Appellate

  • November 07, 2024

    ACLU Asks 11th Circ. To Back Ga. Deputy's Trans Health Win

    The full Eleventh Circuit shouldn't roll back a transgender deputy's win in her lawsuit challenging a Georgia county's refusal to pay for gender-affirmation surgery, the American Civil Liberties Union and legal groups argued Thursday, saying the U.S. Supreme Court's Bostock decision made clear that such policies violate federal law.

  • November 07, 2024

    9th Circ. Finds No Jurisdiction In LG Chem Battery Suit

    The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a suit against LG Chem Ltd. over a lithium-ion battery used in an e-cigarette that allegedly burned a California man, finding that the lower court was correct in holding that it had no jurisdiction over the case.

  • November 07, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Questions Expert's Background In 4G Patent Case

    A Federal Circuit judge suggested Thursday that the court might vacate a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision partly invalidating a Sisvel 4G wireless patent challenged by Honeywell and others, saying the board relied on an expert who may not have the necessary qualifications.

  • November 07, 2024

    Net Neutrality Foes See 6th Circ. Clearing Path To End Rules

    Recent arguments in the Sixth Circuit over the Federal Communications Commission's controversial net neutrality restrictions didn't give a definitive indication of how judges will decide the issue, but the rule's opponents are buoyed by questions that appeared at times to lean in their favor.

  • November 07, 2024

    Sutter Health Could Face Retrial On Antitrust Claims In March

    Sutter Health is headed back to trial after the Ninth Circuit said "highly relevant" evidence was excluded from the 2022 trial where the hospital chain defeated claims that it had driven up the cost of insurance, and the court overseeing the matter says March is the earliest it can do.

  • November 07, 2024

    Wash. High Court Picks Stephens As Next Chief Justice

    Washington State Supreme Court justices voted Wednesday to elevate Debra L. Stephens as the court's next chief justice, with the change set to take effect in January.

  • November 07, 2024

    Alaska Flyers Lodge Emergency 9th Circ. Bid To Halt Merger

    Flyers and travel agents hoping to block Alaska Airlines' $1.9 billion merger with Hawaiian Airlines are asking the Ninth Circuit for an emergency halt to any further integration between the companies while they appeal a district court's dismissal of their suit, telling the judges consumers will be hurt if the merger continues.

  • November 07, 2024

    Teamsters Tell 10th Circ. To Nix Yellow's Contract Claims

    The Tenth Circuit must uphold a district court's decision to dismiss Yellow Corp.'s $137 million lawsuit against the Teamsters, the union said, arguing the business didn't exhaust the grievance process under a contract and can't claim that making such an effort would have been pointless.

  • November 07, 2024

    Fla. Counties Say Notice Was Insufficient In $5B Bond Deal

    A group of Florida counties and tax collectors asked the Florida Supreme Court Thursday to reverse a decision that found they could not reopen a bond validation judgment issuing $5 billion in bonds for renewable energy and hurricane mitigation projects, arguing they were not given proper notice of the bond validation hearing.

  • November 07, 2024

    7th Circ. Sends Refuge Power Line Fight Back To Wis. Judge

    A Seventh Circuit panel scrapped stayed preliminary injunctions that temporarily blocked a power transmission line from crossing the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, directing a Wisconsin federal judge to determine if conservation groups' request for permanent relief is warranted or even possible with the line now built.

  • November 07, 2024

    11th Circ. Revives Project Veritas' CNN Defamation Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit reversed the dismissal of Project Veritas' defamation lawsuit against CNN on Thursday, saying the group's claim was plausibly alleged against the news network over an anchor's on-air characterization of why the organization was suspended from Twitter, the social media website now named X.

  • November 07, 2024

    Ariz. Textile Launderer Denied Manufacturing Tax Break

    An Arizona company that launders, sanitizes and rents textiles to the healthcare industry was correctly denied a use tax exemption because it was not a manufacturing or processing operation eligible for the break, an Arizona appeals court said Thursday.

  • November 07, 2024

    Tribes Make New Push For Voter Access And Representation

    Facing long-standing barriers to voting access and a spate of close races, Native Americans ramped up efforts this election cycle to encourage voter turnout, elect Indigenous candidates and highlight the absence of issues affecting Indian Country on the national stage — with mixed results.

  • November 07, 2024

    Apache Say 'Stakes Are Clear' In Oak Flat Land Dispute

    The federal government is trying to manufacture problems by claiming that a law aimed at protecting the religious rights of minorities can't apply to later-enacted statutes, an Apache nonprofit has told the U.S. Supreme Court in its bid to save a sacred worship site in Arizona from mining destruction.

  • November 07, 2024

    11th Circ. Backs Bombardier In Mechanic's Race Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit upheld a Bombardier unit's win Thursday in a retired Black worker's suit claiming he was forced to leave his mechanic role because of the racism he experienced on the job, finding he hadn't alleged any mistreatment serious enough to sustain his case.

  • November 07, 2024

    Mass. Court Affirms Nix Of Property Tax Appeal Citing Blight

    A Massachusetts homeowner's request for a property tax abatement because of local blight was properly rejected by a state tax board because the owner did not pay the tax at issue as required, the state appeals court ruled Tuesday.

  • November 07, 2024

    NC Court Refuses Law Firm Sanctions In Bankruptcy Fee Fight

    A North Carolina business bankruptcy law firm and its founder have escaped sanctions for allegedly lying to a trial court about its communications in a fee dispute, as a state appellate court said the former client's sanctions motion must fail as a matter of law because he "unreasonably delayed" filing it.

  • November 07, 2024

    Feds Say Fla. Atty Can't Shake COVID Relief Fraud Conviction

    In a case involving a Florida lawyer serving a 75-month sentence for a COVID-19 loan fraud scheme, federal prosecutors are arguing that the trial judge was correct to allow a witness to testify that the defendant had talked about having another co-conspirator killed.

  • November 07, 2024

    Louisiana Says EPA Usurped State Power In Pollution Row

    The state of Louisiana told the Fifth Circuit that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has no authority to invalidate a two-year compliance deadline extension the state granted to a neoprene manufacturer, which is being sued by the agency. 

  • November 07, 2024

    NC Panel Affirms Axing Sex Abuse Suit As Sanction For Delay

    A North Carolina appeals panel found in a precedential ruling that a trial court was right to toss a man's sex abuse suit against the Roman Catholic Diocese of Raleigh as an appropriate sanction for his counsel having "deliberately and unreasonably delayed service of process." 

  • November 07, 2024

    Trump's Victory Muddles NY Sentencing: 'No Playbook Here'

    The fate of President-elect Donald Trump's criminal conviction in New York remains unclear following his resounding electoral victory Tuesday night, as last-minute motions, a pending decision on presidential immunity and appeals may derail or delay a punishment slated to be handed down before Thanksgiving.

  • November 06, 2024

    Judiciary Panel Spurns Broadcasts, But More Pressure Looms

    Despite support from a jurist who televised a mass murderer's trial, the lead rulemaking body for federal criminal cases voted Wednesday against loosening limits on courtroom broadcasts, but members exchanged sharply conflicting views and predicted that digital age pressure will keep rising.

  • November 06, 2024

    Chicago Pol Urges Narrow Reading Of False Statement Law

    The U.S. Supreme Court should narrowly interpret the federal statute barring people from using false statements to influence certain financial institutions because backing the government's broad reading could expose borrowers to criminal liability that was never intended, former Chicago alderman Patrick Daley Thompson argued Wednesday.

  • November 06, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Mulls Whether Billable Hour Tech Can Be Patented

    The Federal Circuit is set to decide whether a LexisNexis program that helps attorneys track their billable hours is stepping on another company's intellectual property or if that company is simply trying to patent the noninventive concept of keeping time using a computer.

  • November 06, 2024

    10th Circ. Backs Colorado Age Limits For Gun Buyers

    A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday upheld a Colorado law establishing 21 as the minimum age to buy and sell guns in the state, concluding that age restrictions for buying guns don't have to line up with the age of majority.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • High Court's Expert Ruling May Help Health Fraud Defendants

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Diaz v. U.S. appears to give the government a powerful new tool in calling its own agents as expert witnesses, but it could also benefit defense counsel in criminal healthcare fraud and other white collar criminal cases that arise in complex legal or regulatory environments, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Patent Lessons From 5 Federal Circuit Reversals In June

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    A look at June cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court highlights a potential path for branded drugmakers to sue generic-drug makers for off-label uses, potential downsides of violating a pretrial order offering testimony, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Jarkesy's Impact On SEC Enforcement Will Be Modest

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    Though the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision found that fraud defendants have a constitutional right to a jury trial, the ruling will have muted impact on the agency’s enforcement because it’s already bringing most of its cases in federal court, say Jeremiah Williams and Alyssa Fixsen at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • NY Ruling Offers A Foreclosure Road Map For Lenders

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    A New York appellate court recently upheld a summary judgment ruling in favor of a commercial lender's foreclosure in U.S. Bank v. 1226 Evergreen Bapaz, illustrating the proofs lenders will need to prosecute a foreclosure action, especially where the plaintiff is an assignee of the originating lender, say attorneys at Sherman Atlas.

  • What Chevron's End Means For How Congress Does Business

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, overturning the Chevron doctrine, will have a far-reaching impact across the entire public policy life cycle, beginning with how Congress writes its laws and extending through agency implantation and judicial review, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Preserving Payment Rights

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    Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions that together illustrate the importance of keeping accurate records and adhering to contractual procedures to avoid inadvertently waiving contractual rights to cost reimbursements or nonroutine payments.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Alice Step 2 Trends Show Courts' Extrinsic Evidence Reliance

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    A look at recent trends in how district courts are applying Step 2 of the Alice framework shows that courts have increasingly relied on extrinsic evidence to help determine whether a claimed invention is "well-understood, routine, and conventional," says Jonathan Tuminaro at Sterne Kessler.

  • Opinion

    OFAC Sanctions Deserve To Be Challenged Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision opens the door to challenges against the Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions regime, the unintended consequences of which raise serious questions about the wisdom of what appears to be a scorched-earth approach, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

  • How Calif. Ruling Alters Worker Arb. Agreement Enforcement

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    The California Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ramirez v. Charter Communications should caution employers that while workers’ arbitration agreements will no longer be deemed unenforceable based on their number of unconscionable provisions, they must still be fair and balanced, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor.

  • Opinion

    After Jarkesy, IRS Must Course-Correct On Captive Insurance

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision has profound implications for other agencies, including the IRS, which must stop ignoring due process and curtailing congressional intent in its policing of captive insurance arrangements, says Peter Dawson at the 831(b) Institute.

  • The Rise Of State And Local Environmental Leadership

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    While Congress is deadlocked, and a U.S. Supreme Court with a hostility toward the administrative state aggressively dismantles federal environmental oversight, state and local governments are stepping up with policies to shape a more sustainable future for all species, says Jonathan Rosenbloom at Albany Law School.

  • Questions Linger About DTSA's Scope After Motorola Ruling

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    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Motorola v. Hytera, which held that the Defend Trade Secrets Act applies extraterritorially, does not address whether an act that furthers misappropriation must be committed by the defendant in order to satisfy the law's extraterritoriality requirement, say Ilissa Samplin and Grace Hart at Gibson Dunn.

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