Appellate

  • July 16, 2026

    FDA, Drugmakers Urge 5th Circ. To Allow Abortion Pill By Mail

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the makers of the abortion medication mifepristone have urged the Fifth Circuit not to reinstate an in-person dispensing requirement, arguing that doing so would disrupt the government's ongoing review of the drug, "threaten chaos" and defy the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • July 16, 2026

    Calif. Justices Put Kibosh On Appeal Strategy In Med Mal Case

    The California Supreme Court on Thursday clarified the state's final judgment rule and held that a voluntary dismissal intended to speed up appellate review of adverse trial court rulings in a medical malpractice case essentially forfeited the case for the plaintiffs.

  • July 16, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Asked Not To Shift Moderna Vax Patent Case To Gov't

    Drugmakers like Novartis, former federal judges, a startup group and others have urged the Federal Circuit to reject calls to shift liability in a COVID-19 vaccine patent suit against Moderna to the federal government, saying that doing so would undermine patent rights.

  • July 16, 2026

    NJ Justices Clarify FCA Amendment In Reviving Bank Suit

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday revived whistleblower claims accusing Bank of America, Wells Fargo and other financial giants of fraud in the setting of interest rates on certain municipal bonds, saying that a lower court improperly blocked the attorney general from exercising authority in the litigation.

  • July 16, 2026

    Feds Tell 11th Circ. It Can't Hear BP Offshore Drilling Case

    The federal government has told the Eleventh Circuit it doesn't have jurisdiction to hear an appeal from conservation groups challenging the Trump administration's approval of BP PLC's Kaskida offshore oil and gas drilling project in the Gulf of Mexico.

  • July 16, 2026

    Colorado County Housing Fee Upheld On Appeal

    A Colorado mountain community's housing impact fee methodology for residential homes survived a challenge from a Texas property developer attempting to overturn a roughly $250,000 permit fee for an 11,300-square-foot home after the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that the fee complies with state law.

  • July 16, 2026

    7th Circ. Shuts Down Fired Firefighter's Free Speech Suit

    The Seventh Circuit declined Thursday to revive a fired Chicago firefighter's suit claiming his free speech rights were violated when he was terminated over racially offensive Facebook posts, agreeing with the city that the racist nature of the posts undermined trust in public safety services.

  • July 16, 2026

    Wells Fargo, Ocwen Seek Win In ERISA Suit 2nd Circ. Revived

    Wells Fargo and Ocwen asked a New York federal judge for a pretrial win in a suit from union pension fund trustees accusing the companies of mishandling home loans tied to employee pension fund investments, after the Second Circuit partially knocked out the companies' earlier win in March.

  • July 16, 2026

    Mich. Appeals Panel Says Tax Sale Claims Must Follow Statute

    The Michigan Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a suit brought by former property owners seeking the return of surplus proceeds from tax foreclosure sales, saying in a published opinion the property owners did not follow the necessary statutory process when filing their complaint.

  • July 16, 2026

    Noncitizens Awaiting U Visas Not Entitled To Leave, Reenter

    The Eleventh Circuit said noncitizens who were victims of the Parkland high school shooting, and their families, are not entitled to leave and reenter the country while awaiting their special visas for assisting law enforcement in investigating the crime.

  • July 16, 2026

    11th Circ. Affirms Quarry Valuation Sank $23M Easement Perk

    A 103-acre tract's best alternative use is not an aggregate quarry, the 11th Circuit ruled, rejecting the valuation that supported a partnership's $23 million deduction claim for donating the Georgia property as a conservation easement.

  • July 16, 2026

    'Top Gun' Article Heirs Ask Justices To Review Similarity Test

    The heirs of the journalist whose 1983 magazine article inspired the original "Top Gun" movie have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive their copyright lawsuit over "Top Gun: Maverick" and resolve what they call a circuit split over how courts should compare allegedly similar works.

  • July 16, 2026

    5th Circ. Upholds Gun Ban Against Domestic Abuser

    The Fifth Circuit ruled that a man convicted of domestic violence cannot have his right to own a firearm restored despite the U.S. Supreme Court's expansion of gun rights in recent years, and that Congress did not exceed its constitutional authority by limiting his Second Amendment rights.

  • July 16, 2026

    NC Panel Tells State Bar To Rethink Ex-Judge's Suspension

    The North Carolina Court of Appeals has partially reversed a disciplinary order against a former state court judge facing a suspension of his law license for a string of alleged misconduct on and off the bench, finding certain professional violations he is accused of committing lacked evidentiary support.

  • July 16, 2026

    Calif. Tells 9th Circ. AI Disclosure Law Helps Consumers

    The state of California has pressed the Ninth Circuit to affirm a district court's decision denying xAI's injunction request against a state law requiring artificial intelligence companies to disclose what's included in training their models, saying the law advanced "an important governmental interest" in providing transparency to the public.

  • July 16, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Revives Commerce's Korean Steel Duty Findings

    The U.S. Department of Commerce can adjust its countervailable duty rate for a South Korean steel manufacturer by reconsidering earlier determinations, a Federal Circuit panel said Thursday, reversing a trade court ruling that made the department stick with its older findings.

  • July 16, 2026

    Mich. Justices Back Conviction Despite 'Medical Torture' Flub

    The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled that a child abuse expert for the prosecution should not have told jurors in a child abuse trial that she diagnosed a young victim with "medical torture," but it unanimously concluded that the error did not warrant a new trial because other evidence overwhelmingly supported the conviction. 

  • July 16, 2026

    NJ Panel Says Insurer, Not Driver, Owed Auto Damage Proof

    A New Jersey appellate panel held Thursday that the burden of proof was on an insurer, not a driver, in a coverage dispute stemming from a blown head gasket that rendered her vehicle inoperable, vacating the insurer's win and remanding for a new trial.

  • July 16, 2026

    3rd Circ. Partly Revives Hospitals' ERISA Suit Against Cigna

    The Third Circuit on Thursday revived some ERISA contract claims in a New Jersey hospital network's suit alleging Cigna underpaid out-of-network reimbursements by $114 million, but backed the dismissal of the network's fiduciary duty claims.

  • July 16, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Vacates $12.7M Copyright Award Against Gov't

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday vacated a $12.7 million copyright award against the federal government over unauthorized copies of software for a project on military health records, holding that the trial judge improperly relied on the project's later cancellation and awarded enhanced damages for willful infringement against the government.

  • July 16, 2026

    2nd Circ. Shields Switzerland From Credit Suisse Bond Suit

    In a published opinion Thursday, the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a $372 million bondholder suit against Switzerland over the 2023 collapse of Credit Suisse AG and the reduction in value of $17.3 billion of debt securities, agreeing with a New York judge that the country is immune from being sued in U.S. district court.

  • July 16, 2026

    Pa. Appeals Panel Reinstates Union's FMLA Arbitration Win

    A Pennsylvania appeals panel on Thursday said a lower court was wrong to scrap an arbitrator's conclusion that a school district violated a collective bargaining agreement by forcing a teacher recovering from surgery to use leave guaranteed by federal law to cover her absence.

  • July 16, 2026

    8th Circ. Rejects Rehearing Bid Over Spotty Murder Video

    The Eighth Circuit won't rethink an order that upheld the sentences of a mother and son convicted of the murder of a man on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation, after the pair argued that footage of the incident shouldn't have been admitted because of gaps in the recording.

  • July 16, 2026

    Blue-Slip-Backed Trump Judge Selections Advance

    The first two judicial nominations of the second Trump administration to receive supportive blue slips from Democratic senators advanced to the Senate floor Thursday.

  • July 16, 2026

    Nonprofits Back Ex-Defender's High Court Sex Bias Petition

    The Georgia Association for Women Lawyers and the Legal Accountability Project have asked the U.S. Supreme Court for permission to file an amicus curiae brief in support of Caryn Devins Strickland and her effort to get the high court to review her sex harassment case against the judiciary.

Expert Analysis

  • Trump Admin's Agency Records Purge Tests Judicial Notice

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    While courts commonly take judicial notice of data in government websites and reports, the Trump administration's recent modification or wholesale deletion of these sources means that litigants must look elsewhere to support trial admission of this information, says Jon Gryskiewicz at Lewis Baach.

  • Series

    Cow Horse Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Moving an unwilling 800-pound cow while riding a horse at high speed is exhilarating, a little unhinged and, at least for me, a surprisingly effective training ground for litigation — both demand focus, preparation over rigid planning and the willingness to act despite fear, says Ashley Zitrin at Glenn Agre.

  • Fla. Driver Ruling Shows Renewed Focus On Privacy Standing

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    A Florida federal court's recent dismissal of a class action alleging that private driving records had been improperly used in violation of the Driver's Privacy Protection Act suggests that companies defending against privacy class actions in Florida may reconsider Article III challenges at the dismissal stage, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Vax Ruling Offers Employer Tips For Handling Political Speech

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    A California appeals court's recent decision in Rademacher v. ABC, rejecting a "General Hospital" actor's suit alleging he was terminated for opposing a vaccine policy, demonstrates the importance of the employer's process, including neutral policies, documentation, and evidence of who knew what and when, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

  • O Brother, Where Art DAO? Jurisdiction Issues Abound

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    While there is a dearth of decisions examining a decentralized autonomous organization's citizenship for diversity jurisdiction purposes, Second Circuit case law has defined citizenship for other unincorporated entities, which may guide how courts evaluate an increasing number of cases involving DAOs, says Michael Mix at Morrison Cohen.

  • Protecting AI-Driven Innovation In Life Sciences IP

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    Recent developments, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's evolving inventorship standards, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the "person of ordinary skill in the art" standard demand that life sciences companies elevate AI patent strategy to a top priority, says Sandra Haberny at Quinn Emanuel.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Notably Limits Sentencing Courts' Discretion

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision in U.S. v. Dralle clarifies the bounds of sentencing courts’ ability to consider uncharged or co-defendant conduct without tying it to statutory sentencing factors, and it may have broader implications for limiting loss attribution in white collar and other criminal cases, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • High Court's Hikma Decision Reshapes 'Skinny Label' Suits

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hikma v. Amarin marks a significant victory for generic drug manufacturers, but rather than putting an end to so-called skinny label inducement claims, it narrows and refocuses them, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • Opinion

    At High Court, Oil Cos.' Suncor Preemption Claims Fall Short

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    In Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, oil and gas companies argue that municipalities' climate deception claims are equivalent to emissions standards for their industry — but the suit is ultimately incapable of imposing such standards, say Thomas McGarity at the University of Texas School of Law and James Goodwin at the Center for Progressive Reform.

  • 3 Disgorgement Questions Linger After Justices' SEC Ruling

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Sripetch v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission avoided placing new limits on the SEC’s disgorgement powers, it passed over several questions, including whether the commission can seek disgorgement when returning the money to investors isn't possible, says David Slovick at Kopecky Schumacher.

  • Checking For AI Errors Is Now A Two-Way Street

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    A handful of recent federal and state cases demonstrate the importance of checking for errors generated by artificial intelligence not only in your own court submissions, but also your opponent's, as well as when catching opposing counsel's AI mistakes could result in an award for attorney fees, says Tamara Barago at Hollingsworth.

  • Opinion

    Federal Circuit Should Implement Mini En Banc Process

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    To fulfill its mission of uniformity in patent law while avoiding the challenges of en banc hearings, the Federal Circuit should institute mini en bancs — allowing regular three-judge panels to exercise en banc powers unless a majority of the court says otherwise, says Joshua Sohn at the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • What's Next After Justices' Last-Mile Driver Arbitration Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Flowers Foods v. Brock, refusing to narrow the scope of a Federal Arbitration Act exemption for workers engaged in interstate commerce, gives previously unprotected workers access to litigation, but preserves two potentially powerful arguments for future proceedings, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Shoring Up Corporate Law In Maryland

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    Launched more than 20 years ago to improve complex corporate adjudication, Maryland's Business and Technology Case Management Program has been a solid success in some areas, but there always is room for improvement, says Bill Krulak at Miles & Stockbridge.

  • How End Of SEC 'Gag Rule' Affects Free Speech Certiorari Bid

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    The Securities and Exchange Commission's recent rescission of the so-called gag rule, which forbade defendants in settlements from denying the SEC’s allegations, may sway the outcome of a petition to the Supreme Court in a case challenging the rule on First Amendment grounds, say attorneys at Troutman.

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