Appellate

  • October 28, 2026

    Full 4th Circ. Won't Rehear Boeing Investor Class Ruling

    The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday denied a request from Boeing investors for the full court to rehear a panel's decision overturning class certification in a suit against the aerospace company over its alleged concealment of safety issues with its 737 Max fleet.

  • October 28, 2026

    Ex-Chemical Co. Owner Fights $69.2M Trade Secrets Award

    The former owner of a chemical manufacturer and his nephews urged the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday to overturn a nearly $69.2 million trade secrets judgment, arguing the award rests on an inflated estimate of what it would cost to recreate stolen formulas, while buyer Arxada insisted the defendants should not profit from taking them.

  • October 28, 2026

    4th Circ. Judge Sees 'Big Brother' In Va. Social Media Limits

    A Fourth Circuit judge Wednesday expressed concern with a Virginia law limiting children's access to social media, telling counsel for the commonwealth that the provision has a "Big Brother atmosphere" to it and suggesting he'd back the district court's injunction halting enforcement of the regulation.

  • October 28, 2026

    4th Circ. Judge Doubts DOJ Can Be Kicked From FCA Suit

    A Fourth Circuit judge appeared unconvinced Wednesday by an attorney's claim that the U.S. Department of Justice should have been disqualified from representing the federal government in a whistleblower suit brought by a man incarcerated for defrauding the U.S. Department of Defense.

  • October 28, 2026

    9th Circ. Open To Decertifying BofA COVID Fee-Relief Class

    A Ninth Circuit panel appeared open Wednesday to decertifying a class of Bank of America account holders who allege the bank abruptly ended a COVID-19 fee-relief program without notice, with all three judges criticizing the class definition for being overly broad, and two judges suggesting individualized issues predominate.

  • October 28, 2026

    9th Circ. Judge Calls Out Whole Foods For Standing Flip-Flop

    A Ninth Circuit judge confronted Whole Foods on Wednesday for reversing its position in a proposed class action alleging failure to include wage information in job listings, pressing its counsel on why an appellate panel should accept its new standing argument and let the case proceed in federal court instead of Washington state court.

  • October 28, 2026

    Satellite Co. Asks Fla. Court To End $15M Finder's Fee Suit

    A satellite technology company asked a Florida state court on Wednesday to once and for all end a lawsuit alleging it owes $15 million in finder's fees for help with sourcing funders, arguing the complaint was already considered and rejected by federal courts. 

  • October 28, 2026

    7th Circ. Takes Up Ill. Ban On Firearm Silencers

    A Seventh Circuit panel questioned Wednesday whether firearm silencers should be considered part of a constitutionally protected weapon or are merely optional accessories, as gun owners seeking to overturn Illinois' ban argued the devices improve firearms' functionality and protect users from hearing damage.

  • October 28, 2026

    Sportsbooks Say DC Law Bars Bettor Loss Recovery

    Sportsbook operators are urging the D.C. Circuit not to revive a lawsuit challenging the legality of their operations there, arguing the city expressly excluded licensed sports wagering from the statute being invoked to recover losses for bettors.

  • October 28, 2026

    Electronics Maker Says $48.5M Tax Suit Wrongly Tossed

    Electronics manufacturer Flex Ltd. urged the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday to revive its bid for a $48.5 million tax distribution from its Nextracker Inc. spinoff, arguing the companies' agreements entitled it to the money, while Nextracker maintained Flex had agreed to bear the tax costs.

  • October 28, 2026

    Versata Wants Ford To Pay Interest Atop Restored $82M Award

    Versata Software Inc. wants a Michigan federal court to tack on at least $37.7 million to a reinstated $82.3 million contract award against Ford Motor Co. and said the court should finalize that win while both sides prepare for a new trade secret damages trial.

  • October 28, 2026

    Fla. Appeals Court Says Porsche Must Face $300M Suit

    A Florida state appeals court Wednesday affirmed a ruling that German automaker Porsche AG must face a $300 million lawsuit brought by The Collection LLC, a Miami luxury car dealership accusing the carmaker of strong-arm tactics by withholding inventory over a disagreement to build a new facility.

  • October 28, 2026

    Split Ohio High Court Says Stalking Defendant Skipped Step

    The Ohio Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a pro se litigant who was the subject of a civil stalking protection order failed to correctly preserve his objections to the order, meaning a state appeals court is not required to consider them.

  • October 28, 2026

    Full Fed. Circ. Won't Eye Network IP Ruling In Amazon's Favor

    The full Federal Circuit on Wednesday declined to take up a split panel ruling that let Amazon escape infringement claims stemming from a network patent held by AlterWAN Inc.

  • October 28, 2026

    NJ Municipal Judge Admonished Over Palestinian Attire

    A New Jersey municipal judge was admonished Wednesday by the state supreme court after he admitted his decision to wear pro-Palestine clothing to a judicial training conference fell short of the standards and expectations of his position.

  • October 28, 2026

    6th Circ. Won't Hear Fear-Based Claim Outside Removal Order

    The Sixth Circuit said it lacked jurisdiction to review the denial of a Honduran national's bid to avoid being sent back to Honduras for fear of persecution because he did not directly challenge his final removal order, overturning prior circuit precedent.

  • October 28, 2026

    Celgene Defends Dismissal Of Cancer Drug Antitrust Suit

    Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and its subsidiary Celgene Corp. urged the Second Circuit to uphold the dismissal of health plans' proposed antitrust class action alleging that the drugmaker fraudulently obtained patents for the cancer drug Pomalyst, saying it properly disclosed materials to the patent office and filed valid patent infringement lawsuits against generic-drug makers. 

  • October 28, 2026

    Wood Smith Beats Suit Over Nixed Atty Defamation Claims

    Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP has escaped a malpractice suit stemming from an allegedly improperly drafted settlement agreement in an employment dispute, with a California appeals court finding that the agreement did not shield an opposing attorney from an ex-Wood Smith client's defamation claims.

  • October 28, 2026

    4th Circ. Judge Wary Of NC Abortion Drug Law Challenge

    A Fourth Circuit judge on Wednesday sharply questioned the attorney for a physician challenging North Carolina restrictions on the abortion medication mifepristone, citing case law he said treats federal rules as a "floor and not a ceiling" on what states can require.

  • October 28, 2026

    5th Circ. Backs Liberty Mutual Unit In Pileup Coverage Dispute

    A Liberty Mutual unit owes no coverage to contractors for a Texas interstate construction project who are facing lawsuits over a fatal 130-vehicle pileup caused by a historic winter storm, the Fifth Circuit said, finding that the suits did not allege bodily injury arising out of the contractors' work.

  • October 28, 2026

    NY Judges Question Court Agency's Withholding Of Records

    Two judges on a New York state appeals court panel pushed back on arguments by the state's Office of Court Administration that no reports related to investigations of court personnel can be considered final under the state Freedom of Information Law until all proceedings have concluded.

  • October 28, 2026

    5th Circ. Bars Immunity In Texas A&M Wage Retaliation Suit

    Government officials can't use a special legal protection to escape lawsuits accusing them of punishing workers who complain about their pay, the Fifth Circuit found, allowing a former Texas A&M University adviser to pursue her claim that her supervisor fired her over a paycheck dispute.

  • October 27, 2026

    Feds Face Uphill Climb To Set Aside 20K Ballots In Calif.

    A California federal judge indicated Tuesday he'll deny the Trump administration's request for an order requiring California to set aside mail-in ballots for some 20,000 voters the federal government says are "likely" noncitizens, noting that the government can prosecute any illegal voters before California's Dec. 3 ballot cure deadline.

  • October 27, 2026

    At 4th Circ., DOJ Admits But Downplays Goldstein Trial Errors

    The U.S. Department of Justice late Tuesday acknowledged that it confused key statutory terms related to jury instructions at famed appellate advocate Tom Goldstein's criminal trial, while also insisting "the government's mistake here was understandable" and shouldn't upend a jury's guilty verdict.

  • October 27, 2026

    11th Circ. Says Justices' Ruling Unravels Sentence Reduction

    An Eleventh Circuit panel on Tuesday reversed a Florida federal judge's decision to reduce on compassionate-release grounds the 39-year sentence of a man convicted of robbing drug dealers, citing the U.S. Supreme Court's recent opinion in a similar case, Rutherford v. U.S.

Expert Analysis

  • What's Next For Prediction Markets If States Win At High Court

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    While the Supreme Court hasn't taken up a prediction market case yet, a high court win for the states in their quest to regulate the exchanges would likely mean a wave of state legislature bills and regulatory guidance arriving on different timelines, rather than a single uniform transition, says Howard Herndon at Bradley Arant.

  • 3rd Circ. Ruling Shows ADA Limits Amid Worker Misconduct

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    In Hileman v. West Penn Allegheny Health System, the Third Circuit recently rejected a wrongful termination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act, illustrating that disability and leave laws don't automatically insulate employees from the consequences of prior workplace misconduct, say attorneys at Bond Schoeneck.

  • AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

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    The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses six recent rulings involving pecuniary loss in false price comparison advertising, privity in an insurance fee class, antitrust standing, immigration class representatives, retirement beneficiary class commonality, and Rule 23(f) appeals in Fair Labor Standards Act claims.

  • Florida Condo Ruling Offers Tips For Contractor Lien Disputes

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    A recent Florida appellate decision, holding condo owners may challenge liens placed on their units, despite not being party to the underlying disputed agreement their association struck with contractors, offers lessons on lien enforcement to both contractors and condo owners, say attorneys at Adams & Reese.

  • BIA Ruling Could Make Immigration Bond A Catch-22

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    A recent Board of Immigration Appeals decision refining the way immigration judges assess flight risk, when read broadly, could create a circular rule under which a noncitizen can be treated as a flight risk because they have too few ties to the U.S., but also because they have too many, says Georgianna Pisano Goetz at the National Immigrant Justice Center.

  • 8th Circ. Ruling Raises Bar For Seeking Disability Benefits

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    The Eighth Circuit's recent ruling in Post v. Bisignano signals that claimants seeking Social Security disability benefits may need to offer convincing proof of functional restrictions beyond their treating doctors' opinions and illustrates that the court's proclaimant jurisprudence no longer prevails, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Series

    Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

  • Teva, Wyeth Show How Claimed Advances Shape Enablement

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    Two recent Federal Circuit decisions involving method-of-treatment claims — Teva v. Eli Lilly and Wyeth v. AstraZeneca — reached opposite enablement outcomes from strikingly similar procedural postures, but a closer comparison of the cases reveals a three-step framework for understanding the court's reasoning, says Kendall Gurule at Polsinelli.

  • Opinion

    Calif. Bill Goes Too Far In Trying To Regulate Attorney AI Use

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    California’s first-in-the-nation act regulating how attorneys and arbitrators use generative artificial intelligence will likely soon become law, but read broadly, the provisions may dissuade lawyers from employing AI at all, thereby depriving them of key work tools, says Joshua Wurtzel at Schlam Stone.

  • Wis. Coverage Ruling Rejects Strict Ensuing Loss Test

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    In Cincinnati Insurance v. Ropicky, the Wisconsin Supreme Court recently examined the relationship between an insurance policy's construction defect exclusion and ensuing loss exception, providing policyholders support in claiming that an additional cause may produce covered damage despite an excluded condition being part of the loss sequence, says Alexander Hopkins at SDV Fenchurch.

  • The Preemption Gap In Prediction Market High Court Petitions

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    The Supreme Court is considering three certiorari petitions following a split in prediction market litigation between the Third and Ninth circuits, but one of the petitions would not allow the court to reach the express preemption question, which would leave the dispute half-resolved, says Jordan Garman at Withers.

  • 5th Circ. Embedding Decision Could Recast Copyright Claims

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    The Fifth Circuit's decision in Emmerich v. Particle Media addresses decades of ambiguity surrounding whether embedded content can constitute copyright infringement, potentially affecting how defense counsel fight against such claims, say attorneys at Greenberg Glusker.

  • A Texas Ruling May Offer Guidance On Freight Broker Liability

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport removed federal preemption defenses to freight broker negligent-selection claims, and a July verdict in Texas against C.H. Robinson raised further questions about how brokers can achieve compliance — but another recent Texas decision involving Home Depot may offer some answers, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Raises Bar For Arbitration Pacts Via Email

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent holding in Rickes v. Thermo Fisher that the mere delivery of an email doesn't establish an employee's assent to the arbitration agreement underscores that rollout processes should both give employees notice of the agreement and create evidence of their assent, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

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