Appellate

  • July 31, 2024

    NC Defense Attys Say Virus Law Case Can 'Unsettle' Immunity

    A North Carolina defense attorney group asked to jump into a medical malpractice suit in the state's high court Wednesday, offering what it described as a warning that if a decision stands on a COVID-19 law, immunity from lawsuits will be "unsettled."

  • July 31, 2024

    Age Limits On Owning Senior Units Unlawful, NJ Panel Says

    A New Jersey appellate panel on Wednesday backed a lower court's finding that a Garden State municipality's ordinance limiting property ownership in senior housing communities to those 55 years old or older violated the federal Fair Housing Act and state Law Against Discrimination, holding that both statutes prohibit discrimination based on familial status.

  • July 31, 2024

    Minn. Shopping Center's $97M Value Upheld By State Justices

    A Minnesota shopping center was correctly valued for tax purposes at nearly $97 million, the state Supreme Court said Wednesday, rejecting the property owner's argument that the valuation should consider a calculation of effective rent instead of market rent.

  • July 31, 2024

    Honesty Worries Justify Gas Co. Worker Firing, 4th Circ. Says

    The Fourth Circuit upheld a Baltimore gas company's win over a former mechanic's lawsuit alleging he was unlawfully terminated for taking medical leave because of a diabetes-related condition, ruling Wednesday that suspicions of dishonesty provided a credible reason for letting him go.

  • July 31, 2024

    Pa. Court Says Mail-In Ballot Images Are Public Records

    Scanned copies of Pennsylvanians' absentee and mail-in ballots are public records subject to the state's Right-to-Know Law, even though copies of votes cast in person are not, a state appellate court ruled Wednesday.

  • July 31, 2024

    Where Trump's 4 Criminal Cases Could Stand On Election Day

    A landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, a dismissal order from a trial judge in Florida and scandal in Georgia threaten to derail state and federal criminal cases that had been moving full steam ahead against Donald Trump just a few months ago.

  • July 31, 2024

    Del. Justices Reject 'Half-Hearted' Arbitration Bid In Fee Fight

    Delaware's Supreme Court has affirmed a ruling that an entity that invests in tech companies waited too long to try to arbitrate a manager's legal fee advancement suit, rejecting a "half-hearted suggestion" that it was unaware of an arbitration provision until "its third set of counsel" joined the case.

  • July 31, 2024

    NC Sens. Continue Fight Against 4th Circ. Nom

    Ryan Young Park, the solicitor general of North Carolina and nominee for the Fourth Circuit, defended his record and commitment to the law on Wednesday amid attacks from North Carolina's U.S. senators, who oppose his nomination and claim they were not properly consulted on his selection.

  • July 31, 2024

    1st Circ. Mostly Backs $5M Award In Biotech Recruiting Spat

    The First Circuit left intact the vast majority of a $5 million post-trial award against a life sciences recruiting firm found to have misappropriated trade secrets from a rival involving placements at Takeda and Vedanta Biosciences.

  • July 31, 2024

    Ga. Judge Gets Suspension And Reprimand In Harassment Case

    Georgia state Superior Court Judge Robert "Bobby" Reeves will be suspended for 30 days and has promised not to run for reelection for numerous counts of misconduct, the Georgia Supreme Court decided Tuesday.

  • July 31, 2024

    Mich. High Court Restores Strengthened Wage, Leave Laws

    The Michigan Supreme Court put back in place higher minimum wage and broader paid sick leave laws on Wednesday, finding the laws were unlawfully amended by the state Legislature in a controversial move to keep a $12 minimum wage law off the ballot.

  • July 31, 2024

    5th Circ. Slams Injunction Against Texas In Buoy Fight

    The majority of the full Fifth Circuit ruled that a Texas federal court abused its discretion by ordering Texas to move a 1,000-foot buoy barrier meant to deter migrants in the Rio Grande to its own riverbank.

  • July 31, 2024

    Biden's Latest Judicial Noms Include Ex-Congressman

    President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday judicial nominees for district courts in New York, Georgia and Pennsylvania, one of whom is a former congressman.

  • July 30, 2024

    Life Sciences Cases To Watch 2024: A Midyear Report

    From the U.S. Supreme Court down to the federal district courts, judges and lawmakers are grappling with questions crucial to the life sciences industry. Here are some of the biggest life sciences cases to watch in the second half of 2024. 

  • July 30, 2024

    11th Circ. Upholds Geofence Warrant In Carjacking Case

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday rejected a convicted carjacker's attempt to quash a geofence warrant that allowed law enforcement to obtain information from cellphones within a certain geographic area, finding that the man lacked standing to challenge a search that revealed no information from his own electronic device. 

  • July 30, 2024

    Pa. House Majority Leader Fights Robocall Suit At 3rd Circ.

    The Democratic majority leader of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Tuesday asked the Third Circuit to undo a ruling that his automated calls informing constituents about government programs violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

  • July 30, 2024

    Judge Asks Dish If Circuits Truly Split On Data Breach Claims

    A Colorado federal judge on Tuesday pressed Dish Network Corp. and a group of current and former Dish employees who are suing the company in a putative class action about a ransomware attack last year to address whether there is a split among federal circuits on what allegations are needed to support claims in data breach cases.

  • July 30, 2024

    Split 9th Circ. Denies Removal Relief To Cartel Member's Son

    A split Ninth Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive a longtime green card holder's bid for deportation relief, saying evidence that his cartel-member father abused him in the U.S. had no bearing on whether he would be harmed again in Mexico.

  • July 30, 2024

    Cook Medical Vein Filter Claims Came Too Late, 7th Circ. Says

    The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday upheld Cook Medical LLC's win in a woman's lawsuit claiming the company's inferior vena cava filter caused her to develop abdominal pain and that the device fractured when it was removed, saying the suit was filed after the statute of limitations had expired.

  • July 30, 2024

    Immunity Bars Most Vaccine Challenges, Conn. Justices Rule

    The Connecticut Supreme Court on Tuesday narrowed a challenge to a law that eliminated religious exemptions to the state's school vaccination mandates, ordering a trial judge to dismiss two parents' constitutional claims while leaving open for future proceedings a free exercise claim filed under a state statute.

  • July 30, 2024

    4th Circ. Refuses To Certify Class Of Golf Course Investors

    The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday declined to reverse a lower court order denying class certification to a group of Chinese investors who allege their money was used to purchase several golf courses, ruling they are not similar enough to make certification proper.

  • July 30, 2024

    Texas Appeals Court Says $10M Verdict For Railcar Co. Stands

    A Texas appeals court said that Trinity Industries Leasing Co. is entitled to the full $10.6 million verdict that a jury previously awarded the company, finding Monday that corrosion on a railcar by itself didn't trigger limitations on Trinity's breach claim.

  • July 30, 2024

    4th Circ. Nixes Appeal Of Naturalization's Remand To Agency

    A Honduran citizen, facing delays to his naturalization application due to a 24-year-old removal order that was never executed, lost his bid to have a judge review his application when the Fourth Circuit ruled that a lower court's remand of the matter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services isn't ripe for a challenge.

  • July 30, 2024

    Colo. Justices Step Into Boulder Climate Change Case

    The Colorado Supreme Court has ordered a trial court to defend its decision greenlighting the bulk of municipalities' attempts to make Suncor subsidiaries and Exxon pay for damages allegedly caused by climate change.

  • July 30, 2024

    Mich. Supreme Court Reins In Wrongful-Death Damages

    The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that families are not entitled to recover a loved one's future earning capacity as damages in wrongful-death lawsuits, trimming the award potentially available to parents who sued a hospital after their 13-year-old's death from meningitis.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Uncertainty In Scope Of ITC Oversight

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    The U.S. International Trade Commission's long-standing jurisprudence on some of the most disputed and controversial issues is likely to be reshaped by the Federal Circuit, which is no longer bound by Chevron deference in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, say Kecia Reynolds and Madeleine Moss at Paul Hastings.

  • Half-Truths Vs. Omissions: Slicing Justices' Macquarie Cake

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Macquarie v. Moab provides a road map for determining whether corporate reports that omit information should be considered misleading — and the court baked it into a dessert analogy that is key to understanding the guidelines, say Daniel Levy and Pavithra Kumar at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Chevron's End Puts Target On CFPB's Aggressive BNPL Rule

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    A recent interpretative rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, subjecting buy-now, pay-later loans to the same regulations as credit cards, is unlikely to survive post-Chevron challenges of the rule's partisan and shaky logic, say Scott Pearson and Bryan Schneider at Manatt.

  • Justices' Ch. 11 Ruling Is A Big Moment For Debtors' Insurers

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Truck Insurance v. Kaiser Gypsum ruling upends decades of Chapter 11 bankruptcy jurisprudence that relegated a debtor’s insurer to the sidelines, giving insurers a new footing to try and avoid significant liability, say Stuart Gordon and Benjamin Wisher at Rivkin Radler.

  • Justices' Starbucks Ruling May Limit NLRB Injunction Wins

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Starbucks v. McKinney, adopting a more stringent test for National Labor Relations Board Section 10(j) injunctions, may lessen the frequency with which employers must defend against injunctions alongside parallel unfair labor practice charges, say David Pryzbylski and Colleen Schade at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Justices' Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review

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    Each of the 11 criminal decisions issued in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently concluded term is independently important, but taken together, they reveal trends in the court’s broader approach to criminal law, presenting both pitfalls and opportunities for defendants and their counsel, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.

  • 7th Circ. Motorola Ruling Raises Stakes Of DTSA Litigation

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    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Motorola v. Hytera gives plaintiffs a powerful tool to recover damages, greatly increasing the incentive to bring Defend Trade Secrets Act claims against defendants with large global sales because those sales could generate large settlements, say attorneys at MoFo.

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