Appellate

  • August 08, 2024

    Where Judicial Vacancies Stand As Congress Is In Recess

    The U.S. Senate doesn't return for about a month, but when it does, Democrats will be on the final sprint to try to top the 234 judges confirmed in former President Donald Trump's first term.

  • August 08, 2024

    Fla. Judge Dismisses Sex Abuse Suit, Blaming Lies By Atty

    A Florida state judge has thrown out a suit by a Palm Beach real estate developer's daughter who alleges her father sexually abused her, ruling that her attorney's misrepresentations about an expert and why he withdrew from the case are fraud against the court.

  • August 08, 2024

    Ga. Appeals Court Candidate Loses Election Challenge

    A Georgia superior court judge has rejected an attorney's bid to overturn the results of a state appeals court election she lost, saying her claims were already resolved when the secretary of state made a preelection decision that her opponent was qualified to run and her subsequent appeal of that ruling was denied.

  • August 08, 2024

    Mass. Justices Toss Conviction Over 'Vague' Jailhouse Bribe

    Massachusetts' top court on Thursday vacated a man's witness intimidation conviction based on "vague and amorphous" promises he made during jailhouse phone calls with his fiancée that prosecutors claimed were bribes.

  • August 08, 2024

    Willis Defends Staying On Trump's Ga. Election Case

    Georgia prosecutors have pushed back against former President Donald Trump's request for appellate intervention in his election interference case, arguing District Attorney Fani T. Willis doesn't have a conflict of interest and Trump failed to persuade the trial court that she had a conflict due to a relationship with a former outside counsel.

  • August 08, 2024

    NY Agrees To Delay Enforcing Broadband Price Cap For Now

    Broadband industry groups on Thursday temporarily withdrew their request for the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a New York law requiring price-capped consumer broadband plans after state officials agreed to delay its enforcement for now.

  • August 08, 2024

    Kansas, Nebraska Urge 6th Circ. To Block Arb. In Pronoun Suit

    A former physician assistant shouldn't have to arbitrate her suit claiming she was fired over religious objections to the use of patients' preferred pronouns, Kansas and Nebraska told the Sixth Circuit, arguing the worker can't be forced to litigate constitutional and civil rights claims behind closed doors.

  • August 08, 2024

    FTC Tells 9th Circ. Booksellers Don't Belong In Amazon Case

    The Federal Trade Commission and Amazon both urged the Ninth Circuit not to allow a trade association for independent bookstores to intervene in the government's antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, saying the group's claims are too different.

  • August 08, 2024

    Hospitals Tell High Court HHS Errs In SSI Pay Formula

    A group of hospitals argued to the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is misinterpreting a formula used to calculate billions of dollars in special payments every year for hospitals treating people receiving Supplemental Security Income. 

  • August 08, 2024

    Calif. Attorney Beats DQ Bid Despite Being Potential Witness

    A California state appeals court on Wednesday upheld a lower court decision not to disqualify a San Diego lawyer from representing a client in a malpractice suit against a Pasadena law firm, saying the attorney can be counsel and provide witness testimony at the trial.  

  • August 07, 2024

    5th Circ. Pushes DOL On Salary Thresholds For OT Eligibility

    A Fifth Circuit panel told the government during oral arguments Wednesday that the Labor Department needed to provide more substantial reasoning as to how it determines workers' overtime eligibility, saying that just because it has set salary thresholds for nearly a century doesn't mean it gets carte blanche.

  • August 07, 2024

    5th Circ. Upholds Dow Chemical's Escape From Age Bias Suit

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive a Texas woman's lawsuit accusing Dow Chemical of age discrimination and retaliation, saying in a published opinion that the former senior health service manager failed to properly exhaust her administrative remedies before filing suit.

  • August 07, 2024

    10th Circ. Won't Undo Atty Fees In $1.5B Syngenta Corn Deal

    The Tenth Circuit on Wednesday backed a Kansas federal judge's allocations of attorney fees to three law firms representing individual claimants in multidistrict litigation over Syngenta's genetically modified corn that was resolved by a $1.5 billion class settlement, finding that the firms' arguments strayed from the issue at hand.

  • August 07, 2024

    Investor Asks Justices To Overturn $5.7M Arb. Award Ruling

    An investor who put money into an unsuccessful business looking to revolutionize the chemical manufacturing industry urged the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to overturn a split Ninth Circuit decision enforcing a $5.7 million arbitration award in favor of that business' founders, arguing the award should never have been issued.

  • August 07, 2024

    4th Circ. Approves Payout Plan In $550M Ponzi Case

    Investors defrauded in a $550 million Ponzi scheme can't reverse a receiver's asset distribution plan on the basis of arguments that the plan unfairly divides up recovered funds among claimants, the Fourth Circuit has determined.

  • August 07, 2024

    Monsanto, PCB Plaintiffs Want It Both Ways, Judge Says

    A Washington state court judge expressed frustration on Wednesday with counsel for both sides of a toxic tort against Monsanto, remarking during a summary judgment hearing that the parties can't "pick and choose" which parts of a recent appellate ruling apply to their case.

  • August 07, 2024

    Judge's Pharma Comments Could Decide Ineligibility Appeal

    A Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday was willing to explore Astellas Pharma's argument that a Nebraska federal judge should be taken off its infringement case over the bladder medication Myrbetriq, given statements that showed a potential bias against the pharmaceutical industry, but also made clear that such reassignments are rare and difficult.

  • August 07, 2024

    NC Court Tosses Resort's Appeal Over Tree-Cutting Loss

    The North Carolina Court of Appeals threw out a resort owner's appeal arguing that Dominion Energy North Carolina cannot remove trees on its property, holding instead that the resort owner abandoned its arguments when it failed to analyze the trial court's final judgment on appeal. 

  • August 07, 2024

    6th Circ. Backs 20 Years For Chinese Spy Who Targeted GE

    The Sixth Circuit upheld a 20-year prison sentence for a Chinese spy convicted of espionage for trying to steal trade secrets from General Electric's GE Aviation unit, noting in an opinion unsealed Wednesday the punishment was reasonable as he continuously pursued the confidential information using sophisticated tradecraft processes for several years.

  • August 07, 2024

    Robot Vacuum Cleaner Patent Ruling Remains Undisturbed

    Federal Circuit judges proved unpersuaded on Wednesday to do anything to touch an administrative board ruling that wiped out most, but not all, of the claims in a patent that allegedly covered a new feature in the Roomba brand of robotic vacuum cleaners.

  • August 07, 2024

    Split Fed. Circ. OK's Penalty Rates For Taiwanese Nail Cos.

    A divided Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to base Taiwanese nail companies' antidumping duties on penalty rates assigned to businesses that refused to cooperate with investigators, saying the practice was the default method.

  • August 07, 2024

    Shuttered Firm Partner Pulls $9.5M Fee Fight Out Of Arbitration

    An Illinois appeals court has reversed the transfer to partial arbitration of a suit accusing a personal injury firm name partner of defrauding the other name partner by collecting $9.5 million in fees shortly before the firm's dissolution, saying the firm's operating agreement with an arbitration clause was superseded by the dissolution agreement.

  • August 07, 2024

    Advocates Tell 9th Circ. To Revive Invisalign Monopoly Suit

    Competition advocates are backing the revival of a class action accusing the makers of Invisalign of monopolizing the market for clear dental aligners, telling the Ninth Circuit in a new amicus brief that a district court summary judgment ruling for Align Technology creates a dangerous precedent for refusal-to-deal cases.

  • August 07, 2024

    Teva Finds Some Big-Pharma Friends In Inhaler Patent Fight

    Two large pharmaceutical companies have weighed in to ask the Federal Circuit to overturn a ruling that found that Teva's branded drugmaking operation misused a key federal patent database in order to block the release of competing generic asthma inhalers.

  • August 07, 2024

    Pipe Co. Exec Says Criminal Antitrust Charges Unconstitutional

    A former executive of an aluminum pipe company defending the Fourth Circuit's reversal of his bid-rigging conviction has told the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that all criminal antitrust prosecutions under Section 1 of the Sherman Act are unconstitutional, claiming they violate "fundamental constitutional principles" of nondelegation and objectivity.

Expert Analysis

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Navigating Scrutiny Of Friendly Professional Corps. In Calif.

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    In light of ongoing scrutiny and challenges to private equity participation in the California healthcare marketplace, particularly surrounding the use of the friendly professional corporation model, management services organizations should consider implementing four best practices, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • 6 PTAB Events To Know From The Last 6 Months

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    The first half of 2024 brought a flurry of Patent Trial and Appeal Board developments that should be considered in post-grant strategies, including proposed rules on discretionary denial and director review, and the first decisions of the Delegated Rehearing Panel, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.

  • Key Takeaways From High Court's Substitute Expert Decision

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Smith v. Arizona decision, holding that the confrontation clause generally bars prosecutors’ use of a substitute expert witness at trial, will have the most impact in narcotics and violent crime cases, but creative defense lawyers may find it useful in white collar cases, too, say Joshua Naftalis and Melissa Kelley at Pallas Partners.

  • Opinion

    Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem

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    The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.

  • Parsing Justices' Toss Of Purdue's Controversial Ch. 11 Plan

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent nixing of OxyContin manufacturer Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 proposal prevents the Sackler family from settling thousands of civil opioid lawsuits without the consent of all of the plaintiffs, and holds profound implications for bankruptcy cases, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Calif. Long-Tail Ruling Continues Policyholder-Friendly Trend

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    The California Supreme Court's recent ruling in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Cement & Gypsum, rejecting horizontal policy exhaustion, was the latest in a string of its decisions involving insurance coverage for continuous or progressive injury claims that favor policyholders, say Billie Mandelbaum and David Goodwin at Covington.

  • What 2 Rulings On Standing Mean For DEI Litigation

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    Recent federal court decisions in the Fearless Fund and Hello Alice cases shed new light on the ongoing wave of challenges to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, with opposite conclusions on whether the plaintiffs had standing to sue, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Perspectives

    High Court Ruling Leaves Chance For Civil Forfeiture Reform

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    Though advocates for civil forfeiture reform did not prevail in Culley v. Marshall last month, concerns voiced by a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices potentially leave the door open to consider stricter limits in future cases, say attorneys at Dykema.

  • 4 Important Events In Bank Regulation: A Midyear Review

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    The first six months of 2024 have been fairly stable for the banking industry, though U.S. Supreme Court decisions and proposals from regulators have significantly affected the regulatory standards applicable to insured depository institutions, says Christina Grigorian at Katten.

  • Perspectives

    NY Chief Judge Spotlights Need To Strengthen Public Defense

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    In a recent concurrence in People v. Watkins, New York Chief Judge Rowan Wilson called attention to the necessity for greater investment in public defense services, highlighting not only the urgency of current crises, but the need to embrace a more ambitious vision of equal right to counsel, says Corey Stoughton at Selendy Gay.

  • The Fed. Circ. In May: A Major Shift In Design Patent Law

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    The Federal Circuit's recent en banc decision in LKQ v. GM overruled three decades of precedent and adopted a new standard for assessing the obviousness of design patents, leaving many questions unanswered, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.

  • Series

    Skiing And Surfing Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I’ve learned while riding waves in the ocean and slopes in the mountains have translated to my legal career — developing strong mentor relationships, remaining calm in difficult situations, and being prepared and able to move to a backup plan when needed, says Brian Claassen at Knobbe Martens.

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