Appellate

  • August 24, 2026

    Calif. Appeals Court Signals Wiretap Law Applies To Trackers

    A California state appeals court appears poised to declare that website tracking technologies generally qualify as pen registers under the state's wiretap law, while finding that the specific trackers at issue in a lawsuit against Variety Media LLC don't fall under this definition because they don't identify the destination of intercepted communications. 

  • August 24, 2026

    9th Circ. Faults Calif. Judge For Denying Sentence Reduction

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday vacated a prison sentence imposed on a man convicted of possessing ammunition as a felon, saying a California federal judge "misapprehended the law" when he denied a sentencing reduction for the defendant's acceptance of responsibility.

  • August 24, 2026

    5th Circ. Revives Architect's IP Claims In Fractured Ruling

    A divided Fifth Circuit has revived an architectural firm's copyright infringement claims over the use of its home designs in a Texas residential development, while affirming the dismissal of claims alleging that the defendants stripped copyright information from marketing materials.

  • August 24, 2026

    Ukraine Says Tatneft Appeal Over $173M Stay Should Be Axed

    Ukraine has pressed the D.C. Circuit to nix an appeal by a large Russian oil company that seeks to overturn a lower court's stay order in the business's suit to enforce a $173 million arbitral award against the country, saying its domestic law prohibits it from paying the award.

  • August 24, 2026

    4th Circ. Says Vacated Drug Conviction Can't Bar Admissibility

    The Fourth Circuit concluded Monday that a Mexico native's since-vacated marijuana conviction in North Carolina state court does not render her inadmissible in the U.S., departing from a long-standing framework that considered vacated convictions valid for immigration purposes unless they're vacated due to substantive or procedural defects. 

  • August 24, 2026

    Fiat Chrysler Brings Defective Headrest Suit To Justices

    Fiat Chrysler is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split over whether an arbitrator or a court should decide the proper venue for a dispute involving a nonsignatory to an arbitration agreement, in a proposed class action over allegedly defective Jeep and Dodge headrests.

  • August 24, 2026

    2nd Circ. Says Nielsen Unbundling Order Starts Tuesday

    The Second Circuit has declared that the preliminary injunction blocking Nielsen from making Cumulus Media buy its local offerings to gain access to its national radio ratings data will go into effect Tuesday.

  • August 24, 2026

    Conn. Justices Order New Trial Over Gun Residue Science

    The Connecticut Supreme Court has reversed a murder conviction and ordered a new trial, finding in an advance opinion Monday that a state trial court wrongfully refused to hear the defendant's challenge to potentially unreliable gunshot residue evidence.

  • August 24, 2026

    Feds Seek Circuit Court Reversals In Sanctuary Policy Battle

    The Trump administration has asked separate federal circuit courts to review lower court decisions rejecting its challenges to various state and local sanctuary immigration policies, arguing to the Tenth Circuit that such policies from Colorado and Denver affirmatively obstruct federal immigration enforcement.

  • August 24, 2026

    'Old Boys Club' Tainted College Prof's Review, Jurors Told

    A former professor at The College of New Jersey told a Garden State jury on Monday that the college's finance department was run like an old boys club and that her contract was not renewed because she's a woman.

  • August 24, 2026

    Calif. Takes Trump Admin Pipeline Fight To 9th Circ.

    California has asked the Ninth Circuit to review a district court's rejection of its bid to block the Trump administration's reopening of a controversial coastal oil pipeline, which a judge said was a valid use of federal emergency authority under the Defense Production Act.

  • August 24, 2026

    Avis Didn't Waive Arbitration In Insurance Fight, 3rd Circ. Says

    Avis Budget Group didn't waive its right to arbitrate a dispute over its supplemental liability insurance by deposing a pair of customers in discovery, the Third Circuit ruled Monday, saying the car rental company needed to develop a factual record before moving to compel arbitration.

  • August 24, 2026

    3rd Circ. Revives Exxon Unit's Bid To Arbitrate Royalties Claims

    ExxonMobil subsidiary XTO Energy Inc. will get another chance to pursue arbitration in a case over allegedly underpaid natural gas royalties, with the Third Circuit ruling Monday that litigating class claims for more than four years did not preclude its bid for an out-of-court resolution.

  • August 24, 2026

    DOJ Backs Biotech Co. Against Red Cross At 1st Circ.

    The U.S. Department of Justice is continuing to back a biotech company that accuses the American Red Cross of blocking competition for blood platelet testing, telling the First Circuit the nonprofit is not part of the government and is not immune from the antitrust claims.

  • August 24, 2026

    Colo. Judge Certifies Class In Hospital Gender Care Suit

    A Colorado state judge granted class certification in transgender adolescents' lawsuit seeking to have Children's Hospital Colorado resume providing gender-affirming medical care for them and other transgender youth patients.

  • August 24, 2026

    5th Circ. Says IRS Penalty Suit Is Beyond Court Review

    The Internal Revenue Service's penalty imposed on a partnership for inaccurately reporting a Louisiana conservation easement transaction is considered a tax collection matter outside federal courts' jurisdiction, the Fifth Circuit ruled, declining to review a constitutional challenge against the penalty.

  • August 24, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Agrees To Speed Up Args In COVID Vax Patent Case

    The Federal Circuit on Monday agreed to accelerate the schedule in a COVID-19 vaccine patent dispute between Moderna and Arbutus Biopharma Corp. by holding arguments in November.

  • August 24, 2026

    Pa. Court Backs Lowe's Win In Lawnmower Injury Suit

    A Pennsylvania appeals court sided with Lowe's Home Centers LLC and MTD Products Inc. on Monday in a suit alleging a defective lawnmower caused a man's injuries when he slipped while mowing, finding that his failure to warn claim was doomed by his own admission he didn't read the posted warnings.

  • August 24, 2026

    7th Circ. Nixes IRS Bid For Rehearing Of Hyatt Perks Tax Fight

    A dispute over the taxability of $300 million in funds from Hyatt Hotels' loyalty rewards program will head back to the U.S. Tax Court, with the Seventh Circuit rejecting the Internal Revenue Service's request to rethink its decision remanding the case.

  • August 24, 2026

    Ga. Appeals Court Says Party Shootout Wasn't Foreseeable

    The Georgia Court of Appeals said Monday that a trial court rightly freed a fraternity and property owner from lawsuits over a deadly shooting that took place at a homecoming block party at Fort Valley State University in 2021.

  • August 24, 2026

    9th Circ. Sends Juneau Trust Fight Back After DOI Reversal

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday remanded a dispute over a 787-square-foot parcel in downtown Juneau after the U.S. Department of the Interior changed its position on the land-into-trust decision for an Alaskan tribal government.

  • August 24, 2026

    High Court Lifts Block On Mail-In Ballot Changes

    The Trump administration can proceed with plans to implement some new nationwide mail-in voting regulations ahead of this year's midterm elections, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday, but questions remain about the enforceability of proposed U.S. Postal Service restrictions.

  • August 24, 2026

    11th Circ. Says Sudden Snatching Is A Deportable Crime

    The Eleventh Circuit has denied a Trinidad and Tobago native's petition to review a decision deeming him removable for his conviction for robbery by sudden snatching, saying the crime is indeed a deportable offense.

  • August 24, 2026

    Childcare Center Late To Claim Tax Break, Minn. Justices Told

    A Minnesota childcare center failed to meet the statutory deadline for seeking a property tax exemption and was not entitled to judicial review of the tax break's denial, a county told the state Supreme Court, urging it to reverse a state tax court decision.

  • August 24, 2026

    6th Circ. Upholds Mich. City's Pride Flag Ban

    The Sixth Circuit has affirmed a district court decision letting a city near Detroit bar Pride and other non-national flags from city-owned flagpoles, ruling that Hamtramck, Michigan, lawfully converted its flagpoles into a forum for government speech when it restricted which flags could be displayed. 

Expert Analysis

  • 'Skinny Label' Arguments Spotlight Induced Infringement Risk

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    Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Hikma Pharmaceuticals v. Amarin Pharma highlight the uncertain boundary between lawful generic competition through so-called skinny labels and induced patent infringement, with potential implications for patent holders’ communication, enforcement and causation strategies across industries, says Anton Hopen at Trenam.

  • A Framework For Habeas Relief After 5th Circ. Bond Ruling

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    Following the Fifth Circuit’s recent Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi decision foreclosing statutory bond for detained nonimmigrants not deemed admitted to the U.S., lawyers should adopt a framework that requests habeas relief pursuant to the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • 4th Circ. Ruling Will Rewrite Class Action Litigation Strategies

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Oliver v. Navy Federal Credit Union is the first from a federal circuit court to hold that motions to strike are inappropriate vehicles for challenging class allegations at the pleading stage, invalidating a tactic that had been used for decades, says Jim Francis at Francis Mailman.

  • Startup Founder Disputes Increasingly Turn On Governance

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    Recent Delaware developments suggest that as courts place increasing emphasis on board process, independence and oversight in founder-led startups, the growing intersection of governance, technology risk and investor oversight is accelerating both the emergence and escalation of founder disputes, says mediator Frank Burke.

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

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    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • Salt-N-Pepa Suit May Shake Up Music Copyright Issue

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    James v. UMG Recordings is a copyright termination rights case that provides an opportunity for the Second Circuit to make concrete choices about grant language, authorship, work-for-hire status and survival of derivative works, says attorney Abdul Abdullahi.

  • Opinion

    5th Circ.'s Abortion Pill Order Is Shaky On Multiple Grounds

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent order in Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion medication mifepristone, seems to turn federalism upside-down, and is also questionable for several other reasons, says Gregory Curtner at Curtner Law.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

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    Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

  • 5 Takeaways From Justices' Subpoena Fight Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in First Choice v. Davenport fortifies a line of First Amendment associational privacy cases stretching back nearly 70 years, and ensures that organizations subject to government demands for donor information have a meaningful federal forum in which to defend their constitutional rights, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Where The Preemption Fight Over Prediction Markets Stands

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    While the Third Circuit's recent ruling in Kalshi v. Flaherty remains a significant win for the federal government in its quest to regulate prediction markets, the Fourth, Sixth and Ninth Circuits appear more skeptical, indicating that this fight is likely headed for the Supreme Court, says Johnny ElHachem at Holland & Knight.

  • Md. Justices' State Climate Tort Ban May Shape National Path

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    The Maryland Supreme Court’s recent ruling that federal law preempted state-level deceptive marketing tort claims brought by several municipalities could offer the U.S. Supreme Court a road map to use in the pending Suncor Energy v. Boulder County case to exclude states from the business of regulating global emissions, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

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    Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

  • What Justices Are Focusing On In 'Skinny Label' Patent Case

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    Though Hikma v. Amarin appears to be a patent dispute that could reshape inducement doctrine in the pharmaceutical context, oral argument suggests the U.S. Supreme Court may treat this as primarily a pleading-stage dispute, with important unresolved questions lurking beneath the surface, says Shashank Upadhye at Upadhye Tang.

  • Employer Tips After 4th Circ. Rejects Trimmed Suit Deadlines

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent holding in Thomas v. EOTech that employers cannot use contractual provisions to shorten statutory filing periods for Title VII or Age Discrimination in Employment Act claims offers a warning for employers to review any such documents and reassess their litigation risk, say attorneys at Ogletree.

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