Appellate

  • August 31, 2026

    Rising Star: Ahmad Zavitsanos' Kelsi Stayart White

    In the past year, Ahmad Zavitsanos & Mensing PLLC partner Kelsi Stayart White beat a $14 million lawsuit with a novel procedural argument and set precedent on civil barratry claims while winning a case before the Texas Supreme Court, earning her a spot as one of the appellate attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 31, 2026

    Ga. Appeals Court Finds Facebook Evidence Error Harmless

    The Georgia Court of Appeals upheld the denial of a new trial for a man convicted of home invasion and other offenses tied to the attack of an elderly man in his garage, saying the lower court allowing Facebook evidence in the case was harmless. 

  • August 31, 2026

    6th Circ. Backs $450K Punitive Award For Mich. Farmworkers

    A Sixth Circuit panel has upheld a $450,000 punitive damages award for five Guatemalan farmworkers who accused a West Michigan agricultural labor contractor and its owners of trafficking-related and wage law abuses, ruling that the award was constitutionally permissible despite the jury awarding only economic compensatory damages.

  • August 31, 2026

    Feds Say New USPS Mail-In Ballot Rule Isn't A 'Takeover'

    A new U.S. Postal Service rule compelling states to submit voters' names to the federal government and redesign envelopes in order to have mail-in ballots delivered in November imposes "modest" requirements and is not a "federal takeover of elections," the Trump administration told a Massachusetts federal judge in a weekend filing.

  • August 31, 2026

    Korean Bank Whistleblower Suit May Be Bound For Arbitration

    The Second Circuit on Monday asked if whistleblower retaliation claims by four former compliance executives at the New York arm of a Korean bank should have been sent to arbitration — and if a judge should have bothered with the bank's dismissal bid.

  • August 31, 2026

    8th Circ. Backs Social Security Disability Benefits Denial

    The Eighth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a worker's suit challenging the Social Security Administration's denial of her bid for disability benefits, finding it was fair game for an administrative law judge to credit an agency doctor's opinion that she was more physically capable than she had claimed.

  • August 28, 2026

    'Troubled' 7th Circ. Finds No Harm From Benesch Atty Conflict

    While "troubled" by an ex-Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff LLP partner's decision to take on a client's trade secrets suit while negotiating a move from Benesch to the defendant company's outside counsel, the Seventh Circuit agreed Friday that the displeased client cannot pursue her legal malpractice claim.

  • August 28, 2026

    Patent Marking Case Will Shape License Talks And Damages

    A Federal Circuit ruling that patent owners must ensure that all licensees mark their products with patent information in order to recover presuit damages will complicate licensing talks and give defendants a route to limit or escape damages in some cases, attorneys say.

  • August 28, 2026

    25K Workers 'Out Of Luck': Feds Defend Layoffs At 9th Circ.

    The federal government Friday urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse a finding that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management wrongfully fired 25,000 probationary workers shortly after President Donald Trump took office, arguing that the OPM was operating well within its statutory authority, the district court lacked jurisdiction, and the workers are "simply out of luck."

  • August 28, 2026

    Uber Text Doesn't Bind Guest Rider To Arbitrate, DC Circ. Says

    Uber cannot force into arbitration a passenger who sued over a crash in which he was severely injured when the ride was requested by his wife since he never created an account or agreed to the ride-hailing company's terms of service, the D.C. Circuit said in a published opinion Friday.

  • August 28, 2026

    Rapper's Lyrics Rhymed With The Crimes, 8th Circ. Says

    An Eighth Circuit panel upheld the marijuana and firearms convictions of Arkansas rapper Bankroll Freddie, saying Friday his lyrics were properly allowed as evidence against him because they showed he knew drug and gun terminology.

  • August 28, 2026

    Ind. Panel Affirms $3.5M Med Mal Verdict Over Amputated Leg

    An Indiana appellate panel on Friday upheld a $3.5 million verdict — later reduced to $1.25 million — in a suit accusing a doctor of negligently causing a patient's leg amputation, rejecting the doctor's argument that an alleged juror-tampering incident led to an unfair trial.

  • August 28, 2026

    Industries, States Take Soot Rule Fight To Supreme Court

    A coalition of industry groups and 25 states led by Kentucky and West Virginia have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a D.C. Circuit decision that upheld a challenged rule imposing tighter nationwide limits on soot pollution.

  • August 28, 2026

    Calif. Panel Upholds Win For Dentist In Fatal Trip-And-Fall Suit

    The deletion of surveillance footage showing a woman's fatal trip and fall outside a California dentist's office was not spoliation, a state appeals court ruled Friday, calling the erasure unintentional while upholding a lower court's order ending the wrongful death lawsuit.

  • August 28, 2026

    2nd Circ. Revives FCA Overpayment Suit Against Pharmacy

    A Second Circuit panel on Friday undid a whistleblower's loss on False Claims Act allegations that AmerisourceBergen Corp.'s pharmacy business owes the government money for overpayments from federal healthcare programs for drug purchases and other services.

  • August 28, 2026

    Trump Admin Asks High Court To Uphold Trans Troop Ban

    The Trump administration urged the U.S. Supreme Court Friday to allow its ban on transgender members of the military to take full effect, arguing the policy is constitutional under the high court's developing transgender case law.

  • August 28, 2026

    11th Circ. Won't Nix Royal Caribbean Arbitration Appeal

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday denied a bid to summarily affirm an order denying Royal Caribbean's motion to arbitration claims by passengers suing the cruise line over numerous incidents of voyeurism involving a former employee.

  • August 28, 2026

    DC Circ. Won't Revisit Threshold Issues In Spain Cases

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday denied Spain's bid to reconsider threshold issues raised in five consolidated appeals seeking to enforce arbitral awards collectively worth more than $400 million, including a question on the legal concept that a dispute might be better heard elsewhere.

  • August 28, 2026

    8th Circ. Says Alleged Parole Lies Aren't Unconstitutional

    An Eighth Circuit panel has upheld the dismissal of an Arkansas sex offender's lawsuit alleging his parole officer used a fake daycare to reject his housing plans, saying parole is not a constitutionally protected right.

  • August 28, 2026

    4th Circ. Reverses $42M Abu Ghraib Verdict Against CACI

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday reversed a $42 million jury verdict finding CACI conspired to torture Iraq War detainees, ruling on rehearing the detainees' claims must be dismissed following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision that courts can't create a private right of action under the Alien Tort Statute.

  • August 28, 2026

    Schwab Vendor Exempt From Ill. Biometric Law, 7th Circ. Says

    The Seventh Circuit agreed Friday that a vendor Charles Schwab uses to authenticate customers' voiceprints is exempt from Illinois' biometric privacy law as it refused to revive claims that the vendor illegally collected callers' data.

  • August 28, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Shifts T-Mobile Patent Settlement Fight To 5th Circ.

    The Federal Circuit on Friday sent an appeal from T-Mobile stemming from a patent litigation settlement to the Fifth Circuit, ruling that is proper because the Eastern District of Texas had jurisdiction when the appeal was filed.

  • August 28, 2026

    9th Circ. Rules Against Kalshi In Sports Wager Circuit Split

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday backed a Nevada federal court decision that cleared the way for the state's gambling regulators to pursue Kalshi's sports offerings, creating a circuit split in the sprawling litigation over prediction market regulation.

  • August 28, 2026

    Feds Gain Ground In Energy Permit Turf War With States

    A federal judge's endorsement earlier this month of the Trump administration's restart of a pipeline over California's objections will likely embolden the federal government to override state opposition to energy project development, but the ruling won't be the last word on the legality of such moves.

  • August 28, 2026

    Mom Not Responsible For Son's Alleged Assault, Court Finds

    A Georgia appeals court ruled Friday that a now-deceased woman was rightly freed from a woman's lawsuit accusing her son of assaulting her in his mother's home, upholding a lower court's finding that the injured party had chosen to put herself in a situation she knew was dangerous. 

Expert Analysis

  • Amazon v. Perplexity Ruling Limits CFAA Reach Over AI Tools

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Amazon v. Perplexity provides important early guidance on how the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act applies to agentic artificial intelligence, and is the latest in a line of rulings in which courts have declined to stretch existing statutes to broadly regulate AI, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Managing OSHA Mental Illness Logs After 5th Circ. Vacatur

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    Employers with facilities in multiple states need to carefully weigh their recordkeeping procedures following the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cannot require employers to log work-related mental illness, as inconsistent logs across facilities may raise other issues, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Expect More Probes After 3rd Circ. Algorithmic Pricing Ruling

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    The Third Circuit's recent decision in Cornish-Adebiyi v. Caesars Entertainment, allowing algorithmic price-fixing claims to proceed past motions to dismiss, may serve as a road map for how to contend with increased litigation risk in this developing area of antitrust law, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Being In A Band Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing shows in storied New York City venues and rehearsing with my bandmates in poorly ventilated rooms helped develop the professional qualities I rely on as a litigator, including an ability to collaborate with strong-minded equals and the determination to treat each client with singular focus, says Eliad Shapiro at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    After 2026's second quarter, there is more authority rejecting class certification on total loss valuation theories from courts at the federal circuit, federal district and state appellate level — along with a resolution of a novel issue of depreciation on a wildfire claim, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

  • 10th Circ. Ruling Undermines False Ad 'Two Clicks' Rule

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    The Tenth Circuit’s recent ruling in KetoNatural Pet Foods v. Hill's Pet Nutrition substantially challenges a long-standing assumption that a company can avoid responsibility for promotional claims simply because the consumer encountered them by clicking a hyperlink to a third-party website, say attorneys at Venable.

  • How Drug Trial Prediction Markets Pose Insider Trading Risks

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    Multiple prediction market platforms have recently announced plans to offer event contracts related to clinical trial outcomes and regulatory decisions, creating new insider trading risks by expanding the group of people possessing related material nonpublic information far beyond traditional corporate insiders, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Mich. Ruling Gives Consumer Protection Law Its Teeth Back

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    The Michigan Supreme Court's recent decision in Attorney General v. Eli Lilly, overruling key holdings in two earlier cases, means that Michigan businesses can no longer defeat allegations of deceptive conduct under the state's consumer protection law simply by pointing to any governmental regulation of the business, say attorneys at DiCello Levitt.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Surviving A Long Trial

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    Most of law school trial advocacy is geared toward the sprint of trying a short case, but beyond managing a cross-examination or closing argument, effectively handling the marathon of a lengthy trial requires the ability to maintain composure, organization and credibility with the jury, says Mihir Elchuri at Hirschler.

  • A Deepening Patent-Trademark Divide Over Irreparable Harm

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    Recent Federal Circuit decisions, along with legislation being considered in Congress, may exacerbate the differences that patent owners and trademark owners face when seeking to stop infringement before irreparable harm is caused, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • 7th Circ. Ruling May Reduce Litigation Risk For Text Marketers

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    The recent Seventh Circuit holding in Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services that unwanted marketing text messages are not telephone calls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act may strengthen companies' responses to presuit demand letters and early-stage litigation claims premised on do-not-call text theories, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How Calif. Ruling Defines Drug Cos.' R&D Responsibilities

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    The California Supreme Court's recent ruling in the Gilead Tenofovir Cases, which held that drugmakers have no duty to bring allegedly safer alternatives to market more quickly, is a win for pharmaceutical companies — but not a grant of blanket immunity for all early-stage drug development decisions, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Whiskey Business: Parsing The 9th Circ. Jack Daniel's IP Toss

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in VIP Products v. Jack Daniel's, holding a toy did not tarnish the whiskey maker's trademarks, gives fact-finders great latitude by showing that there may exist no categories of per se tarnishing content, says attorney Sara Gold.

  • Calif. Justices' Ruling Reshapes Midcase Appeal Strategy

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    The California Supreme Court's recent decision in Maniago v. Desert Cardiology Consultants holds that voluntary dismissal cannot be used as a shortcut to appellate review of interlocutory orders, resolving a long-running appellate split and pushing litigants to use alternative procedural tools, says Josh Patashnik at Ashurst Perkins Coie.

  • Fed. Circ.'s Thermostat Ruling Holds Patent Jury Trial Lessons

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Ollnova v. Ecobee, throwing out a $11.5 million patent infringement award, clarifies key rules for jury verdict forms and sends an important message on patent subject matter eligibility, says Bijal Vakil at Skadden.

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