Appellate

  • October 23, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge Suggests Equity Pact Counts As Wash. Loan

    A Ninth Circuit judge said Wednesday he was "struggling with" a company's stance that its equity-sharing agreement with two homeowners in Washington state doesn't amount to a loan covered by state laws regulating reverse mortgages, saying the arrangement appears to check the boxes of the statutory definition.

  • October 23, 2024

    Amazon Must Face Drivers' Tip Suit Despite FTC Settlement

    A Washington federal judge largely refused Wednesday to toss a proposed class action accusing Amazon of violating Evergreen State laws by withholding portions of drivers' tips, saying the claims are still valid despite the Federal Trade Commission reaching a nearly $62 million deal with the company over the same alleged conduct.

  • October 23, 2024

    Telecom Group Sues To Cancel FTC's 'Click To Cancel' Rule

    A major cable and internet industry group and others sued the Federal Trade Commission Wednesday over its new "click to cancel" rule, asking the Fifth Circuit to vacate the regulation one week after it was adopted in a 3-2 commission vote.

  • October 23, 2024

    Colo. Justices Leery of Tossing Fraudster's Sentence

    Colorado Supreme Court justices appeared doubtful Wednesday that a convicted fraudster could avoid his sentence of 20 years probation after he served four years in prison, suggesting that while there was practically little difference from a previous sentence they threw out, it no longer violated state law.

  • October 23, 2024

    Religion Law Can't Save Sacred Worship Site, High Court Told

    A law designed to protect religious freedom can't help an Apache nonprofit's bid to save a sacred worship site in Arizona from destruction, the federal government said, arguing that the tribe is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to nullify a congressional statute crafted to allow federal third-party land transfers.

  • October 23, 2024

    Navarro Seeks Justices' Review Of Presidential Records Ruling

    Former Trump administration adviser Peter Navarro has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a circuit court's ruling that the federal government can use the Presidential Records Act to force Navarro to hand over emails from his tenure at the White House.

  • October 23, 2024

    NC Justices Scrutinize Scope Of Liability Shield In COVID Law

    An attorney for a doctor accused of medical malpractice faced sharp questioning Wednesday as North Carolina justices pushed him to define how much protection from liability was granted by an emergency law enacted to safeguard the state's healthcare providers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • October 23, 2024

    High Court Won't Pause Google's Subpoena Of State Agency

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Wednesday to block Google's request for documents in a case accusing the tech giant of monopolizing key digital ad technology as a South Carolina agency challenges an order forcing it to comply with the subpoena.

  • October 23, 2024

    Insurers Slam Mich. No-Fault Ruling As 'Judicial Activism'

    A trade group representing Michigan insurers said an appellate court ruling in a medical provider's suit over nonpayment of auto insurance benefits could encourage gamesmanship in no-fault insurance litigation, in a friend-of-the-court brief filed on Tuesday with the state's top court.

  • October 23, 2024

    Legal Doctrine Can't Revive Med Mal Case, Ga. Panel Says

    The Georgia Court of Appeals has affirmed the dismissal of a suit alleging a doctor's failure to discontinue a cancer patient's steroid prescription caused him to suffer ailments related to long-term steroid use, saying the time-barred suit can't be saved by the so-called continuous treatment doctrine.

  • October 23, 2024

    EPA Can't Restart Crafting Smog Rule, DC Circ. Told

    A group of Democratic-led state governments is telling the D.C. Circuit that the Clean Air Act doesn't mandate reconsideration of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2023 "Good Neighbor" emissions regulation as two steel manufacturers say.

  • October 23, 2024

    United Worker Fired Over Online Pics Gets Bias Suit Revived

    A California appeals court revived a United Airlines flight attendant's sex bias suit claiming she was unlawfully fired for appearing in uniform on a social media page advertising her OnlyFans account, crediting her argument that male flight attendants didn't face the same consequences for similar behavior.

  • October 23, 2024

    9th Circ. Orders Michael Avenatti To Be Resentenced

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday ordered the resentencing of Michael Avenatti over his California conviction for tax violations and stealing from clients, saying the lower court made multiple mistakes when it handed down a 14-year prison term to the onetime celebrity attorney.

  • October 23, 2024

    5th Circ. Upholds Workers' Win In Health Co. Wage Suit

    A group of workers for an at-home healthcare company are employees, not independent contractors, a Fifth Circuit panel ruled, affirming a Louisiana federal court decision in three consolidated cases claiming the company cheated workers out of overtime.

  • October 23, 2024

    Feds Urge High Court To Deny Cig Cos.' Bid To Ax New Rule

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court not to grant certiorari to a group of tobacco companies aiming to vacate a rule requiring larger warnings on cigarette boxes, saying the Fifth Circuit rightly found the proposed warnings don't violate the First Amendment's protection against compelled speech.

  • October 23, 2024

    9th Circ. Backs Injury Firm's Win In Fight Over Google Ads

    The Ninth Circuit has upheld an Arizona federal court's ruling in favor of a Tempe-based personal injury firm that was sued by another personal injury firm, Lerner & Rowe, over its purchases of Google advertising search terms, with the judges finding little "actual confusion" was caused by the advertising strategy.

  • October 23, 2024

    'MetaBirkins' TM Appeal May Split 2nd Circ. On Art Question

    A Second Circuit panel appeared divided Wednesday over whether a Los Angeles man should be liable for infringing Hermès International's handbag trademarks with his "MetaBirkins" nonfungible tokens, with two judges seemingly siding with the Paris designer and one with the purported artist.

  • October 23, 2024

    Ga. Justices Say Open Records Suit Against DA Can Proceed

    The Supreme Court of Georgia said a district attorney for the Peach State's Western Judicial Circuit must face an Open Records Act suit claiming she withheld records, and that one of her arguments to escape the suit "fundamentally misunderstands Georgia's separation-of-powers doctrine."

  • October 23, 2024

    Court Doubts Tax Program Is A Subsidy, Remands Steel Duty

    The U.S. Court of International Trade remanded a countervailing tariff on Turkish steel rebar for the U.S. Department of Commerce to explain why it treated a broadly available tax exemption as a subsidy conferring an unfair trade advantage.

  • October 23, 2024

    2nd Circ. Backs Early Wells Fargo Win In $100M RMBS Case

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday approved an early win for Wells Fargo in a lawsuit brought by Commerzbank AG alleging it lost $100 million investing in residential mortgage-backed securities, saying the German lender didn't have standing to sue.

  • October 22, 2024

    Texas Firm 'Tortured' Barratry Case, Appeals Court Hears

    A Texas law firm accused of ambulance chasing told a state appeals court that the opposition had "tortured" the case, saying during oral arguments Tuesday that Bandas Law Firm PC pursued the case merely as an extortion racket.

  • October 22, 2024

    Ex-Yale Student Wants Full Acquittal Record Sent To DHS

    An expelled Yale University student on Tuesday urged the Second Circuit to quickly vacate orders barring him from giving the U.S. Department of Homeland Security an unredacted transcript that resulted in his acquittal of sex crimes, saying a delay could seal his deportation and thus his execution by the Taliban.

  • October 22, 2024

    'Dewberry' Ruling Doesn't Threaten Corporate Veil, Justices Told

    An engineering company that won millions of dollars in a trademark case against a real estate developer that tried to use the "Dewberry" name for a hotel told the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday to let that ruling stand, arguing that the Fourth Circuit ruling in its favor doesn't undermine the corporate veil.

  • October 22, 2024

    Colo. Justices Suggest Remanding 'Half-Baked' Privilege Case

    Colorado Supreme Court justices appeared reluctant Tuesday to do more than remand a case over whether attorney-client privilege protects communications by an insurance company's lawyers with engineers hired for processing a claim, with two justices calling the appeal "half-baked" since the trial judge admitted she used the wrong standard.

  • October 22, 2024

    Calif. Panel Says Panera Must Face PAGA Claims

    A California state appeals court on Monday reversed a state trial court's ruling compelling a Panera restaurant employee to arbitrate Private Attorneys General Act claims against the bakery and café chain, saying an arbitration agreement the worker had entered explicitly excluded PAGA claims.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: The Future Of AI And Copyright Law

    Author Photo

    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overrule the Chevron doctrine, leaders in the artificial intelligence industry may seek to shift the balance of power to courts to exercise more independent statutory interpretation without constraints from the U.S. Copyright Office, says Greg Derin at Signature Resolution.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons

    Author Photo

    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers certification cases touching on classwide evidence of injury from debt collection practices, defining coupon settlements under the Class Action Fairness Act, proper approaches for evaluating attorney fee awards in class action settlements, and more.

  • Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where

    Author Photo

    During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • 3 Presidential Privilege Questions After Trump Ruling

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

    Author Photo

    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.

  • What To Know About Major Fla. Civil Procedure Rule Changes

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Prior Art Takeaways From Fed. Circ. Public Disclosure Ruling

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Perspectives

    2 High Court Rulings Boost Protections Against Gov't Reprisal

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

    Author Photo

    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.

  • 3 High Court Rulings May Shape Health Org. Litigation Tactics

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

    Author Photo

    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.

  • How Calif. Justices' Prop 22 Ruling Affects The Gig Industry

    Author Photo

    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.

  • What 7th Circ. Samsung Decision Means For Mass Arbitration

    Author Photo

    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.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Appellate archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!