Appellate

  • October 24, 2024

    Trump Again Argues Jack Smith's Appointment Was Illegal

    Former President Donald Trump on Thursday said a D.C. federal court should throw out prosecutors' election interference case, repeating the argument he made in the classified documents case against him in Florida and contending that the appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith was illegal.

  • October 24, 2024

    4th Circ. Backs Sanctioning Firm $1M For 'Defiance' Of Court

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday upheld a roughly $1 million sanction against the law firm of New York plaintiffs attorney Paul J. Napoli for its purportedly frivolous filings in a battle with another firm over asbestos litigation client referrals, saying the firm's misconduct was in "direct defiance" of a Maryland federal court's authority.

  • October 24, 2024

    Split Fed. Circ. Rejects Expert's 'Because I Said So' Testimony

    A Delaware federal jury was wrong to find Comcast infringed a NexStep "digital butler" patent, and the trial judge properly overruled it, a split Federal Circuit panel said Thursday.

  • October 24, 2024

    2nd Circ. Largely OKs Gun Control Law After High Court Order

    The Second Circuit on Thursday stood by its previous decision that largely vacated an order enjoining several of New York's gun restrictions, saying a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling the high court told it to consider on remand had "little direct bearing" on its prior conclusions.

  • October 24, 2024

    Del. Co. Tells 3rd Circ. €4.2M Award Was Properly Denied

    A Delaware investment company wants the Third Circuit to affirm a lower court ruling that refused to enforce an approximately €4.2 million arbitral award issued in a dispute over failed plans for a French medical equipment company to expand into Colombia.

  • October 24, 2024

    11th Circ. Seeks Bias Test Briefing In Fla. Trans Patients' Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit has ordered Florida health officials and transgender individuals to provide additional briefing in the state's appeal to reverse a ruling blocking its ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care, directing the parties to present their positions on whether hostile discrimination analysis applies to certain classes of people.

  • October 24, 2024

    Colo. Justices Grill State On Biz Names, ID Theft Law

    Colorado Supreme Court justices pressed state prosecutors Thursday on why a man's reversed conviction for identity theft should be reinstated, saying the identity theft law's use of "name" as a type of personal information seems to suggest the law refers only to people and not corporations.

  • October 24, 2024

    High Court Asked To Toss Texas Stay Of Green Card Rule

    An immigrant rights group asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to wipe out a Texas order freezing a new program that would allow certain noncitizen relatives of U.S. citizens to stay in the country while seeking green cards, arguing the court improperly used a procedural tool to effectively issue injunctive relief.

  • October 24, 2024

    Bank Groups Appeal Loss In Suit Over CFPB Small Biz Rules

    Lender trade groups that sued the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over its reporting requirements for small businesses have appealed to the Fifth Circuit after a Texas federal judge granted the bureau's request for summary judgment in August.

  • October 24, 2024

    2nd Circ. Says Healthcare Arbitrations Were Properly Halted

    The Second Circuit affirmed Thursday that a lower court properly halted a group of healthcare providers from pursuing thousands of arbitrations against State Farm as part of an alleged massive fraudulent scheme, ruling in a novel opinion the injunction did not violate federal arbitration law.

  • October 24, 2024

    IP Forecast: Inhibrx Co-Founder Faces Biotech Secrets Trial

    A Wilmington federal jury next week will hear a trade secrets lawsuit that accuses a biotech executive of helping himself to confidential information about cancer treatment antibodies while being employed as an expert in an unrelated $200 million arbitration proceeding. Here's a spotlight on that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

  • October 24, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Revives Lenovo Bid For SEP Anti-Suit Injunction

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday gave Lenovo a new shot at securing an order that could bar Ericsson from enforcing injunctions in South America amid the companies' globe-spanning standard-essential patent dispute, faulting a lower court's reasoning for rejecting Lenovo's request.

  • October 24, 2024

    No Tax Break For Bad Debt Investors, Wash. Justices Say

    The Washington State Supreme Court said Thursday that a group of funds that buy and sell distressed credit card debt can't claim a state business tax deduction on investment income because those investments were not incidental to their main business purpose.

  • October 24, 2024

    Trade Orgs Back Google's Bid For 9th Circ. Play Store Pause

    Trade groups and cybersecurity experts have told the Ninth Circuit to extend the pause on the mandate forcing Google to open up its Play Store and help rival app stores compete through that distribution mechanism, backing Google with amicus briefs warning of major disruptions to the app ecosystem.

  • October 24, 2024

    7th Circ. Doubts Satanic Temple Can Wage Abortion Fight

    A Seventh Circuit panel appeared skeptical Thursday that the Satanic Temple had standing to challenge Indiana's near-complete abortion ban, with questioning turning contentious when one judge pointed out that the religious organization would be blocked from providing abortion drugs through telehealth appointments even without the law. 

  • October 24, 2024

    Judges Doubt 'Troublesome' Comments Warrant New Trial

    Washington appellate judges appeared skeptical Thursday that a handful of comments could've triggered jury bias and tainted the trial of a Palestinian woman's medical malpractice case, though one judge called it "troublesome" that defense counsel told jurors the accused doctor was "from this part of the world."

  • October 24, 2024

    Wash. High Court Lets Anti-Tax Ballot Measure Show Impact

    Elections officials are permitted to place financial disclosure information next to a Washington state ballot measure that would repeal the state's tax on capital gains, the Washington Supreme Court ruled Thursday, upholding a trial court.

  • October 24, 2024

    4th Circ. Affirms Dismissal Of Crypto Theft Coverage

    The Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court's ruling that an individual's homeowners policy didn't cover his loss of $170,000 in cryptocurrency to an alleged scam, agreeing with a Virginia federal court that the loss didn't constitute a "direct physical loss."

  • October 24, 2024

    FCC Won't Hold Off Prison Phone Rate Caps During Suits

    The Federal Communications Commission has turned down three bids for the agency to shelve new prison phone service rate caps during legal appeals of the FCC's rule, saying such lawsuits are unlikely to prevail.

  • October 24, 2024

    DOJ Pushes Justices To Revive Bid-Rigging Conviction

    Federal prosecutors told the U.S. Supreme Court that the Fourth Circuit got it wrong last year when it vacated the bid-rigging conviction of aluminum pipe maker Contech's former executive, arguing Wednesday that agreements between firms can be per se unlawful even when they have a vertical relationship.

  • October 24, 2024

    Enviro Attys Must Teach Judges Science, Wash. Justice Says

    Attorneys shouldn't assume that judges are up to speed on scientific evidence that they're reviewing and instead should work on building judges' knowledge and helping them "feel smart," a Washington Supreme Court justice told environmental lawyers on Thursday.

  • October 24, 2024

    Colo. Justices Hesitant To Extend Personhood To Elephants

    Colorado Supreme Court justices appeared unlikely Thursday to grant habeas corpus rights to elephants in a zoo, repeatedly asking an animal rights group seeking to send the elephants to a sanctuary where the court should draw the line on personhood.

  • October 24, 2024

    Ga. Elections Official To Appeal Certification 'Discretion' Loss

    A Fulton County, Georgia, elections official who recently lost a lawsuit in which she tried to assert her purported "discretion" to certify vote results said Wednesday she plans to appeal the decision to the state's Court of Appeals.

  • October 24, 2024

    TikTok Won't Get 3rd Circ. Rehearing Of Section 230 Ruling

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday turned down TikTok's request for an en banc rehearing of a panel decision that the social media company's "For You Page" algorithm isn't entitled to immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in a case over a 10-year-old's death.

  • October 24, 2024

    EPA Can't Rush Truck Electrification, DC Circ. Hears

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a trucking industry group have thrown their support behind challengers' attempts to upend the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's greenhouse gas emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles, telling the D.C. Circuit that the agency is trying to accomplish too much too soon.

Expert Analysis

  • Assessing Whether Jarkesy May Limit FINRA Prosecutions

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Jarkesy v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, holding that civil securities fraud defendants are entitled to jury trials, may cause unpredictable results when applied to Financial Industry Regulatory Authority prosecutions, say Barry Temkin and Kate DiGeronimo at Mound Cotton.

  • The Bank Preemption Ripple Effects After Cantero, Flagstar

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    The importance of federal preemption for financial institutions will only increase as technology-driven innovations evolve, which is why the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cantero v. Bank of America and vacatur of Kivett v. Flagstar Bank have real modern-day significance for national banks, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • IP Hot Topic: The Intersection Of Trademark And Antitrust Law

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    Antitrust claims – like those in the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent case against Apple – are increasingly influencing trademark disputes and enforcement practices, demonstrating how antitrust law can dilute the power of a trademark, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Election Outlook: A Precedent Primer On Content Moderation

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    With the 2024 election season now in full swing, online platforms will face difficult and politically sensitive decisions about content moderation, but U.S. Supreme Court decisions from last term offer much-needed certainty about their rights, say Jonathan Blavin and Helen White at Munger Tolles.

  • When The Supreme Court Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

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    Instead of grousing about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning long-standing precedents, attorneys should look to history for examples of how enterprising legal minds molded difficult decisions to their advantage, and figure out how to work with the cards they’ve been dealt, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Philly Project Case Renews Ongoing Fraud Theory Tug-Of-War

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    In its upcoming term, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Kousisis v. U.S., a case involving wire fraud convictions related to Philadelphia bridge repair projects, and may once again further rein in prosecutorial attempts to expand theories of fraud beyond core traditional property rights, say Jonathan Halpern and Kyra Rosenzweig at Holland & Knight.

  • How Anti-DEI Bill Could Affect Employers' Diversity Efforts

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    Sen. J.D. Vance's recently introduced Dismantle DEI Act would substantially limit employers’ ability to implement and promote workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, but there are still steps employers can take to support a diverse workforce, says Peter Ennis at Cozen O’Connor.

  • Fed. Circ. Resolves Post-AIA Question On Prefiling Activity

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    For more than a decade, patent attorneys have worried about what the America Invents Act means for specific prefiling activities, but two recent Federal Circuit decisions suggest the enumerated prefiling activities in Section 102(a)(1) will not affect validity if done within a year of filing the application, says Howard Skaist at Berkeley Law.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • Series

    After Chevron: What To Expect In Consumer Protection At FTC

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    Although the Federal Trade Commission's bread-and-butter consumer protection law enforcement actions are unlikely to be affected, the Loper Bright decision may curb the FTC's bolder interpretations of the statutes it enforces, says Mary Engle at BBB National Programs.

  • Fed. Circ. Patent Ruling Clarifies Section 101 Procedures

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Mobile Acuity v. Blippar affirming a dismissal at the pleading stage illustrates important considerations and potential pitfalls for both filing and opposing a Section 101 motion to dismiss, say Thomas Sprankling and Vikram Iyer at WilmerHale.

  • What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires

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    Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.

  • Calif. Ruling Clarifying Paystub Compliance Is Win For Cos.

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    In rare good news for California employers, the state Supreme Court recently clarified that workers couldn’t win extra penalties in wage and hour cases by claiming their employer intentionally violated state paystub law if the employer believed it had complied in good faith, say Drei Munar and Kirk Hornbeck at Hunton.

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