Appellate

  • October 07, 2024

    Merck Immune For 'Inflated' Vax Claims To FDA, 3rd Circ. Says

    A divided Third Circuit panel inoculated Merck from claims that it tried to prevent competition by making inflated declarations to federal regulators about its mumps vaccine, with the majority ruling Monday that because Merck convinced federal regulators it had extended the vaccine's long-term potency, those assertions can't have been an anticompetitive "sham."

  • October 07, 2024

    Miss. Can't Use Federal Law To Squelch Pot Ads, 5th Circ. Told

    A Fifth Circuit panel on Monday pushed attorneys for a Mississippi medical marijuana business and state officials to articulate when it is acceptable for governments to restrain commercial speech as it pertains to conduct that is illegal under federal law, but regulated under state law.

  • October 07, 2024

    Pa. Supreme Court Snapshot: Mask Taxes, Pride Month Post

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court during its October argument session will weigh whether retailers improperly collecting sales tax on face masks, which were exempted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, amounts to "commerce" that could trigger the state's consumer protection law. ​

  • October 07, 2024

    Mich. Supreme Court Snapshot: Insulin Prices, Disney Audit

    The Michigan Supreme Court's first oral argument session of the 2024-25 term promises to be a busy one, involving an investigation into Eli Lilly's insulin prices with big implications for the scope of Michigan's consumer protection law and Disney's appeal of an order to turn over decades-old uncashed checks to the state treasurer.

  • October 07, 2024

    Decision In Jurisdictional Case 'Outlier,' High Court Told

    An attorney representing Royal Canin USA Inc. and Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. on Monday told the U.S. Supreme Court that a jurisdictional decision in a case over prescription dog food is both an "extreme outlier" and goes against more than a hundred years of precedent.

  • October 07, 2024

    DC Circ. Says Frat Members Can't Sue Over 'Nazi-Like' Photo

    The D.C. Circuit won't let four Gallaudet University alumni revive their defamation suit against the school and the Washington Post over their comments about a photo that depicts two of the men in a group of Kappa Gamma fraternity members doing a salute that resembles the infamous Nazi salute.

  • October 07, 2024

    High Court Doubts States Can Police Federal Rights Claims

    The U.S. Supreme Court seemed poised Monday to strike down an Alabama law requiring litigants to exhaust state administrative remedies before they file claims in state court accusing local officials of violating federal rights, with several justices suggesting the court already answered that question almost 40 years ago.

  • October 07, 2024

    No Firm Schedule For New LNG Rule, Feds Tell DC Circ.

    The Biden administration has told the D.C. Circuit that it has no "firm schedule" for revising a rule allowing liquefied natural gas to be transported by rail, information the court asked for in litigation filed by environmental groups opposed to the regulations.

  • October 07, 2024

    Split DC Circ. Says FERC Can Require Power Plant Upgrade

    Federal energy regulators were right to require NextEra Energy to upgrade its New Hampshire nuclear power plant's circuit breaker to accommodate a new transmission line being developed by Avangrid Inc., a split D.C. Circuit panel has ruled.

  • October 07, 2024

    3M Facing PFAS Headwinds In Vermont, NJ And Ohio Cases

    3M Co., which is facing forever chemical lawsuits across the country, is dealing with pushback from Vermont, which is fighting 3M's effort to take its state court case into federal court, and from plaintiffs in Ohio and New Jersey, who have kept their litigation out of a sprawling multidistrict litigation.

  • October 07, 2024

    5th Circ. Gears Up To Tackle High Court's ICWA Ruling

    The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals is gearing up to tackle the high court's ruling last year that upheld the Indian Child Welfare Act, which determined that the nearly 50-year-old law does not exceed the federal government's authority in imposing a standard procedure on Indigenous child custody cases.

  • October 07, 2024

    7th Circ. Revives Wage Claim In Sales Rep's Bonus Suit

    A sales associate adequately showed that he and the technology and consulting company employing him had an agreement under which he would receive a bonus after meeting a sales target, the Seventh Circuit ruled, sending his wage claim back to Illinois federal court.

  • October 07, 2024

    Justices Won't Hear Commerzbank RMBS Fight With US Bank

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down a bid by Commerzbank AG to revive more of its claims against U.S. Bank NA in a long-running lawsuit over pre-2008 residential mortgage-backed securities trusts, declining to review a recent Second Circuit decision in the case.

  • October 07, 2024

    Trio Of 1st Circ. Criminal Cases Turned Away By Top Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review three white collar cases on appeal from the First Circuit, including challenges to a cryptocurrency founder's conviction for investor theft and an Illinois attorney's fraud and money laundering conspiracy verdict.

  • October 07, 2024

    Sanctioned Election Denier Is Stalling, Dominion Exec Says

    A former Dominion Voting Systems executive urged a Colorado federal judge Monday to find a key witness and 2020 election denier can't appeal a $1,000-per-day sanctions order for walking out of a deposition, arguing the appeal is a "frivolous" delay tactic.

  • October 07, 2024

    NJT Cop Can't Overturn Firing Over Positive THC Test

    A New Jersey appeals panel won't upend a decision by the New Jersey Transit Corp. police chief terminating an officer for testing positive for THC, rejecting the officer's argument that the chief wrongly deviated from an administrative law judge's determination that the test was unreliable.

  • October 07, 2024

    Stormwater Fees Not Illegal Tax, Mich. Appellate Panel Finds

    Stormwater drainage charges in Ann Arbor constitute a lawful fee and not an illegal tax, the Michigan Appeals Court ruled, saying the charges did not require voter approval as demanded under the state constitution for increased local tax rates.

  • October 07, 2024

    Sparring With Adams, Feds Shadowbox The Supreme Court

    The corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams may be the next front in an ongoing clash between federal prosecutors' desire to police official misconduct and a line of U.S. Supreme Court cases holding that alleged graft does not always amount to a federal crime.

  • October 07, 2024

    Mich. Judges Ask If 'Deplorable' Robocalls Actually Criminal

    A Michigan appeals court panel is considering for a second time whether two conservative activists can be criminally prosecuted for running a misinformation campaign that one judge on Monday called "deplorable," after the state Supreme Court narrowed the reach of the law they were charged with violating. 

  • October 07, 2024

    Grocery Co. Won't Get High Court Review Of Gender Bias Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court announced Monday it won't review the revival of a gender bias case brought by a woman who said she was fired from her management role in a grocery store chain after her supervisor repeatedly said that management jobs were "too stressful" for women to handle.

  • October 07, 2024

    11th Circ. Balks At Ex-Braves' $47M Easement Case

    Former Atlanta Braves players John Smoltz and Ryan Klesko, challenging a U.S. Tax Court ruling that slashed the value of a conservation easement deduction by 90%, won't have their appeal heard by the Eleventh Circuit after the court said Monday the duo had jumped the gun on challenging the decision before it was made final.

  • October 07, 2024

    Manafort Associate's Bribery Case Won't Get Top Court Look

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the case of a former bank CEO who had argued the Second Circuit's decision to uphold his conviction for bribing former Donald Trump staffer Paul Manafort wrongly criminalized even the smallest of benefits a bank executive receives from a customer.

  • October 07, 2024

    State Courts Splitting Over Future Of Climate Change Suits

    Recent decisions on whether climate change suits brought by state and local governments against fossil fuel companies can go forward are exposing splits between state courts over whether they can impose liability for pollution that originates beyond their borders, legal experts say.

  • October 07, 2024

    Justices Want SG's Take On Union Pension Withdrawal Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court asked the federal government Monday to weigh in on an employer-side petition in a fight over what actuarial assumptions multi-employer pension funds are allowed to use under federal benefits law when determining an employer's withdrawal liability.

  • October 07, 2024

    Brothers' $10B Real Estate Battle Nets Another $11.6M In Fees

    A California judge granted over $11 million in attorney fees Monday to a man who prevailed in a 20-year legal battle with his brother over a real estate empire when a jury awarded him and his other brothers a $10 billion verdict, granting the bulk of the request.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    After Chevron: FTC's 'Unfair Competition' Actions In Jeopardy

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's decision ending Chevron deference will have limited effect on the Federal Trade Commission's merger guidelines, administrative enforcement actions and commission decisions on appeal, it could restrict the agency's expansive take on its rulemaking authority and threaten the noncompete ban, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Calif. Ruling Heightens Medical Product Maker Liability

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    The California Supreme Court's decision in Himes v. Somatics last month articulates a new causation standard for medical product manufacturer liability that may lead to stronger product disclosures nationwide and greater friction between manufacturers and physicians, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Opportunities For Change In FHFA Practices

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine should lead to better cooperation between the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Congress, and may give the FHFA a chance to embrace transparency and innovation and promote sustainable housing practices, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.

  • Constitutional Protections For Cannabis Companies Are Hazy

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    Cannabis businesses are subject to federal enforcement and tax, but often without the benefit of constitutional protections — and the entanglement of state and federal law and conflicting judicial opinions are creating confusion in the space, says Amber Lengacher at Purple Circle.

  • Supreme Court's ALJ Ruling Carries Implications Beyond SEC

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    In its recent Jarkesy opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the types of cases that can be tried before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's in-house administrative law judges, setting the stage for challenges to the constitutionality of ALJs across other agencies, say Robert Robertson and Kimberley Church at Dechert.

  • Opinion

    A Tale Of 2 Trump Cases: The Rule Of Law Is A Live Issue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision this week in Trump v. U.S., holding that former President Donald Trump has broad immunity from prosecution, undercuts the rule of law, while the former president’s New York hush money conviction vindicates it in eight key ways, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • 2nd Circ. ERISA Ruling May Help Fight Unfair Arb. Clauses

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    The Second Circuit recently held that a plaintiff seeking planwide relief under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act cannot be compelled to individual arbitration, a decision that opens the door to new applications of the effective vindication doctrine to defeat onerous and one-sided arbitration clauses, say Raphael Janove and Liana Vitale at Janove.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Various Paths For Labor And Employment Law

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    Labor and employment law leans heavily on federal agency guidance, so the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to toss out Chevron deference will ripple through this area, with future workplace policies possibly taking shape through strategic litigation, informal guidance, state-level regulation and more, says Alexander MacDonald at Littler.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Purdue Ch. 11 Ruling Reinforces Importance Of D&O Coverage

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma, holding that a Chapter 11 reorganization cannot discharge claims against a nondebtor without affected claimants' consent, will open new litigation pathways surrounding corporate insolvency and increase the importance of robust directors and officers insurance, says Evan Bolla at Harris St. Laurent.

  • Fed. Circ. Percipient Gov't Contract Ruling Is Groundbreaking

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    The effects of the Federal Circuit's decision last month in Percipient.ai v. U.S. may be limited to commercial product and service suppliers, but it is significant for government procurement in opening the door to protests by suppliers who previously would have lacked standing and Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    After Chevron: No Deference, No Difference For SEC Or CFTC

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    The Chevron doctrine did not fundamentally alter the interplay between the courts and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the development of the securities and commodities laws — and its demise will not do so either, says Dan Berkovitz at Millennium Management.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • When Patents As Loan Collateral Can Cost You Standing

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Intellectual Tech v. Zebra Technologies shines a light on loan default provisions' implications for patent infringement litigation, as a default may inadvertently strip a patent owner of constitutional standing to sue over a patent pledged as collateral, say Joseph Marinelli and Suet L. Lee at Irwin IP.

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