AppellateRSS

  • September 22, 2009

    DC Circ. Tosses Election Commission's 527 Regs

    Citing free speech concerns, a federal appeals court has ordered the Federal Election Commission to vacate regulations restricting the amount of money so-called 527 groups can spend on election-season activities, agreeing with one such group’s challenge to the rules.

  • September 22, 2009

    Q&A With Drinker Biddle's Alan Lazarus

    The biggest challenge is appealing from an adverse jury verdict based on insufficiency of the evidence, where the sole basis for overturning the verdict is that the jury did not reach the right decision, says Alan J. Lazarus, vice chair of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP’s products liability and mass tort practice group and a leader in the firm's appellate practice.

  • September 22, 2009

    10th Circ. Backs Damages In Metal Trade Secrets Suit

    A federal appeals court has handed down a mixed ruling in a dispute between two metals companies involving a pair of employees who worked for both, affirming a district court's award of damages and an injunction arising from the workers' noncompetition agreements and reversing damages for misappropriation of trade secrets.

  • September 22, 2009

    6th Circ. Affirms $4.5M US Steel Enviro Settlement

    An appeals court has affirmed a $4.45 million settlement between Michigan residents and U.S. Steel over alleged harmful discharge from a local steel mill, overruling challenges by class representatives and a group of class members not represented by the designated class counsel.

  • September 22, 2009

    Calif. Law Not Preempted By CAN-SPAM: Court

    A California appeals court has reinstated a purported class action against Pottery Barn Inc. over its practice of asking customers for their e-mail addresses when making a credit card purchase, ruling that the federal anti-spam law does not preempt state legislation barring stores from seeking personal information at checkout.

  • September 21, 2009

    AA Flight Attendants Can't Bring RLA Claims: 2nd Circ.

    A federal appeals court has upheld a decision that tossed claims by a proposed class of former American Airlines Inc. flight attendants seeking to challenge a restructuring agreement between the carrier and the flight attendants’ union.

  • September 21, 2009

    2nd Circ. Revives GHG Suit Against AEP, Xcel, Others

    A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit filed by a coalition of states and environmental groups against several power companies — including American Electric Power Co. Inc., the Tennessee Valley Authority and Xcel Energy Inc. — for allegedly contributing to global warming by emitting greenhouse gases.

  • September 21, 2009

    Investors Appeal Dismissal Of MF Global IPO Action

    Investors in a putative class action against former Man Group PLC subsidiary MF Global Ltd. have appealed a decision dismissing their complaint alleging securities fraud in connection with the brokerage's initial public offering.

  • September 18, 2009

    Georgia-Pacific Appeals Dispenser Spat To 4th Circ.

    Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products LP and paper towel maker Von Drehle Corp. have appealed a district court ruling that struck down both Georgia-Pacific's claims that Von Drehle Corp. infringed on its trademark for the EnMotion paper towel dispenser and Von Drehle's counter-claims that Georgia-Pacific engaged in tying and anti-competitive practices.

  • September 21, 2009

    AsymmetRx Must Add Harvard To IP Suit: Fed. Circ.

    A federal appeals court has overturned a lower court’s decision that tossed AsymmetRx Inc.’s infringement suit against Biocare Medical LLC over patents covering cancer-detecting antibodies, finding that the patent owner, Harvard College, should have been included in AsymmetRx’s suit.

  • September 21, 2009

    Q&A With Greenberg Traurig's Arthur England

    The proliferation of clerks and research assistants for appellate judges and justices puts too much of the decision-making process into the hands of individuals who were neither selected by an appointing authority nor elected by the public to judicial office, says Arthur J. England Jr., co-chair of Greenberg Traurig LLP's national appellate practice group.

  • September 21, 2009

    Teva Appeals Singulair Patent Suit To Fed. Circ.

    Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. has appealed an order barring it from making a generic version of Merck Sharpe & Dohme Pharmaceuticals SRL's allergy and asthma drug Singulair.

  • September 21, 2009

    Writers, Publishers Unite To Save Digital Rights Deal

    Freelancers want their money. Publishers are eager to pay for the rights to articles in digital archives. This fall, in Reed Elsevier v. Muchnick, they’ll ask the U.S. Supreme Court if an appellate panel went out of bounds in scrapping their $18 million deal over a jurisdictional question no one asked.

  • September 18, 2009

    Court Won't Revive Investors' Insurance Fraud Suit

    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action alleging Life Investors Insurance Co. of America purposely and misleadingly underpriced its long-term-care insurance policies with the intention of raising premiums later.

  • September 18, 2009

    Hancock Can't Collect $120M Over Tax Deal: 7th Circ.

    A federal appeals court has upheld a temporary restraining order preventing John Hancock Life Insurance Co. or other parties from recovering as much as $120 million from Hoosier Energy Rural Electric Cooperative Inc. in a dispute over contractual liabilities in a failed tax benefit transfer deal deemed illegal by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

  • September 18, 2009

    Fed. Circ. Grants Nalco Stay In Baker Hughes Spat

    Nalco Holding Co. has won an administrative stay of an injunction that had barred it from testing a crude oil refining process in an ongoing patent infringement lawsuit brought by rival Baker Hughes Inc.

  • September 18, 2009

    Va. Court Revises $77M Award To Norfolk Southern

    The Virginia Supreme Court has revised a $77 million award given to Norfolk Southern Railroad Co. by a lower court for undercharging Virginia Electric and Power Co. for coal transportation under the companies' contract, a move that will likely decrease Norfolk Southern's payout in the case.

  • September 18, 2009

    LA Was Right To Drop Half-Done Enviro Review: Court

    The city of Los Angeles did not violate the California Environmental Quality Act when it rejected a controversial 555-acre development planned for the city's northern border before completing the environmental review process, a California appeals court has ruled.

  • September 18, 2009

    Citing SLUSA, 6th Circ. OKs Toss Of Securities Suit

    A federal appeals court has affirmed the dismissal of a putative class action securities case accusing Fifth Third Bank NA of putting its own interests before those of people whose estates, wills, trusts and other funds it managed.

  • September 18, 2009

    Q&A With Duane Morris' Robert Byer

    There simply are too many lawyers handling cases on appeal who do not really understand the appellate process or how effective and appropriate appellate advocacy differs from advocacy in a trial court, says Robert L. Byer, head of the appellate litigation division of Duane Morris LLP's trial practice group.