Appellate

  • October 02, 2024

    Game Artist's Discovery Violations Doom Gen Con Suit

    A Washington state appeals court has refused to revive a role-playing game illustrator's defamation suit against the gaming convention Gen Con, concluding he deliberately violated discovery rules and court orders by failing to respond to defense attorneys' information requests.

  • October 02, 2024

    Feds Can Back ND Tribes In 8th Circ. Legislative Privilege Row

    The federal government can participate in arguments later this month before an Eighth Circuit panel in support of two North Dakota tribes in a discovery dispute over legislative privilege in an already-decided Voting Rights Act case, the appellate court says.

  • October 02, 2024

    Panel Revives Fraud Suit On Merchant Cash Advance Cos.

    An Ohio state appeals court revived part of S&T Bank Inc.'s suit against more than 30 merchant cash advance companies that it accused of working with convicted fraudster Harold Sosna to help him run a check-kiting scheme that cost the bank $58 million.

  • October 02, 2024

    10th Circ. Affirms Microsoft, Premera Tab For ERISA Violations

    The Tenth Circuit upheld a six-figure award for a family that claimed Microsoft and Premera Blue Cross unlawfully refused to cover their son's stay at a residential treatment center, but struck down the family's trial court win on their mental health parity claim.

  • October 02, 2024

    DC Circ. Says Election Betting Contracts Can Go Live

    The D.C. Circuit on Wednesday allowed betting on election outcomes to move forward after finding that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission hasn't shown that KalshiEx's listing of election-based event contracts would likely harm the public while the regulator challenges a ruling that gave the trading platform the green light to offer such services.

  • October 02, 2024

    Trump 'Resorted To Crimes' To Cling To Power, Feds Say

    Donald Trump's alleged scheme to subvert the 2020 election results was "fundamentally a private one," special counsel Jack Smith told a D.C. federal judge in a newly unsealed brief that vies to prove that the former president is not immune from charges of election interference.

  • October 02, 2024

    Texas High Court Skeptical Of Atty Solicitation Law Overreach

    The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared skeptical that an anti-solicitation statute should apply to lawyers licensed in the state who used "case runners" to attract personal injury clients who live out of state for lawsuits filed and decided beyond the borders of the Lone Star State.

  • October 02, 2024

    Fla. Atty Disbarred For Abandoning Pharma Biz Before USPTO

    The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday disbarred an attorney for taking on intellectual property work for a pharmaceutical company only to later cease communications and keep the business in the dark about maintenance fees, causing its patents to expire.

  • October 02, 2024

    Justices Asked To Short-Circuit Mass. Offshore Wind Project

    Massachusetts residents are telling the U.S. Supreme Court it's the last hope for endangered North Atlantic right whales that were overlooked when the federal government approved a large offshore wind energy project in the waters off of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

  • October 02, 2024

    Georgia Moves To Block, Appeal Ruling Against Abortion Ban

    The Georgia attorney general's office, as promised earlier this week, moved swiftly Tuesday to halt and appeal a Fulton County judge's decision that struck down for the second time the state's so-called heartbeat abortion ban, which prohibits most abortions after six weeks.

  • October 02, 2024

    Ahmuty Demers Booted Off NJ Fatal Crash Case Over Conflict

    A New Jersey state appeals court affirmed Wednesday that Ahmuty Demers & McManus is not allowed to represent both a paving company and one of its employees at the same time in a case in which the employee allegedly caused a fatal car crash.

  • October 02, 2024

    4th Circ. Says Murdaugh Can't Appeal Fraud Sentence

    Former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is serving life in prison for murder, was denied an appeal of a separate 40-year sentence after pleading guilty to stealing at least $9 million from clients by a Fourth Circuit panel that said he'd waived his right to appeal.

  • October 02, 2024

    Progressive Group Staffs Up For Judicial Nominee Fights

    With a little over a month until Election Day, a progressive organization announced a slate of new hires to prepare for judicial confirmation battles and fight for court reform on Wednesday.

  • October 02, 2024

    Maine's First Female Federal Judge To Take Semiretired Status

    U.S District Judge Nancy Torresen, the first woman to hold a federal judgeship in Maine, will take semiretired status next year.

  • October 02, 2024

    Auto Parts Co. Tells 6th Circ. NLRB Judge Is 'Unaccountable'

    An auto parts manufacturer urged the Sixth Circuit to halt National Labor Relations Board proceedings against the company before an "unaccountable" agency judge, arguing the employer would face harm because the administrative judge is unconstitutionally shielded from removal by the president.

  • October 02, 2024

    DC Circ. Urged To Scrap EPA Mercury Rule For Coal Plants

    States and industry groups fighting a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule curbing mercury and other toxic metal emissions at some coal-fired power plants told the D.C. Circuit it would impose exorbitant and unjustifiable costs for no public health benefit, and is actually aimed at forcing plants to retire to advance climate goals.

  • October 01, 2024

    Oxygenation Doesn't Show Water Quality, Texas Justices Hear

    Texas Supreme Court justices prodded the Save Our Springs Alliance's argument that a permit to release treated wastewater would degrade water quality, questioning whether the advocacy organization's argument that a drop in levels of dissolved oxygen shows water degradation during oral arguments Tuesday.

  • October 01, 2024

    9th Circ. Cites 'Sunscreen' Song In Reviving Banana Boat Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday revived a proposed class action claiming Banana Boat sunscreen contains unsafe levels of benzene, citing a one-hit wonder from an Academy Award nominated director and saying a lower court judge erred by prematurely resolving disputed issues of fact and the merits of the consumer case.

  • October 01, 2024

    Former Rutgers Law Dean To Serve As University's Interim GC

    A former Rutgers Law School dean will serve as the university's interim senior vice president and general counsel following John J. Hoffman's confirmation to the New Jersey Supreme Court, Rutgers announced Tuesday.

  • October 01, 2024

    Ga. County Urges Full 11th Circ. To Nix Trans Deputy's Win

    A Georgia county told the Eleventh Circuit on Monday that a health plan coverage exclusion for gender-affirming surgery is comparable to other exclusions in coverage and does not violate federal anti-discrimination laws.

  • October 01, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives FCA Claims Against Dermatology Practice

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday revived the claims of a former employee who accused a Nevada dermatology practice of retaliation under the False Claims Act and other wrongdoing, reversing the practice's early win and sending the case back for trial.

  • October 01, 2024

    University Can Keep Conduct Records, Texas Justices Hear

    Texas Supreme Court Justices asked the University of Texas at Austin why it was trying to keep from releasing records of students who violated policies against violence and sex offenses during oral arguments Tuesday, saying that the category of students the university was protecting seemed the "least defensible."

  • October 01, 2024

    Georgia-Pacific Tells 6th Circ. Rivals Liable In CERCLA Row

    Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP on Tuesday asked the Sixth Circuit to affirm a Michigan federal judge's ruling that International Paper Co. and Weyerhaeuser Co. can be sued for future cleanup costs of a Michigan Superfund site.

  • October 01, 2024

    Activists Sue Ark. Officials Over Medical Pot Ballot Measure

    Activists attempting to put a measure that would expand medical marijuana access in Arkansas on the ballot brought a lawsuit against John Thurston, the state's secretary of state, on Tuesday, one day after he said that the campaign did not have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

  • October 01, 2024

    Colo. Workers' Comp. Doesn't Exempt Employer Auto Insurers

    Workers who are injured in car accidents while on the job can sue their employers' auto insurance carriers for underinsured motorist coverage, even if they have received workers' compensation benefits, Colorado's supreme court concluded, finding no state law precluded it.

Expert Analysis

  • Analyzing Advance Notice Bylaws On 'Clear' Or 'Cloudy' Days

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    In Kellner v. AIM ImmunoTech, the Delaware Supreme Court recently clarified the framework for judicial review of advance notice bylaws adopted, amended or enforced on "clear" or "cloudy" days, underscoring the responsibility of boards to ensure that their scope does not overreach or prevent the possibility of a contested election, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling May Limit Discovery In Int'l Arbitration

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    The Second Circuit's recent Webuild v. WSP decision, affirming a discovery order's nullification in arbitration between Webuild and the government of Panama, demonstrates courts' unwillingness to find that arbitral tribunals in investor-state cases fall within the scope of the discovery statute, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Takeaways From High Court's Tribal Health Admin Cost Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent determination that the government must reimburse two Native American tribes for administrative healthcare costs will help tribes maintain equal footing with the Indian Health Service when administering programs, and continues a pattern of how the current court aligns on tribal concerns, say attorneys at Lewis Roca.

  • Justices' Intent Witness Ruling May Be Useful For Defense Bar

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    At first glance, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Diaz v. U.S. decision, allowing experts to testify to the mental state of criminal defendants in federal court, gives prosecutors a new tool, but creative white collar defense counsel may be able to use the same tool to their own advantage, say Jack Sharman and Rachel Bragg at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • High Court's Expert Ruling May Help Health Fraud Defendants

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Diaz v. U.S. appears to give the government a powerful new tool in calling its own agents as expert witnesses, but it could also benefit defense counsel in criminal healthcare fraud and other white collar criminal cases that arise in complex legal or regulatory environments, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Patent Lessons From 5 Federal Circuit Reversals In June

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    A look at June cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court highlights a potential path for branded drugmakers to sue generic-drug makers for off-label uses, potential downsides of violating a pretrial order offering testimony, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Jarkesy's Impact On SEC Enforcement Will Be Modest

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    Though the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision found that fraud defendants have a constitutional right to a jury trial, the ruling will have muted impact on the agency’s enforcement because it’s already bringing most of its cases in federal court, say Jeremiah Williams and Alyssa Fixsen at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • NY Ruling Offers A Foreclosure Road Map For Lenders

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    A New York appellate court recently upheld a summary judgment ruling in favor of a commercial lender's foreclosure in U.S. Bank v. 1226 Evergreen Bapaz, illustrating the proofs lenders will need to prosecute a foreclosure action, especially where the plaintiff is an assignee of the originating lender, say attorneys at Sherman Atlas.

  • What Chevron's End Means For How Congress Does Business

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, overturning the Chevron doctrine, will have a far-reaching impact across the entire public policy life cycle, beginning with how Congress writes its laws and extending through agency implantation and judicial review, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Preserving Payment Rights

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    Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions that together illustrate the importance of keeping accurate records and adhering to contractual procedures to avoid inadvertently waiving contractual rights to cost reimbursements or nonroutine payments.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Alice Step 2 Trends Show Courts' Extrinsic Evidence Reliance

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    A look at recent trends in how district courts are applying Step 2 of the Alice framework shows that courts have increasingly relied on extrinsic evidence to help determine whether a claimed invention is "well-understood, routine, and conventional," says Jonathan Tuminaro at Sterne Kessler.

  • Opinion

    OFAC Sanctions Deserve To Be Challenged Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision opens the door to challenges against the Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions regime, the unintended consequences of which raise serious questions about the wisdom of what appears to be a scorched-earth approach, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

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