Appellate

  • March 05, 2025

    Native Groups Want Equal Footing In Fed. Appellate Courts

    Native American rights' groups are urging a federal appellate judicial rules committee to add federally recognized tribes to a list of entities that do not need a court's approval to file an amicus brief, saying the disparity restricts how and when tribal nations gain a voice in lawsuits that impact them.

  • March 05, 2025

    Wash. Justices Won't Take Up VW's $4.7M Asbestos Loss

    The estate of a mechanic who died of mesothelioma he claimed he contracted from asbestos in Volkswagen AG's brake pads can keep a $4.7 million jury win, after the Washington state's highest court rejected the automaker's bid for review.

  • March 05, 2025

    CashCall Wants 9th Circ. Redo Of Order To Pay CFPB $134M

    CashCall Inc. has asked for a rehearing of its Ninth Circuit loss that kept it on the hook for a $134 million restitution payment to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, arguing that when the online lender was fined in 2016, CashCall could not relinquish its "known right" to a jury trial because the right did not exist at the time.

  • March 05, 2025

    Atty Can Be Retried For 'Disrespecting' Judge, Court Told

    Double jeopardy does not apply to summary contempt convictions, the Michigan Supreme Court heard Tuesday, as a Detroit court argued that a criminal defense attorney can be retried on a contempt charge for what a judge described as disrespectful behavior.

  • March 05, 2025

    Airplane Parts Makers Say Fatal Crash Order Invites 'Chaos'

    A pair of airplane parts makers have urged the North Carolina Supreme Court to reverse the dismissal of their appeal in a fatal crash case, arguing that the lower appellate court "usurped" the justices' authority by tossing the appeal despite an active stay order from the high court.

  • March 05, 2025

    SuperValu Wins FCA Case That Went To High Court

    An Illinois federal jury cleared SuperValu of liability Tuesday on whistleblower claims that it billed the government higher-than-customary prices for millions of prescriptions, marking the end to an important test of a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling reviving the case.

  • March 05, 2025

    Murder Convict's Outbursts At Issue Before Conn. High Court

    A trial judge violated due process guarantees by adding criminal contempt sentences to a felony murder convict's prison term because of a series of racial and profane outbursts during a habeas corpus hearing, the convict's appointed counsel told the Connecticut Supreme Court on Wednesday.

  • March 05, 2025

    Alex Jones Escapes Immediate Sandy Hook Payment Bid

    Bankrupt Infowars host Alex Jones has escaped a request to immediately pay more than $1 billion to the families of Sandy Hook Elementary School victims who sued him for defamation, the Connecticut Appellate Court has ruled.

  • March 05, 2025

    Del. Corporate Law Bill Poses 'Grave Risk,' Plaintiffs' Firms Say

    Five of Delaware's most active corporate litigation plaintiffs' firms have branded pending legislation aimed at curbing stockholder suits as a "dangerous and radical" measure that attacks the state's courts and will put Delaware's nationally known incorporation franchise "at grave risk."

  • March 05, 2025

    Pa. Justices Hint Parents' Liability Waivers Aren't Binding

    Pennsylvania law may not allow parents to waive the right to a jury trial on their child's behalf when signing off on things like letting them use a trampoline park, the state Supreme Court suggested during arguments Wednesday.

  • March 05, 2025

    Law Firm Beats Malpractice Suit From Ex-Fla. School Official

    A Florida state appeals panel refused to revive a onetime school district superintendent's complaint against the district's former counsel from a Florida law firm, alleging the firm improperly used confidential information she provided as part of a report that found she committed misconduct.

  • March 05, 2025

    Karen Read Jury Poll Proposal Faces Skeptical Federal Judge

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday appeared hesitant to interview jurors from Karen Read's first murder trial in her bid to avoid a retrial, saying during a hearing it's not clear he has the ability to intervene in the state-court proceeding.

  • March 05, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Says Late EEOC Worker's 1st Wife Gets Back Pay

    The Federal Circuit said the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission did not err in providing a deceased employee's back pay to his first wife because she was listed as his beneficiary, rejecting his second wife's assertion that federal law required that the money go to her.

  • March 05, 2025

    High Court Upholds VA's Authority To Doubt Disability Claims

    A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a veterans' appeals court can rely on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' decisions to offer the benefit of the doubt in disability claims cases, rejecting two veterans' efforts to revive their PTSD claims.

  • March 05, 2025

    High Court Allows Release Of Frozen USAID Foreign Aid

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a D.C. federal judge can require the Trump administration to release up to $2 billion in frozen foreign aid funding, but told the judge he must clarify the scope of the government's responsibility and ensure it has enough time to comply with any deadline. 

  • March 04, 2025

    Avalara Investor Asks 9th Circ. To Revive $8B PE Buyout Suit

    An Avalara shareholder urged the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to revive a proposed securities class action alleging the tax software company duped investors into approving a "deficient" $8.4 billion private equity buyout, arguing the trial court erred in finding Avalara's statements tied to "numerically specific metrics" weren't false or misleading.

  • March 04, 2025

    Shipping Council Urges DC Circ. To Nix Maritime Rule

    An ocean carrier trade association is urging the D.C. Circuit to wipe out new regulations defining unreasonable refusals to deal in the maritime industry, telling the appeals court that the "vague" rule has thrown the carriers into confusion.

  • March 04, 2025

    3 Takeaways From The High Court's SF Water Permit Ruling

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Tuesday ruling siding with San Francisco to strike down parts of a federal water pollution permit demonstrated a majority of justices' reluctance to force permit holders to interpret gray areas that could get them in trouble.

  • March 04, 2025

    Justices Asked To Uphold Ruling Against Anti-Terror Law

    The Palestine Liberation Organization is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm a ruling striking down a 2019 law nixing a jurisdictional hurdle for lawsuits stemming from terrorist attacks in Israel and the Palestinian territories, arguing that the law "attempts an end-run around settled constitutional analysis."

  • March 04, 2025

    PTAB Orders Mostly Backing Apple, Others Upheld On Appeal

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday affirmed Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that Apple and others had shown most claims of a patent on using cameras to sense gestures by users are invalid, but said the board correctly upheld two claims.

  • March 04, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms PTAB Decision Backing Stem Cell Patent

    A biotech research outfit failed Tuesday to persuade Federal Circuit judges to rethink an administrative board ruling that rejected a challenge mounted against a stem cell patent.

  • March 04, 2025

    House GOP Push WH Right To Send State Cases To Fed. Court

    House Republicans on Tuesday rallied behind a bill that would let current and former presidents move state cases against them to federal court, calling the legislation a response to weaponized prosecutions of President Donald Trump.

  • March 04, 2025

    10th Circ. Upholds EPA Approval Of Colo. Smog Plan Changes

    A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday affirmed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of two changes to Colorado's plan to bring Denver and the northern Front Range into compliance with ozone pollution standards, rejecting a challenge brought by conservation groups.

  • March 04, 2025

    Judge Stays Osage Wind Farm Order, Requires $10M Bond

    An Oklahoma federal judge stayed a $4.2 million judgment and order requiring an energy company to remove 84 wind turbines from the Osage Nation's reservation pending the outcome of a Tenth Circuit appeal, ordering the company to pay a $10 million bond in the interim.

  • March 04, 2025

    Construction Co. Slams Iraq Attys' Appearance In $120M Suit

    Archirodon Construction (Overseas) Co. has asked the D.C. Circuit to block a law firm from representing Iraq as the country fights efforts by the company to enforce a $120 million arbitral award in a dispute over a major port project.

Expert Analysis

  • 7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring

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    President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.

  • Opinion

    Courts Must Curb The Drug Price Negotiation Program

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    The Inflation Reduction Act's drug price negotiation program upends incentive structures that drive medical innovation, and courts must act appropriately to avoid devastating consequences for American healthcare and the pharmaceutical industry, says Jeff Stier at the Consumer Choice Center.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection

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    Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Opinion

    Section 230 Debates Will Continue, With Or Without TikTok

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    Regardless of whether TikTok is forced to shut down in the U.S. in the coming weeks, legal disputes will continue over social media platforms' responsibility under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act for harms allegedly caused by content shared on their apps, says Carla Varriale-Barker at Segal McCambridge.

  • Surprise NC COVID Ruling Revises Reasonable Expectations

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    The North Carolina Supreme Court's recent finding in favor of policyholders in a suit for business interruption coverage due to COVID-19 shutdown orders runs contrary to most other state and federal courts' holdings on the issue, and may revitalize the reasonable expectations doctrine in the state, say attorneys at Goldberg Segalla.

  • Impact Of Successful Challenges To SEC's Rulemaking Ability

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    In 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission faced significant legal challenges to its aggressive rulemaking agenda as several of its rules were vacated by the Fifth Circuit, which could hinder the SEC's ability to enact rules extending beyond express statutory authority in the future, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • 5 Transition Tools Trump Could Use To Implement His Agenda

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    President-elect Donald Trump will have several tools available to him to halt or otherwise claw back federal regulations promulgated during the Biden administration, including reconciliation, executive orders and memoranda, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • When Judging Product Label Claims, Follow The Asterisk

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    A recurring question in false advertising class actions is whether misleading or ambiguous statements on a product's front label can be cured by information on the back label — but recent decisions from the Ninth Circuit suggest that a front-label asterisk can help alert consumers to seek further clarification, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Justices Seem Focused On NEPA's Limits In Utah Rail Case

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    After last month's oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, the court appears poised to forcefully reiterate that the National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to review only those environmental impacts within their control, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Fed. Circ. Patent Decisions In 2024: An Empirical Review

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    Despite an ever-increasing backlog of argument-ready cases, the Federal Circuit issued fewer decisions in 2024 than in previous years, and the decisions' overall friendliness toward patent owners and applicants was low, says Dan Bagatell at Perkins Coie.

  • Series

    Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.

  • 5 Drug And Device Developments That Shaped 2024

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    The last year saw significant legal developments affecting drug and device manufacturers, with landmark decisions and regulatory changes that require vigilance and agility from the industry, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Lessons From United's Axed Win In Firing Over Online Pics

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    In Wawrzenski v. United Airlines, a California state appeals court revived a flight attendant’s suit over her termination for linking photos of herself in uniform to her OnlyFans account, providing a cautionary tale for employers navigating the complexities of workplace policy enforcement in the digital age, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Reviewing The High Court's Approach To Free Speech Online

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    As the U.S. Supreme Court began addressing the interplay between the First Amendment and online social media platforms, its three opinions from last term show the justices adopting a nuanced approach that recognizes that private citizens, public employees and online platforms all have First Amendment rights, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Series

    In The CFPB Playbook: A Sprint To The Finish Line

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    The fourth quarter of 2024 was an impressive demonstration of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ability to regulate, enforce and supervise, even on borrowed time following the election results, and we should expect the current bureau to run nonstop until Jan. 20, say attorneys at Covington.

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