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Appellate
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August 01, 2024
NJ Transit On Hook For $11.6M Injury Verdict, 2nd Circ. Says
The Second Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a jury's $11.6 million verdict accusing New Jersey Transit of negligently ordering a train engineer to continue operating in an overheated cab that caused him to suffer career-ending injuries, saying the state-owned company had a duty to maintain the cab's air conditioning system.
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August 01, 2024
Georgia Judge Can't Order Woman To Pay For Jury Costs
A Georgia appeals court on Thursday said a trial court erred when it ordered a woman who voluntarily dismissed a personal injury suit during jury selection to pay more than $2,000 for jury and bailiff costs, saying there is no statute authorizing such an order.
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August 01, 2024
11th Circ. Denies Coverage, Despite Insurer's Missing Comma
In a unanimous published opinion bound to frustrate grammarians, an Eleventh Circuit panel affirmed Thursday that though an insurer's policy might be missing a comma, the lack of punctuation didn't change its clear and unambiguous meaning, thus preventing payment to a food company.
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August 01, 2024
Employers Urge Justices Take Up Withdrawal Liability Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court must resolve a circuit split over how to calculate the bills sent to companies that leave union pension plans, a group of employers has argued, fighting an argument by the trustees of an International Association of Machinists pension fund that the split is "tolerable."
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August 01, 2024
House Workforce Chair Wants Mental Health Parity Regs Axed
The Republican chairwoman of the House Education and the Workforce Committee told the U.S. Department of Labor on Thursday it should not finalize regulations that aim to encourage employer compliance with a law requiring equitable mental health and substance use disorder treatments coverage, stating the rule burdens businesses.
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August 01, 2024
Conn. High Court Adopts Narrow 'Supervisor' Definition
The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday that only employees who can hire, fire or promote other workers count as supervisors whose harassment can place vicarious liability on their employer under state civil rights law, adopting the federal high court's narrow definition of the term.
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August 02, 2024
Meet The 4 Washington Supreme Court Hopefuls
A career civil litigator, Seattle-area municipal judge, Naval officer-turned-tax attorney and solo family law practitioner are all vying this month for an open seat on Washington state's high court.
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August 01, 2024
AliveCor Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Apple Watch Antitrust Case
Medical monitoring startup AliveCor Inc. told the Ninth Circuit that Apple Inc. should not be immunized from antitrust claims over the removal of access to heart rate data on the Apple Watch because the change was intended to block competition and not improve the device.
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August 01, 2024
Justices Uphold Chancery Toss Of Church COVID Suit
Two religious leaders in Delaware who sued over restrictions the state imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic waited too long to file the case and have no standing to proceed with their claims, Delaware's Supreme Court ruled Thursday, upholding dismissals by both the Superior and Chancery courts.
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August 01, 2024
6th Circ. Puts Net Neutrality Rule On Ice During Appeals
The Sixth Circuit on Thursday granted industry groups' bid to put a hold on the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules while appellate court challenges play out, saying there is a strong chance that internet service providers will eventually prevail.
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August 01, 2024
NJ Justices Say Bridge Commission Can Mandate Union Deals
The compact that created the bistate Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission gave the commission the authority to require contractors to use project labor agreements in a publicly bid construction project, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
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August 01, 2024
Groups Say DC Circ.'s Toss Of FERC OK Boosts Their Case
Conservation groups and the city of Port Isabel, Texas, told the D.C. Circuit that its recent decision to vacate the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of a Northeast pipeline expansion supports their challenge of the commission's decision to approve two Texas liquefied natural gas facilities.
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August 01, 2024
Utah High Court Upholds Pause On State Abortion Ban
The Utah Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a pause on the state's near-total abortion ban while a constitutional challenge to the law proceeds, agreeing with a lower court's conclusion that the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah had standing to bring its challenge.
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August 01, 2024
Fed. Circ. Denies PTAB Overreach In Voice Tech IP Invalidation
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board properly invalidated a Voice Tech Corp. patent directed to the use of voice commands and did not make up a new theory in favor of challenger Unified Patents LLC, the Federal Circuit said Thursday.
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August 01, 2024
Colo. Judges Can't Tell Magistrates To Redo Rulings
Colorado state courts that reject a magistrate's order can't send it back to the magistrate for reconsideration, a state appellate panel ruled Thursday, stating in a published opinion that district judges must issue a new ruling themselves.
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August 01, 2024
Colo. Panel Finds Campaign Disclosure Rule Unconstitutional
A Colorado Court of Appeals panel on Thursday found that a requirement for ballot issue committees to list their registered agent on election communications is unconstitutionally compelled speech, reasoning that the public doesn't learn much from knowing a committee's legal representative.
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August 01, 2024
6th Circ. Says Teacher's Failure To Engage Sinks ADA Suit
A former teacher can't revive his disability bias lawsuit claiming a school board unlawfully refused to let him continue working from home following a mid-pandemic return to in-person instruction, the Sixth Circuit ruled Thursday, faulting the educator for refusing to discuss alternative accommodations.
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August 01, 2024
9th Circ. Says Vegas Casino Pilots Are Exempt From OT
Five corporate pilots for a Las Vegas casino performed non-manual labor and are therefore exempt from overtime requirements under federal law, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday, upholding a Nevada federal court's decision.
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August 01, 2024
White House Defends 6th Circ. Nom Against Tenn. Senator
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved seven judicial nominees on Thursday, including one for the Sixth Circuit under fire from her home-state senators.
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August 01, 2024
5th Circ. Backs Louisiana's Block Of EPA Chemical Rule
The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday refused to overturn a Louisiana agency's move to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing a chemical rule that a neoprene maker says would force it to shut down.
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August 01, 2024
Fla. Justices Sanction Paralegal For Immigration Practice
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday told a paralegal and the immigration legal services businesses she has operated that she must reimburse clients who were misled into believing they were working with licensed attorneys.
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August 01, 2024
Senate Passes Bill To 'Systematically' Increase Judgeships
The Senate passed a bipartisan bill Thursday by voice vote to create 66 new and temporary judgeships to help federal courts handle increasing workloads.
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August 01, 2024
3rd Circ. Affirms Nix Of Discovery Ask On GM In Brazil Case
A Delaware federal court didn't abuse its discretion by declining to begin discovery on General Motors to aid ongoing litigation in Brazil for a group that is entitled to receive dozens of car dealerships' tax credits from the early 1990s, the Third Circuit found.
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August 01, 2024
Feds Urge Against Steve Bannon's En Banc Rehearing Bid
The federal government is urging the D.C. Circuit not to revisit its long-standing precedent on the meaning of the contempt of Congress law as former Donald Trump aide Steve Bannon looks to undo his conviction under the statute.
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August 01, 2024
5th Circ. Says Oil Crossing State Lines Made Work Interstate
The crude oil that a worker transported travels outside of Texas and thus is part of an interstate trip, the Fifth Circuit ruled, flipping a district court's decision that the Motor Carrier Act exemption didn't apply to a transporter who sought unpaid overtime.
Expert Analysis
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9th Circ. Ruling Broadens Sweep Of Securities 'Solicitation'
The Ninth Circuit's recent revival of a putative securities fraud class action against Genius Brands for hiring a stock promoter to write favorable articles about it shows that companies should view "solicitation" broadly in considering whether they may have paid someone to urge an investor to purchase a security, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond
Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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5th Circ. Venue-Transfer Cases Highlight Mandamus Limits
Three ongoing cases filed within the Fifth Circuit highlight an odd procedural wrinkle that may let district courts defy an appellate writ: orders granting transfer to out-of-circuit districts, but parties opposing intercircuit transfer can work around this hurdle to effective appellate review, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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PTAB Rulings Shed Light On Quantum Computing Patents
Recent Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions on enablement rejections against quantum computing patent claims provide patent practitioners with valuable guidance on best practices for avoiding and overcoming enablement, say Fred Qiu and Alex Nie at Sheppard Mullin.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Fed. Circ. Rulings Crystallize Polymorph Patent 'Obviousness'
A comparison of two recent Federal Circuit obviousness challenge decisions regarding polymorph patents provides helpful insight into the assessment of screening arguments, particularly the issue of reasonable expectation of success, say Michael Green and John Molenda at Steptoe.
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DC Circ. Ruling Heightens HHS Contract Pharmacy Challenges
The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling that the Section 340B program does not bar manufacturers from restricting deliveries of discounted drugs to contract pharmacies represents a second strike against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' current contract pharmacy policy and raises the stakes surrounding an upcoming Seventh Circuit ruling on the same issue, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.
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Series
In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist
Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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3 Infringement Defenses To Consider 10 Years Post-Nautilus
In the 10 years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s influential Nautilus ruling, the spirit of the “amenable to construction” test that the opinion rejected persists with many patent litigators and judges, so patent infringement defense counsel should always consider several key arguments, says John Vandenberg at Klarquist Sparkman.
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NY Ruling Paves A Court Payment Shortcut For More Creditors
A recent New York state appeals court ruling expands access to an expedited statutory procedure for court enforcement of promissory notes or unconditional guaranties, allowing more creditors to minimize the risk of potentially challenging litigation on threshold issues, says Alexander Levi at Friedman Kaplan.
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9th Circ. COVID 'Cure' Case Shows Perks Of Puffery Defense
The Ninth Circuit's March decision in a case surrounding a company's statements about a potential COVID-19 cure may encourage defendants to assert puffery defenses in securities fraud cases, particularly in those involving optimistic statements about breakthrough drugs that are still untested, say attorneys at Cahill Gordon.
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After Years Of Popularity, PAGA's Fate Is Up In The Air
The last two years held important victories for plaintiff-side employment attorneys in California Private Attorneys General Act litigation at the trial and appellate court levels, but this hotbed of activity will quickly lose steam if voters approve a ballot measure in November to enact the California Fair Pay and Employer Accountability Act, says Paul Sherman at Kabat Chapman.