Appellate

  • March 12, 2025

    Tech Mahindra Urges Justices To Nix White Worker's Bias Suit

    Tech Mahindra asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Third Circuit's ruling reviving a proposed class action claiming the information technology company favored South Asian employees, arguing it deepened a circuit split by greenlighting a case that should have been time-barred.

  • March 12, 2025

    Del. Senate Panel Sends Corp. Law Overhaul To Full Chamber

    Delaware legislation that could narrow stockholder opportunities to sue state-chartered corporations for fiduciary duty breaches or access to books and records moved to the state's full Senate on Wednesday after a less than 90-minute committee hearing that leaned toward the bill's supporters.

  • March 12, 2025

    Education Dept. Eyes Appeal After Teacher Grants Revived

    President Donald Trump's administration opened two lines of attack on a Boston federal judge's order temporarily reinstating $250 million in U.S. Department of Education grants for teacher training that were cut last month because of their ties to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, filing an appeal with the First Circuit while also seeking an emergency stay.

  • March 12, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Undo Health Data Access Order

    A Fourth Circuit panel issued a ruling Wednesday that affirmed a lower court's order requiring PointClickCare to allow Real Time Medical Systems to access patient data that it uses to provide nursing facilities with alerts for potential medical complications.

  • March 12, 2025

    Mich. Justices Fret About Insurer Fallout In Benefits Case

    The Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday seemed receptive to an insurance pool's argument that it does not owe coverage to a municipality for canceling a retirement benefit, asking about the potential for a major impact on the industry were it to affirm an adverse ruling.

  • March 12, 2025

    Mich. Appellate Judge Pans Medical Pot Co.'s Sales Tax Claim

    A Michigan Court of Appeals judge sounded skeptical Wednesday of a medical cannabis provisioning center's claim that nonbinding guidance from the state tax agency shielded it from collecting sales tax for the first year after a law regulating its type of business was enacted.

  • March 12, 2025

    Trump Admin Drops Biden Bid To Unfreeze ACA Trans Rule

    The Trump administration asked the Fifth Circuit on Wednesday to dismiss its appeal, filed in July by the Biden administration, of a Texas federal judge's decision to halt a rule protecting access to gender-affirming healthcare.

  • March 12, 2025

    Del. Justices Uphold LG Co.'s Loss In Firing Challenge

    Delaware's top court has backed a Chancery Court ruling that Alphonso Inc., a TV data company majority-owned by an LG subsidiary, was not permitted to push out five co-founders.

  • March 12, 2025

    COVID Test Device Maker Settles Fed. Circ. Feuds With Rival

    A company that makes saliva collection devices used for COVID-19 tests says it will drop out of Federal Circuit appeals fights with Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics stemming from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board canceling 183 of Longhorn's patent claims as a punishment for "egregious abuse of the PTAB process."

  • March 12, 2025

    Mich. Justices Urged To Break Long Silence On Doc Dumping

    An attorney for the estate of a crash victim asked Michigan's highest court to reinstate a lawsuit against a truck driver's employer and sanctions for tossing records in a dumpster, saying the case was an opportunity for the court to break its silence on the issue of destroying evidence.

  • March 12, 2025

    Justices Face Renewed Calls To Nix Mass. Wind Farm Permits

    Fishing industry groups have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to undo federal approvals of the Vineyard Wind project off the Massachusetts coast, less than two months after the justices declined to consider another legal challenge by project opponents.

  • March 12, 2025

    4th Circ. Voids IRS Win In Collections Suit Against NC Couple

    The IRS should not have been granted a district court win over a North Carolina couple's 2007 tax bill because there was conflicting evidence about when the taxpayers had reached out to the agency for an installment payment agreement, the Fourth Circuit said Wednesday.

  • March 12, 2025

    Second Bid For Roundup Mass Tort Launched In New Jersey

    A second application for lawsuits against Monsanto Co. and Bayer AG alleging injuries by exposure to the company's weed killer Roundup to be designated as multicounty litigation has been filed with the New Jersey Supreme Court, according to a notice to the bar.

  • March 12, 2025

    Cal State Can Bar Caste Bias, 9th Circ. Affirms

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed a lower court's ruling that two California State University professors lacked standing to challenge the university's inclusion of caste as a protected class in its antidiscrimination policy, saying the policy never specifically mentions Hinduism and therefore does not stigmatize the religion or force self-censorship.

  • March 12, 2025

    Final Google Fixes Keep Apple Payments, DOJ Tells DC Circ.

    The U.S. Department of Justice doubled down on its arguments against permitting Apple to intervene in the upcoming remedies phase of its Google search monopoly lawsuit, arguing that the newly submitted final version of its sought fixes show Apple would keep getting payments it wants protected.

  • March 12, 2025

    Property Tax Can Fund Retired Cops' Insurance, Panel Says

    A Michigan state appeals court on Tuesday said property taxes imposed by four municipalities to cover the cost of health insurance for retired firefighters and police officers are not illegal, finding a law established before a constitutional amendment barring new taxes without a public vote allowed taxation for broad retirement benefits.

  • March 12, 2025

    White House Urged To Back Patent Eligibility Bill To Aid AI

    The Council for Innovation Promotion has urged the Trump administration to support a legislative overhaul of patent eligibility law and reconsider patent office guidance on the issue as the White House aims to ensure the U.S. plays a dominant role in artificial intelligence.

  • March 12, 2025

    Drew Eckl Can't Keep Breakaway Firm In Arbitration Over Fees

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday found that Burke Moore Law Group LLP — founded by former Drew Eckl & Farnham LLP partners and others — cannot be subject to arbitration over fees between Drew Eckl and those ex-firm partners since Burke Moore did not sign the agreement at issue.

  • March 12, 2025

    Group To Study ABA Accreditation Req. For Fla. Bar Exam

    The Florida Supreme Court said Wednesday it would convene a workgroup to reconsider a rule requiring applicants for the state bar exam to have graduated from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association, citing concerns about the ABA's accreditation standards on racial and ethnic diversity and the organization's "active political engagement."

  • March 12, 2025

    2nd Circ. Upholds Sanctions In Chinese Billionaire's Ch. 11

    The Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday torpedoed an appeal from the daughter of bankrupt Chinese exile Miles Guo — also known as Ho Won Kwok — and her attorney seeking to overturn a nearly $83,400 discovery sanction, saying the contempt ruling was merited.

  • March 12, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Finds No Confusion Between Firebull, Fireball TMs

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board correctly found there is no likelihood of confusion between a distillery's pending bid to register Bullshine Firebull and Sazerac Brands' Fireball marks, the Federal Circuit said in a precedential opinion Wednesday that also affirmed the board's conclusion that Fireball is not generic.

  • March 12, 2025

    Ga. Appeals Court Backs Class Cert. In Vehicle Booting Case

    A Georgia Court of Appeals panel backed a truck driver's bid for class certification in a suit that alleges an Atlanta-based impound company unlawfully booted over 1,000 vehicles without authorization from local governments.

  • March 12, 2025

    Luxottica Drops Appeal On ERISA Suit's Arbitrability

    Luxottica shuttered its appeal of a New York federal judge's order that the company could not compel arbitration of a worker's representative claims that it violated federal benefits law by using outdated mortality data to calculate pensions benefits.

  • March 12, 2025

    Steptoe Hires National Security Veteran In New York

    Steptoe LLP has hired a former Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP attorney known for his defense of Guantanamo Bay detainees and other high-profile national security matters, who joined the firm in New York as a partner.

  • March 12, 2025

    Energy Co. Asks Justices To Skip On Inspector's OT Case

    Energy industry service provider Killick Group told the U.S. Supreme Court that the Fifth Circuit correctly considered a pipeline inspector an independent contractor because he had autonomy in his job, urging the justices to stay out of the worker's overtime case.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Inconsistent Injury-In-Fact Rules Hinder Federal Practice

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    A recent Third Circuit decision, contradicting a previous ruling about whether consumers of contaminated products have suffered an injury in fact, illustrates the deep confusion this U.S. Supreme Court standard creates among federal judges and practitioners, who deserve a simpler method of determining which cases have federal standing, says Eric Dwoskin at Dwoskin Wasdin.

  • Takeaways From Oral Argument In High Court Trademark Case

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    Unpacking oral arguments from Dewberry Group v. Dewberry Engineers, which the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on this year, sheds light on the ways in which the decision could significantly affect trademark infringement plaintiffs' ability to receive monetary damages, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.

  • In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege

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    Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.

  • 4 Potential Effects Of 3rd Circ.'s Coinbase Ruling

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    The Third Circuit's recent landmark decision in Coinbase v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the SEC's refusal to engage in rulemaking to clarify its stance on crypto enforcement was "insufficiently reasoned" could have wide-ranging impacts, including on other cases, legislation and even the SEC's reputation itself, says Daniel Payne at Cole-Frieman.

  • Disability Ruling Guides On Cases With Uncertain Causation

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    In Dime v. MetLife, a Washington federal court’s recent ruling in favor of a disability claimant instructs both claimants and insurers on the appropriate standard for establishing and making a disability determination when there is limited medical evidence explaining the disability’s cause, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • National Bank Act Rulings Facilitate More Preemption Analysis

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    Two recent National Bank Act preemption decisions from an Illinois federal court and the Ninth Circuit provide the first applications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s May ruling in Cantero v. Bank of America, opening the potential for several circuit courts to address the issue this year, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • Opinion

    New DOJ Leaders Should Curb Ill-Conceived Prosecutions

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    First-of-their-kind cases have seemingly led to a string of overly aggressive prosecutions in recent years, so newly sworn-in leaders of the U.S. Department of Justice should consider creating reporting channels to stop unwise prosecutions before they snowball, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Opinion

    Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay

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    Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.

  • What Justices' FLSA Ruling Means For 2-Step Collective Cert.

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in EMD Sales v. Carrera may have sounded the death knell for the decades-old two-step process to certify collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which could lead more circuits to require a preponderance of the evidence showing that members are similarly situated, says Steven Katz at Constangy.

  • Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example

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    Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

  • SEC Motion Response Could Reveal New Crypto Approach

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    Cumberland DRW recently filed to dismiss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement action against it for the unlawful purchase and sale of digital asset securities, and the agency's response should unveil whether, and to what extent, the Trump administration will relax the federal government’s stance on digital asset regulation, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • Perspectives

    Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines

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    KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.

  • Perspectives

    DC Circ. Cellphone Ruling Upends Law Enforcement Protocol

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    The D.C. Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Brown decision, holding that forcibly requiring a defendant to unlock his cellphone with his fingerprint violated the Fifth Amendment, has significant implications for law enforcement, and may provide an opportunity for defense lawyers to suppress electronic evidence, says Sarah Sulkowski at Gelber & Santillo.

  • The Post-Macquarie Securities Fraud-By-Omission Landscape

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 opinion in Macquarie v. Moab distinguished inactionable "pure omissions" from actionable "half-truths," the line between the two concepts in practice is still unclear, presenting challenges for lower courts parsing statements that often fall within the gray area of "misleading by omission," say attorneys at Katten.

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