Appellate

  • July 21, 2026

    Canon Notches Another Fed. Circ. Win In Inkjet Patent Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday declined to reboot claims in a Slingshot Printing patent covering a printhead for an inkjet printer challenged by Canon at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, less than a week after the appeals court backed decisions invalidating claims in three similar patents.

  • July 21, 2026

    High Court To Hear Alaskan Pilot Plane Forfeiture Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a case in which the Alaska Supreme Court held that a pilot must forfeit his $95,000 plane to the state for transporting a six-pack of beer in a dry village.

  • July 21, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Restarts Treadmill Patent Infringement Case

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday revived a case in which treadmill maker Woodway USA Inc. sued exercise equipment company Lifecore Fitness Inc., saying Lifecore was granted a win based on an overly narrow claim construction.

  • July 21, 2026

    Wyeth's Patent Loss Has Attys Focusing On Dosage

    The Federal Circuit's holding that a Pfizer unit's cancer treatment patents are invalid highlights the risk of including dosages in patents without sufficient proof that those dosages work, attorneys say.

  • July 21, 2026

    DC Circ. Affirms Argentina Must Pay $391M Arbitral Award

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the enforcement of a $391 million arbitral award issued against Argentina in a 17-year-old dispute over the renationalization of its state-owned airline, rejecting arguments that the petition was filed too late.

  • July 21, 2026

    Humana 401(k) Forfeiture Suit Will Wait For 6th Circ. Appeal

    A proposed class action against health insurance provider Humana alleging the company misallocated millions from employee 401(k) forfeitures was paused by a Kentucky federal judge on Tuesday to wait for the outcome of a similar suit against regional grocery giant Meijer currently awaiting a ruling in the Sixth Circuit.

  • July 21, 2026

    Centripetal IP Survives Fed. Circ. Despite 'Ghost In The Room'

    A Federal Circuit panel on Tuesday backed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that declined to strike some claims in a cybersecurity patent owned by Centripetal Networks LLC, even if a "ghost in the room" suggests that it's preserving unpatentable claims.

  • July 21, 2026

    Apple's Bid To Invalidate Speech Patent Revived On Appeal

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday gave Apple Inc. another opportunity to show that claims in a Zentian Ltd. speech recognition patent are invalid, faulting the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision to uphold the patent, which is at issue in a California infringement suit.

  • July 21, 2026

    2nd Circ. Bars Student's Habeas Case In Removal Fight

    A Second Circuit panel ruled Tuesday that a Vermont federal judge should not have ordered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release Palestinian green-card holder Mohsen Mahdawi because his claims should have been funneled through the immigration court process.

  • July 21, 2026

    7th Circ. Probes Offset Restitution In Hytera-Motorola Dispute

    Seventh Circuit judges appeared amenable Tuesday to Motorola's argument that an Illinois federal judge wrongly refused to order Hytera to pay restitution for stealing trade secrets and improperly treated Hytera's payments in parallel civil litigation as offsets in the criminal case, effectively nullifying Motorola's punitive damages award.

  • July 21, 2026

    Pa. Justices Reverse Joint Fee Liability For Custody Atty

    An attorney representing a mother in a contentious child custody dispute does not owe the father and his attorney more than $10,000 in fees, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, finding the Superior Court misapplied a previous opinion.

  • July 21, 2026

    NJ's First Solicitor General Stepping Down In September

    New Jersey's first-ever solicitor general, Jeremy Feigenbaum, is stepping down in September after having represented the Garden State in a number of high-profile cases, including a series of arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court, the state attorney general's office announced Tuesday.

  • July 21, 2026

    Mich. Panel Revives Forklift Injury Suit Against Meijer

    A warehouse worker whose leg was crushed between a forklift and a metal desk at a Meijer Inc. distribution center can proceed with his negligence suit after a Michigan appellate panel ruled a jury must decide whether faulty brakes, inadequate maintenance or his own actions caused the accident. 

  • July 21, 2026

    Reagan-Appointed NC Federal Judge To Take Senior Status

    U.S. District Judge Terrence William Boyle of the Eastern District of North Carolina plans to take senior status — a form of semi-retirement that gives federal judges a reduced caseload — at a date yet to be determined, according to a recent update from the federal judiciary.

  • July 21, 2026

    Reed Smith Loses Bid To Pause Ex-Worker's Gender Bias Suit

    A New Jersey judge on Tuesday rejected Reed Smith LLP's motion to pause discovery in a gender discrimination lawsuit brought by a former employee, finding that the firm had not proved irreparable harm if the case advanced while an interlocutory appeal on the scope of damages proceeds.

  • July 21, 2026

    Pa. Justices Deny Insurance Exclusion In Sex Trafficking Law

    Pennsylvania's laws against human trafficking don't translate into a "public policy" that justifies insurers denying coverage to a Philadelphia hotel accused of turning a blind eye to trafficking, the state's Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

  • July 21, 2026

    Ex-Justice Screened From Vik's $65M Deutsche Bank Suit

    Former Connecticut Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard A. Robinson has been screened from participating in billionaire Alexander Vik and his daughter's vexatious litigation and $65 million stock sale turnover lawsuit against Deutsche Bank, according to the financial institution's lawyers at Day Pitney LLP.

  • July 21, 2026

    6th Circ. Tests Retroactive Michigan Sex Offender Rules

    Michigan Assistant Attorney General Eric Jamison told a Sixth Circuit panel Tuesday that if it finds the Michigan Sex Offender Registration Act, or SORA, unconstitutional, it must also find its federal counterpart, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, or SORNA, unconstitutional.

  • July 21, 2026

    NJ Panel Rules Town Board Can Redo Warehouse Review

    A New Jersey appeals court rejected a developer's request for automatic approval of its development plan in a local warehouse district, siding with a trial judge in finding a local planning board correctly sought to scrutinize its own jurisdiction over the project.

  • July 21, 2026

    NJ Panel Backs Big Box Denial Over Traffic Study Gaps

    A New Jersey appellate panel on Tuesday reversed a lower court ruling that vacated a planning board's rejection of a proposed one-story, 161,000-square-foot big box retail project.

  • July 21, 2026

    Guam Group Says Air Force Can't Skip Review Of Detonations

    A nonprofit in Guam asked the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm a ruling that the U.S. Air Force shirked environmental review duties when it applied to renew a permit to detonate expired munitions, as well as reject the agency's attempts to avoid them.

  • July 21, 2026

    Wash. Tribe, Enviro Org. Say FERC Hydro Delay Imperils Sites

    A Washington tribe and an environmental group are asking the Ninth Circuit to deny a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission bid to hold a challenge against the agency's issuance of a hydroelectric license in abeyance, arguing that it won't stop the project from moving toward construction that will destroy resources.

  • July 21, 2026

    Minn. County Urges State Justices Review School Tax Break

    A Minnesota childcare center that missed a filing deadline related to a property tax exemption for educational institutions should not have been allowed to appeal the matter to the state tax court, a county told the state Supreme Court, urging it to review the case.

  • July 21, 2026

    4th Circ. Asks SC Justices To Weigh In On Heater Death Suit

    The Fourth Circuit has certified a question to the South Carolina Supreme Court in a suit alleging the defective design of a propane heater led to the death of a man using it, asking the justices to determine if adequate labeling precludes a defect claim under state law.

  • July 21, 2026

    DC Circ. Says NLRB 'Successor Bar' Conflicts With Labor Law

    A split D.C. Circuit panel said Tuesday that the National Labor Relations Board's practice of insulating unions from removal after businesses change hands defies federal labor law, applying a landmark 2024 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that scaled back courts' deference to federal agencies.

Expert Analysis

  • Assessing EcoFactor's Impact On Damages Experts' Opinions

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    Though the Federal Circuit's ruling in EcoFactor v. Google gave rise to concerns that damages experts would be forced to rely on undisputed facts, recent case law suggests that those concerns are unwarranted, says Christopher Loh at Venable.

  • High Court Cert Case Would Test Sovereign Award Immunity

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    The D.C. Circuit's July 2025 Amaplat Mauritius v. Zimbabwe Mining Development decision appears to create a circuit split while elevating form over substance in a manner that, if left unreviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, could bar the courthouse doors for creditors holding arbitration awards against recalcitrant foreign sovereigns, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.

  • CFTC Actions Show Prediction Market Insider Trading Risks

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    It is a myth that insider trading law does not apply in prediction markets, as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent enforcement actions illustrate that it has full authority to pursue such cases federally — and intends to, says attorney Gregg Goldfarb.

  • 2nd Circ. Clarifies When Prior Good Acts May Be Admissible

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    The Second Circuit's recent ruling in U.S. v. Cardenas, vacating a drug conspiracy conviction over improperly excluded evidence, indicates that evidence of prior good acts may be admissible to corroborate a defendant's testimony about their understanding of events and intent, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Opinion

    Apple Discovery Fight Could Revive DOJ's Antitrust Appetite

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    Winning discovery disputes in the ongoing federal antitrust litigation over Apple’s app store practices is a huge opportunity for the Justice Department to return to its once-vigorous pursuit of product tying by tech monopolies, catch up with foreign competition regulators and establish clear standards for digital markets, says Ediberto Roman at Florida International University.

  • Lockdown To Ledger: COVID Rulings Inform Crypto Coverage

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    As cryptocurrencies move deeper into mainstream financial markets, courts tasked with determining whether traditional insurance policies respond to digital asset losses have been evaluating coverage through the analytical framework of COVID-19 business interruption litigation, with one key recurring theme, say attorneys at Kennedys.

  • Opinion

    State Bars Need To Get Specific About AI Confidentiality

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    Lawyers need to put actual client information into artificial intelligence tools to get their full value, but they cannot confidently do so until state bars offer clear, formal authority on which plan tiers of the three most popular generative AI tools are safe to use when sharing specific client details, says attorney Nick Berk.

  • The Federal Circuit's Evolving View Of Trade Secrets

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    In recent years, the Federal Circuit's approach to defining "readily ascertainable" information and determining sufficiency of trade secret identification has shifted, trending away from other circuits and potentially presenting a higher bar for trade secrets plaintiffs, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • What Justices' Review Of Guam Case Will Mean For Permitting

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    In U.S. Department of the Air Force v. Prutehi Guahan, the U.S. Supreme Court will address whether a federal agency's permit application is a final decision that courts can review — a question whose answer could reshape the timing and strategy of environmental litigation across the federal permitting landscape, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Restraint Anchors Constitutional Order

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    Contrasting opinions in two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings — Trump v. CASA and Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections — demonstrate how the judiciary’s constitutionally entrusted role can easily be preserved or disrupted, and invite renewed attention to the enduring importance of judicial restraint, says Ninth Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace.

  • Human Authorship Is Still Central To Copyright Eligibility

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    In declining to review the D.C. Circuit's ruling in Thaler v. Perlmutter — holding that a work purely generated by artificial intelligence cannot be copyrighted — the U.S. Supreme Court has reinforced the human authorship requirement, so it is critical for creators of AI-assisted projects to document their involvement, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Resolving The Conflict In 2nd Circ. Foreign Discovery Rulings

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    The Second Circuit recently issued two seemingly inconsistent decisions regarding the federal statute that permits U.S. discovery for purposes of a foreign proceeding, but the unifying feature appears to be the broad scope for district court discretion under Section 1782, say attorneys at Katsky Korins.

  • How 2nd Circ. Gave Loper Bright Real Force In SEC Cases

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    The Second Circuit's recent decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Amah offers one of the first clear indications of how courts will operationalize Loper Bright, signaling that long-standing SEC enforcement theories resting on ambiguous definitional provisions are now subject to more rigorous judicial scrutiny, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Alpine Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skiing has shaped habits I rely on daily as an attorney — focus, resilience and the ability to remain steady when circumstances shift rapidly — and influences the way I approach legal strategy, client counseling and teamwork, says Isaku Begert at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Opinion

    Time To Fix The Accountability Gap In Freight Logistics

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    In Montgomery v. Caribe Transport, the U.S. Supreme Court must resolve an urgent question: whether freight broker selection in trucking accidents is categorically protected — meaning unreasonable safety decisions are insulated from liability — or subject to accountability under traditional negligence principles, says Amanda Demanda at Amanda Demanda Injury Lawyers.

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