Appellate

  • November 04, 2024

    Farm Asks 4th Circ. To Undo $2.5M Severed-Foot Verdict

    A North Carolina farm and four of the family members who run it urged the Fourth Circuit to undo a $2.5 million verdict in favor of a former worker whose foot was severed by a grain silo auger, arguing that the trial judge was wrong to say the evidence supported the jury's decision.

  • November 04, 2024

    Conn. Justice Warns Against 'Amelia Bedelia' Tax Law Reading

    Whether a Connecticut judge properly restored a batch of tax appeals after dismissing them could center on the meaning of the word "may," a state Supreme Court justice said Monday, while also cautioning against an "Amelia Bedelia" approach to statutory construction, citing a children's book character known for her hyper-literalism.

  • November 04, 2024

    Religious Groups Want 5th Circ. To Toss FCC Diversity Form

    Religious broadcasters are asking the Fifth Circuit to step in and stop the Federal Communications Commission from making them turn in diversity data, a recently reinstated policy that they say tramples on their First Amendment rights and pressures them to "engage in race- and sex-conscious employment decisions."

  • November 04, 2024

    Justices Won't Hear UBS Suit Over Disclosed Account Info

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a couple's suit accusing UBS of fraudulently flagging an account to the Internal Revenue Service in violation of civil provisions under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.

  • November 04, 2024

    Justices Remand Atty Privilege Case After Judge Admits Gaffe

    The Colorado Supreme Court has remanded a case over whether communications between an insurance company's outside lawyer and the experts it hired to study an alleged construction defect are privileged, after some justices said the appeal was "half-baked" because the trial judge had already admitted she was wrong.

  • November 04, 2024

    Suspended Fla. Atty Seeks Leniency Over Missing Precedent

    A suspended Florida attorney has urged the Florida Supreme Court to reduce the punishment it doled out last month, including a one-year suspension of his law license, arguing that the state Supreme Court's decision "cites no precedent," so it should use its discretion to hand out lesser sanctions.

  • November 04, 2024

    Colo. Urges Appeals Court To Toss Netflix Sales Tax Ruling

    Netflix subscriptions in Colorado are tangible personal property subject to sales tax under long-standing state law, the state tax department told an appeals court, urging it to reverse a trial court ruling.

  • November 04, 2024

    Atty Moves To Oust DA Who Cleared Cops In Brother's Death

    A Littler Mendelson PC shareholder's effort to remove the Massachusetts district attorney who absolved officers in the 2021 fatal shooting of his brother left justices on the state's highest court grappling with the reach of a seldom-used state statute allowing them to oust government officials for "the public good."

  • November 04, 2024

    Justices Say Gov't Can Join Oral Arguments In $47M TM Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will allow Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar to participate in oral arguments in a case where the justices will consider whether a real estate development company's corporate affiliates should be responsible for a $46.6 million trademark infringement judgment, even though they were not defendants.

  • November 04, 2024

    Ford Gets New Trial In $1.7B Rollover Case In Georgia

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday ordered a new trial in a record-setting $1.7 billion rollover case against Ford Motor Co., saying it was "reluctantly" vacating the jury's verdict after finding that a trial court wrongly imposed issue preclusion sanctions that "almost completely prevented Ford from presenting a defense as to liability."

  • November 04, 2024

    Texas Rips Feds' 5th Circ. Bid To Revive Highway GHG Rule

    Texas is telling the Fifth Circuit there's no reason to disturb a district court's decision to vacate a Federal Highway Administration rule that called on states to set targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from federally funded highway projects.

  • November 04, 2024

    Justices Skip TM Challenge To BofA's Virtual Assistant 'Erica'

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Tenth Circuit decision that found Bank of America Corp. did not infringe a movie website owner's trademark with its virtual financial assistant "Erica."

  • November 04, 2024

    Justices To Review 30-Day Appeal Window In Removal Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday accepted a case that could resolve a circuit split on whether noncitizens with final removal orders must appeal to courts within 30 days of the order, or 30 days after administrative appeals conclude.

  • November 04, 2024

    Justices Will Review Use Of Race In La.'s Election Map

    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to hear arguments over the constitutionality of Louisiana's new congressional map containing two majority-Black voting districts, in a dispute that asks the justices to harmonize the Voting Rights Act's objectives with the language of the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause.

  • November 04, 2024

    Justices Nix Ex-Adviser's Manifest Disregard Challenge

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a petition asking it to resolve whether the Eleventh Circuit wrongly nixed an ex-Morgan Stanley financial adviser's bid to vacate an arbitral award favoring his former employer on the grounds that the panel manifestly disregarded the law.

  • November 04, 2024

    Justices Won't Take Up ESOP Trustee's Push For Arbitration

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday to take up fiduciary services provider Argent Trust Co.'s challenge to a Second Circuit decision blocking arbitration of a proposed class action from workers who said they were overcharged in a $242 million stock deal.

  • November 04, 2024

    Supreme Court Won't Hear Apache's Mining Regs Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court will let stand a ruling that sides with a state environmental agency's decision to let a copper mining company discharge untreated wastewater into a creek that's considered sacred to an Arizona Indigenous community.

  • November 01, 2024

    Pa. High Court Says Undated Ballots Still Won't Count Nov. 5

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court held Friday that mail-in votes in the fast-approaching general election can still be thrown out if they have missing or "incorrect" dates on their outer envelopes, a ruling that comes just days after a state appellate court found that the practice was unconstitutional.

  • November 01, 2024

    Meet The Attys Arguing Meta's High Court Disclosure Suit

    Both Meta Platforms and its investors are calling in the big guns as two U.S. Supreme Court veterans are set to go head-to-head Wednesday in a case that could limit the types of information corporations are required to disclose to shareholders.

  • November 01, 2024

    COVID Death Suit Not Barred By PREP Act, 11th Circ. Affirms

    A split Eleventh Circuit affirmed a lower court's decision Thursday to remand to state court a lawsuit over a nursing home resident's COVID-19 death, finding preemption may cover a defendant sued for following federal public health emergency guidelines, but not when, as in the instant case, the guidelines were allegedly unheeded.

  • November 01, 2024

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    One circuit court will hold an oral argument for the history books, with dizzying logistics and stakes surpassing almost anything on the U.S. Supreme Court's calendar. Other circuit showdowns will delve into the high court's latest opinions and flesh out fascinating feuds involving big beer brands and emerging theories of "administrative state" overreach. All that and more is making November a month of exceptional appellate intrigue.

  • November 01, 2024

    Chicago Judge Erred After Illness Sidelined Atty, Court Says

    An Illinois appeals court has scrapped a $480,000 judgment against a now-shuttered Chicago restaurant for unpaid rent following the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that a county judge erred by refusing to delay the trial even though the restaurant's counsel had a medical emergency, which left the restaurant without legal representation.

  • November 01, 2024

    DC Circ. Urged To Uphold Veto Of Fla. Dredge Program

    A coalition of environmental groups urged the D.C. Circuit on Friday to uphold a lower court ruling depriving Florida of its authority to issue wetland dredge and fill permits under the Clean Water Act, saying regulators must follow the rigorous laws protecting endangered species.

  • November 01, 2024

    Georgia Court Tosses Suit Over Neighbor's Failed Fire Rescue

    A Georgia appeals court on Friday tossed a suit seeking to hold a homeowner liable for burn injuries suffered by her neighbor when he unsuccessfully tried to rescue the woman's husband from a burning work shed, saying there is no evidence that the homeowners negligently started the fire.

  • November 01, 2024

    4th Circ. Raises Arbitral Finality In Kuwaiti Contractor Case

    A Fourth Circuit panel appeared unlikely on Friday to disturb a ruling enforcing an approximately $8 million arbitral award against a Kuwaiti construction company based on an argument that the lower court wrongly interpreted a statutory deadline.

Expert Analysis

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • What We Know From Early Cyberinsurance Rulings

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    Recent cyber disruption incidents, like the Crowdstrike outage and the CDK Global cyberattack this summer, highlight the necessity of understanding legal interpretations of cyberinsurance coverage — an area in which there has been little litigation thus far, say Peter Halprin and Rebecca Schwarz at Haynes Boone.

  • 6th Circ. Ruling Highlights Complexity Of ERISA Preemption

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    The Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in Standard Insurance v. Guy — that the defendant couldn't collect his mother’s life insurance after being convicted of murdering his parents — illustrates how courts must engage in mental gymnastics to avoid the broad reach of Employee Retirement Income Security Act preemption, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Strategies To Defend Against Healthcare Nuclear Verdicts

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    The healthcare industry is increasingly the target of megaclaims, particularly those alleging medical malpractice, but attorneys representing providers can use a few tools to push back on flimsy litigation and reduce the likelihood of a nuclear verdict, says LaMar Jost at Wheeler Trigg.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    After Chevron: SEC Climate And ESG Rules Likely Doomed

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    Under the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Loper Bright, without agency deference, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate disclosure and environmental, social and governance rules would likely be found lacking in statutory support and vacated by the courts, says Justin Chretien at Carlton Fields.

  • Assessing Whether Jarkesy May Limit FINRA Prosecutions

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Jarkesy v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, holding that civil securities fraud defendants are entitled to jury trials, may cause unpredictable results when applied to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority prosecutions, say Barry Temkin and Kate DiGeronimo at Mound Cotton.

  • The Bank Preemption Ripple Effects After Cantero, Flagstar

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    The importance of federal preemption for financial institutions will only increase as technology-driven innovations evolve, which is why the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cantero v. Bank of America and vacatur of Kivett v. Flagstar Bank have real modern-day significance for national banks, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • IP Hot Topic: The Intersection Of Trademark And Antitrust Law

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    Antitrust claims – like those in the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent case against Apple – are increasingly influencing trademark disputes and enforcement practices, demonstrating how antitrust law can dilute the power of a trademark, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Election Outlook: A Precedent Primer On Content Moderation

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    With the 2024 election season now in full swing, online platforms will face difficult and politically sensitive decisions about content moderation, but U.S. Supreme Court decisions from last term offer much-needed certainty about their rights, say Jonathan Blavin and Helen White at Munger Tolles.

  • When The Supreme Court Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

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    Instead of grousing about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning long-standing precedents, attorneys should look to history for examples of how enterprising legal minds molded difficult decisions to their advantage, and figure out how to work with the cards they’ve been dealt, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Philly Project Case Renews Ongoing Fraud Theory Tug-Of-War

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    In its upcoming term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Kousisis v. U.S., a case involving wire fraud convictions related to Philadelphia bridge repair projects, and may once again further rein in prosecutorial attempts to expand theories of fraud beyond core traditional property rights, say Jonathan Halpern and Kyra Rosenzweig at Holland & Knight.

  • How Anti-DEI Bill Could Affect Employers' Diversity Efforts

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    Sen. J.D. Vance's recently introduced Dismantle DEI Act would substantially limit employers’ ability to implement and promote workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, but there are still steps employers can take to support a diverse workforce, says Peter Ennis at Cozen O’Connor.

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