Appellate

  • September 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Rehear Klamath Project ESA Ruling

    The Ninth Circuit said Wednesday it won't disturb a divided three-judge panel's ruling affirming that a federal regulator must abide by the Endangered Species Act's interagency consultation requirements as it operates a water management project in northern California and southern Oregon.

  • September 23, 2026

    11th Circ. Backs Off-Duty Officer's Immunity From Force Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit has ruled that an off-duty Alabama police officer should have qualified immunity from a lawsuit alleging unlawful use of deadly force after he fatally shot his unarmed neighbor who was suffering from a brain cancer-related mental health crisis.

  • September 23, 2026

    Keysight Can't Get Full Fed. Circ. To Review Centripetal Case

    The full Federal Circuit will not review a decision upholding the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Keysight Technologies Inc. failed to show that five claims in a Centripetal Networks LLC cybersecurity patent are invalid, rejecting Keysight's argument that the panel focused on "form over substance."

  • September 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Rejects Squatter's-Rights Claim On Dead Baby's Name

    Walter Glenn Primrose testified at trial that he stole a dead baby's name to escape debt and threats in the 1980s and used it for three decades — even joining the U.S. Coast Guard and becoming a defense contractor — before his arrest and convictions. This week, the Ninth Circuit rejected Primrose's novel claim that his identity theft convictions can't stand because he has squatter's rights over the infant's identity.

  • September 23, 2026

    DOJ Partially Backs Apple In Epic High Court Contempt Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice told the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus brief that the Ninth Circuit wrongly faulted Apple for charging a 27% commission on transactions linked out from apps, but it backed other parts of the California federal court's contempt order won by Epic Games.

  • September 23, 2026

    Sam Smith Can't Shimmy Out Of 'Dancing' Copyright Suit

    A California federal judge will not throw out a lawsuit accusing pop singers Sam Smith and Normani of copying another song in their 2019 hit "Dancing With a Stranger," saying there were factual issues over the alleged similarity of the songs.

  • September 23, 2026

    Appeals Court Won't Enforce Hotel Co. Personal Injury Deal

    A Georgia appeals court on Wednesday rejected a hotel operator's push to enforce a $300,000 personal injury settlement with a man who said he'd been attacked while staying at the hotel, saying problems with a key affidavit doomed the company's case.

  • September 23, 2026

    Suit Over Mich. Teen's Campground Drowning Reinstated

    A Michigan recreational campground must face claims it breached a duty owed to a 15-year-old who drowned in a human-made swimming pond, a state appeals court has ruled, saying a jury must decide if the campground failed to warn swimmers of the deep, murky and dangerous conditions of the water.

  • September 23, 2026

    2nd Circ. Hints $7.25M Mansion Sale Stands In Guo's Ch. 11

    Second Circuit judges poked holes Wednesday in the claim that the wife of a bankrupt Chinese billionaire was in charge of a company that owned a contested $7.25 million Connecticut mansion, eliciting a concession from her attorney that there is evidence her husband was actually calling the shots.

  • September 23, 2026

    Vividion Investor Wants IP Suit Over $2B Bayer Deal Revived

    CHP III LP urged the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday to revive its suit over allegedly diverted intellectual property in Vividion Therapeutics Inc.'s $2 billion sale to Bayer Corp., while the defendants argued the investor is trying to turn a corporate injury into a direct stockholder claim that did not survive the merger.

  • September 23, 2026

    Del. Justices Weigh If Corporations Can Vote In Beach Town

    The ACLU of Delaware urged the state's high court Wednesday to revive its challenge to Fenwick Island's practice of allowing property-owning corporations and other artificial entities to vote in municipal elections, arguing the system unlawfully dilutes residents' votes.

  • September 23, 2026

    Fla. Panel Won't Hear City's Immunity Bid In Partnership Suit

    A Florida state appellate panel issued a split decision on Wednesday dismissing a bid by a city to overturn an order striking its motion to argue for immunity in a lawsuit over a public-private partnership to build a green waste facility near protected wetlands, saying it lacks jurisdiction. 

  • September 23, 2026

    3rd Circ. Bars Early Probation Termination Bids Before 1 Year

    In a precedential opinion Wednesday, the Third Circuit held that a defendant seeking early termination of supervised release must serve at least one year of the current supervised release term before petitioning the court.

  • September 23, 2026

    Ute Tribe Says Split-Estate Lands Remain Indian Country

    The Ute Indian Tribe has urged the Tenth Circuit to overturn a Utah federal judge's ruling that the surface of split-estate lands within its reservation's original boundaries is not Indian Country, arguing the appellate court settled the issue decades ago.

  • September 23, 2026

    'Hanging In There' Doesn't Ax Disability Claim, 9th Circ. Says

    "Hanging in there" and working through the pain of a worsening disability is not a reason to reject the testimony of someone seeking Social Security benefits, the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

  • September 23, 2026

    Board Eases Burden Over Migrant Drug Use Admission

    The Board of Immigration Appeals upheld an immigration judge's decision finding a Mexican national ineligible for status adjustment because he had admitted to possessing and using cocaine, finding no obligation to first inform him of the offense's particular legal elements.

  • September 23, 2026

    Legal Groups Back Firm In NC High Court Malpractice Appeal

    Legal advocacy groups are standing behind the law firm Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo LLP in asking North Carolina's highest court to find that the state's four-year statute of repose on legal malpractice claims creates an immovable end-date to liability.

  • September 23, 2026

    KCSR Appeals STB's BNSF Terminal Trackage Rights Ruling

    Canadian Pacific Kansas City subsidiary Kansas City Southern Railway is asking the D.C. Circuit to overturn a Surface Transportation Board ruling that set the price BNSF Railway will pay to use a nine-mile conduit for petroleum and chemical shipping in Louisiana, in an appeal filed this week.

  • September 23, 2026

    Fed. Grants Bind Railways To Fed. Labor Law, NMB Argues

    The Eleventh Circuit should affirm a Florida federal judge's finding that a high-speed rail operator is subject to the Railway Labor Act, the National Mediation Board argued, saying the operator can't wriggle its way out of complying because it runs an intercity rather than interstate rail line.

  • September 23, 2026

    Ga. Appeals Court Says Atlanta Can't Escape Injury Verdict

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday said a trial court rightly refused to set aside a $140,000 verdict against the city of Atlanta in a woman's lawsuit over a broken wrist she said she suffered when she tripped over the metal remnants of a traffic sign on the sidewalk. 

  • September 23, 2026

    Judge Won't Overturn $5M American Axle Win In Patent Case

    Neapco Holdings LLC has lost its bid to dodge paying a $5.2 million award in a patent suit from American Axle after a Delaware federal judge found that there was enough evidence to back the jury's finding and that the monetary amount wasn't excessive.

  • September 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Says Pre-2013 Life Policies Needn't Get Lapse Forms

    Life insurers are not required to send designation forms to California policyholders whose policies were issued before 2013, when a state law requiring carriers to provide applicants with a form to designate another individual to receive notice of a lapse or termination went into effect, the Ninth Circuit ruled.

  • September 23, 2026

    State Pols Urge Justices To Rein In Kalshi's Sports Offerings

    A coalition of state lawmakers has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Third Circuit decision allowing Kalshi to keep its sports offerings online in New Jersey, emphasizing that sports betting oversight must be left to the states.

  • September 22, 2026

    Feds' Latest Permit For Calif. Pipeline Challenged At 9th Circ.

    Environmental groups are urging the Ninth Circuit to review Trump administration's recent decision approving operations of two coastal California oil pipeline segments, including one that was shut down for years following a 2015 oil spill, saying on Tuesday that the new permit waives key safety requirements.

  • September 22, 2026

    Hydropower Plant Needs More Monitoring, Wash. Panel Says

    A Washington appeals panel broadly upheld the state's certification of a hydroelectric power project near the Columbia River on Monday, although the court said officials need to impose additional monitoring and reporting requirements to address potential leakage into the surrounding watershed.

Expert Analysis

  • 3rd Circ. Hotel Ruling Flags Key Issues In Dynamic Pricing

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    The Third Circuit's recent decision in Cornish-Adebiyi v. Caesars Entertainment relies on allegations that competitors used nonpublic data to set real-time rates considered exorbitant, highlighting both the potential risks and substantial benefits of utilizing emerging technologies, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • 4th Circ. Class Cert. Ruling Offers Tips For Damages Experts

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent decision reversing class certification in litigation against Boeing raises the cost of a bare-bones damages model proposal for plaintiffs, but it also clarifies what a defensible proposal should contain, say Alok Khare and Erica Rose at FTI Consulting.

  • Opinion

    'Plain Meaning' Requires Plainer Meaning In IP Litigation

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Socket Solutions v. Import Global highlights the frequent ambiguity surrounding courts' references to "plain meaning" in patent claim construction — an ambiguity that should be resolved by courts, not litigants, say attorneys at Klarquist Sparkman.

  • What To Know As Legal Duty To Consider AI Takes Shape

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    While the U.K. Jurisdiction Taskforce’s recent statement on liability for artificial intelligence harms is nonbinding for both U.K. and U.S. lawyers, it highlights the importance of being able to distinguish between the availability of a tool and a professional obligation to use it, say Jonny Frank and Michael Costa at StoneTurn.

  • Patent Ruling Shows Concrete Tech Solution Key To Eligibility

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent Ceiva Opco v. Amazon.com decision offers an important reminder that software-related inventions can remain patent eligible when they claim a concrete technological solution to a specific problem, says Irah Donner at Manatt.

  • Appellate Vape Rulings May Expand State Regulation Powers

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    Two recent federal appeals courts decisions rejecting Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act preemption challenges to state electronic nicotine delivery systems directory laws signal an emerging appellate consensus that could significantly expand states' power to regulate vaping product sales where federal enforcement falls short, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • How Solar Fraud Case Affects Lender Oversight Of Dealers

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to review the Third Circuit's ruling in Migliore v. Sunlight Financial means that residential solar finance companies are protected from vicarious liability for deceptive acts by independent solar dealers — but lenders must still take steps to guard against dealer misconduct, says Rand Manasse at Green Lane Partners.

  • Fed. Circ. Rulings Emphasize Adjudicative Access And Review

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    Decisions from the Federal Circuit's 2026 docket indicate that the court is increasingly paying attention to whether tribunals possess authority to act, meaning practitioners will need to properly address procedural hurdles before they can argue the merits of a case, say attorneys at Reichman Jorgensen.

  • Amazon v. Perplexity Ruling Limits CFAA Reach Over AI Tools

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Amazon v. Perplexity provides important early guidance on how the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act applies to agentic artificial intelligence, and is the latest in a line of rulings in which courts have declined to stretch existing statutes to broadly regulate AI, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Managing OSHA Mental Illness Logs After 5th Circ. Vacatur

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    Employers with facilities in multiple states need to carefully weigh their recordkeeping procedures following the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cannot require employers to log work-related mental illness, as inconsistent logs across facilities may raise other issues, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Expect More Probes After 3rd Circ. Algorithmic Pricing Ruling

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    The Third Circuit's recent decision in Cornish-Adebiyi v. Caesars Entertainment, allowing algorithmic price-fixing claims to proceed past motions to dismiss, may serve as a road map for how to contend with increased litigation risk in this developing area of antitrust law, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Being In A Band Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing shows in storied New York City venues and rehearsing with my bandmates in poorly ventilated rooms helped develop the professional qualities I rely on as a litigator, including an ability to collaborate with strong-minded equals and the determination to treat each client with singular focus, says Eliad Shapiro at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    After 2026's second quarter, there is more authority rejecting class certification on total loss valuation theories from courts at the federal circuit, federal district and state appellate level — along with a resolution of a novel issue of depreciation on a wildfire claim, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

  • 10th Circ. Ruling Undermines False Ad 'Two Clicks' Rule

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    The Tenth Circuit’s recent ruling in KetoNatural Pet Foods v. Hill's Pet Nutrition substantially challenges a long-standing assumption that a company can avoid responsibility for promotional claims simply because the consumer encountered them by clicking a hyperlink to a third-party website, say attorneys at Venable.

  • How Drug Trial Prediction Markets Pose Insider Trading Risks

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    Multiple prediction market platforms have recently announced plans to offer event contracts related to clinical trial outcomes and regulatory decisions, creating new insider trading risks by expanding the group of people possessing related material nonpublic information far beyond traditional corporate insiders, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

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