Appellate

  • May 22, 2026

    4th Circ. Says Atty's Hospital Fraud Claims Not Med Mal

    The Fourth Circuit has revived an attorney's suit against a Maryland hospital, saying while the claims may be related to medical malpractice that he alleges he suffered under a doctor working at the hospital, the fraud and conspiracy claims are not medical malpractice.

  • May 22, 2026

    Health Workers Say US Solicitor Wrong In NY Vax Case

    The U.S. solicitor general's position that the nation's highest court shouldn't take up a religious bias suit over a New York state COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers incorrectly claimed that accommodations were obtainable, the mandate's challengers told the justices Friday.

  • May 22, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Won't Save Aerial Imagery Roof-Measuring Patents

    The Federal Circuit on Friday refused to revive a pair of patents covering a system for measuring a roof by using aerial imagery, rejecting the patent owner's arguments over how the Patent Trial and Appeal Board interpreted key phrases.

  • May 22, 2026

    Disney, Cameron Look To Escape Suit Over 'Avatar' Sequels

    Disney, film director James Cameron and his production company, Lightstorm Entertainment Inc., are urging a California federal judge to throw out a suit alleging the sequels in the "Avatar" movie franchise ripped off a writer's ideas, calling most of the case a "conspiratorial fantasy."

  • May 22, 2026

    USPTO Tells Justices To Skip Dolby Interested Party Case

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Dolby Laboratories' appeal seeking to require Unified Patents to name the interested parties in a patent challenge, saying Dolby lacks standing and that revised USPTO policies now require such disclosures in future cases.

  • May 22, 2026

    7th Circ. Not Sure 'Call' Means 'Text' Under TCPA

    Seventh Circuit panelists have expressed skepticism that text messages could be considered "telephone calls" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's do not call provisions.

  • May 22, 2026

    $30M In Tax Fraud Penalties Didn't Need Juries, Justices Told

    The IRS did not violate a group of taxpayers' rights to jury trials when it hit them with more than $30 million in penalties for tax fraud, the agency told the U.S. Supreme Court, maintaining that the Eleventh Circuit's decision to deny them juries should stand.

  • May 22, 2026

    Wis. Justices Turn Away Skechers' License Deal Tax Fight

    Wisconsin's top court let stand a ruling that found Skechers USA lacked purpose — other than avoiding taxes — for creating a subsidiary and entering into transactions with it that resulted in the company claiming nearly half a billion dollars in deductions in the state.

  • May 22, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Restores $82M Award Against Ford In IP Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Friday reinstated a jury's $82.3 million contract award to Versata Software Inc. against Ford Motor Co. and ordered a new trial on trade secret damages, finding in a precedential decision that the lower court improperly limited available damages theories.

  • May 22, 2026

    Google Urges DC Circ. To Nix DOJ's Search Win

    Google told the D.C. Circuit Friday the government is using antitrust law to punish a successful competitor, as it looks to overturn a trial court's ruling finding that Google illegally maintained its search monopoly.

  • May 22, 2026

    'Can't Just Make Up Names And Sue,' 7th Circ. Judge Says

    A Seventh Circuit judge rebuked a lawyer Friday for naming a "made up" entity, rather than the correct institution, in a workplace sexual harassment lawsuit against the Wisconsin Court System and a former judge, demanding the error be corrected immediately.

  • May 22, 2026

    Justices Won't Upend Ruling Making Ga. Ethics Claims Public

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Friday to vacate an Eleventh Circuit ruling that allowed Georgia's judicial watchdog to publicize allegations that two unsuccessful Georgia Supreme Court candidates violated ethics rules, shortly after the pair argued the election did not moot the case.

  • May 22, 2026

    States Tell Justices Colo. Climate Suit Threatens Sovereignty

    Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania and 23 other states urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Colorado Supreme Court ruling that allowed local communities to pursue climate change damages under state law, arguing it jeopardizes states' constitutional right to govern themselves.

  • May 22, 2026

    Prosecutors Seek $1.98M Forfeiture In Goldstein Case

    Federal prosecutors are seeking a nearly $2 million forfeiture judgment against convicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein and asking a Maryland federal judge to turn the Supreme Court lawyer's Northwest D.C. home over to the government to pay it.

  • May 22, 2026

    Port Authority's Immunity Bid Fails In Pier Project Row Appeal

    The Connecticut Port Authority cannot assert sovereign immunity to dodge a subcontractor's lawsuit over unpaid work on a pier project because it is not an "arm of the state," an appellate panel found Friday.

  • May 22, 2026

    Ky. Mom Brings School Survey Copyright Case To High Court

    A Kentucky mother has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear her case seeking a copy of a student mental-health survey against Pearson and her local school district, saying the case presents an important question about whether courts can decide whether it's fair use to request copyrighted materials under state open records law.

  • May 22, 2026

    11th Circ. Backs Ga. Cops' Immunity In Drug Detention

    The Eleventh Circuit backed an early win Friday for four Georgia police officers accused of unlawfully seizing and using excessive force against a woman suspected of overdosing, relying upon a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision holding that the probable cause standard doesn't apply to "emergency aid" situations.

  • May 22, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Insurer Owes Coverage For Ohio Building Fire

    A Liberty Mutual unit wrongfully denied an Ohio property owner's claim for coverage for a building that burned down during renovation, the Sixth Circuit ruled, finding the policy's requirement to erect a fence around a construction site unenforceable.

  • May 22, 2026

    Seven County's Legacy Still Unwritten A Year Later

    The U.S. Supreme Court's curtailment of federal environmental reviews in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition et al. v. Eagle County was seen as a game changer for project development, but one year later, cautious business sentiment has left its legacy untested.

  • May 21, 2026

    Apple Wants Justices To Review Epic Games Contempt Order

    Apple Inc. has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on exactly when and how civil contempt sanctions can be issued for violating a court order, arguing that the Ninth Circuit missed the mark by upholding such sanctions against Apple in its App Store battle with Epic Games.

  • May 21, 2026

    Jules Decision Provides Arbitration Certainty Post-Badgerow

    The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous decision last week finding that federal courts that have sent a dispute to arbitration have jurisdiction in subsequent enforcement proceedings has provided much-needed guidance for practitioners who saw uncertainty sown four years ago following a previous arbitration-related ruling.

  • May 21, 2026

    9th Circ. Says Judge Overstepped In Fluoride Risk Case

    A Ninth Circuit panel scrapped a ruling that directed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take action to address potentially unsafe levels of drinking water fluoridation, concluding a California federal judge improperly commandeered the case.

  • May 21, 2026

    Colo. Appeals Court Says Bank Can't Reach Trust Assets

    A panel for the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled that the Bank of Colorado does not have preferential treatment to a man's portion of his mother's trust fund, and that the lower court was wrong to find that claim preclusion applied because of a stay order in a bankruptcy case.

  • May 21, 2026

    11th Circ. Axes T-Mobile's Win In Ga. Tower Permit Dispute

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday vacated T-Mobile's win in a long-running fight with a Georgia city over a proposed cell tower, rejecting a widely used test over the infrastructure's need that the court called "irreconcilable" with the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

  • May 21, 2026

    DC Circ. Seeks Trump Admin Input On $5B Award Case

    The D.C. Circuit on Thursday sought the views of the Trump administration on a crucial component of Russia's sovereign immunity defense as the appeals court weighs jurisdiction in litigation to enforce a nearly $5 billion arbitral award against the Kremlin, which was issued to Yukos Oil Co.'s financing arm.

Expert Analysis

  • 2nd Circ.'s Cantero Redo Complicates Mortgage Escrow Issue

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    The Second Circuit's recent decision in Cantero v. Bank of America reflects the absence of definitiveness in mortgage escrow preemption jurisprudence, leaving lenders to navigate conflicting state rules and pricing challenges amid a deepening circuit split, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • 3 Rulings Show How Creditors Make Civil RICO Claims Stick

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    An Arizona federal court's recent decision concerning UniCredit Bank Austria is one of few in which creditors' claims against debtors for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act violations have survived motions to dismiss, and these claims' substantial benefits make the rulings worth analyzing for guidance, says Brian Asher at Asher Research.

  • What Fed. Circ.'s Poultry Patent Ruling Says About 'About'

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Enviro Tech v. Safe Foods highlights how approximation language in patent claims affects not only litigation outcomes, but also portfolio value, competitive positioning and prosecution strategy, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four recent rulings from cases involving allegations of Title VII violations, the Employment Retirement Income Security Act, prison dental care violations and overcharging for PACER access.

  • Texas Ruling Makes Avoiding Appraisal Nearly Impossible

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    By deciding that a coverage dispute doesn't nullify an appraisal clause, the Texas Supreme Court, in its recent Ace American Insurance ruling, makes appraisal nearly unavoidable in state personal auto and residential property disputes, says David Winter at Norton Rose.

  • Series

    NY Times Word Puzzles Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Every morning I let The New York Times humble me with word games, which offer a chance to recalibrate my brain before the day's chaos arrives and remind me that a solution — whether to a puzzle or employment law issue — almost always exists once I find the right angle, says Amy Epstein Gluck at Pierson Ferdinand.

  • Tracking Tech Suit Is A Risk Management Reminder For Cos.

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    The Fifth Circuit recently heard oral argument in Rand v. Eyemart Express — an appeal that could reshape the legal landscape for businesses that deploy tracking tech on their websites — underscoring the importance of proactive risk management for companies across multiple industries, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lesson: Diagnose Before Arguing

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    Law school often skips over explicitly teaching students how to determine what kind of problem a case presents before they commit to a particular doctrinal path, which risks building arguments that are internally coherent but externally misaligned, says Melanie Oxhorn at Kobre & Kim.

  • A Fed. Circ. Blueprint For Drafting Medical Device Patents

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    The Federal Circuit's decision in Constellation Designs v. LG last month, among other recent rulings, underscores the importance of emphasizing engineering, rather than clinical goals, when drafting patent claims for medical devices and software as a medical device, says Brandon Theiss at Volpe Koenig.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: EU's Arb. Defense From Russia

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    The EU's latest package of restrictive measures against Russia marks a significant shift from merely resisting Russian jurisdictional tactics to proactively protecting arbitration and exclusive jurisdiction agreements, elevating the procedural importance of dispute resolution clauses, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

  • Becoming The Biz-Savvy GC That Portfolio Companies Need

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    Candidates for general counsel roles at private equity-backed portfolio companies should prioritize proving their sector-specific experience, commercial judgment and ease with uncertainty — and attorneys hoping to be candidates in five to 10 years should start working on those skills now, says Dimitri Mastrocola at Major Lindsey.

  • Nielsen Appeal Tests Antitrust Limits Of Pricing And Bundling

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    In Cumulus v. Nielsen, the Second Circuit is considering a structural pattern in which a monopolist exploits upstream market power to foreclose downstream competition, which could potentially offer broad insight into how courts will assess exclusionary bundling and pricing defenses under antitrust law, says Luke Hasskamp at Bona Law.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Courts Can Survive The Tech Revolution

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    Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Lino Lipinsky de Orlov discuss how artificial intelligence has already fundamentally altered the legal system and offer tips for courts navigating deepfakes, hallucinations and a gap in access to AI tools.

  • 'Skinny Label' Arguments Spotlight Induced Infringement Risk

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    Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Hikma Pharmaceuticals v. Amarin Pharma highlight the uncertain boundary between lawful generic competition through so-called skinny labels and induced patent infringement, with potential implications for patent holders’ communication, enforcement and causation strategies across industries, says Anton Hopen at Trenam.

  • A Framework For Habeas Relief After 5th Circ. Bond Ruling

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    Following the Fifth Circuit’s recent Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi decision foreclosing statutory bond for detained nonimmigrants not deemed admitted to the U.S., lawyers should adopt a framework that requests habeas relief pursuant to the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

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