Appellate

  • June 14, 2024

    Senate Passes Bill For State, Local Judge Security

    The U.S. Senate has passed a bill unanimously to better protect state and local judges from threats amid "unacceptable attacks" on the judiciary.

  • June 14, 2024

    Chamblee Ryan Gets $1M Legal Malpractice Verdict Tossed

    Chamblee Ryan PC has escaped a $1.1 million jury verdict in a malpractice suit brought by former client JBS Carriers Inc., with a Texas appeals court finding that the food transportation giant failed to submit expert testimony showing that the firm was negligent in failing to settle an underlying car crash lawsuit.

  • June 14, 2024

    Dunkin' Franchise Must Face Customer's Race Bias Suit

    An intermediate appellate court in Massachusetts on Friday revived part of a lawsuit brought by a Black customer of a Dunkin' franchise who says an employee deliberately ignored his order for 15 minutes, then threw his food at him and called him a racist epithet.

  • June 14, 2024

    4 Big ERISA Decisions From The 1st Half Of 2024

    A California federal court allowed a novel type of 401(k) mismanagement suit to advance to discovery, the Ninth Circuit elaborated on the pleading standard for mental health parity claims, and workers beat back an attempt to force their federal benefits suit into arbitration at the Second Circuit. Here, attorneys discuss four consequential ERISA decisions in 2024's first half.

  • June 14, 2024

    Full DC Circ. Won't Hear Foreign Disclosure Penalty Dispute

    The D.C. Circuit declined to reconsider its ruling overturning a major U.S. Tax Court decision that had crimped the administrative collection arm of the Internal Revenue Service, letting stand a panel's restoration of the agency's power to more freely penalize undisclosed foreign corporations.

  • June 14, 2024

    Justices Endorse 2-Step Notification System For Removals

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said the federal government's practice of issuing multiple notices to migrants to advise them of removal proceedings is acceptable, ruling that in absentia removal orders can't be rescinded when the government fails to provide the location and time of immigration court hearings in a single document.

  • June 14, 2024

    Justices Overturn ATF Rule Banning Bump Stocks

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives does not have the authority to ban bump stocks, finding that the firearm accessory can't be considered a machine gun for purposes of the National Firearms Act.

  • June 14, 2024

    No Retroactive Fix For US Trustee Fee Dispute, Justices Say

    The U.S. Supreme Court sided with the U.S. Trustee's Office on Friday in finding that an amended fee structure implemented before a 2022 ruling that struck down a nonuniform system of payments was all that was needed to resolve the disparate treatment of debtors under the unconstitutional law.

  • June 13, 2024

    Ex-Duke Doc Wants Panel To Redo Disability Bias Ruling

    A fired Duke University hospital doctor pressed a North Carolina state appeals court to reconsider not reviving the disability claims in his suit against the hospital, arguing that the case belongs before a jury.

  • June 13, 2024

    'Trump Too Small' Opinion Leaves Some Justices, Attys Vexed

    In denying a bid to register "Trump Too Small" as a trademark for apparel, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously concluded Thursday there was no free speech violation. But Justice Clarence Thomas' opinion leaning on tradition to justify prohibiting names as marks without an individual's consent left some justices and attorneys dissatisfied.

  • June 13, 2024

    Textualism Still Dominates Justices' Arbitration Decisions

    The U.S. Supreme Court's approach to arbitration issues this past term has helped to exemplify a growing trend by the justices in favor of textualism and away from a less nuanced pro-arbitration mindset that had been favored in previous decades, experts say.

  • June 13, 2024

    Tribal Casino Tells 7th Circ. Ill. City Rigged Proposal Votes

    A proposed tribal casino has asked the Seventh Circuit to undo a lower court ruling that found Waukegan, Ill., did not intentionally discriminate against it when the city chose three other competitors to operate casinos, saying the city ran a rigged review process.

  • June 13, 2024

    Justices Hand Abortion Advocates An Incomplete Win

    The U.S. Supreme Court's rejection Thursday of a challenge to the abortion drug mifepristone will do little to safeguard long-term access to the medication while suggesting that it will be up to voters, not judges, to settle some of the nation's abortion debates, attorneys say.

  • June 13, 2024

    2nd Circ. Case Over NY Broadband Law Could Wrap Up

    An agreement could soon be reached between internet providers and the New York attorney general's office that would avoid the need for further Second Circuit review of New York's controversial low-cost broadband law, court records show.

  • June 13, 2024

    Colo. News Station Must Face Claim Over Contractor Shooting

    A Denver news station must face a man's vicarious liability claim over the actions of a plainclothes security guard who shot and killed a man during a police protest while working for the TV station, the Colorado Court of Appeals said Thursday.

  • June 13, 2024

    Youth Org. Not Covered For Ex-Worker's Claim, 6th Circ. Rules

    A sexual misconduct exclusion bars a youth advocacy organization's bid for coverage of an ex-employee's claim that they were sexually harassed and assaulted by a supervisor, the Sixth Circuit affirmed Thursday, saying the organization's failure to raise certain arguments before the district court was fatal to its appeal.

  • June 13, 2024

    Thomas Targets Group Standing In Mifepristone Ruling

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas joined his colleagues Thursday to unanimously uphold broad access to the abortion medication mifepristone for now, but he wrote separately to challenge a standing rule that often serves as the key to the courthouse doors for litigants of all varieties.

  • June 13, 2024

    Ending Flores Settlement Won't Endanger Children, Feds Say

    The Biden administration said a recent regulation it contends warrants winding down the 27-year-old Flores settlement governing health and safety standards for minors in immigration detention can address concerns that human rights organizations raised about the continued use of unlicensed facilities.

  • June 13, 2024

    9th Circ. Doubts SPAC Investors Can Sue Lucid Over Merger

    A Ninth Circuit panel appeared skeptical Thursday of investors' bid to revive a proposed class action alleging that Lucid duped them into buying stock in a special-purpose acquisition company ahead of the electric-vehicle maker's $11.75 billion merger, with two of three judges doubting that the SPAC investors have standing to sue.

  • June 13, 2024

    NJ Justices Create New Liability Rule For Property Owners

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday voted 4-3 to craft a new rule stating that owners of commercial vacant lots have a duty to maintain the public sidewalks abutting the lots, and reinstated a woman's trip-and-fall injury suit.

  • June 13, 2024

    Wawa Beats Suit By Man Who Lost Leg In Crash Outside Store

    A New Jersey appellate court handed a victory to Wawa on Thursday, ruling that the convenience store didn't own the area outside the store where a customer lost his leg in a car accident while jaywalking and thus was not liable.

  • June 13, 2024

    Full Fed. Circ. Rejects Rehearing Bids In Xifaxan Case

    The Federal Circuit has shot down bids for rehearing filed by both sides in a case involving an April decision that prevents an Alvogen unit from releasing a generic version of Bausch Health's diarrhea and brain disorder drug Xifaxan until 2029.

  • June 13, 2024

    Aggie Pride Doesn't Create Duty In Donor Football Ticket Row

    A state appeals court said Thursday that loyalty to Texas A&M is not enough to establish a fiduciary relationship between a university foundation and its donors, partially dismissing the donors' suit over seating changes in the wake of 2013 football stadium renovations.

  • June 13, 2024

    Subway Can't Nix Arb. Award To Family Of Murdered Worker

    A Texas appellate panel on Wednesday declined to vacate an arbitration award to the family of a woman killed while working at Subway after rejecting Subway's argument the neutral arbitrator's Facebook posts complaining about State Farm and its attorneys are evidence of bias, finding neither are involved in the underlying case in any way.

  • June 13, 2024

    Chamber Asks DC Circ. To Reject EPA's PFAS Designation

    Three business groups, spearheaded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have gone to the D.C. Circuit to challenge the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent decision to declare two "forever chemicals" to be hazardous materials under federal law.

Expert Analysis

  • What Bankruptcy Deadline Appeal May Mean For Claimants

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    If the Third Circuit reverses a recent appeal made in In re: Promise Healthcare, litigation claimants within the circuit will not be able to rely on the proof of claim process to preserve the claim — but if the court affirms, the U.S. Supreme Court may need to step in to resolve the circuit split on this issue, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Why Fed. Circ. Should Resolve District Split On Patent Statute

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    A split exists among district courts in their analysis of when marking cannot be done on a patented article due to its character, and the Federal Circuit should consider clarifying the analysis of Section 287(a), a consequential statute with important implications for patent damages, say Nicholas Nowak and Jamie Dohopolski at Sterne Kessler.

  • Employers Beware Of NLRB Changes On Bad Faith Bargaining

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    Recent National Labor Relations Board decisions show a trend of the agency imposing harsher remedies on employers for bad faith bargaining over union contracts, a position upheld in the Ninth Circuit's recent NLRB v. Grill Concepts Services decision, says Daniel Johns at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease

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    This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

  • When Trade Secret Protection And Nat'l Security Converge

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    The Trump administration's anti-espionage program focused on China is over, but federal enforcement efforts to protect trade secrets and U.S. national security continue, and companies doing business in high-risk jurisdictions need to maintain their compliance programs to avoid the risk of being caught in the crosshairs of an investigation, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Why Incorporating By Reference Is Rarely Good Practice

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Promptu Systems v. Comcast serves as a reminder that while incorporating by reference may seem efficient, it is generally prohibited by courts and can lead to sanctions when used to bypass a word count limit, says Cullen Seltzer at Sands Anderson.

  • Strategies For Defense Attys To Subpoena A Nonparty Witness

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    Federal criminal defendants seeking to subpoena potentially exculpatory information from nonparty witnesses must satisfy a stringent standard and should consider several often overlooked arguments to assure courts they’re not engaging in a fishing expedition, says James Roberts at Schlam Stone.

  • Series

    Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.

  • ESG Challenges In Focus After Sierra Club Opposes SEC Rule

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    The Sierra Club's recent objection to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosures for investors presents an unusual — pro-disclosure — legal challenge and an opportunity to take a close look at the varying critiques of ESG regulations, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.

  • Opinion

    High Court Should Settle Circuit Split On Risk Disclosures

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    The U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition for writ of certiorari in the Facebook case to resolve a growing circuit split concerning when risk disclosures can be misleading under federal securities laws, and its decision should align with the intent of Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    Why Supreme Court Should Allow Repatriation Tax To Stand

    If the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't reject the taxpayers' misguided claims in Moore v. U.S. that the mandatory repatriation tax is unconstitutional, it could wreak havoc on our system of taxation and result in a catastrophic loss of revenue for the government, say Christina Mason and Theresa Balducci at Herrick Feinstein.

  • For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

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    A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • High Court's Jan. 6 Rioter Case May Have Wide Ripple Effects

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    The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in Fischer v. United States, a case that will determine whether a law enacted after the Enron scandal can be used to prosecute Jan. 6 rioters, and could affect the government’s ability to charge those who impede a range of official proceedings, say Brook Dooley and Sara Fitzpatrick at Keker Van Nest.

  • 5th Circ. Clarifies What Is And Isn't A 'New Use' Of PFAS

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    The Fifth Circuit's March 21 decision in Inhance Technologies v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, preventing the EPA from regulating existing uses of PFAS under "significant new use" provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act, provides industry with much-needed clarity, say Joseph Schaeffer and Sloane Wildman at Babst Calland.

  • CORRECTED: Endoscope Patent Case Offers Guidance On Right To Repair

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    An Alabama federal court's decision in Karl Storz v. IMS reaffirmed that product owners have broad rights to repair or modify their property as they see fit, highlighting the parameters of the right to repair in the context of patent infringement, say Dustin Weeks and Dabney Carr at Troutman Pepper. Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article and headline attributed the Karl Storz ruling to the wrong court. The error has been corrected.

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