Appellate

  • July 01, 2024

    Colo. Justices To Mull If Xcel Is Immune From Injury Suits

    Colorado's justices announced Monday that they will consider whether a state-approved utility tariff governing Xcel's relationship with its customers can immunize the company from lawsuits about powerline injuries, including those brought by noncustomers.

  • July 01, 2024

    How Broad Immunity Could Upend Trump's 4 Criminal Cases

    The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision Monday that presidential immunity shields Donald Trump from criminal charges connected to his official acts creates a "nearly impossible burden" for the special counsel prosecuting Trump in the historic federal election interference case and complicates his other criminal matters, experts say.

  • July 01, 2024

    Ex-LSU Football Director Seeks Full 5th Circ. Bias Suit Review

    A former Louisiana State University football director asked the Fifth Circuit on Monday for a full-court review of its ruling that her bias suit does not plausibly show that school officials violated public records law by not turning over sexual harassment investigation records.

  • July 01, 2024

    RNC, Arizona Lawmakers Can't Pause Voting Rights Order

    The Republican National Committee and two top Arizona lawmakers can't pause a decision that bars provisions of voting legislation from being enforced pending an appeal to the Ninth Circuit, an Arizona federal judge said Friday, while also determining that the state's Republican Party can't weigh in on the dispute.

  • July 01, 2024

    4th Circ. Hikes Damages In 'Unite The Right' Rally Suit

    The Fourth Circuit ruled Monday that Virginia's punitive damages cap must be applied on a per-plaintiff basis, reversing a federal district court ruling that had limited a nearly $24 million verdict against white supremacists accused of planning violence at the 2017 "Unite the Right" rally to a total of $350,000.

  • July 01, 2024

    Dish Faces Appeal After Beating Jury's $469M Verdict

    A company that developed a way of skipping naughty scenes from movies wants the Federal Circuit to restore the $469 million that a jury in Salt Lake City ordered the satellite company Dish Network LLC to cough up for allegedly using those ideas to let customers skip commercials.

  • July 01, 2024

    Justices Told Clarity Needed On Ch. 11 Exculpations

    Highland Capital and parties opposed to the venture capital firm's Chapter 11 plan asked the U.S. Supreme Court to clear up how the high court's recent rejection of third-party claims releases in the Purdue Pharma reorganization applies to Chapter 11 exculpations.

  • July 01, 2024

    Atty Not 'Annoying' Enough For Restraining Order

    A California appeals court affirmed Monday a finding that a personal injury attorney's aggressive behavior toward another attorney only rose to the level of "annoying" and thus didn't warrant a permanent restraining order, saying the behavior must rise to the level of "seriously annoying" to be considered harassment.

  • July 01, 2024

    Top Personal Injury, Med Mal News: 2024 Midyear Report

    A high court ruling over whether bump stocks can be considered machine guns under a federal agency's rule banning the devices and a huge railroad settlement over a Norfolk Southern derailment disaster are among Law360's top personal injury and medical malpractice cases for the first six months of 2024.

  • July 01, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Hold Off VLSI Appeal For Lynk-Samsung Case

    The Federal Circuit on Monday denied a stay request from VLSI Technology LLC, where the chip patent owner had argued that related litigation between Lynk Labs and Samsung could affect the outcome of its appeal.

  • July 01, 2024

    JPMorgan Can't Collect Atty Fees, Oil Company Says

    An oil and gas company says JPMorgan Chase Bank is not entitled to attorney fees because the company did not assert any violations of the trust code, asking the Texas Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision to award about $2.4 million to the bank.

  • July 01, 2024

    NC Doctor Takes Abortion Drug Limits Fight To 4th Circ.

    A North Carolina doctor who challenged the state's restrictions on abortion drug mifepristone asked the Fourth Circuit to review a district court's decision to allow certain limits to stand.

  • July 01, 2024

    Texas Agency Urges Top Court To End Court Reporter's Suit

    The administrative agency tasked with oversight of court stenography in Texas asked the state's Supreme Court on Friday to shut down a court reporter's push to force it to investigate a digital transcription company, arguing that the agency doesn't have jurisdiction.

  • July 01, 2024

    2nd Circ. Throws Out Disbarred Ex-BigLaw Atty's RICO Suit

    Former BigLaw associate Anthony Zappin is now 0-for-16 in the flurry of lawsuits he filed after a 2015 divorce sanctions ruling led to him being fired, disbarred and routinely mocked in the New York City tabloids, after the Second Circuit on Monday upheld the dismissal of a racketeering case against three foes he blames for his predicament.

  • July 01, 2024

    CFTC Opponent Says No Chevron, No Election Betting Ban

    Online trading platform operator KalshiEx told a D.C. federal court that Friday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling shutting down Chevron deference is the end of the road for the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's attempts to ban election gambling on derivatives trading platforms.

  • July 01, 2024

    8th Circ. Reverses Sanctions On Ark. Firm Over Fee Award

    The Eighth Circuit has reversed a district court's sanction barring a law firm from participating in Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuits in the Eastern District of Arkansas over reported violations of the rules of civil procedure.

  • July 01, 2024

    Social Media Laws Need More Analysis, Justices Say

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday returned to the lower courts challenges to Florida and Texas laws prohibiting social media platforms from removing content or users based on viewpoint, saying that the Fifth and Eleventh circuits did not conduct the proper analysis on the facial First Amendment challenges to the laws.

  • July 01, 2024

    Supreme Court Gives Trump Immunity For Official Acts

    Former presidents are entitled to absolute immunity from prosecution related to an indefinite list of official acts, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday, partially releasing Donald Trump from liability for allegedly interfering with the 2020 presidential election, but ultimately tasking lower courts with sussing out the full extent of his immunity.

  • July 01, 2024

    Supreme Court Widens Window To Challenge Federal Regs

    Legal challenges to federal regulations can be brought outside the normal statute of limitations if someone isn't adversely affected until after the six-year window of time to file suit, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday.

  • June 28, 2024

    Chevron's End Is Just The Start For Energized Agency Foes

    By knocking down a powerful precedent that has towered over administrative law for 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court's right wing Friday gave a crowning achievement to anti-agency attorneys. But for those attorneys, the achievement is merely a means to an end, and experts expect a litigation blitzkrieg to materialize quickly in the aftermath.

  • June 28, 2024

    Paxton 5th Circ. Doc. Signals 'Unprecedented' Move By AG

    The recent publication of a Fifth Circuit opinion indicating that federal agencies are moving forward with a corruption investigation against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, while not unusual, suggests an "unprecedented" attempt from the state's chief legal officer to block witnesses from having to give grand jury testimony, experts told Law360.

  • June 28, 2024

    Will 'Moral Victory' In Purdue Ruling Help Plaintiffs?

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision that the Sackler family members who own Purdue Pharma LP cannot be shielded by the bankruptcy code from lawsuits over the opioid crisis reflects the widespread public outrage over their role in the epidemic, but experts say it remains unclear what will happen next for the individuals and governments that have sued the company.

  • June 28, 2024

    Quinn Slammed By Columbia For Its 'Continuing Audacity'

    Columbia University shot back Friday against arguments from Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP that Federal Circuit judges should disregard arguments made by the firm's former client, who says the firm lied to a federal court in Virginia to avoid damaging testimony in a $600 million patent case.

  • June 28, 2024

    Split SCOTX Revives Judge's Same-Sex Wedding Challenge

    A split Texas Supreme Court revived a judge's lawsuit against the state judicial ethics commission over sanctions for her refusal to officiate same-sex marriages, with the majority finding the judge's claims are not barred because she did not go through the administrative process.

  • June 28, 2024

    Texas Justices Back Ban On Gender Affirming Care For Minors

    The Texas Supreme Court upheld a state ban on medical treatments that affirm the gender identity of transgender youths, saying Friday that the legislature "made a permissible, rational policy choice," though a dissenting justice said the court allowed the state "to legislate away fundamental parental rights."

Expert Analysis

  • Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In May

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    A look at recent cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court provide guidance on how to succeed on appeal by clarifying the obviousness analysis of design patents, the finality of a judgment, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • What To Know As CFPB Late Fee Rule Hangs In Limbo

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    Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final credit card late fee rule faces an uncertain future due to litigation involving injunctions, emergency petitions and now a venue dispute, card issuers must understand how to navigate the interim period and what to do if the rule takes effect, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Updated Federal Rules Can Improve Product Liability MDLs

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    The recent amendment of a federal evidence rule regarding expert testimony and the proposal of a civil rule on managing early discovery in multidistrict legislation hold great promise for promoting the uniform and efficient processes that high-stakes product liability cases particularly need, say Alan Klein and William Heaston at Duane Morris.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Shows Lies Must Go To Nature Of Bargain

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    The Ninth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Milheiser decision, vacating six mail fraud convictions, clarifies that the key question in federal fraud cases is not whether lies were told, but what they were told about — thus requiring defense counsel to rethink their strategies, say Charles Kreindler and Krista Landis at Sheppard Mullin.

  • What High Court Ruling Means For Sexual Harassment Claims

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    In its recent Smith v. Spizzirri decision, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a district court compelling a case to arbitration is obligated to stay the case rather than dismissing it, but this requirement may result in sexual harassment cases not being heard by appellate courts, says Abe Melamed at Signature Resolution.

  • Trademark In Artistic Works 1 Year After Jack Daniel's

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    In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court's Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products ruling, courts have applied Jack Daniel's inconsistently to deny First Amendment protection to artistic works, providing guidance for dismissing trademark claims relating to film and TV titles, say Hardy Ehlers and Neema Sahni at Covington.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Broadens Sweep Of Securities 'Solicitation'

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent revival of a putative securities fraud class action against Genius Brands for hiring a stock promoter to write favorable articles about it shows that companies should view "solicitation" broadly in considering whether they may have paid someone to urge an investor to purchase a security, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond

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    Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • 5th Circ. Venue-Transfer Cases Highlight Mandamus Limits

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    Three ongoing cases filed within the Fifth Circuit highlight an odd procedural wrinkle that may let district courts defy an appellate writ: orders granting transfer to out-of-circuit districts, but parties opposing intercircuit transfer can work around this hurdle to effective appellate review, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.

  • PTAB Rulings Shed Light On Quantum Computing Patents

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    Recent Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions on enablement rejections against quantum computing patent claims provide patent practitioners with valuable guidance on best practices for avoiding and overcoming enablement, say Fred Qiu and Alex Nie at Sheppard Mullin.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

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