Analysis

Justices' Ghost Gun Decision Worrisome Win For Gun Control

By Y. Peter Kang

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision upholding a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives rule restricting so-called ghost gun kits is a clear-cut win for gun control proponents, but experts said it also signals a problematic shift to a supervisory role for the courts.

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Supreme Court Backs FDA Block Of Flavored Vapes

By Sam Reisman

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday overruled a determination that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration acted arbitrarily when it rejected an e-cigarette company's applications to market flavored vape products.

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Justices Broaden RICO Reach To Personal Injuries

By Sam Reisman

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday expanded the type of civil actions that can be brought under a federal racketeering statute, asserting that claims stemming from personal injuries are redressable if they can be shown to have caused economic harm.

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Sotomayor Seems Wary Of 'Magic Words' For Medicaid Rights

By Hayley Fowler

The U.S. Supreme Court's liberal bloc on Wednesday bristled at the notion that "magic words" were necessary to cement a public insurance program recipient's right to sue, suggesting that a private right of action is inherent in the Medicaid Act's provider choice provision.

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'Zero Support In The Bar': Judiciary Downsizes Amicus Project

By Jeff Overley

Faced with wide-ranging opposition and potential constitutional challenges, federal judiciary advisers Wednesday sharply scaled back plans to strengthen scrutiny of amicus briefs, a retreat that won praise from disparate corners of the legal industry.

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Man To Plead Guilty To Justice Kavanaugh Murder Attempt

By Katie Buehler

A California man charged with attempting to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has agreed to plead guilty and forgo a trial originally scheduled for this summer, according to Maryland federal court filings Wednesday.

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DC Circ. To Hear Trump Admin's Bid To Stay CFPB Injunction

By Jon Hill

A D.C. Circuit panel said Wednesday that it will hold a hearing next week on whether to stay a federal judge's order barring the Trump administration from shutting down the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, taking up what has also become a jurisdictional dispute.

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Jailed IRS Leaker Says Judge 'Predetermined' Sentence

By Anna Scott Farrell

The IRS contractor imprisoned for leaking thousands of tax returns, including those of President Donald Trump, to national media outlets asked the D.C. Circuit to rescind his sentence, saying a federal judge held off-the-record meetings that revealed her determination to deliver the maximum punishment.

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5 Fed. Circ. Clashes To Watch This Month

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit will hear arguments this month in patent cases involving Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine and a blockbuster Johnson & Johnson schizophrenia drug, and the court will itself be the subject of a case at another appeals court as Judge Pauline Newman seeks to end her suspension.

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Fed. Circ. Partly Revives Website Patent Suit Against GoDaddy

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday revived Express Mobile's claims that website hosting platform GoDaddy infringes a pair of patents covering ways to build a website, but refused to undo a finding that GoDaddy didn't infringe a trio of other patents.

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Kove Wants Fed. Circ. To Back $673M IP Win Against Amazon

By Andrew Karpan

Software company Kove IO Inc. is defending a $673 million judgment it secured against Amazon in Illinois federal court last year, contesting Amazon's argument on appeal that the figure was won using cloud data storage patents that should be invalidated.

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1st Circ. Says Judge Too Hasty In Handing SEC $93M Win

By Julie Manganis

The First Circuit on Tuesday vacated a $93 million judgment against a Massachusetts-based financial services firm, finding the lower court jumped the gun in granting an early win to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Brief

Norfolk Southern Investors Appeal Train Derailment Ruling

By Jessica Corso

Shareholders of railroad operator Norfolk Southern Corp. have gone to the Second Circuit seeking to revive a proposed class action accusing the company of making false claims about its commitment to safety ahead of a 2023 derailment and toxic chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio.

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3rd Circ. Says CVS Sex Bias Arbitration Fight Needs 2nd Look

By Anne Cullen

The Third Circuit on Wednesday rejected a former CVS worker's argument that a 2022 federal law shielded her sex harassment case from mandatory arbitration, but it revived her suit to give the trial court a chance to explore whether the arbitration pact at issue was valid.

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Law Profs Back Cert. Reversal In Boeing Stock-Drop Fight

By Ryan Harroff

Law professors and former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officials urged the Fourth Circuit to undo class certification for Boeing investors who accused the company of overstating the safety of its 737 Max fleet, calling the certification order a "master class" in misinterpreting precedent.

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5th Circ. Asks If Miss. Discount Drug Law Is Constitutional

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel struggled to untangle a Mississippi state law requiring drugmakers to distribute products to pharmacies at a discount, asking Wednesday whether the law unconstitutionally deprives drugmakers of their right to decide what they do with their property.

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5th Circ. Presses Jackson, Miss., About Lead Levels In Water

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel pressed the city of Jackson, Mississippi, about its allegedly slipshod handling of lead contamination in city drinking water during oral arguments Wednesday, with one judge saying city officials seemingly "very artfully avoided" questions about poisoned drinking water to skirt culpability.

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6th Circ. Upholds Convictions In Whitmer Kidnap Plot

By Elliot Weld

A panel of the Sixth Circuit affirmed the convictions of two men for participating in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, rejecting several arguments challenging the sufficiency of the government's evidence and the trial judge's decisions.

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Pipe Inspector's Pay Wasn't A Salary, 6th Circ. Rules

By Irene Spezzamonte

An employment agency didn't calculate a pipe inspector's pay on a salary basis but rather calculated his compensation daily, a split Sixth Circuit panel ruled, flipping a Tennessee federal court's decision deeming him overtime-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

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'You Sound Like Tobacco Cos.,' 9th Circ. Judge Tells Tech Atty

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit judge expressed doubts Wednesday about a tech trade group's effort to preliminarily block California from enforcing a new law barring platforms from using algorithms to deliver addictive feeds to children, telling the group's counsel that social media might be worse than a carcinogen and "you sound like the tobacco companies."

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9th Circ. Doubts Bang Energy Founder's $272M Verdict Appeal

By Rachel Scharf

A Ninth Circuit panel expressed skepticism Wednesday about an attempt to undo Monster Beverage Corp.'s $272 million false advertising trial win against the founder of Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc., the now-defunct company behind Bang Energy drinks.

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9th Circ. Gives Ex-CoreLogic Worker 2nd Shot At 401(k) Suit

By Grace Elletson

The Ninth Circuit revived a suit Wednesday from a former CoreLogic worker who claimed the company stacked its retirement plan with costly and underperforming investment funds, ruling a district judge erred by tossing the case rather than giving the ex-worker a chance to revise his complaint.

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Bidi Vapor Says FDA Denial Of E-Cig Was Unlawful

By Carolina Bolado

Vape company Bidi Vapor LLC urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to reverse a U.S. Food and Drug Administration decision denying its application to market a disposable e-cigarette, saying the agency acted unlawfully and ignored evidence the company presented.

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Spanish Co. Says No Federal Jurisdiction In Finder's Fee Spat

By Carolina Bolado

Spanish company Delclaux Partners SA on Wednesday urged the Eleventh Circuit to vacate its loss in a dispute with Texas-based satellite technology company AST & Science LLC, arguing the federal district court never had jurisdiction over the simple breach of contract dispute.

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Retired Calif. Judges Unlikely To Revive Age Bias Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California appellate court tentatively ruled against seven retired California state court judges accusing California's Judicial Council of age discrimination due to rules limiting the time retired judges can spend on temporary assignments, saying plaintiffs haven't shown a statistically significant impact to judges over 70, among other concerns.

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Calif. Panel Questions Hacking Case Against Ex-Prosecutor

By Rachel Scharf

A California appeals panel probed Wednesday whether criminal charges were properly brought against a former top prosecutor at the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office for improperly using confidential sheriff's deputy files, with one judge observing that the case applies an "awfully broad understanding" of a hacking statute.

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Cal State Again Escapes Professor's Reimbursement Suit

By Emmy Freedman

California State University does not have to foot the bill for the computer a biology professor purchased at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a state panel said, finding the state's Legislature intended for public entity employers to be exempt from laws mandating workers be reimbursed for business expenses.

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Fla. Panel Finds Rehab Center Owed Duty To Released Patient

By David Minsky

A Florida state appellate court on Wednesday ruled that a Miami substance abuse treatment facility owed a duty of care to an involuntarily committed patient who was discharged for rule violations and later died of an overdose, finding the manner in which he was released went against regulations.

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Fla. High Court Told Condo's Irma Claim Redo Lacked Key Info

By David Minsky

An insurance company told the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday that a Miami condominium's reopened claim for damage caused by Hurricane Irma wasn't sufficient to trigger a supplemental claim, arguing that state law required additional information regarding the initial loss.

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Yom Kippur Claim Can't Ax $4M Med Mal Award, Panel Says

By Cara Salvatore

The Pennsylvania Superior Court refused Wednesday to overturn a $4 million trial judgment against an osteopathic physician over a patient's heart attack, saying the doctor waited "until the eleventh hour" to request a Yom Kippur trial continuance that was denied.

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Ex-Bank VP's Defamation Claims Dismissed By NJ Panel

By Carla Baranauckas

A former Pennsylvania bank vice president's claims of retaliation, defamation and trade libel were properly tossed by a New Jersey trial court that found the bank's statement that she had engaged in criminal behavior was substantially true even though she was never convicted of a crime, a state appellate panel said in a published opinion.

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No-Fault Tolling Not Retroactive, Mich. Justices Say

By Danielle Ferguson

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that an element of no-fault reforms pausing the one-year rule for recovery of personal injury protection benefits until an insurer formally issues a denial is not retroactive, finding the Legislature didn't clearly add retroactive language and that applying the provision to preamendment claims would impose new obligations on insurers.  

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Mich. Justices Say Pot Smell Not Enough For Police Search

By Carolyn Muyskens

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the odor of marijuana alone cannot justify a warrantless vehicle search, overturning case law that dated from a time when using the drug was a crime in the Great Lakes State.

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Mich. Justices Say 18-Year-Old Lifers Must Be Resentenced

By Carolyn Muyskens

People in Michigan serving mandatory life sentences with no chance of parole for offenses they committed as 18-year-olds are entitled to resentencing because such punishments are unconstitutional, regardless of when they were sentenced, the state's highest court said Tuesday. 

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Dish Says No Grounds For Cell Tower Co. To Toss Jury Verdict

By Thy Vo

Dish Wireless has urged the Colorado Court of Appeals to uphold a jury's verdict finding it didn't breach a cell tower lease deal by failing to pay millions in extra rent, arguing the cell tower company can't show its reading of the lease is the only reasonable one.

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Mo. Court Finds Ambiguity Could Permit Virus Coverage

By Elizabeth Daley

A vacation rental company may be entitled to coverage for pandemic-related losses from one insurer, a Missouri intermediate appellate court held, finding that an exception conflicting with an exclusion created ambiguity in favor of the insured, while upholding no-coverage rulings pertaining to other insurers.

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Alien Enemies Act Case Could Reshape Executive Power

President Donald Trump’s invocation of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan nationals raises fundamental questions about statutory interpretation, executive power and constitutional structure, which now lay on the U.S. Supreme Court's doorstep, says Mauni Jalali at Quinn Emanuel.

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An Update On IPR Issue Preclusion In District Court Litigation

Two recent Federal Circuit rulings have resolved a district court split regarding issue preclusion based on Patent Trial and Appeal Board outcomes, potentially counseling petitioners in favor of challenging not only all the claims of an asserted patent, but also related patents that have not yet been raised in district court, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

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Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Leadership To BigLaw

The move from government service to private practice can feel like changing one’s identity, but as someone who has left the U.S. Department of Justice twice, I’ve learned that a successful transition requires patience, effort and the realization that the rewards of practicing law don’t come from one particular position, says Richard Donoghue at Pillsbury.

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Milbank Latest To Ink Trump Deal To Avoid Executive Order

By Anna Sanders

Milbank LLP became the fourth firm to strike a deal with President Donald Trump in the wake of a series of executive orders targeting BigLaw, pledging on Wednesday to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal work supported by the administration and to refrain from what the White House deems discriminatory and "illegal" diversity hiring.

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Holland & Knight Opens In Seattle With 16 Karr Tuttle Attys

By Tracey Read

Holland & Knight LLP has opened a Seattle office with 10 partners and six associates from Karr Tuttle Campbell that will be led by former Davis Wright Tremaine LLP managing partner Scott MacCormack, the firm announced Wednesday.

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Perkins Coie Urges Court To End To Trump's 'Assault' On Firm

By Hailey Konnath

Perkins Coie LLP on Wednesday asked a D.C. federal judge to permanently block enforcement of President Donald Trump's "unconstitutional assault" on the firm and the rule of law, filing a summary judgment bid the same day the federal government pushed for the firm's suit to be tossed.

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Ex-Kirkland Atty To Drop Bias Suit, Appeal Atty Firing Ruling

By James Mills

A former Kirkland & Ellis LLP intellectual property associate is expected to drop her claims against the law firm and related defendants, while also appealing a ruling that precluded her from firing her attorney in the case, the parties told a California federal court Tuesday.

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Kramer Levin DC Leaders Head To Hogan Lovells With Team

By Jack Rodgers

A quartet of former Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP attorneys, two of whom helped co-lead the firm's Washington, D.C., office and held other leadership roles, have moved their broad commercial litigation practice to Hogan Lovells, the firm announced Wednesday.

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Feds Drop FCPA Case Against Ex-Cognizant Execs

By Carla Baranauckas

The federal government on Wednesday moved to dismiss its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case against two former Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. executives, ending a long-running case that had been stalled by President Donald Trump's executive order curtailing bribery prosecutions and another now-rescinded presidential decree targeting Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, which had been representing one of the defendants.

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Eric Adams Case Dismissed As Judge Rebukes DOJ 'Bargain'

By Frank G. Runyeon

A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday permanently dismissed corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, heeding advice from court-appointed counsel Paul Clement even as he gave credence to district prosecutors' claims of a quid pro quo between Adams and Trump administration officials in the Justice Department.

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Ogletree Opens Kentucky Office With Boutique Attys

By Daniel Connolly

Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, a big law firm representing employers in labor and employment disputes, is opening a Lexington, Kentucky, office and has hired the two leaders of a Kentucky boutique law firm with experience in representing mining companies.

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When Can Attys Decide To Drop Clients? ABA Says It Depends

By Ryan Boysen

Lawyers can drop clients at will as long as doing so won't harm the client's legal objectives or needlessly drive up costs, according to new guidance by the American Bar Association — but the guidance also notes that "getting out of a matter can be a lot harder than getting in."

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American Airlines Taps Latham Atty As New Legal Chief

By Lynn LaRowe

American Airlines announced Wednesday that it has chosen a Latham & Watkins LLP partner to serve as the company's chief legal officer, effective May 5.

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Forum Shopping Debated At Nationwide Injunctions Hearing

By Courtney Buble

Legal experts gave varying testimony at a Senate hearing on Wednesday about how addressing forum shopping would remedy issues related to nationwide injunctions, which Republicans have been highly critical of due to the vast number issued against President Donald Trump's policies since he came into office.

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