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Appellate
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November 06, 2024
5th Circ. Backs Gas Co. In Ex-Worker's Severance Pay Suit
The Fifth Circuit declined Wednesday to revive an oil and gas company worker's suit claiming he should have received severance after he resigned when his job duties changed following an acquisition, ruling that a plan committee backed up its finding that the job switch didn't qualify for exit pay.
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November 06, 2024
Fed. Circ. Upholds PTAB's Ax Of Centripetal Cybersecurity IP
The Federal Circuit declined Wednesday to revive a Centripetal Networks LLC patent covering computer network protection, backing a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that handed a win to challenger Palo Alto Networks Inc.
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November 06, 2024
Mass. Tobacco Law's Penalty Provision Hits State's Top Court
Massachusetts' highest court on Wednesday attempted to reconcile a state law mandating a $1,000 fine for selling flavored tobacco products with a separate statute requiring local officials to file a criminal complaint if they seek to enforce penalties of that amount.
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November 06, 2024
Insurer Must Fully Cover $1.17M Crash Award, Fla. Panel Says
A Florida state appeals court upheld a directed verdict finding an auto insurer acted in bad faith while attempting to settle a woman's injury claims over a drunken driving crash, affirming Wednesday that the company must fully cover her $1.17 million compensatory damages award, less a prior $25,000 payment.
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November 06, 2024
City Can't Appeal Ex-Worker's PTSD Case, Conn. Justices Told
The city of Stamford, Connecticut, cannot appeal a hearing referee's decision allowing a military veteran to tack a post-traumatic stress syndrome accommodation claim onto a workplace disability discrimination case because it was not a final order, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities told the state's highest court on Wednesday.
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November 06, 2024
Business Groups Urge Calif. Justices To Nix HIV Drug Ruling
Business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are asking the California Supreme Court to throw out a suit alleging Gilead Sciences Inc. deprived customers of a safer form of its HIV drug for profits, saying the current ruling creates an untenable duty and liability even when there's no harmful defect in a product.
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November 06, 2024
NC Agencies Say Forest Service Workers' OT Is Straight Time
A North Carolina trial court correctly held that the overtime rate under state law for North Carolina Forest Service professional employees is a straight-time rate, two state agencies told the state's appeals court, arguing that a higher rate is not warranted.
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November 06, 2024
Ga. Justices Signal Newly Chartered City Likely To Survive
The Supreme Court of Georgia appeared unlikely Wednesday to declare a newly created metro Atlanta city illegitimate, casting doubt on the notion that the simultaneous creation of a special tax district alongside the city violated the state's constitution.
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November 06, 2024
9th Circ. Revives Retaliation Suit By Ex-Santa Clara Deputy DA
The Ninth Circuit partially revived a lawsuit by a former Santa Clara County, California, deputy district attorney who alleged First Amendment retaliation when he was unlawfully transferred after publishing an op-ed that disagreed with the views of his boss, the district attorney.
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November 06, 2024
Lawyer's Suit Against Ex-Partner Can Proceed, NJ Panel Says
A New Jersey state appeals court ruled Wednesday that a lawyer who is suing a former law partner may continue pursuing the case in open court, because a contract signed years earlier between the lawyers doesn't require a private arbitration.
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November 06, 2024
RV Co. Execs Denied Quick Appeal After DOL Bench Trial Win
An Arizona federal judge refused to greenlight an immediate appeal of a ruling that a group of recreational vehicle company executives improperly allowed the business to broker an inflated $105 million employee stock ownership sale, knocking down concerns that U.S. Department of Labor guidance improperly drove the outcome.
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November 06, 2024
Fla. Judge Invokes Free Speech Protection In Ethics Case
A Florida state judge facing ethics charges over previous campaign statements has again claimed that authorities should be blocked from presenting evidence or argument that her "philosophical beliefs" and comments violate judicial ethics guidelines, saying they are protected by the First Amendment.
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November 06, 2024
Mass. Justices Dubious Of Karen Read's Double Jeopardy Bid
Massachusetts' highest appellate court on Wednesday appeared skeptical that Karen Read, the woman accused in a high-profile case of striking and killing her boyfriend with her SUV, should be cleared on two counts after jurors came forward following a mistrial to say they had voted to acquit.
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November 06, 2024
Ga. Judge Cops To 9 Ethics Charges Over Case Delays
A Georgia judge facing ethics charges for delaying a series of cases, the most severe of which has sat open for more than seven years, has admitted to nine of the 10 counts lodged against him but denied that his actions were prejudicial to the administration of justice.
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November 06, 2024
Minn. Justices Spare Drug Wholesaler From Tax On Rebates
A Minnesota drug wholesaler does not owe tax on money it rebated to customers under contractual agreements, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, upholding a tax court ruling.
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November 05, 2024
How The Patent System May Look After Trump's Return
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office during Donald Trump's first term as president focused on making the invalidation of patents more difficult, and attorneys say his second administration is likely to do the same following his projected reelection.
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November 05, 2024
Trump Has Official Immunity. What About His Aides?
Whether the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity extends to subordinates who follow a president's orders has become a more pressing question in the wake of Donald Trump's projected election win, according to legal experts.
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November 05, 2024
How Trump Can Quash His Criminal Cases
Donald Trump's projected victory at the polls also translates to a win in the courts, as the second-term president will have the power to end both of his federal criminal cases. And the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on presidential immunity would shield him from any consequences for ordering his charges to be dismissed, experts say.
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November 05, 2024
An Early Look At Trump's Supreme Court Shortlist
With former President Donald Trump projected to win the 2024 presidential election and the Republicans' success in securing the U.S. Senate majority, Trump may now get the chance to appoint two more justices to the U.S. Supreme Court, cementing the court's conservative tilt for decades to come.
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November 05, 2024
GOP's Senate Win Hands Future Of The Judiciary To Trump
Republicans were projected to take back the White House and Senate and possibly the House early Wednesday, putting the GOP in position to back Donald Trump's agenda and his slate of young, conservative judicial nominees.
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November 05, 2024
The Firms With An Inside Track To A New Trump Admin
Law firms that have represented Donald Trump and the Republican Party on everything from personal legal woes to election-related lawsuits could see the risks of that work pay dividends as Trump is projected to secure a second term in office.
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November 05, 2024
North Carolina Supreme Court Contest Poised For Recount
The race for North Carolina's lone Supreme Court seat seemed destined for a recount as the final votes trickled in during the early hours Wednesday, with Republican state Court of Appeals Judge Jefferson Griffin leading incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs by a slim margin.
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November 05, 2024
Wash. Supreme Court Race Too Close To Call
The race between a municipal court judge and a managing partner at Gordon Thomas Honeywell LLP for a seat on Washington's highest court was too close to call late Tuesday, with the Republican-backed judge just over 1,000 votes ahead of his challenger.
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November 05, 2024
Colo. Justices On Track To Stay On High Court
Three Colorado Supreme Court justices are set to keep their seats for another term, after a majority of the state's voters on Tuesday appear to have rejected rare calls to vote out the justices over a ruling to disqualify former President Donald Trump from the ballot and a separate judicial department scandal.
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November 05, 2024
Dems Deepen Hold On Michigan Supreme Court
The Democratic-nominated candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court defeated their Republican-backed opponents Wednesday morning, with Justice Kyra Bolden keeping her seat and University of Michigan law professor Kimberly Ann Thomas joining the court.
Expert Analysis
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Half-Truths Vs. Omissions: Slicing Justices' Macquarie Cake
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Macquarie v. Moab provides a road map for determining whether corporate reports that omit information should be considered misleading — and the court baked it into a dessert analogy that is key to understanding the guidelines, say Daniel Levy and Pavithra Kumar at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Chevron's End Puts Target On CFPB's Aggressive BNPL Rule
A recent interpretative rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, subjecting buy-now, pay-later loans to the same regulations as credit cards, is unlikely to survive post-Chevron challenges of the rule's partisan and shaky logic, say Scott Pearson and Bryan Schneider at Manatt.
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Justices' Ch. 11 Ruling Is A Big Moment For Debtors' Insurers
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Truck Insurance v. Kaiser Gypsum ruling upends decades of Chapter 11 bankruptcy jurisprudence that relegated a debtor’s insurer to the sidelines, giving insurers a new footing to try and avoid significant liability, say Stuart Gordon and Benjamin Wisher at Rivkin Radler.
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Justices' Starbucks Ruling May Limit NLRB Injunction Wins
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Starbucks v. McKinney, adopting a more stringent test for National Labor Relations Board Section 10(j) injunctions, may lessen the frequency with which employers must defend against injunctions alongside parallel unfair labor practice charges, say David Pryzbylski and Colleen Schade at Barnes & Thornburg.
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Justices' Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review
Each of the 11 criminal decisions issued in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently concluded term is independently important, but taken together, they reveal trends in the court’s broader approach to criminal law, presenting both pitfalls and opportunities for defendants and their counsel, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.
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7th Circ. Motorola Ruling Raises Stakes Of DTSA Litigation
The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Motorola v. Hytera gives plaintiffs a powerful tool to recover damages, greatly increasing the incentive to bring Defend Trade Secrets Act claims against defendants with large global sales because those sales could generate large settlements, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Series
After Chevron: Bid Protest Litigation Will Hold Steady For Now
Though the substantive holding of Loper Bright is unlikely to affect bid protests because questions of statutory interpretation are rare, the spirit of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision may signal a general trend away from agency deference even on the complex technical issues that often arise, say Kayleigh Scalzo and Andrew Guy at Covington.
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Challenging Prosecutors' Use Of Defendants' Jail Phone Calls
Although it’s an uphill battle under current case law, counsel for pretrial detainees may be able to challenge prosecutors’ use of jail-recorded phone calls between the defendant and their attorney by taking certain advance measures, say Jim McLoughlin and Fielding Huseth at Moore & Van Allen.
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How NJ Worker Status Ruling Benefits Real Estate Industry
In Kennedy v. Weichert, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently said a real estate agent’s employment contract would supersede the usual ABC test analysis to determine his classification as an independent contractor, preserving operational flexibility for the industry — and potentially others, say Jason Finkelstein and Dalila Haden at Cole Schotz.
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3 Policyholder Tips After Calif. Ruling Denying D&O Coverage
A California decision from June, Practice Fusion v. Freedom Specialty Insurance, denying a company's claim seeking reimbursement under a directors and officers insurance policy for its settlement with the Justice Department, highlights the importance of coordinating coverage for all operational risks and the danger of broad exclusionary policy language, says Geoffrey Fehling at Hunton.
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Opinion
Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Opinion
High Court Made Profound Mistake In Tossing Purdue Deal
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to throw out Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 plan jeopardizes a multistate agreement that would provide approximately $7 billion in much-needed relief to help fight the opioid epidemic, with states now likely doomed to spend years chasing individual defendants across the globe, says Swain Wood at Morningstar.
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Series
After Chevron: Piercing FEMA Authority Is Not Insurmountable
While the Federal Emergency Management Agency's discretionary authority continues to provide significant protection from claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, Loper Bright is a blow to the argument that Congress gave FEMA unfettered discretion to administer its own programs, says Wendy Huff Ellard at Baker Donelson.