Appellate

  • August 15, 2024

    Amicus Beef: Judiciary Kicks Off Heated Transparency Debate

    The federal judiciary's main policy panel Thursday floated a major overhaul of mandatory financial disclosures in appellate amicus briefs, a move that's being fueled by perceptions of shadowy "judicial lobbying" and already coming under siege by big business.

  • August 15, 2024

    Philips' Fitness Tracker Patent Suit Is Back On Course

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday breathed new life into a patent suit by electronics giant Philips targeting fitness trackers made by Garmin.

  • August 15, 2024

    Telecom Orgs Ask Justices To Take Up NY Internet Rate Cap

    The U.S. Supreme Court must step in and unravel a split Second Circuit ruling upholding New York's right to put a $15 cap on the amount broadband companies can charge low-income households, say several trade groups that lost their challenge to the law.

  • August 15, 2024

    Medical Records Co. Appealing Blocked Anti-Bot CAPTCHAs

    Electronic medical records company PointClickCare will appeal last month's ruling from a Maryland federal judge enjoining it from using unsolvable CAPTCHA prompts to block a nursing home analytics firm's access to records, the company said Wednesday.

  • August 15, 2024

    DC Circ. Explains Toss Of EPA's Biofuel Exemptions Denial

    The Environmental Protection Agency's narrow interpretation of what defines an economic hardship wrongly shut dozens of small oil refineries out of receiving federal renewable fuel blending requirement exemptions, according to a per curiam D.C. Circuit opinion unsealed this week.

  • August 15, 2024

    Collin County Gets Win In Ken Paxton Prosecution Fee Fight

    A Texas appeals court handed Collin County a victory Thursday in a long-running fight over how much special prosecutors should get paid for the criminal case against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, ordering the trial court to vacate its past orders awarding attorney fees to the prosecutors.

  • August 15, 2024

    FanDuel Co-Founders Add Scottish Claims To Suit Over Sale

    Co-founders of FanDuel have fortified their lawsuit accusing late-stage institutional investors of cheating early and longtime investors out of their fair share of equity when the company was sold in 2018, adding several claims under Scottish law.

  • August 15, 2024

    7th Circ. Says Voluntary Departure Eligibility Limits Are Sound

    The Seventh Circuit on Thursday rejected a Mexican man's challenge to a regulation that limits the availability of voluntary departure, saying Congress gave the attorney general the authority to whittle down who is eligible.

  • August 15, 2024

    2nd Circ. Won't Revive Platinum Investors' Ch. 7 Challenge

    A New York bankruptcy court correctly refused to overturn the approval of a $2.5 million settlement in the bankruptcy of a founder of defunct hedge fund Platinum Partners, the Second Circuit ruled Thursday, finding that the approved deal was superior to an alternative offer.

  • August 15, 2024

    9th Circ. Judges Seem To Split On Wash. Abortion Coverage

    A Ninth Circuit judge asked Thursday how a church could be harmed by a Washington law requiring employee health plans to cover abortions, since none of its workers had ever actually sought one, while another judge asked if tossing the case would slam the door on religious objections.

  • August 15, 2024

    Pa. Utility Regulator Insists It Can Reject Grid Project

    The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission is urging the Third Circuit to reinstate its denial of a transmission project regional grid operator PJM Interconnection approved, saying the Federal Power Act and PJM's tariff can't be used to override its rejection of a "wasteful and counterproductive project."

  • August 15, 2024

    Harvard Late In Suing Broker For Tardy Admission Suit Notice

    Harvard University was 13 months late in bringing breach of contract claims against its insurance broker for its belated notification to Zurich American Insurance Co. about an ultimately successful legal challenge that upended affirmative action in higher education, a Boston federal judge said Thursday. 

  • August 15, 2024

    Realtors Urge 9th Circ. Not To Revive Zillow Antitrust Case

    The National Association of Realtors has urged the Ninth Circuit to reject a defunct brokerage platform's appeal in a case over design changes Zillow made to comply with an association rule, saying the rule is optional and that Zillow acted on its own.

  • August 15, 2024

    Monsanto Gets 3rd Circ. Win In Roundup Failure-To-Warn Case

    The Third Circuit ruled Thursday that a Pennsylvania state law failure-to-warn claim in a suit alleging the weed killer Roundup caused a Keystone State man's cancer is preempted by federal law, creating a circuit split on central issues in multidistrict litigation over the Monsanto product.

  • August 15, 2024

    6th Circ. Finds Biden Had Power To Fire Former NLRB GC

    President Joe Biden lawfully fired former National Labor Relations Board general counsel Peter Robb more than three years ago, the Sixth Circuit ruled, with the appeals court saying removal protections for the agency's top prosecutor would affect the official's accountability to the president.

  • August 15, 2024

    FTC Renews Bid To Toss Meta's Constitutionality Case

    The Federal Trade Commission has told a D.C. federal court that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling does not support Meta's case raising constitutional challenges to a data privacy order, arguing the case should be tossed.

  • August 15, 2024

    Pa. District's Appeal Method Is Constitutional, Court Affirms

    A Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas correctly ruled that a school district did not violate the state's uniformity clause when using a monetary threshold to decide which property tax assessments to appeal, the state Commonwealth Court affirmed Thursday.

  • August 15, 2024

    Calif. Justices Find Hospital System Exempt From Labor Code

    A hospital system a California county created is a public entity that is not required to follow the California Labor Code's meal and rest break requirements, the state's high court ruled Thursday, nixing an appellate panel's ruling against the entity.

  • August 15, 2024

    4th Circ. Won't Revive Interpreters' Unpaid Wages Suit

    The Fourth Circuit declined Thursday to reinstate a lawsuit two Nepalese-English interpreters brought against a government contractor accusing it of failing to pay them overtime wages, saying the Maryland laws they sued under don't apply to their case because they worked in Afghanistan.

  • August 15, 2024

    Ariz. GOP Backs RNC's High Court Bid To Stay Voting Order

    The Arizona Republican Party is backing the Republican National Committee and two of the state's top lawmakers in asking U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to halt an order over a voting law that is pending appeal at the Ninth Circuit, arguing the district court's order has a direct and tangible effect on its ability to promote the party's policies.

  • August 15, 2024

    'What Is An NFT?': 9th Circ. Mulls Novel Bored Ape TM Fight

    A Ninth Circuit judge considering whether a trial court correctly found artists owe millions for ripping off trademarks on the Bored Ape Yacht Club nonfungible token collection questioned Thursday whether the NFT market is comparable to typical consumer markets, rhetorically asking, "What are we even talking about? What is an NFT?"

  • August 15, 2024

    Fla. Court Wrongly Blocked Health Report Without Evidence

    A Florida state appeals court has reversed a state court order blocking the release of an investigative report related to a man's suicide after he was discharged from a mental health center, saying the circuit court shouldn't have denied a request by the man's father for the report based on an argument from the center's managing entity without evidence.

  • August 15, 2024

    Gas Co. Tells Chancery Texas Settlement Spikes Pipeline Duty

    A settlement and Texas court's direction to vacate an earlier arbitration award has revived an Energy Transfer LP subsidiary's bid to scuttle a Delaware Court of Chancery order requiring it to build costly, high-pressure natural gas pipelines for free.

  • August 15, 2024

    Ex-Drew Eckl Attys Seek New Firm's Escape From Arbitration

    Drew Eckl & Farnham LLP and former firm attorneys now at Burke Moore Law Group LLP launched dueling arguments in the Georgia Court of Appeals this week over Burke Moore's bid to undo a court order requiring it to arbitrate a fees dispute between Drew Eckl and Burke Moore founders.

  • August 15, 2024

    Ford Wants Judge Booted Off Paraplegic's Suit After Podcast

    Ford Motor Co. pushed the North Carolina Court of Appeals to remove state Superior Court Judge Hoyt Tessener from a product liability suit, arguing the jurist made disparaging remarks about the company after prosecuting a similar suit against the carmaker years ago as a private attorney.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Calif. Ruling Heightens Medical Product Maker Liability

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    The California Supreme Court's decision in Himes v. Somatics last month articulates a new causation standard for medical product manufacturer liability that may lead to stronger product disclosures nationwide and greater friction between manufacturers and physicians, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Opportunities For Change In FHFA Practices

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine should lead to better cooperation between the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Congress, and may give the FHFA a chance to embrace transparency and innovation and promote sustainable housing practices, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Constitutional Protections For Cannabis Companies Are Hazy

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    Cannabis businesses are subject to federal enforcement and tax, but often without the benefit of constitutional protections — and the entanglement of state and federal law and conflicting judicial opinions are creating confusion in the space, says Amber Lengacher at Purple Circle.

  • Supreme Court's ALJ Ruling Carries Implications Beyond SEC

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    In its recent Jarkesy opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the types of cases that can be tried before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house administrative law judges, setting the stage for challenges to the constitutionality of ALJs across other agencies, say Robert Robertson and Kimberley Church at Dechert.

  • Opinion

    A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • 2nd Circ. ERISA Ruling May Help Fight Unfair Arb. Clauses

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    The Second Circuit recently held that a plaintiff seeking planwide relief under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act cannot be compelled to individual arbitration, a decision that opens the door to new applications of the effective vindication doctrine to defeat onerous and one-sided arbitration clauses, say Raphael Janove and Liana Vitale at Janove.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

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    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Purdue Ch. 11 Ruling Reinforces Importance Of D&O Coverage

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, holding that a Chapter 11 reorganization cannot discharge claims against a nondebtor without affected claimants' consent, will open new litigation pathways surrounding corporate insolvency and increase the importance of robust directors and officers insurance, says Evan Bolla at Harris St. Laurent.

  • Fed. Circ. Percipient Gov't Contract Ruling Is Groundbreaking

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    The effects of the Federal Circuit's decision last month in Percipient.ai v. U.S. may be limited to commercial product and service suppliers, but it is significant for government procurement in opening the door to protests by suppliers who previously would have lacked standing and Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    After Chevron: No Deference, No Difference For SEC Or CFTC

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    The Chevron doctrine did not fundamentally alter the interplay between the courts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the development of the securities and commodities laws — and its demise will not do so either, says Dan Berkovitz at Millennium Management.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • When Patents As Loan Collateral Can Cost You Standing

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Intellectual Tech v. Zebra Technologies shines a light on loan default provisions' implications for patent infringement litigation, as a default may inadvertently strip a patent owner of constitutional standing to sue over a patent pledged as collateral, say Joseph Marinelli and Suet L. Lee at Irwin IP.

  • Justices' Bribery Ruling: A Corrupt Act Isn't Necessarily Illegal

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    In its Snyder v. U.S. decision last week, the U.S. Supreme Court held that a bribery law does not criminalize gratuities, continuing a trend of narrowing federal anti-corruption laws and scrutinizing public corruption prosecutions that go beyond obvious quid pro quo schemes, say Carrie Cohen and Christine Wong at MoFo.

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