Appellate

  • June 21, 2024

    Ayahuasca Church Is Not Tax-Exempt, DC Circ. Affirms

    An Iowa church that used a psychedelic drug in its rites was correctly denied tax-exempt status, the D.C. Circuit affirmed Friday, saying the church's main purpose is using a federally illegal drug for which it lacked approval for religious use.

  • June 21, 2024

    Ex-GM Workers Can't Prove Anti-White Bias

    A Michigan appeals court rejected efforts from two former General Motors workers to revive claims that they were fired because they are white, ruling that they fundamentally misunderstood the law and failed to rebut GM's argument that their persistent use of coarse language led to the firings.

  • June 21, 2024

    Wrong Address Dooms Removal Relief Bid, 11th Circ. Finds

    The Eleventh Circuit won't reverse the long-ago removal in absentia of a Honduran woman who missed her removal hearing, citing the Board of Immigration Appeals' finding that she'd provided an inaccurate address to receive notice of the hearing.

  • June 21, 2024

    Ex-Chicago Alderman Burke Can't Delay Sentencing

    Former Chicago Alderman Ed Burke can't postpone his Monday sentencing on charges of racketeering, extortion and bribery to await a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the scope of federal bribery law, an Illinois federal judge ruled Friday, saying that decision will have "little or no impact" on Burke's fate.

  • June 21, 2024

    11th Circ. Rules Hotel Operator Liable For Wages As Employer

    A hotel operator exercised enough control over a front desk worker to be his employer and is therefore liable for minimum wage and overtime, the Eleventh Circuit ruled, also noting that a lower court erred in calculating the damages.

  • June 21, 2024

    Atty Convicted Of Pot Bribe Wins Bail At 1st Circ.

    A suspended Massachusetts attorney convicted last fall of attempting to bribe a police chief to help his client secure a cannabis license will remain free pending his appeal, the First Circuit ruled Friday, reversing a district judge's decision.

  • June 21, 2024

    Mich. Panel Says Default Judgment Covered Per No-Fault Law

    A Progressive unit must pay a $250,000 default judgment in a motor vehicle negligence case even though the insurer said its policyholder failed to cooperate, a Michigan appeals court ruled, finding a state Supreme Court decision predating Michigan's no-fault insurance reform was still applicable.

  • June 21, 2024

    5th Circ. Knocks Out National Block On ACA Preventive Care

    The Fifth Circuit on Friday struck down a national injunction against Affordable Care Act requirements forcing insurers to cover a range of preventive treatments, but kept a block in place that prevents its application to the individuals and businesses in Texas that sued.

  • June 21, 2024

    Pa. Justices Will Weigh If 'Skill Games' Are Slot Machines

    The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania will take up a case and decide whether the "Pennsylvania Skill Games" that combine a chance-based game mode with a secondary memory game fall under the state's definition of "slot machines," potentially affecting many storefronts and bars where the game machines have proliferated.

  • June 21, 2024

    Ga. Appeals Seat Winner Aims To Nix Election Challenge

    The winner of a Georgia appeals court seat says his opponent does not have any proof to support her allegations of his residency discrepancies and her motion to reverse the election should be dismissed.

  • June 21, 2024

    Novel Ruling Backs Contact Sanctions For Texas Pro Se Atty

    Addressing an issue of first impression in the Lone Star State, a Texas appellate court has ruled that an attorney's pro se status did not save him from a sanctions ruling for violating the state's no-contact rule by sending communications directly to members of the Commission for Lawyer Discipline.

  • June 21, 2024

    9/11 Firm Consultant Acted Alone In Depo Leak, 2nd Circ. Told

    A New York law firm representing victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in a multidistrict litigation told the Second Circuit that a consultant who leaked a deposition transcript to the press acted by himself, asking an appellate panel to reverse millions of dollars in sanctions.

  • June 21, 2024

    6th Circ. Says Counties Not On Hook For Mich. Dam Collapse

    A Sixth Circuit panel agreed that two Michigan counties can't be forced to compensate homeowners for destructive flooding caused by a dam's collapse, finding Thursday that the counties did not cause the damage to the homeowners' properties.

  • June 21, 2024

    High Court Opens Expert Testimony Basis To Confrontation

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that Arizona prosecutors may have violated a criminal defendant's Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses testifying against him by presenting a substitute expert witness at trial, and sent the case back down to state court for further proceedings.

  • June 21, 2024

    Justices Keep Domestic Abusers Disarmed, Clarify Bruen

    The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a Texas man's constitutional challenge to a federal law prohibiting people subject to domestic violence restraining orders from possessing firearms Friday, providing limited guidance to lower courts on how to apply the high court's Second Amendment historical analogue test.

  • June 21, 2024

    Justices Strengthen Jury Trial Rights For Stiffer Sentences

    The constitutional rights to due process and trial by jury extend to a pivotal prong of a prominent sentencing enhancement for recidivism, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a Friday decision that casts doubt on many incarcerations and promises to reshape future trials.

  • June 21, 2024

    Justices Won't Allow Citizens To Contest Denied Spouse Visas

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that Americans do not have a constitutional right to challenge the U.S. Department of State's denial of spousal visa applications, rejecting a woman's bid to review the department's rejection of her Salvadoran husband's visa.

  • June 21, 2024

    Justices Say No Feds, No Dice In Texas-NM Water Deal

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled that Texas, New Mexico and Colorado improperly excluded the federal government from an agreement that resolved a Rio Grande water sharing dispute, rejecting the states' argument that the conflict was theirs alone to settle.

  • June 20, 2024

    TikTok Says Alternatives To 'Dangerous' Ban Were Ignored

    TikTok said Thursday that federal lawmakers likely didn't even consider its "exhaustive, multi-year efforts" to address national security concerns before deciding to ban the social media platform, slamming the law as "unprecedented" and warning that it sets "a dangerous precedent."

  • June 20, 2024

    5th Circ. Starts Clock For Redo Bid In CFPB Payday Rule Case

    The Fifth Circuit said Wednesday that payday lender trade groups will have an opportunity to ask for another shot at litigating the validity of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's payday lending rule after their constitutional challenge fell flat at the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • June 20, 2024

    Trump Calls For Engoron's Recusal In Civil Fraud Case

    Former President Donald Trump and other defendants fighting a $465 million civil fraud judgment called on New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron to recuse himself Thursday in light of a once-suspended real estate attorney's recent judicial misconduct claims, which have since sparked a judicial investigation.

  • June 20, 2024

    Wash. Justices Renew AG's Suit Over Police Eviction Claims

    Washington's highest court said the state attorney general could sue a city for allegedly letting police illegally evict vulnerable residents under the guise of a crime prevention program, ruling Thursday the case involved issues of public concern such as protecting residents' civil rights and preventing police misconduct.

  • June 20, 2024

    Zimbabwe Says $50M Mining Award Can't Be Enforced

    The Republic of Zimbabwe is urging the D.C. Circuit to overturn a ruling forcing it to face litigation to enforce a decade-old $50 million arbitral award stemming from a soured mining deal, arguing that a lower court mistakenly rejected its sovereign immunity defense.

  • June 20, 2024

    7th Circ. Won't Dig Excavator Out Of Kickback Conviction

    The Seventh Circuit ruled a former Illinois excavation company employee who was sentenced to five years in prison for paying a former commissioner kickbacks in exchange for inflated invoice payments was not prejudiced by the government's belated disclosure of notes from a cooperating witness.

  • June 20, 2024

    Judge Flags Iowa's Blocked Immigration Law In Texas Battle

    The Texas federal judge overseeing the Biden administration's challenge to a state law authorizing the deportation of noncitizens urged the parties to inform the Fifth Circuit of an order blocking Iowa's similar law, anticipating an Eighth Circuit review of Iowa's defeat.

Expert Analysis

  • How A Motion Before Justices May Help Trump Beyond Court

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    Even if Donald Trump loses his presidential immunity claim before the U.S. Supreme Court, the delay created by the motion may mean a trial can't be completed before the November election, says Paul Tuchmann at Wiggin and Dana.

  • Opinion

    $175M Bond Refiled By Trump Is Still Substantively Flawed

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    The corrected $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump on Thursday to stave off enforcement of the New York attorney general's fraud judgment against him remains substantively and procedurally flawed, as well as inadequately secured, says Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen.

  • Opinion

    Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

  • NJ Ruling Offers Road Map To Fight Dishonored Check Claims

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    As ATM and mobile check deposits become more common, a New Jersey state appellate court’s recent ruling in Triffin v. Neptune shows that issuers can rely on copies of checks to defend against claims that checks were wrongfully dishonored after being electronically deposited, say attorneys at Sherman Atlas.

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

  • A Look At Recent Challenges To SEC's Settlement 'Gag Rule'

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    Though they have been unsuccessful so far, opponents of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's so-called gag rule, which prevents defendants from denying allegations when settling with the SEC, are becoming increasingly vocal and filing more challenges in recent years, say Mike Blankenship and Regina Maze at Winston & Strawn.

  • How 3 Unfolding Cases Could Affect The Energy Industry

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    Three judicial decisions now in the pipeline — Texas' challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methane regulations, Delaware's climate suit against big energy companies, and a case before the Supreme Court of Texas on royalty lease interpretation — could have important implications for the energy industry, say Michelle Scheffler and Rachael Cox at Skadden.

  • Conn. Bankruptcy Ruling Furthers Limitation Extension Split

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    A recent Connecticut bankruptcy court decision further solidifies a split of authority on whether Bankruptcy Rule 9006(b) may be used to extend the limitations period, meaning practitioners seeking to extend should serve the motion on all applicable parties and, where possible, rely on the doctrine of equitable tolling, says Shane Ramsey at Nelson Mullins.

  • How Purdue Pharma High Court Case May Change Bankruptcy

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in Purdue Pharma may be the death of most third-party releases in Chapter 11 cases, and depending on the decision’s breadth, could have much more far-reaching effects on the entire bankruptcy system, say Brian Shaw and David Doyle at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Series

    Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown

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    While some are concerned about repercussions if the U.S. Supreme Court brings an end to Chevron deference in the Loper and Relentless cases this term, agencies and attorneys would survive just fine under the doctrines that have already begun to replace it, say Daniel Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.

  • What A Post-Chevron Landscape Could Mean For Labor Law

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Chevron deference expected by the end of June, it’s not too soon to consider how National Labor Relations Act interpretations could be affected if federal courts no longer defer to administrative agencies’ statutory interpretation and regulatory actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Perspectives

    Context Is Everything In Justices' Sentencing Relief Decision

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    In the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Pulsifer v. U.S. decision, limiting the number of drug offenders eligible for sentencing relief, the majority and dissent adopted very different contextual frames for interpreting the meaning of “and” — with the practical impact being that thousands more defendants will be subject to severe mandatory minimums, says Douglas Berman at Moritz College of Law​​​​​​​.

  • Opinion

    The SEC Is Engaging In Regulation By Destruction

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent use of regulation by enforcement against digital assets indicates it's more interested in causing harm to crypto companies than providing guidance to the markets or protecting investors, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.

  • Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs

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    Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.

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