Analysis

Knives Out For Another Pro-Agency Landmark After Chevron

By Jeff Overley

Only weeks after U.S. Supreme Court conservatives took a hatchet to the judicial deference shown to federal agencies, right-leaning lawyers are imploring the justices to rock the administrative law realm again by gutting a New Deal-era precedent at the heart of the modern regulatory system.

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Analysis

Labor Dept. ESG Rule May Survive Chevron's Demise

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Fifth Circuit recently overturned a ruling that relied on the now-defunct doctrine of Chevron deference to uphold a U.S. Department of Labor rule covering socially conscious retirement plan investing, but some experts believe the rule has a good chance at surviving — even with the precedent off the books.

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4th Circ. Says Bad Jury Instructions Gave J&J Win In Mesh Suit

By Mike Curley

The Fourth Circuit has vacated a judgment in Ethicon Inc. and Johnson & Johnson's favor in a suit from a woman alleging Ethicon's pelvic mesh was defective, saying a federal judge was wrong to limit her expert's opinion based on the so-called elimination mandate.

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Split 2nd Circ. Keeps Zantac Suits In Conn. State Court

By Ryan Harroff

A split Second Circuit panel on Tuesday allowed nine consolidated suits over carcinogens in heartburn medication Zantac to remain in Connecticut state court, with the majority ruling that the cases' consolidation is not enough to open up federal jurisdiction.

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After Trump Attack, GOP Presses DOJ On Justices' Security

By Hannah Albarazi

Two Republican U.S. House representatives pressed the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday for information on security measures protecting court officers, warning that limitations on the U.S. Marshals Service's authority to arrest protesters near justices' homes are "dangerous and misguided," especially after former President Donald Trump's attempted assassination.

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Senate Dems Roll Out Bill To Codify Chevron Deference

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., led a group of Democratic senators Tuesday in introducing a bill to codify the now-defunct doctrine of Chevron deference after it was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court last month.

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The Biggest Trademark Rulings Of 2024: A Midyear Report

By Ivan Moreno

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a California attorney's arguments that registering "Trump Too Small" as a trademark constituted speech protected by the First Amendment, and a split Ninth Circuit concluded district courts have the power to cancel trademark applications during litigation. Here's a look at some of the most notable trademark decisions so far this year.

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Rising Star: Perkins Coie's Michael Huston

By MJ Koo

Perkins Coie LLP's Michael Huston was a lead attorney on the team that helped the Boy Scouts of America persuade the U.S. Supreme Court that a delay of its bankruptcy plan, which a small group of childhood sexual assault survivors sought, would negatively affect both the organization and the survivor community, earning him a spot among the appellate law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

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Red States Seek High Court Stay Of EPA Power Plant Rule

By Keith Goldberg

Dozens of red states Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to block implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule curbing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, four days after the D.C. Circuit rejected a stay request.

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EPA Says High Court's Chevron Ruling Doesn't Doom Air Rule

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday told the Fifth Circuit that a U.S. Supreme Court decision eliminating judges' obligation to defer to federal agencies in rulemaking litigation does not impact its decision to reject states' ozone air pollution plans.

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Ex-Raytheon Worker Asks High Court To Take Up Firing Suit

By Emilie Ruscoe

A former employee of defense contractor Raytheon asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse his ouster from the company, arguing that the Fifth Circuit's finding that he shouldn't be reinstated set up a circuit split.

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Cornell Tells High Court Not To Touch Workers' ERISA Suit

By Emmy Freedman

Cornell University urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to take up a class action accusing it of mismanaging its employees' retirement savings, saying it shouldn't disturb a Second Circuit ruling that found the workers leading the suit failed to show that Cornell's payments to its service providers involved self-dealing.

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5-Hour Energy Partner Owes No Tax On Sale, DC Circ. Says

By Anna Scott Farrell

The D.C. Circuit found Tuesday that a Canadian citizen's $6.5 million in gains from her sale of a U.S. partnership interest in a company that sold 5-hour Energy drinks was not federally taxable as inventory income, reversing a U.S. Tax Court ruling.

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Stay Of Power Plant Mercury Rule Unwarranted, EPA Says

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, joined by states, cities and public health and environmental groups, is urging the D.C. Circuit not to block a new rule tightening standards for mercury and other toxic metal emissions from some coal-fired power plants.

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Sonos Tells Fed. Circ. 100K Patents At Risk If Google Prevails

By Andrew Karpan

Wireless audio brand Sonos has warned the Federal Circuit that a federal judge's decision to scrap its jury win in a $32.5 million patent case against Google means that "about 100,000 patents are vulnerable."

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Full Fed. Circ. Won't Undo TD Ameritrade's One-Word IP Win

By Dorothy Atkins

The full Federal Circuit on Monday denied a patent owner's en banc rehearing petition challenging a one-word ruling in favor of stockbroker TD Ameritrade in a high-stakes patent fight and effectively rejected an amicus party's legal challenge to the court's rule allowing one-word affirmance decisions.

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Fed. Circ. Gives Netflix 2nd Chance To Challenge Broadcom IP

By Dani Kass

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board must reconsider Netflix's petitions challenging the validity of a Broadcom unit's software performance monitoring patent, the Federal Circuit held Tuesday, finding flaws in the board's refusal to invalidate claims. 

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2nd Circ. Backs Project Veritas Search Tied To Stolen Diary

By Elliot Weld

The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a district court's rejection of claims of journalistic privilege by Project Veritas' founder and two others at the activist group as they sought to shield documents seized under search warrants in connection with the stolen diary of President Joe Biden's daughter Ashley Biden.

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Chemours Loses 3rd Circ. Fight Over EPA Water Advisories

By P.J. D'Annunzio

In a precedential ruling Tuesday, the Third Circuit shot down Chemours Co.'s challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's health advisories over chemicals in drinking water, finding that the advisories couldn't be reviewed by a court.

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EPA Tells 5th Circ. Louisiana Can't Stall Chemical Regulation

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says the Fifth Circuit cannot decide whether a Louisiana regulator can give a neoprene maker an extra two years to comply with a federal chemical rule because the issue is already before the D.C. Circuit.

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Texas Judge Says SpaceX Will Likely Win NLRB Challenge

By Emily Brill

A Texas federal judge explained Tuesday why he blocked a case against SpaceX from proceeding before the National Labor Relations Board, saying he thinks the company is likely to win its constitutional challenge to the agency's structure.

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6th Circ. Vows Careful Immunity Take In Prof's Retaliation Suit

By Vin Gurrieri

The Sixth Circuit wrestled Tuesday with whether six University of Louisville officials were each rightly denied immunity from a former professor's suit alleging he was unconstitutionally pushed out because of his views on treating childhood gender dysphoria, with one judge promising meticulous assessments of each defendant.

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6th Circ. Affirms Insurer's Early Win In Hail Damage Suit

By Jennifer Mandato

A welding company wasn't owed coverage for roof damage caused by wind and a hailstorm, the Sixth Circuit ruled, finding that a lower court didn't err in ruling that a cosmetic-damage exclusion in its policy precludes the damage at issue.

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6th Circ. Judge Doubts Cover-Up Part Of Fire Chief's Job

By Danielle Ferguson

A Sixth Circuit judge on Tuesday said he found it hard to believe a Michigan mayor could avoid an ex-fire chief's retaliation suit by claiming the chief's refusal to follow a directive to cover up firefighters' alleged misconduct was part of his job description.

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Feds Urge 6th Circ. To Affirm Pharma Owner's Fraud Sentence

By Kat Lucero

The Sixth Circuit should affirm a district court's fraud convictions, nearly five-year sentence and $7 million restitution order against an Ohio pharmaceutical salesman who underreported his income to reduce his tax liability in a multimillion-dollar scheme involving bogus insurance billings, the federal government said.

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7th Circ. Affirms Ruling Mining Co. Flouted Labor Law

By Rae Ann Varona

The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday backed the National Labor Relations Board's ruling that a mining company violated federal labor law by unilaterally barring employees from clocking in more than five minutes before their shift, but it denied a union's bid to extend the violation to strike replacements.

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7th Circ. Says Ex-Officer's Offensive Posts Not Protected

By Patrick Hoff

The Seventh Circuit refused Tuesday to reopen a former officer's lawsuit alleging the Illinois Department of Corrections unlawfully suspended him for 10 days because of Islamophobic social media posts, finding the agency's need for order outweighed his interest in publicly expressing his opinions.

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Farm Owner Must Boost Taxable Income, 8th Circ. Told

By Anna Scott Farrell

An Arkansas company that leases farmland must raise its reported income by $230,000 because it failed to get permission from the IRS to change its accounting method, the U.S. told the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday in asking it to uphold a U.S. Tax Court ruling.

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9th Circ. Denies Woman's Derivative US Citizenship Claim

By Rae Ann Varona

A Mexican woman facing deportation cannot claim to be a U.S. citizen despite her mother's naturalization, a split Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, saying her father's voluntary acknowledgment of paternity thwarted her citizenship claim.

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Microsoft Calls FTC Price Hike Claims 'Misleading' At 9th Circ

By Rachel Riley

Microsoft pushed back against the Federal Trade Commission's contention that an increase in the company's gaming subscription pricing is evidence of the anticompetitive effects of the software giant's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc., calling the commission out for trying to "reinvent" its case against the merger on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

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11th Circ. Should Uphold Tax Court Protection, IRS Says

By Anna Scott Farrell

The Eleventh Circuit should uphold a U.S. Tax Court ruling that denied a widow tax relief and also rejected her claim that Tax Court judges have unconstitutional job protection, the Internal Revenue Service told the circuit court.

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NY Judge OKs Public Disclosure In Atty Misconduct Cases

By Andrea Keckley

A New York federal judge ruled Monday that the First Amendment does allow those who filed grievances against attorneys to access disciplinary hearings before the Appellate Division's Second Judicial Department, records related to those hearings and some of the grievance committee's final dispositions.

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No Victims, No Fraud, Trump Says In $465M Judgment Appeal

By Carolina Bolado

Donald Trump has appealed the $465 million judgment against him, arguing that the New York attorney general exceeded her authority in her civil fraud suit against the former president because the statute in question does not apply to victimless transactions.

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Calif. Justices Lower Bar For Emotional Distress Damages

By Y. Peter Kang

The California Supreme Court effectively made it easier for plaintiffs to sue for emotional distress damages by concluding Monday that close relatives of an injured party need not be immediately aware of potential negligence at the time they witness the injury-causing incident.

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Amazon Fights To Arbitrate Sellers' Misclassification Claims

By Bonnie Eslinger

Amazon urged a California appellate panel on Tuesday to compel arbitration for individual claims from two sellers accusing the online retailer of misclassifying them as independent contractors, and to direct the trial court to toss their representative claims under the state's Private Attorneys General Act.

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Atty Argues Fla. Ethics Charges Are 1st Amendment Attacks

By Emily Johnson

A Georgia-based attorney is fighting accusations from the Florida Bar that he disparaged an opponent running for 20th Judicial Circuit state attorney in 2018, arguing that the bar's bid to suspend his Florida law license is a violation of his First Amendment rights because it would punish him for protected speech.

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Tesla Crash Victim's Parents Urge Fla. Top Court To Allow Depos

By David Minsky

The father of a Florida teenager killed in a Tesla Model S crash in 2018 has urged the state's high court to review a lower court's orders quashing depositions of company CEO Elon Musk and another executive, saying the orders directly conflict with Florida case law.

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Pa. Justices Will Hear Pittsburgh's Appeal For Its 'Jock Tax'

By Jaqueline McCool

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has accepted the city of Pittsburgh's request to review a lower court decision that ended the city's fee on nonresident professional athletes, also known as the jock tax, the court said.

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NC's $500K Med Mal Damages Cap Faces Fight

By Travis Bland

A patient who obtained a $7.5 million jury verdict in her case against a North Carolina doctor over the loss of her unborn baby is challenging the constitutionality of the Tar Heel State's cap on compensatory damages in medical negligence suits.

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Arbitrator On Pain Meds Didn't End Dispute, Ga. Panel Says

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Court of Appeals vacated an arbitration award in an inheritance dispute between siblings after finding the award failed to resolve a "significant dispute" related to the alleged withdrawal and misuse of escrow funds.

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Mich. Justices Urged To Curb Suit-Restricting Job Contracts

By Carolyn Muyskens

A fired caregiver has told the Michigan Supreme Court that employers should not be able to contractually limit employees' time to sue, arguing that job-seekers who sign such contracts are often in a vulnerable position and forced to accept unfair terms.

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Wash. Justices Decline 9th Circ. Request in Uber Murder Case

By Greg Lamm

Washington State's Supreme Court has declined to answer a certified question from the Ninth Circuit over whether Uber Technologies Inc. had a duty to use reasonable care to protect one of its drivers who was murdered in a carjacking.

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Ariz. Justices OK Use Of Power Deal In Plant's Valuation

By Sanjay Talwani

An Arizona power plant's income from a power purchase agreement may be considered in the income analysis of the valuation of the property, the state Supreme Court said, sending the matter back to the state tax court.

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Colo. Judges Want Clarity On When Moot Cases Need Rulings

By Daniel Ducassi

Colorado appellate judges on Tuesday pushed a popular ski town to define what makes a case of "great public importance," as a major resort company argued its land fight with the town is weighty enough that the judges should rule even if the actual dispute is now moot.

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Judge Doubts CenturyLink Can Block Borrowed Allegations

By Thy Vo

A Colorado Court of Appeals panel Tuesday pressed an attorney for CenturyLink on why a shareholder can't use allegations borrowed from other cases in his own securities suit against the telecommunications company, with one judge saying that requiring plaintiff's counsel to speak to every witness would be going overboard.

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'Surface Water' Stumps Mass. Justices In Loss For Insurers

By Chris Villani

The top court in Massachusetts on Tuesday ruled in favor of a hospital seeking insurance coverage stemming from a severe rainstorm, saying it's unclear if water that pooled on the hospital's roof should be considered "surface water" that would trigger policy limits on flood damage.

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Series

After Chevron: Uncertainty In Scope Of ITC Oversight

The U.S. International Trade Commission's long-standing jurisprudence on some of the most disputed and controversial issues is likely to be reshaped by the Federal Circuit, which is no longer bound by Chevron deference in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, say Kecia Reynolds and Madeleine Moss at Paul Hastings.

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Chevron's End Puts Target On CFPB's Aggressive BNPL Rule

A recent interpretative rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, subjecting buy-now, pay-later loans to the same regulations as credit cards, is unlikely to survive post-Chevron challenges of the rule's partisan and shaky logic, say Scott Pearson and Bryan Schneider at Manatt.

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Half-Truths Vs. Omissions: Slicing Justices' Macquarie Cake

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Macquarie v. Moab provides a road map for determining whether corporate reports that omit information should be considered misleading — and the court baked it into a dessert analogy that is key to understanding the guidelines, say Daniel Levy and Pavithra Kumar at Advanced Analytical Consulting Group.

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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

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NALP Says Pandemic Hasn't Hindered 2020 Law Grads

By Lauren Berg

Despite entering the workforce during a pandemic, most 2020 law school graduates are thriving, with high rates of employment and a dip in educational debt, but some still feel negative effects on their mental health, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Association for Law Placement Inc.

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Analysis

Where Biden Stands On Judicial Noms Compared To Trump

By Courtney Bublé

With President Joe Biden now set to be a one-term president, it appears he can match President Donald Trump's record on district court nominees, but it's not likely he will on nominees to circuit courts.

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Dentons Brings On Former Big 4 Exec As New Global CEO

By Aebra Coe

Global law firm Dentons, which has made a name for itself by aggressive growth through combinations, has tapped a new global chief executive officer with leadership experience at accounting giant EY, the firm's first change at the top in over a decade.

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Mintz Reelects Bodian To Final Term As Managing Member

By Tracey Read

Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC announced Wednesday that Bob Bodian, who was already the longest-serving managing member in the firm's 91-year history, has been elected to a sixth and final three-year term.

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Jenner & Block Wants Out Of COVID Vax Refusal Firing Suit

By Katryna Perera

Jenner & Block LLP has asked an Illinois federal judge to toss a former employee's claims that she was fired after being denied a religious exemption from the firm's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, saying she didn't do enough to spell out her religious beliefs or how they conflict with the vaccine.

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Solicitor General Warns Against Feds 'Winning At All Costs'

By Dorothy Atkins

U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar underscored the importance of the federal government ensuring justice is served and not "winning at all costs" during a keynote speech Wednesday at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, defending the DOJ's changed position in a high court case concerning a criminal defendant's right to a jury trial.

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Watchdog Clears DOJ In 'Unusual' Roger Stone Sentencing

By Phillip Bantz

The Justice Department did not bow to political pressure to push for a more lenient sentence for former President Donald Trump's longtime adviser Roger Stone, but the way in which the department handled the sentencing was "highly unusual" and the result of a U.S. attorney's poor leadership, according to a watchdog report released Wednesday.

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Atty Can't Deduct Car Racing Costs As Ads, US Tells 10th Circ.

By Anna Scott Farrell

A personal injury lawyer who also races cars shouldn't be allowed to deduct about $300,000 for racing-related costs as ordinary business advertising expenses because they're unrelated to his law practice, the U.S. government told the Tenth Circuit on Wednesday.

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Pa. Judge Won't 'Chase' Deadline-Flouting ADA Case Attys

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday told attorneys in an Americans with Disabilities Act case against Tommy Bahama that he wasn't going to "chase" lawyers flouting scheduling orders, warning that the consequences might hurt more than just complying with the plan.

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Parts Of Klehr Harrison Bills Not Privileged, Pa. Panel Finds

By Emily Sawicki

Pennsylvania journalists can view the subject lines of invoice requests sent to the Pennsylvania Office of General Counsel by outside law firms, including Klehr Harrison, with a state appeals court panel determining the information falls under the state's Right-to-Know Law and is not privileged, nor is it protected by a court order.

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Harvard Vow To Tackle Antisemitism Can't Nix Suit, Court Told

By Julie Manganis

Harvard University's arguments to dismiss claims it fails to protect Jewish students from antisemitic intimidation and threats boil down to telling the plaintiffs "cool your jets" while the school tries to address the issue, a lawyer for the students told a Massachusetts federal judge Wednesday.

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Legal Tech Co.'s $1.3M Data Privacy Deal Gets OK'd

By Andrea Keckley

A Kansas federal judge granted preliminary approval to a proposed $1.3 million settlement between a data and professional services company catering to law firms and a class of thousands of its customers and employees, who said their personal information was stolen in a March 2023 data breach that exposed 200 gigabytes of sensitive information.

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Ex-McElroy Deutsch Exec Says Ch. 11 Doesn't Pause Claims

By Emily Lever

A former McElroy Deutsch executive told a New Jersey state court that just because her husband — former McElroy Deutsch chief financial officer John Dunlea — has filed for bankruptcy does not mean she needs to pause her claims against the firm for discrimination and retaliation.

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SF DA Sued By Staffer Fired Over 'Panties' Reply-All Snafu

By Bonnie Eslinger

A San Francisco District Attorney's Office staffer who says he was fired after accidentally sending a risqué reply-all email at work has filed a state court lawsuit accusing his former boss and the county of defamation and standing in the way of his getting future employment.

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Series

Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

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Series

After Chevron: Slowing Down AI In Medical Research

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision overturning the Chevron doctrine may inhibit agencies' regulatory efforts, potentially slowing down the approval and implementation of artificial intelligence-driven methodologies in medical research, as well as regulators' responses to public health emergencies, say Ragini Acharya and Matthew Deutsch at Husch Blackwell.

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