Appellate

  • October 02, 2026

    Judge Clevenger Retires After 36 Years On Fed. Circ.

    U.S. Circuit Judge Raymond C. Clevenger III has retired from the Federal Circuit, 20 years after taking senior status, the court announced Friday.

  • October 02, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Corteva Unit IP Loss Days After Inari Deal

    The Federal Circuit on Friday refused to revive a patent owned by a unit of a DowDuPont spinoff covering a plant gene resistant to weed killers, agreeing with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's determination that it wasn't enabled.

  • October 02, 2026

    Full Fed. Circ. Won't Review NPE Marking, Ramey Sanctions

    The Federal Circuit on Friday said it won't rethink its ruling that patent owners must ensure that all licensees mark their products with patent information in order to recover presuit damages, nor its denial of patent attorney William Ramey's appeal of sanctions against him at a lower court.

  • October 02, 2026

    DOJ Envisions 'Full-Fledged Law Firm' To Combat Gov't Fraud

    The National Fraud Enforcement Division was created less than six months ago, but it is rapidly reshaping the U.S. Department of Justice and spurring an uptick in internal corporate investigations, white collar experts say.

  • October 02, 2026

    Nurse Can't Get 9th Circ. To Reopen COVID-19 Vax Bias Suit

    A split Ninth Circuit panel refused Friday to reinstate a lawsuit alleging an Oregon healthcare system violated the First Amendment when it refused to excuse a nurse from its COVID-19 vaccination mandate, concluding the hospital had demonstrated it would've been too difficult to let her skip the jab.

  • October 02, 2026

    BREAKING: 6th Circ. Blocks 100s Of Opioid MDL Cases Targeting PBMs

    The Sixth Circuit on Friday overturned a pivotal decision in multidistrict opioid litigation that had dramatically expanded allegations against the nation's largest pharmacy benefit managers, saying the MDL's presiding judge "clearly abused" his authority by belatedly allowing hundreds of new cases in one fell swoop.

  • October 02, 2026

    Justices Seek Worker's Input On ERISA Arbitration Denial

    The U.S. Supreme Court has asked a 401(k) plan participant to reply to investment management company Capital Group's bid for review of a split Ninth Circuit ruling that refused to kick to arbitration her suit alleging underperforming proprietary offerings in the company's retirement plan.

  • October 02, 2026

    Del. Justices Back Dismissal Of Gemini's Bausch & Lomb Suit

    The Delaware Supreme Court has upheld the dismissal of Gemini Insurance Co.'s request to block Bausch & Lomb Americas Inc. from pursuing an insurance coverage fight in Louisiana, ruling that Gemini waived its argument that the case should have been transferable to Delaware Superior Court.

  • October 02, 2026

    Roberts Wants Less Talk. Supreme Court Attorneys Disagree.

    Near the end of last term, Chief Justice John Roberts voiced his frustration with the U.S. Supreme Court's lengthening oral argument sessions and suggested the justices might tweak their format over the summer. But as the new term begins Monday, the court has yet to announce any changes, and advocates see little need for improvement.

  • October 02, 2026

    2nd Circ. Forges Own Path In Limited Partner Tax Ruling

    The Second Circuit's decision limiting a self-employment tax break for limited partners with significant managerial roles reached a conclusion similar to that of a recent Fifth Circuit ruling, but practitioners said notable differences between them create a split requiring resolution by the IRS, the U.S. Supreme Court or Congress.

  • October 02, 2026

    4 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In October

    Former Intel workers' bid to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to revive their suit alleging shoddy retirement plan investments tops the list of oral arguments slated for October that benefits attorneys may want to keep an eye on. Here's a look at that case and three others teed up for argument this month.

  • October 01, 2026

    Fate Of Patent Awards Over $1B Shows Hurdles In Apple Case

    Taction Technology Inc. has secured the largest patent damages verdict in history with a $5.7 billion win against Apple Inc., but it may face an uphill battle to collect, since nearly every previous patent judgment over $1 billion was later reduced or overturned.

  • October 01, 2026

    5th Circ. Rejects Jewish Man's Bias Suit Against Franchise

    The Fifth Circuit ruled Wednesday that a Jewish man cannot become a franchisee of a Christian-only automotive franchise, saying the franchise does not discriminate against Jewish ethnicity and the law at issue does not bar religious discrimination.

  • October 01, 2026

    6th Circ. Backs Immunity In Search Of Empty Home

    Michigan state troopers who searched a vacationing couple's home while attempting to execute a bench warrant are protected by qualified immunity because existing case law has not established that such a search is a violation of constitutional rights, a Sixth Circuit panel said Wednesday.

  • October 01, 2026

    Mich. Panel Revives Child Sex Case Over Possible Entrapment

    The Michigan Court of Appeals has "conditionally reversed" a man's conviction for "child sexually abusive activity," with a panel finding that his counsel did not correctly challenge a police sting operation, causing him to be ineffectively represented at trial.

  • October 01, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Won't Rethink Vacating Contractor's $12.7M Award

    The Federal Circuit said Thursday it won't disturb a unanimous three-judge panel's decision vacating a roughly $12.7 million award a software developer won against the federal government over unauthorized software copies, denying a panel rehearing and rehearing en banc.

  • October 01, 2026

    7th Circ. Asks When Int'l Arbitration Pacts Are 'Null And Void'

    The Seventh Circuit for the first time is grappling with the grounds under which courts may determine if an international arbitration clause is null and void, with one judge questioning Thursday whether consumers should be forced to arbitrate their claims against online casino operators in Canada if Ontario law could ultimately invalidate any resulting award.

  • October 01, 2026

    $16B Ruling Faces High Court Sovereign Immunity Challenge

    The U.S. Supreme Court is being asked to review an "egregiously wrong" Second Circuit decision that overturned a New York judge's $16 billion judgment against Argentina that arose from its nationalization of YPF SA, the country's largest oil and gas exploration company.

  • October 01, 2026

    Water Utilities Say EPA Rule Defines Them Too Broadly

    The fate of a federal plan to eliminate the nation's lead drinking-water pipes may come down to a debate over the definition of a public water system.

  • October 01, 2026

    Hospital Can't Privately Contact Ex-Docs, Wash. Justices Rule

    Washington's Supreme Court split 6-3 Thursday in ruling that Virginia Mason Medical Center improperly engaged in private communications with a malpractice plaintiff's treating doctors by failing to go through formal discovery or establish the patient's knowledge or consent.

  • October 01, 2026

    NFL Concussion Claims Constitute Separate Occurrences

    A New York appeals court held Thursday that concussion-related injury claims brought by former professional football players should be treated as separate occurrences under the NFL's insurance policies, thus implicating coverage under a primary policy but not a fifth-layer excess policy.

  • October 01, 2026

    Trump Says Copyright Chief Can't Stay In Office Amid Appeal

    The Trump administration is urging the D.C. Circuit to let it remove U.S. Copyright Office leader Shira Perlmutter, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision protecting Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook for now does not entitle Perlmutter to remain in office while her firing challenge proceeds.

  • October 01, 2026

    Pa. Justices Keep But Decry $250K Damages Cap In $7M Case

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has opted to preserve the $250,000 limit on damages claims against state agencies, with the majority of justices rejecting a constitutional challenge to the cap because it doesn't impede a plaintiff's right to a jury trial, only the amount of recovery.

  • October 01, 2026

    Aya Health Tells 9th Circ. It Needn't Seek Suits Against Itself

    Aya Healthcare urged the Ninth Circuit on Thursday to undo an order pausing its wage-and-hour arbitration bid, arguing that requiring the travel nursing agency to first notify 400,000 workers of the collective action before deciding whether arbitration is appropriate violates the Federal Arbitration Act and essentially forces Aya to solicit lawsuits against itself.

  • October 01, 2026

    Blue States Fight EPA Rollback Of Power Plant Climate Rules

    A New York-led coalition of mostly Democratic states and municipalities lodged a petition on Thursday before the D.C. Circuit challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent repeal of Biden-era limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Mich. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

    Author Photo

    We are at an inflection point for Michigan financial services law, with a state Supreme Court decision recently overruling more than 25 years of precedent on the Michigan Consumer Protection Act, and pending legislation that could significantly shift the regulatory landscape, say attorneys and advisers at Dykema.

  • The Patent Circuit: Marking Duties For Licensed Tech

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's decision in VDPP v. Volkswagen provides clarity on how the patent statute's marking provision applies to licensed technology, but expressly leaves open the question of how exactly patentees can make reasonable efforts to ensure licensees' marking compliance, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • NY Art Ruling Creates Fault Line In Cultural Property Cases

    Author Photo

    A recent New York state appellate decision, blocking a Holocaust victim’s heirs from using a criminal turnover order to reclaim a work the Art Institute of Chicago says it acquired legally, makes establishing ownership a newly central question in cultural property disputes, says Duncan Levin at Levin & Associates.

  • What Anthropic Security Ruling Means For Gov't Contractors

    Author Photo

    In light of the D.C. Circuit ruling backing the U.S. Department of Defense's decision to remove Anthropic's Claude artificial intelligence models from its supply chain, there are a few steps contractors can take in response, including assessing whether to eliminate use of Anthropic products entirely, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • DC Circ. Ruling Highlights Limits Of DOE Grid Orders

    Author Photo

    The D.C. Circuit's recent decision in Michigan v. U.S. Department of Energy, vacating a DOE order to keep a coal-burning power plant open, gives utilities more insight into the durability of federal orders premised on protecting grid security, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Testing AI's Promise For Large-Scale Document Review

    Author Photo

    Our document-review comparison of attorneys' responsiveness and issue coding decisions versus predictions generated by artificial intelligence across 1,600 documents suggests that these tools can offer a reasonable and reliable basis for improved discovery workflows, provided lawyers understand where guardrails are needed, say attorneys at Redgrave.

  • Opinion

    Colo. Climate Suit Defies Limits Of State Power

    Author Photo

    In Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, the U.S. Supreme Court must not allow a single Colorado county to penalize pollution occurring across the country and around the globe, because the U.S. Constitution forbids states from exercising power beyond their borders, says Michael McGinley at Dechert.

  • What's Next For Prediction Markets If States Win At High Court

    Author Photo

    While the Supreme Court hasn't taken up a prediction market case yet, a high court win for the states in their quest to regulate the exchanges would likely mean a wave of state legislature bills and regulatory guidance arriving on different timelines, rather than a single uniform transition, says Howard Herndon at Bradley Arant.

  • 3rd Circ. Ruling Shows ADA Limits Amid Worker Misconduct

    Author Photo

    In Hileman v. West Penn Allegheny Health System, the Third Circuit recently rejected a wrongful termination claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act, illustrating that disability and leave laws don't automatically insulate employees from the consequences of prior workplace misconduct, say attorneys at Bond Schoeneck.

  • AI Meeting Recaps Pose New Discovery And Privilege Risks

    Author Photo

    The New York City Bar Association’s recent ethics opinion, cautioning attorneys not to record nonclient conversations with artificial intelligence tools, reflects an emerging view that AI meeting recaps are now a distinct business record category, meaning counsel should set meeting-level controls and apply framework-level updates, says William Wright at Faegre Drinker.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: September Lessons

    Author Photo

    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses six recent rulings involving pecuniary loss in false price comparison advertising, privity in an insurance fee class, antitrust standing, immigration class representatives, retirement beneficiary class commonality, and Rule 23(f) appeals in Fair Labor Standards Act claims.

  • Florida Condo Ruling Offers Tips For Contractor Lien Disputes

    Author Photo

    A recent Florida appellate decision, holding condo owners may challenge liens placed on their units, despite not being party to the underlying disputed agreement their association struck with contractors, offers lessons on lien enforcement to both contractors and condo owners, say attorneys at Adams & Reese.

  • BIA Ruling Could Make Immigration Bond A Catch-22

    Author Photo

    A recent Board of Immigration Appeals decision refining the way immigration judges assess flight risk, when read broadly, could create a circular rule under which a noncitizen can be treated as a flight risk because they have too few ties to the U.S., but also because they have too many, says Georgianna Pisano Goetz at the National Immigrant Justice Center.

  • 8th Circ. Ruling Raises Bar For Seeking Disability Benefits

    Author Photo

    The Eighth Circuit's recent ruling in Post v. Bisignano signals that claimants seeking Social Security disability benefits may need to offer convincing proof of functional restrictions beyond their treating doctors' opinions and illustrates that the court's proclaimant jurisprudence no longer prevails, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Series

    Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here