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Appellate
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October 15, 2024
DC Circ. Is Asked To Revive Nuke Waste Suit
An anti-nuclear advocacy group is urging the D.C. Circuit to reconsider its support for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval of a temporary nuclear waste storage site in New Mexico, arguing that the court's ruling contained "material legal errors."
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October 15, 2024
Fla. High Court Declines To Hear Case Of Land-Buying Funds
The Florida Supreme Court refused to hear a lawsuit brought by environmental groups against the state over alleged misspent money from the Land Acquisition Trust Fund that went toward expenses not authorized under a 2014 constitutional amendment, rather than being used to purchase property meant for conservation and recreation purposes.
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October 15, 2024
Fed. Circ. Votes No On Reviving Ballot Machine Patent
The Federal Circuit on Monday shut down an effort to revive language in a patent covering a "ballot marking device" for disabled voters that had been asserted against vote-counting business Smartmatic USA Corp.
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October 15, 2024
Gamers End Challenge Of Microsoft's $69B Activision Deal
Microsoft reached an agreement ending a challenge from a group of gamers targeting its $69 billion deal for Activision Blizzard as a merger challenge from the Federal Trade Commission remains pending at the Ninth Circuit.
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October 15, 2024
Realtors Ask High Court To Quash DOJ Antitrust Probe
The National Association of Realtors has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court for review of a ruling that would allow the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division to reopen an investigation into the trade group's rules and policies after an earlier settlement.
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October 15, 2024
Benefit Cos. Urge Justices Take Up Cert. Fight From 5th Circ.
Three benefit companies urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fifth Circuit decision upholding certification of a class of more than 290,000 workers in a suit alleging excessive health and retirement plan fees, arguing the justices need to iron out a circuit split on standing requirements.
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October 15, 2024
Justices Won't Look Into Avenatti's Identity Theft Conviction
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to consider whether the Second Circuit used an incorrect standard when ruling that identity theft played a "key role" in celebrity attorney Michael Avenatti's forging of ex-client Stormy Daniels' name and signature, upholding the disbarred lawyer's aggravated identity theft conviction.
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October 15, 2024
Split NC Panel Unties Barge Operations From Utility Oversight
A North Carolina island village can't force its parking space and ferry service provider to obtain regulatory approval from the state's utilities commission before it can divest its barge operations, a split panel of state appeals court judges ruled in a published opinion Tuesday.
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October 15, 2024
Hedge Fund Urges Justices To Hear Swing-Trade Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked by a hedge fund facing insider trading allegations to address "significant and recurring issues" that allowed a 1-800-Flowers.com shareholder to proceed with his derivative lawsuit despite failing to prove that the company was harmed in any way by the fund's short-swing trades.
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October 15, 2024
Justices Probe 'Oddities' Of Law On Revoked Visa Petitions
The U.S. Supreme Court questioned the federal government Tuesday over its argument that Congress intended to bar judicial review of revoked visa petitions, asking why initial petition decisions are reviewable but revocations are not.
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October 15, 2024
Medical Insurer Needn't Defend Doc Against Trans Bias Suit
A plastic surgeon's medical liability insurer had no duty to defend against claims that the surgeon violated Minnesota's Human Rights Act by suggesting that a transgender woman seek breast augmentation surgery elsewhere, a state appeals court ruled, finding the claims didn't constitute a "medical incident."
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October 15, 2024
EPA Says GHG Power Plant Rule Is In 'Heartland' Of Authority
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is urging the D.C. Circuit to approve its plan to control greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, saying its prescribed methods for controlling releases are legally sound, effective, reliable and reasonably affordable for the facilities that must implement them.
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October 15, 2024
Ex-FCA Exec's Wife Must Turn Over Notes In GM RICO Suit
A Michigan state judge said Tuesday that the wife of a former Fiat Chrysler executive accused of participating in a bribery scheme must turn over notes she took about their conversations, ruling that a state law protecting spouses from testifying against each other only applies to in-court testimony.
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October 15, 2024
Travis Scott Wants Astroworld Settlement Info Before 1st Trial
Rapper Travis Scott is urging a Texas appeals court to order the Harris County judge overseeing litigation over the deadly 2021 Astroworld festival to require several would-be bellwether plaintiffs to disclose details of their settlement agreements with his co-defendants, writing that his attorneys need the information to prepare for the impending first trial.
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October 15, 2024
2nd Circ. Says NY AG Can Sue Over Sex Assaults In Schools
The Second Circuit on Tuesday revived a suit from the New York attorney general alleging that a school district failed to investigate or respond to reports of rape and sexual assault, saying the district court was wrong to determine that the state needed to show that the school had a policy of ignoring such reports.
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October 15, 2024
Justices Mull RICO's Scope In Trucker's CBD Case
U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday appeared conflicted whether to sanction a commercial trucker's attempt to bring a racketeering claim against CBD companies, whose allegedly mislabeled products the trucker claims led to his firing.
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October 15, 2024
Novartis To Appeal Ruling In Entresto Generic Drug Fight
Swiss drugmaker Novartis said Tuesday that it plans to appeal a ruling from over the weekend that scuttled its suit over the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of a generic version of Entresto, the drugmaker's blockbuster heart failure medication.
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October 15, 2024
3rd Circ. Won't Reinstate Exxon OSHA Whistleblowers
A Third Circuit panel declined Tuesday to enforce an order reinstating two former Exxon Mobil Corp. analysts who claim they were fired after The Wall Street Journal published a report claiming the company overestimated its earnings by billions of dollars, similar to concerns the plaintiffs raised internally before the news report.
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October 15, 2024
Google Seeks To Pause Play Store Injunction Amid Appeal
Google has urged a California federal judge to issue an immediate stay in its antitrust battle with Epic Games Inc. that would pause a three-year injunction requiring Google to open up its Play Store to competing app stores pending the outcome of its Ninth Circuit appeal.
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October 15, 2024
Paxton Can't Get Sanctions Against Immigrant Rights Org.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton failed to convince a Texas appeals court to sanction an immigrant rights nonprofit for opposing his request for a newly created state appeals court to review his effort to shutter the organization.
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October 15, 2024
FERC Can't Pass On LNG Pipeline Review, DC Circ. Told
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shirked its legal obligations when, through inaction, it effectively greenlit the expansion of a liquefied natural gas terminal in Puerto Rico, environmental and community groups told the D.C. Circuit on Friday.
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October 15, 2024
Atty Says Appellate Co.'s Ads Look Like Case Updates
A California attorney has launched a proposed class action against appellate case management company Record Press in California federal court alleging that the New York-based company sends lawyers spam emails that deceptively appear to be important updates about ongoing litigation.
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October 15, 2024
Delaware Justice Vaughn Remembered As 'A True Gentleman'
Retired Delaware Supreme Court Justice James T. Vaughn Jr., who died last week at 75, is being remembered as a dedicated, practical and skilled jurist with a "warmhearted disposition" who loved serving his state's judiciary for more than two decades.
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October 15, 2024
2nd Circ. Says 'Robust' Video Privacy Law Covers NBA Suit
The Second Circuit on Tuesday endorsed a broad reading of a decades-old video privacy law in the modern internet age as it revived a proposed class action against the NBA by one of its free newsletter subscribers who claimed the league's website unlawfully shared his viewing information with Facebook.
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October 15, 2024
Chicago Workers Can't Pursue Vax Policy 'Fishing Expedition'
An Illinois state appellate panel has backed a trial court's decision to toss a group of Chicago employees' lawsuit accusing the city of illegally adopting its COVID-19 vaccination policy, agreeing the workers have no legal basis for their claim.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Post-Chevron, Good Riddance To The Sentencing Guidelines
The U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine may signal the end of the U.S. sentencing guidelines, which is good news given that they have accomplished the opposite of Congress’ original intent to bring certainty, proportionality and uniformity to sentencing, say attorneys Mark Allenbaugh, Doug Passon and Alan Ellis.
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Series
After Chevron: Impact On CFPB May Be Limited
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is likely to have a limited impact on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulatory activities, and for those who value due process, consistency and predictability in consumer financial services regulation, this may be a good thing, says John Coleman at Orrick.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
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Series
After Chevron: 7 FERC Takeaways From Loper Bright
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine, it's likely that the majority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's orders will not be affected, but the commission has nonetheless lost an important fallback argument and will have to approach rulemaking more cautiously, says Norman Bay at Willkie Farr.
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Series
After Chevron: USDA Rules May Be Up In The Air
The Supreme Court's end of Chevron deference may cause more lawsuits against U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations, like the one redefining "unfair trade practices" under the Packers and Stockyards Act, or a new policy classifying salmonella as an adulterant in certain poultry products, says Bob Hibbert at Wiley.
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7th Circ Joins Trend Of No CGL Coverage For Structural Flaws
The Seventh Circuit, which recently held potential structural instability did not count as property damage under a construction company's commercial general liability policy, joins a growing consensus that faulty work does not implicate coverage without tangible and present damage to the project, say Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty, and Elan Kandel and James Talbert at Bailey Cavalieri.
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Series
In The CFPB Playbook: Making Good On Bold Promises
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure in the second quarter cleared the way for the bureau to resume a number of high-priority initiatives, and it appears poised to charge ahead in working toward its aggressive preelection agenda, say Andrew Arculin and Paula Vigo Marqués at Blank Rome.
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Series
After Chevron: Creating New Hurdles For ESG Rulemaking
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, limiting court deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, could have significant impacts on the future of ESG regulation, creating new hurdles for agency rulemaking around these emerging issues, and calling into question current administrative actions, says Leah Malone at Simpson Thacher.
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Accidental Death Ruling Shows ERISA Review Standard's Pull
The Eleventh Circuit’s recent accidental death insurance ruling in Goldfarb v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance illustrates how an arbitrary and capricious standard of review in Employee Retirement Income Security Act denial-of-benefits cases creates a steep uphill battle for benefit claimants, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Critical Questions Remain After High Court's Abortion Rulings
The U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in two major abortion-related cases this term largely preserve the status quo for now, but leave federal preemption, the Comstock Act and in vitro fertilization in limbo, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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California Adds A Novel Twist To State Suits Against Big Oil
California’s suit against Exxon Mobil Corp., one of several state suits that seek to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate-related harms, is unique both in the magnitude of the alleged claims and its use of a consumer protection statute to seek disgorgement of industry profits, says Julia Stein at UCLA School of Law.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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Why Justices Should Rule On FAA's Commerce Exception
The U.S. Supreme Court should review the Ninth Circuit's Ortiz v. Randstad decision, to clarify whether involvement in interstate commerce exempts workers from the Federal Arbitration Act, a crucial question given employers' and employees' strong competing interests in arbitration and litigation, says Collin Williams at New Era.
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Series
After Chevron: Rethinking Agency Deference In IP Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Chevron deference could make it simpler to challenge the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s proposed rule on terminal disclaimers and U.S. International Trade Commission interpretations, says William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.
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FLSA Conditional Certification Is Alive And Well In 4th Circ.
A North Carolina federal court's recent decision in Johnson v. PHP emphasized continued preference by courts in the Fourth Circuit for a two-step conditional certification process for Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions, rejecting views from other circuits and affording plaintiffs a less burdensome path, say Joshua Adams and Damón Gray at Jackson Lewis.