Appellate

  • February 27, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Trustees Can't Settle Co.'s Suit Against Ex-CEO

    Separate bankruptcy trustees for a company and its former CEO have no right to settle the company's fraud claims against the CEO with insurance proceeds from a directors and officers policy, the Fourth Circuit ruled, agreeing with the insurer that only the former CEO himself has consent-to-settle rights. 

  • February 27, 2025

    VW Urges Fed. Circ. Not To Revive 3D Glasses Patent Suit

    Volkswagen urged the Federal Circuit on Wednesday to uphold a lower court's dismissal of patent-holding company VDPP LLC's patent suit against it, arguing that VDPP "failed to investigate facts, pressed unreasonable positions, disregarded court orders and rationales, 'lied,' and committed innumerable careless errors."

  • February 27, 2025

    11th Circ. Urged To Revive Captivity Claims Against Cruise Co.

    Two former crew members who served aboard a Celebrity Cruises Inc. ship urged the Eleventh Circuit to reinstate their COVID-19 related false imprisonment and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims in a proposed class action against the company, arguing they were wrongly tossed after getting remanded to the lower court.

  • February 27, 2025

    5th Circ. Won't Revive Sheriff's Workers' Leave Policy Suit

    The Fifth Circuit declined Thursday to reinstate a lawsuit employees brought against the Harris County Sheriff's Office over a policy restricting how they can use the compensatory time off they receive in lieu of overtime wages, saying the workers cannot show they have a property interest to the accrued time.

  • February 27, 2025

    Lewis Brisbois Foe Urges 5th Circ. To Let TM Feud Go To Jury

    The main defendant of a group that was found liable for willfully stealing Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP's name for its mediation business has told the Fifth Circuit that a Texas federal court committed more than a dozen abuses of discretion and that the trademark dispute should go before a jury.

  • February 27, 2025

    NRA Urges High Court to Consider NY Carry Law Case

    The National Rifle Association and the superintendent of New York State Police are at odds over whether the U.S. Supreme Court should take up a case regarding a state law requiring "good moral character" as a prerequisite to obtaining a gun permit, with both sides filing dueling briefs to the justices.

  • February 27, 2025

    High Court Asked To Weigh Investors' Eminent Domain Case

    A pair of real estate investors want the U.S. Supreme Court to review their loss in New York state appellate court regarding a suit seeking additional compensation for a residential property that the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority took from them through eminent domain.

  • February 27, 2025

    Texas Attorney Says He Can Contact Party While Pro Se

    An attorney barred from practicing law for five years has told the Texas Supreme Court that he was allowed to contact members of the Texas Bar's disciplinary wing instead of their counsel because he was pro se, asking the court to toss his punishment.

  • February 27, 2025

    9th Circ. Partially Upholds Ruling In Ariz. Voting Rights Row

    A Ninth Circuit panel upheld a lower court's ruling that certain provisions of two Republican-backed Arizona voting laws requiring residents to provide proof of citizenship to vote by mail and in presidential elections violated federal law, saying several of the measures are examples of voter suppression.

  • February 27, 2025

    Landlords Can't Duck Injury Claim From Dweller Not On Lease

    A Washington state appeals court said Thursday that landlords must face a claim from a pregnant woman who was injured from a fall down a flight of stairs, even though she had not signed the rental lease, in an opinion that said the lower court erred by tossing the case on the eve of trial without giving proper notice.

  • February 27, 2025

    8th Circ. Says BIA Must Explain I-130 Petition Denial

    An Eighth Circuit panel said on Thursday the Board of Immigration Appeals failed to adequately explain what facts and circumstances led it to determine that a Chinese national's connections to the U.S. were insufficient to prove his habitual residence.

  • February 27, 2025

    DOJ Tells DC Circ. To Keep Apple Out Of Google Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice is urging the D.C. Circuit to keep Apple out of its remedies case against Google, arguing that Apple "sat on its hands" for years despite knowing from the outset of the litigation that its default search agreement with Google was at stake.

  • February 27, 2025

    Trump Admin Asks 1st Circ. To Let It Enforce Birthright Ban

    President Donald Trump's administration on Thursday asked the First Circuit to let it begin enforcing its executive order restricting birthright citizenship while it appeals a Massachusetts federal judge's preliminary injunction.

  • February 27, 2025

    NLRB Tells 6th Circ. Constitution Args Can't Block Board Case

    The National Labor Relations Board has asked the Sixth Circuit to deny an auto parts manufacturer's bid to pause an NLRB case on constitutional grounds, saying the company hasn't shown it would suffer the type of harm that justifies an injunction if the case moves forward.

  • February 27, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Netflix PTAB Win Over Chip Patent

    Netflix persuaded the Federal Circuit to sign off Thursday on another one of the streaming company's wins at the patent board in its fight with a Broadcom subsidiary over chip technology.

  • February 27, 2025

    Conn. Supreme Court Snapshot: Water Rates, Judicial Attacks

    An Eversource unit's request to offset inflation and $42 million in new infrastructure projects through rate hikes will top the Connecticut Supreme Court's March docket, with the justices examining another in a list of challenges to state regulators' attempts to keep a lid on customer costs.

  • February 27, 2025

    Justices Told Bose Ruling Will Deter Patent Settlements

    A Bose rival is going to the U.S. Supreme Court after losing a Federal Circuit ruling last year that found its patents were doomed by the terms of how a related infringement case settled, warning that the decision would "dissuade parties from settlements."

  • February 27, 2025

    4th Circ. Rips 'Shaky At Best' Drug Price-Fixing Class Action

    The Fourth Circuit backed the dismissal of a proposed class action accusing drug companies of conspiring to inflate the price of a drug for Huntington's disease, writing in the opinion that the allegations are "shaky at best," "sparsely pleaded" and "stretch civil RICO liability beyond its limits."

  • February 27, 2025

    Goldstein Urges Judge To Lift Device Monitoring Requirement

    U.S. Supreme Court advocate and SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein asked a Maryland federal judge Thursday to nix a condition of his pretrial release that requires him to have monitoring equipment installed on his electronic devices.

  • February 27, 2025

    Trump Urges Ga. Justices To Leave Election Charges Nixed

    President Donald Trump has urged the Georgia Supreme Court to uphold a state appellate decision that affirmed the dismissal of six counts in the state's election interference case.

  • February 27, 2025

    McCarter & English Wants $3.8M, Ex-Client Wants New Trial

    Scarcely a month after the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that McCarter & English LLP is not entitled to $3.6 million in punitive damages from a federal fee feud with ex-client Jarrow Formulas Inc., the firm has requested a nearly $3.8 million judgment against the supplement company, while Jarrow has requested reimbursement and a new trial.

  • February 27, 2025

    5th Circ. Backs Texas Medical Center's Race Bias Suit Win

    The Fifth Circuit refused to revive a Black researcher's suit claiming a University of Texas medical center fired him because he complained that a supervisor made offensive comments and impeded his work, finding he'd failed to identify a non-Black employee who was treated better.

  • February 27, 2025

    Calif. Panel Won't Send Class Wage Suit To Arbitration

    A California appeals court refused to overturn an order declining to send to arbitration a sanitation worker's wage and hour suit against his former employer, saying his Private Attorneys General Act claims were brought only on behalf of a class and therefore the case can stay in court.

  • February 27, 2025

    Colo. Justice Warns Attys Not To Dodge Tough Questions

    A Colorado Supreme Court justice told lawyers Wednesday not to pivot after being asked a question during oral arguments, saying justices can sense a lawyer is avoiding a topic and will go after it with a "great, invisible hook."

  • February 26, 2025

    Bank Directors Back Ex-Rabobank Exec's High Court Bid

    A bank director advocacy group has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a former Rabobank compliance chief's challenge against the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, arguing the agency engages in a practice of "regulation-by-dismissal" to the detriment of the banking industry.

Expert Analysis

  • Purse-Case Scenarios: 'MetaBirkin' Appeal Tests TM Rights

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    A federal court's finding that "MetaBirkin" nonfungible tokens infringed on Hermes' iconic Birkin bag imagery is now on appeal in the Second Circuit, and the order will have a lasting effect on how courts balance trademark rights and the First Amendment, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

  • 6th Circ. Ruling Prevents Disability Insurer Overreach

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    The Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in McEachin v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance offers disability insurance claimants guidance on how they might challenge misapplications of policy limitations for mental illness when a medical condition accounts for their disability, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Unclear Criteria, Data Rights, Conflicts

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    Liam Bowers at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims examining the use of unstated evaluation criteria, an agency's investigation of its own data rights and unequal access to information about an organizational conflict of interest.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • Foreclosing Lenders Still Floating In Murky Legal Waters In NY

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    The New York foreclosure landscape remains in disarray after the state's highest court last month declined to weigh in on whether legal changes from 2022 that severely curtailed lenders' ability to bring successive foreclosure cases were retroactive, says Brian Rich at Barclay Damon.

  • In Terror Case, DC Circ. Must Weigh Justices' Twitter Ruling

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    When the D.C. Circuit hears oral argument in AstraZeneca UK v. Atchley, how the court interprets the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Twitter v. Taamneh will have a significant impact on future claims brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act and Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, say attorneys at Lewis Baach.

  • Series

    Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • 3 Policyholder Lessons From NY Bad Faith Ruling

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    A New York appellate court's recent decision finding that Rockefeller University alleged viable bad faith claims against its insurers reinforces the principle that insurers may not elevate their own economic interests over those of their insureds, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • In SF Water Case, Justices Signal How Loper May Be Applied

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    Skeptical questions from U.S. Supreme Court justices during oral argument in San Francisco v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offer hints of how the court intends to apply limits on agency regulatory autonomy established last term in Loper Bright, says Karen Cullinane at Goldberg Segalla.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: November Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses six federal court decisions that touch on Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and when individual inquiries are needed to prove economic loss.

  • Notable Q3 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Total loss valuation cases and labor depreciation cases dominated the past quarter of insurance class actions, with courts continuing to reject challenges to condition adjustments in the former, and a pro-insured trend persisting in the latter, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • 2nd Circ. Halkbank Ruling Shifts Foreign Immunity Landscape

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    Following the Second Circuit’s recent common law immunity ruling in U.S. v. Halkbank, foreign state-owned banks, wealth funds and other entities now must seriously consider the risk of criminal liability for commercial activity that violates U.S. laws, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Justices Must Weigh Reach Of Civil RICO In Cannabis Case

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    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.

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