Appellate

  • October 29, 2024

    Texas Gov., Oil Groups Urge DC Circ. To Revive LNG Projects

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, the American Petroleum Institute, the Lipan Apache Tribe and others are lining up behind liquefied natural gas project backers asking the full D.C. Circuit to review a panel's decision to nix Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals for LNG projects on the Texas Gulf Coast.

  • October 29, 2024

    Mining Regs Have World Effect On Tribes, High Court Told

    A chief of an Indigenous Brazilian community is backing an Arizona tribe in its bid to overturn a decision that allows a copper mining company to discharge treated wastewater into a local waterway, telling the Supreme Court that pollution from such operations impacts more than just health around the world.

  • October 29, 2024

    Mo. Panel Won't Trim $4.3M Interest Award From $40M Verdict

    A Missouri state appeals court upheld a woman's roughly $4.3 million prejudgment interest award after she won $40 million at trial over her husband's fatal auto collision, finding Tuesday she was not required to directly send a pretrial settlement demand to the at-fault driver's insurer.

  • October 29, 2024

    6th Circ. Judge Doubts Airport Funding Made It Federal Agent

    A Sixth Circuit judge on Tuesday said he saw "problems" with a Michigan airport's argument that federal grants had enough requirements to make the airport effectively a federal officer, suggesting it cannot litigate a suit over its PFAS-containing firefighting foam in federal court.

  • October 29, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Calls Plastic Co.'s IP Retrial Objection 'Frivolous'

    A panel of the Federal Circuit said Tuesday a plastic packaging manufacturer is making a "frivolous" objection to how a Massachusetts federal judge decided to set up a retrial scheduled next week over whether patents covering a kind of tamper-resistant container are invalid.

  • October 29, 2024

    Epic Urges 9th Circ. Not To Pause Google Play Store Fixes

    Epic Games Inc. has fired back against Google's request the Ninth Circuit issue an emergency stay pausing a lower court's antitrust injunction that would require Google to open up its Play Store to competing app stores, slamming Google's arguments as "scattershot," misleading and legally unfounded.

  • October 29, 2024

    NJ Researcher Wants DNA Test On Lindbergh Baby Evidence

    A New Jersey woman pleaded with a state appellate panel on Tuesday to allow her to test evidence in the 1932 kidnapping and murder of the toddler son of aviator Charles Lindbergh, contending that new technology can determine whether anyone besides the man put to death for the crime was involved.

  • October 29, 2024

    Philly Cops Lose Free Speech Suit Over Facebook Posts

    A group of active and former Philadelphia Police Department officers disciplined for inflammatory Facebook activity have lost their First Amendment lawsuit against the city, with a Pennsylvania federal judge ruling Tuesday that the city had the right to terminate officers for making racist, violent and otherwise offensive posts.

  • October 29, 2024

    4th Circ. Quizzes Drugmaker Challenging W.Va. Abortion Law

    An attorney arguing that West Virginia is preempted by federal law from restricting access to an abortion medication faced skeptical questions Tuesday from two judges who suggested it's entirely normal for states to regulate the practice of medicine.

  • October 29, 2024

    6th Circ. Judge Rejects Flint Comparison In Benton Harbor

    A Sixth Circuit judge asked during oral arguments Tuesday if Michigan's government could have done more to monitor the response to lead contamination in a city's water supply, as another judge seemed to doubt that the allegations against the state rose to the level of constitutional violations.

  • October 29, 2024

    Ga. Court Says Apt. Must Face Shooting Death Suit

    The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court ruling holding that an apartment complex company's attempt to waive its liability for third-party crimes in a lease agreement with a tenant who was shot and killed is void and unenforceable under Peach State law.

  • October 29, 2024

    Ex-Cleveland Councilman Can't Cut 6-Year Fraud Sentence

    An Ohio federal judge will not allow a former Cleveland city councilman to get out of jail on compassionate release, ruling the ex-politician "has never demonstrated any remorse for his criminal conduct" and should serve the remainder of his six-year fraud sentence.

  • October 29, 2024

    7th Circ. Backs University of Illinois' Win In Retaliation Suit

    A former University of Illinois at Springfield adjunct professor cannot revive her retaliation claims because she couldn't defeat the university's assertion that it was her own retaliation against others that led the university to let her contract expire, the Seventh Circuit said Tuesday.

  • October 29, 2024

    FERC Botched Pacific NW Pipeline Approval, 5th Circ. Told

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was wrong to approve a controversial TC Energy Corp. pipeline expansion project in the Pacific Northwest, Washington and Oregon officials and environmental groups told the Fifth Circuit.

  • October 29, 2024

    Feds Tell High Court To Deny Va.'s Bid To Revive Voter Purge

    The U.S. Supreme Court must leave in place a court order prohibiting Virginia from removing suspected noncitizens from its voting rolls this close to Election Day, the federal government and advocacy groups argued Tuesday, contending the risk of erroneously stripping eligible voters of their rights outweighs any purported harm to the state.

  • October 29, 2024

    2nd Circ. Revives Investor Suit Against Chinese News App

    The Second Circuit has revived a securities class action alleging that Chinese news aggregation app Qutoutiao hid changes in its advertising policies that allegedly spurred fraudulent advertisements on the app and eventually caused its share price to decline, finding that the lower court erred in determining that the suit's claims sound in fraud.

  • October 29, 2024

    Justice, Challenger Split On Backgrounds For The Bench

    Judge Patrick O'Grady, campaigning for the Michigan Supreme Court, says the current bench is sorely lacking the type of prior judicial experience he would bring. But sitting Justice Kyra Bolden argues the diversity of backgrounds among justices makes the court stronger.

  • October 29, 2024

    Ex-Development Director Asks 4th Circ. For Wage Ruling Redo

    A former development director for a North Carolina city urged the Fourth Circuit to rethink its opinion affirming the city's win on her unpaid overtime claims, saying it's not clear from the record that she was classified as exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

  • October 29, 2024

    Mich. Top Court Won't Halt Ethics Claims Against Trump Allies

    Michigan's Supreme Court has refused to stop disciplinary proceedings against Sidney Powell and other lawyers who advanced former President Donald Trump's election fraud claims.

  • October 29, 2024

    2nd Circ. Says FBI Agents Immune From Suit Over No-Fly List

    The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a lower court's decision finding immunity for FBI agents who were accused of placing four Muslim men on a no-fly database after they declined to become informants.

  • October 29, 2024

    4th Circ. Unclear On LeClairRyan Founder's Tax Liability

    A Fourth Circuit panel appeared confused and noncommittal Tuesday as it wrestled with a narrow question of contract interpretation that could determine whether Gary LeClair of defunct LeClairRyan PLLC is on the hook for massive tax bills tied to the firm's collapse.

  • October 29, 2024

    5th Circ. Revives Pilots Union's Dispute With Southwest

    The Fifth Circuit has revived a union's dispute with Southwest Airlines over alleged retaliation against a worker for his union activity and sent it back to Texas federal court, saying the legal fight qualifies for an exception to the Railway Labor Act's mandatory arbitration rule.

  • October 29, 2024

    1st Circ. Scraps Securities Fraud Case Against 3D Printing Co.

    The First Circuit has affirmed a ruling throwing out a securities fraud lawsuit against 3D printing business Desktop Metal, finding the investor behind the action abandoned one of her claims and failed to adequately allege the other. 

  • October 29, 2024

    Circuit Judge Rips Atty's 'Unearned Windfall' In Liability Case

    Although the Sixth Circuit has affirmed a decision awarding roughly $353,000 to a Texas attorney in a decadelong fee dispute over his representation of a client in a product liability case, one circuit judge expressed "extreme disapproval" over the lawyer's conduct in the matter.

  • October 29, 2024

    Military Reservist Not Exempt From Extra Pay, Justices Told

    Military reservists are owed top-up pay if they're called to serve during a war or national emergency, regardless of whether they're directly serving in those events, a U.S. Coast Guard reservist told the U.S. Supreme Court.

Expert Analysis

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

  • Perspectives

    DC Circ. Seizure Ruling Deepens 4th Amendment Circuit Split

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    The D.C. Circuit’s recent Asinor v. District of Columbia decision, holding that the government’s continued possession of seized property must be reasonable, furthers a split among circuit courts and portends how the text, history and tradition method might influence Fourth Amendment cases, say Ty Howard and Wayne Beckermann at Bradley Arant.

  • Defamation Law Changes May Be Brewing At Supreme Court

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's significant rightward shift has produced dramatic changes in many areas of the law, and the long-standing "actual malice" standard protecting speech about public figures could be the next precedent to fall, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.

  • Breaking Down Director Review Timing At The PTAB

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    Attorneys at Fish & Richardson examine the complexities of director review of a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling, including timelines for requests and decisions, and how these factors influence related district court cases.

  • Behind 3rd Circ. Ruling On College Athletes' FLSA Eligibility

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    The Third Circuit's decision that college athletes are not precluded from bringing a claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act raises key questions about the practical consequences of treating collegiate athletes as employees, such as Title IX equal pay claims and potential eligibility for all employment benefits, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In July

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    The Federal Circuit’s July reversal of four cases, all of which were Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions, highlights lessons for patent practitioners regarding the scope of estoppel provisions, potential issues with obtaining certain substitute claims, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • 'Greenhushing': Why Some Cos. Are Keeping Quiet On ESG

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    A wave of ESG-related litigation and regulations have led some companies to retreat altogether from any public statements about their ESG goals, a trend known as "greenhushing" that was at the center of a recent D.C. court decision involving Coca-Cola, say Gonzalo Mon and Katie Rogers at Kelley Drye.

  • Video Game Release Highlights TM Pitfalls Of App Store

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    The upcoming release of poker video game Balatro in Apple's App Store underscores the tradeoff of keyword advertising and trademark protection for indie developers who, unlike corporate counterparts, lack resources but seek to maximize the reach of their game, say Parmida Enkeshafi and Simon Pulman at Pryor Cashman.

  • Opinion

    More Guidance Needed On Appellate Amicus Recusals

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    Instead of eliminating the right for amici to file briefs on consent, as per the recently proposed Federal Appellate Rules amendment, the Judicial Conference's Committee on Codes of Judicial Conduct should issue guidance on situations in which amicus filings should lead to circuit judge recusals, says Alan Morrison at George Washington University Law School.

  • Mich. Whistleblower Ruling Expands Retaliation Remedies

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    The Michigan Supreme Court's recent Occupational Health and Safety Act decision in Stegall v. Resource Technology is important because it increases the potential exposure for defendants in public policy retaliation cases, providing plaintiffs with additional claims, say Aaron Burrell and Timothy Howlett at Dickinson Wright.

  • Patent Owner Estoppel Questions In The Wake Of SoftView

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's seldom-litigated Rule 42.73(d)(3) on Patent Trial and Appeal Board estoppel was recently brought to the forefront in the Federal Circuit's SoftView v. Apple decision, highlighting uncertainties in this aspect of patent practice, say David Haars and Richard Crudo at Sterne Kessler.

  • What VC Fund Settlement Means For DEI Grant Programs

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    An unexpected settlement in American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Fearless Fund, based on specific details of an Atlanta venture capital fund's challenged minority grant program, leaves the legal landscape wide open for organizations with similar programs supporting diversity, equity and inclusion to chart a path forward, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Nuclear Waste Storage Questions Justices May Soon Address

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    The petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to review U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas stands out for a number of reasons — including a deepening circuit split regarding the NRC's nuclear waste storage authority under the Atomic Energy Act, and broader administrative law implications, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Creates New Rule For Certification Marks

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    The Federal Circuit's decision last month in Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac v. Cologne & Cognac Entertainment is significant in that it establishes a new standard for assessing evidence of third-party uses of a certification mark in deciding whether the mark is famous, say Samantha Katze and Lisa Rosaya at Manatt.

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