Appellate

  • March 14, 2025

    Antitrust Questions Earn Belt Line Deal A Deep Dive

    The Surface Transportation Board isn't going to let Norfolk Southern get away with calling its attempt to procure the remainder of a rail line a minor transaction, since it's been locked in antitrust litigation over the control of that line for years, according to an order Friday that deemed the transaction "significant."

  • March 14, 2025

    9th Circ. Axes Dershowitz Sanction, Clarifies 'Of Counsel' Law

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday rejected Alan Dershowitz's arguments that his First Amendment rights shield him from being sanctioned for filing frivolous election-related litigation as "for counsel" representing Republican Arizona candidates, but the panel nevertheless reversed sanctions against Dershowitz since it's the first time the circuit has clarified the law.

  • March 14, 2025

    Ga. Panel Says COVID-Era Legal Shield Blocks Amputee's Suit

    A divided Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday said a trial court should have dismissed a wrongful amputation suit against a Marietta hospital, holding that the patient who lost his right leg after being admitted for COVID-19 symptoms could not beat the legal immunity granted to the hospital by a pandemic-era state law.

  • March 14, 2025

    Fed. Circ. OKs Apple's Patent Board Win In Beacon Dispute

    The Federal Circuit on Friday signed off on a ruling from the patent board that wiped out all of the claims Apple challenged in a patent covering location-tracking beacons that was asserted against a software protocol developed for iPhones and iPads.

  • March 14, 2025

    Reed Smith To Fight Removal In $102M Shipping Award Suit

    A New York federal judge has paused his order removing Reed Smith LLP as counsel for the former owners of reorganized international shipping group Eletson Holdings in litigation over a $102 million arbitral award while the BigLaw firm appeals the decision to the Second Circuit.

  • March 14, 2025

    5th Circ. Affirms Energy Exec's Insider Trading Conviction

    The Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas energy executive's conviction for insider trading on natural gas futures based on the constitutionality of federal laws and regulations that criminalize manipulative commodity deals.

  • March 14, 2025

    Justices Told 11th Circ.'s FTCA Ruling Is 'Upside-Down'

    An Eleventh Circuit decision that scuttled a Georgia family's lawsuit after they were subjected to a botched no-knock raid by the FBI turned "upside-down" the intent of the Constitution's supremacy clause and "would nullify" the Federal Tort Claims Act, advocacy group Public Citizen told the U.S. Supreme Court Friday.

  • March 14, 2025

    Calif. Panel Won't Alter Telecom's Rural Phone Rate Subsidies

    A California appellate court found the state's Public Utilities Commission did nothing wrong by taking into account a telecom's use of its telephone service infrastructure for broadband service when setting rates and determining how much the company would receive in subsidies for providing service in rural areas.

  • March 14, 2025

    Home Depot Nixes 3rd Lynk Labs Patent Claim At Fed. Circ.

    Home Depot U.S.A. Inc. persuaded Federal Circuit judges on Friday to override the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and throw out another claim in a patent issued to a late 1990s tech developer that later pivoted to LED lights. 

  • March 14, 2025

    4th Circ. Dubious Of Private Island's Win In Fair Housing Fight

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday seemed poised to upend a lower court ruling siding with a gated community in a discriminatory housing suit brought by the developer of a proposed assisted living facility, with one judge lamenting a lack of analysis on whether the facility's accommodation request was necessary and reasonable.

  • March 14, 2025

    DC Circ. Asks If FERC Oil Orders Are In Its Purview

    The D.C. Circuit is questioning its own decades-long practice of reviewing orders from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that help determine the cost of transporting oil through pipelines, asking litigants whether it has jurisdiction to consider an appeal nearing its conclusion.

  • March 14, 2025

    Mich. Panel Revives Hangar's Property Tax Challenge

    The Michigan Court of Appeals revived a company's argument that it is exempt from a city's tax on a hangar it leased from a regional airport authority, saying the state Tax Tribunal should have required the municipality to prove that a tax statute applied to the company.

  • March 14, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms No Block On Amgen's Eye Med Biosimilar

    The Federal Circuit on Friday agreed with a lower court decision declining to temporarily block Amgen's biosimilar of Regeneron's blockbuster eye medication Eylea, affirming that court's application of claim construction precedent in the patent infringement suit.

  • March 14, 2025

    Docks Corp. Asks Justices To Revive Fla. Cruise Line Lawsuit

    A Kentucky-based docks corporation has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a split Eleventh Circuit decision overturning a $440 million judgment against several cruise companies for allegedly "trafficking" its property seized by the Cuban government, arguing the ruling harms U.S. foreign policy toward the country's communist regime.

  • March 14, 2025

    Gov't Tells Justices FCC Subsidy Critics Target 'Strawman'

    Opponents of the Federal Communications Commission's nearly 30-year-old telecom subsidy system are making "strawman" arguments by claiming taxing power has been unlawfully delegated away from Congress, the government told the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • March 14, 2025

    Apple Tells DC Circ. It's Still Singled Out In Final Google Fixes

    Apple told the D.C. Circuit that it still needs to intervene in the U.S. Department of Justice's search monopolization case against Google because the government's final remedy proposal still treats the iPhone-maker differently than other companies.

  • March 14, 2025

    Chief Justice Won't Halt FINRA Case Against Suing Brokerage

    Chief U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts on Friday denied a request to stay an in-house Financial Industry Regulatory Authority disciplinary proceeding while a broker-dealer attempts to convince the justices to hear its constitutional challenge to the regulator.

  • March 14, 2025

    Wash. Justices Side With Shopper In Lowe's Fallen Fence Suit

    Washington's high court has sided with a customer suing Lowe's after she was injured by a fallen roll of fencing at an Evergreen State store, saying a judge or jury should decide whether the retailer could have anticipated the hazard given the self-service style of the store.

  • March 14, 2025

    1st Circ. Asked To Look At Takeda Invoice Fraud Conviction

    The husband of a former Takeda Pharmaceuticals vice president is appealing his fraud conviction and 2½-year prison term over a $2.3 million bogus invoice scheme, according to a Friday notice filed to the First Circuit.

  • March 14, 2025

    DOJ Drops Biden-Era Suit Over Iowa Immigration Law

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday voluntarily dropped a lawsuit lodged under the former Biden administration that challenged Iowa legislation empowering state officials to arrest and remove previously deported noncitizens, months after the Eighth Circuit upheld an order blocking the law.

  • March 14, 2025

    FTC Urges 8th Circ. Not To Pause Insulin Pricing Case

    The Federal Trade Commission has urged the Eighth Circuit not to pause its in-house case accusing Caremark Rx, Express Scripts and OptumRx of artificially inflating insulin prices, telling the appeals court the pharmacy benefit managers have no chance of winning on their constitutional claims.

  • March 14, 2025

    11th Circ. Upholds Toss Of Avian Orgs.' Bid To Import Parrots

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday affirmed a judgment against two exotic bird nonprofits trying to get approval to import two parrot species, ruling that the Wild Bird Conservation Act does not allow for a carveout of only captive-bred parrot species from certain countries.

  • March 14, 2025

    Halliburton Rival Loses Fracking Claims At Fed. Circ.

    The Federal Circuit has affirmed findings in Halliburton's favor at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that came after the company challenged claims in patents covering electric pumps used in hydraulic fracturing.

  • March 14, 2025

    4th Circ. Reluctant To Loosen EEOC Charge Requirement

    A Fourth Circuit panel seemed hesitant Friday to revive a bias case from a worker whose presuit U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge didn't specifically name one of the entities he hauled into court, with one judge expressing "apprehension" about adopting a widely used exception to charge filing rules.

  • March 14, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Arbitrator Finding COVID Is No 'Act Of God'

    A distribution service provider failed to support its argument that an "act of God" exemption in a contract it had with a Teamsters chapter allowed the company to reduce workers' hours during the coronavirus pandemic, the Seventh Circuit ruled, keeping in place an arbitrator's conclusion.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Boosting Confidence In Pennsylvania's Election System

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    As Election Day nears, Pennsylvania is facing an intense flurry of litigation, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court centered on mail-in and provisional ballots, but the state's election system is robust, and attorneys from all practice areas have an important role to play in ensuring confidence in and access to our election system, says Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie.

  • Takeaways From The IRS' Crypto Doc Summons Win

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    A recent First Circuit decision holding that taxpayers do not have a Fourth Amendment reasonable expectation of privacy in cryptocurrency transaction records should prompt both taxpayers and exchanges to take stock of past transactions and future plans, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • A Novel Expansion Of Alien Tort Statute In 9th Circ.

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    The Ninth Circuit's Doe v. Cisco rehearing denial allows a new invocation of the Alien Tort Statute to proceed, which could capture the U.S. Supreme Court's attention, and has potentially dramatic consequences for U.S. companies doing business with foreign governments, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes

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    Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.

  • Series

    Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.

  • Reading Tea Leaves In Fed. Circ. Deep Dive On Review Scope

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    Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer investigates why a recent Federal Circuit opinion spent six pages explaining its unsurprising conclusion on proper scope of review — that no deference need be afforded to the trial court in a case dismissed for failure to state a claim.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

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