Appellate

April 16, 2024
NJ Hospital GC Emails Doom $24M Verdict For Surgeons

The New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday vacated a $24.3 million award to a group of neurosurgeons on their claim that a hospital didn't operate in good faith, finding the trial court's admission of emails from the hospital's general counsel and remarks made during closing arguments deprived the hospital of a fair trial.
April 16, 2024
Ousted Fla. Atty To Seek Reelection Amid DeSantis Fight

Suspended Florida state attorney Andrew Warren announced Tuesday he's running for reelection as the top prosecutor in Hillsborough County, while he pursues an ongoing federal lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis over his suspension.
April 16, 2024
4th Circ. Slams Brakes On W.Va. Transgender Sports Ban

The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday put the clamps on a West Virginia law barring transgender athletes from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity, finding that the restriction it placed on a trans middle schooler violated Title IX civil rights protections and may also violate the U.S. Constitution.
April 16, 2024
11th Circ. Asks If Undivided Settlement Can Still Be Covered

An Eleventh Circuit panel seemed torn Tuesday on whether to allow insurance coverage for a $557,000 nonapportioned Georgia federal settlement that potentially included both covered theft and noncovered negligent deconstruction, awarded to a Georgia mill owner who hired the insured.
April 16, 2024
Ga. Justices Nix Backdated Discipline For Atty In Forgery Case

The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously denied an attorney's request for a retroactive suspension for forging a court order for his client, ruling that it would be "inappropriate" if he resumed practicing law while in the process of a pretrial diversion program to have his felony forgery case dismissed.
April 16, 2024
5th Circ. Won't Disturb County Win In Officers' Retaliation Suit

The Fifth Circuit declined to reinstate constitutional claims from officers who said a constable punished them for not supporting his reelection campaign, upholding a finding that a Texas county can't be held liable for his actions.
April 16, 2024
Illinois Panel OKs Liability Ruling Against Discovery-Faking Firm

An Illinois trial court was right to slap an attorney with a default judgment in a professional negligence suit brought by a former client after the attorney and his firm repeatedly "fabricated their expert witness disclosures 'from whole cloth,'" an appellate panel has ruled.
April 16, 2024
High Court Sides With Texas Landowners In Takings Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday in favor of landowners in a dispute with Texas, finding the owners can pursue their takings claim pursuant to state law but leaving open a larger Fifth Amendment takings question.
April 16, 2024
Justices Say Army Vet Owed More Education Benefits

An Army veteran who sought additional education benefits to attend Yale Divinity School is owed more federal assistance, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, upending an en banc Federal Circuit ruling that took a narrower view of what he is entitled to based on his multiple tours of duty.
April 15, 2024
Justices Face Off Over Shadow Docket Procedures

The U.S. Supreme Court's internal disagreements over how to manage its emergency docket were on full display Monday in its decision allowing Idaho to enforce a ban on gender-affirming care for minors — a case the court's liberals said wasn't worthy of their intervention, but its conservatives touted as a win in the fight against universal injunctions.
April 15, 2024
Justices Allow Idaho To Enforce Gender Care Ban, Sans Plaintiffs

The U.S. Supreme Court allowed the state of Idaho on Monday to begin enforcing its ban on gender-affirming care for minors, reshaping a preliminary injunction the majority said was far too broad to keep in place as the litigation plays out, perhaps for years.
April 15, 2024
Trump Tells Justices Impeachment Required For Prosecution

Former President Donald Trump told the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday that the "inevitably and unavoidably" political nature of prosecuting a former president requires input from Congress, arguing the U.S. Constitution's framers carefully wrote the impeachment clause to act as an initial hurdle for criminal prosecutions.
April 15, 2024
Justices Wary Of Strict Limit On Malicious Prosecution Cases

Several U.S. Supreme Court justices appeared open Monday to the idea that a charge made without probable cause can be grounds for a malicious prosecution civil suit even if another charge with valid probable cause accompanied it, but without a clear consensus on a precise boundary.
April 15, 2024
Justices Leave Lower Courts To Parse Corporate 'Half-Truths'

A recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that corporate silence isn't enough to form the basis of a securities fraud suit pointedly declined to wade into the question of what counts as a "half-truth," leaving it to lower courts to wrestle with which corporate statements are blurry enough to sustain a shareholder class action.
April 15, 2024
NJ Appeals Court Tosses Suit Over Painful Dental Implants

A New Jersey appeals court on Monday tossed a suit accusing an oral surgeon of botching a woman's dental implant surgery, saying that because the treatment took place in Pennsylvania and the surgeon's clinic had few contacts with New Jersey, the Garden State doesn't have jurisdiction.
April 15, 2024
Mich. High Court To Hear Siblings' Ski Share Valuation Fight

A sibling feud between the CEO of a family-run ski resort company and his sister, a minority shareholder, will get a hearing in front of the Michigan Supreme Court after the justices agreed to look at whether the company honored an agreement for redemption of shares in the family company.
April 15, 2024
EPA Asks High Court To Preserve SF Water Pollution Regs

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Friday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to preserve its water quality standards for San Francisco, which the city has challenged as vague, generic, and "virtually impossible" to comply with.
April 15, 2024
4th Circ. Won't Let Borrower Pin Feds' Flub On Pa. Agency

The Fourth Circuit refused Monday to revive a lawsuit brought by a borrower alleging that a state student-loan-servicing agency's misrepresentations thwarted a loan forgiveness opportunity, with a panel reasoning that the organization was immune from the lawsuit.
April 15, 2024
Hytera Still Not Doing All It Can To Stop Fine, Motorola Says

Hytera Communications has continued to drag its feet as it tries to lift the sanctions against it for participating in Chinese litigation against a court order, Motorola Solutions told the Seventh Circuit, arguing that a district court judge's daily status hearings ensure Hytera is being compelled to comply without being punished.
April 15, 2024
Years After Args, 7th Circ. Continues Mootness Fee Attack

A Seventh Circuit panel said Monday that a Chicago federal judge improperly barred a class action objector from intervening in a suit involving controversial "mootness fees" the appellate court has long criticized, saying he failed to articulate a valid legal reason for doing so.
April 15, 2024
Geico Must Arbitrate Fraud Claims Against Chiropractors

The Third Circuit held in a precedential opinion Monday that Geico must arbitrate three lawsuits accusing chiropractic practices of providing unnecessary services totaling $10 million, pointing to documentation indicating that disputes connected to personal injury protection benefits must be resolved out of court.
April 15, 2024
Coinbase Wants 2nd Circ. To Weigh Crypto's Howey Question

Crypto exchange Coinbase has asked a Manhattan federal judge to send the question of whether digital assets meet the definition of investment contracts to the Second Circuit, challenging a March order that found the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had adequately pled that the platform offered securities.
April 15, 2024
Enviro Groups Urge 9th Circ. To Uphold Ax Of DOI Land Swap

Environmental groups and the National Congress of American Indians have thrown their support behind the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in calling on the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court ruling that the federal government's land exchange with agribusiness J.R. Simplot Co. was unlawful.
April 15, 2024
Oil Co. Warns NC Justices Of 'Unfair' Results In Taking Case

An oil company and two other former plaintiffs from a settled state government land-taking proposed class action have warned the North Carolina Supreme Court that if the justices affirm an intermediate appellate ruling in a similar case, they would be reinforcing "unfair, unequal, disparate and divergent" treatment of property owners.
April 15, 2024
Justices Suggest Bribery Law Could Criminalize Routine Gifts

U.S. Supreme Court justices pressed the federal government Monday to specify what kinds of rewards fall under a bribery statute frequently used in public corruption prosecutions and why they should be considered graft, voicing concerns that ordinary people could face hefty prison time for routine gift-giving.

Expert Analysis

Fed. Circ. Patent Decisions In 2023: An Empirical Review

The Federal Circuit decided 306 patent cases last year, which is still well down from the pre-pandemic norm of around 440, and on the whole the court's decisions were markedly less patentee-friendly in 2023 than in 2022, says Dan Bagatell at Perkins Coie.
What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.
Shopify Ruling May Support Personal-Jurisdiction Defenses

Litigators, cybersecurity practitioners and web-based entities should all take note of the Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Briskin v. Shopify, as it could lend significant support to personal-jurisdiction defenses, but such entities should still consider how their operations might tie them to certain states, say John Gray and Patrick McCormick at Lewis Roca.
How 2023 Shaped Drug And Medical Device Legal Trends

2023 brought a number of positive developments for the life sciences industry, including great trial and multidistrict litigation outcomes, but also some heavy-handed regulations and other concerning developments that lay the groundwork for significant litigation, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.
Why Fed. Circ. Affirmed Attorney Fee Award In PersonalWeb

A recent Federal Circuit decision to leave a $5.2 million fee award in place in the PersonalWeb patent case underscores district courts' discretion to sanction unreasonable arguments and litigation tactics under the U.S. Code's attorney fee provision, say attorneys at Shearman.
4 Ways The DOJ Is Changing Its Approach To Insider Trading

The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent increased focus on insider trading cases and the manner in which the DOJ is pursuing prosecutions reflect a break from historical practices and signal that the DOJ is branching into new areas to pursue perceived illicit trading activities, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
5 Trends That Will Affect Food Litigation In 2024

In 2024, food and beverage companies are likely to continue to face threats of litigation relating to so-called forever chemicals, citric and malic acid, and ESG claims, but recent developments in case law have created potential avenues for defense, say Abby Meyer and Khirin Bunker at Sheppard Mullin.
What To Expect From The CFPB This Year

The potential for upheaval at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be greater during an election year, and there are several opportunities and challenges ahead for the bureau in 2024, say Eric Mogilnicki and David Stein at Covington.
Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2024

From technological leaps to sea changes in labor policy to literal sea changes, 2024 provides opportunities for employers to face big-picture questions that will shape their business for years to come, say Allegra Lawrence-Hardy and Lisa Haldar at Lawrence & Bundy.
The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.
Lessons Learned From 2023's Top FMLA Decisions

This year’s most significant Family and Medical Leave Act decisions offer lessons on the act's technical requirements, including the definition of serious health condition, compliance with notice requirements and whether it is permissible to give an employee substantial extra work upon their return from leave, says Linda Dwoskin at Dechert.
5 Most Notable Class Action Standing Cases Of 2023

Key appellate class action decisions this past year continued the trend of a more demanding approach to the threshold issue of standing during each phase of litigation, say attorneys at MoFo.
Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities

Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.