Appellate

  • March 17, 2025

    2nd Circ. Sends Amazon Wage Question To Conn. Justices

    The Second Circuit asked Connecticut's top court Monday to weigh in on whether employees are owed pay for their time spent undergoing post-shift anti-theft screenings, saying the state's justices have not yet provided guidance on this matter.

  • March 17, 2025

    FERC Grid Upgrade Fight Has DC Circ. Judges Flummoxed

    D.C. Circuit judges appeared to struggle Monday with how to determine ownership of new grid upgrades needed for a Michigan solar farm as they consider a transmission company's challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's refusal to grant it sole ownership.

  • March 17, 2025

    NJ Justices Take On Nonclients' Malpractice Case Against Atty

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to an appellate court decision tossing part and keeping part of a malpractice suit brought against an estate attorney by plaintiffs who were never his clients.

  • March 17, 2025

    Georgia Justices Urged To Revive Trump Election Charges

    Prosecutors argued that the Georgia Supreme Court should reinstate certain criminal charges against President Donald Trump, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and others alleging interference in the 2020 presidential election, saying lower courts wrongly dismissed the charges because of the indictment's purported lack of detail.

  • March 17, 2025

    DOL Urges 5th Circ. To Keep Contractor Wage Hike Ruling

    Former President Joe Biden had the authority to raise the minimum wage for federal contractors through a presidential executive order, the Trump administration's U.S. Department of Labor said, urging the full Fifth Circuit to leave in place a panel's decision backing the wage hike.

  • March 17, 2025

    4th Circ. Tosses HOA Closing Fees Suit

    The Fourth Circuit tossed a North Carolina property owner's proposed class action alleging that a property management company unlawfully charged excessive closing fees when she sold two properties.

  • March 17, 2025

    NC Appeals Court Leaves Judge's Ballot Challenge To Panel

    The full North Carolina Court of Appeals has shot down Democratic Justice Allison Riggs' request for an en banc hearing of her Republican challenger's suit seeking to throw out more than 60,000 ballots cast in their race for a seat on the state's highest court, leaving the dispute for a panel to decide first.

  • March 17, 2025

    High Value Dubious In $23M Easement Dispute, 11th Circ. Told

    A partnership that claimed a $23 million tax deduction for a conservation easement donation failed to consider the lack of market demand for a potential quarry it used to justify the land's high value, the U.S. government told the Eleventh Circuit.

  • March 17, 2025

    Jordan's Race Team Defends NASCAR Injunction To 4th Circ.

    A pair of stock car race teams including one owned by Michael Jordan urged the Fourth Circuit not to vacate a lower court's injunction allowing them to keep competing in NASCAR races while they pursue antitrust claims against the league, arguing NASCAR's "overblown rhetoric" against the order falls flat.

  • March 14, 2025

    Justices Set Deadline In Birthright Citizenship Injunction Row

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday gave states and organizations challenging President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship until early next month to address Trump's request for the high court to limit three federal judge's injunctions that preliminarily blocked the order's implementation across the U.S.

  • March 14, 2025

    4th Circ. Lets White House Anti-DEI Efforts Proceed

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday lifted a temporary injunction blocking President Donald Trump's administration from implementing the bulk of his executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs, though each judge on the panel had differing views on the matter. 

  • March 14, 2025

    ExxonMobil Brings $14M Clean Air Act Suit To High Court

    ExxonMobil on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn both a "radically divided" en banc Fifth Circuit's opinion upholding $14.25 million in air pollution penalties as well as a decades-old high court ruling concerning redressability, saying it was being made to pay penalties environmental group plaintiffs won't even receive.

  • March 14, 2025

    11th Circ. Again Upholds Fla. Ban On Under-21 Gun Sales

    Florida's law banning sales of firearms to anyone under 21 is constitutional, a divided Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday on en banc review, finding that America's 18- to 20-year-olds have had their gun rights checked since the nation's founding.

  • March 14, 2025

    Antitrust Questions Earn Belt Line Deal A Deep Dive

    The Surface Transportation Board isn't going to let Norfolk Southern get away with calling its attempt to procure the remainder of a rail line a minor transaction, since it's been locked in antitrust litigation over the control of that line for years, according to an order Friday that deemed the transaction "significant."

  • March 14, 2025

    9th Circ. Axes Dershowitz Sanction, Clarifies 'Of Counsel' Law

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday rejected Alan Dershowitz's arguments that his First Amendment rights shield him from being sanctioned for filing frivolous election-related litigation as "for counsel" representing Republican Arizona candidates, but the panel nevertheless reversed sanctions against Dershowitz since it's the first time the circuit has clarified the law.

  • March 14, 2025

    Ga. Panel Says COVID-Era Legal Shield Blocks Amputee's Suit

    A divided Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday said a trial court should have dismissed a wrongful amputation suit against a Marietta hospital, holding that the patient who lost his right leg after being admitted for COVID-19 symptoms could not beat the legal immunity granted to the hospital by a pandemic-era state law.

  • March 14, 2025

    Fed. Circ. OKs Apple's Patent Board Win In Beacon Dispute

    The Federal Circuit on Friday signed off on a ruling from the patent board that wiped out all of the claims Apple challenged in a patent covering location-tracking beacons that was asserted against a software protocol developed for iPhones and iPads.

  • March 14, 2025

    Reed Smith To Fight Removal In $102M Shipping Award Suit

    A New York federal judge has paused his order removing Reed Smith LLP as counsel for the former owners of reorganized international shipping group Eletson Holdings in litigation over a $102 million arbitral award while the BigLaw firm appeals the decision to the Second Circuit.

  • March 14, 2025

    5th Circ. Affirms Energy Exec's Insider Trading Conviction

    The Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas energy executive's conviction for insider trading on natural gas futures based on the constitutionality of federal laws and regulations that criminalize manipulative commodity deals.

  • March 14, 2025

    Justices Told 11th Circ.'s FTCA Ruling Is 'Upside-Down'

    An Eleventh Circuit decision that scuttled a Georgia family's lawsuit after they were subjected to a botched no-knock raid by the FBI turned "upside-down" the intent of the Constitution's supremacy clause and "would nullify" the Federal Tort Claims Act, advocacy group Public Citizen told the U.S. Supreme Court Friday.

  • March 14, 2025

    Calif. Panel Won't Alter Telecom's Rural Phone Rate Subsidies

    A California appellate court found the state's Public Utilities Commission did nothing wrong by taking into account a telecom's use of its telephone service infrastructure for broadband service when setting rates and determining how much the company would receive in subsidies for providing service in rural areas.

  • March 14, 2025

    Home Depot Nixes 3rd Lynk Labs Patent Claim At Fed. Circ.

    Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. persuaded Federal Circuit judges on Friday to override the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and throw out another claim in a patent issued to a late 1990s tech developer that later pivoted to LED lights. 

  • March 14, 2025

    4th Circ. Dubious Of Private Island's Win In Fair Housing Fight

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday seemed poised to upend a lower court ruling siding with a gated community in a discriminatory housing suit brought by the developer of a proposed assisted living facility, with one judge lamenting a lack of analysis on whether the facility's accommodation request was necessary and reasonable.

  • March 14, 2025

    DC Circ. Asks If FERC Oil Orders Are In Its Purview

    The D.C. Circuit is questioning its own decades-long practice of reviewing orders from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that help determine the cost of transporting oil through pipelines, asking litigants whether it has jurisdiction to consider an appeal nearing its conclusion.

  • March 14, 2025

    Mich. Panel Revives Hangar's Property Tax Challenge

    The Michigan Court of Appeals revived a company's argument that it is exempt from a city's tax on a hangar it leased from a regional airport authority, saying the state Tax Tribunal should have required the municipality to prove that a tax statute applied to the company.

Expert Analysis

  • Considering Chevron's End Through A State Tax Lens

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    States took the lead in encouraging Chevron's demise, turning away from Chevron-type deference in state tax administration ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, a trend likely to accelerate as courts take a more active role in interpreting tax laws, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Curious Case Of FTC's Amicus Brief In Teva Fed. Circ. Appeal

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    Attorneys at BCLP explore the Federal Trade Commission's backing of Amneal's Orange Book-delisting efforts on Teva ahead of a key Federal Circuit hearing in a case between the two pharmaceutical companies, and wonder if the FTC amicus brief indicates a future trend, especially in the next administration.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

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    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • When 'Patented' Goes Beyond Inventorship In False Ad Cases

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    The Federal Circuit's recent false advertising holding in Crocs v. Effervescent is significant because it offers a nuanced yet realistic understanding of what false claims about a product's status as "patented" can mean, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • 2nd Circ. Hostile Workplace Ruling Widens Arbitration Pitfalls

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision, affirming the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act applies to a worker whose workplace hostility claims arose before the law’s 2022 enactment, widens the scope of the law — and the risks of unenforceable arbitration agreements for employers, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • 2nd Circ. Maxwell Ruling Adds To Confusion Over NPA Reach

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision upholding Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction made an analytical leap in applying plea agreement precedent to a nonprosecution agreement, compounding a circuit split and providing lessons for defense counsel, say attorneys at Kropf Moseley.

  • The Fed. Circ. In October: Aetna And License-Term Review

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision that Aetna's credit card licensing agreement with AlexSam did not give the insurer immunity from patent infringement claims serves to warn licensees to read their contracts carefully, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Recent Developments In Insurance Coverage For FCA Claims

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    As the U.S. Department of Justice continues its vigorous False Claims Act enforcement, companies looking to their insurers to help defray the costs of an investigation or settlement should note recent decisions on which types of policies cover FCA claims, which policy periods apply and which portions of FCA-related losses are covered, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being

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    As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.

  • Boosting Confidence In Pennsylvania's Election System

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    As Election Day nears, Pennsylvania is facing an intense flurry of litigation, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court centered on mail-in and provisional ballots, but the state's election system is robust, and attorneys from all practice areas have an important role to play in ensuring confidence in and access to our election system, says Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie.

  • Takeaways From The IRS' Crypto Doc Summons Win

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    A recent First Circuit decision holding that taxpayers do not have a Fourth Amendment reasonable expectation of privacy in cryptocurrency transaction records should prompt both taxpayers and exchanges to take stock of past transactions and future plans, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • A Novel Expansion Of Alien Tort Statute In 9th Circ.

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    The Ninth Circuit's Doe v. Cisco rehearing denial allows a new invocation of the Alien Tort Statute to proceed, which could capture the U.S. Supreme Court's attention, and has potentially dramatic consequences for U.S. companies doing business with foreign governments, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes

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    Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • Series

    Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • Reading Tea Leaves In Fed. Circ. Deep Dive On Review Scope

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    Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer investigates why a recent Federal Circuit opinion spent six pages explaining its unsurprising conclusion on proper scope of review — that no deference need be afforded to the trial court in a case dismissed for failure to state a claim.

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