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Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To 2024's Most Memorable Moments
One judge said a litigant's position would cause "an effing nightmare," and another decried the legal community's silence amid "illegitimate aspersions." Public officials literally trashed one court's opinion, and fateful rulings dealt with controversial politicians, social media and decades of environmental policy. Those were just a few appellate highlights in 2024, a year teeming with memorable moments both substantive and sensational.
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January 15, 2025
4th Circ. Says 'Moke' TM Generic Issue Needs Another Look
A split Fourth Circuit panel has thrown out a lower court's finding that the term "moke" can't get trademark protection, saying a lower court needs to look further as part of a dispute between two companies fighting for the rights to use the word as a mark.
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January 15, 2025
EPA Tells DC Circ. Truck GHG Emissions Rule Is Sound
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is defending its tightened greenhouse gas emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles against a challenge brought by dozens of states and industry groups, telling the D.C. Circuit that federal law empowers the agency to regulate all motor vehicles — electric or otherwise.
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January 15, 2025
Justices Asked If Zoning Immunity Can Pass To Private Entity
The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday considered whether a hospital authority could transfer its exemption from municipal zoning ordinances to a private buyer in a dispute over whether a hospital site can become an addiction rehabilitation center.
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January 15, 2025
Del. Justices Mull 'Reasonable' Effort Duty In Drug Biz Deal
An attorney for former stockholders of Ception Therapeutics Inc. told Delaware's top court on Wednesday that a now-retired vice chancellor "asked the wrong question" in dismissing a suit alleging breaches of an agreement to use commercially reasonable efforts before abandoning a new drug prospect.
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January 15, 2025
3M Wants Conn. AG's PFAS Case Paused For 2nd Circ. Appeal
3M has urged a Connecticut Superior Court to stay the state's environmental lawsuit seeking damages for "forever chemical" pollution the company allegedly created, saying the Second Circuit should first review a federal judge's order remanding the case to state court.
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January 15, 2025
Crash Claimant Can't Appeal After Payout, NJ Justices Say
A plaintiff in an automobile personal injury case who accepts full payment of a final judgment and executes a warrant to satisfy it may not appeal a ruling barring evidence of future medical expenses unless they state their intent to appeal before accepting the payment, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
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January 15, 2025
4th Circ. Affirms $1M Appeal Bond Reimbursement Ruling
Atain Specialty Insurance Co. must reimburse Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. for the $1 million appeal bond Liberty issued to an Atain insured that ultimately lost its appeal in an underlying suit, the Fourth Circuit ruled Wednesday, even though Liberty incorrectly indicated it previously closed the bond.
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January 15, 2025
9th Circ. Eyes Undoing Trans Patients' Win In ACA Bias Suit
The Ninth Circuit seemed inclined Wednesday to strike down a trial court win for patients who challenged Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois' administration of their employer-provided health plans containing gender-affirming care exclusions, with two judges questioning why those employers weren't part of the case.
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January 15, 2025
Buyers In Cheese Co. Deal Fight To Keep Claims In Fla.
Two Florida companies asked the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to revive their lawsuit accusing Savencia Cheese USA LLC and its executives of fraudulently selling them a worthless cheese distribution company for $17 million, arguing the presence of deal counsel in Miami is enough to keep the suit in Florida federal court.
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January 15, 2025
3rd Circ. Preview: NFL Concussion Benefits Fight Tops January
The case of late NFL players' family members who say they shouldn't have to exhume their loved ones' remains to receive benefits from the national concussion settlement takes center stage in the Third Circuit's January argument session.
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January 15, 2025
Sen. Says Transparency Act Hampers First Amendment Rights
The Corporate Transparency Act is an unnecessary intrusion into the First Amendment rights of Americans, U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and 13 House members told the Supreme Court in seeking to maintain an injunction issued in December.
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January 15, 2025
Noncompete Ban Has A Defender In Wings If Trump FTC Won't
Entrepreneurs group Small Business Majority wants the Fifth and Eleventh circuits to let it intervene to defend the Federal Trade Commission's currently blocked noncompetes ban if FTC Republicans stop arguing for the rule as expected once they take power.
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January 15, 2025
Duke Settles Retiree's Mortality Data Suit At 4th Circ.
Duke University told the Fourth Circuit it has agreed to settle a retiree's proposed class action claiming the school used outdated mortality data to calculate retirement benefits and underpaid former employees by millions of dollars, ending the university's attempt to send the case to arbitration.
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January 15, 2025
Maxell Battery Patent Sinks At Federal Circuit
Japanese consumer electronics outfit Maxell on Wednesday failed to persuade Federal Circuit judges to change anything about a patent board ruling that wiped out all the claims in a battery patent asserted in a suit against a Chinese rival.
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January 15, 2025
9th Circ. Open To Reviving Robinhood Suit Over $2.1B IPO
Judges on a Ninth Circuit panel appeared open Wednesday to reviving a proposed securities class action alleging Robinhood hid how a "meme stock" and cryptocurrency trading frenzy had impacted its outlook ahead of its $2.1 billion initial public offering, saying the lower court may have applied the wrong standard in tossing the case.
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January 15, 2025
Pa. Justices Won't Review Order Allowing Post-Gazette Picket
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania won't take up an appeal from the publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which is seeking to block striking union workers from picketing outside a newspaper distribution center, the court announced Wednesday.
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January 15, 2025
7th Circ. Wary Of New Bribery Trial Sought Over FBI Interview
A Seventh Circuit panel appeared skeptical Wednesday of a sweepstakes machine business owner's argument that his roughly five-year bribery sentence should be vacated because his conviction was largely based on audio from an FBI interview that the original jurors shouldn't have been allowed to hear.
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January 15, 2025
Justices Struggle With Tech Advances In Texas Porn Law Row
Several U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday focused on how a decadesold brick-and-mortar precedent applies to a Texas law requiring age verification on porn websites while struggling to reconcile technological advancements with First Amendment protections.
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January 15, 2025
Pa. Malpractice Fund Can't Get Second Chance At 3rd Circ.
The administrator of Pennsylvania's state-established medical malpractice insurance fund won't get a second chance to convince the Third Circuit that its funds are private, after the court on Wednesday declined to reconsider a December ruling that the state could access the money.
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January 15, 2025
Texas Justices Unsure State Can Shutter Immigrant Nonprofit
A Texas appellate court seemed doubtful Wednesday that the state attorney general has authority to shut down a nonprofit over its political speech, with the justices suggesting that Texas might be blurring the line between state and federal nonprofit oversight.
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January 15, 2025
9th Circ. Won't Review Nixed Deductions For Disbarred Atty
The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday rejected a disbarred California attorney's requests to review its December decision to uphold a U.S. Tax Court ruling denying his bid to take business deductions for the cost of challenging his disbarment and a court's declaration that he is a "vexatious litigant."
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January 15, 2025
Fla. Man Says Gov't Miscalculated Forfeiture In PPP Fraud
A Haitian man currently serving a 50-month prison sentence for concealing a COVID-19 loan fraud scheme from U.S. immigration officials to get citizenship urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to reverse a forfeiture judgment against him, arguing that the government miscalculated the amount of his ill-gotten gains from the scheme.
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January 15, 2025
SMU Can't Chuck 100-Year Ties To Church, Justices Suggest
Texas Supreme Court justices piled questions on Southern Methodist University over its split with the United Methodist Church, saying during oral arguments Wednesday that the school seemingly used "clever lawyering" over a "hot button political issue" to wrestle control from the church.
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January 15, 2025
NJ Prosecutors Can Shield Certain Docs In Atty Bribe Cases
New Jersey prosecutors won't have to turn over certain documents related to investigations involving and potential crimes committed by a tax attorney who was a cooperating witness in its bribery case against three former public officials, a state appeals panel has ruled.
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January 15, 2025
Chubb Unit Seeks Exit From Bar's $105M Drunken Driving Suit
A Chubb unit said it no longer owes coverage to a bar appealing a $105 million judgment related to a drunken patron's car crash, telling a Texas federal court the bar violated the terms of the policy by refusing to cooperate with the insurer's defense.
Editor's Picks
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12 Lawyers Who Are The Future Of The Supreme Court Bar
One attorney hasn't lost a single U.S. Supreme Court case she's argued, or even a single justice's vote. One attorney is perhaps "the preeminent SCOTUS advocate." And one may soon become U.S. solicitor general, despite acknowledging there are "judges out there who don't like me." All three are among a dozen lawyers in the vanguard of the Supreme Court bar's next generation, poised to follow in the footsteps of the bar's current icons.
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How Reshaped Circuit Courts Are Faring At The High Court
Seminal rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court's latest term will reshape many facets of American society in the coming years. Already, however, the rulings offer glimpses of how the justices view specific circuit courts, which have themselves been reshaped by an abundance of new judges.
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Law360's Guide To Biden's Judicial Picks
UPDATED December 20, 2024 | President Joe Biden is shaping the federal judiciary by adding to the courts' professional and demographic diversity — a sharp break from former President Donald Trump, who made the judiciary more homogeneous as the judges confirmed under him were 84% white and 76% male.
Expert Analysis
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Looking Back At 2024's Noteworthy State AG Litigation
State attorneys general across the U.S. took bold steps in 2024 to address unlawful activities by corporations in several areas, including privacy and data security, financial transparency, children's internet safety, and other overall consumer protection claims, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Opinion
No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.
A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.
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The Compliance Trends And Imperatives On Tap In 2025
The corporate ethics and compliance landscape is rapidly evolving, posing challenges from conflicting stakeholder expectations to technological disruptions, and businesses will need to explore human-centered, data-driven and evidence-based practices, says Hui Chen at CDE Advisors.
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Opinion
Congress Should Finally Add Clarity To Section 101
With both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate introducing bills to provide guidance on what qualifies as patentable subject matter under the Patent Act, Congress will hopefully put an end at last to 10 years of uncertainty surrounding the question, says David Carstens at Carstens Allen.
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5 Advertising Law Trends To Watch In 2025
Although advertisers are encouraged by the incoming Trump administration's focus on deregulation, this year could feel like wading through uncharted waters, and decreased federal government regulation may mean increased state regulation, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond
In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.
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NY Plastic Pollution Verdict May Not Bode Well For Other Suits
The dismissal of New York state's public nuisance complaint against PepsiCo over pollution of the Buffalo River with the company's single use plastic bottles may not augur well for similar lawsuits filed by Baltimore and Los Angeles County, although tort law varies from state to state, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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What To Expect From Federal Cybersecurity Policy In 2025
There are 12 cyber policy questions to keep an eye on as the new administration and Republican control of Congress present an opportunity to advance less regulatory approaches and revisit some choices from the prior administration, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Certification, Lateness, SBA Eligibility
In this month's bid protest roundup, Cody Fisher at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Government Accountability Office that address the treatment of a proposal that was timely submitted but received late, and highlight nuances of certification and small business eligibility requirements.
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How Decline Of Deference Will Affect Trump Policymaking
An administrative law regime without Chevron deference may limit the Trump administration’s ability to implement new policies in the short term, but ultimately help it in the long term, and all parties with an interest in regulatory changes will have to take a fresh approach to litigation, say attorneys at Covington.
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Series
Ohio Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4
Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw several significant developments in the fourth quarter of 2024, including a landmark Uniform Commercial Code ruling, adjustments to the state's Homebuyer Plus Program and the launch of the state's first women-led bank, says attorney Alex Durst.
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6 Predictions For Cyber Risk And Insurance In 2025
This year is likely to bring with it some thorny and expensive cyber challenges, including increased ransomware activity, more data breach class actions and continued efforts to define business interruption loss calculations, say attorneys at Wiley.
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7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring
President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.
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Opinion
Courts Must Curb The Drug Price Negotiation Program
The Inflation Reduction Act's drug price negotiation program upends incentive structures that drive medical innovation, and courts must act appropriately to avoid devastating consequences for American healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry, says Jeff Stier at the Consumer Choice Center.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection
Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.