Appellate

  • June 27, 2024

    Supreme Court Freezes EPA's 'Good Neighbor' Rule

    The U.S. Supreme Court stayed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to reduce cross-state pollution Thursday, finding several states and industry groups challenging it in court will likely prevail on the merits.

  • June 27, 2024

    Justices Limit SEC's Use Of In-House Courts

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday curtailed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's use of its in-house court system, saying the accused have a right to a jury trial when financial penalties are on the table.

  • June 27, 2024

    Justices Nix 3rd-Party Liability Releases In Purdue Ch. 11 Plan

    The U.S. Supreme Court shot down the validity of nonconsensual third-party releases in an opinion issued Thursday in the case of bankrupt drugmaker Purdue Pharma LP, potentially exposing the Sackler family members who own the company to personal liability for the company's role in the opioid crisis.

  • June 26, 2024

    5th Circ. Says SEC Must Reconsider Axing Proxy Regulations

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday vacated the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's decision to rescind a portion of Trump-era rules requiring proxy advisory firms to notify companies about their advice to investors, ruling that the agency didn't adequately explain the abrupt change.

  • June 26, 2024

    Biotech Co. Allowed To Appeal Red Cross Antitrust Immunity

    The American Red Cross' immunity from antitrust allegations that it smothered competition for testing platelets for bacteria is back in play after a Massachusetts federal judge agreed Wednesday to let the biotech company suing the blood donation giant ask the First Circuit to revive its claims.

  • June 26, 2024

    Justices Leave Blurry Line In Place On Misinformation Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Wednesday to reverse a Fifth Circuit order prohibiting the Biden administration from joining with social media platforms to fight misinformation leaves an important First Amendment question unanswered and left Missouri's attorney general promising a continuing fight against what he called a "censorship regime."

  • June 26, 2024

    Justices Chide 5th Circ. In Biden Social Media Case

    The Fifth Circuit relied on "clearly erroneous" facts and an overgeneralized view of standing when it ordered the Biden administration to stop working with social media platforms to combat COVID-19 and election misinformation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday as it threw out a challenge to the government's actions.

  • June 26, 2024

    Ga. High Court Told To Skip Inventor's 'Clerical Mistake' Fight

    A unit of the analytics giant Clarivate is telling Georgia's highest court that a neurosurgeon's $102 million legal malpractice case over "a clerical mistake" in a patent filing from an aggrieved former FisherBroyles client is definitely "not a cert-worthy case."

  • June 26, 2024

    3rd Circ. Won't Revive Distillery Investor's RICO, Secrets Case

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday agreed that the main investor of a Pennsylvania distillery can't revive his federal racketeering or trade secret claims against a former business partner and others related to the craft liquor business.

  • June 26, 2024

    Fla. Court Paves Way For $1B Miami Highway Expansion

    A Florida appeals court on Wednesday affirmed a decision overturning an administrative law judge's ruling against a $1 billion Miami-Dade County plan for a highway extension into wetlands and agricultural areas, paving the way for the controversial plan to move forward.

  • June 26, 2024

    Chamber Backs 9th Circ. Call To Nix SEC's 'Gag Rule'

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is among those calling on the Ninth Circuit to overturn a long-standing U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission policy that settling parties not be allowed to deny the allegations against them, saying that the so-called gag rule threatens the free speech rights of the accused.

  • June 26, 2024

    Bill Nye Asks Calif. Panel To Reboot His Disney Royalty Fight

    Bill Nye the Science Guy urged a California appellate court Wednesday to revive allegations that The Walt Disney Co. cheated him out of millions in royalties for his famous educational show, arguing the trial judge erred by deciding the contract and accounting dispute instead of sending it to a jury.

  • June 26, 2024

    State Farm Loses Bid To Skip Atty Fees On Expert Technicality

    A Texas appeals court found that State Farm may still have to pony up attorney fees in a case involving an underinsured motorist claim, saying Wednesday that the trial court got it wrong when it granted the insurance company's motion to strike the motorist's expert designation in a bifurcated trial on the fee issue.

  • June 26, 2024

    EU Court Tosses Spanish Shipping Cos. State Aid Appeal

    A European court on Wednesday once again dismissed a 2014 challenge to the European Commission's move to block a Spanish tax scheme benefiting Spanish shipbuilders and their suppliers.

  • June 26, 2024

    4th Circ. Douses Fireworks Co.'s Challenge To CPSC Notices

    The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday affirmed the dismissal of a fireworks importer's challenge to safety notices from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, saying the notices are not a final agency action that can be reviewed under the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • June 26, 2024

    Bribery Ruling Could Disrupt ComEd Verdict, Madigan Trial

    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling Wednesday narrowing the federal bribery law long relied upon to curb local corruption is expected to make waves in two prominent Chicago cases, attorneys say, with one likening it to a "nuclear bomb" exploding prosecutors' convictions of a former ComEd executive and lobbyists.

  • June 26, 2024

    Feds To Reassess Whether Garage Door Imports Violated Patents

    The U.S. International Trade Commission will be reviewing an administrative law judge's ruling that Nortek Inc. violated U.S. trade law by importing products that infringe on a rival's intellectual property.

  • June 26, 2024

    Choctaw Nation Wants 9th Circ. Rehearing In CVS Arb. Dispute

    The Choctaw Nation has asked the Ninth Circuit for a rehearing in an effort to undo the court's decision forcing it to arbitrate a dispute over prescription drug reimbursements with subsidiaries of CVS Health Corp., arguing it never waived sovereign immunity and did not agree to such proceedings on its Recovery Act claims.

  • June 26, 2024

    SpaceX Beach Closure Challenge Is 'Illogical,' Texas Says

    Texas is asking its high court to review a decision that forces several government entities to face an environmental group's challenge to the closure of a beach for SpaceX activities, writing that the appellate court's adoption of the group's theory of open beach access "clashes" with state law and court precedent.

  • June 26, 2024

    11th Circ. Urged To Toss $62M Order Against Forex Co. CEO

    An imprisoned former CEO of an investment company urged the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to toss a multimillion-dollar penalty against him obtained by the federal government, saying he never operated foreign exchange commodity pools and didn't invest borrowed funds on behalf of lenders.

  • June 26, 2024

    Ex-Worker Says NC Justices Needn't Review Carcinogen Test

    A former graduate student worker for North Carolina State University has told the Tar Heel State's highest court that the school is trying to delay a potential lawsuit by continuing its fight to keep the ex-employee and cancer patient from investigating a campus building for carcinogens.

  • June 26, 2024

    Apple Watch Improvement Is 'Inferior,' Docs Tell 9th Circ.

    Four cardiac specialists backed medical monitoring startup AliveCor against Apple in a Ninth Circuit amicus brief Tuesday arguing a district court wrongly nixed antitrust claims by crediting the phaseout of a heart rate monitoring algorithm as an improvement when all it did was deny patient access to "potentially life-saving" technology.

  • June 26, 2024

    Supreme Court Bribery Ruling Limits Government's 'Arsenal'

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Wednesday limiting the reach of a federal bribery law has removed a "novel" tool that prosecutors employed in a wide range of public corruption cases and could result in fewer prosecutions of state and local officials, experts say.

  • June 26, 2024

    Texas Uses Justices' Gun Ruling To Defend Deportation Law

    Texas has told the Fifth Circuit that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision maintaining a ban on firearm ownership for domestic abusers supports its state law authorizing the arrest and deportation of migrants.

  • June 26, 2024

    NJ Panel Tosses Malpractice Suit Over COVID-19 Death

    A New Jersey appellate panel on Wednesday dismissed medical malpractice claims against a nursing home and doctor who discharged a patient without waiting for the results of her COVID-19 test, which turned out to be positive, an omission that preceded the death of her husband from the virus.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • TTAB Ruling Raises Foreign-Language Mark Questions

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    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's recent decision to cancel the Veuve Olivier registration due to its similarity to Veuve Clicquot brings new focus to the treatment of foreign terms and the doctrine of foreign equivalents, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • What A Louisiana Ruling Means For Pipeline Crossings

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    After a Louisiana appeals court's recent ruling on a conflict between two pipeline projects, operators and developers should review pipeline crossings to ensure that they occur at safe distances — and keep in mind the value of crossing agreements for protecting both sides in case of a dispute, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • Examining Illinois Genetic Privacy Law Amid Deluge Of Claims

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    After a federal court certified an Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act class action in August, claims under the law have skyrocketed, so employers, insurers and others that collect health and genetic information should ensure compliance with the act to limit litigation risk, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • Opinion

    Climate Change Shouldn't Be Litigated Under State Laws

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    The U.S. Supreme Court should reverse the Hawaii Supreme Court's October decision in Honolulu v. Sunoco that Hawaii could apply state law to emissions generated outside the state, because it would lead to a barrage of cases seeking to resolve a worldwide problem according to 50 different variations of state law, says Andrew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.

  • Del. Ruling Highlights M&A Deal Adviser Conflict Disclosures

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    The Delaware Supreme Court recently reversed the Court of Chancery's dismissal of challenges to Nordic Capital's acquisition of Inovalon, demonstrating the importance of full disclosure of financial adviser conflicts when a going-private merger seeks business judgment rule review, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Key Antitrust Class Certification Questions Remain Unclear

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    The U.S. Supreme Court, by recently rejecting certiorari in Visa v. National ATM, turned down the opportunity to clarify how to analyze disputed evidence bearing on the certification of antitrust class actions, leaving the applicable standards unclear instead of resolving this split of authority, says Jonathan Berman at Jones Day.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • What's Notable In JAMS' New Mass Arbitration Rules

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    The Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services’ recently released guidelines, coming on the heels of similar American Arbitration Association amendments, suggests that mass arbitrations will remain an efficient means for consumers to vindicate their rights against companies, say Jonathan Waisnor and Brandon Heitmann at Labaton Keller. 

  • Fostering Employee Retention Amid Shaky DEI Landscape

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    Ongoing challenges to the legality of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs are complicating efforts to use DEI as an employee retention tool, but with the right strategic approach employers can continue to recruit and retain diverse talent — even after the FTC’s ban on noncompetes, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • 'Fat Leonard' Case Shows High Bar For Rescinding Guilty Plea

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    Prosecutors’ recent move in the “Fat Leonard” bribery case, supporting several defendants’ motions to withdraw their guilty pleas, is extremely unusual – and its contrast with other prosecutions demonstrates that the procedural safeguards at plea hearings are far from enough, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.

  • Justices Clarify FAA But Leave Behind Important Questions

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Bissonnette v. LePage firmly shuts the door on any argument that the Federal Arbitration Act's Section 1 exemption is limited to transportation workers whose employers transport goods on behalf of others, but two major issues remain unresolved, say Joshua Wesneski and Crystal Weeks at Weil.

  • Is The Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?

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    Though private businesses have faced a decadelong deluge of digital accessibility complaints in the absence of clear regulations or uniformity among the courts, attorneys at Epstein Becker address how recent federal courts’ pushback against serial Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiffs and the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed government accessibility standards may presage a break in the downpour.

  • Rebuttal

    Double-Patenting Ruling Shows Terminal Disclaimers' Value

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    While a recent Law360 guest article seems to argue that the Federal Circuit’s Cellect decision last year robs patent owners of lawful patent term, the ruling actually identifies how terminal disclaimers are the solution to the problem of obviousness-type double patenting, say Jane Love and Robert Trenchard at Gibson Dunn.

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