Appellate

  • April 23, 2025

    3rd Circ. Backs Health Network In Suit Over Malpractice Case

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday declined to reinstate a retired lawyer's case against the Rothman Institute Orthopedic Foundation for not giving him an affidavit of merit to support medical malpractice claims against different healthcare providers, with the panel ruling the institute did not interfere with his ability to seek legal recourse.

  • April 23, 2025

    10th Circ. Says Lower Court Erred On Pollution Coverage

    A Tenth Circuit panel determined Wednesday that absolute pollution exclusions in insurance policies unambiguously prevented a New Mexico property owner from obtaining coverage for underlying contamination litigation, reversing a decision by a district court and saying that court erred "in all key respects."

  • April 23, 2025

    Del. Justices Mull Scope Of Jenzabar Founders' Control Feud

    A Delaware Supreme Court justice on Wednesday pressed an attorney for a co-founder of higher education software venture Jenzabar Inc. on whether he had adopted a "rather expansive reading" for claims of continuing wrongs in an appeal from rulings tied to a divorcing couple's sprawling battles over control of the business.

  • April 23, 2025

    NC Justice Hammers Home Depot's Reading Of Sales Law

    A North Carolina Supreme Court justice reminded Home Depot on Wednesday that it was arguing to "a lot of textualists" in a case about the state's ban on referral sales programs, with the justice suggesting the language in the law does not require a showing of inducement to prove harm.

  • April 23, 2025

    Texas Court Skeptical Of 'Death Star' Standing Argument

    A Texas appellate judge asked the state Wednesday if it expected three of its largest cities to " wait for a thousand tiny cuts" before being allowed to challenge a bill nicknamed the "Death Star" by opponents, which they say infringe on their ability to manage their own affairs.

  • April 23, 2025

    Fla. Panel Reverses Promoter's $1M Award Against Pro Boxer

    A Florida appeals court on Wednesday reversed a $1.45 million judgment against professional Mexican boxer Saul "Canelo" Alvarez, finding that the award for Alvarez's former promoter — who claimed he was owed part of Alvarez's earnings — was not based on competent substantial evidence.

  • April 23, 2025

    6th Circ. Calls Compassionate Release Change A 'Power Grab'

    The U.S. Sentencing Commission overstepped by telling prisoners serving unusually long sentences that they can seek early release due to changes in sentencing law, the Sixth Circuit ruled Tuesday, deeming the move "a heavy-handed and unseemly power grab by the commission." 

  • April 23, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Web Patent Suit Against Meta, Others

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed a district court's denial of an inventor's bid to undo a finding that a website hot spot patent he accused Meta, Microsoft and others of infringing was invalid, rejecting his argument he didn't get a fair shot when he was at the Federal Circuit before because U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman was on an earlier panel.

  • April 23, 2025

    Justices Hint That Fuel Groups Can Fight Emissions Waiver

    U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday appeared to back a contention from fuel industry groups that they have standing to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Act waiver allowing California to set its own greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles.

  • April 23, 2025

    Severance Deal Bars 401(K) Suit, Whataburger Tells 5th Circ.

    Whataburger asked the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday to uphold the dismissal of an ex-worker's suit claiming the company failed to trim underperforming investment funds from its $215 million retirement plan, stating the lower court correctly found a release he signed doomed his case.

  • April 23, 2025

    'Minute Entry' Isn't A Real Judicial Order, 2nd Circ. Told

    A Second Circuit panel on Wednesday seemed skeptical of a plastic resin producer's claim that a Connecticut federal district judge's oral ruling and follow-up minute entry weren't formal orders triggering a deadline to appeal several contract dispute losses totaling $1.7 million.

  • April 23, 2025

    Judge Lifts Biocon Eye Med Biosimilar Ban After Settlement

    A West Virginia federal judge has vacated a permanent injunction that had blocked Biocon Biologics Inc. from selling a biosimilar to Regeneron's blockbuster eye medication Eylea in the U.S., citing a settlement agreement in the patent litigation allowing sales of the biosimilar in 2026.

  • April 23, 2025

    Plastic Co. Asks 1st Circ. To Undo Class Cert In PFOA Suit

    Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics Co. told the First Circuit that a New Hampshire federal judge's overly broad class certification for plaintiffs claiming it contaminated thousands of properties with a toxic forever chemical must be reversed, arguing that it opened courthouse doors to uninjured class members.

  • April 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Asked To Modify Ruling In LA Port Co. Coverage Row

    A Los Angeles port operator's insurer asked a three-judge panel in the Ninth Circuit to rethink part of its decision ordering a jury trial on the amount of defense costs the operator incurred while litigating pollution claims brought by the city, arguing they improperly relied on a depublished decision.

  • April 23, 2025

    6th Circ. Preserves Enbridge's Pipeline Suit Against Mich.

    The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday said Enbridge Energy LP can pursue its lawsuit challenging Michigan's decision to revoke an easement for a natural gas and oil pipeline, rejecting the state's argument that it was protected by sovereign immunity.

  • April 23, 2025

    Allstate Denied Appeal In Fla. Suit Involving 'Phantom' Vehicle

    A Florida state appellate court Wednesday denied Allstate insurance company's appeal in a collision lawsuit involving a "phantom" car, saying witnesses' general denial of ever seeing the vehicle isn't enough to overcome the inference that it didn't exist.

  • April 23, 2025

    Feds Ask 1st Circ. To Pause Block On '3rd Country' Removals

    The Trump administration has asked the First Circuit to lift an order restricting deportations to countries where migrants have no prior ties and may face safety risks, describing the Massachusetts federal judge's ruling as an "unlawful" overreach.

  • April 23, 2025

    SCOTUSblog Sold Amid Goldstein's Criminal Case

    SCOTUSblog has been sold to digital media company The Dispatch, according to announcements from both publications Wednesday, marking a new chapter for the U.S. Supreme Court-focused legal publication while its co-founder Tom Goldstein faces criminal charges.

  • April 23, 2025

    Ex-Atlanta Atty Asks 11th Circ. To Revive Sex Harassment Suit

    A former attorney for the city of Atlanta urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to revive her sexual harassment and disability discrimination suit against the city alleging she was fired after complaining that her boss, a prominent civil rights lawyer, made sexual advances towards her.

  • April 23, 2025

    Immigration Board Won't Halt Removal Of Ex-Gang Member

    The Board of Immigration Appeals said a former MS-13 gang member has not met his burden to show that he is more likely than not to be tortured in El Salvador, reversing an immigration judge's decision deferring his removal.

  • April 23, 2025

    Ex-Ky. Dinsmore L&E Atty Joins Cozen O'Connor In Chicago

    Cozen O'Connor announced Wednesday that an employment and appellate litigator from Dinsmore & Shohl LLP is joining its Chicago office after 15 years practicing in Kentucky.

  • April 23, 2025

    5th Circ. Nixes Order Letting Union Join NLRB Challenge

    The Fifth Circuit has walked back an order allowing the Office and Professional Employees International Union to intervene in a high-profile case challenging the National Labor Relations Board's constitutionality, saying the union's interests are adequately spelled out in its amicus brief and represented by the board.

  • April 23, 2025

    Governor Taps Appellate Judge For Michigan Supreme Court

    Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Noah P. Hood was picked Wednesday to fill a vacancy on the state's highest court left by the chief justice's resignation this month.

  • April 23, 2025

    Mo. Counties, State Argue For Cannabis Tax At High Court

    A county is a local government and should be allowed to impose a 3% additional sales tax on adult-use cannabis, two counties and the Missouri revenue director told the state Supreme Court.

  • April 23, 2025

    Vanderbilt QB Fights To Protect NCAA Eligibility At 6th Circ.

    Attorneys for Vanderbilt University quarterback Diego Pavia urged the Sixth Circuit to leave in place a lower court's rebuke of the NCAA's rule limiting eligibility for junior-college athletes, stressing that the disputed restrictions are a flagrant violation of antitrust law.

Expert Analysis

  • How Del. Law Rework Limits Corporate Records Requests

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    Newly enacted amendments to a section of the Delaware General Corporation Law that allows stockholders and beneficial owners to demand inspection of Delaware corporations' books and records likely curtails the scope of such inspections and aids defendants in framing motions to dismiss at the pleading stage, says Jonathan Richman at Brown Rudnick.

  • A Recurring Atty Fee Question Returns To Texas High Court

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    As the Texas Supreme Court is poised to decide if it will once again address — in Maciejack v. City of Oak Point — when a party must segregate attorney fees it seeks to recover, litigators would be wise to contemporaneously classify fees as either recoverable or unrecoverable, say attorneys at Munck Wilson.

  • Alien Enemies Act Case Could Reshape Executive Power

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    President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals raises fundamental questions about statutory interpretation, executive power and constitutional structure, which now lay on the U.S. Supreme Court's doorstep, says Mauni Jalali at Quinn Emanuel.

  • An Update On IPR Issue Preclusion In District Court Litigation

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    Two recent Federal Circuit rulings have resolved a district court split regarding issue preclusion based on Patent Trial and Appeal Board outcomes, potentially counseling petitioners in favor of challenging not only all the claims of an asserted patent, but also related patents that have not yet been raised in district court, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Leadership To BigLaw

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    The move from government service to private practice can feel like changing one’s identity, but as someone who has left the U.S. Department of Justice twice, I’ve learned that a successful transition requires patience, effort and the realization that the rewards of practicing law don’t come from one particular position, says Richard Donoghue at Pillsbury.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Reaffirms Listing Elements Separately Is Key

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    The Federal Circuit's decision last month in Regeneron v. Mylan reaffirms a critical principle in patent law: When a claim lists elements separately, the clear implication is that they are distinct elements, say attorneys at Taft.

  • Nev. Fraud Ruling Raises Stakes For Proxy Battles

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    Though a Nevada federal court’s recent U.S. v. Boruchowitz decision involved unusual facts, the court's ruling that board members can be defrauded of their seat through misrepresentations increases fraud risks in more typical circumstances involving board elections, especially proxy fights, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Law Firm Executive Orders Create A Legal Ethics Minefield

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    Recent executive orders targeting BigLaw firms create ethical dilemmas — and raise the specter of civil or criminal liability — for the government attorneys tasked with implementing them and for the law firms that choose to make agreements with the administration, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • NLRB Firing May Need Justices' Input On Removal Power

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    President Donald Trump's unprecedented removal of National Labor Relations Board member Gwynne Wilcox spurred a lawsuit that is sure to be closely watched, as it may cause the U.S. Supreme Court to reexamine a 1935 precedent that has limited the president's removal powers, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

  • Firms Must Embrace Alternative Billing Models Or Fall Behind

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    As artificial intelligence tools eliminate inefficiencies and the Big Four accounting firms enter the legal market, law firms that pivot from the entrenched billable hour model to outcomes-based pricing will see a distinct competitive advantage, says attorney William Brewer.

  • Risks Of Today's Proffer Agreements May Outweigh Benefits

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    Modern-day proffer agreements offer fewer protections to individuals as U.S. attorney's offices take different approaches to information-sharing, so counsel must consider pushing for provisions in such agreements that bar the prosecuting office from sharing information with nonparty government agencies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • SDNY Sentencing Ruling Is Boon For White Collar Defendants

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    Defense attorneys should consider how to maximize the impact of a New York federal court’s recent groundbreaking ruling in U.S. v. Tavberidze, which held that a sentencing guidelines provision unconstitutionally penalizes the right to a jury trial, says Sarah Sulkowski at Gelber & Santillo.

  • How Attorneys Can Master The Art Of On-Camera Presence

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    As attorneys are increasingly presented with on-camera opportunities, they can adapt their traditional legal skills for video contexts — such as virtual client meetings, marketing content or media interviews — by understanding the medium and making intentional adjustments, says Kerry Barrett.

  • What Del. Corporate Law Rework Means For Founder-Led Cos.

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    Although the amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law have proven somewhat divisive, they will provide greater clarity and predictability in the rules that apply to founder-led companies navigating transactions concerning controlling stockholders and responding to books-and-records requests, say attorneys at Munger Tolles.

  • Patent Drafting Pointers From Fed. Circ. COVID Test Ruling

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in DNA Genotek v. Spectrum Solutions provides several best practice pointers for drafting and prosecuting patent applications, highlighting how nuances in wording can potentially limit the scope of claims or otherwise affect claim constructions, says Irah Donner at Manatt.

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