Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Appellate
-
October 16, 2024
5th Circ. Pauses Block Of Texas Election Law
The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday pressed pause on a San Antonio judge's order blocking part of a controversial Texas election law, writing that a change in law less than three weeks before voters will cast their ballots will cause undue confusion during the election.
-
October 16, 2024
Teacher's Defamation Suit Can Proceed, NJ Court Says
A New Jersey teacher's claim that an Olympic fencer defamed her in social media posts about an incident in class involving a student's hijab can move forward, a state appellate court ruled Tuesday, finding the teacher adequately detailed facts that could constitute actual malice.
-
October 16, 2024
Monsanto's Appellate Bid To Stop Seattle PCB Trial Flops
A Washington appellate commissioner won't overrule a lower court's decision to forge ahead with a pending Monsanto PCB poisoning trial, rejecting the company's request to pause until the state Supreme Court decides a similar case, concluding that she would be improperly "substituting" her judgment for the trial court's by pausing the case.
-
October 16, 2024
NC Panel Won't Reignite Duke Energy Case Over House Fire
A split panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals declined to revive a liability suit brought against Duke Energy Corp. and a contractor it hired to install new meters at its customers' homes after one of those contractors allegedly caused a bed to catch fire leading to $130,000 in damage.
-
October 16, 2024
Mich. Panel Sinks Inventor's Atty Malpractice Appeal
A Michigan appellate panel has held that the inventor of a swim training device did not prove he would have built a successful custom swim paddle business had his attorney secured him a patent, affirming the dismissal of a legal malpractice suit against the inventor's patent attorney and firm.
-
October 16, 2024
Justices Question EPA's Authority For 'Vague' SF Water Permit
The U.S. Supreme Court during oral arguments on Wednesday appeared genuinely torn about what to make of San Francisco's challenge to a Clean Water Act permit issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which the city argues is impermissibly vague and difficult to comply with.
-
October 16, 2024
Justices Won't Review Tax Scam Co-Conspirator's Sentence
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the more than eight-year prison sentence for one of the men who conspired with a Canfield, Ohio defense attorney to perpetrate a tax refund scam that defrauded the U.S. Internal Revenue Service out of $1.3 million.
-
October 16, 2024
Fraud Probe Spoils Crop Insurance Case, 6th Circ. Rules
A Sixth Circuit panel on Tuesday affirmed dismissal of two Michigan farmers' claims against the federal government and a private crop insurer over claims of loss that have been stuck in limbo during a crop-insurance fraud investigation.
-
October 16, 2024
NY Urges Sotomayor Not To Block Broadband Price Cap Law
New York is fighting the telecommunications industry's effort to halt its new law capping broadband prices for low-income residents, telling U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor to reject a petition that would stay the law's implementation pending a forthcoming certiorari bid challenging the law.
-
October 16, 2024
AAM, Alvogen Back Sun Pharma In Double Patenting Row
A trade group representing generic-drug makers, a generic-drug company and a plant-breeding technology business have all thrown their support behind Sun Pharmaceutical Industries' bid for the full Federal Circuit to take a closer look at the issue of double patenting.
-
October 16, 2024
Fed. Circ. Restores Patent Fight Between LED Light Cos.
A small Utah company that claims to have developed novel LED lights persuaded the Federal Circuit on Wednesday to keep its patent lawsuit alive after a Los Angeles judge used an "improper construction" of words to allow a different company that sells light bulbs to slip out of the suit.
-
October 16, 2024
Fed. Circ. Affirms Samsung's PTAB Wins Over LED Patents
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision to invalidate the vast majority of two Lynk Labs LED patents, but wasn't ready to address a larger issue from a third, related case.
-
October 16, 2024
Trump Mostly Denied 'Speculative' Jan. 6 Document Bids
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday largely denied Donald Trump's request for documents from a slew of federal agencies as he defends against election interference charges, calling the motion mostly "speculation."
-
October 16, 2024
EPA Defends Rejection Of Smog Rule Reconsideration Pleas
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told the D.C. Circuit it reasonably rejected petitions by U.S. Steel Corp. and Hybar LLC to reconsider its so-called Good Neighbor Plan to curb cross-state ozone pollution after courts stayed the rule for some affected states.
-
October 16, 2024
DC Circ. Urged To Let Feds Fix Pipeline Safety Rules
A pipeline industry group urged a D.C. Circuit panel to reconsider its August decision throwing out a handful of new safety standards for gas transmission pipelines, warning that federal regulators' implementation of the court's mandate could lead to millions of dollars of unnecessary repair costs for pipeline operators.
-
October 16, 2024
Bipartisan Judgeships Bill In House Keeps Gaining Support
A Republican on the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday urged the House to pass his bipartisan bill to add 66 new and temporary judgeships to address the "overwhelming caseloads" in the federal courts.
-
October 16, 2024
Prosecutor's Office Seeks Order For NJ AG To Defend It
The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office urged the New Jersey appellate court Wednesday to order the state attorney general's office to defend and indemnify it in a lawsuit stemming from an internal affairs investigation of a police official.
-
October 16, 2024
Justices Won't Block EPA Power Plant Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rebuffed pleas to block implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest effort to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants while it's being challenged in court, but three justices indicated they had concerns with the rule's legality.
-
October 16, 2024
Feds Say EMTALA Trumps Idaho Abortion Ban In Emergencies
A legal fight over a federal law governing emergency medical care and Idaho's strict abortion ban is back in the Ninth Circuit where the federal government argued that the ban conflicts with the federal statute, but only in narrow circumstances requiring emergency abortions to stabilize a pregnant woman.
-
October 16, 2024
4th Circ. Affirms Judgment In Foreclosure Bid-Rigging Case
The Fourth Circuit backed a North Carolina federal court and tossed part of an appeal by a real estate company founder and others of a jury verdict that they rigged bids in foreclosure auctions in violation of state and federal antitrust laws.
-
October 15, 2024
Would-Be Wash. Justices Butt Heads On High Court's Record
A municipal judge running for an open seat on the Washington State Supreme Court criticized the high court's bench during a candidate forum Tuesday for not doing enough to support trial courts statewide, drawing pushback from both his opponent and a sitting justice who's seeking re-election unopposed.
-
October 15, 2024
Qualcomm Milked 'Weak Patents' For Monopoly, 9th Circ. Told
An attorney for a proposed class of cellphone buyers urged the 9th Circuit Monday to revive antitrust claims against Qualcomm, saying it used "weak patents" to secure licensing agreements that forced companies to give up their right to challenge the patents, although one judge questioned whether the plaintiffs had waived that argument.
-
October 15, 2024
Uber Faces Scrutiny From NY High Court In Negligence Case
Judges on New York's highest court on Tuesday grilled an Uber attorney over whether the rideshare company violated ethical rules when it failed to omit a user already pursuing a negligence lawsuit against it from an email blast providing notice about an updated arbitration agreement in its terms of use.
-
October 15, 2024
10th Circ. Won't Reboot Short Sellers' Suit Against Overstock
In a decision dealing with matters of first impression, the Tenth Circuit on Tuesday declined to revive a hedge fund's proposed class action accusing Overstock.com Inc. and its leadership of manipulating the market when it said it would pay shareholders using cryptocurrency but abandoned the plan to force short sellers into a "squeeze."
-
October 15, 2024
10th Circ. Finds Doll Co. Can Bring Copyright Suit In Utah
A Utah company that makes realistic human-sized dolls won a ruling from the Tenth Circuit on Tuesday that it can sue two Chinese companies for counterfeiting in Utah federal court because those businesses agreed to the jurisdiction of anywhere Amazon can be legally "found."
Expert Analysis
-
Opinion
Post-Chevron, Good Riddance To The Sentencing Guidelines
The U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of the Chevron doctrine may signal the end of the U.S. sentencing guidelines, which is good news given that they have accomplished the opposite of Congress’ original intent to bring certainty, proportionality and uniformity to sentencing, say attorneys Mark Allenbaugh, Doug Passon and Alan Ellis.
-
Series
After Chevron: Impact On CFPB May Be Limited
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is likely to have a limited impact on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulatory activities, and for those who value due process, consistency and predictability in consumer financial services regulation, this may be a good thing, says John Coleman at Orrick.
-
A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.
-
Series
After Chevron: 7 FERC Takeaways From Loper Bright
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine, it's likely that the majority of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's orders will not be affected, but the commission has nonetheless lost an important fallback argument and will have to approach rulemaking more cautiously, says Norman Bay at Willkie Farr.
-
Series
After Chevron: USDA Rules May Be Up In The Air
The Supreme Court's end of Chevron deference may cause more lawsuits against U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations, like the one redefining "unfair trade practices" under the Packers and Stockyards Act, or a new policy classifying salmonella as an adulterant in certain poultry products, says Bob Hibbert at Wiley.
-
7th Circ Joins Trend Of No CGL Coverage For Structural Flaws
The Seventh Circuit, which recently held potential structural instability did not count as property damage under a construction company's commercial general liability policy, joins a growing consensus that faulty work does not implicate coverage without tangible and present damage to the project, say Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty, and Elan Kandel and James Talbert at Bailey Cavalieri.
-
Series
In The CFPB Playbook: Making Good On Bold Promises
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure in the second quarter cleared the way for the bureau to resume a number of high-priority initiatives, and it appears poised to charge ahead in working toward its aggressive preelection agenda, say Andrew Arculin and Paula Vigo Marqués at Blank Rome.
-
Series
After Chevron: Creating New Hurdles For ESG Rulemaking
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision, limiting court deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, could have significant impacts on the future of ESG regulation, creating new hurdles for agency rulemaking around these emerging issues, and calling into question current administrative actions, says Leah Malone at Simpson Thacher.
-
Accidental Death Ruling Shows ERISA Review Standard's Pull
The Eleventh Circuit’s recent accidental death insurance ruling in Goldfarb v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance illustrates how an arbitrary and capricious standard of review in Employee Retirement Income Security Act denial-of-benefits cases creates a steep uphill battle for benefit claimants, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
-
Critical Questions Remain After High Court's Abortion Rulings
The U.S. Supreme Court's decisions in two major abortion-related cases this term largely preserve the status quo for now, but leave federal preemption, the Comstock Act and in vitro fertilization in limbo, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
-
California Adds A Novel Twist To State Suits Against Big Oil
California’s suit against Exxon Mobil Corp., one of several state suits that seek to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate-related harms, is unique both in the magnitude of the alleged claims and its use of a consumer protection statute to seek disgorgement of industry profits, says Julia Stein at UCLA School of Law.
-
Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
-
Why Justices Should Rule On FAA's Commerce Exception
The U.S. Supreme Court should review the Ninth Circuit's Ortiz v. Randstad decision, to clarify whether involvement in interstate commerce exempts workers from the Federal Arbitration Act, a crucial question given employers' and employees' strong competing interests in arbitration and litigation, says Collin Williams at New Era.
-
Series
After Chevron: Rethinking Agency Deference In IP Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent overturning of Chevron deference could make it simpler to challenge the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s proposed rule on terminal disclaimers and U.S. International Trade Commission interpretations, says William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.
-
FLSA Conditional Certification Is Alive And Well In 4th Circ.
A North Carolina federal court's recent decision in Johnson v. PHP emphasized continued preference by courts in the Fourth Circuit for a two-step conditional certification process for Fair Labor Standards Act collective actions, rejecting views from other circuits and affording plaintiffs a less burdensome path, say Joshua Adams and Damón Gray at Jackson Lewis.