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Appellate
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March 03, 2025
Fed. Circ. Says OPM Reg On Entry-Level Workers' OT Is Valid
The Office of Personnel Management's regulation denying overtime pay for federal employees undergoing training is valid, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled Monday, sending an FBI analyst's overtime suit back to the Court of Federal Claims.
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March 03, 2025
10th Circ. Backs CPSC In Challenge To New Magnet Rule
The Tenth Circuit on Monday denied a petition challenging a new Consumer Product Safety Commission rule regulating the sale of small, high-powered magnets, finding that the evidence the CPSC provided supports the rule and the commission's structure is constitutional.
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March 03, 2025
DC Circ. Asks Crowley For More Info In GSA Audit Powers Suit
A D.C. Circuit panel directed Crowley Government Services Inc., which has challenged the authority of the General Services Administration to audit its contract with the U.S. Department of Defense's Transportation Command, to file a brief detailing whether the contract included any such audit provision.
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March 03, 2025
Justices Decline Data Breach Suit Against SC Medical Center
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Fourth Circuit decision that a health center cannot use federal immunity as a shield against a data breach lawsuit even though it received public funds, despite the company's warning that the ruling has created a circuit split.
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March 03, 2025
3rd Circ. Preview: Litigation Funder, J&J Seek Relief In March
The Third Circuit's case lineup this month will task panels with determining if an American litigation funder can keep its dispute with a German law firm in federal court, and whether Johnson & Johnson can decertify class claims accusing the company of artificially inflating its stock price by failing to disclose the alleged cancer risks of its talc products.
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March 03, 2025
Justices Deny Google Foe's Bid For Patent Eligibility Clarity
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a patent owner's appeal arguing that the Federal Circuit has a "broken approach to patent eligibility" and that the justices must clarify the law, in a case where advertising patents asserted against Google were found to cover abstract ideas.
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March 03, 2025
Justices Turn Away Christian Worker Who Panned Pride Flag
The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review the dismissal of a suit brought by a Christian worker who said he was unlawfully fired by a metal manufacturer after calling a Pride month rainbow on the company's website an "abomination."
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March 03, 2025
Justices Evade Circuit Split On Student Speech, Thomas Says
The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to wade into a free speech advocacy group's suit challenging Indiana University's processes for reporting and investigating controversial speech, but Justice Clarence Thomas complained that the high court missed a chance to address a circuit split over student challenges to schools' "bias response teams."
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March 03, 2025
Justices Turn Away Peru Mining Pollution Suit
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by a mining company controlled by billionaire Ira Rennert to resolve whether the Eighth Circuit incorrectly denied the dismissal of claims raised by over 1,000 Peruvians alleging improper pollution.
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March 03, 2025
High Court Declines Souvenir Store's TM Fraud Case
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will not consider a Florida souvenir store chain's challenge to a Second Circuit decision shutting down its case that a bankrupt beachwear company fraudulently procured a trademark registration to secure a $3.5 million settlement.
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March 03, 2025
Justices Turn Down Suit By Worker Fired Over Online Post
The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would not review a Sixth Circuit decision holding that a former CSX Transportation Inc. engineer waited too long to try to revive his wrongful termination suit stemming from an online post he made about a fatal train accident.
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March 02, 2025
WH Appeals After Watchdog Chief Is Permanently Reinstalled
A D.C. federal judge ruled Saturday that President Donald Trump's firing of the head of the Office of Special Counsel was illegal, finding that the federal employment watchdog can only be ousted for cause.
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February 28, 2025
9th Circ. Keeps Mass Starz Privacy Arbitration Consolidated
The Ninth Circuit on Friday refused to allow a consumer whose video privacy arbitration claims against Starz Entertainment LLC have been merged with more than 7,000 similar allegations to break off from the pack, finding that the television network couldn't be blamed for the current "procedural stalemate" in the consolidated arbitration proceedings.
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February 28, 2025
Fed. Circ. Orders Interest Recalculation In Hardware IP Row
Halo Electronics' nearly two-decades-old dispute with a rival completed its fifth trip to the Federal Circuit, with the appeals court on Friday ordering a Nevada federal court to recalculate the amount of interest Halo could collect on a jury verdict.
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February 28, 2025
Texas Appeals Court Finds City Can't Take Oncor Streetlights
A Texas appeals court found Killeen, Texas, can't claim sovereign immunity to evade a suit seeking to stop the city from taking possession of streetlights owned by a utility company, finding Friday the utility company had presented a viable constitutional claim.
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February 28, 2025
Ga. Can Cap Wrongful Death Damages, US Chamber Says
The U.S. and Georgia chambers of Commerce have urged the Supreme Court of Georgia to find that its 2010 decision striking down a $350,000 cap on noneconomic medical malpractice damages as unconstitutional should not prevent the court from allowing a similar cap in wrongful death claims.
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February 28, 2025
Calif. Justices Revive Yacht Club Worker's Injury Suit
The California Supreme Court has revived a suit brought by a yacht club maintenance worker seeking to hold his employer liable for his workplace injuries under federal maritime law, saying the law preempts California's workers' compensation statute.
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February 28, 2025
8th Circ. Backs Auto Co. Exec's Win In $5M Benefits Suit
The Eighth Circuit declined Friday to overturn a former chief operating officer's win in his lawsuit accusing an automotive company of reneging on the terms of his deferred compensation plan when he left the firm, saying the company can't rely on nonexistent documents to deny his claim to the funds.
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February 28, 2025
5 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In March
The Ninth Circuit will mull Express Scripts and OptumRx's bid to force a public nuisance suit brought by the state of California into federal court, and the Second Circuit will hear from pensioners who say that IBM's use of outdated mortality tables shrank their benefits payouts. Here, Law360 looks at these and other appellate arguments happening in March that should be on benefits lawyers' radar.
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February 28, 2025
Up Next At High Court: Gun Violence Liability & Nuclear Waste
The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday to consider Mexico's attempt to hold gun manufacturers and distributors liable for cartel-related gun violence and a nuclear waste site dispute that could determine who can challenge future agency actions.
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February 28, 2025
2nd Circ. Revives Electrical Worker's Union Pension Fight
An electrical worker can try again to argue that two trustees of his union pension fund violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by paying themselves over $1 million in compensation from the fund's assets, with the Second Circuit ruling Friday that the worker has standing to sue.
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February 28, 2025
9th Circ. Says Risk Justified Firing Vax-Refusing Actor
A split Ninth Circuit panel declined Friday to revive an actor's suit claiming she was illegally removed from a Starz Network show because she rejected its COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds, ruling her immunization status posed too much of a risk to the production.
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February 28, 2025
Presidents v. Courts: Lincoln, Trump & Judicial Power Limits
Amid fears of President Donald Trump disobeying judges with impunity, debate has focused on famous instances of officials defying the U.S. Supreme Court. But some of the clearest insights into America's handling of White House disregard for courts exist in relatively obscure cases from the Civil War era, when unprecedented presidential actions provoked extraordinary responses from the judiciary — and underscored the limits of its powers.
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February 28, 2025
NJ Out-Of-State Wine Sale Limits Are Justified, 3rd. Circ. Says
The Third Circuit on Friday upheld a New Jersey law barring out-of-state sellers to directly ship wine to in-state consumers, saying that to grant a New York retailer's challenge would "shake the foundations" of New Jersey's three-tiered system for regulating alcohol.
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February 28, 2025
9th Circ. Backs Developer's Conviction For Bribing LA Pol
The Ninth Circuit upheld a developer's conviction for bribing former Los Angeles City Councilor Jose Huizar to foil a challenge to a downtown project, ruling Thursday the district court didn't have to instruct jurors that the government had to prove the developer bribed Huizar to take a specific, official act.
Expert Analysis
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IP Ruling Likely To Limit Arguments Against Qualified Experts
The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Osseo v. Planmeca, clarifying when experts may offer testimony from the perspective of a skilled artisan, provides helpful guidance on expert qualifications and could quash future timing arguments regarding declarants' expertise, says Whitney Jenkins at Marshall Gerstein.
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Unpacking Arguments From High Court's Rural Hospital Case
During oral arguments in Advocate v. Becerra, the U.S. Supreme Court justices focused questions on the meaning of being "entitled to" supplementary security income assistance, and there's reason for optimism that the likely split decision will break in favor of hospitals, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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Args In 2 High Court Cases May Foretell Clarity For Employers
Mary Anna Brand at Maynard Nexsen examines possible employment implications of two cases argued before the Supreme Court this fall, including a higher bar for justifying employees as overtime exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act, and earlier grants of prevailing party status for employee-plaintiffs seeking attorney fees.
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California Supreme Court's Year In Review
Attorneys at Horvitz & Levy highlight notable decisions on major questions from the California Supreme Court's last term, including voter initiatives, hostile work environment and the economic loss rule.
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DC Circ. Decision Opens Door To NEPA Regulation Litigation
A recent D.C. Circuit decision in Marin Audubon Society v. Federal Aviation Administration could open the door to more litigation over the White House Council on Environmental Quality's National Environmental Policy Act regulations, and could affect how many agencies conduct and interpret environmental assessments, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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Navigating 4th Circ.'s Antitrust Burden In Hybrid Relationships
The U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review the Fourth Circuit's Brewbaker decision, a holding that heightens the burden on antitrust prosecutors when the target companies have a hybrid horizontal-vertical relationship, but diverges from other circuits, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Dissecting The Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Debate
The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Allergan v. MSN highlights the ongoing evolution of the obviousness-type double patenting doctrine, revealing increasing tension between expiration-based interpretations and procedural flexibility, says Jeremy Lowe at Leydig Voit.
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Calif. Ruling May Shield Public Employers From Labor Claims
In Stone v. Alameda Health System, the California Supreme Court recently exempted a county hospital from state-mandated rest breaks and the Private Attorneys General Act, granting government employers a robust new bulwark against other labor statutes by undermining an established doctrine for determining if a law applies to public entities, say attorneys at Hunton.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Perils Of Perfunctory Interpretation
Attorneys at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions in which the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals and the Federal Circuit ruthlessly dismantled arguments that rely on superficial understandings of different contract terms.
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2nd Circ. AmTrust Decision Shows Audit Reports Still Matter
Though the Second Circuit eventually found on reconsidering a case over the high-profile accounting meltdown at AmTrust that audit reports are material to investors, its previous contrary holding highlights the seriousness of the ongoing crisis of confidence in the audit report, say attorneys at Bernstein Litowitz.
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Series
Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.
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9th Circ.'s High Bar May Limit Keyword Confusion TM Claims
A recent Ninth Circuit ruling that a law firm did not infringe upon a competitor’s trademarks by paying Google to promote its website when users searched for the rival’s name signals that plaintiffs likely can no longer win infringement suits by claiming competitive keyword advertising confuses internet-savvy consumers, say attorneys at Mitchell Silberberg.
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Post-Election Implications For The EPA's Methane Rules
Amid the U.S. Supreme Court's recent denial of requests to halt implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methane rule in two suits, and given the outcome of the election, a complete reversal of the methane rule is expected, but state-level policymaking and enforcement will continue, says John Watson at Spencer Fane.
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Opinion
Justices Should Squash Bid To Criminalize Contract Breaches
In Kousisis v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court should reject the sweeping legal theory that breaches of contract can satisfy the property element of the mail and wire fraud statutes, which, if validated, would criminalize an array of ordinary conduct and violate basic constitutional principles, say attorneys at The Norton Law Firm.
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Racing Patents To The Fed. Circ.: Collateral Estoppel Lessons
As more and more parties find themselves in two different forums addressing the same issues and then competing in a race to the Federal Circuit, certain strategies can help despite unanswered questions on when Patent Trial and Appeal Board determinations trigger collateral estoppel, say attorneys at Akin.