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Appellate
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May 28, 2024
Guinness Brewer Beats Appeal In Whiskey Bottle TM Dispute
The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld a post-trial order requiring a spirits maker to redesign its bottles after a jury found they dilute Guinness beer maker Diageo's trademark rights for its own whiskey brand.
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May 28, 2024
Conn. Judge Asks If 'Sham' Exception Saves Stadium Fight
A Connecticut appellate judge asked Tuesday if a "sham" exception to limits on government contracting lawsuits can restore claims that the city of Hartford ran a fake bidding process for the redevelopment of Dillon Stadium, but counsel for several defendants pushed back and said it would not apply to the facts of the case.
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May 28, 2024
Biz Groups Back BofA In Merger Interest Tax Fight At 4th Circ.
Business groups told the Fourth Circuit on Tuesday that they supported Bank of America in its fight against a North Carolina federal court ruling that found the bank wasn't entitled to net the interest on the tax liabilities of Merrill Lynch after the two companies merged.
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May 28, 2024
Apple Denied Appeal Of Cert. In App Store Monopoly Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Friday rejected Apple's interlocutory appeal of an order certifying a class of millions of App Store users who allege antitrust violations, paving the way for discovery to proceed as the case heads toward a trial currently set for February 2026.
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May 28, 2024
FERC Wrong To Backtrack On Grid Project Plan, DC Circ. Told
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission unlawfully reversed course on a regional grid operator's plan to spread out the costs of transmission upgrade projects, unfairly saddling customers within certain areas with higher bills, two Kansas electricity cooperatives have told the D.C. Circuit.
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May 28, 2024
Beauty School Deserved Review Of License Loss, Panel Says
A Massachusetts esthetics and massage trade school that shut down earlier this year was entitled to a hearing before the state's Division of Occupational Licensure pulled its license over concerns about its financial stability, an intermediate level state appeals court found on Tuesday, reinstating several claims by Elizabeth Grady Face First against state regulators.
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May 28, 2024
Int'l Judge Pushes Back Against Russia Amicus Allegations
Prominent arbitrator and international Judge Charles Brower is pushing back against claims from the Kremlin that conflicts of interest should bar his amicus brief to the D.C. Circuit in support of Yukos Oil Co. shareholders' $50 billion arbitration enforcement.
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May 28, 2024
Del. Justices Say Interest Includes Prejudgment Interest
Delaware's top court ruled Tuesday that accrued interest on judgments must include prejudgment interest, in a ruling on a $36 million Delaware Superior Court jury verdict in February 2023 favoring institutional broker-adviser LCT Capital in a merger services dispute with NGL Energy Partners.
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May 28, 2024
Workplace Civil Rights Suit Gets Full Mich. High Court Hearing
The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to again consider whether employers can use contracts to limit the ability of aggrieved workers to sue, after hearing mini oral arguments last year, though two justices said they would not have advanced the case.
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May 28, 2024
$3.1B Satellite Deal Needs Justices' Review, Co. Says
A broker accusing Lockheed Martin and Airbus of cutting it from a $3.1 billion military satellite deal opposed the Biden administration's contention that a U.S. Supreme Court review isn't needed, saying the administration incorrectly focused on an underlying F-35 deal.
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May 28, 2024
Colo. Justices Say Actual Bias Not Needed To Recuse Judges
Colorado justices on Tuesday said that litigants don't need to prove actual bias to disqualify a judge but still need to get pretty close to that standard, finding a judge who was shot at in her car did not need to step down from a road rage case.
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May 28, 2024
Mich. Atty Can't Have Dominion Info, Pa. Court Told
Dominion Voting Systems told a Pennsylvania state court Tuesday that information copied from election machines as part of a county's fraud probe was "fruit of the poisonous tree" and can't be shared with a Michigan attorney who has been in hot water for allegedly accessing other states' machine data and releasing the privileged information.
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May 28, 2024
Head Of Judicial 'Progressive Powerhouse' To Step Down
Russ Feingold will step down next year as president of the American Constitution Society, which is a liberal counterpart to the Federalist Society.
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May 28, 2024
Tech Co. Says Houston Court Set Trial Despite Atty Vacations
A Kansas-based technology company has asked a Texas appellate court to push back a June trial date in Houston, writing that a trial court judge scheduled the proceeding despite being notified of vacation conflicts by multiple attorneys.
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May 28, 2024
Edwards Urges Full Fed. Circ. To Limit FDA Safe Harbor
Edwards Lifesciences has petitioned the full Federal Circuit to narrow its interpretation of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration safe harbor that essentially allows patent infringement during drug development, arguing that if Congress wanted the statute to be interpreted broadly, "it would have said exactly that."
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May 28, 2024
Ga. Law Firm Beats Sanctions Over Fatal Crash Mistrial
The Georgia Court of Appeals has thrown out sanctions against an Atlanta civil litigation law firm requiring the firm to pay more than $584,000 in attorney fees and costs for not uncovering a purported conflict that caused a mistrial in a fatal crash lawsuit, finding the trial court's decision was excessive and not supported by evidence.
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May 28, 2024
High Court Urged To Review NY Rent Law Challenge
Four interested third parties have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a suit challenging two 2019 changes to New York rental laws, arguing that high court intervention is needed to protect property rights across the country.
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May 28, 2024
Justices Won't Hear Avenatti Appeal Of Nike Conviction
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal from Michael Avenatti challenging his conviction for trying to extort millions from Nike, with the high court's rejection ending the disbarred attorney's chances at overturning one of his three criminal convictions.
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May 28, 2024
Deutsche Bank Wins Conn. Appeal In Battle With Billionaire
Deutsche Bank AG can continue to fight one prong of its sprawling, decade-long legal battle against billionaire Alexander Vik and his daughter as it seeks to satisfy a $243 million judgment rendered in the United Kingdom, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.
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May 28, 2024
Gorsuch Unhappy Court Won't Rethink Jury Size Precedent
In a strongly worded dissent Tuesday, Justice Neil Gorsuch said the U.S. Supreme Court needs to rethink precedent that "made the unthinkable a reality" by permitting juries of fewer than 12 people to decide cases involving serious criminal offenses.
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May 28, 2024
Fla. Health Co. Can't Nix Punitive Damages In Med Mal Suit
A Florida appeals court won't strike a bid for punitive damages in a suit alleging an Orlando Health surgeon botched an appendectomy, saying there's sufficient evidence to justify the claim and that the hospital network is liable for the surgeon's hiring and retention.
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May 28, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Touch IRS Bid For Tax Liability On Bookie
A bookie who pled guilty to helping run an illegal sports gambling ring out of Peru can't escape his ensuing $100,000 tax liability under a Ninth Circuit ruling that declined to expunge his conviction after he argued the taxes are disproportionately punishing.
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May 28, 2024
Justices Pass On Fight Over FERC Power Market Cap Rule
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review a D.C. Circuit decision backing the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's change of bidding practices for electricity capacity auctions run by PJM Interconnection, the nation's largest regional grid operator.
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May 28, 2024
High Court Won't Hear Case Over Fed. Circ.'s 1-Line Orders
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday shot down a bid for review from a businesswoman behind a small printing company challenging the Federal Circuit's practice of issuing one-sentence Rule 36 orders.
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May 28, 2024
High Court Won't Hear Pilot HOA's Rail Easement Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear a request from an Alaska homeowners association made up of pilots to review a Ninth Circuit decision giving a railroad control of an easement cutting into an airstrip for an airplane-centric subdivision.
Expert Analysis
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A 5th Circ. Lesson On Preserving Indemnification Rights
The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Raymond James & Associates v. Jalbert offers an important lesson for creditors and parties to indemnification agreements: If a debtor has indemnified a creditor, the creditor should consider participating in the bankruptcy case to avoid being deemed to have forfeited its indemnification rights, say Dania Slim and Alana Lyman at Pillsbury.
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ShapeShift Fine Epitomizes SEC's Crypto Policy, And Its Flaws
A recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission order imposing a fine on former cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift for failing to register as a securities dealer showcases the SEC's regulation-by-enforcement approach, but the dissent by two commissioners raises valid concerns that the agency's embrace of ambiguity over clarity risks hampering the growth of the crypto economy, says Keith Blackman at Bracewell.
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2nd Circ. Adviser Liability Ruling May Shape SEC Enforcement
The Second Circuit’s recent decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Rashid, applying basic negligence principles to reverse a finding of investment adviser liability, provides a road map for future fraud enforcement proceedings, says Elisha Kobre at Bradley Arant.
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In Bribery Case, High Court's Past Is Probably Prologue
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in Snyder v. U.S. on the issue of whether federal law criminalizes gratuities that are not tied to an explicit quid pro quo, and precedent strongly indicates the court will limit an expansive reading of the bribery statute, say attorneys Sami Azhari and Don Davidson.
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Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
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Direct Claims Ruling May Alter Gov't Ties To Software Firms
A recent Federal Circuit decision allowing a software developer to pursue legal action under the Contract Disputes Act could change the government's relationship with commercial software providers by permitting direct claims, even in third-party purchase situations, say Dan Ramish and Zach Prince at Haynes Boone.
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Payment Provision Lessons From NJ Construction Ruling
A New Jersey appellate court's decision in Bil-Jim v. Wyncrest, holding that an American Institute of Architects contract was not an installment contract, highlights both the complexities of statute of limitations calculations and the significant consequences that can arise from minor differences in contract language, say Mitchell Taraschi and Zac Brower at Connell Foley.
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The Fed. Circ. In February: A Reminder On Procedure Rule 28
Because the Federal Circuit does not often issue a sua sponte precedential order emphasizing an important rule of practice, it is useful to look at how the court applied the restrictions of appellate procedure Rule 28 in Promptu v. Comcast last month, and in cases that preceded it, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe Martens.
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SC Ruling Reinforces All Sums Coverage Trend
A South Carolina state court's recent ruling in Covil v. Pennsylvania National is the latest in a series of decisions, dating back to the 2016 New York Court of Appeals ruling in Viking Pump, that reject insurers' pro rata allocation argument, further supporting that all sums coverage is required whenever a loss could be covered under a policy in any other year, say Raymond Mascia and Thomas Dupont at Anderson Kill.
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A Defense Strategy For Addressing Copyright Fee-Shifting
Permissive fee-shifting under Section 505 of the Copyright Act poses unique challenges for copyright defendants, carrying an outsize impact on the economic incentive structure in copyright litigation, but relying on a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure may offer a potential solution by allowing defendants to recover attorney fees, say Hugh Marbury and Molly Shaffer at Cozen O'Connor.
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Opinion
Neb. Justices Should Weigh IRC Terms In Dividend Tax Case
Nebraska’s highest court, which will hear oral arguments in Precision CastParts v. Department of Revenue on April 1, should recognize that the Internal Revenue Code provides key clues to defining “dividends received or deemed to be received,” and therefore limits Nebraska’s tax on foreign-sourced corporate income, says Joseph Schmidt at Ryan.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Facts Differ But Same Rules Apply
Zachary Jacobson and Sarah Barney at Seyfarth examine two decisions illustrating that reliance on a technicality may not save an otherwise untimely appeal, and that enforcement of commercial terms and conditions under a federal supply schedule contract may be possible.
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Del. Supreme Court Insurance Ruling Aids In Defining 'Claim'
The recent Delaware Supreme Court decision in Zurich v. Syngenta, finding that a presuit letter did not constitute a claim for insurance purposes, sets out a three-factor test to help policyholders distinguish when a demand rises to the level of a claim, says Lara Langeneckert at Barnes & Thornburg.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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Judge-Shopping Policy Revisal May Make Issue Worse
The Judicial Conference at its March meeting unveiled a revised policy with the stated goal of limiting litigants’ ability to judge-shop in patent cases, but the policy may actually exacerbate the problem by tying the issue to judge-shopping in polarizing political cases, making reform more difficult, say Robert Niemeier and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.