Appellate

  • July 21, 2025

    Calif. Court Orders Drug Deal Retrial Over Mistaken Admission

    A California state appeals court on Monday demanded a new trial on drug dealing charges for a man who admitted to possessing cocaine while on probation, finding a trial court judge had erroneously admitted botched testimony the man gave in a probation hearing.

  • July 21, 2025

    How GOP Judges Teed Up 4th Circ.'s Supreme Court Shutout

    No appeals court found the U.S. Supreme Court's latest term less endearing than the Fourth Circuit, where a supersize shutout accentuated a multiyear slump for the once-favored circuit and repeatedly vindicated conservative dissenters on the left-leaning bench.

  • July 21, 2025

    Board Says Salvadoran Women Not A Social Group Under INA

    The Board of Immigration Appeals has dismissed a Salvadoran woman's attempt to revive her application for asylum and withholding of removal, ruling that a particular social group based solely on an individual's sex and nationality is "overbroad and insufficiently particular." 

  • July 21, 2025

    Energy Litigation To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2025

    Courtroom showdowns between the Trump administration and blue states over U.S. energy and climate change policy will dominate the energy litigation landscape for the rest of 2025. Here is what the energy industry will be watching closely in the second half of the year.

  • July 21, 2025

    Pa. Hospital Can Shield Some Docs In Birth Injury Suit

    A Pennsylvania state appeals panel won't force a hospital to turn over all of its internal reports in a suit by parents alleging that the hospital's negligence led to their son's injuries at birth, finding that the hospital sufficiently showed that two of the three contested files are privileged.

  • July 21, 2025

    Mich. Panel Upholds Atty Fee For Court-Appointed Counsel

    A Michigan appellate panel has upheld a sentence requiring a defendant to pay a $400 attorney fee to her court-appointed counsel, rejecting her contentions that it was an unconstitutional fine and that the court failed to determine whether she had the ability to pay.

  • July 21, 2025

    Calif. High Court Says Biotech Investor Suit Belongs In Del.

    The California Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a lawsuit pursued by a minority investor alleging San Diego-based EpicentRx and its officers bamboozled investors belongs in Delaware Chancery Court, rejecting arguments that enforcing the biopharmaceutical company's forum selection clause violated Golden State jury trial protections.

  • July 21, 2025

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week at the Delaware Court of Chancery, a major settlement between Meta Platforms Inc. and its investors reached on the proverbial courthouse steps during day two of a trial ended an $8 billion-plus suit accusing the company's directors and officers of breaching privacy regulations and corporate fiduciary duties tied to allegations dating to the Cambridge Analytica scandal more than a decade ago.

  • July 21, 2025

    Tax-Lien Biz Atty Tells Jury He Didn't Seek To Dupe Lender

    Counsel for a former compliance lawyer accused of pilfering from a $20 million line of credit extended to his tax-lien investment firm told a Manhattan federal jury Monday that the defendant was "sloppy," but never intended fraud.

  • July 21, 2025

    DC Circ. Strikes Down Gag Order On X Corp. Subpoenas

    A D.C. Circuit panel has struck down a lower court's sweeping order blocking X Corp. from informing users about government data requests, with the appeals court finding the district court failed to identify specific harm that would come from keeping users in the loop.

  • July 21, 2025

    11th Circ Says. Experian Not Liable For Credit Dispute Costs

    The Eleventh Circuit upheld a win for Experian PLC when it held that a consumer's attempts to correct inaccurate information in a credit report can't constitute an injury without evidence that the data was published to a third party or some other actual or imminent harm.

  • July 21, 2025

    EPA Asks 9th Circ. To Reverse Calif. Judge In Fluoride Suit

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is asking the Ninth Circuit to reverse a California federal judge who ruled that the EPA's current "optimal" level of fluoride in drinking water poses an unreasonable risk of lowering children's IQ.

  • July 21, 2025

    Dentist Can't Shake $11.4M Verdict Over Patient's Cancer

    A Pennsylvania Superior Court on Monday affirmed an $11.4 million verdict against a dentist who allegedly ignored signs of skin cancer during appointments, rejecting her argument that the evidence didn't support the verdict.

  • July 21, 2025

    4th Circ. Reverses Portion Of Railroads' Broadband Suit

    The Fourth Circuit has ruled that the Association of American Railroads has standing to challenge a Virginia state law requiring railroads to allow for broadband crossings, reversing a trial court decision and dealing another blow to a law that the Virginia Supreme Court already gutted on state constitutional grounds in May.

  • July 21, 2025

    Reed Smith's Doc Block Motion 'Hyperbolic,' 2nd Circ. Told

    Reed Smith LLP cannot block the new owners of reorganized Greece-based international shipping company Eletson from viewing files already in its possession, the company has told the Second Circuit, arguing the law firm's emergency motion to stop the new owners from accessing the files was intentionally timed to head off anticipated district court rulings.

  • July 21, 2025

    Ex-Eckert Seamans Atty Drops Pa. License Over Cash Scheme

    A onetime Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC attorney who allegedly asked clients for direct payments to circumvent the firm has surrendered his Pennsylvania law license, but is now alleging state disciplinary authorities violated a deal to keep the records private if he agreed to the disbarment.

  • July 21, 2025

    Trump DOJ To Appeal Axing Of Order Targeting Jenner & Block

    The U.S. Department of Justice plans to fight a federal judge's ruling that struck down President Donald Trump's executive order targeting Jenner & Block LLP, as it filed a notice of appeal Monday in D.C. federal court.

  • July 21, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs Union Win Over Concrete Cos. In CBA Fight

    The Second Circuit on Monday refused to revive a fringe contributions dispute between two concrete companies and a group of union fringe benefit funds, affirming a lower court's decision to hand the union an early win that was partially based on the companies' failure to respond to discovery requests.

  • July 21, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Motorola Win In Camera Patent Suit

    A prominent Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphone camera lenses has failed to convince the Federal Circuit that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly found one of its patents challenged by Motorola to be invalid.

  • July 21, 2025

    6th Circ. Revives Fired Clariant Clerk's Gender Bias Suit

    A former warehouse clerk is entitled to a trial on her claim that she was terminated because of her gender during a workforce reduction at a U.S. division of Swiss chemical company Clariant, the Sixth Circuit has ruled.

  • July 21, 2025

    2nd Circ. Affirms Big Banks' Win In Terrorism Financing Fight

    A New York federal judge was right to dismiss a suit seeking to hold Deutsche Bank, Standard Chartered Bank and Danske Bank liable for aiding and abetting terrorist bombings in Afghanistan, a Second Circuit panel ruled Monday.

  • July 21, 2025

    Top 4 Texas Cases To Watch: A Midyear Report

    Several major cases are taking shape in the Lone Star State, including the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association's suit seeking to hold Boeing accountable for lost revenue after the 737 Max was grounded, as well as the continuing fallout of a former Houston judge's romance scandal that could cost a Texas firm millions of dollars. Here's a look at the top cases to watch in Texas through the rest of the year.

  • July 21, 2025

    Travelers Unit, NC Door Maker Settle Excess Insurance Fight

    A Travelers unit has resolved a North Carolina door manufacturer's lawsuit seeking $10 million in excess coverage from the insurer to help cover a $39.5 million securities class action settlement, court records show.

  • July 21, 2025

    Senate Panel To Revote On US Atty Noms After Dem Walkout

    The Senate Judiciary Committee is poised to revote on five U.S. attorney nominees on Thursday, including Jeanine Pirro, former Fox News host and New York state judge, after Democrats walked out of last week's meeting over objections to how the consideration of controversial Third Circuit nominee Emil Bove was being handled.

  • July 21, 2025

    How Criminal Law Is Shaped By Administrative Decisions

    Behind line prosecutors are administrators, policies, and day-to-day logistics that enable and shape not only prosecutors' work but trends in how justice is administered throughout the country, according to a New York University School of Law professor and researcher.

Expert Analysis

  • SpaceX Labor Suit May Bring Cosmic Jurisdictional Shifts

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    The National Mediation Board's upcoming decision about whether SpaceX falls under the purview of the National Labor Relations Act or the Railway Labor Act could establish how jurisdictional boundaries are determined for employers that toe the line, with tangible consequences for decades to come, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Opinion

    The BigLaw Settlements Are About Risk, Not Profit

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    The nine Am Law 100 firms that settled with the Trump administration likely did so because of the personal risk faced by equity partners in today's billion‑dollar national practices, enabled by an ethics rule primed for modernization, says Adam Forest at Scale.

  • Opinion

    Courts Must Revitalize Robust Claim Construction

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    Two Federal Circuit decisions from earlier this year illustrate the rarity of robust claim construction and the underused reverse doctrine of equivalents — a dual problem that prevents courts from clearly delineating and correctly cabining the scope of rights conferred by patent claims, say attorneys at Klarquist Sparkman.

  • State Tort Claims May Help Deter Bribes During FCPA Pause

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    As the U.S. pauses Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, companies that lose business due to competitors' bribery should consider using state tortious interference suits to expose corruption, deter illegal practices and obtain compensation for commercial losses, says Jason Manning at Levy Firestone.

  • 2nd Circ. Arb. Ruling May Give Foreign Insurers An Edge

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    The Second Circuit's decision this month in Lloyds of London v. 3131 Veterans Blvd that international arbitration agreements take primacy over state anti-arbitration insurance laws opens a division between domestic and foreign insurers that could affect the surplus lines market, says attorney Rosanne Felicello.

  • Buyer Beware Of Restrictive Covenants In Delaware

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    Based on recent Delaware Chancery Court opinions rejecting restricted covenants contained in agreements in the sale-of-business context, businesses need to craft narrowly tailored restrictions that have legitimate interests, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.

  • Series

    Brazilian Jiujitsu Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in Brazilian jiujitsu – often against opponents who are much larger and younger than me – has allowed me to develop a handful of useful skills that foster the resilience and adaptability necessary for a successful legal career, says Tina Dorr of Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Fed. Circ. Offers Lesson On Gov't Data Rights In Contracts

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in FlightSafety v. Air Force serves as a warning for U.S. Department of Defense contractors attempting to mark their commercial technical data developed at private expense, say attorneys at Butzel Long.

  • Birthright Ruling Could Alter Consumer Financial Litigation

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming decision about the validity of the nationwide injunctions in the birthright citizenship cases, argued on May 15, could make it much harder for trade associations to obtain nationwide relief from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's enforcement of invalid regulations, says Alan Kaplinsky at Ballard Spahr.

  • Fed. Circ. In April: Introducing New Evidence During IPR

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    The Federal Circuit's decision in Sage Products v. Stewart last month upheld the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision to allow a petitioner to rely on case-dispositive evidence beyond prior art references, affording petitioners in inter partes review proceedings greater latitude in the timing of evidence presentation, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • 1st Circ. Ruling Widens Split Over Sentencing Enhancements

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    In U.S. v. Salvador-Gutierrez, the First Circuit recently switched sides in a circuit split by holding that certain sentencing enhancements apply only where the defendant used a minor in the commission of the crime, deepening a divide over the scope of role adjustments, says Sarah Sulkowski at Gelber & Santillo.

  • A Cautionary Fed. Circ. Tale On Design Patents

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    The Federal Circuit's decision last month in Floyd highlights a risk in design patent prosecution — attempting to claim priority to a utility application, says John Hemmer at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: An Untapped Source For Biz Roles

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    Law firms looking to recruit legal business talent should consider turning to paralegals, who practice several key skills every day that prepare them to thrive in marketing and client development roles, says Vanessa Torres at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Google Case Amicus Briefs Reveal Patent Damage Fault Lines

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    The 21 amicus briefs filed before the en banc rehearing of EcoFactor v. Google offer opposing viewpoints on important patent damages issues that extend beyond the specific question the Federal Circuit eventually ruled on, helping practitioners anticipate and address likely objections to future damages opinions, say attorneys at Stout.

  • Using Federal Forum Provisions To Nix State Securities Cases

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    A California appeals court's recent decision in Bullock v. Rivian clarifies that underwriters may enforce federal forum provisions to escape state court Securities Act claims, marking progress in restoring such lawsuits to federal court and reducing the litigation costs arising from duplicative state court litigation, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

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