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Appellate
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September 19, 2024
Wash. Justices Strike Down County's Rural Winery Regs
The Washington State Supreme Court has struck down an Evergreen State county's regulations for wineries and tasting rooms on rural land near Seattle, saying Thursday the local government violated long-term planning and land use law by downplaying potential environmental consequences of the rules before passing them.
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September 19, 2024
Ill. High Court Says Pot Smell Not Grounds For Vehicle Search
Illinois's highest court on Thursday ruled that the smell of burned marijuana does not constitute grounds for a warrantless vehicle search, given that the state legalized recreational marijuana prior to the traffic stop.
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September 19, 2024
GM Asks Full 6th Circ. To Rehear Truck Emissions Fraud Suit
General Motors LLC is asking the full Sixth Circuit for an en banc rehearing of a split decision that revived state law claims from four plaintiffs who alleged that GM misleadingly marked Chevrolet Silverado and Sierra vehicles as being more environmentally friendly than they were.
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September 19, 2024
Publishers Back Music Companies' Bid To Restore $1B Win
Organizations that represent music publishers and songwriters urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to review a Fourth Circuit ruling that scrapped a $1 billion jury verdict against Cox Communications Inc. for ignoring online piracy, saying the three-judge appeal panel's conclusion "effectively immunizes internet service providers" from vicarious liability.
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September 19, 2024
Ga. Appeals Court Says Hospital Must Get Certificate Of Need
The Georgia Court of Appeals for the second time has said that a Georgia hospital must obtain a new certificate of need from the state to convert its long-term care beds to short-stay acute care beds, following guidance issued by the state's justices earlier this year.
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September 19, 2024
6th Circ. Upholds NLRB's Severance Order Against Hospital
The Sixth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a National Labor Relations Board decision that found a Michigan hospital violated federal labor law through its offer of severance agreements, but didn't weigh in on whether the board's precedent shift on pacts that include nondisparagement clauses should stand.
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September 19, 2024
Pa. Justices Cement Dismissal Of Ballot Date Rule Challenge
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court headed off voting-rights groups' effort to quickly revive a challenge to state rules for signing and dating mail-in ballots, clarifying Thursday that a statewide court would still lack jurisdiction even if the challengers added all 67 counties to the case.
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September 19, 2024
Ch. 7 Trustee Urges Justices To Uphold Return Of Taxes
The bankruptcy trustee of a defunct Utah transportation company warned the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday that overturning a decision forcing the IRS to return tax payments made by company directors to cover their personal debts would encourage shareholder fraud.
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September 19, 2024
Conn. Justices Seem Open To Child Bond Claims In Injury Suit
Two Connecticut Supreme Court justices on Thursday seemed open to allowing parents to seek a new legal remedy for the impairment of their relationship with a child, with one justice observing that compensable losses aren't limited to "obligatory functions" under the state's existing tort law.
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September 19, 2024
Union Pacific Contractors Again Escape Texas Enviro Claims
A Texas appeals court on Thursday affirmed a trial court's decision to dismiss without prejudice the claims scores of people lodged against two Union Pacific Railroad Co. contractors in their litigation over cancer-causing contamination related to a Houston rail yard.
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September 19, 2024
Insurance Mogul Takes $166M Arbitration Loss To 4th Circ.
Convicted insurance mogul Greg Lindberg is looking to overturn a $166 million arbitral award favoring defunct Dutch life insurer Conservatrix after a North Carolina federal judge found the proceedings were conducted fairly.
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September 19, 2024
5th Circ. Says Deported Honduran Wrongly Deemed A Felon
The Fifth Circuit has vacated the removal order of a Honduran woman charged as an accessory to an armed robbery, finding that the Louisiana statute she was deported under for an aggravated felony doesn't align with the federal definition of the removable offense of obstruction of justice.
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September 19, 2024
Fla. Panel Backs Simon Option On Closed Boca Raton Sears
A split Florida appeals court has sided with Simon Property Group in backing a trial court ruling that the owner of a Boca Raton mall has a right to buy a vacant Sears store after Seritage Growth Properties pitched a redevelopment plan out of line with a 1980s easement.
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September 19, 2024
EPA Urges DC Circ. Not To Block Coal Ash Rule Implementation
A Kentucky electric utility is "misleading" the D.C. Circuit about how clean former coal ash pits are once the material is removed, and should not be allowed to block implementation of a new coal ash rule, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday.
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September 19, 2024
Norwich Asks Justices To Allow Sale Of Generic Diarrhea Drug
A New York drugmaker has told the U.S. Supreme Court that the courts have gone too far in preventing the release of a generic version of a blockbuster diarrhea drug, after a lower court found there was a way of using the drug that would infringe certain patents.
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September 19, 2024
Ohio Panel Says Landfill Death Suit Shouldn't Be Thrown Out
A split Ohio state appeals court has revived a wrongful death suit brought against waste management firm Rumpke Sanitary Landfill Inc. over a tree on its land that fell and killed a motorist passing a landfill, with one judge saying the company can't be held liable and another calling for new standards.
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September 19, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Revive Hilton Builder's $7.5M Insurance Suit
Two insurers for a construction company have no duty to provide coverage for a more than $7.5 million water damage claim, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday, finding a rain damage exclusion in the company's policies is applicable.
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September 19, 2024
Conn. Justices Wonder How 'Malicious' Firm's Ex-Client Was
The Connecticut Supreme Court on Thursday questioned whether an ex-McCarter & English LLP client was "wanton" and "malicious" enough to justify the firm's novel $3.6 million punitive damages bid in a protracted billing dispute that has already fetched the firm judgments totaling more than $2 million on contract claims.
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September 19, 2024
New NJ Senator Seeks Postelection Vote On 3rd Circ. Nominee
New Jersey's new U.S. senator, freshly sworn-in Democrat George Helmy, hopes the Senate will vote after the election on the long-stalled nomination of Adeel Mangi to the Third Circuit, which includes his state.
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September 19, 2024
7th Circ. Asks If Law School Should Be 'Safe Space'
Seventh Circuit judges considering a retaliation suit from a University of Illinois Chicago Law School professor who used a racist slur in an exam hypothetical asked Thursday if law schools should really be a "safe space" shielding students from the kind of "horrific facts" courts deal with regularly.
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September 19, 2024
Feds Defend At-Sea Monitoring Rule Despite Chevron Demise
The federal government is defending its power to require fishermen to partially fund the cost of compliance monitors aboard their ships, arguing to the D.C. Circuit that the demise of the so-called Chevron deference doesn't change the fact that federal law authorizes the at-sea monitoring rules.
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September 19, 2024
Calif. Panel Rejects Malpractice Claim In Ambulance Crash Suit
A California appeals panel won't revive a woman's legal malpractice suit against her former attorney stemming from an ambulance crash suit that was filed too late, finding she also filed the malpractice suit outside the one-year statute of limitations.
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September 19, 2024
Mich. Judge Can't End Probe Over Alleged Lies
Michigan's judicial misconduct watchdog on Wednesday rejected a recommendation to dismiss an ethics probe of a Detroit judge accused of lying to investigators about another judge's alleged misconduct, finding that a public hearing is necessary to determine the merits of the case.
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September 19, 2024
Tax Or Fee, Utility Rates Beyond Review, Ga. Justices Hear
A Georgia city told the state Supreme Court on Thursday that its use of utility fees to bolster city coffers was not an illegal tax, despite a sports bar owner's claims to the contrary, and that a trial court rightly said it could not decide the matter.
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September 19, 2024
Disbarred Fla. Atty Sentenced To Jail Time For Contempt
A disbarred Florida attorney has been sentenced to time in jail followed by probation and ordered to pay a nearly $24,000 fine for indirect criminal contempt and continuing to practice law even after his license was revoked.
Expert Analysis
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: June Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers two recent decisions from the Third and Tenth Circuits, and identifies practice tips around class action settlements and standing in securities litigation.
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Unpacking The Circuit Split Over A Federal Atty Fee Rule
Federal circuit courts that have addressed Rule 41(d) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are split as to whether attorney fees are included as part of the costs of a previously dismissed action, so practitioners aiming to recover or avoid fees should tailor arguments to the appropriate court, says Joseph Myles and Lionel Lavenue at Finnegan.
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Justices' 'Blind Mule' Ruling Won't Change Defense Strategy
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last week in Diaz v. U.S., holding that expert witnesses can testify broadly about the mental state of “most people” in a group, simply affirms the status quo for the majority of defendants, and is unlikely to change defense counsel’s strategy at trial, says Walter Gonçalves at the Arizona Federal Public Defender's Office.
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NJ Justices Clarify First-Party Indemnification Availability
In Boyle v. Huff, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently held that indemnification can be available in first-party claims, resolving an open question and setting up contracting parties for careful negotiations around indemnity clauses, says Todd Leon at Marshall Dennehey.
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Takeaways From Justices' Redemption Insurance Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Connelly v. U.S. examines how to determine the fair market value of shares in a closely held company for estate tax purposes, and clarifies how life insurance held by the company to enable redemption of a decedent’s shares affects that calculation, says Evelyn Haralampu at Burns & Levinson.
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Arbitration Implications Of High Court Coinbase Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Coinbase v. Suski ruling not only reaffirmed the long-standing principle that arbitration is a matter of contract, but also established new and more general principles concerning the courts' jurisdiction to decide challenges to delegation clauses and the severability rule, say Tamar Meshel at the University of Alberta.
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Fair Use Doctrine Faces Challenges In The Generative AI Era
As courts struggle to apply existing copyright principles to new, digital contexts, the evolving capabilities of AI technologies are testing the limits of traditional frameworks, with the fair use doctrine being met with significant challenges, says John Poulos at Norton Rose.
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Opinion
No Matter The Purdue Ruling, Mass Tort Reform Is Needed
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon issue its opinion in the bankruptcy of Purdue Pharma LP, and regardless of the outcome, it’s clear legal and policy reforms are needed to address the next mass tort, says William Organek at Baruch College.
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A Look At Calif. Contract Considerations In Fiji Water Ruling
A California appellate court's recent decision in Carolina Beverage v. Fiji Water, that a party may not seek contractual recovery on the basis of constructive termination, offers a look at contract construction and other considerations on negotiating distribution agreements, says Michael Laszlo at Clark Hill.
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How Justices' Chevron Ruling May Influence Wind Projects
Parties both for and against the development of East Coast offshore wind development are watching the U.S. Supreme Court closely for its anticipated ruling challenging long-standing principles of agency deference that may subject decision making based on that precedent to upheaval, say attorneys at Robinson & Cole.
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Top 5 Issues For Employers To Audit Midyear
Six months into 2024, developments from federal courts and regulatory agencies should prompt employers to reflect on their progress regarding artificial intelligence, noncompetes, diversity initiatives, religious accommodation and more, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.
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Lower Courts May Finally Be Getting The Memo After Ciminelli
A year after the U.S. Supreme Court again limited prosecutors' overbroad theories of fraud in Ciminelli v. U.S., early returns suggest that the message has at least partially landed with the lower courts, spotlighting lessons for defense counsel moving forward, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
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After A Brief Hiccup, The 'Rocket Docket' Soars Back To No. 1
The Eastern District of Virginia’s precipitous 2022 fall from its storied rocket docket status appears to have been a temporary aberration, as recent statistics reveal that the court is once again back on top as the fastest federal civil trial court in the nation, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
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Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers
BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.
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Series
Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.