Appellate

  • October 29, 2024

    Wash. Chief Justice Calls Diversity 'Critical' For Courts

    Washington Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven González reflected Tuesday night on what diversity in cultural perspectives can bring to classrooms and courtrooms alike, remarking that the dynamic on the high court has changed for the better during his 13 years on the bench as he's been joined by more colleagues of color.

  • October 29, 2024

    Justices Won't Let RFK Jr. Off Mich., Wis. Ballots

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s emergency requests to have his name removed from the presidential ballots in the key battleground states of Wisconsin and Michigan.

  • October 29, 2024

    Sporting Goods Chain Beats Suit By Man Shot With Stolen Gun

    A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday affirmed the dismissal of a suit seeking to hold Academy Sports liable after a man was shot by a gun stolen from the store, saying a federal law shielding firearms dealers from third-party criminal acts did indeed apply.

  • October 29, 2024

    Retired Fed. Circ. Judge Backs Invisalign In Monopoly Cases

    Retired Federal Circuit Judge Paul R. Michel warned the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday that reversing a lower court's decision to toss a pair of class actions accusing Invisalign of monopolizing the clear braces and teeth scanners market by illegally refusing to deal with a rival would increase patent owners' legal uncertainties.

  • October 29, 2024

    Texas AG Says State Rep Tried To Sway 'Shaken Baby' Case

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday called for state Rep. Jeff Leach to resign after he allegedly attempted to sway judgment in capital punishment proceedings in what would have been the nation's first execution for a conviction based on a "shaken baby syndrome" diagnosis.

  • October 29, 2024

    Texas Gov., Oil Groups Urge DC Circ. To Revive LNG Projects

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the American Petroleum Institute, the Lipan Apache Tribe and others are lining up behind liquefied natural gas project backers asking the full D.C. Circuit to review a panel's decision to nix Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals for LNG projects on the Texas Gulf Coast.

  • October 29, 2024

    Mining Regs Have World Effect On Tribes, High Court Told

    A chief of an Indigenous Brazilian community is backing an Arizona tribe in its bid to overturn a decision that allows a copper mining company to discharge treated wastewater into a local waterway, telling the Supreme Court that pollution from such operations impacts more than just health around the world.

  • October 29, 2024

    Mo. Panel Won't Trim $4.3M Interest Award From $40M Verdict

    A Missouri state appeals court upheld a woman's roughly $4.3 million prejudgment interest award after she won $40 million at trial over her husband's fatal auto collision, finding Tuesday she was not required to directly send a pretrial settlement demand to the at-fault driver's insurer.

  • October 29, 2024

    6th Circ. Judge Doubts Airport Funding Made It Federal Agent

    A Sixth Circuit judge on Tuesday said he saw "problems" with a Michigan airport's argument that federal grants had enough requirements to make the airport effectively a federal officer, suggesting it cannot litigate a suit over its PFAS-containing firefighting foam in federal court.

  • October 29, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Calls Plastic Co.'s IP Retrial Objection 'Frivolous'

    A panel of the Federal Circuit said Tuesday a plastic packaging manufacturer is making a "frivolous" objection to how a Massachusetts federal judge decided to set up a retrial scheduled next week over whether patents covering a kind of tamper-resistant container are invalid.

  • October 29, 2024

    Epic Urges 9th Circ. Not To Pause Google Play Store Fixes

    Epic Games Inc. has fired back against Google's request the Ninth Circuit issue an emergency stay pausing a lower court's antitrust injunction that would require Google to open up its Play Store to competing app stores, slamming Google's arguments as "scattershot," misleading and legally unfounded.

  • October 29, 2024

    NJ Researcher Wants DNA Test On Lindbergh Baby Evidence

    A New Jersey woman pleaded with a state appellate panel on Tuesday to allow her to test evidence in the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the toddler son of aviator Charles Lindbergh, contending that new technology can determine whether anyone besides the man put to death for the crime was involved.

  • October 29, 2024

    Philly Cops Lose Free Speech Suit Over Facebook Posts

    A group of active and former Philadelphia Police Department officers disciplined for inflammatory Facebook activity have lost their First Amendment lawsuit against the city, with a Pennsylvania federal judge ruling Tuesday that the city had the right to terminate officers for making racist, violent and otherwise offensive posts.

  • October 29, 2024

    4th Circ. Quizzes Drugmaker Challenging W.Va. Abortion Law

    An attorney arguing that West Virginia is preempted by federal law from restricting access to an abortion medication faced skeptical questions Tuesday from two judges who suggested it's entirely normal for states to regulate the practice of medicine.

  • October 29, 2024

    6th Circ. Judge Rejects Flint Comparison In Benton Harbor

    A Sixth Circuit judge asked during oral arguments Tuesday if Michigan's government could have done more to monitor the response to lead contamination in a city's water supply, as another judge seemed to doubt that the allegations against the state rose to the level of constitutional violations.

  • October 29, 2024

    Ga. Court Says Apt. Must Face Shooting Death Suit

    The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court ruling holding that an apartment complex company's attempt to waive its liability for third-party crimes in a lease agreement with a tenant who was shot and killed is void and unenforceable under Peach State law.

  • October 29, 2024

    Ex-Cleveland Councilman Can't Cut 6-Year Fraud Sentence

    An Ohio federal judge will not allow a former Cleveland city councilman to get out of jail on compassionate release, ruling the ex-politician "has never demonstrated any remorse for his criminal conduct" and should serve the remainder of his six-year fraud sentence.

  • October 29, 2024

    7th Circ. Backs University of Illinois' Win In Retaliation Suit

    A former University of Illinois at Springfield adjunct professor cannot revive her retaliation claims because she couldn't defeat the university's assertion that it was her own retaliation against others that led the university to let her contract expire, the Seventh Circuit said Tuesday.

  • October 29, 2024

    FERC Botched Pacific NW Pipeline Approval, 5th Circ. Told

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was wrong to approve a controversial TC Energy Corp. pipeline expansion project in the Pacific Northwest, Washington and Oregon officials and environmental groups told the Fifth Circuit.

  • October 29, 2024

    Feds Tell High Court To Deny Va.'s Bid To Revive Voter Purge

    The U.S. Supreme Court must leave in place a court order prohibiting Virginia from removing suspected noncitizens from its voting rolls this close to Election Day, the federal government and advocacy groups argued Tuesday, contending the risk of erroneously stripping eligible voters of their rights outweighs any purported harm to the state.

  • October 29, 2024

    2nd Circ. Revives Investor Suit Against Chinese News App

    The Second Circuit has revived a securities class action alleging that Chinese news aggregation app Qutoutiao hid changes in its advertising policies that allegedly spurred fraudulent advertisements on the app and eventually caused its share price to decline, finding that the lower court erred in determining that the suit's claims sound in fraud.

  • October 29, 2024

    Justice, Challenger Split On Backgrounds For The Bench

    Judge Patrick O'Grady, campaigning for the Michigan Supreme Court, says the current bench is sorely lacking the type of prior judicial experience he would bring. But sitting Justice Kyra Bolden argues the diversity of backgrounds among justices makes the court stronger.

  • October 29, 2024

    Ex-Development Director Asks 4th Circ. For Wage Ruling Redo

    A former development director for a North Carolina city urged the Fourth Circuit to rethink its opinion affirming the city's win on her unpaid overtime claims, saying it's not clear from the record that she was classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

  • October 29, 2024

    Mich. Top Court Won't Halt Ethics Claims Against Trump Allies

    Michigan's Supreme Court has refused to stop disciplinary proceedings against Sidney Powell and other lawyers who advanced former President Donald Trump's election fraud claims.

  • October 29, 2024

    2nd Circ. Says FBI Agents Immune From Suit Over No-Fly List

    The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision finding immunity for FBI agents who were accused of placing four Muslim men on a no-fly database after they declined to become informants.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • How Calif. Ruling Alters Worker Arb. Agreement Enforcement

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    The California Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ramirez v. Charter Communications should caution employers that while workers’ arbitration agreements will no longer be deemed unenforceable based on their number of unconscionable provisions, they must still be fair and balanced, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor.

  • Opinion

    After Jarkesy, IRS Must Course-Correct On Captive Insurance

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision has profound implications for other agencies, including the IRS, which must stop ignoring due process and curtailing congressional intent in its policing of captive insurance arrangements, says Peter Dawson at the 831(b) Institute.

  • The Rise Of State And Local Environmental Leadership

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    While Congress is deadlocked, and a U.S. Supreme Court with a hostility toward the administrative state aggressively dismantles federal environmental oversight, state and local governments are stepping up with policies to shape a more sustainable future for all species, says Jonathan Rosenbloom at Albany Law School.

  • Questions Linger About DTSA's Scope After Motorola Ruling

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    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Motorola v. Hytera, which held that the Defend Trade Secrets Act applies extraterritorially, does not address whether an act that furthers misappropriation must be committed by the defendant in order to satisfy the law's extraterritoriality requirement, say Ilissa Samplin and Grace Hart at Gibson Dunn.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Slowing Down AI In Medical Research

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision overturning the Chevron doctrine may inhibit agencies' regulatory efforts, potentially slowing down the approval and implementation of artificial intelligence-driven methodologies in medical research, as well as regulators' responses to public health emergencies, say Ragini Acharya and Matthew Deutsch at Husch Blackwell.

  • What High Court TM Rulings Tell Us About Free Speech

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    Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings show tension between free speech and trademark law, highlighting that while political mockery is protected, established brands may be forced to adapt to evolving cultural values, says William Scott Goldman at Goldman Law Group.

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