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Appellate
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September 18, 2024
7th Circ. Questions Nixing $183M Eli Lilly Drug Rebate Verdict
A Seventh Circuit judge seemed unsure Wednesday whether to disturb a $183 million verdict against Eli Lilly in a false claims case targeting more than a decade of drug rebate miscalculations, questioning whether the company skipped checking legal guidance before calling its price reporting requirements unclear.
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September 18, 2024
Split 5th Circ. Upholds Oxy's $38M Win Over Wells Fargo Bank
A split Fifth Circuit panel upheld a $38 million judgment against Wells Fargo in a published opinion Wednesday, affirming that the bank breached its trustee duties by failing to timely sell Occidental Petroleum Corp. stock and is judicially estopped from arguing that the trust agreement was not a contract.
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September 18, 2024
Stonewalling Justifies Cab Co. Atty's Deposition, Court Rules
A Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday that counsel for Yellow Cab Co. can be deposed after the company's president stonewalled a personal injury plaintiff by answering "I have no idea" to virtually every question at his deposition, saying "exceptional circumstances" warrant the second deposition.
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September 18, 2024
Mich. Justices Continue To Fight Over Minimum Wage Ruling
Michigan's minimum wage will rise to $12.48 an hour in February, the state Supreme Court confirmed Wednesday in an order that settled a debate over how to calculate the new wage floor, but rehashed internal disagreements over the court's July decision to increase the minimum wage.
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September 18, 2024
Colo. Urges 10th Circ. To Restore Interest Rate Opt-Out Law
Colorado has urged the Tenth Circuit to accept its "straightforward interpretation" of an interest rate opt-out law, arguing federal lawmakers would have used other language if they didn't want the state to place more restrictive caps on loans made by banks located outside the state.
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September 18, 2024
Loper Bright Undercuts SEC Climate Rule, Fracking Cos. Say
Two fracking companies suing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over its climate disclosure rules have again urged the Eighth Circuit to vacate the measures, offering a diverging interpretation of how the U.S. Supreme Court's decision axing Chevron deference should apply.
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September 18, 2024
Fed. Circ. Revives Astellas Patent Axed As Natural Law
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday vacated a lower court's invalidation of an Astellas Pharma overactive bladder medication patent for claiming only a natural law, saying the holding was improper because the generics makers accused of infringement never made that argument.
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September 18, 2024
Insurers Demand Arbitration Of La. Storm Damage At 2nd Circ.
A Second Circuit panel puzzled over whether to uphold a New York federal court's ruling denying surplus insurers arbitration in a Louisiana hurricane damage case, during oral arguments over whether the court should follow Bayou State law prohibiting arbitration or reverse the lower court's decision.
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September 18, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Revive Gas Price-Fixing Suit Over Trump Pact
The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a proposed class action alleging price fixing between major oil producers as part of the Trump Administration's 2020 deal with Russia and Saudi Arabia to cut production, saying that subjecting the pact to judicial review would be inappropriately "second-guessing" executive branch foreign policy.
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September 18, 2024
5th Circ. Favors Excess Insurer In Marina Coverage Dispute
The Fifth Circuit upheld a ruling in an inter-insurer dispute over coverage responsibilities of a $13.7 million judgment entered against their mutual client, holding Wednesday that while the excess insurer breached its duties, the primary insurer bears the larger financial burden because it failed to properly settle the underlying dispute.
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September 18, 2024
5th Circ. Axes Bargaining Order Against Legal Support Firm
The Fifth Circuit reversed a National Labor Relations Board bargaining order Wednesday against a legal support consulting firm, determining certain workers within the unit are supervisors who can't unionize under federal labor law.
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September 18, 2024
India Takes Its $156M Arbitration Loss To DC Circ.
India shouldn't be on the hook for a $155 million arbitration award won by Deutsche Telekom AG after a massive satellite licensing deal went sour because the German telecom was never a party to the arbitration agreement it brought proceedings over, the nation told the D.C. Circuit.
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September 18, 2024
Georgia High Court Won't Hear Missed Patent Deadline Case
The highest court in Georgia has decided not to take up an appeal from a neurosurgeon in his nearly $102 million lawsuit, letting stand a lower court's finding that a patent docketing contractor used by remote law firm FisherBroyles can't be held liable for a missed patent application deadline.
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September 18, 2024
Colo. SG Urges Lawyers Not To Lose Sight Of Human Harm
Colorado Solicitor General Shannon Stevenson on Wednesday urged appellate lawyers to use their cases to keep judges "in touch with real people," lamenting that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision on true threats ignored the profound impact a man's Facebook messages had on a stalking victim.
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September 18, 2024
Feds Oppose Bid To Block EPA Mercury Rule At High Court
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, several blue states and a coalition of green groups on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject an effort to reverse the D.C. Circuit's decision allowing the EPA to implement a mercury air pollution rule.
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September 18, 2024
VW Can't Nix $4.7M Mechanic's Brake Pad Asbestos Verdict
A Washington state appeals court has refused to throw out a $4.7 million verdict in favor of the estate of a mechanic who died of mesothelioma he claimed he contracted from asbestos in Volkswagen AG's brake pads, rejecting the automaker's arguments that the evidence didn't support the verdict or that the jury instructions were wrong.
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September 18, 2024
Cleanup Worker Wants Full 5th Circ. To Review BP Spill Suit
A worker who alleges that he was exposed to toxic substances while cleaning up the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 is urging the full Fifth Circuit to review a decision to dismiss his case, saying the panel that upheld the dismissal misconstrued precedent in finding that he needed to show that the discovery he sought was enough to defeat summary judgment.
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September 18, 2024
NC Panel Won't Undo Energy Rates In Solar Incentives Row
The North Carolina state appeals court has declined to unravel the state's revised energy rates for residents with rooftop solar power, saying that while the North Carolina Utilities Commission erred by concluding it was not required to conduct a cost-benefit investigation, it de facto carried out such an inquiry anyway.
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September 18, 2024
Ex-Amgen Rep Wasn't Original Whistleblower, Judge Says
A Brooklyn federal judge tossed a former Amgen sales representative's whistleblower suit on Wednesday, saying many elements of his allegations of a kickback scheme had been disclosed in news reports and civil lawsuits prior to his filing.
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September 18, 2024
3rd Circ. Digs Into NLRB's Power To Punish Starbucks
A Third Circuit panel on Wednesday struggled to find agreement between Starbucks Corp. and the National Labor Relations Board on the scope of the agency's power to penalize companies for violating employees' rights, as it considered the coffee chain's challenge to the agency's penalties over its firing of two unionizing workers.
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September 18, 2024
No Rehearing For 10th Circ. Methane Rule Challenge
A Tenth Circuit panel rejected a request to reconsider its decision to throw out a ruling that partially invalidated an Obama-era rule limiting venting, flaring and leaks from oil and gas wells on federal land.
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September 18, 2024
Mich. Justices To Hear 911 Dispatcher's Whistleblower Appeal
The Michigan Supreme Court will consider whether a 911 operator's complaint about a supervisor's handling of a call was protected activity under the state's whistleblower law, the justices said Wednesday.
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September 18, 2024
Del. Justices Grapple With Noncompete Litigation Limits
An attorney for residential solar power system dealer Sunder Energy LLC told Delaware's top court Wednesday that the Chancery Court last year relied on a case record "procedurally anomalous and bereft of fact" when it denied a preliminary injunction in a noncompete suit targeting a co-founder and two competitors.
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September 18, 2024
Harvard Rips Morgue Theft Appeal's Immunity Claim
Harvard University told Massachusetts' intermediate-level appeals court that litigation over the alleged theft and sale of cadaver body parts from its medical school's morgue relies on a "crabbed" reading of an immunity law related to anatomical gifts.
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September 18, 2024
Mass. Appeals Court Backs Pot Shop's Arbitration Agreement
A Massachusetts medical marijuana dispensary can enforce an arbitration clause in its employment agreement even when it did not specify the rights a worker was waiving, an intermediate state appellate court has said.
Expert Analysis
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Justices' Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review
Each of the 11 criminal decisions issued in the U.S. Supreme Court’s recently concluded term is independently important, but taken together, they reveal trends in the court’s broader approach to criminal law, presenting both pitfalls and opportunities for defendants and their counsel, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.
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7th Circ. Motorola Ruling Raises Stakes Of DTSA Litigation
The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Motorola v. Hytera gives plaintiffs a powerful tool to recover damages, greatly increasing the incentive to bring Defend Trade Secrets Act claims against defendants with large global sales because those sales could generate large settlements, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Series
After Chevron: Bid Protest Litigation Will Hold Steady For Now
Though the substantive holding of Loper Bright is unlikely to affect bid protests because questions of statutory interpretation are rare, the spirit of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision may signal a general trend away from agency deference even on the complex technical issues that often arise, say Kayleigh Scalzo and Andrew Guy at Covington.
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Challenging Prosecutors' Use Of Defendants' Jail Phone Calls
Although it’s an uphill battle under current case law, counsel for pretrial detainees may be able to challenge prosecutors’ use of jail-recorded phone calls between the defendant and their attorney by taking certain advance measures, say Jim McLoughlin and Fielding Huseth at Moore & Van Allen.
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How NJ Worker Status Ruling Benefits Real Estate Industry
In Kennedy v. Weichert, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently said a real estate agent’s employment contract would supersede the usual ABC test analysis to determine his classification as an independent contractor, preserving operational flexibility for the industry — and potentially others, say Jason Finkelstein and Dalila Haden at Cole Schotz.
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3 Policyholder Tips After Calif. Ruling Denying D&O Coverage
A California decision from June, Practice Fusion v. Freedom Specialty Insurance, denying a company's claim seeking reimbursement under a directors and officers insurance policy for its settlement with the Justice Department, highlights the importance of coordinating coverage for all operational risks and the danger of broad exclusionary policy language, says Geoffrey Fehling at Hunton.
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Opinion
Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Opinion
High Court Made Profound Mistake In Tossing Purdue Deal
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to throw out Purdue Pharma's Chapter 11 plan jeopardizes a multistate agreement that would provide approximately $7 billion in much-needed relief to help fight the opioid epidemic, with states now likely doomed to spend years chasing individual defendants across the globe, says Swain Wood at Morningstar.
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Series
After Chevron: Piercing FEMA Authority Is Not Insurmountable
While the Federal Emergency Management Agency's discretionary authority continues to provide significant protection from claims under the Administrative Procedure Act, Loper Bright is a blow to the argument that Congress gave FEMA unfettered discretion to administer its own programs, says Wendy Huff Ellard at Baker Donelson.
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What Happens After Hawaii Kids' Historic Climate Deal
Implications of the Hawaii Department of Transportation's first-of-its-kind settlement with youth plaintiffs over constitutional climate claims may be limited, but it could incite similar claims, says J. Michael Showalter and Robert Middleton at ArentFox Schiff.
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Series
Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.
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Big Business May Come To Rue The Post-Administrative State
Many have framed the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning Chevron deference and extending the window to challenge regulations as big wins for big business, but sand in the gears of agency rulemaking may be a double-edged sword, creating prolonged uncertainty that impedes businesses’ ability to plan for the future, says Todd Baker at Columbia University.
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Differences In Enforcing Oral Settlements In NJ And Pa.
New Jersey mediations should incorporate new best practices for settlement agreements after a recent state appellate court ruling eliminated the enforceability of oral-only settlements, setting New Jersey at odds with Pennsylvania’s established willingness to enforce unwritten agreements that were clearly intended to be binding, say Thomas Wilkinson and Thomas DePaola at Cozen O'Connor.
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Reading Between The Lines Of Justices' Moore Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Moore v. U.S. decision, that the Internal Revenue Code Section 965 did not violate the 16th Amendment, was narrowly tailored to minimally disrupt existing tax regimes, but the justices' various opinions leave the door open to future tax challenges and provide clues for what the battles may look like, say Caroline Ngo and Le Chen at McDermott.