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5th Circ. Judge Pummels Judicial Integrity Critics
Fifth Circuit Judge Edith H. Jones co-opted a panel discussion Thursday to denounce the rise in criticism over purported judge shopping, especially in relation to Texas judges who handled a large portion of lawsuits challenging Biden administration policies, and called on legal groups to do more to defend the judiciary's integrity.
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November 22, 2024
Bondi Vowed Trump Payback. Ex-Colleagues Aren't Worried.
U.S. attorney general nominee Pam Bondi is an outspoken ally of President-elect Donald Trump and vowed during the campaign that his "prosecutors will be prosecuted," but people who've worked with her say she's well qualified to serve as the nation's top cop and downplayed concerns that she would politicize the U.S. Department of Justice.
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November 22, 2024
Texas Justices Say Paxton Can Duck Whistleblower Suit Depo
The Texas Supreme Court said Friday that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton doesn't have to sit for a deposition in the long-running employment retaliation suit brought by his former top deputies, partially agreeing with his contention there are no longer any factual disputes in the case.
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November 22, 2024
Newsom Names Appellate Judges In SF And Orange County
Gov. Gavin Newsom tapped two long-tenured trial court judges on Thursday for positions on the state's appellate benches, one in San Francisco, the other in Orange County.
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November 22, 2024
1st Circ. Affirms Volvo Win In Dealers' Maintenance Pay Suit
The First Circuit affirmed a pretrial win granted to Volvo in a suit brought by two dealerships claiming the carmaker was underpaying them for maintenance they perform under prepaid service plans.
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November 22, 2024
Fed. Circ. Won't Rethink Toppling Tire Verdict
The Federal Circuit has declined to rethink a ruling last month that upended what was once a multimillion-dollar jury verdict in a decadelong tire design dispute, rejecting the argument that the judges "overlooked and misapprehended Illinois law" on the matter of "litigation privilege."
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November 22, 2024
BREAKING: High Court To Review Legality Of FCC's Subsidy Fees
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to review whether fees collected to support the Federal Communications Commission's array of telecom subsidy programs for low-income consumers, schools and rural healthcare run afoul of constitutional limits on taxing authority.
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November 22, 2024
Lender Can't Arbitrate Fired Worker's Suit Over Cancer Leave
A California appeals court upheld a trial court's order that a mortgage lender cannot arbitrate a worker's suit alleging she was wrongfully fired after a cancer diagnosis, ruling the former employee cast enough doubt about the signature on the deal to keep her case in court.
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November 22, 2024
1st Circ. Backs Auction For Bankrupt Farmer's Milk Quota
The First Circuit has affirmed a Puerto Rico regulator's ability to order the sale of a dairy farmer's milk quota despite his pending bankruptcy, ruling the action wasn't blocked by a stay blocking actions that can affect a bankruptcy estate.
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November 22, 2024
Trump Sentencing Halted To Weigh President-Elect's Immunity
The New York state judge who oversaw Donald Trump's hush money trial officially canceled his Nov. 26 sentencing date Friday to weigh the impact of his new status as president-elect, pushing briefing into December.
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November 22, 2024
High Court Quietly Pulls Meta Case Without A Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday set aside a Meta Platforms Inc. case that sought to narrow the types of risk disclosures corporations need to make to investors, saying that the court shouldn't have taken up the case in the first place.
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November 21, 2024
DOJ Fights High Court Review Of Kickback Law, Jury's Role
The U.S. Supreme Court need not review a Fifth Circuit decision upholding the convictions of three healthcare professionals accused of taking part in a $40 million kickback scheme, the federal government has told the justices in a brief.
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November 21, 2024
9th Circ. Told $500K To Huizar Not Intended As Bribe
A real estate developer convicted of bribing former Los Angeles City Councilor José Huizar with $500,000 for help overcoming challenges to a downtown project asked the Ninth Circuit for a new trial, arguing Thursday the lower court erroneously excluded evidence showing the developer didn't know the money would be used as a bribe.
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November 21, 2024
FirstEnergy Investors Slam Ex-Execs' Info 'Bogeyman' Story
FirstEnergy shareholders have accused two former executives of the energy company of exploiting confidentiality rules by seeking to shield documents relevant to their suit over a stock plummet that followed a massive bribery scheme, telling an Ohio federal judge he should reject the executives' "informational bogeyman" story.
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November 21, 2024
Wash. Justices Unsure CARES Act Protects Violent Tenants
Two Washington Supreme Court justices on Thursday seemed to doubt whether the CARES Act blocked landlords from quickly evicting violent tenants, as opposed to just those behind on rent, a question that resulted in opposing opinions from two lower appellate panels.
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November 21, 2024
Feds Coined 'Catchphrase' To Convict LA Pol, 9th Circ. Told
Mark Ridley-Thomas' attorney on Thursday urged the Ninth Circuit to overturn the former California politician's bribery conviction for scheming to indirectly donate $100,000 to his son's nonprofit and secure him a university position, saying prosecutors coined the "catchphrase" "funneling" to obfuscate that no bribe actually occurred.
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November 21, 2024
No New Trial In Suit Over Fatal Nissan Truck Fire In Texas
A Texas appeals court on Thursday vacated an order for a new trial in a suit against Nissan North America Inc. over a fatal truck fire, saying the trial court abused its discretion when it found that juror misconduct and other cumulative errors prejudiced the plaintiff.
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November 21, 2024
Judge Suggests 1st Circ. Should Hear Lobster Tracking Case
A federal judge in Maine on Thursday tossed a case by lobster fishermen suing to keep their fishing routes secret from state observation, but the judge encouraged the lobstermen to appeal the ruling so that a federal appeals court can wade into this "significant" Fourth Amendment dispute.
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November 21, 2024
Fuel Economy Regs Are Unlawful Path To EVs, 6th Circ. Told
Republican-led states and fuel industry groups have told the Sixth Circuit that the U.S. Department of Transportation overstepped with new vehicle fuel-economy standards that amount to an unlawful electric vehicles mandate, while environmental groups say the standards don't go far enough to meaningfully combat climate change.
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November 21, 2024
DC Circ. Judges Disagree On Standing In Drilling Permit Suit
The judges of the D.C. Circuit stepped on each other's toes Thursday during oral arguments over a challenge to the approvals of thousands of drilling permits in New Mexico and Wyoming, appearing to be at odds over whether the environmental groups' stance on standing had legs.
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November 21, 2024
Ill. High Court Won't Shield Sun-Times In Trump Tax Case
The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Chicago Sun-Times can't use an anti-SLAPP law to duck a defamation suit over the paper's coverage of an investigation into a $1 million property tax reduction granted to Trump Tower during the president-elect's first term.
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November 21, 2024
Oklahoma Tribe Asks DC Circ. To Revive Creek Land Lawsuit
An Oklahoma tribe is asking the D.C. Court of Appeals to revive its challenge to a U.S. Department of the Interior decision that rejected the tribe's proposed liquor ordinance in a dispute over shared jurisdiction with the Muscogee Creek Nation, arguing federally recognized Indigenous nations should stand on equal footing.
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November 21, 2024
Ill. Justices Overturn Jussie Smollett's Conviction
Illinois' high court ruled Thursday that prosecutors violated Jussie Smollett's constitutional rights by trying the actor after earlier dismissing his charges for falsely reporting a hate crime, saying the "fundamentally unfair" conviction must be voided.
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November 21, 2024
Trump Selects Ex-Fla. AG Pam Bondi As New AG Pick
President-elect Donald Trump announced Thursday that he has selected Pam Bondi, a former attorney general of Florida, as his new pick for U.S. attorney general, just hours after former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz withdrew his name from consideration amid allegations of sexual misconduct and drug use.
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November 21, 2024
IP Atty Fights To Revive Allergan FCA Suit At 9th Circ.
A patent attorney urged the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to revive False Claims Act allegations against Allergan over dementia drug patents, arguing his client used his expertise to discover the patents were fraudulently issued to block generics and that these are the kinds of FCA cases the government welcomes from experts.
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November 21, 2024
Immigration Group Seeks Say In 10th Circ. To Fight Okla. Law
A Tulsa, Oklahoma-based nonprofit that advocates for immigrants has told the Tenth Circuit the state offered no good reason to lock the organization out from intervening in the federal government's lawsuit challenging an Oklahoma law barring unauthorized immigrants from residing in the state.
Editor's Picks
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12 Lawyers Who Are The Future Of The Supreme Court Bar
One attorney hasn't lost a single U.S. Supreme Court case she's argued, or even a single justice's vote. One attorney is perhaps "the preeminent SCOTUS advocate." And one may soon become U.S. solicitor general, despite acknowledging there are "judges out there who don't like me." All three are among a dozen lawyers in the vanguard of the Supreme Court bar's next generation, poised to follow in the footsteps of the bar's current icons.
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How Reshaped Circuit Courts Are Faring At The High Court
Seminal rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court's latest term will reshape many facets of American society in the coming years. Already, however, the rulings offer glimpses of how the justices view specific circuit courts, which have themselves been reshaped by an abundance of new judges.
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Law360's Guide To Biden's Judicial Picks
UPDATED November 21, 2024 | President Joe Biden is shaping the federal judiciary by adding to the courts' professional and demographic diversity — a sharp break from former President Donald Trump, who made the judiciary more homogeneous as the judges confirmed under him were 84% white and 76% male.
Expert Analysis
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Racing Patents To The Fed. Circ.: Collateral Estoppel Lessons
As more and more parties find themselves in two different forums addressing the same issues and then competing in a race to the Federal Circuit, certain strategies can help despite unanswered questions on when Patent Trial and Appeal Board determinations trigger collateral estoppel, say attorneys at Akin.
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Nvidia Supreme Court Case May Not Make Big Splash
The skeptical tenor of the justices' questioning at oral argument in Nvidia v. Ohman Fonder suggests that the case is unlikely to alter the motion to dismiss pleading standard in securities class actions, as some had feared, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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Series
Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer
Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.
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Purse-Case Scenarios: 'MetaBirkin' Appeal Tests TM Rights
A federal court's finding that "MetaBirkin" nonfungible tokens infringed on Hermes' iconic Birkin bag imagery is now on appeal in the Second Circuit, and the order will have a lasting effect on how courts balance trademark rights and the First Amendment, say attorneys at Venable.
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3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less
Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.
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6th Circ. Ruling Prevents Disability Insurer Overreach
The Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in McEachin v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance offers disability insurance claimants guidance on how they might challenge misapplications of policy limitations for mental illness when a medical condition accounts for their disability, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Unclear Criteria, Data Rights, Conflicts
Liam Bowers at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims examining the use of unstated evaluation criteria, an agency's investigation of its own data rights and unequal access to information about an organizational conflict of interest.
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The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule
Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.
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Foreclosing Lenders Still Floating In Murky Legal Waters In NY
The New York foreclosure landscape remains in disarray after the state's highest court last month declined to weigh in on whether legal changes from 2022 that severely curtailed lenders' ability to bring successive foreclosure cases were retroactive, says Brian Rich at Barclay Damon.
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In Terror Case, DC Circ. Must Weigh Justices' Twitter Ruling
When the D.C. Circuit hears oral argument in AstraZeneca UK v. Atchley, how the court interprets the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Twitter v. Taamneh will have a significant impact on future claims brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act and Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, say attorneys at Lewis Baach.
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Series
Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.
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So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?
Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.
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3 Policyholder Lessons From NY Bad Faith Ruling
A New York appellate court's recent decision finding that Rockefeller University alleged viable bad faith claims against its insurers reinforces the principle that insurers may not elevate their own economic interests over those of their insureds, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
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In SF Water Case, Justices Signal How Loper May Be Applied
Skeptical questions from U.S. Supreme Court justices during oral argument in San Francisco v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offer hints of how the court intends to apply limits on agency regulatory autonomy established last term in Loper Bright, says Karen Cullinane at Goldberg Segalla.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: November Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses six federal court decisions that touch on Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and when individual inquiries are needed to prove economic loss.