Appellate

  • January 24, 2025

    'Waverly Two' Will Walk Free After Biden Commutation

    Among the nearly 2,500 people for whom former President Joe Biden commuted sentences before he left office were Terence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne, who were sentenced to life in prison in 2001 even though a federal jury found them not guilty of murder.

  • January 24, 2025

    Education Department Asks For Pause In Student Loan Case

    The federal government asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to pause a review of a Fifth Circuit block on a program that forgives student loans if the borrower was scammed, saying it needed to "reassess" its position following President Donald Trump's inauguration.

  • January 24, 2025

    8th Circ. Upholds Block On Iowa's Immigration Law

    An Eighth Circuit panel upheld an order barring Iowa from enforcing a state law that criminalizes noncitizens who enter the state after deportation from the U.S., saying in a Friday opinion the law doesn't pass a constitutional smell test.

  • January 24, 2025

    3rd Circ. Halts Pa. Med Insurer Suit Pending High Court Review

    The Third Circuit agreed Friday to put a hold on its ruling that Pennsylvania's medical malpractice insurance fund is an agency of the state and can dip into the fund's $300 million budget surplus pending the outcome of the fund's appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • January 24, 2025

    FTC Says Noncompete Ban Defense Is Its Job, Not Intervenor's

    The Federal Trade Commission is urging the Fifth and Eleventh circuits not to permit an entrepreneurs group to intervene in support of the FTC's currently blocked noncompete ban in case the commission opts to abandon its defense, arguing Congress left it up to government agencies to defend their own regulations.

  • January 24, 2025

    9th Circ. Renews Billing Co.'s Suit Against Texas Data Firm

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Friday partly revived a Washington billing services company's lawsuit over a soured business deal with bankrupt Addison Data Services, finding a bankruptcy settlement agreement and the statute of limitations can't keep the plaintiff from pursuing its breach of fiduciary duty claims.

  • January 24, 2025

    Lawmakers Want FCC Subsidy Fund Preserved At High Court

    Nearly 30 members of the U.S. House and Senate from both parties are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to keep in place the Federal Communications Commission's system of raising funds from telecom providers to pay for connectivity around the country.

  • January 24, 2025

    Trump Energy Order Disrupts High-Profile NEPA Cases

    One of President Donald Trump's first energy-related executive orders is unsettling closely watched litigation in the U.S. Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit regarding the executive branch's power to implement the National Environmental Policy Act.

  • January 24, 2025

    5th Circ. Upholds Tossing Medicare Rate Policy Challenge

    A Fifth Circuit panel said it agrees with a Texas federal judge that a lawsuit brought by four anesthesia practices claiming a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services policy will cost them $4 million in reduced reimbursements is statutorily barred.

  • January 24, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Intel PTAB Win In Qualcomm Fight

    The Federal Circuit said Friday it won't undo a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that invalidated several claims of a Qualcomm Inc. patent it had previously upheld, backing the board's latest claim construction in favor of Intel.

  • January 24, 2025

    SAP Seeks Full 9th Circ. Rehearing Of Revived Tying Suit

    German software giant SAP is asking the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its revival of data analytics company Teradata's trade secrets and tying suit against it, saying the panel wrongly applied per se antitrust treatment to a "highly innovative software market."

  • January 24, 2025

    10th Circ. Unsure Exec's Missed Argument Dooms Firing Suit

    A Tenth Circuit judge on Friday asked U.S. Bank whether it matters if a former executive knew he had another jurisdictional argument for his wrongful termination claim but failed to pursue it, in an appeal attempting to revive the executive's second suit.

  • January 24, 2025

    Netflix Urges Colo. Court To Reject Tax On Streaming Video

    Netflix subscriptions are not tangible personal property that is subject to Colorado sales tax, the company told a state appeals court, urging it to uphold a district court decision.

  • January 24, 2025

    FDA's Premium Cigar Regulations Overturned By DC Circ.

    A D.C. Circuit panel ruled on Friday that the Food and Drug Administration acted arbitrarily when subjecting premium, hand-rolled cigars to the same regulations as other tobacco products, saying the agency was wrong to overlook two studies about infrequent premium cigar use.

  • January 24, 2025

    Army Exploits Pa. Boarding School Cemetery, 4th Circ. Told

    The U.S. Army is exploiting an Indian boarding school cemetery as a repository for human remains, a Nebraska tribe told the Fourth Circuit, arguing that the military institution is conducting research and other activities that serve its goals rather than respecting the sovereignty and traditions of Indigenous people.

  • January 24, 2025

    Norfolk Southern Can't Control Fiber Installation Under Tracks

    The Michigan Supreme Court left intact a ruling that Norfolk Southern Railway Co. can't force a fiber internet provider to obtain its permission before installing cable under railroad tracks at an intersection with a public road, turning down the railroad company's appeal after oral arguments.

  • January 24, 2025

    Calif. Panel Remands Ex-DA Worker's Bias Suit Over Slur

    A California appeals panel reopened a discrimination lawsuit against the San Francisco District Attorney's Office by a Black ex-employee, saying a trial court should evaluate the city's response to a co-worker's racial slur given a state Supreme Court ruling that a single epithet can create a hostile work environment.

  • January 24, 2025

    Hunter Biden Pans IRS Agents' Appeal To Enter Privacy Suit

    Hunter Biden urged the D.C. Circuit to affirm a ruling preventing the IRS agents he has accused of improperly revealing his tax return information from intervening in his privacy suit against the U.S. government, saying the court should reject their claims about the importance of their participation.

  • January 24, 2025

    5th Circ. Won't Remand New Orleans Coastal Damage Suit

    A Fifth Circuit panel denied New Orleans' bid to have a lawsuit alleging that Chevron, ExxonMobil and other pipeline companies damaged its coastal areas returned to a Pelican State court, affirming a decision that kept the litigation in federal courts as the companies requested.

  • January 23, 2025

    4th Circ. Reads Kickback Law Broadly In Loss For Big Pharma

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a Virginia federal judge's ruling against a pharmaceuticals industry-backed charity looking to weaken the Anti-Kickback Statute, holding that a proposed program for helping patients cover the cost of drugs could indeed constitute a quid pro quo.

  • January 23, 2025

    Wash. Justices Back Workers' View On Moonlighting Law

    Washington's highest court clarified on Thursday that the state's moonlighting protections shield low-wage workers from noncompete terms that would outright ban them working for any competitor in any capacity, concluding that employers must narrowly tailor such restrictions to be line with employees' common-law duty of loyalty.

  • January 23, 2025

    11th Circ. Weighs Partisanship Against Race In Ga. Maps Fight

    Attorneys representing Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Thursday urged the Eleventh Circuit to overturn a ruling that required the state to redraw its congressional and legislative voting district maps based on a federal judge's finding that Georgia's political process was not equally open to Black voters.

  • January 23, 2025

    Conn. High Court Snapshot: Atty's Bonus, Burn Verdict

    In its next term starting Monday, the Connecticut Supreme Court will hear an appeal from an acupuncturist who doesn't want to share liability for a judgment paid to a burn victim, and consider whether to reverse a seven-figure verdict for a private equity management firm's founder, who claims other members improperly cut him out.

  • January 23, 2025

    Retired Pittsburgh Cops Overpaid For Healthcare, Panel Rules

    Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court has ruled that the city of Pittsburgh overcharged retired police officers for healthcare benefits, rejecting the city's argument to overturn an arbitrator's award in favor of the local Fraternal Order of Police lodge as too expansive.

  • January 23, 2025

    4th Circ. Unwinds Rocket Mortgage Borrowers' Class Cert.

    A split Fourth Circuit on Thursday reversed the class certification of borrowers who accused Rocket Mortgage of inflating their home values, finding that not all potential class members could prove they were injured under the U.S. Supreme Court's heightened pleading standard in TransUnion.

Expert Analysis

  • Litigation Strategies In View Of New Double Patenting Rulings

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    Recent Federal Circuit decisions, including in Allergan v. MSN, raise several issues that patent owners should understand and consider addressing proactively regarding obviousness-type double patenting, at least in their prosecution strategies, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • High Court 'Violent Crimes' Case Tangled Up In Hypotheticals

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    In Delligatti v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on whether attempted murder constitutes a crime of violence, and because the court’s interpretive approach thus far has relied on hairsplitting legal hypotheticals with absurd results, Congress should repeal the underlying statute, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • Tracking The Slow Movement Of AI Copyright Cases

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    The tech community may be expecting a prompt resolution on whether products generated by artificial intelligence are a fair use of copyrighted works, but legal history shows that a response to this question — at the heart of over 30 pending cases — will take years, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • How Property Insurance Coverage Shrank After The Pandemic

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    Insurers litigating property claims are leveraging rulings that provided relief in the COVID-19 context to reverse the former majority rule on physical loss or damage in all contexts, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Considering Chevron's End Through A State Tax Lens

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    States took the lead in encouraging Chevron's demise, turning away from Chevron-type deference in state tax administration ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, a trend likely to accelerate as courts take a more active role in interpreting tax laws, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Curious Case Of FTC's Amicus Brief In Teva Fed. Circ. Appeal

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    Attorneys at BCLP explore the Federal Trade Commission's backing of Amneal's Orange Book-delisting efforts on Teva ahead of a key Federal Circuit hearing in a case between the two pharmaceutical companies, and wonder if the FTC amicus brief indicates a future trend, especially in the next administration.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

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    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • When 'Patented' Goes Beyond Inventorship In False Ad Cases

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    The Federal Circuit's recent false advertising holding in Crocs v. Effervescent is significant because it offers a nuanced yet realistic understanding of what false claims about a product's status as "patented" can mean, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • 2nd Circ. Hostile Workplace Ruling Widens Arbitration Pitfalls

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision, affirming the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act applies to a worker whose workplace hostility claims arose before the law’s 2022 enactment, widens the scope of the law — and the risks of unenforceable arbitration agreements for employers, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • 2nd Circ. Maxwell Ruling Adds To Confusion Over NPA Reach

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision upholding Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction made an analytical leap in applying plea agreement precedent to a nonprosecution agreement, compounding a circuit split and providing lessons for defense counsel, say attorneys at Kropf Moseley.

  • The Fed. Circ. In October: Aetna And License-Term Review

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision that Aetna's credit card licensing agreement with AlexSam did not give the insurer immunity from patent infringement claims serves to warn licensees to read their contracts carefully, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Recent Developments In Insurance Coverage For FCA Claims

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    As the U.S. Department of Justice continues its vigorous False Claims Act enforcement, companies looking to their insurers to help defray the costs of an investigation or settlement should note recent decisions on which types of policies cover FCA claims, which policy periods apply and which portions of FCA-related losses are covered, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being

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    As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.

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