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Appellate
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August 23, 2024
JPMorgan's $26K Atty Fee Award Overturned By Conn. Panel
A Connecticut appeals court on Friday reversed JPMorgan's nearly $26,000 attorney fee-shift and cost award in a case involving a $250,000 promissory note, holding a trial judge improperly awarded the recovery because the bank waited "more than one year" to seek it after scoring summary judgment.
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August 23, 2024
Texas City Can't Avoid Improvement District Bond Payments
A Texas appeals court has affirmed a Dallas specialty finance company's win over the city of Hutto, finding this week that the finance company made valid transactions despite the city's protests that the bonds at issue weren't valid under state law.
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August 23, 2024
Illinois Car Dealers Can't Stop Direct EV Sales
An Illinois state appeals court threw out a suit by franchise car dealerships and trade associations aiming to block two electric vehicle makers from selling directly to customers, saying Friday that neither the Illinois Vehicle Code nor the Motor Vehicle Franchise Act require carmakers to sell through a franchise dealership.
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August 23, 2024
Colo. Board Wrong In Nixing Fees From Valuation, Court Rules
The Colorado Board of Assessment Appeals improperly applied a state Supreme Court decision that erroneously revived a dispute over whether fees should be included in a resort's property valuation, a state appeals court ruled.
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August 23, 2024
The Biggest Texas Trial Rulings Of 2024: Midyear Report
Trial courts in Texas saw a series of high-dollar verdicts for plaintiffs in suits over patent infringement and personal injuries, but appellate courts tempered some plaintiffs' successes, backing a large retail employer in a harassment suit and tossing a verdict based on a lawyer's remarks. Here's a look at some of the biggest trial decisions in Texas in the first half of 2024.
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August 23, 2024
DHS Urges Justices To Bar Review Of Revoked Visa Petitions
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to find that an immigration law bars federal courts from reviewing revoked visa petitions, saying lawmakers had reduced the possibility of duplicative legal proceedings by preventing judicial review.
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August 23, 2024
5th Circ. Strikes Down DOL Tip Rule
The Fifth Circuit struck down a U.S. Department of Labor rule on tipped wages, saying it goes against the Fair Labor Standards Act and is therefore arbitrary and capricious.
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August 23, 2024
SPAC Investors Ask Full 9th Circ. To Rethink Lucid Merger
Investors have urged the full Ninth Circuit to rethink a panel's refusal to revive their proposed class action alleging that Lucid duped them into buying stock in a special purpose acquisition company ahead of the electric vehicle maker's $11.75 billion merger, arguing that the panel's holding misconstrues U.S. Supreme Court precedent, among other issues.
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August 23, 2024
Georgia Cases To Watch In The Last Half Of 2024
The prosecutions of former President Donald Trump and his election interference case codefendants, along with Atlanta rapper Young Thug's bid to have the judge overseeing his racketeering trial removed from the case, will take center stage in Georgia's courts as we enter the second half of 2024.
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August 23, 2024
Texas Justices Back Creation Of 15th Appeals Court
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday backed the creation of the Fifteenth Court of Appeals, writing that Dallas County's arguments alleging its unconstitutionality, while "not implausible," are not "inevitable."
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August 23, 2024
Workers Ask 6th Circ. To Remand UAW Bribery Scheme Row
A group of engineers urged the Sixth Circuit to make a lower court send their fraud and civil conspiracy claims against the United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler back to Michigan state court, arguing they fall under state law and do not require interpretation of a labor contract.
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August 23, 2024
NJ Panel Backs Dismissal Of Whistleblower Suit
A former New Jersey assistant prosecutor did not provide a clear enough link between complaints he filed against his boss and an alleged retaliatory disciplinary action, a New Jersey appellate panel ruled Friday when it dismissed his whistleblower suit.
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August 23, 2024
Punchbowl News Gets Win In TM Spat With Punchbowl Inc.
A California federal judge has ruled there is no likelihood of confusion between a publication called Punchbowl News and a greeting card and event planning company named Punchbowl Inc., justifying the dismissal of the latter's trademark infringement claims, according to a summary judgment order.
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August 23, 2024
1st Circ. Says Longshoremen Local Still On Hook For $1.7M
The International Longshoreman's Association pension fund is entitled to collect nearly $1.7 million in unpaid contributions and attorney fees from a union local in San Juan, Puerto Rico, following a merger with another local that had been in arrears, the First Circuit has ruled.
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August 23, 2024
On Final Night Of DNC, Prosecutors Ruled The Stage
Vice President Kamala Harris invoked her experience as a prosecutor and an attorney general in her speech Thursday night in Chicago accepting the Democratic nomination for president.
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August 22, 2024
10th Circ. Pauses Debt Relief Appeal After 8th Circ. Ruling
The Tenth Circuit on Thursday paused several states' appeal challenging a Kansas federal judge's injunction that partially barred the Biden administration's latest student debt relief plan, citing a broader injunction the Eighth Circuit issued earlier this month.
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August 22, 2024
Split 6th Circ. Reopens Coca-Cola Bottling Race Bias Case
A split Sixth Circuit panel Thursday revived a lawsuit filed against a Coca-Cola bottling company by an employee who failed a drug test, finding a genuine dispute exists over whether the man voluntarily waived his rights to sue for racial discrimination and retaliation when he signed a "last chance" agreement.
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August 22, 2024
Calif. Justices Revive PwC's $2.5M Sanction Against LA
The California Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously restored a $2.5 million sanction sought by PwC against the city of Los Angeles for pervasive discovery misconduct in an underlying utility billing fight, finding that the trial court had the authority to impose monetary sanctions under the state's Code of Civil Procedure.
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August 22, 2024
Calif. Justices OK Argentine Atty's Uber Fraud Fight
California justices gave an Argentinian lawyer a green light Thursday to pursue allegations that Uber fraudulently hid crucial information as he represented Uber before its Buenos Aires launch, clarifying that his tort fraudulent-concealment claim is not necessarily barred by the so-called economic loss doctrine if his employment contract never contemplated the alleged fraud.
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August 22, 2024
Texas Appeals Knocks $1M Hernia Mesh Fee Ask Down To $135K
A Texas appeals court on Wednesday upheld an arbitration award of $135,000 in attorney's fees in a decadeslong hernia mesh litigation dispute while denying the firm's request for $1 million.
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August 22, 2024
Homeowner Loses Atty Fees In Suit Over HOA Fence Policy
A Texas appeals court reversed a homeowner's win in a dispute with his neighbors over privacy fences facing a road, finding that a new state law prevents homeowners associations from enacting any covenant barring homeowners from putting up security measures, so the homeowner couldn't collect attorney fees.
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August 22, 2024
7th Circ. Says Rep. Isn't Injured By Extended Ballot Count
A split Seventh Circuit panel on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a challenge to Illinois' ballot receipt procedure, saying no one was forcing a congressman to spend money to safeguard the counting of mail-in ballots up to 14 days after Election Day.
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August 22, 2024
5th Circ. Says No Tolling For COVID, Trims Atty's Conviction
The Fifth Circuit on Thursday knocked a false statement charge off Houston attorney Richard Plezia's conviction for his involvement in a multimillion-dollar ambulance-chasing kickback scheme but upheld the rest of his conviction, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by helping another lawyer evade federal income taxes.
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August 22, 2024
6th Circ. Reopens Red Cross Nurse's COVID-19 Vax Suit
The Sixth Circuit revived a former Red Cross nurse's claim that the nonprofit organization failed to accommodate her religious beliefs when it refused to exempt her from its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, ruling that the lower court held the plaintiff to an overly strict standard when it tossed her suit.
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August 22, 2024
3rd Circ. Denies Liberian Bank Whistleblower's Asylum Bid
The Third Circuit ruled Thursday that a Liberian man can't claim asylum despite having "suffered horrors" after unearthing a fraud scheme involving Liberian government officials' relatives and refusing a politician's bribe, saying he did not show evidence that his alleged perpetrators targeted him for having an anti-corruption political opinion.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Flawed Fintiv Rule Should Be Deemed Overreach In Tech Suit
A pending federal lawsuit over the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's unilateral changes to key elements of the America Invents Act, Apple v. Vidal, could shift the balance of power between Congress and federal agencies, as it could justify future instances of unelected officials unilaterally changing laws, say Patrick Leahy and Bob Goodlatte.
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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High Court's Abortion Pill Ruling Shuts Out Future Challenges
The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine maintains the status quo for mifepristone access and rejects the plaintiffs' standing theories so thoroughly that future challenges from states or other plaintiffs are unlikely to be viable, say Jaime Santos and Annaka Nava at Goodwin.
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Insurers Have A Ch. 11 Voice Following High Court Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum — which reaffirmed a broad definition of "party in interest" — will give insurers, particularly in mass tort Chapter 11 bankruptcies, more opportunity to protect their interests and identify problems with reorganization plans, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.
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Justices' Bump Stock Ruling Skirted Deference, Lenity Issues
Despite presenting a seemingly classic case on agency deference, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week in Garland v. Cargill did not mention the Chevron doctrine, and the opinion also overlooked whether agency interpretations of federal gun laws should ever receive deference given that they carry criminal penalties, say Tess Saperstein and John Elwood at Arnold & Porter.
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Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation
Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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High Court's BofA Ruling Leaves State Preemption Questions
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cantero v. Bank of America sheds light on whether certain state banking regulations apply to federally chartered banks, but a circuit split could still force the Supreme Court to take a more direct position, says Brett Garver at Moritt Hock.
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Next Steps After 5th Circ. Nixes Private Fund Adviser Rules
The Fifth Circuit's recent toss of key U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules regarding private fund advisers represents a setback for the regulator, but open questions, including the possibility of an SEC petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, mean it's still too early to consider the matter closed, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Foreign Discovery Insights 2 Years After ZF Automotive
Although an Arizona federal court decision last month demonstrates that Section 1782 discovery may still be available to foreign arbitral parties, the scope of such discovery has narrowed greatly since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision in ZF Automotive, and there are a few potential trends for practitioners to follow, say attorneys at Venable.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Where Anti-Discrimination Law Stands 4 Years After Bostock
On the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Bostock ruling, Evan Parness and Abby Rickeman at Covington take stock of how the decision, which held that Title VII protects employees from discrimination because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, has affected anti-discrimination law at the state and federal levels.
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8th Circ. Insurance Ruling Spotlights Related-Claims Defenses
The Eighth Circuit’s recent Dexon v. Travelers ruling — that the insurer must provide a defense despite the policy’s related-acts provision — provides guidance for how policyholders can overcome related-acts defenses, say Geoffrey Fehling and Jae Lynn Huckaba at Hunton.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.