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Appellate
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October 24, 2024
7th Circ. Doubts Satanic Temple Can Wage Abortion Fight
A Seventh Circuit panel appeared skeptical Thursday that the Satanic Temple had standing to challenge Indiana's near-complete abortion ban, with questioning turning contentious when one judge pointed out that the religious organization would be blocked from providing abortion drugs through telehealth appointments even without the law.
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October 24, 2024
Judges Doubt 'Troublesome' Comments Warrant New Trial
Washington appellate judges appeared skeptical Thursday that a handful of comments could've triggered jury bias and tainted the trial of a Palestinian woman's medical malpractice case, though one judge called it "troublesome" that defense counsel told jurors the accused doctor was "from this part of the world."
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October 24, 2024
Wash. High Court Lets Anti-Tax Ballot Measure Show Impact
Elections officials are permitted to place financial disclosure information next to a Washington state ballot measure that would repeal the state's tax on capital gains, the Washington Supreme Court ruled Thursday, upholding a trial court.
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October 24, 2024
4th Circ. Affirms Dismissal Of Crypto Theft Coverage
The Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court's ruling that an individual's homeowners policy didn't cover his loss of $170,000 in cryptocurrency to an alleged scam, agreeing with a Virginia federal court that the loss didn't constitute a "direct physical loss."
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October 24, 2024
FCC Won't Hold Off Prison Phone Rate Caps During Suits
The Federal Communications Commission has turned down three bids for the agency to shelve new prison phone service rate caps during legal appeals of the FCC's rule, saying such lawsuits are unlikely to prevail.
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October 24, 2024
DOJ Pushes Justices To Revive Bid-Rigging Conviction
Federal prosecutors told the U.S. Supreme Court that the Fourth Circuit got it wrong last year when it vacated the bid-rigging conviction of aluminum pipe maker Contech's former executive, arguing Wednesday that agreements between firms can be per se unlawful even when they have a vertical relationship.
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October 24, 2024
Enviro Attys Must Teach Judges Science, Wash. Justice Says
Attorneys shouldn't assume that judges are up to speed on scientific evidence that they're reviewing and instead should work on building judges' knowledge and helping them "feel smart," a Washington Supreme Court justice told environmental lawyers on Thursday.
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October 24, 2024
Colo. Justices Hesitant To Extend Personhood To Elephants
Colorado Supreme Court justices appeared unlikely Thursday to grant habeas corpus rights to elephants in a zoo, repeatedly asking an animal rights group seeking to send the elephants to a sanctuary where the court should draw the line on personhood.
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October 24, 2024
Ga. Elections Official To Appeal Certification 'Discretion' Loss
A Fulton County, Georgia, elections official who recently lost a lawsuit in which she tried to assert her purported "discretion" to certify vote results said Wednesday she plans to appeal the decision to the state's Court of Appeals.
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October 24, 2024
TikTok Won't Get 3rd Circ. Rehearing Of Section 230 Ruling
The Third Circuit on Wednesday turned down TikTok's request for an en banc rehearing of a panel decision that the social media company's "For You Page" algorithm isn't entitled to immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in a case over a 10-year-old's death.
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October 24, 2024
EPA Can't Rush Truck Electrification, DC Circ. Hears
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a trucking industry group have thrown their support behind challengers' attempts to upend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles, telling the D.C. Circuit that the agency is trying to accomplish too much too soon.
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October 24, 2024
Meet The Candidates Vying For Texas Supreme Court Seats
A trio of Republican incumbents are looking to maintain the full GOP makeup of the Texas Supreme Court in next month's general election amid challenges from Democratic candidates looking for promotions from lower state courts.
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October 24, 2024
DC Circ. Ruling Endangers Distressed Texas Area, Port Says
The owner of the Port of Brownsville in Texas is urging the D.C. Circuit to consider the devastating impacts a panel's decision to vacate Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reauthorization orders for two major liquefied natural gas projects threatens to impose on the region.
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October 24, 2024
Incoming NJ Judge Wins Appellate Ruling To Collect Pension
A former deputy attorney general and Camden County prosecutor will be able to collect her state pension while serving on the Superior Court of New Jersey, a state appeals court ruled Thursday in a published opinion.
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October 24, 2024
Pot Processor Can't Get Reversal Of Ohio License Denial
An Ohio state appeals court won't let a would-be cannabis processor undo the denial of its bid for a provisional processing license, saying there's no indication that the state regulators abused their discretion in scoring the company low regarding security and contamination risks.
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October 24, 2024
Conn. High Court Snapshot: $13M Tax Appeals, Will Dispute
The Connecticut Supreme Court's second term of the 2024-2025 season will commence Monday with a dispute over whether an attorney bungled a will that sought to divide a $845,368 TD Ameritrade account among five beneficiaries, only one of whom received any cash.
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October 24, 2024
Pa. Justices OK In-Person Votes For Nixed Mail-In Ballots
Voters in the battleground state of Pennsylvania whose mail-in ballots are rejected as defective and uncountable haven't technically "voted," and can replace those votes with provisional ballots to be verified and counted, a split state Supreme Court ruled late Wednesday.
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October 24, 2024
Atty Escapes Suspension Over $1M Fee Bid For $125K Awards
A Pennsylvania Supreme Court panel on Thursday denied a 90-day suspension recommendation by the Disciplinary Board against a Lackawanna County personal injury attorney who filed a petition for more than $1 million in attorney fees from an insurance company he sued on behalf of his client.
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October 24, 2024
Mass. Justices Reject Meta, Google 'Wiretap' Claims
Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday found that website operators' use of tracking software like Meta Pixel and Google Analytics does not violate the state's wiretap law, drawing a sharp dissent from one justice who said the legislature will now need to "correct" the court's mistake.
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October 23, 2024
Thapar Flays Law Schools, Attys For Anti-Originalist Mindsets
Despite the ascendance of conservative constitutional views, appellate attorneys are losing cases by failing to adapt, and the blame rests heavily with law schools that appear increasingly out of touch and undeserving of alumni donations, U.S. Circuit Judge Amul R. Thapar said Wednesday night in a bare-knuckle speech at a Heritage Foundation event.
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October 23, 2024
Split 9th Circ. Says Asylum 'Metering' Policy Flouts US Law
A split Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday said federal immigration law requires U.S. officials to inspect asylum-seekers at the border, rejecting the Biden administration's argument that noncitizens must be physically standing on U.S soil to claim asylum.
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October 23, 2024
Patent Owner Fed Up With Fed. Circ's 1-Word Decisions
A patent owner has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit's one-word decision affirming summary judgment in favor of TD Ameritrade in a high-stakes patent fight, saying the appellate court is routinely and summarily affirming orders that ignore factual disputes in patent cases, without explanation.
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October 23, 2024
EPA's GHG Power Plant Rule Is Achievable, Scientists Say
A half-dozen prominent scientists and engineers have told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's plan to tap carbon capture and sequestration technology to reduce power plants' greenhouse gas pollution is on point and readily achievable.
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October 23, 2024
Mich. Panel Reverses Insurer's $1.2M Fire Subrogation Win
A Michigan state appeals court rejected a property insurer's subrogation bid against commercial tenants over a roughly $1.2 million building fire, finding that while the tenants' lease generally required them to keep their property in good condition, there was no specific provision holding them liable for their own negligence.
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October 23, 2024
Fed. Circ. Backs Customs Duties On Importer's Steel Tubing
An importer couldn't convince the Federal Circuit that steel tubing that includes insulating materials could be imported as duty-free insulating conduits, with the panel saying Wednesday the materials aren't enough for the product to be insulating.
Expert Analysis
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Accidental Death Ruling Shows ERISA Review Standard's Pull
The Eleventh Circuit’s recent accidental death insurance ruling in Goldfarb v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance illustrates how an arbitrary and capricious standard of review in Employee Retirement Income Security Act denial-of-benefits cases creates a steep uphill battle for benefit claimants, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Critical Questions Remain After High Court's Abortion Rulings
The U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in two major abortion-related cases this term largely preserve the status quo for now, but leave federal preemption, the Comstock Act and in vitro fertilization in limbo, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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California Adds A Novel Twist To State Suits Against Big Oil
California’s suit against Exxon Mobil Corp., one of several state suits that seek to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate-related harms, is unique both in the magnitude of the alleged claims and its use of a consumer protection statute to seek disgorgement of industry profits, says Julia Stein at UCLA School of Law.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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Why Justices Should Rule On FAA's Commerce Exception
The U.S. Supreme Court should review the Ninth Circuit's Ortiz v. Randstad decision, to clarify whether involvement in interstate commerce exempts workers from the Federal Arbitration Act, a crucial question given employers' and employees' strong competing interests in arbitration and litigation, says Collin Williams at New Era.
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Series
After Chevron: Rethinking Agency Deference In IP Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Chevron deference could make it simpler to challenge the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s proposed rule on terminal disclaimers and U.S. International Trade Commission interpretations, says William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.
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FLSA Conditional Certification Is Alive And Well In 4th Circ.
A North Carolina federal court's recent decision in Johnson v. PHP emphasized continued preference by courts in the Fourth Circuit for a two-step conditional certification process for Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions, rejecting views from other circuits and affording plaintiffs a less burdensome path, say Joshua Adams and Damón Gray at Jackson Lewis.
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7th Circ. Exclusion Ruling Will Narrow BIPA Coverage
The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in Thermoflex Waukegan v. Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance, holding that the access or disclosure exclusion applies to insurance claims brought under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, departs from the majority rule and opens the door to insurers more firmly denying coverage under general liability policies, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Tricky Venue Issues Persist In Fortenberry Prosecution Redo
Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry was recently indicted for a second time after the Ninth Circuit tossed his previous conviction for improper venue, but the case, now pending in the District of Columbia, continues to illustrate the complexities of proper venue in "false statement scheme" prosecutions, says Kevin Coleman at Covington.
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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1st Gender Care Ban Provides Context For High Court Case
The history of Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming medical care — the first such legislation in the U.S. — provides important insight into the far-reaching ramifications that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti next term will have on transgender healthcare, says Tyler Saenz at Baker Donelson.
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Series
After Chevron: FCC And Industry Must Prepare For Change
The Chevron doctrine was especially significant in the communications sector because of the indeterminacy of federal communications statutes, so the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the doctrine could have big implications for those regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, bringing both opportunities and risks for companies, say Thomas Johnson and Michael Showalter at Wiley.
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Series
After Chevron: Uniform Tax Law Interpretation Not Guaranteed
The loss of Chevron deference will significantly alter the relationship between the IRS, courts and Congress when it comes to tax law, potentially precipitating more transparent rulemaking, but also provoking greater uncertainty due to variability in judicial interpretation, say Michelle Levin and Carneil Wilson at Dentons.
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Series
After Chevron: Environmental Law May Face Hurdles
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning Chevron deference could prove to be as influential as the original 1984 decision, with far-reaching implications for U.S. environmental laws, including rendering recently promulgated regulations more vulnerable to challenges, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Opinion
'Trump Too Small' Ruling Overlooks TM Registration Issues
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Vidal v. Elster, which concluded that “Trump Too Small” cannot be a registered trademark as it violates a federal prohibition, fails to consider modern-day, real-world implications for trademark owners who are denied access to federal registration, say Tiffany Gehrke and Alexa Spitz at Marshall Gerstein.