Appellate

  • September 22, 2026

    DC Circ. Says Copyright Board Must Explain Allocations

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday threw out a judicial copyright board's decision on how it divided cable retransmission payments from 2014 through 2017, faulting it for how it did a final step in determining allocations among claimants.

  • September 22, 2026

    Flyer Says Justices Must Hear CrowdStrike Tech-Outage Suit

    An airline passenger is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his proposed class action against CrowdStrike Inc. over expenses and injuries resulting from a 2024 tech outage, saying the justices need to resolve a widening circuit split on the scope of the Airline Deregulation Act.

  • September 22, 2026

    Ga. Justices Mull Reviving Injury Firm Client Solicitation Suit

    Georgia's justices pressed a personal injury law firm Tuesday on whether an attorney's racketeering case accusing it of using confidential crash reports to land clients was rightly dismissed, hinting that the lower courts might have held the claims to too high a bar.

  • September 22, 2026

    Ga. Justices Say Missed Deadline Warrants Atty's Suspension

    Georgia's highest state court imposed a six-month suspension on an attorney because of his handling of a personal injury case, finding Tuesday he violated state rules by not filing required written expert reports and failed to pay for sanctions in a timely manner.

  • September 22, 2026

    1st Circ. Affirms Prison Term, Repayment In Med Bill Scheme

    The First Circuit affirmed a lower court's calculations behind a 99-month prison sentence and $6.5 million restitution order for a psychiatrist convicted of submitting $19 million in claims to insurers for thousands of sessions that never took place.

  • September 22, 2026

    Salt-N-Pepa Copyright Bid May Get New Life From 2nd Circ.

    A Second Circuit judge said Tuesday the New York federal judge who quickly dismissed Salt-N-Pepa's bid to reclaim music copyrights from Universal Music Group's UMG Recordings "was incorrect" to dismiss the hip-hop duo's lawsuit for at least two albums.

  • September 22, 2026

    Mass. Justices Grant New Trial In Fatal Parade Shooting

    Massachusetts' top court ordered a new trial Tuesday for a man accused of fatally shooting a bystander during a parade, ruling that trace amounts of gunshot residue found on his body were improperly admitted as evidence. 

  • September 22, 2026

    Fla. Justices Seek No-Pay Discipline In Judge's Ethics Case

    The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to sign off on a public reprimand and suspension for a state judge who admitted to ethics violations in connection with her election campaign, saying it would do so only if the suspension was without pay.

  • September 22, 2026

    Split Ga. High Court Dismisses Former Judge's Ethics Cases

    A split Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday found that a former state judge committed several ethics violations, including wrongly jailing a witness in a divorce case, but tossed the charges because she resigned from the bench, although dissenting justices said the court should use its authority to discipline her.

  • September 22, 2026

    Womble Bond Can't Quit Dutch Client With TM Trial Looming

    Womble Bond Dickinson can't withdraw from a trademark feud that's dragged on for more than five years between U.S. and Dutch software companies, a North Carolina federal judge ruled, saying the firm's exit at this late stage "would be completely disruptive."

  • September 22, 2026

    Dispensary's Tax Deduction Properly Nixed, IRS Tells 9th Circ.

    The U.S. Tax Court correctly ruled that a San Francisco marijuana dispensary's expenses found to be tied to trafficking in controlled substances aren't deductible, the IRS told the Ninth Circuit, saying such a deduction shouldn't be allowed in determining an amount to settle the business's $3 million tax debt.

  • September 22, 2026

    NJ Justices Take On Atty DQ In Injury Cases After J&J Ruling

    New Jersey's Supreme Court has agreed to review the disqualification of an attorney from representing plaintiffs in several cases over injuries at Sky Zone trampoline parks after a trial court ruled the attorney's retention of a former company safety official as an expert could prejudice proceedings.

  • September 22, 2026

    Judge Sinks Patent Judgments Against Chilisin In Cyntec Suit

    A California federal judge has nullified judgments against Chilisin Electronics Corp. in a patent case from Cyntec Co. over Cyntec's failure to disclose an agreement to license a pair of its patents to Apple, while also agreeing to sanction Cyntec's counsel.

  • September 22, 2026

    Ga. Justices Say UM Claims Can Settle Before Liability Claims

    The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday held that the state's intermediate appellate court wrongly found that a man injured in a car crash was required to exhaust the at-fault driver's liability coverage before settling a claim for uninsured motorist coverage with his own insurer.

  • September 22, 2026

    8th Circ. Questions Iowa's Bid To Unblock Parts Of PBM Law

    The Eighth Circuit on Tuesday appeared skeptical of the state of Iowa's bid to have the appellate court unblock parts of its law limiting pharmacy benefit managers' power to set drug prices, with multiple judges questioning different aspects of the state's standing and federal preemption analysis.

  • September 21, 2026

    Due Process Not Limited In Bond Hearing Suit, 9th Circ. Says

    The Ninth Circuit held in a published opinion Monday that a certified class of asylum-seekers apprehended well within the U.S. border can challenge their detentions, rejecting the government's contention that the U.S. Supreme Court limited their due process rights.

  • September 21, 2026

    Rude Comments Fall Short Of Stalking, Fla. Panel Says

    A Florida appeals court has ruled there was insufficient evidence to sustain a stalking injunction against a woman who was described as "bullying" her neighbor by making mean comments about the neighbor's weight and a disability.

  • September 21, 2026

    Colo. Justices Say Insolvency Can't Trigger Excess Coverage

    The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that an umbrella or excess policy issuer isn't liable to drop down and provide first-dollar coverage when a scheduled underlying insurer becomes insolvent, according to the justices' opinion, issued Monday.

  • September 21, 2026

    2nd Circ. Skeptical Of Fired United Worker's Grievance Claim

    The Second Circuit gave a cool reception Monday to a former United Airlines employee's attempt to force arbitration of a grievance over his firing after a Teamsters local declined to pursue it, with judges suggesting it was the union's right to advance the claim as it saw appropriate.

  • September 21, 2026

    3rd Circ. Upholds 'Pattern' Penalty For Child Rapist

    The Third Circuit ruled Monday that a Pennsylvania man who kidnapped and sexually abused a child multiple times qualifies for a pattern crimes enhancement, ruling that although the crimes occurred over a matter of hours, they qualified as separate events.

  • September 21, 2026

    4th Circ. Won't Rethink Cutting $22M Wells Fargo Judgment

    The Fourth Circuit declined Monday to reconsider its decision cutting nearly $2.9 million from a former Wells Fargo employee's $22 million jury award and overturning portions of the verdict in his disability discrimination suit against the financial giant.

  • September 21, 2026

    FERC Wrongly Segmented Pipeline's Water Eval, DC Circ. Told

    Environmental groups have told the D.C. Circuit that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission botched its analysis of the effects of a Williams Cos. unit's pipeline expansion project on streams and other aquatic resources in Virginia and North Carolina.

  • September 21, 2026

    Ill. Panel Says News Report Bars Law Firm's FCA Suit

    An Illinois appellate court on Friday upheld the dismissal of a whistleblower lawsuit brought by Forde & O'Meara LLP accusing a company of secretly assigning its interests in unpaid state bills to unapproved entities to duck taxes, agreeing that a prior public disclosure of the alleged scheme in a news report bars the firm's claims.

  • September 21, 2026

    Colo. Justices Uphold Ski Waiver Ruling Against Snowboarder

    A snowboarder released his claims against a ski resort and employee when he signed an online liability waiver to buy a season pass while his injury suit was still active, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled Monday, handing down a decision in a closely watched case for the state's ski industry.

  • September 21, 2026

    Mass. Court Affirms Toss Of Gun Evidence In 22-Judge Ruling

    An evenly split Massachusetts Appeals Court on Monday let stand a judge's suppression of a gun found by Boston police officers during an inventory search prior to a vehicle being towed, in a rare ruling involving all but three of the intermediate appellate court's 25 judges.

Expert Analysis

  • A Fed. Circ. Blueprint For Drafting Medical Device Patents

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    The Federal Circuit's decision in Constellation Designs v. LG last month, among other recent rulings, underscores the importance of emphasizing engineering, rather than clinical goals, when drafting patent claims for medical devices and software as a medical device, says Brandon Theiss at Volpe Koenig.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: EU's Arb. Defense From Russia

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    The EU's latest package of restrictive measures against Russia marks a significant shift from merely resisting Russian jurisdictional tactics to proactively protecting arbitration and exclusive jurisdiction agreements, elevating the procedural importance of dispute resolution clauses, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

  • Becoming The Biz-Savvy GC That Portfolio Companies Need

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    Candidates for general counsel roles at private equity-backed portfolio companies should prioritize proving their sector-specific experience, commercial judgment and ease with uncertainty — and attorneys hoping to be candidates in five to 10 years should start working on those skills now, says Dimitri Mastrocola at Major Lindsey.

  • Nielsen Appeal Tests Antitrust Limits Of Pricing And Bundling

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    In Cumulus v. Nielsen, the Second Circuit is considering a structural pattern in which a monopolist exploits upstream market power to foreclose downstream competition, which could potentially offer broad insight into how courts will assess exclusionary bundling and pricing defenses under antitrust law, says Luke Hasskamp at Bona Law.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Courts Can Survive The Tech Revolution

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    Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Lino Lipinsky de Orlov discuss how artificial intelligence has already fundamentally altered the legal system and offer tips for courts navigating deepfakes, hallucinations and a gap in access to AI tools.

  • 'Skinny Label' Arguments Spotlight Induced Infringement Risk

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    Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Hikma Pharmaceuticals v. Amarin Pharma highlight the uncertain boundary between lawful generic competition through so-called skinny labels and induced patent infringement, with potential implications for patent holders’ communication, enforcement and causation strategies across industries, says Anton Hopen at Trenam.

  • A Framework For Habeas Relief After 5th Circ. Bond Ruling

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    Following the Fifth Circuit’s recent Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi decision foreclosing statutory bond for detained nonimmigrants not deemed admitted to the U.S., lawyers should adopt a framework that requests habeas relief pursuant to the Fifth Amendment’s due process clause, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

  • 4th Circ. Ruling Will Rewrite Class Action Litigation Strategies

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Oliver v. Navy Federal Credit Union is the first from a federal circuit court to hold that motions to strike are inappropriate vehicles for challenging class allegations at the pleading stage, invalidating a tactic that had been used for decades, says Jim Francis at Francis Mailman.

  • Startup Founder Disputes Increasingly Turn On Governance

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    Recent Delaware developments suggest that as courts place increasing emphasis on board process, independence and oversight in founder-led startups, the growing intersection of governance, technology risk and investor oversight is accelerating both the emergence and escalation of founder disputes, says mediator Frank Burke.

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

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    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • Salt-N-Pepa Suit May Shake Up Music Copyright Issue

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    James v. UMG Recordings is a copyright termination rights case that provides an opportunity for the Second Circuit to make concrete choices about grant language, authorship, work-for-hire status and survival of derivative works, says attorney Abdul Abdullahi.

  • Opinion

    5th Circ.'s Abortion Pill Order Is Shaky On Multiple Grounds

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent order in Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion medication mifepristone, seems to turn federalism upside-down, and is also questionable for several other reasons, says Gregory Curtner at Curtner Law.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

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    Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

  • 5 Takeaways From Justices' Subpoena Fight Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in First Choice v. Davenport fortifies a line of First Amendment associational privacy cases stretching back nearly 70 years, and ensures that organizations subject to government demands for donor information have a meaningful federal forum in which to defend their constitutional rights, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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