Justices To Clarify Article III Standing For Certified Classes

By Dorothy Atkins

The U.S. Supreme Court granted LabCorp's request on Friday to clarify federal law regarding whether district courts can certify class actions when some members of the proposed class may lack a cognizable injury in fact.

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High Court To Hear Okla. Religious Charter School Case

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to decide whether Oklahoma can publicly fund the nation's first Catholic charter school, a potential blockbuster of a case that could open the door for further use of taxpayer money for religious schools.

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Fed. Circ. Partly Revives Steuben's Win In $38M IP Trial

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit largely revived Steuben Foods' infringement victory from a jury trial on Friday, in an opinion that also delved into the status of the rarely used reverse doctrine of equivalents.

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FDA's Premium Cigar Regulations Overturned By DC Circ.

By Ali Sullivan

A D.C. Circuit panel ruled on Friday that the Food and Drug Administration acted arbitrarily when subjecting premium, hand-rolled cigars to the same regulations as other tobacco products, saying the agency was wrong to overlook two studies about infrequent premium cigar use.

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9th Circ. Renews Billing Co.'s Suit Against Texas Data Firm

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel on Friday partly revived a Washington billing services company's lawsuit over a soured business deal with bankrupt Addison Data Services, finding a bankruptcy settlement agreement and the statute of limitations can't keep the plaintiff from pursuing its breach of fiduciary duty claims.

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8th Circ. Upholds Block On Iowa's Immigration Law

By Spencer Brewer

An Eighth Circuit panel upheld an order barring Iowa from enforcing a state law that criminalizes noncitizens who enter the state after deportation from the U.S., saying in a Friday opinion the law doesn't pass a constitutional smell test.

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'Waverly Two' Will Walk Free After Biden Commutation

By Rachel Rippetoe

Among the nearly 2,500 people for whom former President Joe Biden commuted sentences before he left office were Terence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne, who were sentenced to life in prison in 2001 even though a federal jury found them not guilty of murder.

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Justices Urged To Review Souvenir Store's TM Fraud Case

By Theresa Schliep

A Florida souvenir store chain has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to consider its challenge to a Second Circuit decision foreclosing its arguments that a bankrupt beachwear company fraudulently procured a trademark registration to secure a $3.5 million settlement in yearslong litigation between the competitors.

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Lawmakers Want FCC Subsidy Fund Preserved At High Court

By Christopher Cole

Nearly 30 members of the U.S. House and Senate from both parties are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to keep in place the Federal Communications Commission's system of raising funds from telecom providers to pay for connectivity around the country.

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Anti-Abortion Group Seeks High Court Review Of NJ Probe

By Ali Sullivan

An anti-abortion pregnancy center operator wants the U.S. Supreme Court to revive its federal court challenge to a subpoena from the New Jersey attorney general that seeks information about its donors, urging the court in a petition for certiorari to resolve a legal "Catch-22."

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Trump Energy Order Disrupts High-Profile NEPA Cases

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

One of President Donald Trump's first energy-related executive orders is unsettling closely watched litigation in the U.S. Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit regarding the executive branch's power to implement the National Environmental Policy Act.

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Brief

Trump Admin Requests Justices Pause Three Energy Cases

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The Trump administration on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause three cases so the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can review Biden-era regulatory decisions that may alter the government's legal positions.

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Brief

Education Department Asks For Pause In Student Loan Case

By Spencer Brewer

The federal government asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to pause a review of a Fifth Circuit block on a program that forgives student loans if the borrower was scammed, saying it needed to "reassess" its position following President Donald Trump's inauguration.

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Hunter Biden Pans IRS Agents' Appeal To Enter Privacy Suit

By Anna Scott Farrell

Hunter Biden urged the D.C. Circuit to affirm a ruling preventing the IRS agents he has accused of improperly revealing his tax return information from intervening in his privacy suit against the U.S. government, saying the court should reject their claims about the importance of their participation.

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Fed. Circ. Upholds Intel PTAB Win In Qualcomm Fight

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit said Friday it won't undo a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that invalidated several claims of a Qualcomm Inc. patent it had previously upheld, backing the board's latest claim construction in favor of Intel.

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Deere Loses Fed. Circ. Bid To Revive Seeding Patent Fight

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Friday shot down John Deere's appeal of its loss at the lower court in a case where a jury found that a rival's SpeedTube products didn't infringe a pair of patents, affirming a lower court's denial of the farming equipment giant's bid for a new trial.

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Chinese Co. Rips Micron's 'Speculative' Fear Of Sharing Code

By Hailey Konnath

Yangtze Memory Technologies on Friday urged the Federal Circuit to leave in place a district court's ruling requiring rival Micron Technology Inc. to turn over its source code in a flash memory chip patent dispute, arguing that Micron's security concerns "are entirely speculative."

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Brief

3rd Circ. Halts Pa. Med Insurer Suit Pending High Court Review

By George Woolston

The Third Circuit agreed Friday to put a hold on its ruling that Pennsylvania's medical malpractice insurance fund is an agency of the state and can dip into the fund's $300 million budget surplus pending the outcome of the fund's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Army Exploits Pa. Boarding School Cemetery, 4th Circ. Told

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Army is exploiting an Indian boarding school cemetery as a repository for human remains, a Nebraska tribe told the Fourth Circuit, arguing that the military institution is conducting research and other activities that serve its goals rather than respecting the sovereignty and traditions of Indigenous people.

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5th Circ. Won't Remand New Orleans Coastal Damage Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

A Fifth Circuit panel denied New Orleans' bid to have a lawsuit alleging that Chevron, ExxonMobil and other pipeline companies damaged its coastal areas returned to a Pelican State court, affirming a decision that kept the litigation in federal courts as the companies requested.

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5th Circ. Upholds Tossing Medicare Rate Policy Challenge

By Madeline Lyskawa

A Fifth Circuit panel said it agrees with a Texas federal judge that a lawsuit brought by four anesthesia practices claiming a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policy will cost them $4 million in reduced reimbursements is statutorily barred.

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FTC Says Noncompete Ban Defense Is Its Job, Not Intervenor's

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission is urging the Fifth and Eleventh circuits not to permit an entrepreneurs group to intervene in support of the FTC's currently blocked noncompete ban in case the commission opts to abandon its defense, arguing Congress left it up to government agencies to defend their own regulations.

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SAP Seeks Full 9th Circ. Rehearing Of Revived Tying Suit

By Jared Foretek

German software giant SAP is asking the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its revival of data analytics company Teradata's trade secrets and tying suit against it, saying the panel wrongly applied per se antitrust treatment to a "highly innovative software market."

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10th Circ. Unsure Exec's Missed Argument Dooms Firing Suit

By Thy Vo

A Tenth Circuit judge on Friday asked U.S. Bank whether it matters if a former executive knew he had another jurisdictional argument for his wrongful termination claim but failed to pursue it, in an appeal attempting to revive the executive's second suit.

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11th Circ. Upholds $23M Ruling Against Venezuelan Oil Cos.

By David Minsky

The Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday that two Venezuelan oil companies can't reverse a $23 million judgment over breach of contract for the sale of chemicals, saying they waived challenges to personal jurisdiction at key points in the litigation, and the record shows no genuine factual issues surrounding the broken agreements.

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11th Circ. Overturns FCC One-To-One Marketing Consent Rule

By Christopher Cole

The Eleventh Circuit late Friday overturned a Federal Communications Commission rule requiring individual consumer consent to receive contacts from companies through comparison shopping sites.

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Ex-Koch Managers Ask 11th. Circ. To Undo Assault Verdict

By Kelcey Caulder

The Eleventh Circuit on Friday considered whether to reverse assault and battery verdicts against two former Koch Foods human resource managers accused of inviting an employee to their home, propositioning her and subjecting her to disciplinary action at work when she refused their advances.

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Calif. Panel Remands Ex-DA Worker's Bias Suit Over Slur

By Patrick Hoff

A California appeals panel reopened a discrimination lawsuit against the San Francisco District Attorney's Office by a Black ex-employee, saying a trial court should evaluate the city's response to a co-worker's racial slur given a state Supreme Court ruling that a single epithet can create a hostile work environment.

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Norfolk Southern Can't Control Fiber Installation Under Tracks

By Carolyn Muyskens

The Michigan Supreme Court left intact a ruling that Norfolk Southern Railway Co. can't force a fiber internet provider to obtain its permission before installing cable under railroad tracks at an intersection with a public road, turning down the railroad company's appeal after oral arguments.

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Mich. Justices Pass On FCA Employee's Racial Slur Appeal

By Rae Ann Varona

The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday refused to revive a Black man's racial discrimination lawsuit that alleged his supervisor at FCA US LLC regularly called him a racial slur, although two justices, while concurring with the decision, disagreed that the man insufficiently alleged a racially hostile work environment.

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Ill. Justices OK Workers' Injury Suits Over Dormant Diseases

By Dorothy Atkins

The Illinois Supreme Court answered the Seventh Circuit's call on Friday to clarify the state's Workers' Occupational Diseases Act in a widow's wrongful death lawsuit against Goodrich Corp., finding the statute can apply to claims for asbestos-related cancer and other diseases that manifest belatedly despite the statute's other temporal restrictions.

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Patient Can't Sue Over Clinic's 'Data Incident,' Ill. Justices Say

By Lauraann Wood

A medical clinic patient who received a letter stating a "data incident" may have compromised her personal information but appeared not to have led to the information's misuse does not have standing to pursue proposed class claims for damages, the Illinois Supreme Court said Friday.

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Ill. Casino Applicant Loses Out On License Denial Challenge

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

A tribal-led casino applicant that was denied a license to open up in Waukegan, Illinois, does not have standing to appeal that rejection, the state's highest court said on Friday, restoring a trial court's decision on the matter.

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Ill. Justices Say Performance Bonuses Count In OT Math

By Irene Spezzamonte

Two workers will have another shot at arguing an electric company failed to pay the proper amount of overtime because state law doesn't exclude performance bonuses from overtime math, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled Friday.

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Del. Justices Reject Investor Suit Over Dropped Drug Prospect

By Sydney Price

Delaware's Supreme Court on Friday upheld a Court of Chancery decision dismissing a Ception Therapeutics Inc. stockholder suit alleging breaches of an agreement to use commercially reasonable efforts before Cephalon Inc., which acquired Ception, and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. abandoned a new drug prospect.

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Scorned Hot Dog Biz Buyer Urges NC Justices To Revive Suit

By Ryan Harroff

A businessman who claims he was cut out of a deal to buy a chain of Ohio hot dog eateries urged the North Carolina Supreme Court to revive his suit against a man who the businessman said was supposed to be his partner, arguing only a jury can resolve the matter.

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Conn. Residents Lose Appeal Challenging Propane Facility

By Hayley Fowler

A group of citizens in Connecticut who opposed their town's plans to build a bulk propane storage facility can't show how they were aggrieved and, therefore, don't have standing to sue, a state appellate panel ruled Friday in affirming the trial court's dismissal of their case.

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Netflix Urges Colo. Court To Reject Tax On Streaming Video

By Sanjay Talwani

Netflix subscriptions are not tangible personal property that is subject to Colorado sales tax, the company told a state appeals court, urging it to uphold a district court decision.

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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: Nov. And Dec. Lessons

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five federal court decisions and identifies practice tips from cases involving takings clause violations, breach of contract with banks, life insurance policies, employment and automobile defects.

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Mentorship Resolutions For The New Year

Attorneys tend to focus on personal achievements or career milestones when they set yearly goals, but one important area often gets overlooked in this process — mentoring relationships, which are some of the most effective tools for professional growth, say Kelly Galligan at Rutan & Tucker and Andra Greene at Phillips ADR.

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Analysis

Companies Risk White House Wrath By Keeping DEI Programs

By Sarah Jarvis

For companies pushing forward with their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives amid a torrent of attacks from President Donald Trump and his allies, there are myriad potential risks ahead — and murky questions about the legal parameters of Trump's anti-DEI agenda.

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Law Students Scramble As Federal Gov't Yanks Job Offers

By Alison Knezevich

Law students across the country are scrambling to figure out their next steps after a range of federal agencies yanked job and internship offers this week because of the new hiring freeze imposed by the Trump administration.

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Mass Tort Atty Files Ch. 11 Owing $202M To Litigation Funders

By Hilary Russ

A Houston plaintiffs attorney has filed for personal Chapter 11 protection with more than $202 million of litigation funding liabilities, according to his petition in the Southern District of Texas.

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Feud Heats Up Over Estate Of Wife Killed By Ex-BigLaw Atty

By Emily Johnson

The godson of a Georgia woman killed by her husband, former Fisher Phillips partner Claud "Tex" McIver, has said her cousins shouldn't get proceeds from a settlement of an underlying wrongful death suit, calling them "strangers" to her and claiming "the redistributive windfall" they're asking for "has no place in Georgia law."

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Boston Firm Says IT Vendor Holding Computers 'Hostage'

By Julie Manganis

Boston-based law firm Melick & Porter LLP says a company it hired to manage its information technology is now holding its computer network and data "hostage" by refusing to cooperate with the transition to a new vendor unless Melick pays it $380,000.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Phillips Black Inc., Ridley McGreevy & Winocur PC and King & Spalding LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court revived claims from a woman on death row in Oklahoma that prosecutors unfairly sex-shamed her and relied on gender-based stereotypes to convince a jury that she had killed her estranged husband for insurance money.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

A new Law360 Pulse survey shows that more than 90% of in-house counsel have no regrets about their decisions to join companies. In litigation stemming from Purdue Pharma's sales of OxyContin that fueled the opioid crisis, the Sackler family would lose control of Purdue and pay $6.5 billion in the latest proposed settlement. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.​

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen Axa Insurance and Admiral face a claim from a former lawyer recently exposed for personal injury fraud, the owner of Reading Football Club sue a prospective buyer and mobile network Lycamobile tackle action by Spanish network Yogio. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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