Appellate

  • October 02, 2024

    10th Circ. Affirms Microsoft, Premera Tab For ERISA Violations

    The Tenth Circuit upheld a six-figure award for a family that claimed Microsoft and Premera Blue Cross unlawfully refused to cover their son's stay at a residential treatment center, but struck down the family's trial court win on their mental health parity claim.

  • October 02, 2024

    DC Circ. Says Election Betting Contracts Can Go Live

    The D.C. Circuit on Wednesday allowed betting on election outcomes to move forward after finding that the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission hasn't shown that KalshiEx's listing of election-based event contracts would likely harm the public while the regulator challenges a ruling that gave the trading platform the green light to offer such services.

  • October 02, 2024

    Feds Say Trump Isn't Immune From Election Interference Case

    Donald Trump's alleged scheme to subvert the 2020 election results was "fundamentally a private one," special counsel Jack Smith told a D.C. federal judge in a newly unsealed brief that vies to prove that the former president is not immune from charges of election interference.

  • October 02, 2024

    Texas High Court Skeptical Of Atty Solicitation Law Overreach

    The Texas Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared skeptical that an anti-solicitation statute should apply to lawyers licensed in the state who used "case runners" to attract personal injury clients who live out of state for lawsuits filed and decided beyond the borders of the Lone Star State.

  • October 02, 2024

    Fla. Atty Disbarred For Abandoning Pharma Biz Before USPTO

    The Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday disbarred an attorney for taking on intellectual property work for a pharmaceutical company only to later cease communications and keep the business in the dark about maintenance fees, causing its patents to expire.

  • October 02, 2024

    Justices Asked To Short-Circuit Mass. Offshore Wind Project

    Massachusetts residents are telling the U.S. Supreme Court it's the last hope for endangered North Atlantic right whales that were overlooked when the federal government approved a large offshore wind energy project in the waters off of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket.

  • October 02, 2024

    Georgia Moves To Block, Appeal Ruling Against Abortion Ban

    The Georgia Attorney General's office, as promised earlier this week, moved swiftly Tuesday to halt and appeal a Fulton County judge's decision that struck down for the second time the state's so-called "heartbeat" abortion ban that prohibits most abortions after six weeks.

  • October 02, 2024

    Ahmuty Demers Booted Off NJ Fatal Crash Case Over Conflict

    A New Jersey state appeals court affirmed Wednesday that Ahmuty Demers & McManus is not allowed to represent both a paving company and one of its employees at the same time in a case in which the employee allegedly caused a fatal car crash.

  • October 02, 2024

    4th Circ. Says Murdaugh Can't Appeal Fraud Sentence

    Former South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh, who is serving life in prison for murder, was denied an appeal of a separate 40-year sentence after pleading guilty to stealing at least $9 million from clients by a Fourth Circuit panel that said he'd waived his right to appeal.

  • October 02, 2024

    Progressive Group Staffs Up For Judicial Nom Fights

    With a little over a month until Election Day, a progressive organization announced a slate of new hires to prepare for judicial confirmation battles and fight for court reform on Wednesday.

  • October 02, 2024

    Maine's First Female Federal Judge To Take Semiretired Status

    U.S District Judge Nancy Torresen, the first woman to hold a federal judgeship in Maine, will take semiretired status next year.

  • October 02, 2024

    Auto Parts Co. Tells 6th Circ. NLRB Judge Is 'Unaccountable'

    An auto parts manufacturer urged the Sixth Circuit to halt National Labor Relations Board proceedings against the company before an "unaccountable" agency judge, arguing the employer would face harm because the administrative judge is unconstitutionally shielded from removal by the president.

  • October 02, 2024

    DC Circ. Urged To Scrap EPA Mercury Rule For Coal Plants

    States and industry groups fighting a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule curbing mercury and other toxic metal emissions at some coal-fired power plants told the D.C. Circuit it would impose exorbitant and unjustifiable costs for no public health benefit, and is actually aimed at forcing plants to retire to advance climate goals.

  • October 01, 2024

    Oxygenation Doesn't Show Water Quality, Texas Justices Hear

    Texas Supreme Court justices prodded the Save Our Springs Alliance's argument that a permit to release treated wastewater would degrade water quality, questioning whether the advocacy organization's argument that a drop in levels of dissolved oxygen shows water degradation during oral arguments Tuesday.

  • October 01, 2024

    9th Circ. Cites 'Sunscreen' Song In Reviving Banana Boat Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday revived a proposed class action claiming Banana Boat sunscreen contains unsafe levels of benzene, citing a one-hit wonder from an Academy Award nominated director and saying a lower court judge erred by prematurely resolving disputed issues of fact and the merits of the consumer case.

  • October 01, 2024

    Former Rutgers Law Dean To Serve As University's Interim GC

    A former Rutgers Law School dean will serve as the university's interim senior vice president and general counsel following John J. Hoffman's confirmation to the New Jersey Supreme Court, Rutgers announced Tuesday.

  • October 01, 2024

    Ga. County Urges Full 11th Circ. To Nix Trans Deputy's Win

    A Georgia county told the Eleventh Circuit on Monday that a health plan coverage exclusion for gender-affirming surgery is comparable to other exclusions in coverage and does not violate federal anti-discrimination laws.

  • October 01, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives FCA Claims Against Dermatology Practice

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday revived the claims of a former employee who accused a Nevada dermatology practice of retaliation under the False Claims Act and other wrongdoing, reversing the practice's early win and sending the case back for trial.

  • October 01, 2024

    University Can Keep Conduct Records, Texas Justices Hear

    Texas Supreme Court Justices asked the University of Texas at Austin why it was trying to keep from releasing records of students who violated policies against violence and sex offenses during oral arguments Tuesday, saying that the category of students the university was protecting seemed the "least defensible."

  • October 01, 2024

    Georgia-Pacific Tells 6th Circ. Rivals Liable In CERCLA Row

    Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP on Tuesday asked the Sixth Circuit to affirm a Michigan federal judge's ruling that International Paper Co. and Weyerhaeuser Co. can be sued for future cleanup costs of a Michigan Superfund site.

  • October 01, 2024

    Activists Sue Ark. Officials Over Medical Pot Ballot Measure

    Activists attempting to put a measure that would expand medical marijuana access in Arkansas on the ballot brought a lawsuit against John Thurston, the state's secretary of state, on Tuesday, one day after he said that the campaign did not have enough signatures to qualify for the ballot.

  • October 01, 2024

    Colo. Workers' Comp. Doesn't Exempt Employer Auto Insurers

    Workers who are injured in car accidents while on the job can sue their employers' auto insurance carriers for underinsured motorist coverage, even if they have received workers' compensation benefits, Colorado's supreme court concluded, finding no state law precluded it.

  • October 01, 2024

    Phone 'Tax' For FCC Programs Unconstitutional, Justices Told

    Groups challenging the Federal Communications Commission's universal service system urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to throw out the program's funding base, arguing it amounts to an illegal tax on consumers.

  • October 01, 2024

    Starbucks Investor Suit Seems 'Premature,' Court Official Says

    A Washington appellate commissioner gave Starbucks another chance to end a shareholder suit accusing the company's leadership of turning a blind eye to union-busting by managers, saying the lawsuit appears "premature" since it mostly relies on unfair labor practice complaints that are still pending.

  • October 01, 2024

    NC Man Defends $1.6M Verdict Over Vape Battery Explosion

    A North Carolina man is asking a state appeals court to affirm his $1.6 million verdict in a suit against a distributor over injuries he suffered when a lithium-ion battery for his vape exploded in his pocket, saying there was plenty of evidence for the jury to conclude the distributor sold the battery in question.

Expert Analysis

  • A Look At Recent Case Law On Expedited Judgment In NY

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    A number of recent New York state court decisions clarify and refine the contours surrounding Civil Practice Law and Rule 3213, providing landlords, lenders and other payees guidance on how to seek accelerated judgment in certain litigation, says Alexander Lycoyannis at Holland & Knight.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Must Halt For-Profit Climate Tort Proliferation

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    If the U.S. Supreme Court does not seize the opportunity presented by Honolulu v. Sunoco to reassert federal authority over interstate pollution regulation, the resulting frenzy of profit-driven environmental mass torts against energy companies will stunt American competitiveness and muddle climate policy, says Gale Norton at Liberty Energy.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Allergan Ruling Reinforces Value Of Patent Term Adjustments

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Allergan v. MSN, which held that patent term adjustment awards for first-filed, first-issued patents cannot be stripped away by later-issuing child patents that expire earlier, means practitioners must consider the potential impact of any action that might reduce the adjustment amount, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • A Class Action Trend Tests Limit Of Courts' Equity Powers

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    A troubling trend has developed in federal class action litigation as some counsel and judges attempt to push injunctive relief classes under Rule 23(b)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure beyond the traditional limits of federal courts' equitable powers, say attorneys at Jones Day.

  • What's In The Cards For CFTC's Election Betting Case

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    A D.C. federal judge's Sept. 12 ruling, allowing KalshiEx to offer derivative contracts trading on the outcome of the U.S. congressional elections over objections from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, could mark a watershed moment in the permissibility of election betting if upheld on appeal, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy identifies practice tips from four recent class certification rulings involving denial of Medicare reimbursements, automobile insurance disputes, veterans' rights and automobile defects.

  • IP Concerns For Manufacturing Semiconductors In Low Orbit

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    With space habitation companies working to launch private space stations in the near future, semiconductor manufacturers aiming to execute research and development in low or microgravity must consider the unique claim drafting and patent protection issues that will emerge, says Greg Miraglia at Quinn Emanuel.

  • How NLRB Memo Balances Schools' Labor, Privacy Concerns

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    Natale DiNatale at Robinson & Cole highlights the recent National Labor Relations Board advice memorandum that aims to help colleges reconcile competing obligations under the National Labor Relations Act and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as university students flock toward unionization.

  • 3 Coverage Tips As 2nd Circ. 'Swipes Left' On Tinder Claim

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    The Second Circuit's recent opinion in Match Group v. Beazley Underwriting, overturning Tinder's victory on its insurer's motion to dismiss a coverage action, reinforces three best practices policyholders purchasing claims-made coverage should adhere to in order to avoid late-notice defenses, say Lynda Bennett and Alexander Corson at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • How Loper Bright Is Affecting Pending FCC Litigation

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    Pending challenges against Federal Communications Commission orders at the Sixth and Eleventh Circuits following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright highlight that counsel must be familiar with the statutes, regulations and precedent relevant to the FCC to best navigate the rapidly changing compliance landscape, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • 7 Takeaways For Companies After Justices' Bribery Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s Snyder v. U.S. decision this summer, holding that a federal law does not criminalize after-the-fact gratuities made to public officials, raises some key considerations for companies that engage with state, local and tribal governments, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

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