Appellate

  • July 16, 2024

    Praying Coach's School Faces Skeptical Judge In Fee Fight

    A Washington state appellate judge struggled Tuesday to follow a school district's argument that its insurer should cover a nearly $1.8 million legal bill for a praying football coach's U.S. Supreme Court win, pointing to a policy exclusion for certain adverse judgments.

  • July 16, 2024

    6th Circ. Says Credit Union Can't Sue T-Mobile Over Cell Scam

    The Sixth Circuit on Tuesday ruled that a lower court was correct in tossing a lawsuit in which Michigan First Credit Union sued T-Mobile to recover the reimbursement fees the credit union paid to customers after they suffered unauthorized electronic transfers of money from their accounts due to cellphone scams.

  • July 16, 2024

    Enbridge Seeks 6th Circ. Rehearing In Venue Dispute

    Enbridge Energy LP has asked the full Sixth Circuit to rehear an appellate panel's decision to send the company's pipeline dispute with Michigan's attorney general back to state court, arguing that the opinion creates a conflict within the circuit over when the removal clock starts running.

  • July 16, 2024

    Judge's Emails To Prosecutor Unethical But Didn't Taint Trial

    A judge should have recused herself after emailing the elected prosecutor during trial to complain that an officer "didn't do a very good investigation," but the ethical lapse didn't warrant a new trial, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

  • July 16, 2024

    DC Circ. Says Iraq Immune To $120M Contract Row

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Tuesday threw out a $120 million judgment levied against Iraq for its refusal to pay a Pennsylvania defense contractor for rebuilding the country's military equipment, ruling after more than a decade of litigation that Iraq is immune from the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts.

  • July 16, 2024

    Feds Contest Texas DA's Immunity In Migrant Arrest Law Fight

    Nonprofits challenging Texas' migrant arrest law have urged the Fifth Circuit to reject Texas District Attorney Bill Hicks' claim of immunity, saying his argument that the Fifth Circuit's ruling in a separate case over changes to the state's election code is meritless.

  • July 16, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Rejects APA Challenge To PTAB Panel Makeups

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation of Arbor Global Strategies' processor module patent claims, shooting down the company's position that the board violated the Administrative Procedure Act when making its decision.

  • July 16, 2024

    FCC's Media Ownership Rules Are 'Relics,' 8th Circ. Told

    Broadcasters are pressing the Eighth Circuit to unravel the Federal Communications Commission's latest local media ownership rules, saying they are based on views of the industry that are long outdated.

  • July 16, 2024

    Ga. Panel Limits Insurer Pool's Collections For Workers' Comp

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Tuesday limited the power of a state-sponsored insurance pool to recoup its expenses when filling in for an insolvent insurer, ruling that companies can't be forced to accept liability for an injured worker when they were placed into the position by a staffing agency.

  • July 16, 2024

    Influencer's Forest Pics Not 'Work Activity,' 10th Circ. Rules

    A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday reversed a social media influencer's conviction for unauthorized work on National Forest Service property after he posted Instagram photos of himself snowmobiling on closed NFS land, finding that the influencer didn't have fair warning that what he was doing might be considered a federal crime.

  • July 16, 2024

    NC Panel Affirms Property Tax Valuation For Ashley Furniture

    About 300 acres of property belonging to Ashley Furniture in North Carolina were properly valued at about $60 million for tax years 2018 and 2019, a state appeals court panel ruled Tuesday in favor of the state property tax commission.

  • July 16, 2024

    Judges Press Amazon On Its Duty To Guard Against Suicide

    Washington appellate judges on Tuesday challenged Amazon's argument that the e-commerce giant should be free from liability for selling sodium nitrite that buyers used to kill themselves, with one judge asking what other use a "small bottle" of nearly pure poison would have.

  • July 16, 2024

    7th Circ. Says Foreign Retirement Not Shielded In Bankruptcy

    A professor who filed for bankruptcy in Illinois can't protect his Canadian retirement account from creditors because the account is ineligible under a state law shielding accounts that qualify as retirement plans under the Internal Revenue Code, the Seventh Circuit ruled Tuesday.

  • July 16, 2024

    No Immunity For Philadelphia Transit In Bus-Stop Injury

    The Philadelphia-area transit system can't escape a lawsuit accusing one of its bus drivers of refusing to lower a handicap accessible ramp, resulting in a passenger twisting her leg while exiting the vehicle, a state appeals court ruled, saying the claims fall squarely with the motor-vehicle exception to sovereign immunity.

  • July 16, 2024

    7th Circ. Backs Manufacturer Win In Worker's Retaliation Suit

    The Seventh Circuit declined Tuesday to reinstate a lawsuit from a Black worker accusing a manufacturing company of firing him in retaliation for complaining about race discrimination with his union, saying there's no error in the lower court's decision despite it relying on his former plant manager's flubbed testimony.

  • July 16, 2024

    Full 4th Circ. Won't Hear Student Loan Biz's Sealed Docs Case

    The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday declined to grant a full court rehearing to a student loan provider that wanted to shield court filings from a filmmaker after a panel found he had a First Amendment right to the information.

  • July 16, 2024

    5th Circ. Preserves Class Cert. In Fringe Benefits Fee Fight

    The Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court's decision to certify a mega class of more than 290,000 workers in a suit against several benefits administration companies alleging mismanagement of their non-union fringe benefits, but found the action should proceed as opt-out and not mandatory class action.

  • July 16, 2024

    Pa. Court Upholds $23M Value Of Vacant Hospital's Parking

    A vacant hospital's parking area in Pennsylvania was properly valued at $23.2 million, the state Commonwealth Court ruled, finding that a trial court had the discretion to apply the sales comparison approach to the valuation.

  • July 16, 2024

    Cannabis Patients And DOJ Offer Dueling Reads On Rahimi

    A group of Floridians and the U.S. Department of Justice have advanced dueling interpretations of whether a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gun laws justifies stripping medical cannabis patients of their right to bear arms.

  • July 16, 2024

    Columbia U. Aims To Keep $600M Patent Win Over Norton

    Columbia University has urged the Federal Circuit to preserve its $600 million willful patent infringement judgment against NortonLifeLock Inc., telling the court that Norton's "kitchen-sink" appeal "raises a slew of issues, hoping something will stick" and challenging Quinn Emanuel's appeal of a civil contempt ruling as "baseless and, ultimately, academic."

  • July 16, 2024

    4th Circ. Rejects 'Untimely' Redo Request In Coverage Fight

    The Fourth Circuit has flatly rejected a request to reconsider whether an insurer must cover the maker of a wood treatment product in a suit over a man's cancer diagnosis following decades of exposure to the chemical, calling the motion "untimely."

  • July 16, 2024

    Cohen Asks Justices To Hear Claim Trump Put Him In Prison

    Donald Trump's former attorney-turned-critic Michael Cohen has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take another look at his suit claiming the former president had him imprisoned in retaliation for his plans to portray Trump negatively in his book.

  • July 16, 2024

    States, Legal Orgs. Urge Justices To Halt Biden's Debt Relief

    A U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the Biden administration's latest student debt relief program received backing from seven Republican-led states and a trio of legal groups that assert the estimated $475 billion plan exceeds the executive branch's authority.

  • July 16, 2024

    Ex-Trump Counsel Has Advice For GOP On Judicial Noms

    A former Trump White House official who worked on judicial nominations has advised a potential future Republican administration to be aggressive, proactive and not to compromise on circuit court picks.

  • July 16, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Denies US Cos. Interest From Late Duty Payments

    Domestic companies that are entitled to antidumping and countervailing duty payments under the now-defunct Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act aren't entitled to the interest that accrues when the tariff is paid late, the Federal Circuit ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • Tricky Venue Issues Persist In Fortenberry Prosecution Redo

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    Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry was recently indicted for a second time after the Ninth Circuit tossed his previous conviction for improper venue, but the case, now pending in the District of Columbia, continues to illustrate the complexities of proper venue in "false statement scheme" prosecutions, says Kevin Coleman at Covington.

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • 1st Gender Care Ban Provides Context For High Court Case

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    The history of Arkansas' ban on gender-affirming medical care — the first such legislation in the U.S. — provides important insight into the far-reaching ramifications that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti next term will have on transgender healthcare, says Tyler Saenz at Baker Donelson.

  • Series

    After Chevron: FCC And Industry Must Prepare For Change

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    The Chevron doctrine was especially significant in the communications sector because of the indeterminacy of federal communications statutes, so the U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the doctrine could have big implications for those regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, bringing both opportunities and risks for companies, say Thomas Johnson and Michael Showalter at Wiley.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Uniform Tax Law Interpretation Not Guaranteed

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    The loss of Chevron deference will significantly alter the relationship between the IRS, courts and Congress when it comes to tax law, potentially precipitating more transparent rulemaking, but also provoking greater uncertainty due to variability in judicial interpretation, say Michelle Levin and Carneil Wilson at Dentons.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Environmental Law May Face Hurdles

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning Chevron deference could prove to be as influential as the original 1984 decision, with far-reaching implications for U.S. environmental laws, including rendering recently promulgated regulations more vulnerable to challenges, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    'Trump Too Small' Ruling Overlooks TM Registration Issues

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Vidal v. Elster, which concluded that “Trump Too Small” cannot be a registered trademark as it violates a federal prohibition, fails to consider modern-day, real-world implications for trademark owners who are denied access to federal registration, say Tiffany Gehrke and Alexa Spitz at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Colo. Ruling Adopts 'Actual Discharge' Test For The First Time

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    After a Colorado court’s recent decision in Potts v. Gaia Children, adopting for the first time a test for evaluating an actual discharge claim, employers must diligently document the circumstances surrounding termination of employment, and exercise particular caution when texting employees, says Michael Laszlo at Clark Hill.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Why High Court Social Media Ruling Will Be Hotly Debated

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    In deciding the NetChoice cases that challenged Florida and Texas content moderation laws, what the U.S. Supreme Court justices said about social media platforms — and the First Amendment — will have implications and raise questions for nearly all online operators, say Jacob Canter and Joanna Rosen Forster at Crowell & Moring.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Good News For Gov't Contractors In Litigation

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    The net result of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning Chevron deference is that individuals, contractors and companies bringing procurement-related cases against the government will have new pathways toward success, say Joseph Berger and Andrés Vera at Thompson Hine.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Scale Tips Favor Away From HHS Agencies

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    The loss of Chevron deference may indirectly aid parties in challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' interpretations of regulations and could immediately influence several pending cases challenging HHS on technical questions and agency authority, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    After Chevron: FDA Regulations In The Crosshairs

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine is likely to unleash an array of challenges against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, focusing on areas of potential overreach such as the FDA's authority under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • 2 Options For Sackler Family After High Court Purdue Ruling

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court recently blocked Purdue Pharma's plan to shield the family that owns the company from bankruptcy lawsuits, the Sacklers face the choice to either continue litigation, or return to the bargaining table for a settlement that doesn't eliminate creditor claims, says Gregory Germain at Syracuse University.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

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