Appellate

  • June 11, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge On Theranos Appeal: 'Good Story' For Holmes

    Two Ninth Circuit judges on a three-judge panel expressed concerns Tuesday that the district judge presiding over convicted former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes' criminal trial erred by allowing a layperson witness to offer expert testimony at trial, with one judge saying, "There's a pretty good story here for Ms. Holmes."

  • June 11, 2024

    Miss. Urges 5th Circ. To Approve Ban On Medical Pot Ads

    The state of Mississippi has told the Fifth Circuit that it should uphold state restrictions barring advertising for medical marijuana, saying that the First Amendment cannot protect such speech because marijuana is federally illegal.

  • June 11, 2024

    Ga. Justices Affirm Toss Of Adult Shop's Ordinance Challenge

    Georgia's justices on Tuesday affirmed a trial court's dismissal of an adult novelty chain's challenge of a Gwinnett County ordinance that restricts adult entertainment stores to certain locations and requires them to obtain an adult establishment license to operate, concluding that the suit was barred as an already-adjudicated matter.

  • June 11, 2024

    Senate Dems To Bring Supreme Court Ethics Bill Up For Vote

    U.S. Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., plans to bring his U.S. Supreme Court ethics reform bill up for a vote Wednesday in a move Republican lawmakers have already vowed to block.

  • June 11, 2024

    Moelis-Inspired Del. Corporate Law Bill Clears Senate Panel

    A string of law professors turned out Tuesday to oppose a Delaware Senate bill that would let boards cede some governance rights to big stockholders and some Delaware Court oversight to other jurisdictions, with the measure nevertheless cleared for a full Senate vote.

  • June 11, 2024

    Smoking Habit Can't Nix Retired Miner's Black Lung Benefits

    The Seventh Circuit on Monday backed a review board's decision to uphold black lung benefits for a retired coal worker who smoked cigarettes through his entire career in the mines, saying it wouldn't second-guess medical findings made at the administrative level.

  • June 11, 2024

    Co. Wants Instant Effect For Revival Of USPS Contract Dispute

    A canine screening company has urged the Federal Circuit to immediately issue a formal mandate after it revived the company's eligibility for disputed U.S. Postal Service mail screening contracts, seeking to block the USPS from transferring work away from the company.

  • June 11, 2024

    6th Circ. Judge Wary Of Party Dissenters' 'Right' To Use Logo

    A Sixth Circuit judge seemed skeptical on Tuesday that limiting a dissenting faction of the Libertarian Party of Michigan's use of the name and logo of the Libertarian National Committee infringes the group's speech rights, saying members can still voice their opinions.

  • June 11, 2024

    Abbott Taps General Counsel, Austin Partners For New Courts

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced his first appointments to the statewide business court and the Fifteenth Court of Appeals on Tuesday, roughly three months before the state's newest courts are set to begin taking cases.

  • June 11, 2024

    NJ Supreme Court Rejects Bid For Roundup Mass Tort

    The New Jersey Supreme Court has rejected a request for litigation against Monsanto Co. and Bayer AG to be designated as multicounty litigation because there are too few cases, according to a notice to the bar published Monday.

  • June 11, 2024

    Biz Groups Urge 6th Circ. To Put Net Neutrality On Hold

    Industry groups want the Sixth Circuit to put the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules on hold while they are litigated and to reject an FCC bid to move numerous consolidated challenges to the D.C. Circuit.

  • June 11, 2024

    Deutsche Telekom Owed €1.8M In EU Fine Overcharge Interest

    The European Union's executive branch is on the hook to Deutsche Telekom for €1.75 million in interest for an antitrust fine overcharge after the bloc's high court on Tuesday rejected an appeal contesting lower court findings that there is an "absolute, unconditional obligation" to pay that interest.

  • June 11, 2024

    FTC Gets Short Extension On Novant Deal Pause

    A North Carolina federal court Tuesday extended an order preventing Novant Health from closing its $320 million deal for a pair of hospitals in the state by 10 days to give the Federal Trade Commission time to ask the Fourth Circuit to pause the transaction.

  • June 11, 2024

    No Tax Owed On Mailed Ads, Insurer Tells Mich. Appeals Court

    Advertisements mailed for a Michigan insurance provider by an out-of-state direct-mail contractor should not incur the state's use tax, the insurer told a state appeals court Tuesday.

  • June 11, 2024

    Ga. Justices Say 1-Year Lawsuit Window Stands In Death Case

    The Supreme Court of Georgia won't hold liable a home inspector sued by the family of a man who was killed when his home's retaining wall collapsed, ruling Tuesday that the inspector's one-year statute of limitations doesn't violate a state ban on hold harmless provisions in construction contracts.

  • June 11, 2024

    4th Circ. Unconvinced Migrant Siblings' Abuse Was Retaliatory

    The Fourth Circuit has refused to revive an asylum application from two Salvadoran siblings fleeing an abusive uncle, unconvinced that the uncle had targeted the pair in retaliation for their mother's reporting him to the police.

  • June 11, 2024

    DOE Urges DC Circ. To Extinguish Furnace Rule Fight

    The U.S. Department of Energy on Monday defended its tighter energy efficiency standards for furnaces and water heaters, telling the D.C. Circuit that arguments that the new regulations unlawfully force a costly switch to new appliances are meritless.

  • June 11, 2024

    Pa. County Can't Give Voting Machine Data To Mich. Atty

    A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday blocked Fulton County commissioners from giving data copied from the county's Dominion Voting Systems equipment to an attorney and Donald Trump ally facing criminal charges for illegally accessing voter information in Michigan.

  • June 11, 2024

    Texas AG Urges DC Circ. To Revive Media Matters Probe

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants the D.C. Circuit to revive his investigation into progressive media watchdog Media Matters' reporting on the social media platform X, saying the D.C. federal court had no authority to interfere with the probe.

  • June 11, 2024

    Justices Urged To Review Fee Denial In DOL Stock Plan Case

    A construction design firm is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its fight for attorney fees after beating an enforcement case brought by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging the company and its founders mismanaged an employee stock ownership plan, with the firm arguing the Ninth Circuit erred in siding with the DOL.

  • June 11, 2024

    Ga. Justices Accept Fla. Atty's Voluntary Suspension

    An attorney suspended by the Florida Bar for myriad failures — including a lack of communication with clients and the submission of illegible court filings — while practicing with Your Jacksonville Lawyer PA was reciprocally suspended Tuesday in Georgia and is currently ineligible to practice in either state.

  • June 11, 2024

    Spat Over Texas Trial, Vacation Plans Ends With New Date

    A Texas appeals court has dismissed a tech company's mandamus petition stating that a Harris County court scheduled a trial in its case despite several attorney vacation letters after the parties said the trial court moved the date.

  • June 11, 2024

    Ga. Justices Disbar Atty For Unlawful Disbursement Of $2M

    The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday disbarred an attorney who disbursed approximately $2 million of a digital asset trading company's funds, which had been intended for a bitcoin sale that never went through, into personal accounts controlled by her and her sister. 

  • June 11, 2024

    Ga. Justices OK Remote Work For Attys Not Licensed In State

    The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously put its stamp of approval Tuesday on an opinion stating that attorneys who reside in the Peach State but are not licensed there may provide legal services by remote means under certain circumstances.

  • June 11, 2024

    Mich. Court Says Insurer Can Yank Benefits For Litigation Lies

    The Michigan Supreme Court unanimously reversed an appeals court decision, ruling Tuesday that misrepresentations made during discovery could prevent the family of a deceased car accident victim from recovering benefits from an insurer assigned to his claim by a state safety net program.

Expert Analysis

  • Fostering Employee Retention Amid Shaky DEI Landscape

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    Ongoing challenges to the legality of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs are complicating efforts to use DEI as an employee retention tool, but with the right strategic approach employers can continue to recruit and retain diverse talent — even after the FTC’s ban on noncompetes, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.

  • 'Fat Leonard' Case Shows High Bar For Rescinding Guilty Plea

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    Prosecutors’ recent move in the “Fat Leonard” bribery case, supporting several defendants’ motions to withdraw their guilty pleas, is extremely unusual – and its contrast with other prosecutions demonstrates that the procedural safeguards at plea hearings are far from enough, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.

  • Justices Clarify FAA But Leave Behind Important Questions

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Bissonnette v. LePage firmly shuts the door on any argument that the Federal Arbitration Act's Section 1 exemption is limited to transportation workers whose employers transport goods on behalf of others, but two major issues remain unresolved, say Joshua Wesneski and Crystal Weeks at Weil.

  • Is The Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?

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    Though private businesses have faced a decadelong deluge of digital accessibility complaints in the absence of clear regulations or uniformity among the courts, attorneys at Epstein Becker address how recent federal courts’ pushback against serial Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiffs and the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed government accessibility standards may presage a break in the downpour.

  • Rebuttal

    Double-Patenting Ruling Shows Terminal Disclaimers' Value

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    While a recent Law360 guest article seems to argue that the Federal Circuit’s Cellect decision last year robs patent owners of lawful patent term, the ruling actually identifies how terminal disclaimers are the solution to the problem of obviousness-type double patenting, say Jane Love and Robert Trenchard at Gibson Dunn.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • How Courts Are Interpreting Fed. Circ. IPR Estoppel Ruling

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    In the year since the Federal Circuit’s Ironburg ruling, which clarified the scope of inter partes and post-grant review estoppel, district court decisions show that application of IPR or PGR estoppel may become a resource-intensive inquiry, say Whitney Meier Howard and Michelle Lavrichenko at Venable.

  • Mid-2024 FCA Enforcement And Litigation Trends To Watch

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    Reviewing notable False Claims Act trends and enforcement efforts in the last year and a half reveals that healthcare is a key enforcement priority for the U.S. Department of Justice, and the road ahead may bring clarification on Anti-Kickback Statute causation and willfulness standards, along with increased focus on private equity, cybersecurity and self-disclosure, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.

  • 2nd Circ. Eminent Domain Ruling Empowers Municipalities

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    The Second Circuit's recent decision in Brinkmann v. Town of Southold, finding that a pretextual taking does not violate the Fifth Amendment's takings clause, gives municipalities a powerful tool with which to block unwanted development projects, even in bad faith, say James O'Connor and Benjamin Sugarman at Phillips Lytle.

  • Opinion

    SEC Doesn't Have Legal Authority For Climate Disclosure Rule

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    Instead of making the required legal argument to establish its authority, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosure rule hides behind more than 1,000 references to materiality to give the appearance that its rule is legally defensible, says Bernard Sharfman at RealClearFoundation.

  • Breaking Down 4th Circ. Pendent Appellate Jurisdiction Ruling

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    As illustrated by the Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Elegant Massage v. State Farm, denying class certification and granting a motion to dismiss, federal appellate courts continue to struggle with defining the scope of pendent appellate jurisdiction — or jurisdiction over nonfinal orders below, says Joan Steinman at the Chicago-Kent College of Law.

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • Patent Damages Jury Verdicts Aren't Always End Of The Story

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    Recent outcomes demonstrate that patent damages jury verdicts are often challenged and are overturned approximately one-third of the time, and successful verdict challenges typically occur at the appellate level and concern patent validity and infringement, say James Donohue and Marie Sanyal at Charles River.

  • Justices' Title VII Ruling Requires Greater Employer Vigilance

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Muldrow v. St. Louis ruling expands the types of employment decisions that can be challenged under Title VII, so employers will need to carefully review decisions that affect a term, condition or privilege of employment, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • End Of Acquitted Conduct Sentencing Can Spark More Reform

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    The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s recent end to factoring acquitted conduct into federal sentences could signal the start of a more constitutionally sound advisory scheme, but Congress and the Supreme Court must first authorize the commission to resolve two constitutional errors baked into its guidelines, say Mark Allenbaugh at SentencingStats.com and Alan Ellis at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

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