Appellate

  • March 03, 2025

    10th Circ. Backs CPSC In Challenge To New Magnet Rule

    The Tenth Circuit on Monday denied a petition challenging a new Consumer Product Safety Commission rule regulating the sale of small, high-powered magnets, finding that the evidence the CPSC provided supports the rule and the commission's structure is constitutional.

  • March 03, 2025

    DC Circ. Asks Crowley For More Info In GSA Audit Powers Suit

    A D.C. Circuit panel directed Crowley Government Services Inc., which has challenged the authority of the General Services Administration to audit its contract with the U.S. Department of Defense's Transportation Command, to file a brief detailing whether the contract included any such audit provision.

  • March 03, 2025

    Justices Decline Data Breach Suit Against SC Medical Center

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Fourth Circuit decision that a health center cannot use federal immunity as a shield against a data breach lawsuit even though it received public funds, despite the company's warning that the ruling has created a circuit split.

  • March 03, 2025

    3rd Circ. Preview: Litigation Funder, J&J Seek Relief In March

    The Third Circuit's case lineup this month will task panels with determining if an American litigation funder can keep its dispute with a German law firm in federal court, and whether Johnson & Johnson can decertify class claims accusing the company of artificially inflating its stock price by failing to disclose the alleged cancer risks of its talc products.

  • March 03, 2025

    Justices Deny Google Foe's Bid For Patent Eligibility Clarity

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a patent owner's appeal arguing that the Federal Circuit has a "broken approach to patent eligibility" and that the justices must clarify the law, in a case where advertising patents asserted against Google were found to cover abstract ideas.

  • March 03, 2025

    Justices Turn Away Christian Worker Who Panned Pride Flag

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to review the dismissal of a suit brought by a Christian worker who said he was unlawfully fired by a metal manufacturer after calling a Pride month rainbow on the company's website an "abomination."

  • March 03, 2025

    Justices Evade Circuit Split On Student Speech, Thomas Says

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to wade into a free speech advocacy group's suit challenging Indiana University's processes for reporting and investigating controversial speech, but Justice Clarence Thomas complained that the high court missed a chance to address a circuit split over student challenges to schools' "bias response teams."

  • March 03, 2025

    Justices Turn Away Peru Mining Pollution Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by a mining company controlled by billionaire Ira Rennert to resolve whether the Eighth Circuit incorrectly denied the dismissal of claims raised by over 1,000 Peruvians alleging improper pollution.

  • March 03, 2025

    High Court Declines Souvenir Store's TM Fraud Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will not consider a Florida souvenir store chain's challenge to a Second Circuit decision shutting down its case that a bankrupt beachwear company fraudulently procured a trademark registration to secure a $3.5 million settlement. 

  • March 03, 2025

    Justices Turn Down Suit By Worker Fired Over Online Post

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would not review a Sixth Circuit decision holding that a former CSX Transportation Inc. engineer waited too long to try to revive his wrongful termination suit stemming from an online post he made about a fatal train accident.

  • March 02, 2025

    WH Appeals After Watchdog Chief Is Permanently Reinstalled

    A D.C. federal judge ruled Saturday that President Donald Trump's firing of the head of the Office of Special Counsel was illegal, finding that the federal employment watchdog can only be ousted for cause.

  • February 28, 2025

    9th Circ. Keeps Mass Starz Privacy Arbitration Consolidated

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday refused to allow a consumer whose video privacy arbitration claims against Starz Entertainment LLC have been merged with more than 7,000 similar allegations to break off from the pack, finding that the television network couldn't be blamed for the current "procedural stalemate" in the consolidated arbitration proceedings. 

  • February 28, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Orders Interest Recalculation In Hardware IP Row

    Halo Electronics' nearly two-decades-old dispute with a rival completed its fifth trip to the Federal Circuit, with the appeals court on Friday ordering a Nevada federal court to recalculate the amount of interest Halo could collect on a jury verdict.

  • February 28, 2025

    Texas Appeals Court Finds City Can't Take Oncor Streetlights

    A Texas appeals court found Killeen, Texas, can't claim sovereign immunity to evade a suit seeking to stop the city from taking possession of streetlights owned by a utility company, finding Friday the utility company had presented a viable constitutional claim.

  • February 28, 2025

    Ga. Can Cap Wrongful Death Damages, US Chamber Says

    The U.S. and Georgia chambers of Commerce have urged the Supreme Court of Georgia to find that its 2010 decision striking down a $350,000 cap on noneconomic medical malpractice damages as unconstitutional should not prevent the court from allowing a similar cap in wrongful death claims.

  • February 28, 2025

    Calif. Justices Revive Yacht Club Worker's Injury Suit

    The California Supreme Court has revived a suit brought by a yacht club maintenance worker seeking to hold his employer liable for his workplace injuries under federal maritime law, saying the law preempts California's workers' compensation statute.

  • February 28, 2025

    8th Circ. Backs Auto Co. Exec's Win In $5M Benefits Suit

    The Eighth Circuit declined Friday to overturn a former chief operating officer's win in his lawsuit accusing an automotive company of reneging on the terms of his deferred compensation plan when he left the firm, saying the company can't rely on nonexistent documents to deny his claim to the funds.

  • February 28, 2025

    5 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In March

    The Ninth Circuit will mull Express Scripts and OptumRx's bid to force a public nuisance suit brought by the state of California into federal court, and the Second Circuit will hear from pensioners who say that IBM's use of outdated mortality tables shrank their benefits payouts. Here, Law360 looks at these and other appellate arguments happening in March that should be on benefits lawyers' radar.

  • February 28, 2025

    Up Next At High Court: Gun Violence Liability & Nuclear Waste

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday to consider Mexico's attempt to hold gun manufacturers and distributors liable for cartel-related gun violence and a nuclear waste site dispute that could determine who can challenge future agency actions.

  • February 28, 2025

    2nd Circ. Revives Electrical Worker's Union Pension Fight

    An electrical worker can try again to argue that two trustees of his union pension fund violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by paying themselves over $1 million in compensation from the fund's assets, with the Second Circuit ruling Friday that the worker has standing to sue.

  • February 28, 2025

    9th Circ. Says Risk Justified Firing Vax-Refusing Actor

    A split Ninth Circuit panel declined Friday to revive an actor's suit claiming she was illegally removed from a Starz Network show because she rejected its COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds, ruling her immunization status posed too much of a risk to the production.

  • February 28, 2025

    Presidents v. Courts: Lincoln, Trump & Judicial Power Limits

    Amid fears of President Donald Trump disobeying judges with impunity, debate has focused on famous instances of officials defying the U.S. Supreme Court. But some of the clearest insights into America's handling of White House disregard for courts exist in relatively obscure cases from the Civil War era, when unprecedented presidential actions provoked extraordinary responses from the judiciary — and underscored the limits of its powers.

  • February 28, 2025

    NJ Out-Of-State Wine Sale Limits Are Justified, 3rd. Circ. Says

    The Third Circuit on Friday upheld a New Jersey law barring out-of-state sellers to directly ship wine to in-state consumers, saying that to grant a New York retailer's challenge would "shake the foundations" of New Jersey's three-tiered system for regulating alcohol.

  • February 28, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Developer's Conviction For Bribing LA Pol

    The Ninth Circuit upheld a developer's conviction for bribing former Los Angeles City Councilor Jose Huizar to foil a challenge to a downtown project, ruling Thursday the district court didn't have to instruct jurors that the government had to prove the developer bribed Huizar to take a specific, official act.

  • February 28, 2025

    Wash. Judge Picks Apart Parents' Hospital Data Privacy Suit

    A Washington appellate judge on Friday grilled parents seeking to revive their proposed privacy class action against a Seattle hospital, expressing frustration with their argument that state wiretapping law could apply to an individual's queries to a public-facing website.

Expert Analysis

  • Ring In The New Year With An Updated Employee Handbook

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    One of the best New Year's resolutions employers can make is to update their employee handbooks, given that a handbook can mitigate, or even prevent, costly litigation as long as it accounts for recent changes in laws, court rulings and agency decisions, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • What Loper Bright And Trump 2.0 Mean For New Transpo Tech

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, combined with the incoming Trump administration's deregulatory agenda, will likely lead to fewer new regulations on emerging transportation technologies like autonomous vehicles — and more careful and protracted drafting of any regulations that are produced, say attorneys at Venable.

  • What 2024 Trends In Marketing, Comms Hiring Mean For 2025

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    The state of hiring in legal industry marketing, business development and communications over the past 12 months was marked by a number of trends — from changes in the C-suite to lateral move challenges — providing clues for what’s to come in the year ahead, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Alpine Ruling Previews Challenges To FINRA Authority

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    While the D.C. Circuit's holding that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority can't expel member firm Alpine prior to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission review was relatively narrow, it foreshadows possibly broader constitutional challenges to FINRA's enforcement and other nongovernmental disciplinary programs, say attorneys at Stradley Ronon.

  • Series

    Group Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The combination of physical fitness and community connection derived from running with a group of business leaders has, among other things, helped me to stay grounded, improve my communication skills, and develop a deeper empathy for clients and colleagues, says Jessica Shpall Rosen at Greenwald Doherty.

  • Can Romania Escape Its Arbitral Award Catch-22?

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    Following a recent European Union General Court decision, Romania faces an apparent stalemate of conflicting norms as the country owes payment under an International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes award, but is prohibited by the European Commission from making that payment, say attorneys at Orrick.

  • 7th Circ. Ruling Muddies Split On Trade Secret Damages

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    The Seventh Circuit's recent endorsement in Motorola v. Hytera of a Second Circuit limit on avoided-cost damages under the Defend Trade Secrets Act contradicts even its own precedents, and will further confuse the scope of a developing circuit conflict that the U.S. Supreme Court has already twice declined to resolve, says Jordan Rice at MoloLamken.

  • Opinion

    6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School

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    Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.

  • Using Data To Inform Corporate Disclosure Decisions

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    With today’s market volatility and regulatory factors requiring public companies to confront competing transparency and protection demands, incorporating stock price reaction analysis of company-specific news into the controller's role could be beneficial for disclosure determinations, say Liz Dunshee at Fredrikson & Byron and Nessim Mezrahi at SAR.

  • Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware

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    Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • 5th Circ. Crypto Ruling Shows Limits On OFAC Authority

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent decision that immutable smart contracts on the Tornado Cash crypto-transaction software protocol are not "property" subject to Office of Foreign Assets Control jurisdiction may signal that courts can construe OFAC's authority more restrictively after Loper Bright, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Risk Disclosure Issue Remains After Justices Nix Meta Case

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    After full briefing and argument, the U.S. Supreme Court recently dismissed Facebook v. Amalgamated Bank as improvidently granted, leaving courts with the tricky endeavor of determining when the failure to disclose a past event in an Item 105 risk disclosure is materially misleading, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out

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    In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • The Malpractice Perils Of Elder Abuse Liability

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    Recent cases show that the circumstances under which an attorney may be sued for financial elder abuse remain unsettled, but practitioners can avoid these malpractice claims altogether by taking proactive steps, like documenting the process of evaluating a client's directives under appropriate standards, says Edward Donohue at Hinshaw & Culbertson.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Shows Importance Of Trial Expert Specificity

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in NexStep v. Comcast highlights how even a persuasive expert’s failure to fully explain the basis of their opinion at trial can turn a winning patent infringement argument into a losing one, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

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