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Appellate
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July 16, 2024
Influencer's Forest Pics Not 'Work Activity,' 10th Circ. Rules
A Tenth Circuit panel on Tuesday reversed a social media influencer's conviction for unauthorized work on National Forest Service property after he posted Instagram photos of himself snowmobiling on closed NFS land, finding that the influencer didn't have fair warning that what he was doing might be considered a federal crime.
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July 16, 2024
NC Panel Affirms Property Tax Valuation For Ashley Furniture
About 300 acres of property belonging to Ashley Furniture in North Carolina were properly valued at about $60 million for tax years 2018 and 2019, a state appeals court panel ruled Tuesday in favor of the state property tax commission.
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July 16, 2024
Judges Press Amazon On Its Duty To Guard Against Suicide
Washington appellate judges on Tuesday challenged Amazon's argument that the e-commerce giant should be free from liability for selling sodium nitrite that buyers used to kill themselves, with one judge asking what other use a "small bottle" of nearly pure poison would have.
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July 16, 2024
7th Circ. Says Foreign Retirement Not Shielded In Bankruptcy
A professor who filed for bankruptcy in Illinois can't protect his Canadian retirement account from creditors because the account is ineligible under a state law shielding accounts that qualify as retirement plans under the Internal Revenue Code, the Seventh Circuit ruled Tuesday.
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July 16, 2024
No Immunity For Philadelphia Transit In Bus-Stop Injury
The Philadelphia-area transit system can't escape a lawsuit accusing one of its bus drivers of refusing to lower a handicap accessible ramp, resulting in a passenger twisting her leg while exiting the vehicle, a state appeals court ruled, saying the claims fall squarely with the motor-vehicle exception to sovereign immunity.
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July 16, 2024
7th Circ. Backs Manufacturer Win In Worker's Retaliation Suit
The Seventh Circuit declined Tuesday to reinstate a lawsuit from a Black worker accusing a manufacturing company of firing him in retaliation for complaining about race discrimination with his union, saying there's no error in the lower court's decision despite it relying on his former plant manager's flubbed testimony.
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July 16, 2024
Full 4th Circ. Won't Hear Student Loan Biz's Sealed Docs Case
The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday declined to grant a full court rehearing to a student loan provider that wanted to shield court filings from a filmmaker after a panel found he had a First Amendment right to the information.
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July 16, 2024
5th Circ. Preserves Class Cert. In Fringe Benefits Fee Fight
The Fifth Circuit affirmed a district court's decision to certify a mega class of more than 290,000 workers in a suit against several benefits administration companies alleging mismanagement of their non-union fringe benefits, but found the action should proceed as opt-out and not mandatory class action.
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July 16, 2024
Pa. Court Upholds $23M Value Of Vacant Hospital's Parking
A vacant hospital's parking area in Pennsylvania was properly valued at $23.2 million, the state Commonwealth Court ruled, finding that a trial court had the discretion to apply the sales comparison approach to the valuation.
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July 16, 2024
Cannabis Patients And DOJ Offer Dueling Reads On Rahimi
A group of Floridians and the U.S. Department of Justice have advanced dueling interpretations of whether a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on gun laws justifies stripping medical cannabis patients of their right to bear arms.
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July 16, 2024
Columbia U. Aims To Keep $600M Patent Win Over Norton
Columbia University has urged the Federal Circuit to preserve its $600 million willful patent infringement judgment against NortonLifeLock Inc., telling the court that Norton's "kitchen-sink" appeal "raises a slew of issues, hoping something will stick" and challenging Quinn Emanuel's appeal of a civil contempt ruling as "baseless and, ultimately, academic."
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July 16, 2024
4th Circ. Rejects 'Untimely' Redo Request In Coverage Fight
The Fourth Circuit has flatly rejected a request to reconsider whether an insurer must cover the maker of a wood treatment product in a suit over a man's cancer diagnosis following decades of exposure to the chemical, calling the motion "untimely."
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July 16, 2024
Cohen Asks Justices To Hear Claim Trump Put Him In Prison
Donald Trump's former attorney-turned-critic Michael Cohen has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take another look at his suit claiming the former president had him imprisoned in retaliation for his plans to portray Trump negatively in his book.
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July 16, 2024
States, Legal Orgs. Urge Justices To Halt Biden's Debt Relief
A U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the Biden administration's latest student debt relief program received backing from seven Republican-led states and a trio of legal groups that assert the estimated $475 billion plan exceeds the executive branch's authority.
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July 16, 2024
Ex-Trump Counsel Has Advice For GOP On Judicial Noms
A former Trump White House official who worked on judicial nominations has advised a potential future Republican administration to be aggressive, proactive and not to compromise on circuit court picks.
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July 16, 2024
Fed. Circ. Denies US Cos. Interest From Late Duty Payments
Domestic companies that are entitled to antidumping and countervailing duty payments under the now-defunct Continued Dumping and Subsidy Offset Act aren't entitled to the interest that accrues when the tariff is paid late, the Federal Circuit ruled.
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July 16, 2024
The 2024 Diversity Snapshot: What You Need To Know
Law firms' ongoing initiatives to address diversity challenges have driven another year of progress, with the representation of minority attorneys continuing to improve across the board, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. Here's our data dive into minority representation at law firms in 2023.
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July 16, 2024
These Firms Have The Most Diverse Equity Partnerships
Law360’s law firm survey shows that firms' efforts to diversify their equity partner ranks are lagging. But some have embraced a broader talent pool at the equity partner level. Here are the ones that stood out.
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July 15, 2024
Biggest Transportation Decisions: Midyear 2024 Review
The U.S. Supreme Court's upending of a legal doctrine applying to federal agencies' regulatory powers, the dismantling of JetBlue's proposed acquisition of Spirit Airlines and the preservation of California's authority to set its vehicle emissions standards are among the biggest court decisions so far in 2024 affecting the transportation industry.
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July 15, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Revive Challenge Of US Military Aid To Israel
Palestinian human rights activists cannot revive their lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's support for Israel's military efforts in Gaza, the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday, saying the decision to provide military or other aid to a foreign nation is a political arrangement that does not belong in the courts.
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July 15, 2024
Fed. Circ. Rejects FEMA Contractor's Water Restocking Fees
The Federal Circuit on Monday upheld the rejection of an embattled government contractor's claim for $13.5 million in restocking fees after the Federal Emergency Management Agency sharply reduced the amount of bottled water the agency ordered in response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
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July 15, 2024
Green Groups, Industry Spar Over Feds' Offshore Leasing Plan
Conservation groups and the American Petroleum Institute are weighing in with starkly contrasting opening briefs for D.C. Circuit challenges of a 2024-2029 offshore oil and gas leasing program and arguments for why it should be scaled back or expanded.
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July 15, 2024
JetBlue-Spirit Flyers Seek $20M Atty Fees Following DOJ Win
The private plaintiffs who challenged the failed JetBlue-Spirit merger asked a Massachusetts federal judge to award their counsel at least $20 million in fees, saying they "substantially contributed" to the U.S. Department of Justice successfully squashing the deal and are the prevailing party in their case.
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July 15, 2024
Bannon Wants Full DC Circ. To Revisit Contempt Conviction
Ex-Trump White House aide Steve Bannon asked the D.C. Circuit on Monday for an en banc rehearing as he seeks to overturn his contempt of Congress conviction, saying a three-judge panel's determination that he "willfully" flouted a subpoena from the Jan. 6 House select committee ignored U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
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July 15, 2024
9th Circ. Says Filmmaker's Son Took Too Long To Probe Fraud
The Ninth Circuit has affirmed a lower court order confirming an $8.7 million arbitral award in a long-running family dispute over a prominent Mexican film producer's film collection, saying the producer's son waited years too long to probe whether his siblings fraudulently tainted the award.
Expert Analysis
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Fed. Circ. Scrapping Design Patent Tests Creates Uncertainty
The Federal Circuit last week discarded established tests for proving that design patents are invalid as obvious, leaving much unknown for design patent applicants, patentees and challengers, such as what constitutes analogous art and how secondary references will be considered and applied, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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3rd Circ.'s Geico Ruling May Encourage Healthcare Arbitration
The Third Circuit's recent decision in Geico v. Mount Prospect, finding that claims under New Jersey's Insurance Fraud Prevention Act can be arbitrated, strengthens arbitration as a viable alternative to litigation, even though it is not necessarily always a more favorable forum, say Khaled Klele and Jessica Osterlof at McCarter & English.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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One Contract Fix Can Reduce Employer Lawsuit Exposure
A recent Fifth Circuit ruling that saved FedEx over $365 million highlights how a one-sentence limitation provision on an employment application or in an at-will employment agreement may be the easiest cost-savings measure for employers against legal claims, say Sara O'Keefe and William Wortel at BCLP.
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What 11th Circ. FCRA Ruling Means For Credit Furnishers
Credit furnishers should revisit their internal investigation and verification procedures after the Eleventh Circuit declined last month in Holden v. Holiday to impose a bright-line rule that only purely factual or transcription errors are actionable under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, say Diana Eng and Michael Esposito at Blank Rome.
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High Court Injunction Case Could Shake Up Fee-Shifting Rules
In agreeing to review a Virginia case rendered statutorily moot before final judgment, the U.S. Supreme Court could finally settle the question of if — and when — a preliminary injunction can win attorney fees for a prevailing party, but all possible answers could disrupt fee-shifting schemes written into major laws, says Laurens Wilkes at Winston & Strawn.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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The State Of Play In DEI And ESG 1 Year After Harvard Ruling
Almost a year after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, attorney general scrutiny of environmental, social and governance-related efforts indicates a potential path for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to be targeted, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In April
Four Federal Circuit decisions in April that reversed or vacated underlying rulings provide a number of takeaways, including that obviousness analysis requires a flexible approach, that an invalidity issue of an expired patent can be moot, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.
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CFPB Poised To Up The Ante After Supreme Court Victory
When the U.S. Supreme Court emphatically ruled last week that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure did not violate the Constitution, the agency boasted that it was "here to stay," signaling that it is moving full steam ahead with its regulatory, enforcement and supervisory agenda, says Jim Sandy at McGlinchey Stafford.
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2nd Circ. Ruling Affirms NY Law's Creditor-Friendly Approach
The Second Circuit’s recent ruling in 245 Park Member v. HNA International provides creditors with some reason for optimism that debtors in New York may face rejection in court for aiming to keep creditors at arm’s length by transferring personal assets into an LLC, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.
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When Oral Settlements Reached In Mediation Are Enforceable
A recent decision by the New Jersey Appellate Division illustrates the difficulties that may arise in trying to enforce an oral settlement agreement reached in mediation, but adherence to certain practices can improve the likelihood that such an agreement will be binding, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.
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Series
Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.
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In Debate Over High Court Wording, 'Wetland' Remains Murky
Though the U.S. Supreme Court's decision limiting the Clean Water Act’s wetlands jurisdiction is now a year old, Sackett v. EPA's practical consequences for property owners are still evolving as federal agencies and private parties advance competing interpretations of the court's language and methods for distinguishing wetlands in lower courts, says Neal McAliley at Carlton Fields.