Appellate

  • May 21, 2026

    BREAKING: Justices Back IAM Pension Fund In Withdrawal Liability Battle

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that multiemployer pension plan actuaries can retroactively change assumptions underlying their withdrawal liability calculations, handing a win to trustees of a union pension fund. 

  • May 20, 2026

    Bad AI Citation Sanction Slashed Amid 7th Circ. Guidance

    An Indiana federal judge Wednesday rejected a magistrate judge's recommendation that an attorney be sanctioned $7,500 for including faulty, artificial intelligence-generated legal citations in a discovery brief, pointing to recent Seventh Circuit guidance and sanctioning him $2,000 instead.

  • May 20, 2026

    Calif. Panel Says Uber Not Liable For College Student's Death

    A California appeals court declined to reinstate a mother's lawsuit blaming Uber for her daughter's death after she was hit by cars on a freeway that was miles away from where she was dropped off by an Uber driver, ruling Wednesday those intervening events are too attenuated to find the company liable.

  • May 20, 2026

    DOJ, Drugmakers Spar After Justices Snub 6 Negotiation Suits

    The U.S. Department of Justice is trying to have it both ways in drug pricing litigation, telling the U.S. Supreme Court not to intervene before additional circuits decide pending challenges and then using this week's nonintervention as ammunition against those challenges, drugmakers are arguing at appeals courts.

  • May 20, 2026

    4th Circ. OKs Pipeline Work During Green Groups' Permit Suit

    A Fourth Circuit panel refused to order Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC to halt construction on an interstate pipeline, saying in an order Monday that environmental groups failed to persuade the judges that a recently issued discharge permit was arbitrary and capricious.

  • May 20, 2026

    La. Defends Challenged LNG Project Air Permit At 5th Circ.

    A Louisiana regulator told the Fifth Circuit environmental groups have no ground to support their challenge of a preconstruction permit approved for a major liquefied natural gas export terminal in Cameron Parish.

  • May 20, 2026

    2nd Circ. Skeptical Of Bid To Boost Drug Royalty Award

    A Second Circuit panel appeared unsympathetic during oral arguments on Wednesday to Acorda Therapeutics Inc.'s assertion that it should be awarded nearly $66 million beyond the $16.5 million it won in a multiple sclerosis drug dispute, with one judge remarking that the company is "kind of in the soup" because it chose arbitration.

  • May 20, 2026

    1st Circ. Allows Transfer Of RI Youth Care Info To Texas Court

    The First Circuit declined to halt a Texas federal court's order requiring a Rhode Island hospital to hand over records detailing its provision of gender-affirming care to minors, finding a Rhode Island agency failed to demonstrate that doing so would cause children in the state irreparable harm.

  • May 20, 2026

    NCAA's Maze Of Eligibility Rules Is Athletes' Latest Target

    A deluge of litigation targeting the NCAA's eligibility bylaws for allegedly limiting athletes' compensation has resulted in conflicting rulings from different courts, teeing up the possibility of a U.S. Supreme Court intervention.

  • May 20, 2026

    Refusing Sandoz Parent Dismissal 'Clear Error,' Court Told

    Sandoz's Swiss parent company wants a Pennsylvania federal judge to rethink her decision forcing it to face generic drug price-fixing claims from major employers like General Motors, arguing the court "conflates" Novartis AG with Sandoz AG, which was spun off in 2023.

  • May 20, 2026

    DC Circ. Orders FCC Response In News Distortion Dispute

    The D.C. Circuit ordered the Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday to respond to a call from several former agency leaders for court action that would compel the FCC into rethinking its controversial policy against "news distortion."

  • May 20, 2026

    Plaintiffs Not To Blame For Monsanto Pesticide Suit Delay

    Three women whose mother died from breast cancer have persuaded a California appeals court to reinstate their wrongful death lawsuit against pesticide maker Monsanto, ruling that the trial judge abused his discretion by dismissing the case when the company suffered no prejudice from the delay in prosecution.

  • May 20, 2026

    Antivax Health Workers Fight Uphill At 9th Circ. Over Firings

    Two Ninth Circuit panelists cast doubt Wednesday on an attempt by a group of former University of Washington employees to revive claims that they were wrongfully fired after they refused COVID-19 vaccination on religious grounds, with one judge remarking that unvaccinated workers "make the risk worse" in a healthcare setting.

  • May 20, 2026

    9th Circ. Tough On HP 401(k) Forfeiture Suit Revival Bid

    The Ninth Circuit appeared reluctant Wednesday to revive a suit alleging that HP Inc. violated federal benefits law by using forfeited 401(k) funds to defray employer-side contribution obligations, with judges questioning whether plan participants backed up allegations that the tech company hadn't been sufficiently loyal or prudent.

  • May 20, 2026

    9th Circ. Questions Jack Daniel's TM Win Over 'Bad Spaniels'

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned whether Jack Daniel's proved that any mark beyond its name was famous enough to support a tarnishment ruling against VIP Products' poop-themed "Bad Spaniels" dog toy, while pressing both sides on whether courts should compare the parties' marks alone or also consider the toy's bottle-like design and crude humor.

  • May 20, 2026

    FERC Erred Over Utility's Tax Deferral Method, DC Circ. Told

    Wholesale transmission customers of American Electric Power Co. Inc. units told the D.C. Circuit this week that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission wrongly allowed the utility giant to depart from an established method to allocate carried-forward tax allowances, increasing those customers' rates.

  • May 20, 2026

    Gas Co. Asks Court Review Agency's Allowances Decision

    Colorado Natural Gas Inc. urged a Colorado state judge to review a state agency's decision that the company says improperly expanded a 2023 statute intended to eliminate incentives for establishing gas service.

  • May 20, 2026

    7th Circ. Weighs If Abbott Warning Would Change NEC Care

    A Seventh Circuit judge on Wednesday pushed counsel for a mother asking to revive her lawsuit claiming Abbott Laboratories' infant formula caused her premature daughter to develop a fatal gut disease to address whether the mother had a burden to identify a more adequate warning that would have prompted her baby's treating physicians to act differently.

  • May 20, 2026

    NC Tenants Fight For $9.5M Asset Freeze In Landlord Row

    A class of tenants at a multifamily property in Durham, North Carolina, urged a state appellate court to uphold an order barring their landlord from transferring proceeds from the possible sale of the property out of state, while they litigate a $9.5 million suit over conditions at the property.

  • May 20, 2026

    Ballot Group Backs Ark. In 8th Circ. Gaming Permit Dispute

    A ballot group at the center of a voter referendum that revoked an Arkansas gaming permit for Cherokee Nation Entertainment is backing the state's right to enforce the ballot measure in the Eighth Circuit, arguing that state and Prohibition-era Supreme Court precedent confirms there's no protectable property interest in the license.

  • May 20, 2026

    8th Circ. Asked To Reconsider Video In Murder Appeal

    A man convicted along with his mother of murdering another man on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation has asked the Eighth Circuit to rehear his case, arguing that footage of the killing shouldn't have been admitted due to gaps in the recording.

  • May 20, 2026

    Gang 'Type' Crimes Don't Link To Activity, Ga. Justices Say

    The Georgia Supreme Court has vacated a state appellate court ruling against a man convicted under a state gang prevention law, finding that a jury in his case was given an incorrect instruction on a central element of the law and how his conduct could be related to gang activity.

  • May 20, 2026

    Pa. AG Aims To Revive Ban On Medicaid-Paid Abortions

    Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday plans to fight an appellate panel's ruling that Medicaid-funded abortions are a fundamental right to reproductive autonomy in the state.

  • May 20, 2026

    Immigration Board Says Late Venue Shift Lacked Good Cause

    The Board of Immigration Appeals shifted a case involving Brazilian nationals back to Boston after finding the immigration judge granted a change of venue without proper consideration and should have limited off-the-record discussions.

  • May 20, 2026

    Conn. Justices Let Energy Cos. Challenge $1M Order

    A Connecticut trial court was wrong to dismiss a declaratory judgment claim from a group of electricity suppliers that a state regulator ordered to pay more than $1 million for missing renewable energy targets, the state's highest court held Wednesday in partially restoring the companies' case.

Expert Analysis

  • Tracking Tech Suit Is A Risk Management Reminder For Cos.

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    The Fifth Circuit recently heard oral argument in Rand v. Eyemart Express — an appeal that could reshape the legal landscape for businesses that deploy tracking tech on their websites — underscoring the importance of proactive risk management for companies across multiple industries, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lesson: Diagnose Before Arguing

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    Law school often skips over explicitly teaching students how to determine what kind of problem a case presents before they commit to a particular doctrinal path, which risks building arguments that are internally coherent but externally misaligned, says Melanie Oxhorn at Kobre & Kim.

  • A Fed. Circ. Blueprint For Drafting Medical Device Patents

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    The Federal Circuit's decision in Constellation Designs v. LG last month, among other recent rulings, underscores the importance of emphasizing engineering, rather than clinical goals, when drafting patent claims for medical devices and software as a medical device, says Brandon Theiss at Volpe Koenig.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: EU's Arb. Defense From Russia

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    The EU's latest package of restrictive measures against Russia marks a significant shift from merely resisting Russian jurisdictional tactics to proactively protecting arbitration and exclusive jurisdiction agreements, elevating the procedural importance of dispute resolution clauses, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

  • Becoming The Biz-Savvy GC That Portfolio Companies Need

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    Candidates for general counsel roles at private equity-backed portfolio companies should prioritize proving their sector-specific experience, commercial judgment and ease with uncertainty — and attorneys hoping to be candidates in five to 10 years should start working on those skills now, says Dimitri Mastrocola at Major Lindsey.

  • Nielsen Appeal Tests Antitrust Limits Of Pricing And Bundling

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    In Cumulus v. Nielsen, the Second Circuit is considering a structural pattern in which a monopolist exploits upstream market power to foreclose downstream competition, which could potentially offer broad insight into how courts will assess exclusionary bundling and pricing defenses under antitrust law, says Luke Hasskamp at Bona Law.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Courts Can Survive The Tech Revolution

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    Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Lino Lipinsky de Orlov discuss how artificial intelligence has already fundamentally altered the legal system and offer tips for courts navigating deepfakes, hallucinations and a gap in access to AI tools.

  • 'Skinny Label' Arguments Spotlight Induced Infringement Risk

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    Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Hikma Pharmaceuticals v. Amarin Pharma highlight the uncertain boundary between lawful generic competition through so-called skinny labels and induced patent infringement, with potential implications for patent holders’ communication, enforcement and causation strategies across industries, says Anton Hopen at Trenam.

  • A Framework For Habeas Relief After 5th Circ. Bond Ruling

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    Following the Fifth Circuit’s recent Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi decision foreclosing statutory bond for detained nonimmigrants not deemed admitted to the U.S., lawyers should adopt a framework that requests habeas relief pursuant to the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • 4th Circ. Ruling Will Rewrite Class Action Litigation Strategies

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Oliver v. Navy Federal Credit Union is the first from a federal circuit court to hold that motions to strike are inappropriate vehicles for challenging class allegations at the pleading stage, invalidating a tactic that had been used for decades, says Jim Francis at Francis Mailman.

  • Startup Founder Disputes Increasingly Turn On Governance

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    Recent Delaware developments suggest that as courts place increasing emphasis on board process, independence and oversight in founder-led startups, the growing intersection of governance, technology risk and investor oversight is accelerating both the emergence and escalation of founder disputes, says mediator Frank Burke.

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

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    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • Salt-N-Pepa Suit May Shake Up Music Copyright Issue

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    James v. UMG Recordings is a copyright termination rights case that provides an opportunity for the Second Circuit to make concrete choices about grant language, authorship, work-for-hire status and survival of derivative works, says attorney Abdul Abdullahi.

  • Opinion

    5th Circ.'s Abortion Pill Order Is Shaky On Multiple Grounds

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent order in Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion medication mifepristone, seems to turn federalism upside-down, and is also questionable for several other reasons, says Gregory Curtner at Curtner Law.

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