Appellate

  • October 18, 2024

    Chemical Cos. Say Firefighter Didn't Fix Standing In PFAS Suit

    3M Co. and two other chemical firms urged an Ohio federal judge to dismiss a firefighter's revised lawsuit over so-called forever chemicals, arguing that the allegations are plagued by the same shortcomings the Sixth Circuit flagged when it vacated class certification last year.

  • October 18, 2024

    Ore. Water Rights Issues Grounded In State Law, 9th Circ. Told

    The Klamath Irrigation District is asking the Ninth Circuit to certify two questions to the Oregon Supreme Court concerning the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's authority to use and control the use of water under Oregon law.

  • October 18, 2024

    $50B Russia, Yukos Case Poses New Questions For DC Circ.

    A D.C. Circuit panel suggested during oral arguments Friday that Russia's bid to revive its sovereign immunity claim in a $50 billion arbitration enforcement case poses some new legal questions for the appeals court.

  • October 18, 2024

    Justices Told To Skip RFID Patent Row Over Standing

    A Texas company that saw its patent infringement suit revived against a tech company is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reject its rival's petition to review that decision, saying there's "almost 100 years" of legal precedent backing its ownership of the radio frequency identification, or RFID, technology patent in the case.

  • October 18, 2024

    Travis Scott Appeal Is 'Self-Inflicted' Issue, Trial Plaintiffs Say

    Three Astroworld plaintiffs set to have their day in court next week hit back at Travis Scott's bid for settlement information, telling a Texas appeals court that the rapper's motion is a manufactured "emergency" based on "incorrect argument."

  • October 18, 2024

    Mich. Supreme Court Spurns Challenge To UMich Gun Ban

    The Michigan Supreme Court declined Friday to review the constitutionality of the University of Michigan's campus firearms ban, leaving in place a lower court's ruling that the policy does not violate the Second Amendment.

  • October 18, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Partly Restores Suit Over Utility Line Patent

    The Federal Circuit has revived part of a lawsuit that alleged Metrotech Corp. infringed a competitor's patent covering ways for finding underground utility lines, finding that a lower court needs to take another look at key patent terminology.

  • October 18, 2024

    FERC Extension For Pipeline Spur Warranted, DC Circ. Told

    The developer of a southern spur of the Mountain Valley Pipeline and two potential customers are asking the D.C. Circuit to nix conservation groups' challenge of a construction deadline extension the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted for the so-called Southgate project.

  • October 18, 2024

    DC Firms Look To Exit Suit Over $120M Iraq Award

    Pierson Ferdinand LLP and another boutique firm have urged the D.C. Circuit to let them withdraw as counsel for Iraq as the country looks to overturn an order allowing a construction firm permission to go after Iraqi assets to satisfy a $120 million judgment, saying the country owes some $25,000 in legal fees and has stopped responding to the firms' inquiries on the litigation.

  • October 18, 2024

    GOP Appeals Toss Of Ga.'s New Election Rules

    The Georgia and national Republican parties have moved to appeal a Fulton County judge's decision that declared as unconstitutional a slate of recent election rule changes made by the State Election Board.

  • October 18, 2024

    Narrow Ga. Ruling On Atty-Client Privilege Draws Concerns

    A recent divided Georgia Supreme Court decision found that jailhouse calls between a man convicted of assault and his then-attorney weren't off-limits to prosecutors, drawing concerns from some legal experts that the narrow reading of attorney-client privilege sets a "dangerous" precedent.

  • October 18, 2024

    NC Hospital Fights Competitor's Expansion Bid Approval

    A North Carolina hospital operator urged a state appellate court to invalidate an administrative judge's approval of a competitor's expansion bid, arguing that members of the public were wrongfully denied input.

  • October 18, 2024

    57 Scholars, Former Judges Call For High Court Term Limits

    A group of 57 constitutional scholars and retired federal and state judges wrote a letter to the leaders of Congress on Wednesday urging them to establish term limits for U.S. Supreme Court justices, proposing guardrails that they said are "urgently needed at a time of plummeting confidence" in the nation's highest court.

  • October 18, 2024

    Fla. Judge Reprimanded For Opining In DQ Approvals

    The Florida Supreme Court has reprimanded a state judge who admitted to making improper comments in orders of recusal that he granted in two separate criminal cases.

  • October 18, 2024

    Tax Court Gave Short Shrift To Land Donors, 11th Circ. Told

    The owners of a waterfront property in Georgia who protected 500 acres for conservation told the Eleventh Circuit that the U.S. Tax Court drastically undercut the value of their gift and its corresponding tax deduction by accepting flawed evidence provided by the government's sole witness.

  • October 17, 2024

    Monsanto Again Seeks Pause As Seattle PCB Trial Begins

    Monsanto is continuing its appellate bid to put off a chemical poisoning trial already underway in Washington state court as the plaintiffs told a Seattle jury on Thursday the company owes them more than $450 million, in the 10th such trial tied to an Evergreen State school.

  • October 17, 2024

    E-Cig Regs Are Congress' Job, Not FDA's, GOP Pols Tell Justices

    Republican lawmakers told the U.S. Supreme Court that Congress, not the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, should regulate flavored e-cigarettes, and that the regulator overstepped its authority by banning the sale of the vape products.

  • October 17, 2024

    Deutsche Telekom Urges DC Circ. To Keep $156M India Award

    Deutsche Telekom is urging the D.C. Circuit to affirm the enforcement of a nearly $156 million arbitral award against India over a nixed satellite leasing deal, arguing Wednesday that a lower court was correct to defer to the arbitrators when rejecting the country's sovereign immunity defense.

  • October 17, 2024

    CFTC Says Court 'Erred At Every Turn' In Election Betting Suit

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission told the D.C. Circuit that the district court "erred at every turn" when it allowed trading platform KalshiEx LLC to offer event contracts based on the outcome of U.S. elections.

  • October 17, 2024

    Texas DOT Can't Be Sued Over Slippery Roads In Fatal Crash

    The family of a deceased truck driver cannot sue the Texas Department of Transportation for allegedly creating the "slick roads" that caused the driver to fatally crash, a state appeals court ruled, saying there is no way of knowing if the deicer the agency sprayed onto the roadway actually made the surface slippery.

  • October 17, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds Wash. City's Anti-Car Camping Law

    A Ninth Circuit panel has rebuffed a veteran's challenge to a Washington city's ordinance that he says displaced residents living in their vehicles, ruling Oct. 17 that the ordinance does not violate his purported right to intrastate travel, which the judges said may not exist to begin with.

  • October 17, 2024

    Karen Read Can't Avoid Retrial Without Verdict, Mass. Says

    Massachusetts prosecutors on Thursday told the state's top court that Karen Read, the woman accused of killing her police officer boyfriend in a case that garnered national attention, cannot escape a retrial by pointing to posttrial juror claims that the jury voted to acquit her on two counts, noting that a formal verdict was never rendered before a mistrial was declared.

  • October 17, 2024

    NY High Court Finds Transportation Official Liable For Crash

    New York's highest court on Thursday revived a suit accusing a town transportation official of negligently causing an auto collision, saying the official is clearly liable for negligent driving and can't claim immunity because he wasn't doing actual work at the time of the crash.

  • October 17, 2024

    Supreme Court Signals Skepticism On Staying Federal Rules

    A recent string of refusals to block major Biden administration energy and climate change rules suggests that the U.S. Supreme Court is setting limits on its willingness to elbow aside lower courts that are considering challenges to such rules, legal experts say.

  • October 17, 2024

    DC Circ. Scrutinizes New TSA Worker Screening Rule

    D.C. Circuit judges on Thursday sought an explanation from municipal airport operators challenging new federal screening rules as a costly burden that saddles them with unconstitutional liabilities, questioning them on how the new rules differ from other requirements for airports.

Expert Analysis

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

    Author Photo

    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Alice Step 2 Trends Show Courts' Extrinsic Evidence Reliance

    Author Photo

    A look at recent trends in how district courts are applying Step 2 of the Alice framework shows that courts have increasingly relied on extrinsic evidence to help determine whether a claimed invention is "well-understood, routine, and conventional," says Jonathan Tuminaro at Sterne Kessler.

  • Opinion

    OFAC Sanctions Deserve To Be Challenged Post-Chevron

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision opens the door to challenges against the Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions regime, the unintended consequences of which raise serious questions about the wisdom of what appears to be a scorched-earth approach, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

  • How Calif. Ruling Alters Worker Arb. Agreement Enforcement

    Author Photo

    The California Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ramirez v. Charter Communications should caution employers that while workers’ arbitration agreements will no longer be deemed unenforceable based on their number of unconscionable provisions, they must still be fair and balanced, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor.

  • Opinion

    After Jarkesy, IRS Must Course-Correct On Captive Insurance

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision has profound implications for other agencies, including the IRS, which must stop ignoring due process and curtailing congressional intent in its policing of captive insurance arrangements, says Peter Dawson at the 831(b) Institute.

  • The Rise Of State And Local Environmental Leadership

    Author Photo

    While Congress is deadlocked, and a U.S. Supreme Court with a hostility toward the administrative state aggressively dismantles federal environmental oversight, state and local governments are stepping up with policies to shape a more sustainable future for all species, says Jonathan Rosenbloom at Albany Law School.

  • Questions Linger About DTSA's Scope After Motorola Ruling

    Author Photo

    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Motorola v. Hytera, which held that the Defend Trade Secrets Act applies extraterritorially, does not address whether an act that furthers misappropriation must be committed by the defendant in order to satisfy the law's extraterritoriality requirement, say Ilissa Samplin and Grace Hart at Gibson Dunn.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Slowing Down AI In Medical Research

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision overturning the Chevron doctrine may inhibit agencies' regulatory efforts, potentially slowing down the approval and implementation of artificial intelligence-driven methodologies in medical research, as well as regulators' responses to public health emergencies, say Ragini Acharya and Matthew Deutsch at Husch Blackwell.

  • What High Court TM Rulings Tell Us About Free Speech

    Author Photo

    Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings show tension between free speech and trademark law, highlighting that while political mockery is protected, established brands may be forced to adapt to evolving cultural values, says William Scott Goldman at Goldman Law Group.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Uncertainty In Scope Of ITC Oversight

    Author Photo

    The U.S. International Trade Commission's long-standing jurisprudence on some of the most disputed and controversial issues is likely to be reshaped by the Federal Circuit, which is no longer bound by Chevron deference in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, say Kecia Reynolds and Madeleine Moss at Paul Hastings.

  • Half-Truths Vs. Omissions: Slicing Justices' Macquarie Cake

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Macquarie v. Moab provides a road map for determining whether corporate reports that omit information should be considered misleading — and the court baked it into a dessert analogy that is key to understanding the guidelines, say Daniel Levy and Pavithra Kumar at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

    Author Photo

    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Chevron's End Puts Target On CFPB's Aggressive BNPL Rule

    Author Photo

    A recent interpretative rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, subjecting buy-now, pay-later loans to the same regulations as credit cards, is unlikely to survive post-Chevron challenges of the rule's partisan and shaky logic, say Scott Pearson and Bryan Schneider at Manatt.

  • Justices' Ch. 11 Ruling Is A Big Moment For Debtors' Insurers

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Truck Insurance v. Kaiser Gypsum ruling upends decades of Chapter 11 bankruptcy jurisprudence that relegated a debtor’s insurer to the sidelines, giving insurers a new footing to try and avoid significant liability, say Stuart Gordon and Benjamin Wisher at Rivkin Radler.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Appellate archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!