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Featured
Supreme Court Caseload Hits 160-Year Low
Not since the Civil War has the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in as few cases as it will this term — the latest milestone for the court's shrinking docket, and one attorneys say might have more to do with the high court's culture than its expanding emergency appeals caseload.
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January 27, 2026
Feds Urge 1st Circ. To Nix 3rd-Country Removals Injunction
The Trump administration told the First Circuit a Massachusetts federal judge overstepped by granting a "sweeping injunction" that required it to provide due process to a certified class of noncitizens facing removal to third countries they have no ties to.
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January 27, 2026
Butterball Worker Wants Full 4th Circ. To Rehear Wage Case
Fourth Circuit precedent establishes that state wage and hour laws are not preempted by federal law, a Butterball turkey catcher argued, urging the full appeals court to revisit a panel's decision denying his bid to revive his wage suit.
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January 27, 2026
Iowa Church Says DEA Has Delayed Ayahuasca Application
An Iowa church seeking approval for the religious use of a psychedelic has told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration continues to drag its feet on the organization's application for a religious exemption to the Controlled Substances Act.
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January 27, 2026
Offit Kurman Beats Appeal In $40M Malpractice Suit
Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled that a lower court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Offit Kurman and two of its lawyers in a legal malpractice case.
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January 27, 2026
BigLaw Firms Seek Partial Exec Order Appeal Consolidation
The four BigLaw firms that sued the White House and Justice Department over executive orders against them related to the clients they represent have asked the D.C. Circuit that the cases be "partially consolidated" amid the government's appeals of its losses, while maintaining the ability to file individual response briefs.
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January 27, 2026
Full 11th Circ. Will Rehear Seafood Co. Workers' ESOP Suit
The full Eleventh Circuit will rehear a proposed class of seafood company workers' bid to revive mismanagement allegations against their employer and an employee stock ownership plan trustee, the court said Tuesday, after a three-judge panel affirmed dismissal of the case in October.
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January 27, 2026
11th Circ. Told Tennis Org. Wasn't Required To Report Abuse
The U.S. Tennis Association urged the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to reverse a $9 million jury award handed to a player who said she was sexually assaulted by her coach, arguing there's no evidence a USTA manager was required to report a prior incident.
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January 27, 2026
Nuke Discharge Law Isn't Preempted, NY Tells 2nd Circ.
New York has told the Second Circuit that a federal judge wrongly concluded that a state law barring the release of radioactive materials into the Hudson River was federally preempted.
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January 27, 2026
Ex-Wells Fargo Director Urges 4th Circ. To Keep $22M Verdict
A former Wells Fargo director has asked the Fourth Circuit not to scrap his $22.1 million Americans with Disabilities Act verdict, arguing the bank failed to address one of his state law claims on appeal and can't rewrite how the jury weighed conflicting evidence and testimony.
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January 27, 2026
Clinic Workers' Vax Bias Suit Needs 2nd Look, 3rd Circ. Says
A split Third Circuit panel reinstated a religious bias suit claiming Geisinger Medical Center illegally required workers who opposed its COVID-19 vaccine mandate to undergo nasal testing, saying the employees should have been allowed to explore whether a chemical in the nasal swabs made that accommodation unreasonable.
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January 27, 2026
Divisions Emerge At 2nd Circ. Over Reproductive Rights Law
A Second Circuit panel appeared split Tuesday on whether an anti-abortion group challenging a New York state law that bars employers from penalizing workers based on their reproductive health decisions has standing to challenge the law as unconstitutional.
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January 27, 2026
11th Circ. May Scuttle Appeal Amid Trafficking Coverage Spat
An Eleventh Circuit panel suggested Tuesday that procedural hurdles could stymie an insurance company's bid to get out of defending an Atlanta-area motel from sex trafficking claims that led to the motel being hit with a $40 million verdict last summer.
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January 27, 2026
11th Circ. Scrutinizes Royal Caribbean's Defeat Of 401(k) Suit
The Eleventh Circuit zeroed in Tuesday on whether a lower court had enough evidence to hand Royal Caribbean a pretrial win in a suit brought by cruise ship workers who alleged they lost 401(k) savings because of shoddy target-date investment funds.
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January 27, 2026
6th Circ. Frees Kellanova From Arbitrating Promotion Fight
Snack-maker Kellanova doesn't have to arbitrate a promotion dispute with a Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers union local, the Sixth Circuit ruled, finding the dispute isn't arbitrable under an expired collective bargaining agreement.
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January 27, 2026
IP Litigator Joins Holland & Hart's Denver Office
Former Venable LLP partner Elizabeth Manno has joined Holland & Hart's intellectual property litigation practice in the firm's Denver office, bringing her experience in patent litigation and complex technology cases.
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January 27, 2026
Comcast Hit With $240M Verdict In Voice Recognition IP Trial
Comcast is on the hook for $240 million after a federal jury in Pennsylvania found that the telecommunications giant infringed one patent on voice recognition technology, but cleared it on another patent.
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January 27, 2026
Fed. Circ. Snubs Google's 'Settled Expectations' Challenge
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday turned down Google's challenge to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's policy of denying patent reviews based on the owner's "settled expectations," marking the latest failed case disputing the agency's changes to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
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January 27, 2026
8th Circ. Won't Reinstate ICE Injunction In Minneapolis
An Eighth Circuit panel has refused to reinstate a lower court's injunction barring federal immigration agents from retaliating against peaceful protesters in Minneapolis, ruling that it is unlikely to survive an appeal from the Trump administration.
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January 27, 2026
Reporting Duty Doesn't Nix Whistleblower Status, Court Finds
Massachusetts' top appellate court ruled Tuesday that a former employee of a Boston community college was entitled to whistleblower protections for reporting that the college had not told the U.S. Department of Education about an alleged sexual assault, even though he shared in the reporting responsibility.
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January 26, 2026
First Native American Justice In Wash. Won't Seek Reelection
Washington Supreme Court Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis, the first Native American to win statewide office in the Evergreen state, announced Monday that she wouldn't seek reelection to the high court this year and would instead step down at the end of 2026 to focus on writing books and teaching.
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January 26, 2026
11th Circ. Won't Expedite Bid To Halt CFPB Energy Loan Rule
The Eleventh Circuit declined Monday to fast-track an appeal aimed at halting a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule on clean-energy home improvement loans, rebuffing the rule's trade group challenger as the agency separately defended the Biden-era measure.
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January 26, 2026
Justices Urged To Keep Baseball's Antitrust Shield In Play
Puerto Rico's professional baseball league on Monday urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to disturb the sport's century-old exemption from antitrust law, arguing that the justices have rejected similar challenges to the shield time and time again.
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January 26, 2026
Medtronic Investors Ask 8th Circ. To Revive Insulin Pump Suit
Investors have asked the Eighth Circuit to revive a securities class action against medical device manufacturer Medtronic, arguing that a Minnesota federal court wrongly dismissed the case in October for failure to state a claim.
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January 26, 2026
10th Circ. Affirms $17M Atty Fee In Gas Well Royalty Case
On the third go around in the Tenth Circuit, a class led by Chieftain Royalty Co. on Monday had its $17.3 million attorney fee award unanimously affirmed for a settlement resolving a gas well royalty dispute, despite objections from two class members.
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January 26, 2026
Long Island Town Says Cannabis Law Doesn't Preempt Zoning
A Long Island town has told a New York intermediate appellate court that the state's cannabis law cannot preempt localities from enforcing their zoning policies when it comes to allowing where marijuana stores can be located.
Editor's Picks
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The Topics Appellate Attys Are Tracking Most Closely In 2026
A few far-reaching topics will dominate the appellate practice in 2026, attorneys predict, as appeals courts navigate an ever-growing thicket of Trump administration litigation and thorny questions involving artificial intelligence.
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4 High Court Cases To Watch This Spring
The U.S. Supreme Court justices will return from the winter holidays to tackle several constitutional disputes that range from who is entitled to birthright citizenship to whether transgender individuals are entitled to heightened levels of protection from discrimination.
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Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To 2025's Most Memorable Moments
Federal circuit courts in 2025 strained under a crush of Trump administration lawsuits, as judges directed animated language at litigants and even their fellow judges. And while the president only added a handful of appellate jurists, they had outsize impacts on circuit benches as they joined the cadre of conservatives seated in his first term.
Expert Analysis
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Evenflo IP Ruling Shows Evidence Is Still Key For Injunctions
Notwithstanding renewed policy and doctrinal attention to patent injunctions, the Federal Circuit's December decision in Wonderland v. Evenflo signals that the era of easily obtained patent injunctions has not yet arrived, say attorneys at King & Wood.
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Justices' Med. Mal. Ruling May Spur Huge Shift For Litigators
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in the medical malpractice suit Berk v. Choy, holding that a Florida procedural requirement does not apply to medical malpractice claims filed in federal court, is likely to encourage eligible parties to file claims in federal court, speed the adjudicatory process and create both opportunities and challenges for litigators, says Thomas Kroeger at Colson Hicks.
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Challenging Restitution Orders After Supreme Court Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Ellingburg v. U.S. decision from last week, holding that mandatory restitution is a criminal punishment subject to the Sixth Amendment, means that all challenges to restitution are now fair game if the amount is not alleged in the indictment, say Mark Allenbaugh at SentencingStats.com and Doug Passon at Doug Passon Law.
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State Of Insurance: Q4 Notes From Pennsylvania
Last quarter in Pennsylvania, a Superior Court ruling underscored the centrality of careful policy drafting and judicial scrutiny of exclusionary language, and another provided practical guidance on the calculation of attorney fees and interest in bad faith cases, while a proposed bill endeavored to cover insurance gaps for homeowners, says Todd Leon at Marshall Dennehey.
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Justices' Double Jeopardy Ruling May Limit Charge-Stacking
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent holding in Barrett v. U.S. that the double jeopardy clause bars separate convictions for the same act under two related firearms laws places meaningful limits on the broader practice of stacking charges, a reminder that overlapping statutes present prosecutors with a menu, not a buffet, says attorney David Tarras.
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How 2025 Recalibrated Fair Use For The AI Era
Although the Second Circuit's decision last year in Romanova v. Amilus Inc. did not involve artificial intelligence, its formulation of relevant fair use factors provides a useful guide for lower courts examining AI cases in 2026, demanding close attention from legal practitioners on both sides of these disputes, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Series
Adapting To Private Practice: 5 Tips From Ex-SEC Unit Chief
My move to private practice has reaffirmed my belief in the value of adaptability, collaboration and strategic thinking — qualities that are essential not only for successful client outcomes, but also for sustained professional satisfaction, says Dabney O’Riordan at Fried Frank.
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5 Drug Pricing Policy Developments To Watch In 2026
2026 may prove to be a critical year for drug pricing in the U.S., with potential major shifts including several legislative initiatives moving forward after being in the works for years, and more experimentation on the horizon concerning GLP-1s and Section 340B pricing, say attorneys at Manatt.
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2026 Int'l Arbitration Trends: Awards Against Sovereign States
The enforcement of arbitral awards against sovereign states is one of the most contentious and rapidly evolving areas in international arbitration, with three defining issues on the 2026 horizon: the scope of sovereign immunity, assignability of rights, and availability of fraud and corruption defenses, say attorneys at Cleary.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: How To Start A Law Firm
Launching and sustaining a law firm requires skills most law schools don't teach, but every lawyer should understand a few core principles that can make the leap calculated rather than reckless, says Sam Katz at Athlaw.
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Opinion
What Justices Got Right In Candidate Standing Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision this month in Bost v. Illinois State Board of Elections broadens standing for candidates challenging state election rules, marking a welcome shift from other decisions that have impeded access to federal courts, says Daniel Tokaji at the University of Wisconsin Law School.
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Justices' Med Mal Ruling May Hurt Federal Anti-SLAPP Suits
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Berk v. Choy restricts the application of certain state laws in diversity actions in federal court — and while the ruling concerned affidavit requirements in medical malpractice suits, it may also affect the use of anti-SLAPP statutes in federal litigation, says Travis Chance at Brownstein Hyatt.
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Fed. Circ. Patent Decisions In 2025: An Empirical Review
In 2025, the Federal Circuit's increased output was not enough to keep up with its ever-growing patent case load, and patent owners and applicants fared poorly overall as the court's affirmance rate fell, says Dan Bagatell at Perkins Coie.
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Key False Claims Act Trends From The Last Year
The False Claims Act remains a powerful enforcement tool after some record verdicts and settlements in 2025, and while traditional fraud areas remain a priority, new initiatives are raising questions about its expanding application, says Veronica Nannis at Joseph Greenwald.
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Series
Hosting Exchange Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Opening my home to foreign exchange students makes me a better lawyer not just because prioritizing visiting high schoolers forces me to hone my organization and time management skills but also because sharing the study-abroad experience with newcomers and locals reconnects me to my community, says Alison Lippa at Nicolaides Fink.