Appellate

  • March 11, 2025

    Threats Against Judges 'Top Priority,' Fed. Judiciary Says

    Protecting federal judges is a "top priority" as violent threats spike against a polarized political backdrop, making congressional funding for additional security measures more important than ever, the U.S. Judicial Conference said Tuesday.

  • March 11, 2025

    Publix's Suit Over Ga. County's Private Attys 'Beyond Reason'

    Publix can't sue a metro Atlanta county to force it to drop its private attorneys who filed an opioid suit against the supermarket chain, the Georgia Court of Appeals has said, ruling that the company "fails to show what right the county has violated by its choice of counsel."

  • March 11, 2025

    Trump's Special Counsel Firing Seems OK, DC Circ. Says

    The president appears to have the power to remove the feds' internal unfair firing watchdog because he's the sole head of an agency with executive power, a D.C. Circuit panel said, explaining its decision last week to stay a trial court's reinstatement order.

  • March 11, 2025

    Full Fed. Circ. Won't Rehear $95M Altria Patent Suit Win

    The Federal Circuit won't hold an en banc review of a $95 million judgment against R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. that ended a suit from Altria Client Services LLC alleging that R.J. Reynolds infringed three of its patents.

  • March 11, 2025

    6th Circ. Backs Motorola In Fired Tech's Disability Bias Suit

    A split Sixth Circuit panel upheld the dismissal of a Motorola worker's suit claiming he was fired after he requested a schedule change due to his nocturnal epilepsy, ruling his case fell flat because he never filed a formal accommodation request with the company.

  • March 11, 2025

    Mass. High Court Says Paying Full Judgment Freezes Interest

    Paying off a judgment in full, even when an appeal is planned, stops additional interest from accruing against the amount, Massachusetts' highest court said Tuesday in a long-running dispute between an auto dealership and its landlord.

  • March 11, 2025

    1st Circ. Upholds Block On Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order

    The First Circuit on Tuesday refused to disturb a Massachusetts federal judge's ruling that blocked the Trump administration's move to end birthright citizenship, rejecting the government's claim that states suing over the policy lacked standing.

  • March 10, 2025

    Split 4th Circ. Says Video Privacy Suit Belongs In Arbitration

    A divided Fourth Circuit panel ruled Monday that a pair of subscribers pressing a putative class action accusing streaming service CuriosityStream Inc. of unlawfully sharing their video-viewing information must arbitrate their claims, with the majority finding that registered users had "reasonable notice" of the arbitration agreement. 

  • March 10, 2025

    Justices Seen Resolving Circuit Split Over Med Mal Law

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will decide whether a Delaware medical malpractice statute requiring an expert affidavit can apply in federal court, which experts said will give the justices the opportunity to reassess the so-called Erie doctrine and the relationship between state and federal courts.

  • March 10, 2025

    Starbucks Faces Suit Over Fatal Patio Crash After Panel Flip

    Starbucks owed a duty of reasonable care to a patron who was struck by a rogue pickup truck while sitting on the patio of a Salt Lake City area store, the Utah Court of Appeals has ruled, reviving her family's lawsuit against the Seattle-based coffee company.

  • March 10, 2025

    EPA Says It Wants To Redo Biden-Era Chemical Risk Rule

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday told the D.C. Circuit it wants to reconsider a Biden-era rule that strengthened regulations to assess chemicals' health and environmental risks.

  • March 10, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Vacates PTAB Decision Partly Axing 4G Patent

    The Federal Circuit on Monday vacated a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision partly invalidating a Sisvel patent that the company says is essential to the 4G standard and has asserted against other businesses in infringement litigation.

  • March 10, 2025

    Viacom And NAI Can Continue Shareholder Coverage Dispute

    A Delaware Superior Court judge ruled in companion cases that Shari Redstone, National Amusements Inc. and Viacom Inc. can still seek coverage for millions after underlying shareholder litigation in the wake of Viacom's 2019 CBS merger, determining prior actions were unrelated to the underlying disputes at hand.

  • March 10, 2025

    11th Circ. Urged To Find Qui Tam Cases Unconstitutional

    A group of defendants accused of Medicare Advantage fraud urged the Eleventh Circuit on Monday to uphold a decision finding the False Claims Act's whistleblower provision unconstitutional, saying the statutory clause violates the Constitution in multiple ways. 

  • March 10, 2025

    Colo. Justices To Review Insurers' Noncooperation Defense

    The Colorado Supreme Court will consider whether a pair of insurance companies can defeat a man's bad-faith lawsuit by arguing his failure to turn over medical information about a surgery before his auto accident breached a contractual duty, according to an order Monday granting two petitions for review.

  • March 10, 2025

    FTC Wants Pause On Noncompete Appeals, Pending Decision

    The Federal Trade Commission is asking two circuit courts to pause their reviews of its ban on noncompete clauses, saying it needs time to reconsider whether it actually wants to defend the rule.

  • March 10, 2025

    DOJ Wants In On Invisalign Monopoly Arguments At 9th Circ.

    The U.S. Department of Justice wants to be there when orthodontists and consumers who purchased clear teeth aligners face off with the company behind Invisalign at the Ninth Circuit next month, so it can tell the appellate judges where the lower court went wrong in killing their monopoly suits.

  • March 10, 2025

    2nd Circ. Won't Free Ex-JPMorgan Banker From Industry Ban

    The Second Circuit on Monday upheld a lifetime investment advising ban against a former JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Perella Weinberg Partners investment banker convicted of insider trading, saying that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission presented substantial evidence demonstrating that the ban was appropriate.

  • March 10, 2025

    Ex-Package Co. Worker Wants 6th Circ. Redo In ADA Suit

    A former mill utility worker is urging the Sixth Circuit to rehear his suit claiming a packaging manufacturer wouldn't let him return to work because he asked for a medical accommodation, arguing an appellate panel's ruling ignored key evidence at trial, including that he could have worked in a lighter-duty role.

  • March 10, 2025

    Tribe Says BNSF Can't Derail $400M Trespass Judgment

    A Washington tribe is urging the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court's finding that BNSF Railway Co. must pay nearly $400 million for years of illegally running oil cars across tribal territory, saying the railroad's claim that it strips away lawfully earned profits "makes little sense."

  • March 10, 2025

    GOP Sens. Escalate Fight With ABA Over 'Leftist' Statements

    A group of Senate Republicans are once again going after the American Bar Association, which they claim has become a "leftist" organization, and announced Monday they will disregard ABA ratings on judicial nominees and encouraged the Trump administration and their colleagues to do the same.

  • March 10, 2025

    Trump Asks For Stay Of NLRB Member's Reinstatement

    The Trump administration asked the D.C. Circuit on Monday to stay a federal judge's order reinstating fired National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox, saying the order steps on the president's authority to control the workings of the executive branch.

  • March 10, 2025

    Ariz. Power Co. Asks Justices To Review Tax On Tribal Plant

    An energy company asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review Arizona court decisions that said a power plant it owns on tribal land is subject to property taxes, arguing that privately owned improvements located on Native American reservations are exempt from state and local taxes.

  • March 10, 2025

    Split 5th Circ. Vacates Death Sentence Over Brady Violations

    A split Fifth Circuit has reversed and vacated a Texas woman's murder conviction and death sentence after 27 years, having determined that prosecutors failed to properly disclose evidence in accordance with U.S. Supreme Court precedent, and remanded the case to Amarillo, Texas, federal court.

  • March 10, 2025

    Sig Sauer To Appeal $2.3M Accidental Fire Verdict

    Sig Sauer said Monday that it plans to appeal a $2.35 million verdict it lost to a Georgia man who claimed that a defect in its popular P320 pistol caused him to accidentally shoot himself after a federal judge declined the company's bid for a new trial.

Expert Analysis

  • National Bank Act Rulings Facilitate More Preemption Analysis

    Author Photo

    Two recent National Bank Act preemption decisions from an Illinois federal court and the Ninth Circuit provide the first applications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s May ruling in Cantero v. Bank of America, opening the potential for several circuit courts to address the issue this year, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • Opinion

    New DOJ Leaders Should Curb Ill-Conceived Prosecutions

    Author Photo

    First-of-their-kind cases have seemingly led to a string of overly aggressive prosecutions in recent years, so newly sworn-in leaders of the U.S. Department of Justice should consider creating reporting channels to stop unwise prosecutions before they snowball, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Opinion

    Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay

    Author Photo

    Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.

  • What Justices' FLSA Ruling Means For 2-Step Collective Cert.

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in EMD Sales v. Carrera may have sounded the death knell for the decades-old two-step process to certify collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which could lead more circuits to require a preponderance of the evidence showing that members are similarly situated, says Steven Katz at Constangy.

  • Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example

    Author Photo

    Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

  • SEC Motion Response Could Reveal New Crypto Approach

    Author Photo

    Cumberland DRW recently filed to dismiss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement action against it for the unlawful purchase and sale of digital asset securities, and the agency's response should unveil whether, and to what extent, the Trump administration will relax the federal government’s stance on digital asset regulation, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Perspectives

    Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines

    Author Photo

    KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.

  • Perspectives

    DC Circ. Cellphone Ruling Upends Law Enforcement Protocol

    Author Photo

    The D.C. Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Brown decision, holding that forcibly requiring a defendant to unlock his cellphone with his fingerprint violated the Fifth Amendment, has significant implications for law enforcement, and may provide an opportunity for defense lawyers to suppress electronic evidence, says Sarah Sulkowski at Gelber & Santillo.

  • The Post-Macquarie Securities Fraud-By-Omission Landscape

    Author Photo

    While the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 opinion in Macquarie v. Moab distinguished inactionable "pure omissions" from actionable "half-truths," the line between the two concepts in practice is still unclear, presenting challenges for lower courts parsing statements that often fall within the gray area of "misleading by omission," say attorneys at Katten.

  • AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex

    Author Photo

    Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.

  • When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law

    Author Photo

    In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • The Future Of ALJs At NLRB And DOL Post-Jarkesy

    Author Photo

    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 Jarkesy ruling, several ongoing challenges to the constitutionality of the U.S. Department of Labor's and the National Labor Relations Board's administrative law judges have the potential to significantly shape the future of administrative tribunals, say attorneys at Wiley Rein.

  • The Tides Are Changing For Fair Access Banking Laws

    Author Photo

    The landscape of fair access banking laws, which seek to prevent banks from denying services based on individuals' ideological beliefs, has shifted in the last few years, but a new presidential administration provides renewed momentum for advancing such legislation against the backdrop of state efforts, say attorneys at Latham.

  • Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

    Author Photo

    Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Appellate archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!