Appellate

  • June 25, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Ship Patent Suit Against Apple Back To Texas

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday denied a bid from patent-owning technology company Haptic Inc. to send its infringement suit back to Texas after it was transferred to California earlier this year, saying it wasn't going to second-guess the lower court's decision.

  • June 25, 2024

    Drilling Permit Challenge Should Stay Dead, DOI Tells DC Circ.

    The U.S. Department of the Interior told the D.C. Circuit a federal judge correctly ruled environmental groups cannot challenge the federal approval of thousands of drilling permits in New Mexico and Wyoming because they failed to establish any particularized injury.

  • June 25, 2024

    7th Circ. Backs State Farm's Employment Suit Coverage Win

    State Farm is off the hook for a dispute between the former president of the College of DuPage and the board that fired and allegedly defamed him, the Seventh Circuit said, affirming a lower court's finding that another insurer should cover the litigation and $4 million settlement.

  • June 25, 2024

    Gov't Asks Ala. Fed. Court To Stay Gender Care Case

    The Biden administration has asked an Alabama federal court to stay a suit challenging a state law criminalizing gender-affirming care for transgender youth, which has drawn attention because of judge-shopping allegations leveled against plaintiff's counsel, as the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a separate but potentially precedential suit.

  • June 25, 2024

    2nd Circ. Affirms 5-Year Sentence For Impostor Immigration Atty

    A Connecticut woman sentenced to five years in federal prison for stealing money from vulnerable victims by pretending to be an immigration attorney can't undo her plea deal or lessen the roughly $368,000 she was ordered to pay in restitution, the Second Circuit has ruled.

  • June 25, 2024

    Snell & Wilmer Adds Kirkland IP Partner In DC

    A longtime Kirkland & Ellis LLP litigator has jumped to Snell & Wilmer LLP's intellectual property group in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Monday.

  • June 25, 2024

    Ga. Supreme Court Removes Arrested Judge From Bench

    The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday removed Douglas County Probate Court Judge Christina Peterson from office for violations of the state's code of judicial conduct, including jailing a woman seeking to amend her marriage record, after Peterson was arrested outside an Atlanta nightclub last week on unrelated charges.

  • June 25, 2024

    Ga. Panel OKs COVID Aid To Atty Who Cared For 2 Young Kids

    A Georgia attorney who left his legal job to be the primary caregiver for his young children during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic should have qualified for the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, a state appeals panel has ruled, overturning the state's decision to deny benefits.

  • June 25, 2024

    Justice Berger Asks Full NC High Court To Decide Recusal Bid

    North Carolina Supreme Court Justice Phil Berger Jr. asked the full court on Monday to decide whether he should recuse himself from two constitutional challenges concerning the governor's appointment powers given his father's role in the litigation as a state lawmaker.

  • June 25, 2024

    NY Judge Partially Lifts Trump Gag Order Ahead Of Sentence

    The Manhattan judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's hush-money case on Tuesday vacated key parts of a gag order intended to shield jurors and witnesses from his verbal attacks, although an order protecting the jurors' identities remains in place.

  • June 25, 2024

    Oracle Can Seek PAGA Arbitration, Calif. Panel Says

    A California appellate panel said Oracle could compel two workers' 7-year-old individual Private Attorneys General Act wage claims into arbitration, holding that the arbitration agreements couldn't have been enforced until after the U.S. Supreme Court issued the Viking ruling in 2022.

  • June 25, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Revives Class Action Against Feds' Visa Fraud Sting

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday revived an Indian citizen's proposed class action to recover tuition payments to a fake university the U.S. Department of Homeland Security set up to catch visa fraudsters, saying the lower court wrongly determined it lacked jurisdiction.

  • June 24, 2024

    Chevron's $120M Trial Loss Reinstated By Calif. Appeals Court

    A California appellate court says Chevron cannot get another trial after a jury found it liable for the negligent operation of an oil field, overturning a lower court's ruling that the company was entitled to a new trial because a juror failed to disclose a decades-old criminal conviction.

  • June 24, 2024

    Willis' Plan To Prejudice Defendants Requires DQ, Trump Says

    Former President Donald Trump told the Georgia Court of Appeals on Monday that a trial court judge inaccurately applied the legal standard for forensic misconduct when he ruled that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis could continue her prosecution of him and his co-defendants in the Georgia presidential election interference case.

  • June 24, 2024

    5th Circ. Won't Revive Texas' Homemade Gun-Silencer Fight

    The Fifth Circuit refused Friday to revive a challenge by Texas residents and attorney general against federal laws regulating the manufacturing of firearm silencers, finding the residents lack standing, since vague intentions to make silencers aren't enough to establish injury, and the state can't voluntarily litigate its residents' personal claims.

  • June 24, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds Fine For Fake News In $18B Chevron Case

    The Ninth Circuit has affirmed a $268,000 fine against a Seattle attorney for filing a fake newspaper article as a court exhibit in an attempt to bolster his clients' efforts to enforce a nearly $18 billion arbitral award against Chevron.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices Will Weigh Liability Of Corporate Affiliates In TM Row

    The U.S. Supreme Court will review whether a real estate development company's corporate affiliates should be responsible for a $46.6 million trademark infringement judgment — even though they were not defendants — in a case attorneys said Monday could have ramifications beyond the Lanham Act.

  • June 24, 2024

    DC Circ. Affirms Verizon Win In Conspiracy Defamation Row

    The D.C. Circuit upheld the toss of a conservative commentator's defamation suit over a Yahoo News podcast that covered the 2016 killing of a Democratic National Committee staffer and the conspiracy theories the homicide produced, ruling that the commentator's allegations fell short of the actual malice threshold.

  • June 24, 2024

    Split 4th Circ. Panel Reopens DEA Applicant's Retaliation Suit

    The Fourth Circuit reinstated a lawsuit Monday accusing the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of pulling a job offer after it learned the applicant had participated in a sexual harassment suit against the FBI, saying a trial court held the would-be special agent to too high of a standard.

  • June 24, 2024

    Justices End Irish Landowner's Fight Against $23M Clawback

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by Irish businessman Sean Dunne and his ex-wife Gayle Killilea to a Chapter 7 trustee's roughly $23 million avoidance action win, leaving intact a Connecticut jury verdict and a Second Circuit rejection of the onetime couple's claims.

  • June 24, 2024

    5th Circ. Weighs 'Binding Authority' Of Gulf Fishery Council

    A Fifth Circuit panel on Monday pushed back against the government's assertion that members of a council tasked with regulating fishing in federal waters do not count as federal officers, saying the council's ability to limit changes to federal rules "sounds like a legally binding authority."

  • June 24, 2024

    6th Circ. Backs University's Win In ADA Bias, Retaliation Suit

    The Sixth Circuit refused Monday to revive a former Western Michigan University employee's lawsuit claiming he was fired for requesting accommodations for his attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, ruling Congress didn't have the power to eliminate states' immunity from retaliation claims under federal disability law.

  • June 24, 2024

    Ill. Landowners Challenge FERC Moves On $7B Power Line

    Illinois residents, farmers and landowners launched a fresh challenge to the $7 billion Grain Belt Express high-voltage power line, telling the D.C. Circuit that when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved an amended negotiated rate authority, it ignored clean energy giant Invenergy's unsanctioned purchase of the project in 2020.

  • June 24, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Reconsider Or Sanction In Kari Lake Vote Suit

    The Ninth Circuit has rejected Arizona Republican Kari Lake's attempt to revive her 2022 suit over the state's voting machines, issuing a two-sentence order that also rejects a sanctions bid Maricopa County officials filed in response to the former gubernatorial candidate's attempt to restart her failed suit.

  • June 24, 2024

    Illinois, Other States Back FTC Bid To Affirm Intuit Ad Ruling

    Illinois, along with 20 other states and the District of Columbia, defended the Federal Trade Commission in tax software giant Intuit's Fifth Circuit constitutional challenge to the agency's findings that the company engaged in deceptive advertising, saying in an amicus brief that the FTC's conclusion was correct.

Expert Analysis

  • Bankruptcy Ruling Shifts Lease Rejection Claim Calculation

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    A New York federal court’s recent ruling in In re: Cortlandt provides guidance on how to calculate a landlord's damages claim when a bankruptcy debtor rejects a lease, changing from an approach that considers the remaining rent due under the lease to one that considers the remaining time, say Bethany Simmons and Noah Weingarten at Loeb & Loeb.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • 10b-5 Litigation Questions Follow Justices' Macquarie Ruling

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    Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Macquarie v. Moab that pure omissions are not actionable under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 10b–5(b), creating a slightly higher bar for plaintiffs and setting the stage for further litigation over several issues, say Steve Quinlivan and Sean Colligan at Stinson.

  • Series

    Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

  • What Calif. Eviction Ruling Means For Defaulting Borrowers

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    A California appellate court's recent decision in Homeward Opportunities v. Taptelis found that a defaulting borrower could not delay foreclosure with an improperly served notice of pendency of action, but leaves open a possibility for borrowers to delay eviction proceedings merely by filing lawsuits, say Anne Beehler and Krystal Anderson at Holland & Knight.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic

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    Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Court Clerk Error Is No Excuse For A Missed Deadline

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    Two recent Virginia Court of Appeals decisions in which clerical errors led to untimely filings illustrate that court clerks can be wrong about filing deadlines or the date an order was entered, underscoring the importance of doing one's own research on filing requirements, says Juli Porto at Blankingship & Keith.

  • Circuit Split Brews Over Who's A Securities Seller Under Act

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    A Securities Act section that creates private liability for the sale of an unregistered security is rapidly becoming a favored statute for plaintiffs to wield against participants in both the digital asset and traditional securities markets, but the circuit courts have diverged on who may be held liable for these violations, say Jeffrey L. Steinfeld and Daniel Aronsohn at Winston & Strawn.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Shows Difficulty Of Proving Deceptive Intent

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent Freshub v. Amazon decision demonstrates how proving the deceptive intent requirement for inequitable conduct can be challenging, even when there is a five-year delay after abandonment before revival, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Banks Have Won Syndicated Loan Battle, But Not The War

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    Though the U.S. Supreme Court's recent denial of certiorari in Kirschner v. JPMorgan preserves the status quo that syndicated loans are not securities, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's discomfort suggests that the underlying issues have not been fully resolved, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • The Art Of Asking: Leveraging Your Contacts For Referrals

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    Though attorneys may hesitate to ask for referral recommendations to generate new business, research shows that people want to help others they know, like and trust, so consider who in your network you should approach and how to make the ask, says Rebecca Hnatowski at Edwards Advisory.

  • Trending At The PTAB: Permissible New Reply Arguments

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    In the time since the Federal Circuit’s Axonics ruling, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board has allowed petitioners to raise new unpatentability grounds in response to unforeseeable claim constructions in petitions, and reiterated that a petition need not anticipate every argument that may be raised in the response, say Joseph Myles and Timothy May at Finnegan.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: April Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses three notable circuit court decisions on topics from the Class Action Fairness Act to consumer fraud — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including CAFA’s local controversy exception and Article III standing to seek injunctive relief.

  • A Deep Dive Into High Court's Permit Fee Ruling

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    David Robinson and Daniel Golub at Holland & Knight explore the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that a local traffic impact fee charged to a California property owner may be a Fifth Amendment taking — and where it leaves localities and real estate developers.

  • Opinion

    The Case For Overturning Florida Foreclosure Ruling

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    A Florida appellate court's recent decision in Desbrunes v. U.S. Bank National Association will potentially put foreclosure cases across the state in jeopardy, and unless it is reconsidered, foreclosing plaintiffs will need to choose between frustrating and uncertain options in the new legal landscape, say Sara Accardi and Paige Knight at Bradley.

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