate his privacy rights or breach their contract.

  • July 17, 2026

    EEOC Faults Judge's 'Idiosyncratic' Views In 10th Circ. Appeal

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission urged the Tenth Circuit to reverse a Kansas federal judge's refusal to enter a $300,000 consent decree resolving claims that Walmart failed to accommodate two deaf workers, arguing he relied on personal views instead of governing approval factors.

  • July 17, 2026

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    The past week in London has seen Snapchat and Dolby press on with a fresh infringement claim in their ongoing patent battle, The Telegraph face an intellectual property claim by a photo archive, a group of international human rights barristers and chambers sued, and oil business Equinor embroiled in a contract dispute with BP after recently acquiring full ownership in their offshore project. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • July 17, 2026

    Wash. Gov.'s High Court Pick Aims To Hold Off 3 Challengers

    In one of the most hotly contested races in this year's Washington Supreme Court, Justice Theo Angelis — who took the high court bench in April after being appointed by Gov. Bob Ferguson — will attempt to defend his Position 5 seat from three challengers, each with a different pitch to voters.

  • July 17, 2026

    Top Gov't Contracting Decisions Of 2026: Midyear Report

    The U.S. Supreme Court and federal circuit courts decided several consequential cases impacting contractors this year, including weighing whether contractors can immediately appeal district court denials of their immunity claims and clarifying what a successful protester needs to challenge an agency's decision to continue a contract during a bid protest.

  • July 16, 2026

    Kioxia Hit With $229M Verdict In Viasat Memory Patent Suit

    Japanese memory device company Kioxia owes Viasat more than $229 million for infringing the American communication company's flash memory patent, a Texas federal jury determined Thursday.

  • July 16, 2026

    Meta Can't Keep Certain Docs Secret In DC Social Media Row

    Washington, D.C.'s highest court refused to make a trial court vacate discovery orders requiring Meta to disclose certain communications concerning internal research related to the well-being of young social media users, saying Thursday that Meta failed to show it had a "clear and indisputable" right to such relief.

  • July 16, 2026

    FDA, Drugmakers Urge 5th Circ. To Allow Abortion Pill By Mail

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the makers of the abortion medication mifepristone have urged the Fifth Circuit not to reinstate an in-person dispensing requirement, arguing that doing so would disrupt the government's ongoing review of the drug, "threaten chaos" and defy the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • July 16, 2026

    Calif. Justices Put Kibosh On Appeal Strategy In Med Mal Case

    The California Supreme Court on Thursday clarified the state's final judgment rule and held that a voluntary dismissal intended to speed up appellate review of adverse trial court rulings in a medical malpractice case essentially forfeited the case for the plaintiffs.

  • July 16, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Asked Not To Shift Moderna Vax Patent Case To Gov't

    Drugmakers like Novartis, former federal judges, a startup group and others have urged the Federal Circuit to reject calls to shift liability in a COVID-19 vaccine patent suit against Moderna to the federal government, saying that doing so would undermine patent rights.

  • July 16, 2026

    NJ Justices Clarify FCA Amendment In Reviving Bank Suit

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday revived whistleblower claims accusing Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other financial giants of fraud in the setting of interest rates on certain municipal bonds, saying that a lower court improperly blocked the attorney general from exercising authority in the litigation.

Expert Analysis

  • Fed. Circ. Licensing Rulings Shed Light On Patentee Standing

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    Two recent decisions from the Federal Circuit provide a useful framework for evaluating whether a patent license agreement preserves a sufficient exclusionary interest to support future patent infringement claims, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Asylum Ruling Signals Larger Separation Of Powers Battle

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado that border officials may turn away asylum-seekers without inspection is part of a broader conversation about the reach of institutional safeguards that subject governmental authority to legal constraint, says Dree Collopy at American University's Washington College of Law.

  • Solar's Momentum At Mid-2026 Will Help It Overcome Snags

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    The rapid expansion of U.S. solar development in the first half of 2026 is likely continue its pace, even amid ongoing shifts in federal trade policy and supply chain regulations, obstacles to permitting reform, and an increasing divide between states enacting policies to encourage or stymie project development, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • How Justices Stayed Off The Geofence In Location Data Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Chatrie v. United States decision reaffirms Fourth Amendment protections for location data but avoids more complicated questions about geofence warrants, say attorneys at Adams Duerk.

  • Remote Work Rulings Show ADA Fights Hinge On Process

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    Two opposite outcomes in recent Fifth Circuit and D.C. federal court cases underscore that the legality of denying employees' disability accommodation requests for remote work depends less on broad policy and more on how it's applied, says Paul Sweeney at Ice Miller.

  • Fed Autonomy Rests On Narrow Exception After Justices Rule

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Trump v. Cook and Trump v. Slaughter expand presidential removal power while temporarily preserving the Federal Reserve’s independence, but there is uncertainty about which of the Fed’s authorities fall within the court’s narrow monetary-policy exception, says Keith Bradley at Squire Patton.

  • Series

    Being A Magician Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I've developed as a lifelong magician have translated directly into tangible benefits in the courtroom because performing magic and trying cases both live at the intersection of psychology, storytelling, timing and disciplined rehearsal, says Mark Dombroff at Fox Rothschild.

  • How Litigants Are Testing Conversion Therapy Ruling's Scope

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    Litigants are already using the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Chiles v. Salazar ruling, which applied strict scrutiny to Colorado’s conversion therapy ban, to challenge laws limiting algorithmic rental pricing, artificial intelligence-based discrimination and anti-union employer speech, and courts must soon decide Chiles’ First Amendment limits, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • How Justices' TPS Ruling Affects Workforce Planning

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent holding in Mullin v. Doe that courts lack jurisdiction to review temporary protected status determinations greenlights the end of TPS for thousands of Syrian and Haitian nationals, and means employers must reevaluate TPS-designees' employability while avoiding discriminatory document practices, says attorney Richard Herman.

  • How Pfizer Won Fed. Circ. Patent Dispute By 1 Carbon Atom

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    The Federal Circuit's recent refusal to revive a patent in Enanta Pharmaceuticals v. Pfizer over an alleged typo creating a one-atom difference in a COVID-19 treatment application hands defendants a template for potentially converting a triable fact question into an early dispositive ruling, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • What To Know Before Justices Rule In Title IX Employee Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court is poised to decide whether Title IX protections extend to employees alleging sex discrimination in Crowther v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, which could have significant implications for higher education institutions and their employees, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Highlights The Cost Of Incorrect Inventorship

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Fortress Iron v. Digger Specialties, affirming that a fencing company's patents were invalid due to a missing co-inventor, is a reminder that confirming correct inventorship should be a critical part of every patent invalidity workup, say attorneys at Neal Gerber.

  • Future Of Fed Independence Shaky After Justices' Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Trump v. Cook preserved the Federal Reserve's formal independence but could invite the president to remove board members with just modest protections, leaving the central bank's autonomy uncertain and potentially setting up fresh clashes over other agencies, says Steven Schwinn at the University of Chicago.

  • Series

    Mich. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    The second quarter brought several notable financial services law developments to Michigan, including a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on state tax foreclosures, progress on a money transmission modernization bill package, and continued legislative momentum on cryptocurrency and mortgage lending, say attorneys at Dykema.

  • Justices' Ruling Alters Playing Field For State Subpoena Suits

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in First Choice Women’s Resource Centers v. Davenport will spark more federal court challenges to state subpoenas, but procedural defenses will block some merits decisions, so plaintiffs must carefully time and manage parallel federal and state proceedings, say attorneys at Troutman.

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