Appellate

  • November 06, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Panel Irked By Confusion In Check Patent Case

    An irritated Federal Circuit panel criticized attorneys for the United Services Automobile Association and PNC Bank on Wednesday for a lack of clarity on which issues reached a final judgment in their nine-figure patent dispute, with one judge telling them, "You both should be embarrassed."

  • November 06, 2024

    1st Circ. Tells Immigration Board To Rethink Torture Definition

    The First Circuit has ordered the Board of Immigration Appeals to reconsider denying removal relief for a man wanted for murder in Jamaica, finding that the board incorrectly assumed that direct police participation was needed to back his fear of torture.

  • November 06, 2024

    Netflix Jury Will Hear Victim ID Evidence In 'Our Father' Trial

    An Indiana federal judge ruled Wednesday that Netflix Inc. can't exclude evidence of third-party statements in a suit accusing the entertainment giant of wrongly revealing the identities of the biological children of a rogue fertility doctor in the "Our Father" documentary, saying the statements were not inadmissible hearsay.

  • November 06, 2024

    5th Circ. Chides Texas For Clashing Insurance Law Messages

    A Fifth Circuit judge Wednesday told the state of Texas it was "having its cake and eating it too" by arguing it didn't plan to enforce a law governing certain disclosures between vision insurers and optometrists while simultaneously fighting off a temporary injunction enjoining the law from going into effect.

  • November 06, 2024

    2nd Circ. Revives Authors' Breach Claim Against McGraw Hill

    The Second Circuit has partially restored a breach of contract claim from a would-be class action that alleged McGraw Hill shortchanged textbook authors on royalties from e-book sales, saying there was merit to one of their arguments relating to contract language.

  • November 06, 2024

    10th Circ. Backs Asset Freeze In Forex Exec's Latest Bid

    A foreign exchange asset manager lost his bid to overturn a lower court's decision that froze his assets and ordered him to pay $510,000 in legal bills in a dispute with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with a panel of the 10th Circuit finding it does not have jurisdiction to reverse the ruling.

  • November 06, 2024

    Feds Fight Philly Injection Site Group's 3rd Circ. Appeal

    The U.S. Department of Justice has urged the Third Circuit to preserve its win in preventing an overdose prevention organization from opening a supervised safe-injection site in Philadelphia, arguing that a lower court correctly ruled that the group is not a religious organization eligible for federal protection.

  • November 06, 2024

    Justices Eye Narrowing Disclosure Rules In Meta Investor Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court seemed poised Wednesday to hand Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. a narrow victory in a case tied to the Cambridge Analytica scandal, as justices put up a range of hypothetical scenarios to try to pin down when exactly a company needs to disclose to investors that a past event could cause future damage to its business.

  • November 06, 2024

    Maritime Commission Seeks To Ax Refusal To Deal Challenge

    The Federal Maritime Commission is asking the D.C. Circuit to toss an ocean carrier industry challenge to federal rules for carrier practices, arguing that the World Shipping Council hasn't shown it has standing to contest the regulations.

  • November 06, 2024

    GOP Will Get A Crack At The Judiciary, But First, Lame Duck

    With a little more than two months left in the Biden administration following Republicans' capture of the White House and Senate on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Durbin intends to confirm "every possible nominee" before time runs out on this Congress.

  • November 06, 2024

    Contractor Seeks Redo In Guatemala Power Plant Award Fight

    A contractor on an ill-fated Guatemalan power plant construction project urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to reconsider its decision refusing to vacate an arbitral award favoring the plant's owner, saying the panel failed to properly consider "clear evidence" of corruption tarnishing the underlying contract.

  • November 06, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Panel Skeptical Of GeoComply Anti-Spoofing Patent

    Judges on the Federal Circuit appeared unlikely to reverse a district court's dismissal of GeoComply's patent infringement suit against its geolocation competitor XPoint Wednesday, repeatedly telling GeoComply's attorney that its anti-location spoofing patent seemed to be largely built around conventional programming.

  • November 06, 2024

    Insurers Urge Del. Justices To Reverse Drug Co. Policy Ruling

    Attorneys for three insurers battling Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc. over potential director and officer insurance payouts in a securities action launched before Alexion received a separate federal regulator penalty told Delaware's Supreme Court on Wednesday that a lower court decision wrongly sided with the company on coverage worth an additional $20 million.

  • November 06, 2024

    5th Circ. Backs Gas Co. In Ex-Worker's Severance Pay Suit

    The Fifth Circuit declined Wednesday to revive an oil and gas company worker's suit claiming he should have received severance after he resigned when his job duties changed following an acquisition, ruling that a plan committee backed up its finding that the job switch didn't qualify for exit pay.

  • November 06, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Upholds PTAB's Ax Of Centripetal Cybersecurity IP

    The Federal Circuit declined Wednesday to revive a Centripetal Networks LLC patent covering computer network protection, backing a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that handed a win to challenger Palo Alto Networks Inc.

  • November 06, 2024

    Mass. Tobacco Law's Penalty Provision Hits State's Top Court

    Massachusetts' highest court on Wednesday attempted to reconcile a state law mandating a $1,000 fine for selling flavored tobacco products with a separate statute requiring local officials to file a criminal complaint if they seek to enforce penalties of that amount.

  • November 06, 2024

    Insurer Must Fully Cover $1.17M Crash Award, Fla. Panel Says

    A Florida state appeals court upheld a directed verdict finding an auto insurer acted in bad faith while attempting to settle a woman's injury claims over a drunken driving crash, affirming Wednesday that the company must fully cover her $1.17 million compensatory damages award, less a prior $25,000 payment.

  • November 06, 2024

    City Can't Appeal Ex-Worker's PTSD Case, Conn. Justices Told

    The city of Stamford, Connecticut, cannot appeal a hearing referee's decision allowing a military veteran to tack a post-traumatic stress syndrome accommodation claim onto a workplace disability discrimination case because it was not a final order, the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities told the state's highest court on Wednesday.

  • November 06, 2024

    Business Groups Urge Calif. Justices To Nix HIV Drug Ruling

    Business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are asking the California Supreme Court to throw out a suit alleging Gilead Sciences Inc. deprived customers of a safer form of its HIV drug for profits, saying the current ruling creates an untenable duty and liability even when there's no harmful defect in a product.

  • November 06, 2024

    NC Agencies Say Forest Service Workers' OT Is Straight Time

    A North Carolina trial court correctly held that the overtime rate under state law for North Carolina Forest Service professional employees is a straight-time rate, two state agencies told the state's appeals court, arguing that a higher rate is not warranted.

  • November 06, 2024

    Ga. Justices Signal Newly Chartered City Likely To Survive

    The Supreme Court of Georgia appeared unlikely Wednesday to declare a newly created metro Atlanta city illegitimate, casting doubt on the notion that the simultaneous creation of a special tax district alongside the city violated the state's constitution.

  • November 06, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives Retaliation Suit By Ex-Santa Clara Deputy DA

    The Ninth Circuit partially revived a lawsuit by a former Santa Clara County, California, deputy district attorney who alleged First Amendment retaliation when he was unlawfully transferred after publishing an op-ed that disagreed with the views of his boss, the district attorney.

  • November 06, 2024

    Lawyer's Suit Against Ex-Partner Can Proceed, NJ Panel Says

    A New Jersey state appeals court ruled Wednesday that a lawyer who is suing a former law partner may continue pursuing the case in open court, because a contract signed years earlier between the lawyers doesn't require a private arbitration.

  • November 06, 2024

    RV Co. Execs Denied Quick Appeal After DOL Bench Trial Win

    An Arizona federal judge refused to greenlight an immediate appeal of a ruling that a group of recreational vehicle company executives improperly allowed the business to broker an inflated $105 million employee stock ownership sale, knocking down concerns that U.S. Department of Labor guidance improperly drove the outcome.

  • November 06, 2024

    Fla. Judge Invokes Free Speech Protection In Ethics Case

    A Florida state judge facing ethics charges over previous campaign statements has again claimed that authorities should be blocked from presenting evidence or argument that her "philosophical beliefs" and comments violate judicial ethics guidelines, saying they are protected by the First Amendment.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • NY Ruling Offers A Foreclosure Road Map For Lenders

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    A New York appellate court recently upheld a summary judgment ruling in favor of a commercial lender's foreclosure in U.S. Bank v. 1226 Evergreen Bapaz, illustrating the proofs lenders will need to prosecute a foreclosure action, especially where the plaintiff is an assignee of the originating lender, say attorneys at Sherman Atlas.

  • What Chevron's End Means For How Congress Does Business

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, overturning the Chevron doctrine, will have a far-reaching impact across the entire public policy life cycle, beginning with how Congress writes its laws and extending through agency implantation and judicial review, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Preserving Payment Rights

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    Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions that together illustrate the importance of keeping accurate records and adhering to contractual procedures to avoid inadvertently waiving contractual rights to cost reimbursements or nonroutine payments.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Alice Step 2 Trends Show Courts' Extrinsic Evidence Reliance

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    A look at recent trends in how district courts are applying Step 2 of the Alice framework shows that courts have increasingly relied on extrinsic evidence to help determine whether a claimed invention is "well-understood, routine, and conventional," says Jonathan Tuminaro at Sterne Kessler.

  • Opinion

    OFAC Sanctions Deserve To Be Challenged Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision opens the door to challenges against the Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions regime, the unintended consequences of which raise serious questions about the wisdom of what appears to be a scorched-earth approach, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

  • How Calif. Ruling Alters Worker Arb. Agreement Enforcement

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    The California Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ramirez v. Charter Communications should caution employers that while workers’ arbitration agreements will no longer be deemed unenforceable based on their number of unconscionable provisions, they must still be fair and balanced, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor.

  • Opinion

    After Jarkesy, IRS Must Course-Correct On Captive Insurance

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision has profound implications for other agencies, including the IRS, which must stop ignoring due process and curtailing congressional intent in its policing of captive insurance arrangements, says Peter Dawson at the 831(b) Institute.

  • The Rise Of State And Local Environmental Leadership

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    While Congress is deadlocked, and a U.S. Supreme Court with a hostility toward the administrative state aggressively dismantles federal environmental oversight, state and local governments are stepping up with policies to shape a more sustainable future for all species, says Jonathan Rosenbloom at Albany Law School.

  • Questions Linger About DTSA's Scope After Motorola Ruling

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    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Motorola v. Hytera, which held that the Defend Trade Secrets Act applies extraterritorially, does not address whether an act that furthers misappropriation must be committed by the defendant in order to satisfy the law's extraterritoriality requirement, say Ilissa Samplin and Grace Hart at Gibson Dunn.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Slowing Down AI In Medical Research

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision overturning the Chevron doctrine may inhibit agencies' regulatory efforts, potentially slowing down the approval and implementation of artificial intelligence-driven methodologies in medical research, as well as regulators' responses to public health emergencies, say Ragini Acharya and Matthew Deutsch at Husch Blackwell.

  • What High Court TM Rulings Tell Us About Free Speech

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    Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings show tension between free speech and trademark law, highlighting that while political mockery is protected, established brands may be forced to adapt to evolving cultural values, says William Scott Goldman at Goldman Law Group.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Uncertainty In Scope Of ITC Oversight

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    The U.S. International Trade Commission's long-standing jurisprudence on some of the most disputed and controversial issues is likely to be reshaped by the Federal Circuit, which is no longer bound by Chevron deference in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, say Kecia Reynolds and Madeleine Moss at Paul Hastings.

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