Appellate

  • November 21, 2024

    Senate Deal Halts 4 Circuit Court Nominations

    Democrats and Republicans cut a deal Wednesday night to advance district court nominees before the year ends, while dropping four circuit court picks from confirmation efforts, Law360 has confirmed.

  • November 21, 2024

    11th Circ. Says Fla. Law Bars Workers' Comp Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit backed the dismissal of a worker's suit claiming a chemical company didn't do enough to shield him from particles that caused a lung condition, ruling that a Florida workers' compensation law blocks him from pursuing the company in court for negligence.

  • November 21, 2024

    Holtzman Vogel Expands To South Florida With Weil Atty

    Washington, D.C.-based firm Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC has added a Miami litigation partner previously at Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.

  • November 21, 2024

    Senate Approves Honeywell GC For Arizona Judge Seat

    The Senate voted 82-12 on Thursday to confirm Sharad H. Desai, a vice president and general counsel for Honeywell International, for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.

  • November 21, 2024

    Ohio City Tax Exemption Isn't Retroactive, Court Affirms

    An Ohio property in a reinvestment area is not eligible for a city's tax exemption offered to remodeled homes, as the remodel was completed before the property was included in the reinvestment district, an Ohio appellate court affirmed Thursday.   

  • November 21, 2024

    Ex-Connecticut Town Officials Appeal Toss Of Defamation Claims

     A group of former officials from Newington, Connecticut, including its onetime town attorney, have appealed a state judge's decision to throw out all of their claims against the town and nearly all against tax assessors they had accused of defaming them with a false ethics complaint.

  • November 21, 2024

    4th Circ. Tells Judge To Try Again After 'Vindictive' Sentence

    A federal judge has been given a third chance to impose a proper sentence on a man who pled guilty to a drug-trafficking conspiracy charge, with the Fourth Circuit finding the judge erred when, after the defendant successfully appealed his initial sentence, he handed down an even harsher one.

  • November 21, 2024

    11th Circ. Asked To Rethink $100M Credit For John Hancock

    The Eleventh Circuit should reverse its decision allowing John Hancock Life Insurance Co. to keep $100 million in foreign tax credits that rightfully belong to the company's investors, trustees of a retirement plan said in arguing that the court overlooked a key U.S. Treasury regulation.

  • November 21, 2024

    House Dems Tell Gorsuch To Recuse Over NEPA Case Conflict

    A group of House Democrats has called for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch to recuse himself from a dispute over federal environmental review requirements, arguing the court's decision could directly benefit a Colorado billionaire and former client who campaigned for the justice's first judicial appointment.

  • November 21, 2024

    Gaetz Ends AG Bid, Citing 'Distraction' To Trump Transition

    Former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration Thursday as President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general amid allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.

  • November 20, 2024

    Not So Fast: Lenders Say CFPB Payday Rule Must Stay On Ice

    Lender trade groups challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's payday loan rule have told the Fifth Circuit that they anticipate pursuing another U.S. Supreme Court appeal in their case, and that the rule should be kept on hold for even longer in the meantime.

  • November 20, 2024

    DOJ Settles With Atty Who Reported Judge's Sexual Misconduct

    A former Alaska federal prosecutor who made allegations of sexual misconduct against then-U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred has reached an undisclosed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice resolving claims she suffered retaliation for speaking up, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said Wednesday.

  • November 20, 2024

    DC Circ. Judge Blasts 'Bogus' Bid To Nix Discrimination Rule

    One judge on a D.C. Circuit panel ripped into an insurance trade group Wednesday over its contention that it is mounting a facial challenge to a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rule expanding what is considered a discriminatory housing practice.

  • November 20, 2024

    Prison Phone Cos. Say FCC Reg Fight Belongs In 5th Circ.

    There should have been no lottery to decide where to place an appeal challenging the Federal Communications Commission's new caps on rates charged for prison phone calls — the matter belongs in the Fifth Circuit, a pair of prison phone service providers told the First Circuit.

  • November 20, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge Asks How Loper Bright Impacts EPA Fine Case

    A Ninth Circuit judge wondered on Wednesday what weight the court should give the Environmental Protection Agency's view in a chemical wholesaler's appeal of an $850,000 fine in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, suggesting the justices might next end agency deference in regulatory interpretation.

  • November 20, 2024

    2nd Circ. Doubts Error In Tenant Screener's FHA Suit Win

    A Second Circuit panel appeared skeptical Wednesday that a Connecticut federal judge used the wrong analysis to find that a tenant screener's criminal history reporting practices do not violate the Fair Housing Act, grilling counsel for the federal government about the lower court's process.

  • November 20, 2024

    GM Can't Get Full 6th Circ. Redo Of Duramax Emissions Case

    The full Sixth Circuit on Wednesday left untouched a divided panel's recent decision partly reviving drivers' claims alleging General Motors deceptively marketed Chevrolet Silverado and Sierra vehicles as being more environmentally friendly than they actually were, but two dissenting judges said the case warranted en banc review.

  • November 20, 2024

    Tribe Fights Ore. Irrigation District At 9th Circ. Over Water Use

    The Yurok Tribe has joined with fishing and conservation groups in asking the Ninth Circuit to deny an irrigation district's bid to certify questions to the Oregon Supreme Court over the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's authority to control water use under state law.

  • November 20, 2024

    Texas Court Tosses $800K Verdict In Bar Shooting Suit

    A Texas appeals court has thrown out a jury's $816,000 verdict in a suit blaming a bar for serving alcohol to an underage man who later shot two patrons multiple times, saying there was insufficient evidence that the attack was foreseeable.

  • November 20, 2024

    Hospital's Med Mal Win Axed By Mich. Appeals Panel

    A divided Michigan Court of Appeals panel has revived a medical malpractice lawsuit against a Michigan hospital, finding that the patient established a genuine fact dispute regarding her reasonable belief that the gynecologist treating her was acting as the hospital's agent. 

  • November 20, 2024

    Judge Opens Path For Ex-Yale Student's Asylum Bid

    A Connecticut federal judge has illuminated a potential path for an expelled Yale student to send his sex assault accuser's name to immigration officials, suggesting that submitting a state trial transcript would "not seem to run afoul" of a magistrate judge's ban on otherwise naming the woman.

  • November 20, 2024

    11th Circ. Says No Coverage For Holding Co. In $11.7M Row

    The Eleventh Circuit unanimously affirmed Wednesday that an insurer doesn't have to cover underlying litigation against a holding company by investors who wanted to revoke an $11.7 million buy-in, because claims were made before the policy was active.

  • November 20, 2024

    Fed. Judges Still Seek New Bench Seats Amid Dems' Loss

    The Federal Judges Association is urging the House to pass the bipartisan bill that would expand the federal courts in order to meet rising caseloads, even as the Biden administration appears to be cooling on the idea it once supported.

  • November 20, 2024

    Fla. Couple Ask To Revive Suit Over Unclaimed Property

    A Florida couple asked the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday to revive their proposed class suit against the state's chief financial officer over a law that allows officials to hold unclaimed money indefinitely, arguing that it is a taking without just compensation because the state never pays interest on the amount held.

  • November 20, 2024

    CPSC Misunderstands Magnet Risks For Kids, Court Told

    An attorney for the magnet industry told the Tenth Circuit on Wednesday that consumer safety regulators wrongly focused on the size of magnets when trying to protect children from the danger of swallowing them, when the real danger of high-powered magnets comes from swallowing multiple magnets, regardless of size, not single magnets that may be small enough to swallow.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Must Weigh Reach Of Civil RICO In Cannabis Case

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    Oral arguments in Medical Marijuana Inc. v. Horn suggest that a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court may agree that a truck driver's losing his job after unknowingly ingesting THC and failing a drug test does not merit a racketeering claim — but the court may not buy the other side's theory of the case either, say attorneys at Lewis Baach.

  • Patent Marking Steps After Fed. Circ. Opens Lanham Act Door

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    Following the Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Crocs v. Effervescent, which seemingly revives private actors’ ability to bring false patent marking claims under the Lanham Act, marketing and legal teams should be careful to avoid advertisement language that implies nonexistent patent rights, says Jeffrey Ratinoff at Spencer Fane.

  • Litigation Strategies In View Of New Double Patenting Rulings

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    Recent Federal Circuit decisions, including in Allergan v. MSN, raise several issues that patent owners should understand and consider addressing proactively regarding obviousness-type double patenting, at least in their prosecution strategies, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • High Court 'Violent Crimes' Case Tangled Up In Hypotheticals

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    In Delligatti v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on whether attempted murder constitutes a crime of violence, and because the court’s interpretive approach thus far has relied on hairsplitting legal hypotheticals with absurd results, Congress should repeal the underlying statute, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • Tracking The Slow Movement Of AI Copyright Cases

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    The tech community may be expecting a prompt resolution on whether products generated by artificial intelligence are a fair use of copyrighted works, but legal history shows that a response to this question — at the heart of over 30 pending cases — will take years, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • How Property Insurance Coverage Shrank After The Pandemic

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    Insurers litigating property claims are leveraging rulings that provided relief in the COVID-19 context to reverse the former majority rule on physical loss or damage in all contexts, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Considering Chevron's End Through A State Tax Lens

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    States took the lead in encouraging Chevron's demise, turning away from Chevron-type deference in state tax administration ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, a trend likely to accelerate as courts take a more active role in interpreting tax laws, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Curious Case Of FTC's Amicus Brief In Teva Fed. Circ. Appeal

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    Attorneys at BCLP explore the Federal Trade Commission's backing of Amneal's Orange Book-delisting efforts on Teva ahead of a key Federal Circuit hearing in a case between the two pharmaceutical companies, and wonder if the FTC amicus brief indicates a future trend, especially in the next administration.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

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    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • When 'Patented' Goes Beyond Inventorship In False Ad Cases

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    The Federal Circuit's recent false advertising holding in Crocs v. Effervescent is significant because it offers a nuanced yet realistic understanding of what false claims about a product's status as "patented" can mean, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • 2nd Circ. Hostile Workplace Ruling Widens Arbitration Pitfalls

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision, affirming the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act applies to a worker whose workplace hostility claims arose before the law’s 2022 enactment, widens the scope of the law — and the risks of unenforceable arbitration agreements for employers, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • 2nd Circ. Maxwell Ruling Adds To Confusion Over NPA Reach

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision upholding Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction made an analytical leap in applying plea agreement precedent to a nonprosecution agreement, compounding a circuit split and providing lessons for defense counsel, say attorneys at Kropf Moseley.

  • The Fed. Circ. In October: Aetna And License-Term Review

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision that Aetna's credit card licensing agreement with AlexSam did not give the insurer immunity from patent infringement claims serves to warn licensees to read their contracts carefully, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

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