Appellate

  • October 16, 2024

    Cos. Slam Spain's Bid For DC Circ. Redo Over $395M Suits

    Three investment companies have opposed Spain's request for a rehearing in the D.C. Circuit over the appeals court's ruling that district courts have jurisdiction to enforce about $395 million in arbitral awards issued against the country after it rolled back economic incentives for renewable energy projects.

  • October 16, 2024

    Feds, Md. Tell 4th Circ. Beltway Lane Expansion Is Fully Vetted

    Federal and Maryland state transportation officials have told the Fourth Circuit that they thoroughly vetted air pollution, traffic congestion and other environmental concerns before approving an estimated $4 billion highway expansion project outside Washington, D.C., arguing that environmental groups have no grounds to sue to block the project.

  • October 16, 2024

    11th Circ. Won't Nix OK Of Guatemalan Power Plant Award

    The Eleventh Circuit refused Wednesday to vacate an arbitral award issued following a dispute over an ill-fated Guatemalan power plant construction project, rejecting arguments that the tribunal improperly turned a blind eye to alleged corruption underlying the project.

  • October 16, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives Mexican Dad's Bid To Challenge Removal

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday affirmed an immigration judge's decision denying a Mexican citizen's cancellation of removal bid, but ruled that the Board of Immigration Appeals' application of an incorrect standard for reopening the father's removal proceedings warranted a remand.

  • October 16, 2024

    Justices Torn On Interpretation Of Veterans Benefits Law

    U.S. Supreme Court justices questioned Wednesday whether two veterans expected more than legally required from a lower court that only granted limited review of the denial of their disability benefits claims, while challenging the government's denial in equal measure.

  • October 16, 2024

    Photog Tells 9th Circ. Miles Davis Tattoo Was Not Fair Use

    A photographer wants the Ninth Circuit to undo a California federal jury's finding that cleared celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D of claims she infringed a copyrighted photo of Miles Davis that he took, saying she failed to adequately show fair use.

  • October 16, 2024

    2nd Circ. Scrutinizes Conn. Restrictions On AR-15s

    A Second Circuit panel put the phrase "dangerous and unusual" under a microscope Wednesday as three judges considered dual challenges to Connecticut's post-Sandy Hook bans on assault rifles and large-capacity magazines, working to parse out whether the state's restrictions are allowed under U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

  • October 16, 2024

    Ex-Davis Polk Atty Drops Appeal Of Bias Verdict Loss

    A former Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP associate on Tuesday dropped his appeal of a jury verdict clearing the firm and two lawyers of liability in a suit alleging he was fired in retaliation for airing concerns about racial bias and diversity.

  • October 16, 2024

    11th Circ. Says No Claim For Taking Until Permit Is Denied

    The Eleventh Circuit ruled Wednesday that Fane Lozman — houseboat owner, activist and thorn in the side of the Riviera Beach, Florida, city government — cannot yet bring his claims for a regulatory taking of his property against the city because he has not applied for a permit or zoning variance.

  • October 16, 2024

    En Banc DC Circ. Will Revisit Campaign Finance Appeal

    The full D.C. Circuit will revisit an appeal implicating the court's authority to review the Federal Election Commission's decisions on campaign finance complaints when those decisions rest on commissioners' so-called prosecutorial discretion.

  • October 16, 2024

    Banks Ditch Exchange's Boycott Conspiracy Suit At 2nd Circ.

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday rejected a small trading exchange's effort to revive its claims that several major banks conspired to shut it out of the credit default swap market, saying the exchange failed to plausibly allege that the banks' conduct was the result of an unlawful agreement or conspiracy.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: Good News For Gov't Contractors In Litigation

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    The net result of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning Chevron deference is that individuals, contractors and companies bringing procurement-related cases against the government will have new pathways toward success, say Joseph Berger and Andrés Vera at Thompson Hine.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Scale Tips Favor Away From HHS Agencies

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    The loss of Chevron deference may indirectly aid parties in challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' interpretations of regulations and could immediately influence several pending cases challenging HHS on technical questions and agency authority, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    After Chevron: FDA Regulations In The Crosshairs

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine is likely to unleash an array of challenges against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, focusing on areas of potential overreach such as the FDA's authority under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • 2 Options For Sackler Family After High Court Purdue Ruling

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked Purdue Pharma's plan to shield the family that owns the company from bankruptcy lawsuits, the Sacklers face the choice to either continue litigation, or return to the bargaining table for a settlement that doesn't eliminate creditor claims, says Gregory Germain at Syracuse University.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Limited Changes In USPTO Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning Chevron deference will have limited consequences for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office given the USPTO's unique statutory features, but it is still an important decision for matters of statutory interpretation, especially those involving provisions of the America Invents Act, say Andrei Iancu and Cooper Godfrey at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For Nationwide Race-Based Hair Protections

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    While 24 states have passed laws that prohibit race-based hair discrimination, this type of bias persists in workplaces and schools, so a robust federal law is necessary to ensure widespread protection, says Samone Ijoma and Erica Roberts at Sanford Heisler.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Malicious-Prosecution Ruling Shows Rare Restraint

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon, Ohio, declining to limit malicious-prosecution suits, is a model of judicial modesty and incrementalism, in sharp contrast to the court’s dramatic swings on other rights, says Steven Schwinn at the University of Illinois Chicago Law School.

  • Series

    After Chevron: EEOC Status Quo Will Likely Continue

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    As the legal landscape adjusts to the end of Chevron deference, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s rulemaking authority isn’t likely to shift as much as some other employment-related agencies, says Paige Lyle at FordHarrison.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Impact On Indian Law May Be Muted

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    Agency interpretations of Indian law statutes that previously stood the test of judicial review ​are likely to withstand new challenges even after the end of Chevron deference, but litigation in the area is all but certain, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Opinion

    Trump Immunity Ruling Upends Our Constitutional Scheme

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s Trump v. U.S. decision elevates the president to imperial status and paves the way for nearly absolute presidential immunity from potential criminal prosecutions — with no constitutional textual support, says Paul Berman at the George Washington University Law School.

  • High Court Paves Middle Ground For Proceedings Obstruction

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Fischer sensibly leaves the door open for prosecutors to make more nuanced assessments as to whether defendants' actions directly or tangentially impair the availability or integrity of anything used in an official proceeding, without criminalizing acts such as peaceful demonstrations, say attorneys at Perry Law.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Fed. Circ. Skinny Label Ruling Guides On Infringement Claims

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Amarin v. Hikma shows generic drug manufacturers must pay close attention to the statements in their abbreviated new drug application labels to put themselves in the best position in defending against an induced infringement claim, say Luke Shannon and Roshan Shrestha at Taft Stettinius.

  • Revisiting Scalia's 'What's It To You?' After Kaiser Ruling

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser allows insurers to be considered "parties in interest" in Chapter 11 cases, they still need to show they would face an injury in fact, answering the late Justice Antonin Scalia's "what's it to you?" question, say Brent Weisenberg and Jeff Prol at Lowenstein Sandler.

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