Appellate

  • March 13, 2025

    Split 7th Circ. Kills Injunction In Indiana Power Line Dispute

    The Seventh Circuit has knocked down an injunction blocking an Indiana right of first refusal law that gives Indiana-based utilities the first shot at securing new transmission project contracts before those from other states.

  • March 13, 2025

    Calif. AG Appealing State Limits On Pay-For-Delay Ban

    California enforcers are appealing to the Ninth Circuit after a lower court found that a new state law restricting "reverse payment" settlements between brand-name and generic-drug makers cannot be used to regulate deals that were struck outside the state.

  • March 13, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Dings Antibody Patent App For Lacking Description

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed a decision from top U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officials in a highly watched and technical dispute over an antibody patent application, concluding that preambles for so-called Jepson claims need sufficient written descriptions.

  • March 13, 2025

    2nd Circ. Won't Revive Saks, Luxury Brands No-Poach Case

    A Second Circuit panel refused Thursday to revive an antitrust suit from former Saks Fifth Avenue employees over the retailer's alleged agreements with Gucci, Louis Vuitton and other luxury fashion houses to not hire workers from its stores.

  • March 13, 2025

    Fed. Circ. OKs Injunction Against Innova's Car Circuit Testers

    The Federal Circuit decided Thursday to keep an injunction in place stopping sales of Innova Electronics Corp.'s car-testing devices amid allegations those devices infringe a patent by rival Power Probe Group Inc.

  • March 13, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Revives Bid For Increased Costs From DHS Build

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday revived a construction contractor's claim for additional costs under a contract to construct a utilities plant at U.S. Department of Homeland Security headquarters, finding the government's building specifications were inadequate.

  • March 13, 2025

    Ga. Judge Slams 'Meaningless' Reading Of Open Records Act

    A Georgia appellate judge took his colleagues to task Thursday for not backing a local newspaper publisher's effort to force a city to hand over its police records, writing that a majority opinion that declined to fully resolve the dispute "substitute[s] our policy preferences for the policy choices of the legislature."

  • March 13, 2025

    Ga. Court Nixes Reinstatement Of Officer Who Beat Jail Inmate

    The Georgia Court of Appeals has reversed a trial court decision that reinstated to his job a former Athens-Clarke County police officer who was found to have beaten a person incarcerated in county jail, ruling there was enough evidence to justify the officer's firing for the assault.

  • March 13, 2025

    Karen Read Loses Double Jeopardy Bid In Federal Court

    Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman who stands accused of killing her boyfriend with her SUV, will not be able to avoid a retrial in state court after a federal judge on Thursday denied her bid to escape two charges that jurors supposedly rejected during deliberations.

  • March 13, 2025

    Pa. Justices Let Convicted Doctor Reapply For License

    A former University of Pittsburgh Medical Center radiologist who lost his license for unlawfully prescribing Vicodin can seek reinstatement less than 10 years after his 2019 suspension thanks to a change in state law defining a drug trafficking offense, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

  • March 13, 2025

    Full Fed. Circ. Probes Basis For $20M Google Patent Verdict

    The en banc Federal Circuit on Thursday closely scrutinized the damages evidence underlying EcoFactor's $20 million thermostat patent trial victory against Google, with some judges suggesting that it doesn't support the testimony given by EcoFactor's expert witness.

  • March 13, 2025

    9th Circ. Ends Idaho Abortion Law Row After Mutual Dismissal

    A Ninth Circuit panel has dropped an appeal from Idaho claiming the state's strict abortion ban doesn't conflict with a federal law protecting emergency abortions, after the Trump administration announced its decision to drop the Biden-era legal challenge. 

  • March 13, 2025

    Mich. High Court Unsure Of GOP Role In Poll Worker Parity

    Michigan Supreme Court justices mulled whether the Republican Party has standing to seek better representation of its party in the election workforce on Thursday while hinting mootness could present a wrinkle in the two-year-old case.

  • March 13, 2025

    Cavanagh Selected As Mich. Supreme Court's Chief Justice

    Justice Megan K. Cavanagh will become the Michigan Supreme Court's chief justice when Justice Elizabeth T. Clement steps down next month, the court announced Thursday. 

  • March 13, 2025

    Colo. Panel Keeps Workers' Comp Law Out Of Contractor Suit

    An independent contractor cannot use Colorado's workers' compensation law to limit the damages awarded to a colleague for his negligence claim over an on-the-job injury, a state appeals panel ruled Thursday, saying that the two worked together, but not for each other.

  • March 13, 2025

    6th Circ. Won't Rehear Ex-Electric Co. Exec's Severance Suit

    The Sixth Circuit will not rethink its panel decision upholding the dismissal of a severance suit brought by American Electric Power Services Corp.'s former chief digital officer who claimed he was shortchanged on his way out the door, according to a Thursday order.

  • March 13, 2025

    Rink Can't Escape Skater's Party Injury Claim, Ill. Panel Says

    An Illinois skating rink was incorrectly handed a pre-trial win over accusations that its failure to keep a floor supervisor on duty during a backward-skating round caused a man's injury during a birthday party, a state appellate panel said Wednesday.  

  • March 13, 2025

    Full 4th Circ. Urged To Rethink Drug Price-Fixing Class Action

    The Fourth Circuit's dismissal of a proposed class action accusing drug companies of conspiring to inflate the price of a drug for Huntington's disease has deepened a circuit split on proving injury under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a group of reimbursement recovery entities has said in asking the full court to rethink the ruling.

  • March 13, 2025

    Colo. Appeals Court Affirms $2.6M Award To Car Crash Victim

    A Colorado Court of Appeals panel on Thursday declined to throw out a jury's $2.6 million economic damages award to a car accident victim following arguments that her experts didn't explicitly state her medical expenses were of "reasonable value," finding the jury had enough information to reach their decision.

  • March 13, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms Ex-Uber Exec's Conviction Over Data Breach

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a former Uber security executive's conviction for attempting to cover up a data breach from government investigators, rejecting his challenges to the jury instructions and strength of the evidence.

  • March 13, 2025

    Del.'s Divisive Corporate Law Rework Passes In State Senate

    Divisive amendments to Delaware's general corporation law cleared the state Senate Thursday with multiple questions but little debate and without dissenting votes, and will now be sent to the House amid warnings that failure to approve could weaken the state's standing as a top corporate charter hub.

  • March 13, 2025

    Mich. Justices Struggle With Line-Drawing For Rental Use

    Michigan Supreme Court justices on Thursday said they were struggling with where to draw the line for when homes can be rented short-term as property owners along a Lake Michigan neighborhood urged the state's top court to reverse a lower court's decision that said a restrictive covenant barred all vacation rentals.

  • March 13, 2025

    Swimsuit Pics App Maker Can't Revive Suit Against Facebook

    California appellate justices on Wednesday refused to revive an app developer's contract breach suit alleging Facebook rescinded its commitment to provide third-party developers with access to user data, rendering his app for finding users' swimsuit photos unworkable, after concluding Facebook's terms expressly said it could limit developers' access to data.

  • March 13, 2025

    5th Circ. Sides With NLRB On Reconsidered Exxon Ruling

    The National Labor Relations Board didn't overstep by wiping out and rethinking a decision involving an Exxon Mobil unit after learning a member had a stake in the company, the Fifth Circuit said, enforcing the board's ruling that the company sabotaged negotiations with a union.

  • March 13, 2025

    5th Circ. Asks If Enforcement Delay Affects CTA Challenge

    The Fifth Circuit has asked for supplemental briefing in a challenge against the Corporate Transparency Act, asking whether the case is affected by the U.S. Treasury Department's recent decision to suspend enforcement of reporting rules for domestic companies.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Must Weigh Reach Of Civil RICO In Cannabis Case

    Author Photo

    Oral arguments in Medical Marijuana Inc. v. Horn suggest that a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court may agree that a truck driver's losing his job after unknowingly ingesting THC and failing a drug test does not merit a racketeering claim — but the court may not buy the other side's theory of the case either, say attorneys at Lewis Baach.

  • Patent Marking Steps After Fed. Circ. Opens Lanham Act Door

    Author Photo

    Following the Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Crocs v. Effervescent, which seemingly revives private actors’ ability to bring false patent marking claims under the Lanham Act, marketing and legal teams should be careful to avoid advertisement language that implies nonexistent patent rights, says Jeffrey Ratinoff at Spencer Fane.

  • Litigation Strategies In View Of New Double Patenting Rulings

    Author Photo

    Recent Federal Circuit decisions, including in Allergan v. MSN, raise several issues that patent owners should understand and consider addressing proactively regarding obviousness-type double patenting, at least in their prosecution strategies, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
    Author Photo

    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

    Author Photo

    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • High Court 'Violent Crimes' Case Tangled Up In Hypotheticals

    Author Photo

    In Delligatti v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on whether attempted murder constitutes a crime of violence, and because the court’s interpretive approach thus far has relied on hairsplitting legal hypotheticals with absurd results, Congress should repeal the underlying statute, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • Tracking The Slow Movement Of AI Copyright Cases

    Author Photo

    The tech community may be expecting a prompt resolution on whether products generated by artificial intelligence are a fair use of copyrighted works, but legal history shows that a response to this question — at the heart of over 30 pending cases — will take years, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • How Property Insurance Coverage Shrank After The Pandemic

    Author Photo

    Insurers litigating property claims are leveraging rulings that provided relief in the COVID-19 context to reverse the former majority rule on physical loss or damage in all contexts, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Considering Chevron's End Through A State Tax Lens

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Appellate archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!