Appellate

  • November 08, 2024

    Mass. Justices Order Return Of Failed Engagement Ring

    Massachusetts' highest court on Friday told a jilted bride seeking to hold on to a $70,000 Tiffany diamond engagement ring that she must return it to her former fiancé, calling it quits on a 65-year-old precedent concerning who gets to keep a ring after a breakup.

  • November 07, 2024

    Man Gets 2 Yrs. For Illegally Accessing Ginsburg's Health Info

    A former healthcare industry worker who was accused of illegally accessing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's healthcare records and posting them online was sentenced Thursday in Virginia federal court to two years in prison, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

  • November 07, 2024

    7th Circ. Affirms Warrantless Use of Surveillance Cameras

    The Seventh Circuit is standing by its decision that putting a pole up to observe someone's home without a warrant doesn't trample their Fourth Amendment rights because it doesn't constitute a search.

  • November 07, 2024

    3rd Circ. Says Tainted Bayer Antifungals Clearly 'Worth Less'

    Four of the nine named plaintiffs in a proposed class action over Bayer's 2021 recall of potentially benzene-tainted antifungal sprays can revive their claims against the company on the grounds that they'd paid for an effectively worthless product, a Third Circuit panel ruled Thursday.

  • November 07, 2024

    Trans Patients Say Fla. Ban On Care Should Be Bias Tested

    A proposed class of transgender individuals asking for the reversal of a ruling blocking Florida's ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care told the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday that hostile discrimination analysis of statutes applies to classes beyond those recognized as "suspect" or "quasi-suspect."

  • November 07, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Questions Gov't Analysis For Omani Nail Duties

    A Federal Circuit panel wrestled Thursday with an Omani steel nail producer's claims that the U.S. Department of Commerce used distorted data to calculate its anti-dumping duties, with judges contemplating whether the alleged agency error was an innocuous one.

  • November 07, 2024

    Flagstar Customer Asks 6th Circ. To Revive Overdraft Fee Suit

    A Flagstar Bank customer has urged the Sixth Circuit to revive her class claims alleging the bank charged surprise overdraft fees, arguing that a Michigan district court failed to follow the "settled rules" dictating that ambiguous contract terms should be interpreted against the drafter.

  • November 07, 2024

    11th Circ. Affirms Judgment Against Fired Ga. Tech Coach

    The Eleventh Circuit declined to revive longtime women's basketball coach MaChelle Joseph's discrimination and retaliation claims against Georgia Tech, concluding Thursday that Title IX does not provide an implied right of action for sex discrimination in employment.

  • November 07, 2024

    ACLU Asks 11th Circ. To Back Ga. Deputy's Trans Health Win

    The full Eleventh Circuit shouldn't roll back a transgender deputy's win in her lawsuit challenging a Georgia county's refusal to pay for gender-affirmation surgery, the American Civil Liberties Union and legal groups argued Thursday, saying the U.S. Supreme Court's Bostock decision made clear that such policies violate federal law.

  • November 07, 2024

    9th Circ. Finds No Jurisdiction In LG Chem Battery Suit

    The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a suit against LG Chem Ltd. over a lithium-ion battery used in an e-cigarette that allegedly burned a California man, finding that the lower court was correct in holding that it had no jurisdiction over the case.

  • November 07, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Questions Expert's Background In 4G Patent Case

    A Federal Circuit judge suggested Thursday that the court might vacate a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision partly invalidating a Sisvel 4G wireless patent challenged by Honeywell and others, saying the board relied on an expert who may not have the necessary qualifications.

  • November 07, 2024

    Net Neutrality Foes See 6th Circ. Clearing Path To End Rules

    Recent arguments in the Sixth Circuit over the Federal Communications Commission's controversial net neutrality restrictions didn't give a definitive indication of how judges will decide the issue, but the rule's opponents are buoyed by questions that appeared at times to lean in their favor.

  • November 07, 2024

    Sutter Health Could Face Retrial On Antitrust Claims In March

    Sutter Health is headed back to trial after the Ninth Circuit said "highly relevant" evidence was excluded from the 2022 trial where the hospital chain defeated claims that it had driven up the cost of insurance, and the court overseeing the matter says March is the earliest it can do.

  • November 07, 2024

    Wash. High Court Picks Stephens As Next Chief Justice

    Washington State Supreme Court justices voted Wednesday to elevate Debra L. Stephens as the court's next chief justice, with the change set to take effect in January.

  • November 07, 2024

    Alaska Flyers Lodge Emergency 9th Circ. Bid To Halt Merger

    Flyers and travel agents hoping to block Alaska Airlines' $1.9 billion merger with Hawaiian Airlines are asking the Ninth Circuit for an emergency halt to any further integration between the companies while they appeal a district court's dismissal of their suit, telling the judges consumers will be hurt if the merger continues.

  • November 07, 2024

    Teamsters Tell 10th Circ. To Nix Yellow's Contract Claims

    The Tenth Circuit must uphold a district court's decision to dismiss Yellow Corp.'s $137 million lawsuit against the Teamsters, the union said, arguing the business didn't exhaust the grievance process under a contract and can't claim that making such an effort would have been pointless.

  • November 07, 2024

    Fla. Counties Say Notice Was Insufficient In $5B Bond Deal

    A group of Florida counties and tax collectors asked the Florida Supreme Court Thursday to reverse a decision that found they could not reopen a bond validation judgment issuing $5 billion in bonds for renewable energy and hurricane mitigation projects, arguing they were not given proper notice of the bond validation hearing.

  • November 07, 2024

    7th Circ. Sends Refuge Power Line Fight Back To Wis. Judge

    A Seventh Circuit panel scrapped stayed preliminary injunctions that temporarily blocked a power transmission line from crossing the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, directing a Wisconsin federal judge to determine if conservation groups' request for permanent relief is warranted or even possible with the line now built.

  • November 07, 2024

    11th Circ. Revives Project Veritas' CNN Defamation Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit reversed the dismissal of Project Veritas' defamation lawsuit against CNN on Thursday, saying the group's claim was plausibly alleged against the news network over an anchor's on-air characterization of why the organization was suspended from Twitter, the social media website now named X.

  • November 07, 2024

    Ariz. Textile Launderer Denied Manufacturing Tax Break

    An Arizona company that launders, sanitizes and rents textiles to the healthcare industry was correctly denied a use tax exemption because it was not a manufacturing or processing operation eligible for the break, an Arizona appeals court said Thursday.

  • November 07, 2024

    Tribes Make New Push For Voter Access And Representation

    Facing long-standing barriers to voting access and a spate of close races, Native Americans ramped up efforts this election cycle to encourage voter turnout, elect Indigenous candidates and highlight the absence of issues affecting Indian Country on the national stage — with mixed results.

  • November 07, 2024

    Apache Say 'Stakes Are Clear' In Oak Flat Land Dispute

    The federal government is trying to manufacture problems by claiming that a law aimed at protecting the religious rights of minorities can't apply to later-enacted statutes, an Apache nonprofit has told the U.S. Supreme Court in its bid to save a sacred worship site in Arizona from mining destruction.

  • November 07, 2024

    11th Circ. Backs Bombardier In Mechanic's Race Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit upheld a Bombardier unit's win Thursday in a retired Black worker's suit claiming he was forced to leave his mechanic role because of the racism he experienced on the job, finding he hadn't alleged any mistreatment serious enough to sustain his case.

  • November 07, 2024

    Mass. Court Affirms Nix Of Property Tax Appeal Citing Blight

    A Massachusetts homeowner's request for a property tax abatement because of local blight was properly rejected by a state tax board because the owner did not pay the tax at issue as required, the state appeals court ruled Tuesday.

  • November 07, 2024

    NC Court Refuses Law Firm Sanctions In Bankruptcy Fee Fight

    A North Carolina business bankruptcy law firm and its founder have escaped sanctions for allegedly lying to a trial court about its communications in a fee dispute, as a state appellate court said the former client's sanctions motion must fail as a matter of law because he "unreasonably delayed" filing it.

Expert Analysis

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

    Author Photo

    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling May Signal Software Patent Landscape Shift

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's recent ruling in Broadband iTV, despite similarities to past decisions, chose to rely on prior cases finding patent-ineligible claims directed to receiving and displaying information, which may undermine one of the few areas of perceived predictability in the patent eligibility landscape, say attorneys at King & Wood.

  • Series

    After Chevron: The Future Of OSHA Enforcement Litigation

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion in Loper Bright provides a blueprint for overruling the judicial obligation to defer to an agency's interpretation of its own regulations established by Auer, an outcome that would profoundly change the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s litigation and rulemaking landscape, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • What Hawaii High Court Got Right And Wrong In AIG Ruling

    Author Photo

    Though the Hawaii Supreme Court in its recent Aloha Petroleum v. National Union Fire Insurance decision correctly adopted the majority rule that recklessly caused harm is an accident for coverage purposes, it erred in its interpretation of the pollution exclusion by characterizing climate change as "traditional environmental pollution," say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Amazon Holiday Pay Case Underscores Overtime Challenges

    Author Photo

    The recent Hamilton v. Amazon.com Services LLC decision in the Colorado Supreme Court underscores why employers must always consult applicable state law and regulations — in addition to federal law — when determining how to properly pay employees who work more than 40 hours in a workweek, says James Looby at Vedder Price.

  • Opinion

    It's Time To Sound The Alarm About Lost Labor Rights

    Author Photo

    In the Fifth Circuit, recent rulings from judges appointed by former President Donald Trump have dismantled workers’ core labor rights, a troubling trend that we cannot risk extending under another Trump administration, say Sharon Block and Raj Nayak at the Center for Labor and a Just Economy.

  • Anticipating Jarkesy's Effect On Bank Agency Enforcement

    Author Photo

    Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy, federal courts may eventually issue decisions on banking law principles and processes that could fundamentally alter the agencies' enforcement action framework, and the relationship between banks and examiners, says Brendan Clegg at Luse Gorman.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

    Author Photo

    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • Peeling Back The Layers Of SEC's Equity Trading Reforms

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently adopted amendments lowering the tick sizes for stock trading and reducing access fee caps will benefit investors and necessitate broad systems changes — if they can first survive judicial challenges, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • 5th Circ. DOL Tip Decision May Trigger Final 80/20 Rule Fight

    Author Photo

    A recent Fifth Circuit decision concerning a Labor Department rule that limits how often tipped employees can be assigned non-tip-producing duties could be challenged in either historically rule-friendly circuits or the Supreme Court, but either way it could shape the future of tipped work, says Kevin Johnson at Johnson Jackson.

  • Strategies To Avoid Patent Issues In AI Drug Discovery

    Author Photo

    Artificial intelligence has the potential to improve drug discovery and design, but companies should consider a variety of factors when patenting drugs created using AI systems, including guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and methods for protecting patent eligibility, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • What Being An 'Insider' Means In Ch. 11, And Why It Matters

    Author Photo

    As borrowers grapple with approaching near-term maturities on corporate debt, lenders should be proactive in mitigating the risks of being classified as an insider in potential bankruptcies, including heightened scrutiny, preference risk, plan voting and more, say David Hillman and Steve Ma at Proskauer.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

    Author Photo

    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Appellate archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!