Appellate

  • May 07, 2026

    DOL Can Argue With Honeywell, Siemens In 401(k) Appeals

    The Third Circuit on Thursday granted the U.S. Department of Labor time to argue in two cases where workers are seeking to revive proposed class actions alleging their employers violated federal benefits law by misallocating forfeitures from an employee 401(k) plan.

  • May 07, 2026

    1st Circ. Chilly On Challenge To DHS Records Policy

    A First Circuit panel appeared disinclined Thursday to revive a suit alleging the federal government regularly withholds records from immigrants in deportation and asylum proceedings, with one judge saying that if the process is unfair, it would be Congress' job to fix it.

  • May 07, 2026

    11th Circ. Deepens Split On DHS' No-Bond Detention

    A split Eleventh Circuit panel rejected the Trump administration's interpretation of federal immigration law as requiring mandatory detention of noncitizens who entered the U.S. unlawfully, ruling that such individuals are entitled to bond hearings and deepening a growing circuit split.

  • May 07, 2026

    NC Judge Tosses Atty's Suit Against State Bar Panel Member

    A North Carolina federal judge dismissed a suspended attorney's lawsuit against a State Bar Disciplinary Hearing Commission member he accused of bias and due process violations, finding Thursday that the defendant is entitled to absolute quasi-judicial immunity.

  • May 07, 2026

    USPTO Tells Fed. Circ. Verizon Can't Appeal Ax Of IPR Win

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has told the Federal Circuit that Verizon can't appeal a ruling by the agency's former director that wiped out the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation of a patent it challenged, saying the court has consistently upheld the board's ability to terminate such challenges.

  • May 07, 2026

    Agency Improperly Restrained In Duty Review, Fed. Circ. Told

    The U.S. Court of International Trade improperly restrained the Commerce Department's discretion to determine countervailable subsidies during a South Korean exporter's administrative review, U.S. steel giant Nucor Corp. told the Federal Circuit on Thursday.

  • May 07, 2026

    Ex‑Novartis Atty Wins Revival Of Whistleblower Claims

    The New Jersey state appeals court on Thursday revived five whistleblower claims brought by a former Novartis compliance attorney, finding that a trial judge wrongly treated a years‑long pattern of alleged retaliation as discrete, time‑barred events rather than a continuous campaign culminating in her 2021 termination.

  • May 07, 2026

    Toss Of Ex-Shkreli Atty's Deal May Be Error, 2nd Circ. Hints

    A Second Circuit judge hinted Thursday that a trial judge may have erred in rejecting a retirement-fund garnishment deal that would have protected Martin Shkreli's convicted former lawyer from a potential $1 million "punitive tax event."

  • May 07, 2026

    New PBGC Amicus Program Offers Input On Important Cases

    Litigants involved in benefits cases that involve novel or significant pension-related issues can now ask the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. to lodge briefs shedding light on their disputes, the PBGC announced Thursday.

  • May 07, 2026

    Hospital Suspects DOJ Is Forum Shopping For Trans Records

    Children's Hospital of Philadelphia asked a federal judge this week to reassert control over the U.S. Department of Justice's demand for records of gender-affirming care, fearing the government's withdrawal of its local appeal and a case filed against another hospital in Texas portended "forum shopping" for a friendlier court.

  • May 06, 2026

    Trump Wants Time For Justices To Review Carroll Verdict

    President Donald Trump has asked the Second Circuit to delay enforcement of the $83.3 million verdict against him for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll while he appeals the appellate court's en banc refusal to rehear his appeal, noting that Carroll does not oppose the delay as long as he pays interest if it's upheld.

  • May 06, 2026

    8th Circ. Strikes Down FCC's Digital Discrimination Rules

    The Federal Communications Commission's digital discrimination rules, which were passed during the Biden administration, were knocked down by the Eighth Circuit on Wednesday after the panel found the agency reached beyond its statutory mandate when creating the restrictions.

  • May 06, 2026

    Pa. Panel Greenlights NJ Transit Injury Suit, Citing Galette

    A Pennsylvania appellate panel on Tuesday affirmed the denial of New Jersey Transit Corp.'s bid to exit a passenger injury lawsuit, holding that the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Galette retroactively invalidates the agency's sovereign immunity defense.

  • May 06, 2026

    J&J, Tolmar Settle Patent Case Over Antipsychotic Drug

    A federal court Wednesday signed off on a consent judgment in a patent case brought by a Johnson & Johnson unit that prevents Tolmar Inc. from selling a generic version of the blockbuster schizophrenia drug Invega Sustenna.

  • May 06, 2026

    Calif. Tribe Can't Get ATF's Cigarette Sales Decision Tossed

    A Ninth Circuit panel determined Wednesday that federal tobacco regulators acted appropriately when placing the Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians on a noncompliance list, concluding the tribe's remote cigarette sales to retailers of other tribes count as "off-reservation" activities covered by California state tax and licensing laws.

  • May 06, 2026

    Know 'The Record Below': Appellate Pros Talk Argument Prep

    A panel of appellate lawyers gave tips Wednesday on preparing for oral arguments at the 2026 Third Circuit Bench and Bar Conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania, encouraging lawyers to build an encyclopedic knowledge of their case and the relevant law, and to practice in front of others.

  • May 06, 2026

    Colo. Appeals Court Mulls POA's Authority On Arbitration

    A Colorado state appeals court considered Wednesday a nursing home's request for the court to find that a person holding a medical power of attorney could agree to arbitration, focusing counsel on the relationship between an arbitration agreement and healthcare.

  • May 06, 2026

    Roberts Says High Court's Job Is To Make Unpopular Rulings

    Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court often must issue "unpopular" opinions, as the high court faces widespread backlash over its recent ruling limiting the Voting Rights Act's use in challenging racial discrimination in congressional redistricting.

  • May 06, 2026

    Texas Panel Weighs Highland Sanctions After $1B Judgment

    A Texas appeals court on Wednesday pressed counsel for several former Highland Capital Management LLP executives to explain why they should get out of a contempt finding, asking what to do with an order compelling each of the executives to pay $500 in sanctions.

  • May 06, 2026

    NC Court No Place For Smoothie-Shop Stroke Suit, Panel Says

    A smoothie shop manager's negligence suit should leave North Carolina's state court system, an appellate panel ruled Wednesday, finding that injuries from a stroke that left him on a bathroom floor for hours occurred during the course of employment and that the North Carolina Industrial Commission has exclusive jurisdiction.

  • May 06, 2026

    4th Circ. Says 'Solvent Traps' Are Silencers Under NFA

    The Fourth Circuit has upheld the jury conviction of a Virginia man for possession of three unregistered firearm silencers, rejecting the man's arguments that the devices were actually used for cleaning guns and finding they were illegal under federal law.

  • May 06, 2026

    Igloo's Ads 'Uncool' But Not Unlawful, Split 9th Circ. Says

    It may have been "uncool" for ice chest company Igloo to wrongfully take credit for the first biodegradable cooler, but its claims are not unlawful under the Lanham Act, a split Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

  • May 06, 2026

    Battery Patent Award Has Fed. Circ. Perusing Remand Options

    A Federal Circuit panel wrestled Wednesday with a Chinese battery cell manufacturer's challenge to the damages model supporting a competitor's award in a patent infringement case, with one judge asking if alternative calculations would even be available if the appeals court ordered a do-over.

  • May 06, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Michigan Man Can't Block Future Charge

    The Sixth Circuit has ruled that a Michigan man cannot receive an injunction to stop prosecutors from charging him with making terroristic threats in the future after he made remarks related to an elections official he believed was incorrectly conducting an election recount.

  • May 06, 2026

    OpenSky Appeal In VLSI Dispute Postponed At Fed. Circ.

    The Federal Circuit has rescheduled arguments in OpenSky's challenge to an attorney fee award that was part of a wide-ranging patent dispute with VLSI Technology after OpenSky's attorney asked for a delay because of the sudden onset of an illness and the death of a family member.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Welcome Changes To Texas' Summary Judgment Rule

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    Following recent amendments to the Texas rule for summary judgment motions,​​​​​​ practitioners adjusting to the new framework will likely benefit from a more streamlined process that focuses attention on substantive legal arguments rather than procedural uncertainty, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Reinforces Securities Act Limits Post-Slack

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    The Second Circuit's recent decision to limit treatment of mandatory reverse splits as actionable sales in Knapp v. Barclays is narrow but important, offering issuers a stronger basis to challenge expansive Securities Act theories and reinforcing the post-Slack v. Pirani discipline of tracing, says Elisha Kobre at Sheppard.

  • 2 Discovery Rulings Break With Heppner On AI Privilege Issue

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    While a New York federal court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner suggests that some litigants’ communications with AI tools are discoverable, two other recent federal court decisions demonstrate that such interactions generally qualify for work-product protection under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, says Joshua Dunn at Brown Rudnick.

  • Opinion

    BNP Paribas Case Could Upend Global Banking Norms

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    If upheld on appeal, a New York federal jury's multimillion-dollar verdict against BNP Paribas would create an unpredictable liability landscape for global financial institutions in which fully lawful services in foreign countries can give rise to civil liability in U.S. courts, in a manner contrary to federal law, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • Series

    Isshin-Ryu Karate Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My involvement in martial arts, specifically Isshin-ryu, which has principles rooted in the eight codes of karate, has been one of the most foundational in the development of my personality, and particularly my approach to challenges — including in my practice of law, says Kaitlyn Stone at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Opinion

    CBP's $166B Tariff Refund Portal Needs 4 Safeguards

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    Before launching its automated web portal to process tariff-refund disbursements on April 20, U.S. Customs and Border Protection should apply the expensive lessons learned from the pandemic-era employee retention credit, says Peter Gariepy at RubinBrown.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Tracing Paths To Award Recovery

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    Recent subpoenas to Adidas and Hilton deployed in Blasket Renewables v. Spain, pending in D.C. federal court, show arbitration award recovery to be a disciplined exercise in constructing visibility, applying pressure and sequencing procedural advantage, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

  • 5 Key Questions Attys Should Ask About Statistical Analyses

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    Even attorneys without a background in statistics can effectively vet the general concepts of a statistical analysis by asking targeted questions and can thereby reinforce the credibility and relevance of expert testimony — or expose its weaknesses, say Katrina Schydlower and Christopher Cunio at Hunton and Kevin Cahill at FTI Consulting.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: April Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy identifies practice tips from three recent rulings involving allegations of racial discrimination in mortgage applications, health insurance networks and actual cash value losses.

  • 'Made In America' EO May Not Survive Section 230

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in advertising directs the Federal Trade Commission to deem online marketplaces' failure to verify third-party origin claims as unlawful, but such a rule would likely run into Section 230's publisher immunity doctrine, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • Assessing EcoFactor's Impact On Damages Experts' Opinions

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    Though the Federal Circuit's ruling in EcoFactor v. Google gave rise to concerns that damages experts would be forced to rely on undisputed facts, recent case law suggests that those concerns are unwarranted, says Christopher Loh at Venable.

  • High Court Cert Case Would Test Sovereign Award Immunity

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    The D.C. Circuit's July 2025 Amaplat Mauritius v. Zimbabwe Mining Development decision appears to create a circuit split while elevating form over substance in a manner that, if left unreviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, could bar the courthouse doors for creditors holding arbitration awards against recalcitrant foreign sovereigns, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.

  • CFTC Actions Show Prediction Market Insider Trading Risks

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    It is a myth that insider trading law does not apply in prediction markets, as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent enforcement actions illustrate that it has full authority to pursue such cases federally — and intends to, says attorney Gregg Goldfarb.

  • 2nd Circ. Clarifies When Prior Good Acts May Be Admissible

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    The Second Circuit's recent ruling in U.S. v. Cardenas, vacating a drug conspiracy conviction over improperly excluded evidence, indicates that evidence of prior good acts may be admissible to corroborate a defendant's testimony about their understanding of events and intent, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Opinion

    Apple Discovery Fight Could Revive DOJ's Antitrust Appetite

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    Winning discovery disputes in the ongoing federal antitrust litigation over Apple’s app store practices is a huge opportunity for the Justice Department to return to its once-vigorous pursuit of product tying by tech monopolies, catch up with foreign competition regulators and establish clear standards for digital markets, says Ediberto Roman at Florida International University.

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