Appellate

  • September 10, 2026

    Fla. Panel Tosses Teen's Conviction Over Atty's Omission

    A Florida state appeals court has reversed a teenager's manslaughter conviction and sentence, finding the teen's attorney let him enter an open plea without telling him that his statements to police potentially could have been suppressed for Miranda rule violations.

  • September 10, 2026

    Jay-Z Can't Undo Buzbee's Win In Rapper's Defamation Suit

    A California state appeals court has refused to revive claims that Texas attorney Tony Buzbee defamed and extorted music superstar Jay-Z by roping him into a sexual abuse suit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, saying the case was properly thrown out under California's free speech statute.

  • September 10, 2026

    DOJ Says Records Act Chills 'Candid' White House Advice

    The Justice Department urged the D.C. Circuit to vacate a lower court's order requiring the White House to comply with the Presidential Records Act, arguing in a new brief that the 1978 statute intrudes on executive power by requiring preservation of a wide range of documents.

  • September 10, 2026

    Insurer Wants Quick 8th Circ. 401(k) Forfeiture Suit Appeal

    UnitedHealth Group asked a Minnesota federal court to allow a quick appeal of the court's June decision refusing to completely toss allegations that the company misallocated forfeitures from an employee 401(k) plan, arguing differing opinions on the validity of the claims nationwide justified early Eighth Circuit review.

  • September 10, 2026

    4th Circ. Calls No-Bond Detention Policy 'Stain' On The Nation

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday became the ninth appellate court to declare illegal the Trump administration's detention of immigrants without bond, calling the mass detention a "stain" on the nation and comparing it to the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

  • September 10, 2026

    11th Circ. Urged To Undo Trial Loss For Hospital Ratings Org

    A Florida federal court order requiring hospital ratings nonprofit Leapfrog to revoke poor safety grades it issued to five hospitals owned by Tenet Healthcare Corp. violated the First Amendment, Leapfrog told the Eleventh Circuit in a Thursday opening brief challenging its bench trial loss.

  • September 10, 2026

    Apple Watch Ban In Masimo ITC Patent Case Hits High Court

    Apple Inc. has told the U.S. Supreme Court that the Federal Circuit improperly "lowered the bar" for meeting the U.S. International Trade Commission's domestic industry requirement in patent disputes, by affirming a decision that the Apple Watch infringed Masimo Corp. patents.

  • September 10, 2026

    Biosimilars Boast Big Savings But Face IP Risks, Report Says

    There are no biosimilar drugs in development for 90% of biologic products set to lose their patent exclusivity by 2034, according to a report released Thursday by the Association for Accessible Medicines, which warned that current patent policy threatens generic-drug development. 

  • September 10, 2026

    10th Circ. Backs 72-Year-Old's Firing Over Data Misuse

    The Tenth Circuit has sided with a Colorado city in an age discrimination lawsuit brought by a utility billing specialist who was fired after accessing a prospective tenant's private account information for personal use, finding she failed to show age bias drove her termination.

  • September 10, 2026

    11th Circ. Says Concealed Gun Alone Can't Justify Fla. Stop

    The Eleventh Circuit has vacated a felon's gun-possession conviction, saying police lacked reasonable suspicion to search him after noticing a gun protruding from his hoodie pocket because Florida law treats concealed carry as presumptively legal.

  • September 10, 2026

    11th Circ. Won't Reopen Ex-School Admin's Sex Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday upheld an Alabama school board's win over a former assistant principal's lawsuit alleging she was fired because she's a woman, concluding she couldn't overcome her former employer's explanation that she'd been found in a compromising position with a male colleague several times.

  • September 10, 2026

    9th Circ. Clears Boeing Of Liability In Police Helicopter Crash

    The Ninth Circuit affirmed a ruling Wednesday tossing product liability litigation over a 2022 Huntington Beach Police Department helicopter crash that killed an officer and injured another, finding the victims' claims against Boeing and other aircraft-makers are time-barred under the General Aviation Revitalization Act's 18-year statute of repose.

  • September 10, 2026

    Fla. Panel Orders New Trial In $604K PGA Resort Fall Suit

    A Florida appeals panel has ordered a new trial and vacated a $604,000 jury verdict in a woman's trip-and-fall suit against PGA National Resort and Spa, saying the trial court wrongly treated an out-of-date administrative rule as binding law.

  • September 10, 2026

    7th Circ. Won't Revive Mail Carrier's Race Bias Suit

    The Seventh Circuit declined to revive a U.S. Postal Service carrier's discrimination suit stemming from an altercation with his supervisor, who called police to escort him off the premises, ruling Thursday no reasonable jury could say the treatment, "however disrespectful or ill-advised," had anything to do with the carrier's race.

  • September 10, 2026

    Wash. High Court Takes Up Yakama Nation Fuel Tax Dispute

    The Washington State Supreme Court has granted a Yakama Nation fuel distributor's bid for direct review in a case challenging the state Department of Licensing's attempt to collect on a state fuel tax assessment.

  • September 10, 2026

    9th Circ. Seeks Calif. Justices' Input On USAA Rate Bias Row

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday sought the California Supreme Court's input on a class action claiming that USAA discriminated against service members, certifying a question about whether the state insurance code prohibits insurers from charging lower-ranking military members who qualify as good drivers more than higher-ranking members who also qualify.

  • September 10, 2026

    5th Circ. Finds NC Worker Must Face Hurricane Ida Crash Suit

    The Fifth Circuit has revived claims from four people injured in a car crash with a utility worker in Louisiana following Hurricane Ida, finding that the North Carolina worker was not a "representative" of Louisiana or its municipalities, and thus not entitled to immunity under the state's natural disaster law.

  • September 10, 2026

    Colo. Judge Asked To Sanction Hospital In Gender Care Suit

    Transgender adolescent patients of Children's Hospital Colorado urged a state judge on Thursday to sanction the hospital for refusing to resume providing gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth patients, arguing that the hospital can't avoid its obligation to provide the care by blaming its providers.

  • September 10, 2026

    Patent Declaratory Judgment Actions Are Back In Vogue

    Companies facing threats of patent infringement lawsuits are increasingly embracing declaratory judgment actions, a trend attorneys attribute to two pro-patent-owner shifts: the low institution rate of Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges and the growth of Amazon's internal patent dispute process.

  • September 10, 2026

    6th Circ. Shields Detroit Cops In Vacated-Conviction Suit

    The Sixth Circuit has ruled that qualified immunity applied to four Detroit police officers sued by a man who had spent 22 years in prison before his convictions for sexual assault and breaking and entering were thrown out, finding probable cause supported his prosecution even though dog-tracking evidence in the case was eventually discredited.

  • September 10, 2026

    9th Circ. Calls Foul On Judge's NCAA Five-Year Rule Injunction

    The NCAA's five-year eligibility limit may be a commercial rule subject to antitrust scrutiny, but a Nevada federal judge improperly blocked it to let a college baseball player keep playing with little evidence it constrained competition, the Ninth Circuit has said.

  • September 10, 2026

    DOJ Urges High Court To Revisit 9th Circ.'s Bar Of Nev. US Atty

    The Justice Department has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit a recent Ninth Circuit ruling disqualifying the Trump administration's top federal prosecutor in Nevada, calling it a decision that imposes "ongoing confusion" in the executive branch.

  • September 10, 2026

    Blank Rome Atty Ouster Can't Be Appealed, Conn. Panel Rules

    The former executive director of a Connecticut public housing authority cannot challenge a judge's revocation of his Blank Rome LLP lawyer's case-specific appearance in a $16.2 million loan dispute, a state appeals court has ruled, finding a trial court decision sidelining the attorney was not a final judgment.

  • September 10, 2026

    6th Circ. Says Fatal Child Hold Excluded From Coverage

    Insurers do not have to indemnify a management services company for a child welfare agency in a lawsuit over the death of a 7-year-old who died after being restrained by workers, the Sixth Circuit said, finding the hold on the child, while improperly used, was considered an excluded professional service.

  • September 10, 2026

    1st Circ. Keeps USPS Ballot Mail Rule Blocked For Midterms

    The First Circuit on Thursday rejected a request from the U.S. Postal Service to lift a Massachusetts federal judge's order blocking new mail ballot requirements that the appellate court said would create "chaos and widespread disenfranchisement" just weeks before the November midterm elections.

Expert Analysis

  • '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.

  • Where The Preemption Fight Over Prediction Markets Stands

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    While the Third Circuit's recent ruling in Kalshi v. Flaherty remains a significant win for the federal government in its quest to regulate prediction markets, the Fourth, Sixth and Ninth Circuits appear more skeptical, indicating that this fight is likely headed for the Supreme Court, says Johnny ElHachem at Holland & Knight.

  • Md. Justices' State Climate Tort Ban May Shape National Path

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    The Maryland Supreme Court’s recent ruling that federal law preempted state-level deceptive marketing tort claims brought by several municipalities could offer the U.S. Supreme Court a road map to use in the pending Suncor Energy v. Boulder County case to exclude states from the business of regulating global emissions, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

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    Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

  • What Justices Are Focusing On In 'Skinny Label' Patent Case

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    Though Hikma v. Amarin appears to be a patent dispute that could reshape inducement doctrine in the pharmaceutical context, oral argument suggests the U.S. Supreme Court may treat this as primarily a pleading-stage dispute, with important unresolved questions lurking beneath the surface, says Shashank Upadhye at Upadhye Tang.

  • Employer Tips After 4th Circ. Rejects Trimmed Suit Deadlines

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent holding in Thomas v. EOTech that employers cannot use contractual provisions to shorten statutory filing periods for Title VII or Age Discrimination in Employment Act claims offers a warning for employers to review any such documents and reassess their litigation risk, say attorneys at Ogletree.

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