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Appellate
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June 28, 2024
Firm Asks $460K In Fees After $8K Awarded In Copyright Case
A Seattle-based intellectual property firm is seeking $460,000 in attorney fees for its defense of a software company client battling copyright and patent infringement allegations brought by a leadership consultant, despite the client's losing an $8,000 judgment on one claim.
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June 28, 2024
5th Circ. Tosses Texas Health System's COVID-19 Suit
The largest nonprofit health system in Texas cannot get coverage for COVID-19-related business interruption losses it said totaled over $192 million, the Fifth Circuit affirmed, highlighting previous circuit precedent establishing that COVID-19 does not cause "physical loss or damage."
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June 28, 2024
Chevron Ruling No Sea Change For Tax Court, Judge Says
The U.S. Tax Court will continue to rely on the IRS and Treasury's expertise in the tax code following the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision to overturn the 40-year-old Chevron doctrine that directed courts to defer to federal agencies' interpretations of ambiguous law, a judge said Friday.
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June 28, 2024
Bannon Can't Dodge Prison In Contempt Appeal
Steve Bannon must go to prison Monday, according to a U.S. Supreme Court order Friday rejecting the former Trump White House chief strategist's bid to stave off his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.
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June 28, 2024
Nixed Purdue Ch. 11 Plan May Leave States Ready For A Fight
State attorneys general across the country could be gearing up for more opioid-related litigation against the Sackler family after the U.S. Supreme Court wiped out a $5.5 billion third-party release for the owners of bankrupt drugmaker Purdue Pharma LP, experts told Law360.
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June 28, 2024
High Court Enters July With 3 Rulings To Go
In a rare move, the U.S. Supreme Court will issue opinions into the beginning of July as the court tries to clear its merits docket of three remaining cases dealing with presidential immunity, whether governments can control social media platforms' content moderation policies and the appropriate deadline to challenge agency action.
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June 28, 2024
Iowa Supreme Court Approves 6-Week Abortion Ban
The Iowa Supreme Court narrowly ruled Friday that the state can enforce a law restricting abortion after about six weeks of pregnancy, finding the state has a "legitimate interest in protecting unborn life," according to the majority opinion.
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June 28, 2024
Justices Limit Fed. Use Of Obstruction Charge In Jan. 6 Cases
The U.S. Supreme Court limited Friday the U.S. Department of Justice's use of an obstruction of Congress statute against defendants accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, ruling the law enacted in the wake of an accounting scandal requires the obstructive act must somehow impair the availability or integrity of official documents or proceedings.
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June 28, 2024
Supreme Court Strikes Down Chevron Deference
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned a decades-old precedent that instructed judges about when they could defer to federal agencies' interpretations of law in rulemaking, depriving courts of a commonly used analytic tool and leaving lots of questions about what comes next.
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June 28, 2024
Supreme Court Backs Oregon City's Anti-Camping Laws
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Oregon city's anti-camping ordinances Friday against a challenge from homeless residents who allege the laws penalize them for being homeless.
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June 27, 2024
Biden, Trump Spar On Abortion Access In The Wake Of Dobbs
The U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs decision upending Americans' access to abortion care made an early appearance at Thursday night's presidential debate, with President Joe Biden lamenting the end of Roe v. Wade and former President Donald Trump taking credit for handing the issue of abortion rights "back to the states."
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June 27, 2024
Biden Takes Dig At 'Convicted Felon' Trump In 1st Debate
President Joe Biden referred to former President Donald Trump as a "convicted felon" during Thursday's presidential debate, while Trump suggested that Biden could be criminally prosecuted after leaving office.
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June 27, 2024
Freedmen Heir Has Standing In Land Leasing Row, Court Says
A descendant of those enslaved by the Cherokee Nation can challenge the federal government's alleged restriction on funds from early 20th century land allotments, a D.C. Circuit judge said, arguing that she suffered a cognizable injury due to the Interior Department's failure to provide an accounting of the transactions.
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June 27, 2024
Tesla Error Doomed Bid To Arbitrate Race Bias Suit, Court Says
Tesla must face a Black ex-employee's claims of race discrimination in court, a California appeals court ruled Wednesday, affirming a lower court's finding that the electric vehicle maker lost its chance to arbitrate the claims after it failed to pay arbitration fees on time.
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June 27, 2024
Criticism Of Fla. Judge's Order Is Free Speech, ACLU Says
The American Civil Liberties Union came to the defense of two Florida attorneys facing discipline before the state's high court over critical remarks about an Orlando judge's order in a discrimination case, arguing that suspending their licenses for 30 days would violate the First Amendment.
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June 27, 2024
Justices' SEC Ruling Reaffirms Oil States For Patent Attys
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision limiting the use of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's administrative courts on Thursday did not address weedy issues that could have shaken up the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, but it did "put a ribbon on" the justices' Oil States decision, attorneys said.
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June 27, 2024
High Court Liberals Warn Jarkesy's Reach Will Be Widespread
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to limit the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's use of its in-house courts will have "momentous consequences" for dozens of agencies tasked with overseeing the electric grid, environmental regulations and consumer protection laws, the court's liberal wing has warned.
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June 27, 2024
Interest Groups Want To Join 6th Circ. Net Neutrality Appeals
The Sixth Circuit should allow several public interest groups to intervene in the bundle of net neutrality challenges currently before the appellate court, in case there's an administration change and the FCC switches positions on the matter, those groups are arguing.
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June 27, 2024
EPA's State Smog Pollution Plan Down, Not Out Yet
The U.S. Supreme Court flexed its muscles menacingly at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday and blocked it from implementing an important air pollution control plan for several states, but experts say it's too early to completely write off the rule in question.
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June 27, 2024
Uber, Lyft Cut $175M Deal To End Mass. Worker Status Fight
Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. on Thursday agreed to pay a combined $175 million and provide drivers with a suite of benefits to settle an employee classification lawsuit brought by the state of Massachusetts.
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June 27, 2024
Parole Challenge Ruling Was 'Error Twice Over,' 5th Circ. Told
A Texas-led coalition of states told the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday that a cost-benefit analysis a trial court considered before allowing a new Biden administration migrant parole program to continue is "error twice over," writing that such calculations are not for the court to make when it evaluates standing.
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June 27, 2024
Navy Wrongly Ended Deal Over Staffing Req, Fed. Circ. Told
A U.S. Navy contractor has urged the Federal Circuit to overturn the branch's decision to cancel a support services task order for default, saying the Navy had imposed unjustified staffing requirements on the deal and wrongly sought to debar the company from contracting.
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June 27, 2024
Self-Defense Code Should Apply To UGA Case, Panel Says
The Georgia Court of Appeals said Thursday that a superior court judge should not have voided two provisions of the University of Georgia's code of conduct during disciplinary proceedings over an off-campus fight between two students, one of whom cited self-defense in an attempt to avoid suspension.
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June 27, 2024
4th Circ. Dismisses Chinese Currency Issues In $3.6M Award
The Fourth Circuit on Thursday shut down an argument that enforcing a $3.6 million Hong Kong arbitral award would violate U.S. public policy by allowing the winning party to skirt Chinese currency controls, in a dispute stemming from the organization of a real estate development firm.
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June 27, 2024
Gov't Can Take Corrective Action 'At Any Time,' Fed. Circ. Told
The federal government is urging the Federal Circuit to affirm a decision allowing a U.S. Department of Commerce corrective action on a $1.5 billion information technology deal during ongoing bid protests, saying government agencies can take such actions whenever they want.
Expert Analysis
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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High Court's Abortion Pill Ruling Shuts Out Future Challenges
The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous ruling in U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine maintains the status quo for mifepristone access and rejects the plaintiffs' standing theories so thoroughly that future challenges from states or other plaintiffs are unlikely to be viable, say Jaime Santos and Annaka Nava at Goodwin.
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Insurers Have A Ch. 11 Voice Following High Court Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum — which reaffirmed a broad definition of "party in interest" — will give insurers, particularly in mass tort Chapter 11 bankruptcies, more opportunity to protect their interests and identify problems with reorganization plans, says George Singer at Holland & Hart.
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Justices' Bump Stock Ruling Skirted Deference, Lenity Issues
Despite presenting a seemingly classic case on agency deference, the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week in Garland v. Cargill did not mention the Chevron doctrine, and the opinion also overlooked whether agency interpretations of federal gun laws should ever receive deference given that they carry criminal penalties, say Tess Saperstein and John Elwood at Arnold & Porter.
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Emerging Trends In ESG-Focused Securities Litigation
Based on a combination of shareholder pressure, increasing regulatory scrutiny and proposed rulemaking, there has been a proliferation of litigation over public company disclosures and actions regarding environmental, social, and governance factors — and the overall volume of such class actions will likely increase in the coming years, say attorneys at Mintz.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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High Court's BofA Ruling Leaves State Preemption Questions
A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Cantero v. Bank of America sheds light on whether certain state banking regulations apply to federally chartered banks, but a circuit split could still force the Supreme Court to take a more direct position, says Brett Garver at Moritt Hock.
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Next Steps After 5th Circ. Nixes Private Fund Adviser Rules
The Fifth Circuit's recent toss of key U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules regarding private fund advisers represents a setback for the regulator, but open questions, including the possibility of an SEC petition to the U.S. Supreme Court, mean it's still too early to consider the matter closed, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Foreign Discovery Insights 2 Years After ZF Automotive
Although an Arizona federal court decision last month demonstrates that Section 1782 discovery may still be available to foreign arbitral parties, the scope of such discovery has narrowed greatly since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision in ZF Automotive, and there are a few potential trends for practitioners to follow, say attorneys at Venable.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Deciphering SEC Disgorgement 4 Years After Liu
Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 decision in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to preserve SEC disgorgement with limits, courts have continued to rule largely in the agency’s favor, but a recent circuit split over the National Defense Authorization Act's import may create hurdles for the SEC, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Where Anti-Discrimination Law Stands 4 Years After Bostock
On the fourth anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Bostock ruling, Evan Parness and Abby Rickeman at Covington take stock of how the decision, which held that Title VII protects employees from discrimination because of their sexual orientation and gender identity, has affected anti-discrimination law at the state and federal levels.
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8th Circ. Insurance Ruling Spotlights Related-Claims Defenses
The Eighth Circuit’s recent Dexon v. Travelers ruling — that the insurer must provide a defense despite the policy’s related-acts provision — provides guidance for how policyholders can overcome related-acts defenses, say Geoffrey Fehling and Jae Lynn Huckaba at Hunton.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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9th Circ. Clarifies ERISA Preemption For Healthcare Industry
The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in Bristol SL Holdings v. Cigna notably clarifies the broad scope of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act's preemption of certain state law causes of action, standing to benefit payors and health plan administrators, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.