The Patent Circuit: Minding Patents' Family Histories

The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Epic Tech v. Pen-Tech highlights the relevance of patent families in determining whether to maintain an ongoing patent infringement litigation, and the sanctions risk that may stem from failing to account for patent relatives, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

9th Circ. Waters Ruling Shows Sackett's Ripple Effects

The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Inland Empire Waterkeeper v. Corona Clay demonstrates that the U.S. Supreme Court's "waters of the U.S." ruling in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can reopen cases already tried to verdict, thus changing expectations around citizen suits and stormwater enforcement in California, says Jacob Lubarsky at Rogers Joseph.

Calif. High Court Ruling Eases Path To Excess Coverage Suits

Following a recent California Supreme Court ruling in Fox Paine v. Twin City Fire Insurance, policyholders will have an easier time sustaining suits against excess insurers, leading the latter to settle more frequently, buy back more policies, increase premiums and change policy language, says Charles Grosenick at Brown & Winters.

A Defense Attorney Playbook For Challenging Flock Evidence

As law enforcement continues to bring charges based on evidence from Flock cameras and other automated license plate readers, defense counsel should consider four key categories for discovery requests and motions to compel such evidence, says Tamar Lerer at the New Jersey Office of the Public Defender.

Washington Email Law Still Puts Marketers At Litigation Risk

Despite legislative efforts to curtail abusive litigation after the 2025 Brown v. Old Navy decision extending Washington's Commercial Electronic Mail Act to misleading email subject lines, CEMA can still trigger class actions with statutory damages, even for national campaigns run by companies with no physical presence in Washington, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

How AI Could Help Judges Spot Their Own Biases

In close cases where there’s room for discretion, artificial intelligence could challenge judges’ implicit biases by running counterfactual tests at scale — but any judicial use of such tools would need guardrails, say Arnold Peter at Peter Law and Nancy Rapoport at University of Nevada.

State Of Insurance: Q3 Notes From Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania courts issued several noteworthy insurance decisions last quarter, offering practical guidance for insurers evaluating public policy coverage disputes, drafting umbrella policy language and defending litigation involving claim file discoverability, says Todd Leon at Marshall Dennehey.

How Shift In Ohio Foreclosure Appeals Alters Lenders' Risk

In a series of recent decisions, the Ohio Supreme Court changed who bears the risk of an erroneous foreclosure judgment while an appeal is pending, which means lenders should now budget for merits briefing, and underwriters should expect indemnity and escrow demands, says Terry Posey at Porter Wright.

3 Eligibility Rulings Show Risks Of Broad Claim Constructions

Several recent decisions from the Federal Circuit, including its ruling in Berkeley v. W.W. Grainger, highlight the importance of identifying the inventive aspects of a patent early in the case so that patentees do not inadvertently read the inventive features out of their own claims, say attorneys at MoFo.

Mass. High Court Raises Bar For Trade Secret Injunctions

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's recent decision in Daikin v. Russo confirms that trade secret plaintiffs must prove irreparable harm under ordinary equitable principles when seeking a preliminary injunction, putting an end to potential theories of automatic presumption, says Gregory Bombard at Greenberg Traurig.

3 Strategies To Reduce AI Sycophancy In Legal Work

The tendency of generative artificial intelligence models to tell users what they want to hear can reinforce attorneys’ confirmation bias when testing the strength of arguments, and it can’t simply be prompted away — but a few practices can help mitigate it, says Michael Ott at Ice Miller.

Opinion

Justices' Climate Ruling Should Preserve State Tort Claims

As recent oral arguments in Suncor Energy v. Boulder County demonstrated, the case hinges on long-standing principles of federalism that allow state and local governments to protect their resources and citizens — and if the justices rule based on precedent, Suncor should lose, says William Buzbee at Georgetown University Law Center.

Open Issues After 2nd Circ.'s Airport Phone Search Ruling

While the Second Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Alisigwe decision confirms border agents' broad authority to conduct routine manual cellphone searches at ports of entry, significant questions remain about more wide-ranging forensic searches at the border, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

NFL Coverage Ruling Sets Limits On Long-Tail Claim Defenses

A New York appellate court's recent decision — holding that National Football League players who sustained neurological injuries had suffered multiple occurrences for insurance coverage purposes — may also be used to limit insurers' efforts to declaim coverage for other long-tail injury cases, including sexual abuse claims, say attorneys at SDV Fenchurch.

2nd Circ. EFAA Ruling Shifts Employer Litigation Strategy

In Diaz-Roa v. Hermes Law, the Second Circuit recently held that, under the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, employers can't carve out nonharassment claims and send them to arbitration, which has implications for discovery, litigation costs and resolution strategy in EFAA-covered disputes, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.