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Appellate
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May 23, 2024
Split Ohio High Court Says Jury Must Mull Drilling Rights Row
A split Ohio Supreme Court unraveled a trial court ruling in favor of oil and gas rights owner Tera LLC that acted as the basis of a $40 million damages award against Gulfport Energy, reasoning Thursday that there is a "genuine issue of material fact" over the meaning of certain terms in parties' lease agreement.
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May 23, 2024
NC High Court Sees No DA Conflict In Cyberstalking Case
North Carolina's highest court ruled Thursday that a county prosecutor was improperly disqualified from a criminal case in which the alleged victim is a county manager, reasoning that the scenario didn't meet conflict-of-interest parameters established by the court's decades-old precedent.
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May 23, 2024
NC Justices Scrap Defamation Suit Against Holtzman Vogel
Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak PLLC is immune from defamation claims stemming from election protests the law firm helped file in 2016, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Thursday, rejecting what the justices characterized as a "baseless attempt" by voters to "constrict the absolute privilege's protections."
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May 23, 2024
UBH Urges 9th Circ. To Take Up Petition In Health Claim Fight
United Behavioral Health implored the Ninth Circuit to grant the insurance company's petition for appellate court intervention in a consolidated action alleging mismanagement of mental health and substance use disorder treatment claims, arguing a California federal court clearly erred by allowing further pleadings on a denial of benefits claim.
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May 23, 2024
Ga. Fights Disbarred Atty's Reinstatement Bid At 11th Circ.
Georgia's bar admissions office urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to reject a disbarred Georgia attorney's attempt to regain her law license, arguing that she asserted a hypothetical injury because she didn't have an application to the state's bar at the time she filed the operative complaint.
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May 23, 2024
US Drops Appeal Of Citigroup's $183M Tax Award At Fed. Circ.
The federal government agreed to stop fighting a ruling that awarded Citigroup $183 million in tax deductions for liabilities belonging to a failing bank it had acquired during the 1980s savings and loan crisis, according to an order Thursday by the Federal Circuit dismissing the appeal.
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May 23, 2024
High Court Urged To Rule On FCC Question In TCPA Dispute
A chiropractic practice group is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take another crack at the question of whether district courts must adhere to a Federal Communications Commission's legal interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, in a bid to revive its proposed class action against McKesson over junk faxes.
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May 23, 2024
5th Circ. Won't Fast-Track Challenge To DOL's OT Rule
The Fifth Circuit won't speed up a Dairy Queen franchisee's challenge to the U.S. Department of Labor's decision to increase the salary threshold for a Fair Labor Standards Act overtime exemption, turning down the entity and its owner's bid to expedite the appeal.
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May 23, 2024
Biden Names Judicial Nominees For 1st, 6th Circuits
President Joe Biden announced four new judicial nominees on Thursday, including picks for the First Circuit and the Sixth Circuit.
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May 23, 2024
Alex Jones Atty Escapes Suspension, For Now
The Connecticut Appellate Court on Thursday threw out the six-month suspension of Norm Pattis, the lead attorney in Infowars host Alex Jones' Sandy Hook Elementary School defamation trial, ordering new proceedings against the attorney for supervising the transmission of the victims' confidential records to other Jones lawyers.
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May 23, 2024
High Court Sides With Gov't Over Repeat Offender Sentencing
A state drug conviction can trigger a mandatory 15-year sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act if it involved a drug on the federal schedules at the time of that conviction, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
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May 23, 2024
High Court Rules Poor Evidence Doomed SC Map Challenge
The U.S. Supreme Court rebuked Thursday a federal judicial panel's finding that South Carolina Republicans unconstitutionally discriminated against Black voters when drawing the state's new congressional map, and established higher evidentiary standards for plaintiffs seeking to prove that race is the driving factor behind redistricting decisions.
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May 23, 2024
Wow Such Basic: Justices Back Crypto Fans In Dogecoin Duel
It's up to judges, not arbitrators, to figure out whether contracts between businesses and consumers have subtly superseded earlier agreements to hash out disputes in arbitration rather than litigation, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
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May 22, 2024
'Appeal To Heaven' Flag Flew At Alito's Vacation Home: Report
Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday called for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito to immediately recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election and face censure after The New York Times reported that flags tied to Donald Trump supporters had flown outside two homes owned by the justice in 2021 and again last year.
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May 22, 2024
Nursing Home Asks Ill. Justices For Broad COVID Immunity
An Illinois nursing home facing wrongful death suits over an outbreak of COVID-19 told the state's highest court Wednesday that plaintiffs were trying to have it "both ways," by claiming Gov. J.B. Pritzker's grant of pandemic-related immunity to healthcare facilities was both clear and ambiguous.
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May 22, 2024
Calif. Justices Debate Time To Sue To Change Insurer's Practices
A California state attorney urged the California Supreme Court on Thursday to revive a policyholder's Unfair Competition Law claim against State Farm, saying the law's four-year statute of limitation applies over an insurance law's one-year period because the policyholder is seeking a change to its claim-handling practices, not damages.
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May 22, 2024
Arizona Officials Spar Over Stay In Voting Rights Fight
Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is asking a federal district court to deny a bid by the state's top lawmakers and the Republican National Committee to pause a decision to bar provisions of voting legislation from being enforced, arguing that a change this close to an election would create confusion.
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May 22, 2024
Fla. Gaming Compact Contradicts Law, High Court Told
Two Florida casino operators seeking to undo a sports gaming compact between the state and the Seminole Tribe fired back at the federal government's claims that the agreement is legal, arguing that its language contradicts the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
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May 22, 2024
Conn. Judge Doubts Restaurant's Insurance Beef Is Stale
Connecticut's chief intermediate appellate court judge appeared skeptical Wednesday of Liberty Mutual Insurance Co.'s position that a restaurant is barred from suing over the denial of coverage for a worker's hand injury, suggesting that previous litigation over the worker's compensation policy has no bearing on the current suit.
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May 22, 2024
Feds And Enviro Groups Fight Utah Counties' High Court Bid
The United States, a Colorado county and five environmental groups are fighting a bid by a coalition of Utah counties to win a U.S. Supreme Court review of a D.C. Circuit decision revoking federal approval of a rail line to transport crude oil from the state.
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May 22, 2024
Monsanto's Appellate Win Won't Nix $438M PCB Loss
A Washington state trial judge has declined to throw out a $438 million judgment against Monsanto in one of a series of PCB poisoning suits tied to a school site, rejecting the company's argument that the judgment cannot stand on the heels of a state appellate court ruling reversing another plaintiffs' win in the case group.
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May 22, 2024
5th Circ. Reopens Black Diner's Bias Suit Against Texas Chili's
The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived a Black diner's suit against Chili's alleging she was denied a table that was later offered to her white fiancé, finding direct evidence of discrimination, including the hostess's apology for discriminating against her, and the lack of service once her group was seated.
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May 22, 2024
Binance.US Beats Fla. Regulator's Suspension Order
A Florida state appeals court agreed with Binance.US on Wednesday that the state's financial regulator shouldn't have denied the cryptocurrency exchange the ability to do business in the state after its affiliate and founder pled guilty last year, and that the agency didn't follow proper procedure in blocking Binance's operations.
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May 22, 2024
DC Judge Ships CFTC Election Betting Suit Back To Texas
A federal judge in the District of Columbia said Wednesday that a case challenging a Commodity Futures Trading Commission ban on an elections betting platform should never have been sent to her court, shipping the lawsuit back to Texas over the objections of the agency.
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May 22, 2024
CBRE Calls Exec's Noncompete Right Fit In A Small World
A Texas appellate court wondered Wednesday whether a temporary injunction that seemingly bars a former CBRE executive from working in his trade anywhere in the world goes too far, and questioned the validity of the underlying noncompete agreement at the center of the legal battle.
Expert Analysis
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Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown
While some are concerned about repercussions if the U.S. Supreme Court brings an end to Chevron deference in the Loper and Relentless cases this term, agencies and attorneys would survive just fine under the doctrines that have already begun to replace it, say Daniel Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.
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What A Post-Chevron Landscape Could Mean For Labor Law
With the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Chevron deference expected by the end of June, it’s not too soon to consider how National Labor Relations Act interpretations could be affected if federal courts no longer defer to administrative agencies’ statutory interpretation and regulatory actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Perspectives
Context Is Everything In Justices' Sentencing Relief Decision
In the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Pulsifer v. U.S. decision, limiting the number of drug offenders eligible for sentencing relief, the majority and dissent adopted very different contextual frames for interpreting the meaning of “and” — with the practical impact being that thousands more defendants will be subject to severe mandatory minimums, says Douglas Berman at Moritz College of Law.
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Opinion
The SEC Is Engaging In Regulation By Destruction
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent use of regulation by enforcement against digital assets indicates it's more interested in causing harm to crypto companies than providing guidance to the markets or protecting investors, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.
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Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
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Studying NY, NJ Case Law On Employee Social Media Rights
While a New Jersey state appeals court has twice determined that an employee's termination by a private employer for social media posts is not prohibited, New York has yet to take a stand on the issue — so employers' decisions on such matters still need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, say Julie Levinson Werner and Jessica Kriegsfeld at Lowenstein Sandler.
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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.