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Appellate
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March 14, 2025
11th Circ. Again Upholds Fla. Ban On Under-21 Gun Sales
Florida's law banning sales of firearms to anyone under 21 is constitutional, a divided Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday on en banc review, finding that America's 18- to 20-year-olds have had their gun rights checked since the nation's founding.
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March 14, 2025
Antitrust Questions Earn Belt Line Deal A Deep Dive
The Surface Transportation Board isn't going to let Norfolk Southern get away with calling its attempt to procure the remainder of a rail line a minor transaction, since it's been locked in antitrust litigation over the control of that line for years, according to an order Friday that deemed the transaction "significant."
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March 14, 2025
9th Circ. Axes Dershowitz Sanction, Clarifies 'Of Counsel' Law
The Ninth Circuit on Friday rejected Alan Dershowitz's arguments that his First Amendment rights shield him from being sanctioned for filing frivolous election-related litigation as "for counsel" representing Republican Arizona candidates, but the panel nevertheless reversed sanctions against Dershowitz since it's the first time the circuit has clarified the law.
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March 14, 2025
Ga. Panel Says COVID-Era Legal Shield Blocks Amputee's Suit
A divided Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday said a trial court should have dismissed a wrongful amputation suit against a Marietta hospital, holding that the patient who lost his right leg after being admitted for COVID-19 symptoms could not beat the legal immunity granted to the hospital by a pandemic-era state law.
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March 14, 2025
Fed. Circ. OKs Apple's Patent Board Win In Beacon Dispute
The Federal Circuit on Friday signed off on a ruling from the patent board that wiped out all of the claims Apple challenged in a patent covering location-tracking beacons that was asserted against a software protocol developed for iPhones and iPads.
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March 14, 2025
Reed Smith To Fight Removal In $102M Shipping Award Suit
A New York federal judge has paused his order removing Reed Smith LLP as counsel for the former owners of reorganized international shipping group Eletson Holdings in litigation over a $102 million arbitral award while the BigLaw firm appeals the decision to the Second Circuit.
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March 14, 2025
5th Circ. Affirms Energy Exec's Insider Trading Conviction
The Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas energy executive's conviction for insider trading on natural gas futures based on the constitutionality of federal laws and regulations that criminalize manipulative commodity deals.
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March 14, 2025
Justices Told 11th Circ.'s FTCA Ruling Is 'Upside-Down'
An Eleventh Circuit decision that scuttled a Georgia family's lawsuit after they were subjected to a botched no-knock raid by the FBI turned "upside-down" the intent of the Constitution's supremacy clause and "would nullify" the Federal Tort Claims Act, advocacy group Public Citizen told the U.S. Supreme Court Friday.
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March 14, 2025
Calif. Panel Won't Alter Telecom's Rural Phone Rate Subsidies
A California appellate court found the state's Public Utilities Commission did nothing wrong by taking into account a telecom's use of its telephone service infrastructure for broadband service when setting rates and determining how much the company would receive in subsidies for providing service in rural areas.
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March 14, 2025
Home Depot Nixes 3rd Lynk Labs Patent Claim At Fed. Circ.
Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. persuaded Federal Circuit judges on Friday to override the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and throw out another claim in a patent issued to a late 1990s tech developer that later pivoted to LED lights.
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March 14, 2025
4th Circ. Dubious Of Private Island's Win In Fair Housing Fight
The Fourth Circuit on Friday seemed poised to upend a lower court ruling siding with a gated community in a discriminatory housing suit brought by the developer of a proposed assisted living facility, with one judge lamenting a lack of analysis on whether the facility's accommodation request was necessary and reasonable.
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March 14, 2025
DC Circ. Asks If FERC Oil Orders Are In Its Purview
The D.C. Circuit is questioning its own decades-long practice of reviewing orders from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that help determine the cost of transporting oil through pipelines, asking litigants whether it has jurisdiction to consider an appeal nearing its conclusion.
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March 14, 2025
Mich. Panel Revives Hangar's Property Tax Challenge
The Michigan Court of Appeals revived a company's argument that it is exempt from a city's tax on a hangar it leased from a regional airport authority, saying the state Tax Tribunal should have required the municipality to prove that a tax statute applied to the company.
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March 14, 2025
Fed. Circ. Affirms No Block On Amgen's Eye Med Biosimilar
The Federal Circuit on Friday agreed with a lower court decision declining to temporarily block Amgen's biosimilar of Regeneron's blockbuster eye medication Eylea, affirming that court's application of claim construction precedent in the patent infringement suit.
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March 14, 2025
Docks Corp. Asks Justices To Revive Fla. Cruise Line Lawsuit
A Kentucky-based docks corporation has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a split Eleventh Circuit decision overturning a $440 million judgment against several cruise companies for allegedly "trafficking" its property seized by the Cuban government, arguing the ruling harms U.S. foreign policy toward the country's communist regime.
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March 14, 2025
Gov't Tells Justices FCC Subsidy Critics Target 'Strawman'
Opponents of the Federal Communications Commission's nearly 30-year-old telecom subsidy system are making "strawman" arguments by claiming taxing power has been unlawfully delegated away from Congress, the government told the U.S. Supreme Court.
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March 14, 2025
Apple Tells DC Circ. It's Still Singled Out In Final Google Fixes
Apple told the D.C. Circuit that it still needs to intervene in the U.S. Department of Justice's search monopolization case against Google because the government's final remedy proposal still treats the iPhone-maker differently than other companies.
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March 14, 2025
Chief Justice Won't Halt FINRA Case Against Suing Brokerage
Chief U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on Friday denied a request to stay an in-house Financial Industry Regulatory Authority disciplinary proceeding while a broker-dealer attempts to convince the justices to hear its constitutional challenge to the regulator.
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March 14, 2025
Wash. Justices Side With Shopper In Lowe's Fallen Fence Suit
Washington's high court has sided with a customer suing Lowe's after she was injured by a fallen roll of fencing at an Evergreen State store, saying a judge or jury should decide whether the retailer could have anticipated the hazard given the self-service style of the store.
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March 14, 2025
1st Circ. Asked To Look At Takeda Invoice Fraud Conviction
The husband of a former Takeda Pharmaceuticals vice president is appealing his fraud conviction and 2½-year prison term over a $2.3 million bogus invoice scheme, according to a Friday notice filed to the First Circuit.
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March 14, 2025
DOJ Drops Biden-Era Suit Over Iowa Immigration Law
The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday voluntarily dropped a lawsuit lodged under the former Biden administration that challenged Iowa legislation empowering state officials to arrest and remove previously deported noncitizens, months after the Eighth Circuit upheld an order blocking the law.
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March 14, 2025
FTC Urges 8th Circ. Not To Pause Insulin Pricing Case
The Federal Trade Commission has urged the Eighth Circuit not to pause its in-house case accusing Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx of artificially inflating insulin prices, telling the appeals court the pharmacy benefit managers have no chance of winning on their constitutional claims.
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March 14, 2025
11th Circ. Upholds Toss Of Avian Orgs.' Bid To Import Parrots
The Eleventh Circuit on Friday affirmed a judgment against two exotic bird nonprofits trying to get approval to import two parrot species, ruling that the Wild Bird Conservation Act does not allow for a carveout of only captive-bred parrot species from certain countries.
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March 14, 2025
Halliburton Rival Loses Fracking Claims At Fed. Circ.
The Federal Circuit has affirmed findings in Halliburton's favor at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that came after the company challenged claims in patents covering electric pumps used in hydraulic fracturing.
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March 14, 2025
4th Circ. Reluctant To Loosen EEOC Charge Requirement
A Fourth Circuit panel seemed hesitant Friday to revive a bias case from a worker whose presuit U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge didn't specifically name one of the entities he hauled into court, with one judge expressing "apprehension" about adopting a widely used exception to charge filing rules.
Expert Analysis
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Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025
Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Disciplinary Rule Updates Every Texas Lawyer Needs To Know
Sweeping amendments to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct that recently went into effect provide essential clarity and modernity to rules governing conflicts of interest, client confidentiality and duties to prospective clients, says Robert Tobey at Johnston Tobey.
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Parsing 3rd Circ. Ruling On Cannabis, Employee Private Suits
The Third Circuit recently upheld a decision that individuals don't have a private right of action for alleged violations of New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act, but employers should stay informed as the court encouraged the state Legislature to amend the law, say attorneys at Mandelbaum Barrett.
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Perspectives
How High Court May Rule In First Step Act Resentencing Case
U.S. Supreme Court justices grappled with verb tenses and statutory intent in recent oral arguments in Hewitt v. U.S., a case involving an anomalous resentencing issue under the First Step Act, and though they may hold that the statute is unambiguous, they could also decide the case on narrow, practical grounds, say attorneys at Bracewell.
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Series
Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.
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Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations
In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.
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Discretionary Compensation Lessons From 7th Circ. Ruling
The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Das v. Tata established that contract disclaimers don't automatically bar claims under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, underscoring the limits of compensation systems that purport to grant employers unilateral discretion, say attorneys at Schoenberg Finkel.
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Gas Contract Fight Holds Lessons On Force Majeure Clauses
Ongoing litigation over gas deliveries during Winter Storm Uri underscores the need for precision and foresight when negotiating force majeure clauses in contracts — particularly in the energy sector, where climate-related disruptions and market volatility are inevitable, but often unpredictable, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.
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Justices Likely To Stay In ERISA's Bounds On Pleadings
The arguments in Cunningham v. Cornell showed the U.S. Supreme Court's willingness to resolve a circuit split regarding Employee Retirement Income Security Act pleading standards by staying within ERISA's confines, while instructing courts regarding what must be pled to survive a motion to dismiss, says Ryan Curtis at Fennemore Craig.
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Scope And Nature Of Judicial Relief Will Affect Loper's Impact
The practical result of post-Loper Bright rulings against regulatory actions will depend on the relief courts grant — and there has been controversy in these types of cases over whether the ruling is applied just to the parties or nationwide, and whether the action can be left in place while it's corrected, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.
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What's Next After Justices Clarify FLSA Evidence Standard
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in EMD Sales v. Carrera makes it easier to claim employees are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage and overtime requirements, and eliminates inconsistency and unpredictability for employers operating in multiple jurisdictions, say attorneys at Bracewell.
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The Implications Of E-Cigarette Cos. Taking Suits To 5th Circ.
The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. R.J. Reynolds over the definition of an "adversely affected" person under the Tobacco Control Act, and the justices' ruling will have important and potentially wide-ranging implications for forum shopping claims, says Trillium Chang at Zuckerman Spaeder.
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Series
Adventure Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Photographing nature everywhere from Siberia to Cuba and Iceland to Rwanda provides me with a constant reminder to refresh, refocus and rethink the legal issues that my clients face, says Richard Birmingham at Davis Wright.
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Fed. Circ. Inherency Ruling Refines Obviousness Framework
The Federal Circuit's December decision in Cytiva v. JSR has definitively eliminated the requirement of "reasonable expectation of success" analysis for inherent properties in obviousness determinations, while providing some key clarifications for patent practitioners, says Lawrence Kass at Steptoe.
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Opinion
Commercial Tree Thinning Should Be Part of Wildfire Control
The devastating wildfires currently afflicting California make it clear that the U.S. Forest Service should step up its use of methods including commercial tree removal to lower fire risk — but litigation that drags on for years stymies many of these efforts and endangers the public, says Jeffrey Beelaert at Givens Pursley.