Appellate

  • October 16, 2026

    Wash. Justices Void Vague Release Term For Sex Offender

    The Washington Supreme Court has reversed a convicted child molester's community custody condition that he not possess or access "sexually exploitive materials" because the term is not clearly defined in state law, and could potentially mean many things.

  • October 16, 2026

    NORML Urges 6th Circ. To Reconsider Pot Illegality Ruling

    The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a leading cannabis consumer advocate, is urging the Sixth Circuit to rehear its decision throwing out a $31.8 million jury verdict for a Michigan marijuana grower, arguing federal illegality should not categorically bar contract damages against a cannabis purchaser that breached a supply deal.

  • October 16, 2026

    5th Circ. Revives Snapper Switch Suit Against Upscale Resto

    The Fifth Circuit Friday revived a proposed class action that accused a historic fine-dining Mississippi restaurant of scheming to sell inexpensive foreign fish while pricing them as more expensive premium local fish, saying in a published opinion that a diner plausibly alleged the fish mislabeling was "widespread and routine."

  • October 16, 2026

    DC Circ. Questions Trump Records Ownership Claim

    Judges on the D.C. Circuit hounded a Trump administration attorney over the White House's attempt to do away with the Presidential Records Act on Friday, as they searched to find the limit on the president's authority over his own work documents.

  • October 16, 2026

    Whataburger Can't Arbitrate Ex-Worker's Sex Assault Suit

    A Texas appellate court has declined to send a former Whataburger employee's lawsuit to arbitration, finding that the allegations of unwanted sexual touching trigger a federal law that bars arbitration of sexual assault and sexual harassment claims.

  • October 16, 2026

    8th Circ. Upholds Denial of Gambian Man's Asylum Bid

    The Eighth Circuit denied a Gambian man's bid for asylum, saying there was no evidence in the record showing that the current administration in The Gambia would subject him to persecution for his criticisms of a past government.

  • October 16, 2026

    4th Circ. Says Religious Org. Can't Invoke Bias Law Carveout

    A split Fourth Circuit panel refused Friday to disturb a trial court's ruling that a religious humanitarian nonprofit violated discrimination laws by nixing health insurance coverage for a gay employee's husband, saying the employer was pushing for "nearly unbounded immunity."

  • October 16, 2026

    10th Circ. OKs EPA's Okla. Indian Country Programs Approval

    The Tenth Circuit rejected a Native American tribe's challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to approve Oklahoma's request to extend the state's administration of federal environmental regulatory programs to Indian Country, ruling Friday that a provision of a 2005 transportation bill controls the outcome.

  • October 16, 2026

    9th Circ. Decertifies Tesla 'Full Self-Driving' False Ad Classes

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday decertified a class action alleging Tesla deceived consumers into believing that its cars could fully drive themselves, saying there's no proof that all class members saw the same purportedly false statement on Tesla's website about its cars' hardware.

  • October 16, 2026

    FCC Eyes 'All Options' As 5th Circ. Orders Subsidy Fee Redo

    The Federal Communications Commission said Friday it was exploring all options for managing the $9 billion Universal Service Fund after a Fifth Circuit panel ruled the FCC lacked authority to create the funds' private oversight company.

  • October 16, 2026

    6th Circ. Backs Insurers In $6.3M Crypto Fire Loss Suit

    The Sixth Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of two cryptocurrency mining companies' claims that Travelers Insurance Co. and Northfield Insurance Co. exacerbated their building's fire loss through the claim handling process, finding the mining companies failed to allege the insurance companies owed them a duty of care outside contractual obligations.

  • October 16, 2026

    Texas Justices OK Arbitration In Trampoline Park Injury Suit

    The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that an Urban Air trampoline park and related entities can compel arbitration of a minor's injury claims, saying the language in the arbitration agreement signed by the child's mother expressly covers "protected parties" such as the entities.

  • October 16, 2026

    Balancing The Scales: Criminal Appeals, Sentencing Rules

    The Second Circuit has been ordered to take another look at a murder-for-hire conviction in light of the high court's new miscarriage-of-justice exception for criminal appeal waivers, and the top courts in Pennsylvania and Michigan will look at the retroactivity of new sentencing rules. Here, Law360 highlights access to justice stories arising from litigation, verdicts and judgments you may have missed.

  • October 16, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Stands By Double Denials, SpaceTime3D PTAB Loss

    The Federal Circuit declined Friday to rehear two cases decided in August, one where an e-commerce patent owner was looking for the security to assert its patent in future litigation, and the other where SpaceTime3D was trying to revive patents cut down by Apple and Google.

  • October 16, 2026

    US Inventor Presses Justices To Hear $2.6B Centripetal Case

    US Inventor Inc. has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to revive Centripetal Networks LLC's patent infringement case against Cisco Systems Inc., arguing that a lower court that wiped out a $2.6 billion judgment had wrongly denied Centripetal the chance to respond to new claim construction.

  • October 16, 2026

    Del. High Court Backs Gard In Litigation Funding Fight

    The Delaware Supreme Court has upheld a Chancery Court ruling rejecting claims that hedge fund manager Casey Gard and affiliates improperly shifted a litigation-finance business away from a company he co-owned with attorney Brett K. Findler, ending Findler's challenge to liability findings from a closely watched business breakup.

  • October 16, 2026

    Could A Criminal Sentencing Case Upend Loper Bright?

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is concerned that a ruling instructing trial courts to defer to the U.S. Sentencing Commission's interpretation of federal sentencing guidelines could blow a "pretty big hole" in the court's recent rejection of deference doctrines. His colleagues, however, don't appear as perturbed.

  • October 16, 2026

    Mass. Court Adds Knowledge Prong To Gun Charge

    Prosecutors must prove that a defendant found with a licensed firearm while intoxicated knew it was loaded in order to secure a conviction under a state law prohibiting such conduct, Massachusetts' intermediate-level appellate court said Friday in vacating a conviction.

  • October 16, 2026

    9th Circ. Won't Rethink $2B Devas Arbitral Award Confirmation

    The Ninth Circuit said Friday it will not disturb a unanimous three-judge panel's decision to enforce a $2 billion arbitral award issued to a satellite communications company, rejecting the award debtor's petition for a rehearing by the full court.

  • October 16, 2026

    Justices Told Siemens Chip Patent Win Shows Fed. Circ. Split

    The owner of a set of patents covering computer chip design wants the U.S. Supreme Court to look at an alleged internal split within the Federal Circuit of how it looks at whether patents are eligible under the high court's Alice test.

  • October 16, 2026

    US Says 1907 Border Strip Lets Wall Work Continue

    The federal government is asking the D.C. Circuit to deny an Arizona tribe's emergency bid to block border wall construction, saying the Indigenous nation's claim that a 1907 law that established the Roosevelt Reservation as part of its traditional homelands ignores history and precedent.

  • October 16, 2026

    Meet The Candidates Seeking A Texas Supreme Court Seat

    Four justices on the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court will defend their seats from Democratic challengers in November, making for a closely watched contest on a bench that's made controversial moves this year.

  • October 16, 2026

    'Defend To The End': Atty Admits Error In Gucci Glasses Suit

    An attorney blamed a "defend to the end" attitude he'd developed while fighting foreclosures for turning a client's dispute over $399 Gucci glasses into a multiyear legal morass that landed him in front of a Pennsylvania disciplinary panel on Friday.

  • October 16, 2026

    11th Circ. Backs Florida Firm In Lender Note Verdict Appeal

    The Eleventh Circuit in an unpublished opinion backed a law firm accused of botching several financial transactions for a Puerto Rican microcap lender, affirming the findings of a jury and a lower court that it didn't commit malpractice by failing to secure the company's assets during bankruptcy proceedings.

  • October 16, 2026

    Mich. Panel Says PIP Opt-Out Bars State Medical Coverage

    Michigan motorists who opt out of personal injury protection medical benefits cannot obtain such coverage through the state's assigned claims plan if they are injured as a non-occupant of a motor vehicle, a Michigan state appeals court ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Being A Singer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Before law school, I spent seven years trying to make it as a professional singer in Los Angeles, and nearly everything I learned about preparation, humility, confidence and more has followed me into my legal practice, says Jessica Caterina at Moses & Singer.

  • Justices' Review Of Atty Fees Could Reshape Pipeline Takings

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to review Hoffmann v. WBI Energy Transmission, property owners' right to recover attorney fees for appropriations under the Natural Gas Act is at stake, potentially leading to a choice between a depressed land valuation or court costs that could exceed any rewards, says attorney Sophia Holley.

  • How 2nd Circ. Raised The Bar For Pleading Securities Fraud

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    In Huey v. Anavex, the Second Circuit recently appeared to increase the burden on securities fraud plaintiffs in pleading loss causation where no immediate share price decline follows the corrective disclosure, generating new questions that district courts must grapple with, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Trade Secret Practice Tips From The 1st Half Of 2026

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    Intellectual property attorneys should consider what several significant developments in 2026 thus far mean for how they protect, litigate and value trade secrets, focusing on new state noncompete bans, cases scrutinizing how plaintiffs identify trade secrets and federal rulings on damages doctrines, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Yellow Corp. WARN Act Appeal Refines Layoff Guidance

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    A Delaware federal court's recent upholding of a bankruptcy court's disallowance of unions' federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act claims against Yellow underscores that fact-specific notices and thoughtful timing are essential for distressed companies implementing layoffs, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • High Court Rulings Could Alter Agency Strategy For Cos.

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decisions in Trump v. Slaughter and Trump v. Cook mark major turning points in the law of independent agencies and in how regulated companies should think about federal enforcement, rulemaking and agency-facing strategy, say attorneys at Holtzman Vogel.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Parole Ruling Degrades Green Card Holders' Rights

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Blanche v. Lau, holding that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers can parole a returning lawful permanent resident without clear and convincing evidence of a crime, weakens the statutory and practical protections Congress intended, say attorneys at Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners.

  • 3rd Circ. ERISA Ruling Stresses Process Over Perfect Returns

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    The Third Circuit's recent decision in Quest Diagnostics affirms that a sound fiduciary process — not perfect investment returns — defeats Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims, signaling that courts will keep scrutinizing how fiduciaries decide, and sponsors who can show their work should remain protected, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.

  • Fed. Circ. Licensing Rulings Shed Light On Patentee Standing

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    Two recent decisions from the Federal Circuit provide a useful framework for evaluating whether a patent license agreement preserves a sufficient exclusionary interest to support future patent infringement claims, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Asylum Ruling Signals Larger Separation Of Powers Battle

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Mullin v. Al Otro Lado that border officials may turn away asylum-seekers without inspection is part of a broader conversation about the reach of institutional safeguards that subject governmental authority to legal constraint, says Dree Collopy at American University's Washington College of Law.

  • Solar's Momentum At Mid-2026 Will Help It Overcome Snags

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    The rapid expansion of U.S. solar development in the first half of 2026 is likely to continue its pace, even amid ongoing shifts in federal trade policy and supply chain regulations, obstacles to permitting reform, and an increasing divide between states enacting policies to encourage or stymie project development, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • How Justices Stayed Off The Geofence In Location Data Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Chatrie v. United States decision reaffirms Fourth Amendment protections for location data but avoids more complicated questions about geofence warrants, say attorneys at Adams Duerk.

  • Remote Work Rulings Show ADA Fights Hinge On Process

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    Two opposite outcomes in recent Fifth Circuit and D.C. federal court cases underscore that the legality of denying employees' disability accommodation requests for remote work depends less on broad policy and more on how it's applied, says Paul Sweeney at Ice Miller.

  • Fed Autonomy Rests On Narrow Exception After Justices Rule

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions in Trump v. Cook and Trump v. Slaughter expand presidential removal power while temporarily preserving the Federal Reserve’s independence, but there is uncertainty about which of the Fed’s authorities fall within the court’s narrow monetary-policy exception, says Keith Bradley at Squire Patton.

  • Series

    Being A Magician Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I've developed as a lifelong magician have translated directly into tangible benefits in the courtroom because performing magic and trying cases both live at the intersection of psychology, storytelling, timing and disciplined rehearsal, says Mark Dombroff at Fox Rothschild.

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