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Appellate
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December 12, 2024
6th Circ. Appears Divided On Telecom Breach Reporting Rule
A Sixth Circuit panel seemed split over the Federal Communications Commission's tightened telecommunications data breach rules, with one judge defending the commission as taking necessary steps to safeguard consumers from a "true" danger and another claiming that the rule seemed to run afoul of lawmakers' wishes.
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December 12, 2024
Newman Gets Amicus Support At DC Circ. In Suspension Row
Two amici threw their support behind U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman at the D.C. Circuit on Thursday, with one free-market think tank criticizing what it said was the secrecy surrounding the disciplinary proceedings against Judge Newman over her refusal to participate in an investigation into her fitness to serve as a Federal Circuit judge.
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December 12, 2024
Wash. Justices OK Tax Break For Pharmacy Benefits Manager
A Washington pharmacy benefits manager is exempt from a state business tax on its services for Medicaid patients because its corporate sibling paid premium taxes in connection with the same services, the state's high court affirmed Thursday.
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December 12, 2024
2nd Circ. Won't Rethink Dual Citizen's FBAR Penalties
The Second Circuit will not review its September decision finding that a dual U.S.-French citizen is liable for tax penalties for failing to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts, the court said Thursday.
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December 12, 2024
High Court Launches Lottery Program For Public Seats
The U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday that it will begin testing an online lottery system for members of the public who want to reserve courtroom seats for oral arguments ahead of time.
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December 12, 2024
Hartford Needn't Defend Contractor In Workplace Injury Suit
A Hartford unit has no duty to defend an electrical contractor against an employee's workplace injury suit, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Thursday, saying the underlying negligence- and intent-based claims don't fall within the scope of a workers' compensation and employers' liability policy.
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December 12, 2024
Fla. Justices Call For 50 More Judgeships
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday certified a need for 48 new trial judges in the state and two appellate judges in the Sixth District Court of Appeal after a statewide judicial workload assessment found judges straining to keep up with increasingly complex litigation.
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December 12, 2024
2nd Circ. Upends Arbitration Order In Bakery Drivers' Suit
The Second Circuit voided its prior ruling that a bakery's delivery drivers must arbitrate claims alleging they were misclassified as independent contractors, saying Thursday the question of whether they are exempt from arbitration is up in the air after the U.S. Supreme Court weighed in on the suit.
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December 12, 2024
Energy Co. Gets Redo Of $150M Power Plant Explosion Trial
A California appeals court has ordered a new trial and vacated a $150 million verdict against Diamond Generating Corp. in a suit by the family of a worker killed in a power plant explosion, saying the jury should have been instructed to determine whether DGC retained enough control over the plant's operations to be held liable.
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December 12, 2024
JUDGES Act Passes House But Biden Veto Looms
The House voted 236-173 on Thursday to pass a bill to add more judgeships, which tees it up for a likely veto by the president, as many Democrats have soured on the measure after Donald Trump's victory at the polls.
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December 11, 2024
5th Circ. Tosses SEC's OK Of Nasdaq's Board Diversity Rule
A split Fifth Circuit ruled Wednesday that Nasdaq cannot implement U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission-approved rules requiring that companies listed on the exchange disclose board diversity data, finding that the stock exchange's rules run afoul of federal securities law.
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December 11, 2024
Feds Fire Back At TikTok's Bid To Halt Sale-Or-Ban Law
The federal government Wednesday urged the D.C. Circuit to reject TikTok's bid to pause legislation poised to bar the app from the U.S. market next month while it takes its First Amendment fight to the Supreme Court, arguing TikTok is "downplaying" national security concerns that prompted the law.
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December 11, 2024
Montana Justices Uphold Temporary Block On Trans Care Ban
Montana's highest court delivered a key victory for transgender youths and healthcare practitioners on Wednesday in a decision finding that privacy rights afforded by Montana's constitution favor a halt to the state's ban on gender-affirming care while litigation against it proceeds.
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December 11, 2024
High Court Urged To Take Up Web Scraping Trade Secret Spat
An insurance agent is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up his challenge to an Eleventh Circuit ruling reviving software company Compulife's copyright claim against him, saying the high court should resolve an issue surrounding web scrapes of public information.
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December 11, 2024
6th Circ. Presses School, Victim Families On 'Shock' Standard
Sixth Circuit judges on Wednesday zeroed in on whether Michigan school counselors' threats to call authorities on the parents of a student who would go on to kill four classmates was a "shocking" enough action that increased the risk of danger, with one judge calling the conscience-shocking standard an "embarrassment" as a legal rule.
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December 11, 2024
Split 9th Circ. Nixes Trump-Era Hospital Reimbursement Rule
A split Ninth Circuit on Wednesday struck down a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services policy that boosted the Medicare reimbursement rate for hospitals in lower-income communities, saying the agency's former secretary lacked authority to issue the policy despite his "laudable goal" of helping lower-wage hospitals.
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December 11, 2024
Wyoming Defends Hemp Law At 10th Circ.
Wyoming's hemp law, which imposes new restrictions on hemp-derived THC and bans products with more than 0.3% THC, should continue uninterrupted, the state told the Tenth Circuit, saying the statute is neither unconstitutional nor preempted by federal law.
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December 11, 2024
Justices Won't Block EPA Coal Ash Rule During Court Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected a Kentucky electric utility's effort to halt implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule strengthening federal regulations for the safe management of coal ash.
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December 11, 2024
4th Circ. Unsure Judges' Free Speech Suit Belongs In Court
A Fourth Circuit panel appeared skeptical Wednesday that courts could hear a challenge from the immigration judges' union to a policy it contends restrains their free speech rights, suggesting that recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent would doom the appeal.
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December 11, 2024
Trump Media Fights Stay Of Fla. Suit In Investor Dispute
The company behind Donald Trump's Truth Social platform told a Florida appeals court on Wednesday that a trial court should not have paused its suit against investors in favor of a related dispute in Delaware because the two suits are not substantially similar.
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December 11, 2024
Wash. Port Asks Justices To Review 9th Circ. CWA Ruling
The Port of Tacoma urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to answer what it calls a "longstanding circuit split" over whether private suits seeking to enforce state permit conditions that go beyond the Clean Water Act can proceed in federal court.
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December 11, 2024
Justices Question Affiliates' Liability In $47M TM Judgment
The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday questioned why lower courts ordered affiliates of a real estate company to pay a $47 million trademark infringement judgment against it when they were not defendants, with Justice Clarence Thomas asking counsel for the prevailing party why they did not include the affiliates in the case.
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December 11, 2024
DOJ Tells Justices To Preserve Antitrust Probe Into NAR
The U.S. Department of Justice told the U.S. Supreme Court that it made no commitment not to reopen its investigation into the National Association of Realtors as part of its 2020 consent decree with the company, urging the justices to reject the association's bid for a day before the high court.
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December 11, 2024
Uber Worker Can Arbitrate Firing Claim, Calif. Court Says
A California state appeals court backed a trial court's move to revive a former Uber employee's arbitration dispute with the company claiming she was fired for complaining about sex bias, ruling an arbitrator was wrong to find she attempted to restart the clock on her allegations.
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December 11, 2024
Texas Panel Says Hospital To Blame For Tonsillectomy Death
A Texas appeals court upheld a widow's wrongful death victory against a hospital, finding in a Wednesday opinion that the Laredo Medical Center hadn't done enough to show it hadn't negligently caused a man to bleed to death after a tonsillectomy.
Expert Analysis
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3 Presidential Privilege Questions After Trump Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Trump v. U.S., carving out a new evidentiary privilege for presidents, leaves unanswered several key questions concerning whether this new privilege is waivable or subject to various exceptions, says Jeremy Bates at Frankfurt Kurnit.
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Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
Mark Johnson and Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler discuss the muted nature of the property and casualty insurance class action space in the second quarter of the year, with no large waves made in labor depreciation and total-loss vehicle class actions, but a new offensive theory emerging for insurance companies.
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What To Know About Major Fla. Civil Procedure Rule Changes
The Florida Supreme Court recently amended the state's Rules of Civil Procedure, touching on pretrial procedure, discovery, motion and trial practice, and while the amendments are intended to streamline cases, the breadth of the changes may initially present some litigation growing pains, say Brian Briz, Benjamin Tyler and Yarenis Cruz at Holland & Knight.
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Prior Art Takeaways From Fed. Circ. Public Disclosure Ruling
While the Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Sanho v. Kaijet clarified that a private sale is not a public disclosure under patent law, there remains significant room for advocacy, as the opinion lacked meaningful guidance on how to satisfy the public disclosure exception to prior art, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.
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Series
Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.
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Perspectives
2 High Court Rulings Boost Protections Against Gov't Reprisal
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Gonzalez v. Trevino and Chiaverini v. City of Napoleon significantly strengthen legal protections against retaliatory arrests and malicious prosecution, and establish clear precedents that promote accountability in law enforcement, say Corey Stoughton and Amanda Miner at Selendy Gay.
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Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing
Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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3 High Court Rulings May Shape Health Org. Litigation Tactics
Three separate decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court's most recent term — Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy — will likely strengthen healthcare organizations' ability to affirmatively sue executive agencies to challenge regulations governing operations and enforcement actions, say attorneys at McDermott.
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Opinion
The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address
A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
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Opinion
It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union
As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.
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How Calif. Justices' Prop 22 Ruling Affects The Gig Industry
The California Supreme Court's recent upholding of Proposition 22 clarifies that Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other companies in the gig industry can legally classify their drivers as independent contractors, but it falls short of concluding some important regulatory battles in the state, says Mark Spring at CDF Labor.
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What 7th Circ. Samsung Decision Means For Mass Arbitration
The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in Wallrich v. Samsung highlights the dilemma faced by mass arbitration filers in the face of nonpayment of arbitration fees by the defending party — but also suggests that there are risks for defendants in pursuing such a strategy, says Daniel Campbell at McDermott.
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Takeaways From Virginia's $2B Trade Secrets Verdict Reversal
The Virginia Court of Appeals' recent reversal of the $2 billion damages award in Pegasystems v. Appian underscores the claimant's burden to show damages causation and highlights how an evidentiary ruling could lead to reversible error, say John Lanham and Kamran Jamil at Morrison Foerster.
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How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act
In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.
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Employers Face Uncertainty After Calif. Justices' Slur Ruling
In Bailey v. San Francisco District Attorney's Office, the California Supreme Court recently ruled that a singular use of a racial slur may be sufficiently severe to support a hostile work environment claim, leaving employers to speculate about what sort of comments or conduct will meet this new standard going forward, says Stephanie Roeser at Manatt.