Appellate

  • September 26, 2024

    Pa. Justices Say COVID Closures Aren't Covered Losses

    Pennsylvania's Supreme Court shut the door Thursday on COVID-19 pandemic loss insurance coverage for businesses closed by government mandate, ruling that requisite physical loss or damage required tangible alteration to property, reversing a lower court decision that stated loss of use was sufficient.

  • September 26, 2024

    11th Circ. Signals Fired Coach's Claim Can't Ride On Her Team

    An 11th Circuit panel signaled Thursday that the disparate funding of men's and women's collegiate athletic programs was likely not enough to sustain a fired Georgia Tech basketball coach's Title VII claim of sex-based discrimination against the program.

  • September 26, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Defense Owed In Salesforce Trafficking Row

    Travelers must defend Salesforce against consolidated underlying sex trafficking claims being litigated in Texas state court, the Ninth Circuit ruled, rejecting the insurer's position that because Salesforce's alleged violation of Texas sex trafficking statutes necessarily involved expected or intentional conduct, it had no defense obligation.

  • September 26, 2024

    11th Circ. Wary Of Ineffective-Counsel Claim In Salmonella Case

    Peanut Corp. of America's former president and a food broker convicted for their roles in a salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and sickened more than 700 in 2008 and 2009 urged the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to overturn a district court order refusing to vacate their prison sentences.

  • September 26, 2024

    Nvidia Seeks 'Unworkable' Pleading Standard, Justices Told

    Nvidia Corp. shareholders asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to reject the company's "unworkable" reading of the pleading standards under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, arguing that they've presented plenty of evidence to move forward with claims that the company hid its $1 billion exposure to the volatile cryptocurrency market.

  • September 26, 2024

    4th Circ. Hints Rocket Mortgage Class Cert. Is On Shaky Ground

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday seemed skeptical that all potential class members who accused Rocket Mortgage of inflating their home values could prove they were injured under the U.S. Supreme Court's heightened pleading standard in TransUnion, putting the lower court's certification order on rocky footing.

  • September 26, 2024

    Pa. Justices Say State Lawmakers Can't Impeach Philly DA

    The clock ran out for the Pennsylvania Senate's planned trial on the impeachment of Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, the state's highest court ruled in an opinion published Thursday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Rutgers GC Moves Closer To NJ High Court Bench

    The New Jersey state Senate Judiciary Committee moved forward Rutgers general counsel John Hoffman's nomination to the state Supreme Court at a Thursday hearing marked by bipartisan support and virtually unanimous praise for his character.

  • September 26, 2024

    Fla. Bar Says Atty's 'False Narrative' Warrants Suspension

    The Florida Bar has fired back at a Georgia-based attorney's bid to avoid a suspension for disparaging an opponent running for 20th Judicial Circuit state attorney in 2018, urging the state Supreme Court to reject his First Amendment defense in the disciplinary matter.

  • September 26, 2024

    NY Appeals Court Casts Doubt On $489M Trump Judgment

    Judges on a New York state appeals court expressed skepticism Thursday of a $489 million civil fraud judgment against Donald Trump, his sons, companies and their executives, raising the prospect that the fine awarded to the attorney general could be reduced or vacated.

  • September 26, 2024

    GOP Senator Blocks Fast-Tracking Of DC Judges

    A Republican senator has blocked the fast-tracking confirmation of two nominees to become Washington, D.C., judges, even though former President Donald Trump previously nominated them.

  • September 25, 2024

    8th Circ. Told Student Debt Relief Should Remain Blocked

    Seven Republican-led states are asking the Eighth Circuit to finalize its court order blocking the Biden administration from implementing its second attempt at student loan forgiveness, accusing the White House of "hiding the ball" on the true cost of the plan.

  • September 25, 2024

    11th Circ. Reverses DOJ Defeat In $400M Kickback Case

    The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday held that a lower court should've admitted prosecutors' evidence of alleged co-conspirators in a $400 million health insurance fraud case, finding that an exclusion to the hearsay rule was misapplied by the district court in the closely watched Anti-Kickback Statute litigation.

  • September 25, 2024

    Wash. Judge Says Co., Firm Seem To Share Sanctions Blame

    A Washington appeals court judge said Wednesday that a climbing equipment manufacturer and its former trial counsel, Sinars Slowikowski Tomaska LLC, appear to share blame for discovery violations in a product liability lawsuit and that a trial court appeared to have the authority to issue sanctions.

  • September 25, 2024

    8th Circ. Probes Lawmakers' Intent In FCC Anti-Redlining Rule

    Eighth Circuit judges on Wednesday dissected exactly how far Congress wanted the Federal Communications Commission to go when carrying out a tightly drafted provision to prevent digital discrimination in the thousand-page infrastructure law three years ago.

  • September 25, 2024

    4th Circ. Doubts H-2A Wage Rule Should Be Put On Ice

    A Fourth Circuit panel appeared reluctant on Wednesday to block the Biden administration's new wage rule for H-2A visa workers, doubting whether the rule should have accounted for illegal immigration and whether that issue was even properly before the court.

  • September 25, 2024

    Split Panel Won't Ax $10M Award For Tennis Coach Sex Abuse

    A split California appellate panel has affirmed a $10 million jury verdict in a suit seeking to hold a school district liable for the sexual abuse of a student by a tennis coach, saying the trial court did not err by allowing evidence of the coach's conduct with other students.

  • September 25, 2024

    4th Circ. Says Firefighter's Race Bias Deal Is Pension Eligible

    The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday found the city of Charlotte in North Carolina should have deducted retirement funds from a former Black firefighter's race bias settlement, but said the same could not be true for another firefighter who never finalized a deal with the city.

  • September 25, 2024

    Paxton Asks Texas Justices To Reverse State Fair Gun Ban

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the state's highest court for emergency relief to prohibit a new State Fair of Texas rule that bans fairgoers from carrying handguns, saying in a Wednesday appeal that the Fifteenth Court of Appeals abused its discretion by denying relief.

  • September 25, 2024

    Pa. Justices Urged To Reconsider Tossing Undated Ballots

    Ten Pennsylvania voting rights groups on Wednesday urged the state Supreme Court to use its special "King's Bench" power and immediately take up arguments over whether throwing out mail-in votes that are missing handwritten dates on their outer envelopes violates the Pennsylvania constitution.

  • September 25, 2024

    7th Circ. May Seek Ill. High Court Input In Amazon Wage Row

    A Seventh Circuit judge appeared inclined Wednesday to let the Illinois Supreme Court weigh in on whether Illinois' minimum wage law incorporates a similar limitation created by an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act that clarifies preliminary activities like COVID-19 screenings aren't compensable.

  • September 25, 2024

    3rd Circ. Preserves Monsanto's Win In Cancer Warning Suit

    The Third Circuit refused to reconsider its ruling that federal law preempts a more stringent Pennsylvania statute that mandates cancer warnings on chemicals, preserving Monsanto's win against a man who alleged the company's Roundup herbicide caused his illness.

  • September 25, 2024

    Pa. Panel Says Misspellings Don't Sink Service Of Tax Notice

    The misspelling of a landowner's name on a notice of an impending tax sale did not prevent the owner from understanding their property would be auctioned off to cover unpaid taxes, a Pennsylvania appellate court ruled Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    3rd Circ. Backs Tossing MetLife Suit Over Drug Rebates

    The Third Circuit upheld MetLife's defeat of a lawsuit alleging it kept drug rebate profits for itself instead of lowering workers' health benefit plan costs, saying Wednesday the workers leading the suit hadn't shown they were harmed by missing out on speculative savings.

  • September 25, 2024

    Transco Backers Urge DC Circ. To Revisit Pipeline Ruling

    Natural gas and pipeline entities are firing back at a D.C. Circuit ruling that scrapped Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals for a five-state pipeline expansion project being pursued by the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co., with one rival company saying the court's flawed decision sent "shockwaves through the industry."

Expert Analysis

  • When Patents As Loan Collateral Can Cost You Standing

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Intellectual Tech v. Zebra Technologies shines a light on loan default provisions' implications for patent infringement litigation, as a default may inadvertently strip a patent owner of constitutional standing to sue over a patent pledged as collateral, say Joseph Marinelli and Suet L. Lee at Irwin IP.

  • Justices' Bribery Ruling: A Corrupt Act Isn't Necessarily Illegal

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    In its Snyder v. U.S. decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a bribery law does not criminalize gratuities, continuing a trend of narrowing federal anti-corruption laws and scrutinizing public corruption prosecutions that go beyond obvious quid pro quo schemes, say Carrie Cohen and Christine Wong at MoFo.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard in June, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 36 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Navigating Scrutiny Of Friendly Professional Corps. In Calif.

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    In light of ongoing scrutiny and challenges to private equity participation in the California healthcare marketplace, particularly surrounding the use of the friendly professional corporation model, management services organizations should consider implementing four best practices, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • 6 PTAB Events To Know From The Last 6 Months

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    The first half of 2024 brought a flurry of Patent Trial and Appeal Board developments that should be considered in post-grant strategies, including proposed rules on discretionary denial and director review, and the first decisions of the Delegated Rehearing Panel, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.

  • Key Takeaways From High Court's Substitute Expert Decision

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Smith v. Arizona decision, holding that the confrontation clause generally bars prosecutors’ use of a substitute expert witness at trial, will have the most impact in narcotics and violent crime cases, but creative defense lawyers may find it useful in white collar cases, too, say Joshua Naftalis and Melissa Kelley at Pallas Partners.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Parsing Justices' Toss Of Purdue's Controversial Ch. 11 Plan

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent nixing of OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 proposal prevents the Sackler family from settling thousands of civil opioid lawsuits without the consent of all of the plaintiffs, and holds profound implications for bankruptcy cases, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Calif. Long-Tail Ruling Continues Policyholder-Friendly Trend

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    The California Supreme Court's recent ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Cement & Gypsum, rejecting horizontal policy exhaustion, was the latest in a string of its decisions involving insurance coverage for continuous or progressive injury claims that favor policyholders, say Billie Mandelbaum and David Goodwin at Covington.

  • What 2 Rulings On Standing Mean For DEI Litigation

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    Recent federal court decisions in the Fearless Fund and Hello Alice cases shed new light on the ongoing wave of challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with opposite conclusions on whether the plaintiffs had standing to sue, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Perspectives

    High Court Ruling Leaves Chance For Civil Forfeiture Reform

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    Though advocates for civil forfeiture reform did not prevail in Culley v. Marshall last month, concerns voiced by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices potentially leave the door open to consider stricter limits in future cases, say attorneys at Dykema.

  • 4 Important Events In Bank Regulation: A Midyear Review

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    The first six months of 2024 have been fairly stable for the banking industry, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions and proposals from regulators have significantly affected the regulatory standards applicable to insured depository institutions, says Christina Grigorian at Katten.

  • Perspectives

    NY Chief Judge Spotlights Need To Strengthen Public Defense

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    In a recent concurrence in People v. Watkins, New York Chief Judge Rowan Wilson called attention to the necessity for greater investment in public defense services, highlighting not only the urgency of current crises, but the need to embrace a more ambitious vision of equal right to counsel, says Corey Stoughton at Selendy Gay.

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