Appellate

  • March 13, 2025

    Del.'s Divisive Corporate Law Rework Passes In State Senate

    Divisive amendments to Delaware's general corporation law cleared the state Senate Thursday with multiple questions but little debate and without dissenting votes, and will now be sent to the House amid warnings that failure to approve could weaken the state's standing as a top corporate charter hub.

  • March 13, 2025

    Mich. Justices Struggle With Line-Drawing For Rental Use

    Michigan Supreme Court justices on Thursday said they were struggling with where to draw the line for when homes can be rented short-term as property owners along a Lake Michigan neighborhood urged the state's top court to reverse a lower court's decision that said a restrictive covenant barred all vacation rentals.

  • March 13, 2025

    Swimsuit Pics App Maker Can't Revive Suit Against Facebook

    California appellate justices on Wednesday refused to revive an app developer's contract breach suit alleging Facebook rescinded its commitment to provide third-party developers with access to user data, rendering his app for finding users' swimsuit photos unworkable, after concluding Facebook's terms expressly said it could limit developers' access to data.

  • March 13, 2025

    5th Circ. Sides With NLRB On Reconsidered Exxon Ruling

    The National Labor Relations Board didn't overstep by wiping out and rethinking a decision involving an Exxon Mobil unit after learning a member had a stake in the company, the Fifth Circuit said, enforcing the board's ruling that the company sabotaged negotiations with a union.

  • March 13, 2025

    5th Circ. Asks If Enforcement Delay Affects CTA Challenge

    The Fifth Circuit has asked for supplemental briefing in a challenge against the Corporate Transparency Act, asking whether the case is affected by the U.S. Treasury Department's recent decision to suspend enforcement of reporting rules for domestic companies.

  • March 13, 2025

    Solicitor General Pick, 2 More DOJ Noms Go To Full Senate

    The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday voted out of committee the nomination of President Donald Trump's former personal attorney, Dean John Sauer, to be solicitor general and two other nominees for major U.S. Department of Justice roles, all along party lines.

  • March 12, 2025

    Calif. Asks Justices To Ax Fuel Groups' Clean Air Waiver Suit

    California asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to uphold the D.C. Circuit's ruling that biofuel and fossil fuel industry players don't have standing to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Act waiver allowing the Golden State to set standards limiting greenhouse gas emissions for vehicles.

  • March 12, 2025

    7th Circ. Revives Suit By Law Professor Disciplined Over Exam

    The Seventh Circuit on Wednesday revived a retaliation claim from a University of a law school professor at the University of Illinois in Chicago who was disciplined for including a redacted racist slur on an exam, saying the professor has plausibly alleged that his academic speech is protected by the First Amendment.

  • March 12, 2025

    Phish Fans' Mellow Vibe Undercuts Injury Claims, Judge Hints

    A Washington state appeals court expressed skepticism Wednesday that Phish and Live Nation could have seen foreseen assaults that injured two concertgoers at an outdoor show, with one judge suggesting the jam band's vibes are more in tune with the mellow atmosphere of a Grateful Dead show than a raucous rock concert.

  • March 12, 2025

    Del. Justices Told Conflicts Tainted AstraZeneca Co.'s $3B Sale

    A stockholder class attorney told Delaware's Supreme Court on Wednesday that a vice chancellor never addressed the undisclosed conflicts cited in a Court of Chancery suit accusing AstraZeneca PLC of lining up a conflicted, underpriced $3 billion sale of clinical stage biopharmaceutical venture Viela Bio Inc.

  • March 12, 2025

    11th Circ. Won't Revive Trans Kid's Parents' Suit Against School

    Two Eleventh Circuit judges faced off on the merits of the substantive due process test Wednesday in a lengthy ruling that declined to revive a suit claiming school officials violated parents' rights when they allowed a teenager to express their gender identity at school.

  • March 12, 2025

    Wells Fargo Can't Force Adviser's Widow To Arb., Panel Finds

    Wells Fargo can't force a deceased employee's widow to arbitrate her claims that she never received certain stipulated benefits after her husband's death because the widow never agreed to arbitrate those claims, a California state appeals court has determined.

  • March 12, 2025

    Labcorp Warns Fed. Circ. Of 'Balkanization' In Prenatal IP Row

    Labcorp, one of the world's largest chains of clinical lab providers, told the full Federal Circuit that a loss it incurred there over a patent tied to a $384 million judgment in Texas was the result of the "balkanization" of the court's patent obviousness jurisprudence.

  • March 12, 2025

    Law360 Cheat Sheet: Novartis' Fight Over Generic Entresto

    Novartis has led a wide-ranging litigation campaign to block generic versions of its bestselling cardiovascular drug Entresto that has involved multidistrict litigation, trips to several circuit courts and cases against the federal government. Here, Law360 breaks down how the various cases intersect and what's still playing out.

  • March 12, 2025

    Women Attys, AGs Urge Justices To Protect Provider Choice

    Women attorney groups and a group of state attorneys general urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject South Carolina's attempt to stop Medicaid patients from seeing Planned Parenthood healthcare providers, saying in an amicus brief Wednesday that patients have a right to choose their healthcare providers and have a private right of action to enforce that right.

  • March 12, 2025

    Trump Admin Seeks To End ACA Access For 'Dreamers'

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Wednesday proposed a regulation that would do away with the Biden administration's rule allowing recipients of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals to qualify for Affordable Care Act coverage.

  • March 12, 2025

    Panel Decries Judge's Watergate Remarks, Axes $2M Verdict

    A Florida appeals court on Wednesday vacated a $2 million verdict in a slip-and-fall suit against Walmart, saying the trial court's comments that allegedly missing video evidence was akin to Nixon's actions in the Watergate scandal signaled his preconceived notion that the company improperly destroyed evidence.

  • March 12, 2025

    Look At All These 1-Word Orders In IP Cases, Justices Told

    A patent owner has told the U.S. Supreme Court that there's momentum behind its push for scrutiny of the Federal Circuit's one-word orders in patent cases and its challenge to courts' summary judgment practices in such matters.

  • March 12, 2025

    Tech Mahindra Urges Justices To Nix White Worker's Bias Suit

    Tech Mahindra asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Third Circuit's ruling reviving a proposed class action claiming the information technology company favored South Asian employees, arguing it deepened a circuit split by greenlighting a case that should have been time-barred.

  • March 12, 2025

    Del. Senate Panel Sends Corp. Law Overhaul To Full Chamber

    Delaware legislation that could narrow stockholder opportunities to sue state-chartered corporations for fiduciary duty breaches or access to books and records moved to the state's full Senate on Wednesday after a less than 90-minute committee hearing that leaned toward the bill's supporters.

  • March 12, 2025

    Education Dept. Eyes Appeal After Teacher Grants Revived

    President Donald Trump's administration opened two lines of attack on a Boston federal judge's order temporarily reinstating $250 million in U.S. Department of Education grants for teacher training that were cut last month because of their ties to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, filing an appeal with the First Circuit while also seeking an emergency stay.

  • March 12, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Undo Health Data Access Order

    A Fourth Circuit panel issued a ruling Wednesday that affirmed a lower court's order requiring PointClickCare to allow Real Time Medical Systems to access patient data that it uses to provide nursing facilities with alerts for potential medical complications.

  • March 12, 2025

    Mich. Justices Fret About Insurer Fallout In Benefits Case

    The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed receptive to an insurance pool's argument that it does not owe coverage to a municipality for canceling a retirement benefit, asking about the potential for a major impact on the industry were it to affirm an adverse ruling.

  • March 12, 2025

    Mich. Appellate Judge Pans Medical Pot Co.'s Sales Tax Claim

    A Michigan Court of Appeals judge sounded skeptical Wednesday of a medical cannabis provisioning center's claim that nonbinding guidance from the state tax agency shielded it from collecting sales tax for the first year after a law regulating its type of business was enacted.

  • March 12, 2025

    Trump Admin Drops Biden Bid To Unfreeze ACA Trans Rule

    The Trump administration asked the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday to dismiss its appeal, filed in July by the Biden administration, of a Texas federal judge's decision to halt a rule protecting access to gender-affirming healthcare.

Expert Analysis

  • Trending At The PTAB: Insights From 2024 Fed. Circ. Statistics

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    Looking at stats from the Federal Circuit's decisions in 219 Patent Trial and Appeal Board appeals last year sheds light on potential trends and strategy considerations that could improve appeals' chances of success, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Will Independent Federal Agencies Remain Independent?

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    For 90 years, members of multimember independent federal agencies have relied on the U.S. Supreme Court's 1935 ruling in Humphrey's Executor v. U.S. establishing the security of their positions — but as the Trump administration attempts to overturn this understanding, it is unclear how the high court will respond, says Harvey Reiter at Stinson.

  • High Court Sentencing Case Presents Legal Fork In The Road

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    On Feb. 25, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Esteras v. U.S. about the factors trial courts may consider when imposing a sentence of imprisonment after revoking supervised release, and the justices’ eventual decision may prioritize either discretion or originalism, says Michael Freedman at The Freedman Firm.

  • Del. Justices' D&O Ruling Clarifies 'Related' Claim Analysis

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    In its recent decision in the Alexion Pharmaceuticals coverage case, the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a "meaningful linkage" standard for relatedness analysis, providing further guidance to Delaware policyholders on how to navigate those directors and officers insurance disputes, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five federal appellate court class certification decisions and identifies practice tips from cases involving breach of life insurance contracts, constitutional violations of inmates and more.

  • Defense Strategies For Politically Charged Prosecutions

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    Politically charged prosecutions have captured the headlines in recent years, providing lessons for defense counsel on how to navigate the distinct challenges, and seize the unique opportunities, such cases present, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • Series

    Competitive Weightlifting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The parallels between the core principles required for competitive weightlifting and practicing law have helped me to excel in both endeavors, with each holding important lessons about discipline, dedication, drive and failure, says Damien Bielli at VF Law.

  • Axed ALJ Removal Protections Mark Big Shift For NLRB

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    A D.C. federal court's recent decision in VHS Acquisition Subsidiary No. 7 v. National Labor Relations Board removed long-standing tenure protections for administrative law judges by finding they must be removable at will by the NLRB, marking a significant shift in the agency's ability to prosecute and adjudicate cases, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • NC COVID Ruling May Have Greater Coverage Implications

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    While the North Carolina Supreme Court's recent finding in favor of policyholders in a suit for business interruption coverage due to COVID-19 comes too late for most insureds to benefit, it should nonetheless have coverage implications far beyond COVID-19 claims, say attorneys at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • 3 Potential Developments That May Alter US Patent Rights

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    The Federal Circuit's upcoming decision in EcoFactor v. Google, pending legislation before Congress and the appointment of a new U.S Patent and Trademark Office director all have significant potential to strengthen or weaken patent rights, say attorneys at McKool Smith.

  • 11th Circ. TCPA Ruling Signals Erosion Of Judicial Deference

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    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently came to the rescue of the lead generation industry, striking down new regulations that were set to go into effect on Jan. 27, a decision consistent with federal courts' recent willingness to review administrative decisions, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • How Ill. Ruling Could Influence Future Data Breach Cases

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    The Illinois Supreme Court's recent decision in Petta v. Christie Business Holding, which was based solely on standing, establishes an important benchmark for the viability of Illinois-based lawsuits arising out of data security incidents that defendants can cite in future cases, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

  • The Rising Need For The Selective Prosecution Defense

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    In a political climate where criminal and civil prosecution on the basis of political affiliation, constitutionally protected speech or other arbitrary classification is increasingly likely, existing precedent shows why judges should be more open to allowing a selective prosecution defense, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Corp. Transparency Act's Future Under Treasury's Bessent

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    The Corporate Transparency Act’s ultimate fate faced uncertain terms at the end of 2024, but new U.S. Department of the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's statements and actions so far demonstrate that he does not intend to ignore the law, though he may attempt to make modifications, say attorneys at Taylor English.

  • Serta Ruling Further Narrows Equitable Mootness In 5th Circ.

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    The Fifth's Circuit recent Serta bankruptcy decision represents a further hardening of its view of the equitable mootness doctrine, and may set up a U.S. Supreme Court review of the doctrine in the near future, say attorneys at Cleary.

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