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Appellate
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August 06, 2025
States Urge Justices To Back Med Mal Laws In Federal Court
Tennessee and 26 other states on Wednesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hold that state statutes requiring an expert affidavit in all medical malpractice suits may be applied in federal court, arguing that overriding these laws under federal procedure rules would undermine state authority.
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August 06, 2025
Calif. Water Toxicity Test Flouts Federal Law, Court Rules
A California state appeals court has barred state regulators from requiring wastewater entities to use a new water pollution test for discharge permits, but said the Golden State's adoption of new toxicity provisions was proper under state law.
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August 06, 2025
Ga. Judges Weigh Birth Defect Ruling in Sterigenics Case
A group of Georgia residents who alleged they were injured by emissions from a Sterigenics sterilization plant urged the Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday to overturn a lower court's grant of partial summary judgment to the company on the issue of whether the plant's emissions caused birth defects.
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August 06, 2025
Ohio Panel Revives Robbery Case Over Receipt Evidence
An Ohio state appeals court has ruled that a state prosecutor's office did not violate evidence rules when it failed to turn over a sales receipt for a stolen cell phone in a robbery case, finding the evidence wouldn't have helped the defendant.
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August 06, 2025
RJ Reynolds Keeps Trial Win In Cancer Death Suit, Panel Says
A Massachusetts intermediate-level appeals court on Wednesday affirmed RJ Reynolds' trial win in a suit accusing it of causing a man's lung cancer, saying a new trial was not warranted as the trial judge did not unfairly exclude certain evidence.
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August 06, 2025
Compelling ERISA Arbitration No Sure Thing, 9th Circ. Shows
The Ninth Circuit aligned with several other federal appeals courts when it recently struck down a clause in a food service company's employee health plan that barred class or representative actions, marking the latest in a series of setbacks for employers looking to push federal benefits suits into solo arbitration.
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August 06, 2025
Pa. Panel OKs Doctor's Midtrial Win In Bad Surgery Suit
A Pennsylvania appellate panel on Wednesday upheld a trial judge's decision to grant a midtrial win to a physician accused of botching a woman's saliva gland removal surgery, saying the plaintiff's liability theory was not supported by the testimony of her medical expert.
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August 06, 2025
Axed Verdicts Put Spotlight On Patent Applicant Statements
Recent Federal Circuit decisions overturning substantial patent judgments due to statements the patent owner made during the application process illustrate the importance of applicants carefully calibrating their arguments, particularly when seeking design patents, attorneys say.
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August 06, 2025
5th Circ. Upholds Gun Ban For Convicted Felons
A Fifth Circuit panel on Wednesday shot down a felon's attempt to have a gun charge thrown out after he was found guilty of a drive-by shooting, saying a historical analog from the time of the country's founding allows for confiscation of firearms from felons.
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August 06, 2025
4th Circ. Says Habeas Request Prevented By Procedure
The Fourth Circuit denied habeas relief to a Virginia attempted bank robber who has since been released from prison, affirming Wednesday that his argument that he was sentenced under an unconstitutionally vague guideline did not meet procedural requirements for postconviction relief and could not be considered.
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August 06, 2025
Parents Lose Deportation Appeal That Cited Child's Disability
An Eleventh Circuit panel said Wednesday that hardship determinations in deportation proceedings should be reviewed to ascertain whether federal immigration courts have "substantial evidence" to back the determinations, in the process rejecting an undocumented immigrant couple's bid to stay in the U.S. to continue treatment and schooling for their child, who has a learning disability.
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August 06, 2025
Mich. Panel Wary Of MSU Student's Hazing Law Challenge
A former Michigan State University student may have an uphill battle convincing a state appellate panel to ax criminal hazing charges related to a student's death at a fraternity party, the judges on the panel suggested Wednesday.
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August 06, 2025
Archdiocese Seeks Reinsurance Docs In Sex Abuse Row
The Archdiocese of New York urged a state appeals court Wednesday to uphold an order mandating that nine Chubb units turn over reinsurance documents as they litigate coverage for thousands of sex abuse lawsuits, noting Chubb already said before the trial court that "reinsurance is simply insurance for insurers."
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August 06, 2025
Insulin Collusion Needn't Be 'Clever' To Exist, 2nd Circ. Says
A Second Circuit panel revived safety-net providers' proposed class action claims against Sanofi, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca on Wednesday that allege the company agreed to limit discount program participation to spike insulin and weight-loss drug costs, with the appeals court rejecting drugmaker arguments that their actions weren't "clever" enough to be collusion.
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August 06, 2025
UC Policy Found Discriminatory Based On Immigration Status
A California state appeals court has ruled that the University of California's employment policy against hiring unauthorized immigrant students who lack federal work permits is "facially discriminatory," and that the university system couldn't lean on a risk of federal enforcement for justification.
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August 06, 2025
4th Circ. Revives Chance Of Class Cert. For Overdraft Suit
The Fourth Circuit has reversed a denial of class certification in a lawsuit against Michigan-based Independent Bank, finding that a South Carolina federal judge had improperly ruled that bank customer Jamila Grice couldn't represent a nationwide class and remanding the case for further proceedings.
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August 06, 2025
Golfer Wants Full 11th Circ. To Take Swing At Defamation Suit
Pro golfer Patrick Reed urged the full Eleventh Circuit Tuesday to take a second look at his failed defamation suit against a litany of media organizations and figures, arguing that a three-judge panel "abjectly failed" to properly review his complaints after their dismissal by a Florida federal judge.
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August 06, 2025
7th Circ. Reverses Class Cert. In Wis. Gas Price-Fixing Suit
The Seventh Circuit unwound a lower court's decision to certify a class in a Wisconsin natural gas price-fixing case on Tuesday, saying the trial judge needed to "engage more fully" with conflicting expert evidence before deciding that common issues predominate in the case.
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August 06, 2025
Colo. Justices Asked To Rule On Pro Se Appeal Authority
A plumbing company and two Colorado homeowners asked the state's Supreme Court on Tuesday to clarify that the Colorado Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to prevent litigants from making "frivolous" pro se filings, contrary to a prior ruling from the court.
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August 06, 2025
US Asks High Court To Decide If Drug Users Can Have Guns
The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve "a four-way circuit conflict" over whether it is legal to prevent users of drugs including marijuana, which has been legalized in some fashion in the vast majority of states, from possessing firearms.
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August 06, 2025
9th Circ. Backs SEC's No-Denials Settlements Rule
The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday rejected a First Amendment challenge to a decades-old U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule that restricts defendants who settle securities law charges from denying the claims against them, saying the law has "long regarded the voluntary relinquishment of constitutional rights as permissible" with safeguards.
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August 06, 2025
Family Says Court Must Face Bias Suit Over Witness Killing
The father of a pregnant woman from Las Vegas who was fatally shot after traveling to Asheville to testify in a capital murder case urged the North Carolina Court of Appeals to restore his case against the state's court administrative office, arguing it was not time-barred.
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August 06, 2025
Ark. Prisoners Challenge Nitrogen Gas Execution Law
Ten Arkansas death row inmates have challenged a new law authorizing their execution by nitrogen gas, arguing the law is unconstitutional because it violates the state's separation of powers doctrine, an attorney confirmed to Law360.
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August 06, 2025
Vivint Asks 4th Circ. To Rethink Affirming $190M TM Verdict
Vivint Smart Home Inc. is looking for a do-over after the Fourth Circuit affirmed a nearly $190 million verdict in a suit accusing it of deceiving customers of a rival security company, saying the ruling flouts North Carolina's cap on punitive damages and ignores state appellate precedence.
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August 06, 2025
NJ Panel Backs Jury Verdict For Law Firm In $244K Fee Row
A New Jersey appellate panel on Wednesday upheld a jury verdict in favor of the New York-based law firm Weg & Myers PC in a breach-of-contract action brought by a former client, finding no abuse of discretion or prejudicial error by the judge.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding
As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.
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Quantifying Trading-Based Damages Using Price Impact
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will likely increasingly rely on price impact analyses to demonstrate pecuniary harm from trading-related misconduct, meaning measuring price impact will be helpful in challenging SEC disgorgement, determining appropriate remedies, and assessing loss causation and damages in private litigation, says Vyacheslav Fos at Boston College and Erin Smith at Compass Lexecon.
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How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery
E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.
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How McKesson Ruling Will Inform Interpretations Of The TCPA
Amid the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, we can expect to see both plaintiffs and defendants utilizing the decision to revisit the Federal Communications Commission's past Telephone Consumer Protection Act interpretations and decisions they did not like, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.
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Justices Rethink Minimum Contacts For Foreign Entities
Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Devas v. Antrix and Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization, suggest that federal statutes may confer personal jurisdiction over foreign entities that have little to no contact with the U.S. — a significant departure from traditional due process principles, says Gary Shaw at Pillsbury.
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Opinion
High Court Must Overrule Outdated Patent Eligibility Doctrine
A certiorari petition should directly ask the U.S. Supreme Court to correct its 1972 patent decision in Gottschalk v. Benson, the critical point where patent eligibility law veered from the statutory text toward judicial policymaking, says Robert Greenspoon at Dunlap Bennett.
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Examining TCPA Jurisprudence A Year After Loper Bright
One year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, lower court decisions demonstrate that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act will continue to evolve as long-standing interpretations of the act are analyzed with a fresh lens, says Aaron Gallardo at Kilpatrick.
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Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures
With the recent rise of securities fraud actions based on external events — like a data breach or environmental disaster — that drive down stock prices, risk disclosures have become more of a sword for the plaintiffs bar than a shield for public companies, now the subject of a growing circuit split, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.
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How Justices' Ruling Limits Options To Challenge DHS Orders
In Riley v. Bondi, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a 30-day deadline for challenging deportation orders begins when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issues a final administrative review order, opening the door for the government to effectively bar circuit court review in future similar cases, says Kevin Gregg at Kurzban Kurzban.
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Series
Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing violin in a string quartet reminds me that flexibility, ambition, strong listening skills, thoughtful leadership and intentional collaboration are all keys to a successful legal practice, says Julie Park at MoFo.
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Purdue Case Could Transform Patent Obviousness Analyses
If accepted for review by the U.S. Supreme Court, Purdue Pharma v. Accord Healthcare — concerning whether Purdue's abuse-deterrent opioid formulation patents were invalid as obvious — could significantly shift how courts weigh secondary considerations in patent obviousness analyses, say attorneys at Lathrop.
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NM Cyber Ruling Will Spur Litigation As Coverage Remedy
In Kane v. Beazley, the New Mexico Court of Appeals recently found that a cyber liability provision insuring security breaches included coverage for funds transfer fraud, implicitly and incorrectly motivating policyholders to commence litigation to avoid contractual limitations on cyber coverages, say attorneys at Zelle.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Self-Care
Law schools don’t teach the mental, physical and emotional health maintenance tools necessary to deal with the profession's many demands, but practicing self-care is an important key to success that can help to improve focus, manage stress and reduce burnout, says Rachel Leonard at MG+M.
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Texas' Cactus Ruling Clarifies 'Produced Water' Rules
The Texas Supreme Court's decision in Cactus Water Services v. COG Operating, holding that mineral interest lessees have the rights to water extracted alongside oil and gas, should benefit industry players by clarifying the rules — but it leaves important questions about royalties unresolved, say attorneys at Yetter Coleman.
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ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'
The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.