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Appellate
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December 09, 2024
Supreme Court Won't Review Ex-HUD Official's Conviction
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case of a former staffer in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Office of Inspector General who was convicted of failing to disclose a loan from a friend who was later hired as a government subcontractor.
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December 09, 2024
1st Circ. Lets Rhode Island Reinstate Truck Tolls
Rhode Island may reinstate a toll on tractor-trailers using highways and bridges in the Ocean State, but not a $40-per-day cap, the First Circuit has ruled.
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December 09, 2024
Pa. Hospital Can't Upend $8M C-Section Injury Verdict
A Pennsylvania appeals court won't strip an $8 million verdict from a couple who alleged that a surgeon botched a cesarean section during the birth of their child, rejecting the hospital's argument that the evidence didn't support a finding of negligence.
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December 09, 2024
High Court Won't Hear Zimmer Biomet Royalties Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday shot down Zimmer Biomet Holdings' challenge to the Seventh Circuit's finding that the company shouldn't have stopped paying royalties on knee replacement devices it developed using an orthopedic surgeon's various patents after those patents expired.
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December 09, 2024
Skipping Diversity Suits Lets Error 'Metastasize,' Alito Says
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review Boston's allegedly discriminatory COVID-19 pandemic-era admissions policy for three elite public schools, turning away the second case to challenge the use of race-neutral diversity initiatives in a decision Justice Samuel Alito claims ignores a "glaring constitutional error" and undermines the court's affirmative action decision.
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December 09, 2024
Justices Spurn Worker's Challenge To 'Honest Belief' Firing
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review a Fourth Circuit decision holding that a Baltimore utility's "honest belief" that a worker was misusing medical leave justified the employee's termination, according to high court orders released Monday.
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December 09, 2024
Justices Won't Review Massive Class In Fringe Benefits Fight
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a challenge to a 290,000-worker class in a suit alleging excessive health and retirement plan fees, despite an argument from benefits plan managers that the Fifth Circuit used the wrong standard to greenlight the massive suit.
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December 07, 2024
Up Next: Environmental Reviews, Wire Fraud & TM Awards
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear its final set of oral arguments for the 2024 calendar year starting Monday, including disputes over the proper scope of federal environmental reviews and whether corporate affiliates can be ordered to pay disgorgement awards in trademark infringement disputes.
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December 06, 2024
DC Circ. Ruling Far From Last Word On Looming TikTok Ban
The D.C. Circuit's decision Friday paving the way for a U.S. ban on TikTok to take effect next month sparked immediate concerns about the loss of a social platform that millions rely on to freely express themselves, but a likely appeal and upcoming administration change could end up flipping the script.
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December 06, 2024
Fed. Circ. Dissects Role of Corrected IP In Construction PGR
A Federal Circuit panel on Friday worked through whether the Patent Trial and Appeal Board had blocked a patent challenger from raising concerns about the validity of claims corrected during a post-grant review, and whether the corrected claims could be addressed in district court.
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December 06, 2024
Billionaires Show New Interest In Texas' Intermediate Courts
Billionaire-backed funding in Texas helped push a wave of Republican judges who swept races for intermediate appellate courts across the state, representing a new level of corporate spending in judicial races often marked by underfunded campaigns and low voter awareness.
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December 06, 2024
Neb. Tribe Asks US High Court To Undo Tobacco Sales Ruling
A Nebraska tribe's tobacco companies are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an Eighth Circuit ruling that held the state can regulate a tribally owned manufacturer's sales of cigarettes to Indigenous-owned distributors, arguing that Native American nations' ability to conduct their own affairs within their own borders is at stake.
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December 06, 2024
Life Insurance Investments Aren't Securities, 9th Circ. Told
Agents who sold interests in life insurance policies for Pacific West Capital Group — which struck a $64 million SEC deal to end investment fraud claims — urged the Ninth Circuit on Friday to reverse an order requiring them to pay back some of their commissions, saying the deals weren't investment contracts.
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December 06, 2024
Galderma Can't Undo Lupin's Skin Drug Win At Fed. Circ.
Federal Circuit judges on Friday upheld a bench trial finding earlier this year that allowed an Indian generic-drug maker to start selling a treatment for a chronic skin condition that competes with a brand developed by Swiss skin care giant Galderma.
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December 06, 2024
Hospital Insists Colo. Justices Should Allow Lien Discovery
A Colorado hospital facing a class action alleging that it unlawfully filed liens against patients without first billing insurers told the state Supreme Court this week that a discovery order requiring a plaintiff to turn over information related to a car accident is directly relevant to whether class members actually suffered harm meriting a class action.
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December 06, 2024
High Court To Weigh $47M TM Award Liability For Non-Parties
A trademark case before the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday will delve into whether corporate affiliates of a real estate development company should be liable for an infringement judgment of nearly $47 million, even though they were not named defendants in the litigation.
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December 06, 2024
7th Circ.'s Joel Flaum, Mentor To Chicago Judges, Dies At 88
Judge Joel M. Flaum, at one time the youngest federal judge in the country, spent roughly 40 years as an appellate judge, authoring more than 2,000 published opinions covering "virtually every subject within the jurisdiction of the federal courts," according to Seventh Circuit Chief Judge Diane Sykes.
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December 06, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Revisit CR Bard's Patent Misuse Win
The Ninth Circuit declined Friday to rethink its holding that C.R. Bard was allowed to seek royalties on sales of a vascular stent after a U.S. patent had expired, rejecting Atrium Medical Corp.'s rehearing bid in the $53 million bench trial appeal.
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December 06, 2024
GEO Tells 9th Circ. Recent Ruling Backs It In Wage Fight
Private prison contractor The GEO Group Inc. told the Ninth Circuit on Friday that a recent ruling in the same court underscores its assertion that only the federal government can say whether a minimum wage must be paid to detained immigrants participating in a voluntary work program in Tacoma, Washington.
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December 06, 2024
2nd Circ. Won't Revisit Sheeran's 'Let's Get It On' Win
The Second Circuit won't rethink a panel's opinion that Ed Sheeran's hit "Thinking Out Loud" did not copy Marvin Gaye's classic "Let's Get It On," handing a loss to Structured Asset Sales LLC.
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December 06, 2024
Mich. Pot Cos. Get A Shot At Undoing Rivals' Licenses
Two Detroit-area companies that largely lost their bids challenging a municipality's award of marijuana retail licenses to competing enterprises will get an opportunity to invalidate those permits in court, a Michigan state appeals court has ruled, finding the city violated the state's open meetings law.
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December 06, 2024
Justices To Consider Easing Rules On Revising Habeas Petitions
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a case that could make it easier for prisoners to amend their habeas corpus petitions, brought by a man who claims his drunken attorney never pointed out that key evidence in his child pornography trial was marked as "not child porn" by investigators.
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December 06, 2024
5th Circ. Judge Notes Inconsistencies In Medicare Rate Policy
A Fifth Circuit judge called out inconsistencies in a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policy, asking the government to explain apparent discrepancies that four Texas anesthesia practices say will cost them $4 million in reduced reimbursements.
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December 06, 2024
High Court Bar's Future: Gupta Wessler's Jennifer Bennett
As a litigator for workers and consumers, Jennifer D. Bennett made her debut at the U.S. Supreme Court at an inauspicious time, when conservative justices were consistently helping corporations move major cases onto advantageous turf in arbitration. But since then, Bennett has amassed a flawless argument record and helped to turn the tide, making her one of the high court's most promising young advocates.
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December 06, 2024
DC Circ. Mulls If EPA Can Set Rules Based On Predicted Tech
At least one member of the D.C. Circuit did not seem to be picking up what the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was putting down in defense of a rule that would give coal-fired power plants until 2032 to meet certain emissions standards that critics claim are impossible.
Expert Analysis
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7th Circ. Rulings Offer Employee Vaccine Exemption Guidance
Dawn Solowey and Samantha Brooks at Seyfarth explain how two recent Seventh Circuit rulings in Passarella v. Aspirus and Bube v. Aspirus could affect litigation involving employee vaccine exemptions, and discuss employer best practices for handling accommodation requests that include both religious and secular concerns.
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The Fed. Circ. In August: Secret Sales And Public Disclosures
Two recent Federal Circuit rulings — Sanho v. Kaijet and Celanese International v. ITC — highlight that inventors should publicly and promptly disclose their inventions, as a secret sale will not suffice as a disclosure, and file their patent applications within a year of public disclosure, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.
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The State Law Landscape After Justices' Social Media Ruling
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent NetChoice ruling on social media platforms’ First Amendment rights, it’s still unclear if state content moderation laws are constitutional, leaving online operators to face a patchwork of regulation, and the potential for the issue to return to the high court, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Employers Should Not Neglect Paid Military Leave Compliance
An August decision from the Ninth Circuit and the settlement of a long-running class action, both examining paid leave requirements under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, are part of a nationwide trend that should prompt employers to review their military leave policies to avoid potential litigation and reputational damage, says Bradford Kelley at Littler.
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Unpacking Jurisdiction Issues In 3rd Circ. Arbitration Ruling
The Third Circuit's recent ruling in George v. Rushmore Service Center could be interpreted to establish three principles regarding district courts' jurisdiction to enter arbitration-related orders under the Federal Arbitration Act, two of which may lead to confusion, says David Cinotti at Pashman Stein.
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Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles
Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.
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How NJ Temp Equal Pay Survived A Constitutional Challenge
The Third Circuit recently gave the New Jersey Temporary Workers' Bill of Rights a new lease on life by systematically dismantling multiple theories of the act's unconstitutionality brought by staffing agencies hoping to delay their new equal pay and benefits obligations, say attorneys at Duane Morris.
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Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.
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What We Know From Early Cyberinsurance Rulings
Recent cyber disruption incidents, like the Crowdstrike outage and the CDK Global cyberattack this summer, highlight the necessity of understanding legal interpretations of cyberinsurance coverage — an area in which there has been little litigation thus far, say Peter Halprin and Rebecca Schwarz at Haynes Boone.
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6th Circ. Ruling Highlights Complexity Of ERISA Preemption
The Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in Standard Insurance v. Guy — that the defendant couldn't collect his mother’s life insurance after being convicted of murdering his parents — illustrates how courts must engage in mental gymnastics to avoid the broad reach of Employee Retirement Income Security Act preemption, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Strategies To Defend Against Healthcare Nuclear Verdicts
The healthcare industry is increasingly the target of megaclaims, particularly those alleging medical malpractice, but attorneys representing providers can use a few tools to push back on flimsy litigation and reduce the likelihood of a nuclear verdict, says LaMar Jost at Wheeler Trigg.
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5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond
As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.
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Series
After Chevron: SEC Climate And ESG Rules Likely Doomed
Under the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright, without agency deference, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure and environmental, social and governance rules would likely be found lacking in statutory support and vacated by the courts, says Justin Chretien at Carlton Fields.
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Assessing Whether Jarkesy May Limit FINRA Prosecutions
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Jarkesy v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, holding that civil securities fraud defendants are entitled to jury trials, may cause unpredictable results when applied to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority prosecutions, say Barry Temkin and Kate DiGeronimo at Mound Cotton.
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The Bank Preemption Ripple Effects After Cantero, Flagstar
The importance of federal preemption for financial institutions will only increase as technology-driven innovations evolve, which is why the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cantero v. Bank of America and vacatur of Kivett v. Flagstar Bank have real modern-day significance for national banks, say attorneys at WilmerHale.