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Featured
How Barrett Became The High Court's Justice To Watch
Justice Amy Coney Barrett has revealed a unique trifecta of caution toward overly broad opinions, devotion to the factual record and concern for the practical effects of court rulings that separates her from the other right-leaning justices and contains the potential to broker more moderate rulings in future terms.
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August 15, 2024
Amicus Beef: Judiciary Kicks Off Heated Transparency Debate
The federal judiciary's main policy panel Thursday floated a major overhaul of mandatory financial disclosures in appellate amicus briefs, a move that's being fueled by perceptions of shadowy "judicial lobbying" and already coming under siege by big business.
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August 15, 2024
Philips' Fitness Tracker Patent Suit Is Back On Course
The Federal Circuit on Thursday breathed new life into a patent suit by electronics giant Philips targeting fitness trackers made by Garmin.
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August 15, 2024
Telecom Orgs Ask Justices To Take Up NY Internet Rate Cap
The U.S. Supreme Court must step in and unravel a split Second Circuit ruling upholding New York's right to put a $15 cap on the amount broadband companies can charge low-income households, say several trade groups that lost their challenge to the law.
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August 15, 2024
Medical Records Co. Appealing Blocked Anti-Bot CAPTCHAs
Electronic medical records company PointClickCare will appeal last month's ruling from a Maryland federal judge enjoining it from using unsolvable CAPTCHA prompts to block a nursing home analytics firm's access to records, the company said Wednesday.
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August 15, 2024
DC Circ. Explains Toss Of EPA's Biofuel Exemptions Denial
The Environmental Protection Agency's narrow interpretation of what defines an economic hardship wrongly shut dozens of small oil refineries out of receiving federal renewable fuel blending requirement exemptions, according to a per curiam D.C. Circuit opinion unsealed this week.
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August 15, 2024
Collin County Gets Win In Ken Paxton Prosecution Fee Fight
A Texas appeals court handed Collin County a victory Thursday in a long-running fight over how much special prosecutors should get paid for the criminal case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, ordering the trial court to vacate its past orders awarding attorney fees to the prosecutors.
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August 15, 2024
FanDuel Co-Founders Add Scottish Claims To Suit Over Sale
Co-founders of FanDuel have fortified their lawsuit accusing late-stage institutional investors of cheating early and longtime investors out of their fair share of equity when the company was sold in 2018, adding several claims under Scottish law.
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August 15, 2024
7th Circ. Says Voluntary Departure Eligibility Limits Are Sound
The Seventh Circuit on Thursday rejected a Mexican man's challenge to a regulation that limits the availability of voluntary departure, saying Congress gave the attorney general the authority to whittle down who is eligible.
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August 15, 2024
2nd Circ. Won't Revive Platinum Investors' Ch. 7 Challenge
A New York bankruptcy court correctly refused to overturn the approval of a $2.5 million settlement in the bankruptcy of a founder of defunct hedge fund Platinum Partners, the Second Circuit ruled Thursday, finding that the approved deal was superior to an alternative offer.
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August 15, 2024
9th Circ. Judges Seem To Split On Wash. Abortion Coverage
A Ninth Circuit judge asked Thursday how a church could be harmed by a Washington law requiring employee health plans to cover abortions, since none of its workers had ever actually sought one, while another judge asked if tossing the case would slam the door on religious objections.
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August 15, 2024
Pa. Utility Regulator Insists It Can Reject Grid Project
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is urging the Third Circuit to reinstate its denial of a transmission project regional grid operator PJM Interconnection approved, saying the Federal Power Act and PJM's tariff can't be used to override its rejection of a "wasteful and counterproductive project."
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August 15, 2024
Harvard Late In Suing Broker For Tardy Admission Suit Notice
Harvard University was 13 months late in bringing breach of contract claims against its insurance broker for its belated notification to Zurich American Insurance Co. about an ultimately successful legal challenge that upended affirmative action in higher education, a Boston federal judge said Thursday.
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August 15, 2024
Realtors Urge 9th Circ. Not To Revive Zillow Antitrust Case
The National Association of Realtors has urged the Ninth Circuit to reject a defunct brokerage platform's appeal in a case over design changes Zillow made to comply with an association rule, saying the rule is optional and that Zillow acted on its own.
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August 15, 2024
Monsanto Gets 3rd Circ. Win In Roundup Failure-To-Warn Case
The Third Circuit ruled Thursday that a Pennsylvania state law failure-to-warn claim in a suit alleging the weed killer Roundup caused a Keystone State man's cancer is preempted by federal law, creating a circuit split on central issues in multidistrict litigation over the Monsanto product.
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August 15, 2024
6th Circ. Finds Biden Had Power To Fire Former NLRB GC
President Joe Biden lawfully fired former National Labor Relations Board general counsel Peter Robb more than three years ago, the Sixth Circuit ruled, with the appeals court saying removal protections for the agency's top prosecutor would affect the official's accountability to the president.
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August 15, 2024
FTC Renews Bid To Toss Meta's Constitutionality Case
The Federal Trade Commission has told a D.C. federal court that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling does not support Meta's case raising constitutional challenges to a data privacy order, arguing the case should be tossed.
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August 15, 2024
Pa. District's Appeal Method Is Constitutional, Court Affirms
A Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas correctly ruled that a school district did not violate the state's uniformity clause when using a monetary threshold to decide which property tax assessments to appeal, the state Commonwealth Court affirmed Thursday.
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August 15, 2024
Calif. Justices Find Hospital System Exempt From Labor Code
A hospital system a California county created is a public entity that is not required to follow the California Labor Code's meal and rest break requirements, the state's high court ruled Thursday, nixing an appellate panel's ruling against the entity.
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August 15, 2024
4th Circ. Won't Revive Interpreters' Unpaid Wages Suit
The Fourth Circuit declined Thursday to reinstate a lawsuit two Nepalese-English interpreters brought against a government contractor accusing it of failing to pay them overtime wages, saying the Maryland laws they sued under don't apply to their case because they worked in Afghanistan.
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August 15, 2024
Ariz. GOP Backs RNC's High Court Bid To Stay Voting Order
The Arizona Republican Party is backing the Republican National Committee and two of the state's top lawmakers in asking U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to halt an order over a voting law that is pending appeal at the Ninth Circuit, arguing the district court's order has a direct and tangible effect on its ability to promote the party's policies.
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August 15, 2024
'What Is An NFT?': 9th Circ. Mulls Novel Bored Ape TM Fight
A Ninth Circuit judge considering whether a trial court correctly found artists owe millions for ripping off trademarks on the Bored Ape Yacht Club nonfungible token collection questioned Thursday whether the NFT market is comparable to typical consumer markets, rhetorically asking, "What are we even talking about? What is an NFT?"
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August 15, 2024
Fla. Court Wrongly Blocked Health Report Without Evidence
A Florida state appeals court has reversed a state court order blocking the release of an investigative report related to a man's suicide after he was discharged from a mental health center, saying the circuit court shouldn't have denied a request by the man's father for the report based on the center's argument without evidence.
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August 15, 2024
Gas Co. Tells Chancery Texas Settlement Spikes Pipeline Duty
A settlement and Texas court's direction to vacate an earlier arbitration award has revived an Energy Transfer LP subsidiary's bid to scuttle a Delaware Court of Chancery order requiring it to build costly, high-pressure natural gas pipelines for free.
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August 15, 2024
Ex-Drew Eckl Attys Seek New Firm's Escape From Arbitration
Drew Eckl & Farnham LLP and former firm attorneys now at Burke Moore Law Group LLP launched dueling arguments in the Georgia Court of Appeals this week over Burke Moore's bid to undo a court order requiring it to arbitrate a fees dispute between Drew Eckl and Burke Moore founders.
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August 15, 2024
Ford Wants Judge Booted Off Paraplegic's Suit After Podcast
Ford Motor Co. pushed the North Carolina Court of Appeals to remove state Superior Court Judge Hoyt Tessener from a product liability suit, arguing the jurist made disparaging remarks about the company after prosecuting a similar suit against the carmaker years ago as a private attorney.
Editor's Picks
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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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High Court Flexes Muscle To Limit Administrative State
The U.S. Supreme Court's dismantling of a 40-year-old judicial deference doctrine, coupled with rulings stripping federal agencies of certain enforcement powers and exposing them to additional litigation, has established the October 2023 term as likely the most consequential in administrative law history.
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Law360's Guide To Biden's Judicial Picks
UPDATED August 1, 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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Jarkesy May Thwart Consumer Agencies' Civil Penalty Power
The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy not only implicates future SEC administrative adjudications, but those of other agencies that operate similarly — and may stymie regulators' efforts to levy civil monetary penalties in a range of consumer protection enforcement actions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Ohio's New Citation Rules Could Cure 'The Bluebook Blues'
The Ohio Supreme Court recently revised its writing manual to streamline citation format in legal briefs and opinions, deviating from Bluebook style, and encouraging lawyers and judges to draft cleaner documents that will give the substance of their legal arguments more persuasive power, say L. Bradfield Hughes and Chance Conaway at Porter Wright.
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9th Circ. Ruling Flags Work Harassment Risks Of Social Media
The recent Ninth Circuit ruling in Okonowsky v. Garland, holding an employer could be liable for a co-worker's harassing social media posts, highlights new challenges in technology-centered and remote workplaces, and underscores an employer's obligation to prevent hostile environments wherever their employees clock in, say Jennifer Lada and Phillip Schreiber at Holland & Knight.
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Trump's Best Hush Money Appeal Options Still Likely To Fail
The two strongest potential arguments former President Donald Trump could raise in appealing his New York hush money conviction seem promising at first, but precedent strongly suggests they will still ultimately fail — though, of course, Trump's unique position could lead to surprising results, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.
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Tips For Tax Equity-Tax Credit Transfers That Pass IRS Muster
Although the Internal Revenue Service has increased its scrutiny of complex partnership structures, which must demonstrate their economic substance and business purpose, recent cases and IRS guidance together provide a reliable road map for creating legitimate tax equity structures, say Ian Boccaccio and Michael Messina at Ryan Tax.
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7th Circ. Ruling Sheds Light On Extraterritoriality In IP Law
A recent Seventh Circuit decision involving the Defend Trade Secrets Act, allowing for broader international application of trade secrets laws, highlights a difference in how trade secrets are treated compared to other areas of intellectual property law, say Armin Ghiam and Maria Montenegro-Bernardo at Hunton.
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Opinion
Texas Judges Ignored ERISA's Core To Stall Fiduciary Rule
Two recent rulings from Texas federal courts, which rely on a plainly wrong reading of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to effectively strike a forthcoming rule that would impose functional fiduciary duties onto sellers of investment services, may expose financially unsophisticated 401(k) participants to peddlers of misleading advice, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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2nd Circ. Ruling Reaffirms Short-Swing Claims Have Standing
The Second Circuit's recent ruling in Packer v. Raging Capital reversing the dismissal of a shareholder's Section 16(b) derivative suit seeking to recover short-swing profits for lack of constitutional standing settles the uncertainty of the district court's decision, which could have undercut Congress' intent in crafting Section 16(b) in the first place, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?
A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.
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Insurance Lessons From 11th Circ. Ruling On Policy Grammar
The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in ECB v. Chubb Insurance, holding that missing punctuation didn't change the clear meaning of a professional services policy, offers policyholder takeaways about the uncertainty that can arise when courts interpret insurance policy language based on obscure grammatical canons, say Hugh Lumpkin and Garrett Nemeroff at Reed Smith.
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How High Court Ruling Is Shaping Homelessness Policies
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson to allow enforcement of local ordinances against overnight camping is already spurring new policies to manage homelessness, but the court's ruling does not grant jurisdictions unfettered power, say Kathryn Kafka and Alex Merritt at Sheppard Mullin.
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DOJ Paths To Limit FARA Fallout From Wynn's DC Circ. Win
After the D.C. Circuit’s recent Attorney General v. Wynn ruling, holding that the government cannot compel retroactive registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the U.S. Department of Justice has a few options to limit the decision’s impact on enforcement, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Series
Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.
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Series
After Chevron: Challenges Loom For PBGC Actions
After Loper Bright, two recent actions taken by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. already under scrutiny seem destined to be challenged and resolved under the new standard of judicial deference, which will greatly affect employers with potential withdrawal liability exposure, say Robert Perry and David Pixley at Jackson Lewis.
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Unpacking Executive Privilege, Contempt In Recent Cases
The U.S. House of Representatives’ recent move to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress is the latest example in a growing trend of executive privilege disputes, and serves as a warning to private citizens and corporate leaders who are in communication with the president, says Kristina Moore at Womble Bond.