Appellate

  • September 11, 2026

    FCC Can't Avoid Final Order On Fox Philly Issue, Court Told

    A media advocacy group told the D.C. Circuit on Friday that the Federal Communications Commission cannot sidestep its duty to issue a final order on whether to dismiss a petition over Fox TV's character fitness for a broadcast license in Philadelphia.

  • September 11, 2026

    Split Fed. Circ. Backs Amazon's Win Over Network Patent Suit

    A split Federal Circuit panel Friday upheld Amazon's escape from an infringement case over an AlterWAN Inc. network patent, with the dissenting judge saying the panel needlessly went "down the rabbit hole" and arrived at a "flat wrong" claim construction.

  • September 11, 2026

    Mass. Justices Eye Hardship Factor In Pension Loss Cases

    Massachusetts' highest court seemed open Friday to taking financial circumstances into account in deciding whether two former public employees should lose their pensions for committing overtime fraud, although one justice worried doing so would "invite chaos."

  • September 11, 2026

    Mich. Township Seeks To Pause Winery Events Fight

    A northern Michigan township asked a federal judge to dismiss or stay a lawsuit brought by several local wineries that claim the township is attempting to bypass a previous court ruling to block them from hosting special events, saying the township's appeal of that earlier ruling remains pending in the Sixth Circuit.

  • September 11, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Questions Medical Training Co.'s $100M Deal Theory

    A medical training startup urged the Federal Circuit on Friday to revive claims accusing Galderma of a "classic catch-and-kill strategy" to derail what it says could have been a $100 million deal with Allergan, but a three-judge panel questioned whether that theory had been properly presented below.

  • September 11, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Agrees Globus Didn't Infringe Spinal Surgery Patents

    The Federal Circuit on Friday upheld a Pennsylvania federal judge's decisions clearing Globus Medical Inc. of infringing Moskowitz Family LLC spinal surgery tool patents, agreeing that language used in the patents' opening statement, or preamble, limited their scope.

  • September 11, 2026

    Corp. Transparency Law Unconstitutional, Justices Told

    The Supreme Court should find that the Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional to prevent a future administration from reviving its application to domestic entities, the National Small Business Association told the justices.

  • September 11, 2026

    'Quiet On Set' Makers Beat Producer's Libel Fight On Appeal

    A California appellate court Thursday reversed a lower court ruling and threw out Nickelodeon producer Dan Schneider's defamation suit against Warner Bros. Discovery and the makers of the "Quiet on Set" docuseries, finding that the series constitutes speech protected by the anti-SLAPP statute and Schneider isn't likely to win his claims.

  • September 11, 2026

    Process Flaws Doom Group Home's $13.4M Death Appeal

    A Connecticut assisted-living facility failed to preserve or brief several issues that underpinned its appeal of a $13.4 million judgment over the death of a resident, an appellate panel held Friday in upholding a trial court victory for the man's mother.

  • September 11, 2026

    Trial Errors 'Crippled Goldstein's Defense,' 4th Circ. Hears

    Appellate luminary Tom Goldstein unveiled a sweeping and forceful critique aimed at erasing his felony fraud convictions, telling the Fourth Circuit that prosecutors were hell-bent on convicting him "no matter the facts or law," disregarded a star witness's "incompetence" and benefited from a trial judge's "inexplicable" rulings.

  • September 11, 2026

    Mass. Court Revives Whistleblower Claims Against Hospital

    A former Boston Medical Center doctor will have another chance to pursue his claims that the hospital fired him in retaliation for his testimony for defendants in child abuse cases and complaints about the work of colleagues, an intermediate Massachusetts appellate court said Friday.

  • September 11, 2026

    Midterm Wins Could Help Dems Probe Trump's BigLaw Deals

    If the Democrats take back one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, a big item on their oversight agenda will be to step up ongoing investigations of the deals that nine major law firms cut with the Trump administration last year.

  • September 11, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Scrutinizes Presumptive Date In Turkish Rebar Row

    A Federal Circuit panel on Friday looked to clarify the effect of the U.S. Department of Commerce's presumption that invoice dates are generally the best option for determining dates of sale during duty investigations, with a Turkish company claiming the presumption cost it $20 million.

  • September 11, 2026

    11th Circ. Puts Ex-Worker's Ga. Negligence Claim Back In Play

    The Eleventh Circuit reinstated a Georgia law negligent retention claim against a real estate and investment firm from a former worker who claimed a colleague racially harassed her, saying a lower court dropped the ball when it tossed out the case. 

  • September 11, 2026

    Board OKs Gov't Use Of Outside Declarations In Asylum Case

    An immigration appeals board vacated an immigration judge's grant of asylum to an Indian citizen, finding the judge erroneously put little weight on outside declarations that the federal government said contained boilerplate language resembling the Indian citizen's own declaration.

  • September 11, 2026

    High Court Urged To Take Target Case For Alice Look

    The U.S. Supreme Court should clarify its own Alice test regarding patent eligibility, according to the owner of a series of patents covering ways of finding products within a store that were invalidated under the standard in a suit against Target.

  • September 11, 2026

    DC Circ. Nixes Energy Dept.'s Order To Keep Coal Plant Open

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday wiped out a U.S. Department of Energy order to keep open a Michigan coal-fired power plant slated for retirement, saying it represents an unjustified expansion of the agency's emergency authority under the Federal Power Act.

  • September 10, 2026

    Thomson Reuters Says DOJ AI Stance Doesn't Back Ross

    Thomson Reuters told the Third Circuit Thursday in defunct legal tech startup Ross Intelligence's interlocutory appeal of a summary judgment ruling that it infringed Westlaw headnotes that a statement by the U.S. Department of Justice flagged by Ross does not support its fair-use defense.

  • September 10, 2026

    Fla. Panel Orders Murder Retrial Over Prior Shooting Evidence

    A Florida appeals court ordered a new trial for a man convicted of fatally shooting a bystander during a heated argument with a group of boys, saying the trial court erred in withholding evidence from jurors that the group had previously fired shots into his home.

  • September 10, 2026

    Bankman-Fried Asks Justices To Review His Fraud Conviction

    Incarcerated FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to review the Second Circuit's decision affirming his fraud conviction and $11 billion forfeiture order, saying now is the time to resolve whether evidence of fraud victims' losses belongs in fraudulent-inducement prosecutions and whether his "crushing fine" is constitutional.

  • September 10, 2026

    Princeton Must Face Title IX Claim Tied To Gender Bias

    A New Jersey federal judge refused to end a former Princeton University student's claims stemming from his expulsion after an investigation into his ex-romantic partner's allegations of violence, finding that a jury could conclude that gender played a role in the outcome.

  • September 10, 2026

    Feds' Cut To NY Funding In CDL Fight Justified, 2nd Circ. Told

    The Trump administration has told the Second Circuit that it's well within its rights to penalize New York by withholding $74 million in highway funds over the state's failure to revoke commercial driver's licenses that were issued to ineligible foreign drivers.

  • September 10, 2026

    DC Circ. Upholds SEC Denial Of Whistleblower Award

    The D.C. Circuit ruled Wednesday that a man who tipped off a journalist about a possible foreign bribery scheme is not entitled to a whistleblower award because he waited until a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigation was well under way to present the same information to the agency.

  • September 10, 2026

    Nielsen Tells 2nd Circ. Court Altered Terms Of Cumulus Order

    Nielsen is headed back to the Second Circuit after a New York federal court changed the terms of a preliminary injunction that the appellate court had already upheld, the company said, requiring Nielsen to not only unbundle its national radio ratings data from its local offerings but also to provide that data on specific terms.

  • September 10, 2026

    6th Circ. Nixes $31.8M Pot Farm Judgment Against Curaleaf

    The Sixth Circuit on Thursday reversed a $31.8 million jury judgment against cannabis giant Curaleaf, saying the federal illegality of cannabis precluded federal courts from enforcing contracts that require parties to commit federal crimes.

Expert Analysis

  • Vanda Ruling Offers New Guide To Generic Labeling Disputes

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    The D.C. Circuit's recent decision in Vanda Pharmaceuticals v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration is significant for its guidance on when generic-drug labeling remains sufficiently similar to brand labeling and when a difference requires a statutory exception, says Shashank Upadhye at Upadhye Tang.

  • 9th Circ. Comet Ruling Spotlights Trade Secret Proof Burdens

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    The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision to vacate a $40 million verdict awarded to Comet Technologies in its trade secret dispute with XP Power underscores how the burden of proof differs between federal and state law, giving litigants a fresh perspective on several issues, including how a jury should be instructed, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Attorneys Using AI May Have Ethical Duty To Redact Docs

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    The trajectory of legal ethics guidance in recent years strongly suggests that as redaction technology becomes more accessible, the failure to use it when uploading highly confidential materials into artificial intelligence tools will become increasingly difficult to defend as reasonable, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.

  • Minn. Ruling Expands Insureds' Right To Independent Counsel

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    If upheld on appeal, a recent decision by a Minnesota appellate court — Fabyanske Westra Hart & Thomson v. Western National Mutual Insurance — will give Minnesota policyholders a stronger basis to demand independent counsel when an insurer accepts a defense under a reservation of rights, say attorneys at Stoel Rives.

  • Series

    Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

  • The Future Of DOL Judge Removal Challenges After Slaughter

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Trump v. Slaughter calls into question whether U.S. Department of Labor administrative law judges exercising significant governmental authority remain insulated from presidential removal, but the answer depends on the governing statute, its severability provisions and other factors, says Mark Ishu at Conn Maciel.

  • DOJ Executive Privilege Opinion Portends 3rd-Party Dilemmas

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    The recent opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel concluding that executive privilege can shield the president's communications with private advisers may lead to interbranch disputes, and companies must come up with a response plan now before they’re caught in the middle, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Lays Out Administrative Right-Of-Access Blueprint

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    In Civil Rights Corps v. LaSalle, the Second Circuit recently held that the First Amendment dictates a presumptive right of access to sealed attorney grievance proceedings, providing a framework for challenging other administrative regimes that operate behind closed doors, says Jonathan Ginsberg at Carlton Fields.

  • How 'Swap' Fight Underpins Prediction Market Enforcement

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    As courts around the country grapple with whether, and under what circumstances, event contracts qualify as swaps, federal enforcement authority hangs in the balance, with implications for companies that need to manage compliance risks during this period of legal uncertainty, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Fed. Circ. Dental IP Ruling Reinforces Prior Art Framework

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Dental Monitoring v. Align Technology reaffirms the necessity of substantive written description support for establishing an earlier effective prior art date under the America Invents Act, and aligns Patent Trial and Appeal Board practice with district court litigation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Justices' Hikma Reasoning May Extend Well Beyond Pharma

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    The active steps framework announced by the U.S. Supreme Court in its Hikma v. Amarin decision, finding that Amarin failed to plausibly allege inducement of infringement, has the potential to reshape how courts evaluate inducement claims across patent, copyright and other doctrines, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • 10th Circ. Ruling Propels Emerging 'Occurrence' Consensus

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    The Tenth Circuit recently revived the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' bid for insurance coverage in a sexual abuse case, continuing a trend as the second circuit court to find that, where ambiguous, the definition of "occurrence" must be interpreted in favor of coverage, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.

  • The State Of Prediction Market Litigation After 9th Circ. Ruling

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Kalshi v. Assad gives state regulators significant appellate backing to enforce state gaming laws over prediction markets, creating a direct split with the Third Circuit that will likely lead to Supreme Court review of the question, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • 11th Circ. FCA Qui Tam Revival Queues Up Next Challenges

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    Though the Eleventh Circuit on Sept. 1 upheld the constitutionality of the False Claims Act's qui tam provision, it will probably face continued litigation since the appellate court declined to rule on other constitutional challenges and the decision will likely be petitioned to the U.S. Supreme Court, say attorneys at Sheppard.

  • Series

    Ballet Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of learning and performing ballet taught me that success — whether in dance or practicing law — comes only through hours of thorough preparation, boundless energy and relentless effort, says Sharon Katz-Pearlman at Greenberg Traurig.

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