Appellate

  • February 02, 2026

    5th Circ. Panel Blushes At Starbucks Worker's Snapchat Notes

    A Fifth Circuit panel pressed the National Labor Relations Board to explain why Starbucks lacks the ability to fire a union organizer who used excessively colorful language in private messages to co-workers, saying Monday the language used would "make any of us blush."

  • February 02, 2026

    Zipcar Can't Be Liable For Renting To Drunk Driver, Panel Says

    A California appeals court has tossed claims against Zipcar in a suit accusing the online car rental platform of causing a passenger's catastrophic injuries by renting out a vehicle to a drunk customer, saying certain duties of care owed by traditional rental agencies don't apply to car-sharing companies.

  • February 02, 2026

    Staffing Agencies Beat Ill. Workers' BIPA Revival Bid

    An Illinois Third District Appellate Court panel has refused to reverse two staffing agencies' pre-trial win over manufacturing workers' claim that the agencies illegally collected their time-clock fingerprint data, saying simply helping another entity obtain such data cannot trigger liability under a statutory provision requiring informed consent to collect it.

  • February 02, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Grapples With AI Patent Eligibility In Amazon Case

    A Federal Circuit panel on Monday expressed skepticism about Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's argument that an artificial intelligence-related patent it sued Amazon over was wrongly invalidated as abstract, though the court seemed wary of issuing a ruling that could render all AI unpatentable.

  • February 02, 2026

    DC Circ. Gets History Lesson As Tribe Fights For Utah Land

    The D.C. Circuit got a lesson in tribal history dating back to the 19th century as lawyers for the federal government and a Native American tribe argued Monday whether a congressional act gives the tribe compensable title to 1.5 million acres of Utah land where an oilfield lies.

  • February 02, 2026

    Judge Clears Apple Of Some Haptic Patent Claims

    A California federal judge has allowed Apple to escape some patent claims brought by a company that accused the tech giant of infringing the business's vibration technology patents, letting Apple escape literal infringement allegations related to its "monolithic products."

  • February 02, 2026

    Manatt Appellate Star Leaves To Join Duane Morris In LA

    Benjamin G. Shatz has joined Duane Morris LLP as a partner at the firm's appellate division of the trial practice group in Los Angeles, after spending more than two decades at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, according to an announcement issued Monday.

  • February 02, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs CIT's Objection To ITC Wholesale Redactions

    A Federal Circuit panel on Monday affirmed a U.S. Court of International Trade ruling finding the U.S. International Trade Commission was out of line in automatically making all questionnaire responses confidential, saying the CIT "struck the appropriate balance" between confidentiality and public access concerns.

  • February 02, 2026

    First Woman Justice Elected To Wash. High Court To Retire

    Washington State Supreme Court Justice Barbara A. Madsen, the first woman to be voted onto the court and the second-longest serving justice in state history, said Monday she plans to retire this spring after 33 years on the bench.

  • February 02, 2026

    Custodians Tell NJ Justices COVID Law Doesn't Preempt CBA

    School custodians urged the New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday to reinstate an award of extra money for their in-person work during the pandemic, arguing an arbitrator had a reasonably plausible interpretation of a state statute when he determined it didn't preempt the custodians' collective bargaining agreement.

  • February 02, 2026

    Colo. Justices Strike Down Laws Governing County Appeals

    The Colorado Supreme Court found two sections of Colorado law unconstitutional Monday because they allowed final judgments in county court cases to be appealed directly to the Colorado Court of Appeals.

  • February 02, 2026

    Del. Justices Won't Revive Suit Over Twitter Stock Sale Loss

    Delaware's Supreme Court rejected on Monday a Washington state software engineer's late-filed, pro se attempt to resurrect a suit seeking damages after his sale of Twitter shares when Elon Musk briefly balked at a $44 billion closing on his company in 2024.

  • February 02, 2026

    6th Circ. Upholds Stiffer Gun Sentence In Youth Offender Case

    The Sixth Circuit upheld assigning an increased offense level against a man who was participating in a youth diversion program for a separate criminal case, finding that because he was still under indictment, he should face an increased punishment under federal law.

  • February 02, 2026

    7th Circ. Hands Dead Packaging Worker's 401(k) To Ex-Wife

    The Seventh Circuit awarded the 401(k) account balance of a dead Packaging Corp. of America worker to his ex-wife Monday, concluding that a lower court erred in determining she wasn't entitled to benefits based on a fax requesting a beneficiary designation change that he transmitted after a divorce.

  • February 02, 2026

    2nd Circ. Partially Revives Suit Over NY Foster Care Rules

    A group of New York City children who were taken from their parents and placed into foster care have standing to challenge the legality of state rules preventing them from being placed with relatives with criminal histories, a Second Circuit panel determined on Monday.

  • February 02, 2026

    Advocates Urge Justices To Overturn Cannabis Gun Ban

    Cannabis consumer advocates, guns rights activists and libertarian think tanks have all filed friend-of-the-court briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court urging the justices to find that a law disarming marijuana users runs afoul of the Second Amendment.

  • February 02, 2026

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    A pair of new high-dollar suits in Delaware's Court of Chancery showed last week that post-deal stock appraisal suits still have legs, despite some efforts to reduce potential from deal-price gains challenges. The week ended with Delaware's justices nipping $100 million from the attorney fees owed by Tesla founder Elon Musk from $176.2 million to roughly $70.9 million, rejecting part of a Court of Chancery fee calculation.

  • February 02, 2026

    Split Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Massager Design Patent Case

    A Maine federal judge properly found Armaid Co. Inc. didn't infringe Range of Motion Products LLC's design patent covering a personal massage device, a divided Federal Circuit held Monday.

  • February 02, 2026

    Med Mal Suits Offer Ga. Justices Path Back To Damages Caps

    The Supreme Court of Georgia will hear arguments Tuesday in two medical malpractice cases that give the state's justices a chance to impose a limit on damages in wrongful death suits, 15 years after the court declared such caps unconstitutional.

  • February 02, 2026

    1st Circ. Judge Wary Of Boston Bid To Revive PBM Opioid Suit

    The city of Boston faced pushback from a First Circuit judge on Monday as it argued it didn't miss its window to sue pharmacy benefit managers for their alleged role in the opioid epidemic.

  • February 02, 2026

    IT Exec Can't Shake False Billing Conviction, 4th Circ. Rules

    The Fourth Circuit on Monday said there was more than enough evidence for a Maryland jury to convict the CEO of an IT company for lying about the hours she worked on a project for the National Security Agency, rejecting her claims that the trial was tainted by a misleading exhibit and prosecutorial misconduct.

  • February 02, 2026

    Tracy Anderson Workouts Are Copyrightable, 9th Circ. Told

    Celebrity fitness trainer Tracy Anderson urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to reverse a ruling that invalidated copyrights to her "Tracy Anderson Method" workout routines, arguing that her routines are expressive protectable works distinct from yoga poses at issue in the Ninth Circuit's Bikram ruling.

  • February 02, 2026

    Panel Backs Pa. In Widow's 'Line Of Duty' Benefits Bid

    While a doctor's opinion that a firefighter's fatal cancer was likely caused by job-related hazards counted to entitle his widow to worker's compensation benefits, it fell short of the higher causation requirements for "line of duty death" benefits, a Pennsylvania appellate court said Monday.

  • February 02, 2026

    6th Circ. Clears Judge Boasberg In DOJ Ethics Complaint

    The complaint the U.S. Department of Justice filed against Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia has been dismissed.

  • February 02, 2026

    3rd Circ. Affirms Fee Awards For Immigration Habeas Actions

    A Third Circuit panel ruled federal law authorizes attorney fee awards for immigrants who successfully challenge their detention through habeas actions, affirming awards made to two noncitizens who were detained for over a year and denied bond hearings.

Expert Analysis

  • State Of Insurance: Q4 Notes From Illinois

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    In 2025's last quarter, Illinois’ appellate courts weighed in on overlapping homeowners coverages for water-related damages, contractual suit limitation provisions in uninsured motorist policies, and protections for genetic health information in life insurance underwriting, while the Department of Insurance sought nationwide homeowners' insurance data from State Farm, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

  • How 2 Tech Statutes Are Being Applied To Agentic AI

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    The application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the California Invasion of Privacy Act to agentic artificial intelligence is still developing, but recent case law, like Amazon's lawsuit against Perplexity in California federal court, provides some initial guidance for companies developing or deploying these technologies, say attorneys at Weil.

  • Defense Strategy Takeaways From Recent TCPA Class Actions

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    Although recent Telephone Consumer Protection Act decisions do not establish any bright-line tests for defeating predominance based on an argument that class members provided consent for the calls, certain trends have emerged that should inform defense strategies at class certification, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

  • NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

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    Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Dispatches From Utah's Newest Court

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    While a robust body of law hasn't yet developed since the Utah Business and Chancery Court's founding in October 2024, the number of cases filed there has recently picked up, and its existence illustrates Utah's desire to be top of mind for businesses across the country, says Evan Strassberg at Michael Best.

  • 4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

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    Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

  • 2 Rulings Showcase Fuzzy Limits Of 'Related To' Jurisdiction

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    The Fifth and Ninth Circuits recently handed down decisions, in Sanchez Energy and Sawtelle Partners, respectively, reminding practitioners that bankruptcy court jurisdiction over lingering disputes is not guaranteed, regardless of whether confirmation orders contain specific "retention of jurisdiction" language, says Brian Shaw at Cozen O’Connor.

  • 3 Key Ohio Financial Services Developments From 2025

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    Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw particularly notable developments in 2025, including a significant Ohio Supreme Court decision on creditor disclosure duties to guarantors in Huntington National Bank v. Schneider, and some major proposed changes to the state's Homebuyer Plus program, says Alex Durst at Durst Kerridge.

  • Patent Eligibility Faces Widening Gap Between USPTO, Courts

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    The year 2026 opened with a profoundly altered Patent Act Section 101 ecosystem — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has pushed eligibility as far open as it can for artificial intelligence technologies, but the courts are not on the same page, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Navigating Trade Secret Exceptions In Noncompete Bans

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    Recent and ongoing developments in the noncompete landscape, including a potential decision from the Tenth Circuit in Edwards Lifesciences v. Thompson, could offer tools for employers to bring noncompete agreements within trade secret exceptions amid an era of heightened employee mobility, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Series

    Playing Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    An instinct to turn pain into purpose meant frequent trips to the tennis court, where learning to move ahead one point at a time was a lesson that also applied to the steep learning curve of patent prosecution law, says Daniel Henry at Marshall Gerstein.

  • False Ad Suit Shows Need For Clear, Conspicuous Disclosure

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent false advertising decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Corpay reiterated the FTC's guidance imploring advertisers to ensure that any disclosures are clear and conspicuous to consumers, providing companies with numerous lessons about truthful advertising and highlighting some common disclosure pitfalls to avoid, says Michael Justus at Carlton Fields.

  • Justices' BDO Denial May Allow For Increased Auditor Liability

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    The Supreme Court's recent denial of certiorari in BDO v. New England Carpenters could lead to more actions filed against accounting firms, as it lets stand a 2024 Second Circuit ruling that provided a road map for pleading falsity with respect to audit certifications, says Dean Conway at Carlton Fields.

  • What To Expect From Justices' 401(k) Ruling, DOL Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming ruling in Anderson v. Intel, addressing alternative assets in defined contribution plans, coupled with the U.S. Department of Labor's recently proposed regulation on fiduciary duties in selecting alternative investments, could alleviate the litigation risk that has impeded wider consideration of such investments, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: January Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five rulings from October and November, and identifies practice tips from cases involving consumer fraud, oil and gas leases, toxic torts, and wage and hour issues.

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