Appellate

  • July 23, 2024

    Judge Doubts CenturyLink Can Block Borrowed Allegations

    A Colorado Court of Appeals panel Tuesday pressed an attorney for CenturyLink on why a shareholder can't use allegations borrowed from other cases in his own securities suit against the telecommunications company, with one judge saying that requiring plaintiff's counsel to speak to every witness would be going overboard.

  • July 23, 2024

    Cornell Tells High Court Not To Touch Workers' ERISA Suit

    Cornell University urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to take up a class action accusing it of mismanaging its employees' retirement savings, saying it shouldn't disturb a Second Circuit ruling that found the workers leading the suit failed to show that Cornell's payments to its service providers involved self-dealing.

  • July 23, 2024

    Labor Dept. ESG Rule May Survive Chevron's Demise

    The Fifth Circuit recently overturned a ruling that relied on the now-defunct doctrine of Chevron deference to uphold a U.S. Department of Labor rule covering socially conscious retirement plan investing, but some experts believe the rule has a good chance at surviving — even with the precedent off the books.

  • July 23, 2024

    Pa. Justices Will Hear Pittsburgh's Appeal For Its 'Jock Tax'

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has accepted the city of Pittsburgh's request to review a lower court decision that ended the city's fee on nonresident professional athletes, also known as the jock tax, the court said.

  • July 23, 2024

    2nd Circ. Backs Project Veritas Search Tied To Stolen Diary

    The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a district court's rejection of claims of journalistic privilege by Project Veritas' founder and two others at the activist group as they sought to shield documents seized under search warrants in connection with the stolen diary of President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley Biden.

  • July 23, 2024

    Wash. Justices Decline 9th Circ. Request in Uber Murder Case

    Washington State's Supreme Court has declined to answer a certified question from the Ninth Circuit over whether Uber Technologies Inc. had a duty to use reasonable care to protect one of its drivers who was murdered in a carjacking.

  • July 23, 2024

    4th Circ. Says Bad Jury Instructions Gave J&J Win In Mesh Suit

    The Fourth Circuit has vacated a judgment in Ethicon Inc. and Johnson & Johnson's favor in a suit from a woman alleging Ethicon's pelvic mesh was defective, saying a federal judge was wrong to limit her expert's opinion based on the so-called "elimination mandate."

  • July 23, 2024

    Tesla Crash Victim's Parents Urge Fla. Top Court To Allow Depos

    The father of a Florida teenager killed in a Tesla Model S crash in 2018 has urged the state's high court to review a lower court's orders quashing depositions of company CEO Elon Musk and another executive, saying the orders directly conflict with Florida case law.

  • July 23, 2024

    Amazon Fights To Arbitrate Sellers' Misclassification Claims

    Amazon urged a California appellate panel on Tuesday to compel arbitration for individual claims from two sellers accusing the online retailer of misclassifying them as independent contractors, and to direct the trial court to toss their representative claims under the state's Private Attorneys General Act.

  • July 23, 2024

    Red States Seek High Court Stay Of EPA Power Plant Rule

    Dozens of red states Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to block implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule curbing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, four days after the D.C. Circuit rejected a stay request.

  • July 23, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Gives Netflix 2nd Chance To Challenge Broadcom IP

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board must reconsider Netflix's petitions challenging the validity of a Broadcom unit's software performance monitoring patent, the Federal Circuit held Tuesday, finding flaws in the board's refusal to institute reviews.

  • July 23, 2024

    Feds Urge 6th Circ. To Affirm Pharma Owner's Fraud Sentence

    The Sixth Circuit should affirm a district court's fraud convictions, nearly five-year sentence and $7 million restitution order against an Ohio pharmaceutical salesman who underreported his income to reduce his tax liability in a multimillion-dollar scheme involving bogus insurance billings, the federal government said.

  • July 23, 2024

    6th Circ. Judge Doubts Cover-Up Part Of Fire Chief's Job

    A Sixth Circuit judge on Tuesday said he found it hard to believe a Michigan mayor could avoid an ex-fire chief's retaliation suit by claiming the chief's refusal to follow a directive to cover up firefighters' alleged misconduct was part of his job description.

  • July 23, 2024

    6th Circ. Affirms Insurer's Early Win In Hail Damage Suit

    A welding company wasn't owed coverage for roof damage caused by wind and a hailstorm, the Sixth Circuit ruled, finding that a lower court didn't err in ruling that a cosmetic-damage exclusion in its policy precludes the damage at issue.

  • July 23, 2024

    The Biggest Trademark Rulings Of 2024: A Midyear Report

    The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a California attorney's arguments that registering "Trump Too Small" as a trademark constituted speech protected by the First Amendment, and a split Ninth Circuit concluded district courts have the power to cancel trademark applications during litigation. Here's a look at some of the most notable trademark decisions so far this year.

  • July 23, 2024

    6th Circ. Vows Careful Immunity Take In Prof's Retaliation Suit

    The Sixth Circuit wrestled Tuesday with whether six University of Louisville officials were each rightly denied immunity from a former professor's suit alleging he was unconstitutionally pushed out because of his views on treating childhood gender dysphoria, with one judge promising meticulous assessments of each defendant.

  • July 23, 2024

    Ariz. Justices OK Use Of Power Deal In Plant's Valuation

    An Arizona power plant's income from a power purchase agreement may be considered in the income analysis of the valuation of the property, the state Supreme Court said, sending the matter back to the state tax court.

  • July 23, 2024

    Full Fed. Circ. Won't Undo TD Ameritrade's One-Word IP Win

    The full Federal Circuit on Monday denied a patent owner's en banc rehearing petition challenging a one-word ruling in favor of stockbroker TD Ameritrade in a high-stakes patent fight and effectively rejected an amicus party's legal challenge to the court's rule allowing one-word affirmance decisions.

  • July 23, 2024

    Split 2nd Circ. Keeps Zantac Suits In Conn. State Court

    A split Second Circuit panel on Tuesday allowed nine consolidated suits over carcinogens in heartburn medication Zantac to remain in Connecticut state court, with the majority ruling that the cases' consolidation is not enough to open up federal jurisdiction.

  • July 23, 2024

    Farm Owner Must Boost Taxable Income, 8th Circ. Told

    An Arkansas company that leases farmland must raise its reported income by $230,000 because it failed to get permission from the IRS to change its accounting method, the U.S. told the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday in asking it to uphold a U.S. Tax Court ruling.

  • July 23, 2024

    After Trump Attack, GOP Presses DOJ On Justices' Security

    Two Republican U.S. House representatives pressed the Justice Department on Tuesday for information on security measures protecting court officers, warning that limitations on U.S. Marshals Service's authority to arrest protesters near justices' homes is "dangerous and misguided," especially after former President Donald Trump's attempted assassination.

  • July 23, 2024

    Fla. Atty Fights Ethics Charges As 1st Amendment Attacks

    A Georgia-based attorney is fighting accusations from the Florida Bar that he disparaged an opponent running for 20th Judicial Circuit state attorney in 2018, arguing that the bar's bid to suspend his Florida law license is a violation of his First Amendment rights because it would punish him for protected speech.

  • July 23, 2024

    No Victims, No Fraud, Trump Says In $465M Judgment Appeal

    Donald Trump has appealed the $465 million judgment against him, arguing that the New York attorney general exceeded her authority in her civil fraud suit against the former president because the statute in question does not apply to victimless transactions.

  • July 23, 2024

    NY Judge OKs Public Disclosure In Atty Misconduct Cases

    A New York federal judge ruled Monday that the First Amendment does allow those who filed grievances against attorneys to access disciplinary hearings before the Appellate Division's Second Judicial Department, records related to those hearings and some of the grievance committee's final dispositions.

  • July 23, 2024

    Stay Of Power Plant Mercury Rule Unwarranted, EPA Says

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, joined by states, cities and public health and environmental groups, is urging the D.C. Circuit not to block a new rule tightening standards for mercury and other toxic metal emissions from some coal-fired power plants.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Half-Truths Vs. Omissions: Slicing Justices' Macquarie Cake

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Macquarie v. Moab provides a road map for determining whether corporate reports that omit information should be considered misleading — and the court baked it into a dessert analogy that is key to understanding the guidelines, say Daniel Levy and Pavithra Kumar at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

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    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Chevron's End Puts Target On CFPB's Aggressive BNPL Rule

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    A recent interpretative rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, subjecting buy-now, pay-later loans to the same regulations as credit cards, is unlikely to survive post-Chevron challenges of the rule's partisan and shaky logic, say Scott Pearson and Bryan Schneider at Manatt.

  • Justices' Ch. 11 Ruling Is A Big Moment For Debtors' Insurers

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Truck Insurance v. Kaiser Gypsum ruling upends decades of Chapter 11 bankruptcy jurisprudence that relegated a debtor’s insurer to the sidelines, giving insurers a new footing to try and avoid significant liability, say Stuart Gordon and Benjamin Wisher at Rivkin Radler.

  • Justices' Starbucks Ruling May Limit NLRB Injunction Wins

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Starbucks v. McKinney, adopting a more stringent test for National Labor Relations Board Section 10(j) injunctions, may lessen the frequency with which employers must defend against injunctions alongside parallel unfair labor practice charges, say David Pryzbylski and Colleen Schade at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Justices' Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review

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    Each of the 11 criminal decisions issued in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently concluded term is independently important, but taken together, they reveal trends in the court’s broader approach to criminal law, presenting both pitfalls and opportunities for defendants and their counsel, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.

  • 7th Circ. Motorola Ruling Raises Stakes Of DTSA Litigation

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    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Motorola v. Hytera gives plaintiffs a powerful tool to recover damages, greatly increasing the incentive to bring Defend Trade Secrets Act claims against defendants with large global sales because those sales could generate large settlements, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Bid Protest Litigation Will Hold Steady For Now

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    Though the substantive holding of Loper Bright is unlikely to affect bid protests because questions of statutory interpretation are rare, the spirit of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision may signal a general trend away from agency deference even on the complex technical issues that often arise, say Kayleigh Scalzo and Andrew Guy at Covington.

  • Challenging Prosecutors' Use Of Defendants' Jail Phone Calls

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    Although it’s an uphill battle under current case law, counsel for pretrial detainees may be able to challenge prosecutors’ use of jail-recorded phone calls between the defendant and their attorney by taking certain advance measures, say Jim McLoughlin and Fielding Huseth at Moore & Van Allen.

  • How NJ Worker Status Ruling Benefits Real Estate Industry

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    In Kennedy v. Weichert, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently said a real estate agent’s employment contract would supersede the usual ABC test analysis to determine his classification as an independent contractor, preserving operational flexibility for the industry — and potentially others, say Jason Finkelstein and Dalila Haden at Cole Schotz.

  • 3 Policyholder Tips After Calif. Ruling Denying D&O Coverage

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    A California decision from June, Practice Fusion v. Freedom Specialty Insurance, denying a company's claim seeking reimbursement under a directors and officers insurance policy for its settlement with the Justice Department, highlights the importance of coordinating coverage for all operational risks and the danger of broad exclusionary policy language, says Geoffrey Fehling at Hunton.

  • Opinion

    Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism

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    As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.

  • Opinion

    High Court Made Profound Mistake In Tossing Purdue Deal

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to throw out Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 plan jeopardizes a multistate agreement that would provide approximately $7 billion in much-needed relief to help fight the opioid epidemic, with states now likely doomed to spend years chasing individual defendants across the globe, says Swain Wood at Morningstar.

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