Appellate

  • August 10, 2026

    9th Circ. Backs City Of Tacoma In Pension Liability Rate Fight

    A Ninth Circuit panel sided with the city of Tacoma, Washington, in a pension fund dispute Monday, holding that a lower court correctly upheld an arbitrator's reassessment of the city's liability after it withdrew from the Western Metal Industry Pension Fund following the expiration of underlying collective bargaining agreements.

  • August 10, 2026

    9th Circ. Backs FDA's Denial Of Fruit-, Candy-Flavored Vapes

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday affirmed the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's denial of Drip More LLC's applications to sell candy- and fruit-flavored vapes, saying the company didn't show those flavors provide an additional benefit to adult smokers that justifies the added risks that young people will use the products.

  • August 10, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Police Chief Immune From Hemp Farmer's Suit

    A panel of the Sixth Circuit has ruled that qualified immunity shielded a small-town police chief from civil rights claims lodged by an Ohio man who had dreams of farming hemp, finding the officer had probable cause to search and impound the man's car and arrest him.

  • August 10, 2026

    Michel, Startups Back Injunction Bid In Samsung Patent Case

    Former Chief Federal Circuit Judge Paul Michel, patent law professors and a group of startup companies on Monday backed Collision Communications Inc.'s bid for a permanent injunction on Samsung products found to infringe its patents, saying courts have misread U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

  • August 10, 2026

    9th Circ. Backs Wash. In PacifiCorp Carbon Law Regs Fight

    A divided Ninth Circuit panel declined on Friday to reinstate PacifiCorp's claims that Washington's carbon emissions cap-and-invest program unconstitutionally increases electricity prices for its out-of-state customers, concluding that the power company has not plausibly alleged the targeted regulations discriminate against interstate commerce.

  • August 10, 2026

    Mexico Urges Justices To Take Up $47M Award Suit

    Mexico has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take another look at the D.C. Circuit's opinion refusing to vacate a $47 million arbitral award issued to a Canadian lender, saying the justices need to establish a uniform standard to determine when a tribunal exceeded its powers.

  • August 10, 2026

    Okla. Co. Says Rig Seizure Claims Don't Need Redo

    An Oklahoma-based oil drilling company urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to disturb a D.C. Circuit ruling ordering Venezuela's state-owned oil company to face long-pending expropriation allegations, saying an underlying circuit split is too narrow to warrant the high court's attention.

  • August 10, 2026

    IBM Defeats Software Co. In Copyright Fight At 2nd Circ.

    A software company failed to persuade the Second Circuit to undo a federal judge's decision allowing IBM to dodge a copyright suit, with the appellate court on Monday agreeing the case was time-barred.

  • August 10, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs Axing Of Digital Chart Patents Under Alice

    The Federal Circuit on Monday said a California federal court was right to find that patents covering digital interactive charts are invalid under the U.S. Supreme Court's Alice decision, saying the patents "provide no meaningful limitation to the abstract idea" of creating charts.

  • August 10, 2026

    Ex-Altria Worker Gets Partial 4th Circ. Win In 401(k) Fight

    The Fourth Circuit revived part of an ex-Altria worker's suit claiming the company didn't move quick enough to liquidate his 401(k) assets so he could invest the cash in anticipation of a stock market bump, finding Monday he was improperly denied a contract document for the plan's record keeper.

  • August 10, 2026

    School Board Wins Appeal Over Football Game Fatal Shooting

    A New Jersey appellate court on Monday held that the Pleasantville Board of Education can't be held civilly liable for the death of a 10-year-old boy who was shot at a high school football game, ruling that the boy's estate was unable to demonstrate that the school board acted with deliberate indifference to any foreseeable danger.

  • August 10, 2026

    Meta Loses Appeal Days Before Social Media Trial Begins

    The Ninth Circuit said Monday it lacks jurisdictional authority over Meta's appeal in a social-media-addiction multidistrict litigation at this stage, saying Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act can provide a defense to liability but not immunity from a lawsuit.

  • August 10, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Won't Hit Refresh On Patent Claims Against Netflix

    The Federal Circuit on Monday refused to restore a content streaming patent Netflix was accused of infringing, agreeing with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that an earlier patent rendered the claims of the patent invalid.

  • August 10, 2026

    11th Circ. Backs Unions In Members' Race Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit upheld a win Monday for a pipe fitters union in a lawsuit alleging it routinely passing over Black journeyman pipe fitters for work assignments in favor of white workers, finding the claims failed to show that the unions had established discriminatory referral practices.

  • August 10, 2026

    11th Circ. Affirms Ga. University System's Win In Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Monday upheld a win for the University System of Georgia in a disability discrimination case brought by a former respiratory therapy student who alleged he was improperly found to be endangering patients' safety and given a failing grade as punishment.

  • August 10, 2026

    Mich. Transit Authority Can Call County Atty In Board Dispute

    The Bay Area Transportation Authority may call a Grand Traverse County attorney as a witness in a dispute over appointments to its board, a Michigan appellate panel ruled, finding the attorney's late addition to the witness list would not prejudice the county.

  • August 10, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Reverses PTAB On Prior Art Issue Over Dental IP

    The Federal Circuit on Monday reversed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that invalidated a group of claims in a Dental Monitoring SAS dental imaging patent, finding that a previous provisional patent application was missing a written description and thus can't be used as prior art.

  • August 10, 2026

    8th Circ. Nixes Native American Worker's Race Bias Suit

    The Eighth Circuit on Monday upheld a clinical research institute's defeat of a lawsuit from a former manager who said she was laid off because she's Native American, siding with the institute's assertion that she was let go for budgetary reasons because her position was funded with internal money.

  • August 10, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Reverses Ax Of Commerce Duty Review Deadline

    The U.S. Department of Commerce's 15-day preliminary deadline for indicating interest in a sunset review of duty orders is within the department's statutory authority, a Federal Circuit panel ruled, reversing a U.S. Court of International Trade ruling spiking the deadline.

  • August 10, 2026

    Mich. Panel Revives Sewage Damage Suits Over Service Fight

    Minor procedural variations in service do not warrant dismissal of a case as long as defendants are adequately informed of the pending litigation, a Michigan Court of Appeals panel said in a published opinion Thursday.

  • August 10, 2026

    Conn. Justices Order New Murder Trial Over Cell Data Flub

    The Connecticut Supreme Court on Monday said a lower court was correct to vacate a felony murder conviction based on a defense lawyer's failure to question a police expert about an animation that purported to pinpoint a defendant's cellphone movements based on tower location data.

  • August 10, 2026

    Mass. Court Says Insurer Must Defend Doctor In Stalking Case

    Massachusetts' highest court has ruled that an insurance company must defend a doctor in disciplinary proceedings for allegedly stalking and harassing a patient to whom he prescribed an addictive medication for several years.

  • August 10, 2026

    NJ Justices Rule No Purpose Needed In Takings Ordinances

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday held that municipalities do not need to state the public purpose for which private property is being taken within the measure authorizing condemnation, backing a lower court's finding that a borough properly used eminent domain to take over a 50-room motel where it plans to provide parking and electric vehicle charging.

  • August 10, 2026

    3rd Circ. Shuts Down Driver's CBS, Teamsters Retaliation Suit

    The Third Circuit declined Monday to reinstate a driver's suit claiming he was blocked from working on CBS film sets out of age bias and for complaining that Teamsters leaders were handing jobs to their friends, ruling that his case fell apart because the union didn't make hiring decisions.

  • August 10, 2026

    Biz Owners Appeal Morgan Lewis Win In Tax Shelter Suit

    A pair of business owners asked the Florida Supreme Court to reverse a decision affirming judgment in favor of Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP in a dispute over whether the law firm had routed income through illegal tax shelters.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Cert. Denials Keep Personal Jurisdiction Issues Percolating

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in Ford Motor v. Montana and Mallory v. Norfolk Southern Railway expanded limits on personal jurisdiction, the justices' denials this term of four certiorari petitions suggest they are content to let jurisdiction questions brew in lower courts before weighing in, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four recent rulings involving wage and hour allegations, medical care for incarcerated individuals, oil and gas royalty payments, and nuisance claims.

  • Flashpoints In Focus: Employer Risk After Trans Sports Ruling

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in West Virginia v. B.P.J. that allowed states to limit trans women's participation in sports, schools must carefully navigate investigations and religious accommodations, as even lawful athletics policies can lead to employment claims, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Inside Differing State Approaches To Prediction Market Taxes

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    As states adopt divergent approaches to prediction market platforms through both legislation and litigation, and the landscape is anything but settled, the emerging patchwork of state taxes on prediction markets presents novel questions about characterization, preemption and compliance, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • After Wash. Ruling, Paid Claim May Not End Bad Faith Risk

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    In Labeaume v. First National Insurance, a Washington appeals court recently held that the insurer's benefit payment did not preclude the plaintiff's Insurance Fair Conduct Act claim, expanding the scope of the act's cure provision and making claim documentation even more significant, says Rishabh Agny at Clyde & Co.

  • Series

    Being A Singer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Before law school, I spent seven years trying to make it as a professional singer in Los Angeles, and nearly everything I learned about preparation, humility, confidence and more has followed me into my legal practice, says Jessica Caterina at Moses & Singer.

  • Justices' Review Of Atty Fees Could Reshape Pipeline Takings

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to review Hoffmann v. WBI Energy Transmission, property owners' right to recover attorney fees for appropriations under the Natural Gas Act is at stake, potentially leading to a choice between a depressed land valuation or court costs that could exceed any rewards, says attorney Sophia Holley.

  • How 2nd Circ. Raised The Bar For Pleading Securities Fraud

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    In Huey v. Anavex, the Second Circuit recently appeared to increase the burden on securities fraud plaintiffs in pleading loss causation where no immediate share price decline follows the corrective disclosure, generating new questions that district courts must grapple with, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Trade Secret Practice Tips From The 1st Half Of 2026

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    Intellectual property attorneys should consider what several significant developments in 2026 thus far mean for how they protect, litigate and value trade secrets, focusing on new state noncompete bans, cases scrutinizing how plaintiffs identify trade secrets and federal rulings on damages doctrines, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Yellow Corp. WARN Act Appeal Refines Layoff Guidance

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    A Delaware federal court's recent upholding of a bankruptcy court's disallowance of unions' federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act claims against Yellow underscores that fact-specific notices and thoughtful timing are essential for distressed companies implementing layoffs, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • High Court Rulings Could Alter Agency Strategy For Cos.

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook mark major turning points in the law of independent agencies and in how regulated companies should think about federal enforcement, rulemaking and agency-facing strategy, say attorneys at Holtzman Vogel.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Parole Ruling Degrades Green Card Holders' Rights

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Blanche v. Lau, holding that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers can parole a returning lawful permanent resident without clear and convincing evidence of a crime, weakens the statutory and practical protections Congress intended, say attorneys at Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners.

  • 3rd Circ. ERISA Ruling Stresses Process Over Perfect Returns

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    The Third Circuit's recent decision in Quest Diagnostics affirms that a sound fiduciary process — not perfect investment returns — defeats Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims, signaling that courts will keep scrutinizing how fiduciaries decide, and sponsors who can show their work should remain protected, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.

  • Fed. Circ. Licensing Rulings Shed Light On Patentee Standing

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    Two recent decisions from the Federal Circuit provide a useful framework for evaluating whether a patent license agreement preserves a sufficient exclusionary interest to support future patent infringement claims, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Asylum Ruling Signals Larger Separation Of Powers Battle

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado that border officials may turn away asylum-seekers without inspection is part of a broader conversation about the reach of institutional safeguards that subject governmental authority to legal constraint, says Dree Collopy at American University's Washington College of Law.

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