Appellate

  • April 18, 2025

    PBMs Press 8th Circ. Bid To Pause FTC Case

    The nation's "Big Three" pharmacy benefit managers are asking the Eighth Circuit to pause the Federal Trade Commission's in-house insulin price-fixing case against them, saying that their constitutional challenge to the commission's administrative proceeding process should be fully heard before the in-house case moves forward.

  • April 18, 2025

    Ill. Justices To Weigh Scope Of Standard Pollution Exclusions

    The Illinois Supreme Court will consider whether pollution exclusions in standard-form commercial general liability policies apply to industrial emissions allowed under a regulatory permit, the court said Thursday, agreeing to take up a question certified by the Seventh Circuit.

  • April 18, 2025

    Judiciary Faces Security Risks Amid Spending Freeze

    The federal judiciary is warning congressional appropriators that funding shortfalls could threaten courthouse security.

  • April 18, 2025

    MLB Players Aim To Strike Out DraftKings NIL Case Appeal

    Major League Baseball players called foul on DraftKings Inc.'s bid for the Third Circuit to decide whether the players' claims that the betting app used photos of them in ads without permission can proceed, arguing that a lower court got it right when it refused to dismiss their claims.

  • April 18, 2025

    4th Circ. Pauses Software TM Trial After Atty Held In Contempt

    The Fourth Circuit has pressed pause on an upcoming trademark trial between rival software companies while the defendant and its counsel at Womble Bond Dickinson appeal a contempt order over misrepresentations they allegedly made in a foreign tribunal.

  • April 18, 2025

    CFPB Mass Layoffs Blocked Again In DC Court

    A D.C. federal judge once again halted the layoffs of more than 1,000 employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, saying at an emergency hearing Friday morning that she needed a full record to determine whether the firings complied with a D.C. Circuit order from last week.

  • April 17, 2025

    6th Circ. Says No Naturalization When Removal Pending

    The Sixth Circuit in a split decision has held that a lower court rightfully dismissed a lawful permanent resident's request for naturalization while he was concurrently in removal proceedings, ruling that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services correctly delayed his application to become a citizen.

  • April 17, 2025

    DC Circ. Has No Sympathy For Novartis Over Generic Entresto

    A D.C. Circuit panel went in circles Thursday with attorneys from Novartis, MSN Pharmaceuticals and the federal government, trying to work out how a study over dosing levels in the blockbuster drug Entresto should impact whether a generic version can be approved.

  • April 17, 2025

    Solicitor General's Office Now Features Two Top Lieutenants

    Mere days after the U.S. Solicitor General's Office got a new leader, it also got a new leadership structure featuring two BigLaw alums in the traditional second-in-command post, according to a hearing list the U.S. Supreme Court released Thursday.

  • April 17, 2025

    Another Xerox Patent Bites The Dust At Fed. Circ.

    Federal Circuit judges on Thursday affirmed yet another patent board ruling that scratched out claims in a patent issued to a Xerox unit that was asserted against a trio of major social media companies.

  • April 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Signals Support For Tribes' Cultural Loss Claims

    A Ninth Circuit panel was skeptical Thursday that a Teck Resources unit could dodge the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation's claims for tribal service losses stemming from a smelter's Columbia River pollution, with one judge saying Teck's argument was "splitting hairs."

  • April 17, 2025

    NC Justice Unsure Contractor Can Avoid Workers' Comp Payout

    A North Carolina Supreme Court justice seemed skeptical of a construction company's argument that a sheriff's department should cover the entire cost of a workers' compensation payout to a deputy injured while directing traffic on a bridge repair job, citing the court's precedent on the topic during an oral argument Thursday.

  • April 17, 2025

    DC Circ. Says Lateness Doomed Starbucks' NLRB Challenge

    The National Labor Relations Board was not obligated to accommodate Starbucks after its attorney filed a challenge to a board judge's ruling 23 minutes late, the D.C. Circuit ruled Thursday, holding that the board did not abuse its discretion by refusing to process the challenge.

  • April 17, 2025

    Army Corps Says Miss. Dolphin Harm Suit Rightfully Tossed

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has urged the Fifth Circuit to affirm its decision to divert trillions of gallons of polluted floodwater into the Mississippi Sound, which Mississippi local governments and industry groups allege unlawfully harms bottlenose dolphins.

  • April 17, 2025

    4th Circ. Refuses To Halt Abrego Garcia Probe In Sharp Order

    A Fourth Circuit panel on Thursday rejected the Trump administration's "extraordinary" emergency motion to stay a discovery order in litigation over Kilmar Abrego Garcia's deportation to El Salvador, while cautioning the administration against ignoring federal courts, saying it could degrade both executive and judicial branch powers and that "law in time will sign its epitaph."

  • April 17, 2025

    Wash. Justices Back Consumers In Old Navy Spam Email Suit

    Washington's highest court said in a 5-4 ruling Thursday that the state's spam law bars commercial emails that include any false information in their subject lines, endorsing two consumers' broader interpretation of the statute in a proposed class action against Old Navy.

  • April 17, 2025

    6th Circ. Says Michigan AG Can Pursue 'False Elector' Case

    The Sixth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a federal district court's refusal to interfere with a state court case in which Michigan's attorney general accused a former Republican presidential elector candidate of plotting to submit false electoral votes in the wake of the 2020 election.

  • April 17, 2025

    Mich. Defenders Seek $2.3M After Life Sentence Ruling

    Michigan's appellate defender office told lawmakers Thursday that it would need to hire additional staff to represent more than 300 people whose sentences will need to be reviewed after the state's top court declared that automatic life-without-parole sentences for 19- and 20-year-olds are unconstitutional.

  • April 17, 2025

    Navajo Man Owed Relocation Benefits, 9th Circ. Rules

    The Ninth Circuit has ruled in a published opinion that a Navajo Nation member was wrongly denied relocation benefits after the U.S. government awarded his ancestral land to the Hopi Tribe, saying the federal relocation office relied on flawed findings and arbitrary reasoning when denying his claim.

  • April 17, 2025

    6th Circ. Revives Fight For Docs In Prison Co. Investors' Suit

    The Sixth Circuit ordered a do-over of a judge's decision to shield court records in a securities lawsuit against private prison operator CoreCivic on Thursday, saying it isn't enough to invoke unspecified "confidentiality" interests. 

  • April 17, 2025

    DC Circ. Refreezes EPA Climate Grant Funds

    The D.C. Circuit has paused a federal court's order directing Citibank to start disbursing funds to nonprofits undertaking climate change projects that were appropriated by Congress to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Biden administration.

  • April 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Tosses Objections To $10.4M CVS Wage Settlement

    A pharmacist's objections to a $10.4 million settlement of a wage and hour class action affecting 24,000 CVS employees hold no weight, a Ninth Circuit panel found, ruling Thursday that a California federal judge adequately considered the merits of each objection before tossing them.

  • April 17, 2025

    Copyright Office Opines On Harper Lee 7th Circ. Appeal

    The U.S. Copyright Office is lending its opinion in a dispute over who has the rights to authorize stage adaptions of Harper Lee's iconic book "To Kill A Mockingbird," saying in an amicus brief to the Seventh Circuit that the company that once had the rights for the play cannot prevent others from creating new adaptions after the late author terminated those rights.

  • April 17, 2025

    Wash. Justices Strike Down Spokane's Homeless Camp Law

    The Washington Supreme Court said a voter-approved initiative restricting encampments for homeless people in Spokane is unconstitutional, in an opinion Thursday that said the measure exceeds the scope of local initiative power because it impermissibly "tinkers" with a policy the city had previously adopted.

  • April 17, 2025

    Ga. Judicial Watchdog To Weigh Cases Against Pair Of Judges

    Separate hearings have been set for a Georgia Superior Court judge accused of intervening in a legal matter on behalf of her uncle and locking a woman in a cell during her parents' divorce hearing, as well as a state probate judge accused of causing extensive case delays.

Expert Analysis

  • What's At Stake In High Court's Class Member Standing Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s eventual decision in Labcorp v. Davis could significantly alter how parties prosecute and defend class actions in federal court, particularly if the court determines some proof of member standing is required before a class may be certified, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • What Remedies Under New Admin's SEC Could Look Like

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is likely to substantially narrow the remedies it pursues over the next few years, driven by the mounting challenges it faces in court, as well as the views of its incoming chair and fellow Republican commissioners on injunctions, penalties and disgorgement, say attorneys at Milbank.

  • Patent Eligibility Insights From Fed. Circ.'s Drill Bit Ruling

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in US Synthetic Corp. v. ITC addresses critical issues in patent eligibility jurisprudence, especially regarding composition-of-matter claims and Section 101 challenges, says Daniel Yannuzzi at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 5 Keys To Building Stronger Attorney-Client Relationships

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    Attorneys are often focused on being seen as the expert, but bonding with clients and prospects by sharing a few key personal details provides the basis for a caring, trusted and profoundly deeper business relationship, says Deb Feder at Feder Development.

  • What SDNY Judge Can And Can't Do In Adams Case

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    The federal judge in the Southern District of New York overseeing the criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams deferred making a decision on the government's motion to dismiss the indictment, and while he does have limited authority to deny the motion, that would ultimately be a futile gesture, says Ethan Greenberg at Anderson Kill.

  • Drug Kickback Ruling Will Make FCA Liability Harder To Prove

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    The First Circuit's ruling in U.S. v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, requiring the government to prove but-for causation to establish False Claims Act liability based on violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, raises the bar for FCA enforcement and deepens a circuit split that the U.S. Supreme Court may need to resolve, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • Notable Q4 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    In a continuation of trends in property and casualty insurance class actions, last quarter insurers struggled with defending the merits and class certification of sales tax and fee suits, and labor depreciation cases, but succeeded in dismissing privacy class actions at the pleading stages, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.

  • Expropriation Claims After Justices' Holocaust Asset Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Hungary v. Simon, rejecting Holocaust survivors' claims against the Hungarian government under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act's expropriation exception, continues the trend of narrowly interpreting that exception and offers important guidance for future plaintiffs considering such claims, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Series

    Racing Corvettes Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I use when racing Corvettes have enhanced my legal practice in several ways, because driving, like practicing law, requires precision, awareness and a good set of brakes — complete with the wisdom to know how and when to use them, says Kat Mateo at Olshan Frome.

  • Questions Remain After Justices' Narrow E-Rate FCA Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Wisconsin Bell, holding that requests for reimbursement from the Federal Communications Commission's E-Rate program are subject to False Claims Act liability, resolves one important question but leaves several others open, says Jason Neal at HWG.

  • Opinion

    Attorneys Must Act Now To Protect Judicial Independence

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    Given the Trump administration's recent moves threatening the independence of the judiciary, including efforts to impeach judges who ruled against executive actions, lawyers must protect the rule of law and resist attempts to dilute the judicial branch’s authority, says attorney Bhavleen Sabharwal.

  • Colo. Anti-SLAPP Cases Highlight Dismiss Standard Disparity

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    A pair of recent decisions from the Colorado Court of Appeals highlights two disparate standards for courts evaluating anti-SLAPP motions: one that requires a court to accept the plaintiff's evidence as true and another that allows the court to assess its merits, says Jacob Hollars at Spencer Fane.

  • Appealing An Interlocutory Order On Insurer Duty To Defend

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    A recent First Circuit decision on a motion regarding an insurer's duty to defend underlying litigation highlights how policyholders may be able to pursue immediate appeals of interlocutory orders, especially in light of other circuit courts' stances on this issue, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Del. Supreme Court TripAdvisor Ruling May Limit 'MFW Creep'

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent Maffei v. Palkon ruling regarding TripAdvisor's proposed reincorporation to Nevada potentially signals a turning point in the trend of expanding the protections from Kahn v. M&F Worldwide to other types of transactions, says Andrew J. Haile at Elon University.

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