Appellate

  • July 12, 2024

    NC Justices Asked To Take Up 'Double Odor' Pot Test Appeal

    Police should not be able to establish probable cause to search a vehicle based on the smell of cannabis and a perceived "cover scent," such as cologne, according to a petition filed to the North Carolina Supreme Court which described this kind of conduct as a "stealthy encroachment" on constitutional rights.

  • July 12, 2024

    FirstEnergy Denied 6th Circ. Appeal In Doc Dispute

    Scandal-plagued utility company FirstEnergy Corp. lost another attempt to shield internal investigation documents from a class of investors as well as its former CEO on Friday when an Ohio federal judge denied the company's request to appeal the dispute to the Sixth Circuit on a "logically fallacious" premise.

  • July 12, 2024

    Texas Assistant DA Blew Whistle A Day Late, Panel Finds

    A Texas appeals court tossed a suit filed by a former assistant district attorney who says he was fired for blowing the whistle on alleged kickbacks and other illegal acts by his colleagues, finding in a Friday opinion that the whistleblower filed his complaint one day past the deadline.

  • July 12, 2024

    2nd Circ. Revives 'Whole Wheat Flour' Cracker Label Suit

    Advertising which emphasized "organic whole wheat flour" in a box of crackers when white flour was the primary ingredient was misleading and "arguably false," according to the Second Circuit, which revived a lawsuit accusing Back to Nature Foods Co. of tricking its customers.

  • July 12, 2024

    CFPB Takes Its 5th Circ. Lumps To Advance Late Fee Rule Suit

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has told the Fifth Circuit that it won't appeal a three-judge panel's decision forcing it defend its $8 credit card late fee rule in Texas rather than Washington, D.C., a move that could expedite the agency's efforts to free the rule from a lower-court injunction.

  • July 12, 2024

    Split DC Circ. Backs NLRB Bargaining Order Against NY Hotel

    A divided D.C. Circuit panel on Friday upheld a National Labor Relations Board decision finding that a Brooklyn hotel's operator illegally refused to bargain with a union over economics until noneconomic issues were settled, finding the board's bargaining order was proper under federal labor law.

  • July 12, 2024

    Conn. Justices Avoid Entanglement Issues In Rabbi Land Row

    The Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday agreed that a property dispute between the Chabad Lubavitch of Western and Southern New England Inc. and a Stamford rabbi belongs before a private religious panel, settling the case on arbitration principles and declining to analyze broader entanglement questions.

  • July 12, 2024

    Texas DA Tells 5th Circ. He's Immune In Border Law Fight

    Texas District Attorney Bill Hicks told the Fifth Circuit its June decision finding another district attorney immune from a suit over changes to the state's election code means he should be shielded from a challenge to the Lone Star State's migrant arrest law.

  • July 12, 2024

    DC Circ. Upholds FCC Approval Of SpaceX Satellite Plan

    A D.C. Circuit panel Friday affirmed a Federal Communications Commission license authorizing SpaceX to deploy thousands of its Starlink satellites, rejecting challenges from satellite TV provider Dish Network LLC and advocacy group DarkSky International.

  • July 12, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Natera's Injunction In Cancer Test IP Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Friday upheld a preliminary injunction barring NeoGenomics Laboratories Inc. from selling certain cancer tests while a North Carolina federal court decided whether they infringed Natera Inc. patents.

  • July 12, 2024

    Expect NCAA To Dig In Heels On Employee Status After Ruling

    Even after Thursday's Third Circuit ruling clearing a path for college athletes to be considered employees, experts say the NCAA's record of litigating to the hilt on other athletes' rights matters portends a long road ahead before the issue is clarified.

  • July 12, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Probes Case With Apple Watch Import Ban At Stake

    In a case that could lead to a U.S. International Trade Commission import ban on the Apple Watch amid a patent dispute with AliveCor, Federal Circuit judges asked both companies Friday why a patent office tribunal that invalidated the patents didn't see evidence from the ITC case.

  • July 12, 2024

    Texas Lethal Injections Criminal Matter, Says Appeals Court

    A split Texas appeals court panel found that a state district court should have dismissed two death row inmates' suit because it did not have jurisdiction, with the majority saying Friday that any case seeking an injunction that could stay an execution falls under the jurisdiction of criminal courts.

  • July 12, 2024

    Texas Panel Revives Woman's Acupuncture Burn Suit

    A Texas court of appeals revived a suit accusing an acupuncturist of providing negligent suction cup treatment that left a woman with second-degree burns, finding the woman should be provided additional time to fix her deficient medical expert report.

  • July 12, 2024

    Off The Bench: NCAA Loses, Favre Wobbles, NFL Fights Back

    In this week's Off The Bench, the Third Circuit enlivens the debate over whether college athletes can be considered employees, the Fifth Circuit is skeptical of Brett Favre's defamation suit and the NFL disputes claims of racism.

  • July 12, 2024

    Apollo Seeks Chancery Toss Of Stockholder Pact Challenge

    Pointing in part to a pending Delaware law that would allow corporate directors to cede some board powers to big stockholders, Apollo Global Management Inc. has asked a Delaware vice chancellor to dismiss a suit challenging its own stockholder pact.

  • July 12, 2024

    Conn. Justices Say Town Can Tax Hospital's Property

    Personal property of a Connecticut hospital owned by Hartford HealthCare is taxable, the state Supreme Court said Friday, reversing a trial court opinion and ruling that Hartford's acquisition of the hospital negated a tax exemption for charitable entities.

  • July 12, 2024

    Payments To Ex-Wife Should Be Deductible, 11th Circ. Told

    A Georgia man told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday that his payments to his ex-wife as part of a marital settlement should qualify as alimony and therefore be deductible from his federal income taxes, asking the court to reverse a U.S. Tax Court decision.

  • July 12, 2024

    11th Circ. Ends Widow's Crash Suit Against Trucking Broker

    The widow of a man killed in a collision with a tractor trailer won't be able to press her negligent selection claim against the company that hired the trucker and his carrier after the Eleventh Circuit this week backed a district court's ruling that federal transportation law preempts her case.

  • July 12, 2024

    Zimmer Biomet Owes Despite Expired Patents, 7th Circ. Says

    Zimmer Biomet Holdings shouldn't have stopped paying royalties on knee replacement devices it developed using an orthopedic surgeon's various patents after those patents expired, the Seventh Circuit said Friday, backing a lower court's decision affirming an arbitration ruling in favor of the surgeon's estate.

  • July 12, 2024

    6th Circ. Delays FCC's Net Neutrality Effective Date

    The Sixth Circuit on Friday delayed the effective date of the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules by two weeks to give the court more time to consider an indefinite hold on the regulations during a legal challenge.

  • July 12, 2024

    Pa. Drive-In Dinged For Sleepovers In No-Campground Zone

    A Pennsylvania drive-in movie theater's "overnight passes" for guests to stay after a late-night showing or for multiple days of a movie marathon effectively made the theater into a campground and ran afoul of township zoning ordinances, a state appellate court ruled Friday.

  • July 12, 2024

    Texas City Escapes Suit Over 2014 Toby Keith Concert

    A state appeals court wrote that a south Texas city can escape a lawsuit brought by the promoters of a Toby Keith concert held at a city building, writing that the city didn't waive governmental immunity because the contract was verbal.

  • July 12, 2024

    Fed. Circ. To PTAB Detractor: Didn't We Do This Already?

    The Federal Circuit seemed confused Friday by Arbor Global Strategies' argument that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board was acting outside the Administrative Procedure Act when it invalidated the company's processor module patent claims, since they'd tackled that question in an earlier precedential opinion.

  • July 12, 2024

    Package Plea Deals Need More Scrutiny, Mich. Justices Say

    The Michigan Supreme Court said Friday that package plea bargains deserve more analysis due to the potential for co-defendants to pressure each other into taking a deal, with two justices sharply dissenting and cautioning the decision would increase trial court workloads and discourage prosecutors from offering deals.

Expert Analysis

  • High Court Paves Middle Ground For Proceedings Obstruction

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Fischer sensibly leaves the door open for prosecutors to make more nuanced assessments as to whether defendants' actions directly or tangentially impair the availability or integrity of anything used in an official proceeding, without criminalizing acts such as peaceful demonstrations, say attorneys at Perry Law.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Fed. Circ. Skinny Label Ruling Guides On Infringement Claims

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Amarin v. Hikma shows generic drug manufacturers must pay close attention to the statements in their abbreviated new drug application labels to put themselves in the best position in defending against an induced infringement claim, say Luke Shannon and Roshan Shrestha at Taft Stettinius.

  • Revisiting Scalia's 'What's It To You?' After Kaiser Ruling

    Author Photo

    While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser allows insurers to be considered "parties in interest" in Chapter 11 cases, they still need to show they would face an injury in fact, answering the late Justice Antonin Scalia's "what's it to you?" question, say Brent Weisenberg and Jeff Prol at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    After Chevron: FTC's 'Unfair Competition' Actions In Jeopardy

    Author Photo

    While the U.S. Supreme Court's decision ending Chevron deference will have limited effect on the Federal Trade Commission's merger guidelines, administrative enforcement actions and commission decisions on appeal, it could restrict the agency's expansive take on its rulemaking authority and threaten the noncompete ban, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

    Author Photo

    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Calif. Ruling Heightens Medical Product Maker Liability

    Author Photo

    The California Supreme Court's decision in Himes v. Somatics last month articulates a new causation standard for medical product manufacturer liability that may lead to stronger product disclosures nationwide and greater friction between manufacturers and physicians, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Opportunities For Change In FHFA Practices

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine should lead to better cooperation between the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Congress, and may give the FHFA a chance to embrace transparency and innovation and promote sustainable housing practices, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Constitutional Protections For Cannabis Companies Are Hazy

    Author Photo

    Cannabis businesses are subject to federal enforcement and tax, but often without the benefit of constitutional protections — and the entanglement of state and federal law and conflicting judicial opinions are creating confusion in the space, says Amber Lengacher at Purple Circle.

  • Supreme Court's ALJ Ruling Carries Implications Beyond SEC

    Author Photo

    In its recent Jarkesy opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the types of cases that can be tried before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house administrative law judges, setting the stage for challenges to the constitutionality of ALJs across other agencies, say Robert Robertson and Kimberley Church at Dechert.

  • Opinion

    A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • 2nd Circ. ERISA Ruling May Help Fight Unfair Arb. Clauses

    Author Photo

    The Second Circuit recently held that a plaintiff seeking planwide relief under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act cannot be compelled to individual arbitration, a decision that opens the door to new applications of the effective vindication doctrine to defeat onerous and one-sided arbitration clauses, say Raphael Janove and Liana Vitale at Janove.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

    Author Photo

    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Purdue Ch. 11 Ruling Reinforces Importance Of D&O Coverage

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, holding that a Chapter 11 reorganization cannot discharge claims against a nondebtor without affected claimants' consent, will open new litigation pathways surrounding corporate insolvency and increase the importance of robust directors and officers insurance, says Evan Bolla at Harris St. Laurent.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Appellate archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!