Appellate

  • September 05, 2024

    11th Circ. Urged To Boot Fla. Judge From Trump Docs Case

    The nonprofit organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a former federal judge and law professors have called on the Eleventh Circuit to reinstate the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump and remove U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon from the matter because she appears biased toward Trump.

  • September 05, 2024

    Attys' Group Urges Justices To Back Trucker's CBD RICO Suit

    The American Association for Justice is urging the Supreme Court to side with a trucker whose racketeering claims against CBD companies allege their false advertisements cost him his job, arguing that the plain text of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act allows his claims of injury to "business or property."

  • September 05, 2024

    Feds Ask Justices For 'GVR' In Abortion Guidance Case

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is urging the nation's high court to simultaneously grant its certiorari petition, vacate a Fifth Circuit decision blocking guidance for hospitals to provide emergency abortions, and remand the case to lower courts in light of new developments. 

  • September 05, 2024

    7-Eleven Owners Not Company Workers, Mass. Justices Say

    The top court in Massachusetts ruled Thursday that 7-Eleven franchise owners aren't employees because they don't perform services for the corporation that licensed them the franchises.

  • September 04, 2024

    SEC Lets Deadline Pass For 5th Circ. Private Funds Appeal

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission won't challenge a Fifth Circuit decision that vacated its recently passed disclosure rules for private fund advisers, taking no action as its deadline to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court passed.

  • September 04, 2024

    Ill. Panel Backs Atty's Bid To Litigate Medical Record Fee Suit

    An Illinois attorney looking to hold document delivery service Ciox Health LLC liable for charging allegedly illegal fees can pursue those claims in court since there is no evidence he ever agreed to arbitrate disputes with the company, a state appellate panel said Tuesday.

  • September 04, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Told To Skip Dish's Review Bid Of $3M Fee Ruling

    A patent litigation company and its former counsel have shot back at an attempt to get the full Federal Circuit to weigh in on whether Dish Network LLC can collect more than $3 million in legal fees directly from the lawyers who filed the failed patent case.

  • September 04, 2024

    10th Circ. Partially Nixes Insurer Win In Liposuction Death Suit

    The Tenth Circuit on Wednesday revived a health provider's bad faith claim against its insurer over coverage for a $60 million judgment stemming from a woman's fatal liposuction surgery, finding the claim fell within a four-year period of limitations for insurance bad faith claims.

  • September 04, 2024

    2nd Circ. Tosses Sudan's Appeal Over 9/11 Immunity Denial

    The Second Circuit has tossed the Republic of the Sudan's challenge to a ruling that the country wasn't immune to liability for allegedly supporting al-Qaida in the lead-up to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, saying the appeal was barred by law.

  • September 04, 2024

    Nonsolicits Don't Need Geographic Terms, Ga. Justices Say

    The Supreme Court of Georgia said on Wednesday that restrictive covenants don't need to contain an explicit territorial component for them to be deemed reasonable under state law, reviving a marketing organization's attempt to enforce a nonsolicitation provision in its contracts with independent agents.

  • September 04, 2024

    Universal Service Fund's End Called Crushing For Broadband

    A rural telecom trade association is warning of skyrocketing rates and provider loan defaults if the U.S. Supreme Court upholds a Fifth Circuit decision to end the Universal Service Fund as it's currently constructed, citing internal survey findings that 68% of responding telecoms would cancel broadband deployment projects next year.

  • September 04, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Leans Toward Gov't In Conduit Classification Fight

    The Federal Circuit dug deep Wednesday into the definition of insulated material as part of an inquiry into whether the government's tariff classification of steel electrical conduit tubing made more sense than the importer's interpretation, with one judge stealing the show.

  • September 04, 2024

    Bid To Nix Expert Fails As Fed. Circ. OKs $2.3M Patent Verdict

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld a $2.3 million patent verdict against dental imaging device maker Planmeca USA Inc., rejecting the company's argument that plaintiff Osseo Imaging LLC's technical expert was not qualified because his experience came after the invention.

  • September 04, 2024

    4th Circ. Sets Legal Hemp Standard In THC Firing Case

    A split Fourth Circuit panel on Wednesday set a standard for the legality of hemp products, although it still found that a real estate company worker claiming she was illegally fired for testing positive for a THC substance didn't back her disability bias claims.

  • September 04, 2024

    DC Circ. Says Feds Can Withhold Asylum Assessments

    The D.C. Circuit ruled that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services need not honor Freedom of Information Act requests seeking officers' confidential assessments of asylum seekers, saying the agency had sufficiently explained how that disclosure would harm government interests.

  • September 04, 2024

    Atty Tied To Ponzi Scheme Can't Discharge CFTC Debt

    A Colorado federal judge on Wednesday denied an attorney's request to have his debt to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission discharged after he and others were found liable for $10 million for their roles in a Ponzi scheme.

  • September 04, 2024

    2011 Case Bars Houston Strip Club's Fee Row, 5th Circ. Told

    The Texas Comptroller told a Fifth Circuit panel Wednesday that a Houston strip club's challenge to a new state law that would increase a fee imposed on customers of sexually oriented businesses is barred by a decade-old court decision upholding the legislature's initial enactment of the fee.

  • September 04, 2024

    3rd Circ. Revives Machinery Worker's Disability Bias Suit

    The Third Circuit reopened a former machinery worker's lawsuit alleging he was fired because he requested light-duty assignments following an on-the-job back injury, saying Wednesday a trial court used an outdated standard to conclude that federal law didn't consider his temporary pain a disability.

  • September 04, 2024

    Mich. Voters Can't Advance Pot Initiatives, Panel Rules

    A Michigan state appeals court sided with four cities Tuesday to block ballot initiatives that would have created regulatory schemes for the licensing and zoning of cannabis businesses, finding state law limits citizens' say and gives the power to write marijuana regulations only to cities.

  • September 04, 2024

    Ga. Justices Won't Disturb Distributors' Opioid Trial Win

    The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed a ruling that family members of drug abusers are not entitled to a new trial after a Glynn County jury cleared opioid distributors of wrongdoing, in response to claims regarding an allegedly dishonest juror and flawed jury instructions.

  • September 04, 2024

    Groups Urge DC Circ. To Reject Pharma Terrorism Liability Claims

    Business and nongovernmental organization advocacy groups have urged the D.C. Circuit to rule that terrorism victims can't hold pharmaceutical companies liable for their injuries, citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision rejecting similar liability claims against technology companies.

  • September 04, 2024

    Towns Say Settlement Doesn't Limit Rail Merger Appeal

    A coalition of Illinois towns challenging the approval of Canadian Pacific's $31 billion merger with Kansas City Southern told the D.C. Circuit the federal government is trying to use a settlement struck by Chicago's commuter rail system to limit the issues in the case.

  • September 04, 2024

    FCC Sued In 5th Circ. Over Wi-Fi Plan For Schools, Libraries

    A couple who run an anti-cyberbullying nonprofit are suing the Federal Communications Commission in the Fifth Circuit over its new rules to subsidize Wi-Fi service for school and library users off campus, saying the subsidy violates limits built into the law that created the E-Rate program.

  • September 04, 2024

    Tort Report: 'Landmark' $16M Crash Verdict Against Amazon

    A "landmark" verdict out of Georgia that put Amazon on the hook for an independent contractor delivery driver's negligence and a hearing-impaired Florida physician's disciplinary matter lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

  • September 04, 2024

    9th Circ. Blocks Calif.'s Social Media Content Disclosure Law

    The Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday that a trial judge wrongly denied X Corp.'s bid to block parts of a new California law that requires social media giants to disclose their content-moderation policies, finding that provisions requiring the companies to disclose how and whether they define extreme content are likely unconstitutional.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • NY Ruling Offers A Foreclosure Road Map For Lenders

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    A New York appellate court recently upheld a summary judgment ruling in favor of a commercial lender's foreclosure in U.S. Bank v. 1226 Evergreen Bapaz, illustrating the proofs lenders will need to prosecute a foreclosure action, especially where the plaintiff is an assignee of the originating lender, say attorneys at Sherman Atlas.

  • What Chevron's End Means For How Congress Does Business

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, overturning the Chevron doctrine, will have a far-reaching impact across the entire public policy life cycle, beginning with how Congress writes its laws and extending through agency implantation and judicial review, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Preserving Payment Rights

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    Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions that together illustrate the importance of keeping accurate records and adhering to contractual procedures to avoid inadvertently waiving contractual rights to cost reimbursements or nonroutine payments.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Alice Step 2 Trends Show Courts' Extrinsic Evidence Reliance

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    A look at recent trends in how district courts are applying Step 2 of the Alice framework shows that courts have increasingly relied on extrinsic evidence to help determine whether a claimed invention is "well-understood, routine, and conventional," says Jonathan Tuminaro at Sterne Kessler.

  • Opinion

    OFAC Sanctions Deserve To Be Challenged Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision opens the door to challenges against the Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions regime, the unintended consequences of which raise serious questions about the wisdom of what appears to be a scorched-earth approach, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

  • How Calif. Ruling Alters Worker Arb. Agreement Enforcement

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    The California Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ramirez v. Charter Communications should caution employers that while workers’ arbitration agreements will no longer be deemed unenforceable based on their number of unconscionable provisions, they must still be fair and balanced, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor.

  • 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.

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