Appellate

  • March 12, 2025

    White House Urged To Back Patent Eligibility Bill To Aid AI

    The Council for Innovation Promotion has urged the Trump administration to support a legislative overhaul of patent eligibility law and reconsider patent office guidance on the issue as the White House aims to ensure the U.S. plays a dominant role in artificial intelligence.

  • March 12, 2025

    Drew Eckl Can't Keep Breakaway Firm In Arbitration Over Fees

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday found that Burke Moore Law Group LLP — founded by former Drew Eckl & Farnham LLP partners and others — cannot be subject to arbitration over fees between Drew Eckl and those ex-firm partners since Burke Moore did not sign the agreement at issue.

  • March 12, 2025

    Group To Study ABA Accreditation Req. For Fla. Bar Exam

    The Florida Supreme Court said Wednesday it would convene a workgroup to reconsider a rule requiring applicants for the state bar exam to have graduated from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association, citing concerns about the ABA's accreditation standards on racial and ethnic diversity and the organization's "active political engagement."

  • March 12, 2025

    2nd Circ. Upholds Sanctions In Chinese Billionaire's Ch. 11

    The Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday torpedoed an appeal from the daughter of bankrupt Chinese exile Miles Guo — also known as Ho Won Kwok — and her attorney seeking to overturn a nearly $83,400 discovery sanction, saying the contempt ruling was merited.

  • March 12, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Finds No Confusion Between Firebull, Fireball TMs

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board correctly found there is no likelihood of confusion between a distillery's pending bid to register Bullshine Firebull and Sazerac Brands' Fireball marks, the Federal Circuit said in a precedential opinion Wednesday that also affirmed the board's conclusion that Fireball is not generic.

  • March 12, 2025

    Ga. Appeals Court Backs Class Cert. In Vehicle Booting Case

    A Georgia Court of Appeals panel backed a truck driver's bid for class certification in a suit that alleges an Atlanta-based impound company unlawfully booted over 1,000 vehicles without authorization from local governments.

  • March 12, 2025

    Luxottica Drops Appeal On ERISA Suit's Arbitrability

    Luxottica shuttered its appeal of a New York federal judge's order that the company could not compel arbitration of a worker's representative claims that it violated federal benefits law by using outdated mortality data to calculate pensions benefits.

  • March 12, 2025

    Steptoe Hires National Security Veteran In New York

    Steptoe LLP has hired a former Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP attorney known for his defense of Guantanamo Bay detainees and other high-profile national security matters, who joined the firm in New York as a partner.

  • March 12, 2025

    Energy Co. Asks Justices To Skip On Inspector's OT Case

    Energy industry service provider Killick Group told the U.S. Supreme Court that the Fifth Circuit correctly considered a pipeline inspector an independent contractor because he had autonomy in his job, urging the justices to stay out of the worker's overtime case.

  • March 11, 2025

    Payday Lenders Want One More High Court Bout With CFPB

    Payday lender groups have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to again take up their challenge to a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule finalized during President Donald Trump's first term, this time seeking an appeal focused on the rule's allegedly "tainted" origin.

  • March 11, 2025

    6th Circ. Ends Group's Challenge To Great Lakes Fishing Pact

    The Sixth Circuit on Tuesday rejected a nonprofit's challenge to a pact between Native American tribes and the state of Michigan for allegedly lacking guardrails to prevent overfishing in the Great Lakes, finding it lacked jurisdiction since the nonprofit never intervened in the case and only filed amicus curiae briefs.

  • March 11, 2025

    Medical Device Co. Seeks Fed. Circ. Redo Over Patent Trial

    A medical device manufacturer is asking the full Federal Circuit to reconsider a panel decision reviving a patent infringement case against it, arguing a lower court judge was fine to allow tardy testimony from a witness who took its side.

  • March 11, 2025

    Musk Opens Del. Appeal To Recover $56B In Tesla Pay

    Elon Musk on Tuesday launched his Delaware Supreme Court appeal aimed at a Court of Chancery decision that had short-circuited the electric car company's 10-year, $55.6 billion compensation plan for the celebrity CEO.

  • March 11, 2025

    Ga. Appeals Court Backs Stroke Patient's $75M Med Mal Win

    A Georgia appellate panel has affirmed a $75 million verdict won by a stroke patient who alleged that his doctors at an Atlanta-area emergency room failed to diagnose his condition in time to save him from developing complete bodily paralysis.

  • March 11, 2025

    NJ Justices Say NY Doc Can't Be On Med Mal Verdict Form

    The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that an anesthesiologist accused of causing a patient's death during surgery can't have the verdict sheet at the upcoming trial apportion blame to a New York doctor who was never named as a party in the suit.

  • March 11, 2025

    Conn. Judge Puzzled By Agency's 'Flip-Flop' On Rehab Permit

    A Connecticut appellate judge said Tuesday that a state agency's recommendation to reject a residential substance use treatment facility in the town of Kent, followed by its "flip-flop" to approve the plan without any changes to the underlying facts, "truly puzzles me."

  • March 11, 2025

    More ITC Patent Cases Expected After Fed. Circ. 'Sea Change'

    A recent Federal Circuit decision discarding the U.S. International Trade Commission's limits on what types of domestic expenses qualify a company to bring a patent suit at the agency marks a pronounced shift that will likely spur considerably more ITC cases, attorneys say.

  • March 11, 2025

    5th Circ. Hopes For 'Sanity' In Backing Legal Malpractice Arb.

    Untangling a "ridiculous" arbitration proceeding that produced four contradictory awards in a legal malpractice dispute, the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed three awards and most of another, adding that the parties are "free to arbitrate another day" in the hope that their disagreements will be resolved "for the sake of sanity."

  • March 11, 2025

    J&J Tells 3rd Circ. No Price Impact In Talc Concealment Suit

    Johnson & Johnson urged the Third Circuit on Tuesday to undo class certification of investor claims that the company inflated its stock price by failing to disclose cancer risks associated with its talcum powder products, arguing that the investors could not have relied upon its alleged misrepresentations because there was no impact on the stock market's price.

  • March 11, 2025

    NJ Residents Push To Repackage Contaminated Water Claims

    Residents of National Park, New Jersey, asked a state appellate court panel for permission to revive and amend their proposed class claims over contaminated water, arguing Tuesday that the allegations are a matter for tort law, not contract law.

  • March 11, 2025

    9th Circ. Panel Won't Renew Wash. Nurse's Employment Suit

    A Ninth Circuit Panel has declined to revive a nurse's employment suit against the University of Washington Medical Center, finding a poor performance review wasn't enough to form the basis of a discrimination claim against the Seattle hospital.

  • March 11, 2025

    6th Circ. Won't Revisit FCC's Tanked Net Neutrality Rules

    The Sixth Circuit on Tuesday turned down a bid by public interest groups for a full-court rehearing of January's decision to overturn the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules.

  • March 11, 2025

    6th Circ. Asks If It Should Duck Enbridge Pipeline Fight

    A Sixth Circuit panel has asked if it should pause or reject altogether Enbridge Energy LP's lawsuit challenging Michigan's efforts to shutter a pipeline because of a pending state court case, requesting briefs ahead of oral arguments next week.

  • March 11, 2025

    Logistics Co. Tells Texas Justices Attys Undercut Rail Deal

    An energy logistics company has told the Texas Supreme Court that lawyers who allegedly helped undermine a business deal shouldn't get to skate out of a legal malpractice lawsuit, arguing in a Monday petition the case belongs before a jury.

  • March 11, 2025

    Vape Cos. Say Ky. Regulator Didn't Defend E-Cig Law

    Vaping interests urging the Sixth Circuit to block the enforcement of a new Kentucky law regulating e-cigarettes have told the appellate court that the state's tobacco regulator tasked with enforcing the policy didn't even defend the law in recent court pleadings.

Expert Analysis

  • AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex

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    Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.

  • When Innovation Overwhelms The Rule Of Law

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    In an era where technology is rapidly evolving and artificial intelligence is seemingly everywhere, it’s worth asking if the law — both substantive precedent and procedural rules — can keep up with the light speed of innovation, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • The Future Of ALJs At NLRB And DOL Post-Jarkesy

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    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 Jarkesy ruling, several ongoing challenges to the constitutionality of the U.S. Department of Labor's and the National Labor Relations Board's administrative law judges have the potential to significantly shape the future of administrative tribunals, say attorneys at Wiley Rein.

  • The Tides Are Changing For Fair Access Banking Laws

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    The landscape of fair access banking laws, which seek to prevent banks from denying services based on individuals' ideological beliefs, has shifted in the last few years, but a new presidential administration provides renewed momentum for advancing such legislation against the backdrop of state efforts, say attorneys at Latham.

  • Imagine The Possibilities Of Openly Autistic Lawyering

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    Andi Mazingo at Lumen Law, who was diagnosed with autism about midway through her career, discusses how the legal profession can create inclusive workplaces that empower openly autistic lawyers and enhance innovation, and how neurodivergent attorneys can navigate the challenges and opportunities that come with disclosing one’s diagnosis.

  • Top 10 Healthcare And Life Sciences Issues To Watch In 2025

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    Under the new Trump administration, this coming year may benefit some healthcare and life sciences stakeholders, while creating new challenges for others amid an increasingly complex regulatory environment, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Disciplinary Rule Updates Every Texas Lawyer Needs To Know

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    Sweeping amendments to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct that recently went into effect provide essential clarity and modernity to rules governing conflicts of interest, client confidentiality and duties to prospective clients, says Robert Tobey at Johnston Tobey.

  • Parsing 3rd Circ. Ruling On Cannabis, Employee Private Suits

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    The Third Circuit recently upheld a decision that individuals don't have a private right of action for alleged violations of New Jersey's Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance and Marketplace Modernization Act, but employers should stay informed as the court encouraged the state Legislature to amend the law, say attorneys at Mandelbaum Barrett.

  • Perspectives

    How High Court May Rule In First Step Act Resentencing Case

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    U.S. Supreme Court justices grappled with verb tenses and statutory intent in recent oral arguments in Hewitt v. U.S., a case involving an anomalous resentencing issue under the First Step Act, and though they may hold that the statute is unambiguous, they could also decide the case on narrow, practical grounds, say attorneys at Bracewell.

  • Series

    Documentary Filmmaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Becoming a documentary filmmaker has allowed me to merge my legal expertise with my passion for storytelling, and has helped me to hone negotiation, critical thinking and problem-solving skills that are important to both endeavors, says Robert Darwell at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Litigation Funding Disclosure Debate: Strategy Considerations

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    In the ongoing debate over whether courts should require disclosure of litigation funding, funders and plaintiffs tend to argue against such mandates, but voluntarily disclosing limited details about a funding arrangement can actually confer certain benefits to plaintiffs in some scenarios, say Andrew Stulce and Marc Cavan at Longford Capital.

  • Discretionary Compensation Lessons From 7th Circ. Ruling

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    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Das v. Tata established that contract disclaimers don't automatically bar claims under the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act, underscoring the limits of compensation systems that purport to grant employers unilateral discretion, say attorneys at Schoenberg Finkel.

  • Gas Contract Fight Holds Lessons On Force Majeure Clauses

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    Ongoing litigation over gas deliveries during Winter Storm Uri underscores the need for precision and foresight when negotiating force majeure clauses in contracts — particularly in the energy sector, where climate-related disruptions and market volatility are inevitable, but often unpredictable, say attorneys at Spencer Fane.

  • Justices Likely To Stay In ERISA's Bounds On Pleadings

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    The arguments in Cunningham v. Cornell showed the U.S. Supreme Court's willingness to resolve a circuit split regarding Employee Retirement Income Security Act pleading standards by staying within ERISA's confines, while instructing courts regarding what must be pled to survive a motion to dismiss, says Ryan Curtis at Fennemore Craig.

  • Scope And Nature Of Judicial Relief Will Affect Loper's Impact

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    The practical result of post-Loper Bright rulings against regulatory actions will depend on the relief courts grant — and there has been controversy in these types of cases over whether the ruling is applied just to the parties or nationwide, and whether the action can be left in place while it's corrected, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

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