Appellate

  • July 21, 2026

    Wyeth's Patent Loss Has Attys Focusing On Dosage

    The Federal Circuit's holding that a Pfizer unit's cancer treatment patents are invalid highlights the risk of including dosages in patents without sufficient proof that those dosages work, attorneys say.

  • July 21, 2026

    DC Circ. Affirms Argentina Must Pay $391M Arbitral Award

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the enforcement of a $391 million arbitral award issued against Argentina in a 17-year-old dispute over the renationalization of its state-owned airline, rejecting arguments that the petition was filed too late.

  • July 21, 2026

    Humana 401(k) Forfeiture Suit Will Wait For 6th Circ. Appeal

    A proposed class action against health insurance provider Humana alleging the company misallocated millions from employee 401(k) forfeitures was paused by a Kentucky federal judge on Tuesday to wait for the outcome of a similar suit against regional grocery giant Meijer currently awaiting a ruling in the Sixth Circuit.

  • July 21, 2026

    Centripetal IP Survives Fed. Circ. Despite 'Ghost In The Room'

    A Federal Circuit panel on Tuesday backed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that declined to strike some claims in a cybersecurity patent owned by Centripetal Networks LLC, even if a "ghost in the room" suggests that it's preserving unpatentable claims.

  • July 21, 2026

    Apple's Bid To Invalidate Speech Patent Revived On Appeal

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday gave Apple Inc. another opportunity to show that claims in a Zentian Ltd. speech recognition patent are invalid, faulting the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision to uphold the patent, which is at issue in a California infringement suit.

  • July 21, 2026

    2nd Circ. Bars Student's Habeas Case In Removal Fight

    A Second Circuit panel ruled Tuesday that a Vermont federal judge should not have ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release Palestinian green-card holder Mohsen Mahdawi because his claims should have been funneled through the immigration court process.

  • July 21, 2026

    7th Circ. Probes Offset Restitution In Hytera-Motorola Dispute

    Seventh Circuit judges appeared amenable Tuesday to Motorola's argument that an Illinois federal judge wrongly refused to order Hytera to pay restitution for stealing trade secrets and improperly treated Hytera's payments in parallel civil litigation as offsets in the criminal case, effectively nullifying Motorola's punitive damages award.

  • July 21, 2026

    Pa. Justices Reverse Joint Fee Liability For Custody Atty

    An attorney representing a mother in a contentious child custody dispute does not owe the father and his attorney more than $10,000 in fees, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, finding the Superior Court misapplied a previous opinion.

  • July 21, 2026

    NJ's First Solicitor General Stepping Down In September

    New Jersey's first-ever solicitor general, Jeremy Feigenbaum, is stepping down in September after having represented the Garden State in a number of high-profile cases, including a series of arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, the state attorney general's office announced Tuesday.

  • July 21, 2026

    Mich. Panel Revives Forklift Injury Suit Against Meijer

    A warehouse worker whose leg was crushed between a forklift and a metal desk at a Meijer Inc. distribution center can proceed with his negligence suit after a Michigan appellate panel ruled a jury must decide whether faulty brakes, inadequate maintenance or his own actions caused the accident. 

  • July 21, 2026

    Reagan-Appointed NC Federal Judge To Take Senior Status

    U.S. District Judge Terrence William Boyle of the Eastern District of North Carolina plans to take senior status — a form of semi-retirement that gives federal judges a reduced caseload — at a date yet to be determined, according to a recent update from the federal judiciary.

  • July 21, 2026

    Reed Smith Loses Bid To Pause Ex-Worker's Gender Bias Suit

    A New Jersey judge on Tuesday rejected Reed Smith LLP's motion to pause discovery in a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by a former employee, finding that the firm had not proved irreparable harm if the case advanced while an interlocutory appeal on the scope of damages proceeds.

  • July 21, 2026

    Pa. Justices Deny Insurance Exclusion In Sex Trafficking Law

    Pennsylvania's laws against human trafficking don't translate into a "public policy" that justifies insurers denying coverage to a Philadelphia hotel accused of turning a blind eye to trafficking, the state's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

  • July 21, 2026

    Ex-Justice Screened From Vik's $65M Deutsche Bank Suit

    Former Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson has been screened from participating in billionaire Alexander Vik and his daughter's vexatious litigation and $65 million stock sale turnover lawsuit against Deutsche Bank, according to the financial institution's lawyers at Day Pitney LLP.

  • July 21, 2026

    6th Circ. Tests Retroactive Michigan Sex Offender Rules

    Michigan Assistant Attorney General Eric Jamison told a Sixth Circuit panel Tuesday that if it finds the Michigan Sex Offender Registration Act, or SORA, unconstitutional, it must also find its federal counterpart, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, or SORNA, unconstitutional.

  • July 21, 2026

    NJ Panel Rules Town Board Can Redo Warehouse Review

    A New Jersey appeals court rejected a developer's request for automatic approval of its development plan in a local warehouse district, siding with a trial judge in finding a local planning board correctly sought to scrutinize its own jurisdiction over the project.

  • July 21, 2026

    NJ Panel Backs Big Box Denial Over Traffic Study Gaps

    A New Jersey appellate panel on Tuesday reversed a lower court ruling that vacated a planning board's rejection of a proposed one-story, 161,000-square-foot big box retail project.

  • July 21, 2026

    Guam Group Says Air Force Can't Skip Review Of Detonations

    A nonprofit in Guam asked the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm a ruling that the U.S. Air Force shirked environmental review duties when it applied to renew a permit to detonate expired munitions, as well as reject the agency's attempts to avoid them.

  • July 21, 2026

    Wash. Tribe, Enviro Org. Say FERC Hydro Delay Imperils Sites

    A Washington tribe and an environmental group are asking the Ninth Circuit to deny a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission bid to hold a challenge against the agency's issuance of a hydroelectric license in abeyance, arguing that it won't stop the project from moving toward construction that will destroy resources.

  • July 21, 2026

    Minn. County Urges State Justices Review School Tax Break

    A Minnesota childcare center that missed a filing deadline related to a property tax exemption for educational institutions should not have been allowed to appeal the matter to the state tax court, a county told the state Supreme Court, urging it to review the case.

  • July 21, 2026

    4th Circ. Asks SC Justices To Weigh In On Heater Death Suit

    The Fourth Circuit has certified a question to the South Carolina Supreme Court in a suit alleging the defective design of a propane heater led to the death of a man using it, asking the justices to determine if adequate labeling precludes a defect claim under state law.

  • July 21, 2026

    DC Circ. Says NLRB 'Successor Bar' Conflicts With Labor Law

    A split D.C. Circuit panel said Tuesday that the National Labor Relations Board's practice of insulating unions from removal after businesses change hands defies federal labor law, applying a landmark 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that scaled back courts' deference to federal agencies.

  • July 20, 2026

    Panel Revives Malpractice Suit Against Criminal Defense Atty

    A Washington state appellate panel Monday revived legal malpractice claims against a public defense attorney who failed to correct an erroneous sentencing document that placed his client on supervised probation, when a plea deal instead called for unsupervised probation.

  • July 20, 2026

    NJ Court Backs Utility In Motorist's Tree-Fall Injury Suit

    A New Jersey man who suffered a "catastrophic" spinal cord injury after a tree fell on his car while driving cannot pursue damages against Jersey Central Power & Light Co., a state appeals court ruled Monday, saying utilities have no duty to cut vegetation to keep passing motorists safe.

  • July 20, 2026

    4th Circ. Upholds Conviction Despite Closed Court Testimony

    The Fourth Circuit on Monday ruled that a North Carolina man was given a fair trial even though the courtroom was temporarily closed after a witness believed someone in the audience was trying to intimidate them.

Expert Analysis

  • Anticipating The Justices' Potential Ruling On Tax Takings

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    Recent oral arguments in the U.S. Supreme Court case Pung v. Isabella focused on rules for valuation, timing and administrability of tax auction proceeds and whichever method the court adopts for determining just compensation, it will have far-reaching impacts on tax collection, homeowners' equity and the secondary market for tax-foreclosed property, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • 5 Welcome Changes To Texas' Summary Judgment Rule

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    Following recent amendments to the Texas rule for summary judgment motions,​​​​​​ practitioners adjusting to the new framework will likely benefit from a more streamlined process that focuses attention on substantive legal arguments rather than procedural uncertainty, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Reinforces Securities Act Limits Post-Slack

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    The Second Circuit's recent decision to limit treatment of mandatory reverse splits as actionable sales in Knapp v. Barclays is narrow but important, offering issuers a stronger basis to challenge expansive Securities Act theories and reinforcing the post-Slack v. Pirani discipline of tracing, says Elisha Kobre at Sheppard.

  • 2 Discovery Rulings Break With Heppner On AI Privilege Issue

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    While a New York federal court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner suggests that some litigants’ communications with AI tools are discoverable, two other recent federal court decisions demonstrate that such interactions generally qualify for work-product protection under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, says Joshua Dunn at Brown Rudnick.

  • Opinion

    BNP Paribas Case Could Upend Global Banking Norms

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    If upheld on appeal, a New York federal jury's multimillion-dollar verdict against BNP Paribas would create an unpredictable liability landscape for global financial institutions in which fully lawful services in foreign countries can give rise to civil liability in U.S. courts, in a manner contrary to federal law, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • Series

    Isshin-Ryu Karate Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My involvement in martial arts, specifically Isshin-ryu, which has principles rooted in the eight codes of karate, has been one of the most foundational in the development of my personality, and particularly my approach to challenges — including in my practice of law, says Kaitlyn Stone at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Opinion

    CBP's $166B Tariff Refund Portal Needs 4 Safeguards

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    Before launching its automated web portal to process tariff-refund disbursements on April 20, U.S. Customs and Border Protection should apply the expensive lessons learned from the pandemic-era employee retention credit, says Peter Gariepy at RubinBrown.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Tracing Paths To Award Recovery

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    Recent subpoenas to Adidas and Hilton deployed in Blasket Renewables v. Spain, pending in D.C. federal court, show arbitration award recovery to be a disciplined exercise in constructing visibility, applying pressure and sequencing procedural advantage, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

  • 5 Key Questions Attys Should Ask About Statistical Analyses

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    Even attorneys without a background in statistics can effectively vet the general concepts of a statistical analysis by asking targeted questions and can thereby reinforce the credibility and relevance of expert testimony — or expose its weaknesses, say Katrina Schydlower and Christopher Cunio at Hunton and Kevin Cahill at FTI Consulting.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: April Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy identifies practice tips from three recent rulings involving allegations of racial discrimination in mortgage applications, health insurance networks and actual cash value losses.

  • 'Made In America' EO May Not Survive Section 230

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in advertising directs the Federal Trade Commission to deem online marketplaces' failure to verify third-party origin claims as unlawful, but such a rule would likely run into Section 230's publisher immunity doctrine, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • Assessing EcoFactor's Impact On Damages Experts' Opinions

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    Though the Federal Circuit's ruling in EcoFactor v. Google gave rise to concerns that damages experts would be forced to rely on undisputed facts, recent case law suggests that those concerns are unwarranted, says Christopher Loh at Venable.

  • High Court Cert Case Would Test Sovereign Award Immunity

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    The D.C. Circuit's July 2025 Amaplat Mauritius v. Zimbabwe Mining Development decision appears to create a circuit split while elevating form over substance in a manner that, if left unreviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, could bar the courthouse doors for creditors holding arbitration awards against recalcitrant foreign sovereigns, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.

  • CFTC Actions Show Prediction Market Insider Trading Risks

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    It is a myth that insider trading law does not apply in prediction markets, as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent enforcement actions illustrate that it has full authority to pursue such cases federally — and intends to, says attorney Gregg Goldfarb.

  • 2nd Circ. Clarifies When Prior Good Acts May Be Admissible

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    The Second Circuit's recent ruling in U.S. v. Cardenas, vacating a drug conspiracy conviction over improperly excluded evidence, indicates that evidence of prior good acts may be admissible to corroborate a defendant's testimony about their understanding of events and intent, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

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