Appellate

  • June 07, 2024

    NBA Star Won't Raise $1.5M Fee Bid After 4th Circ. Win

    NBA star Zion Williamson told a North Carolina federal court that he's still only asking for $1.5 million in attorney fees despite having undertaken more litigation in a Fourth Circuit battle over a contract with his former agent.

  • June 07, 2024

    Uber Can Arbitrate With Paralyzed Rider, Mass. Justices Rule

    Massachusetts' highest court on Friday ruled Uber Technologies Inc. had made its terms of service clear enough to move a paralyzed rider's case to arbitration, despite a dissent from one justice who said the company should spell out the rights that riders surrender when they hail a car.

  • June 07, 2024

    Southwest Attys Get Pause On 'Punitive' Religious Training

    In finding Friday that an order for several in-house Southwest Airlines attorneys to undergo "religious liberty training" should be permanently placed on hold while an appeal of a flight attendant's Title VII trial win is pending, the Fifth Circuit said the district court had likely exceeded "the scope of the court's civil-contempt authority."

  • June 07, 2024

    6th Circ. Sides With Hemp Co. In CVS Deal Commission Row

    The Sixth Circuit has sided with hemp producers operating under Ecofibre Ltd. in a dispute with a group of businesses that sought commissions for linking the hemp companies with CVS, saying the businesses' prior concessions at the trial court dooms their new arguments on appeal.

  • June 07, 2024

    Calif. Ex-Atty Beats $330K Malpractice Judgment On Appeal

    A former attorney escaped more than $300,000 in damages when a California appellate court ruled Friday that his former client didn't follow the proper procedure before receiving a default judgment in a case that's more than a decade old.

  • June 07, 2024

    9th Circ. Says University Can Sue Over Wash. AG Hiring Probe

    A Ninth Circuit panel breathed new life Friday into a private Christian university's lawsuit accusing Washington state's attorney general of improperly investigating its anti-LGBTQ+ hiring practices, finding the possibility of potential future enforcement gives the school standing to sue.

  • June 07, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Panel Doubts Bid To Nix Actavis' $12M Deduction

    A Federal Circuit panel seemed skeptical of the government's bid to overturn a decision allowing drugmaker Actavis to deduct $12 million it spent fending off lawsuits as it secured approval to sell generics, raising the question during oral arguments Friday whether the company was being uniquely targeted.

  • June 06, 2024

    5th Circ. Presses Feds On 'Perplexing' Razor Wire Arguments

    A three-judge Fifth Circuit panel had terse words Thursday for the government's argument that the court couldn't consider new facts on Texas' use of concertina wire at the border when deciding whether to issue a new injunction preventing federal agents from removing the wire, asking how it was "supposed to even react" to that claim during oral arguments

  • June 06, 2024

    Calif. Justices OK UC Berkeley People's Park Housing Plan

    The University of California, Berkeley, can move ahead with its plans to build a housing project in the historic People's Park, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday, saying a new state law wipes out opponents' claims that the university's environmental impact study failed to look at potential student noise pollution.

  • June 06, 2024

    Ex-Telemundo Worker Urges Panel To Revive Harassment Suit

    A former Telemundo advertising executive urged an Eleventh Circuit panel Thursday to reverse a lower court's ruling to dismiss her sexual harassment lawsuit against the company, saying she sufficiently alleged a hostile work environment after reporting sexual harassment by her supervisors.

  • June 06, 2024

    11th Circ. Won't Revive State Farm Auto Policy Coverage Fight

    The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Thursday the dismissal of a State Farm auto policyholder's proposed class action alleging the insurer breaches its own policies by routinely denying medical expense coverage based on an ambiguous "reasonableness" standard, finding that the policyholder's interpretation of the policy would render parts of it "meaningless."

  • June 06, 2024

    Wash. High Court Will Review Gun Magazine Law

    The Washington state Supreme Court said Thursday it will review a trial court ruling that the state's ban on sales of large-capacity magazines for firearms is unconstitutional.

  • June 06, 2024

    Texas Court Revives Whataburger Customer's Injury Suit

    A Texas appellate court on Thursday refused to let Whataburger escape a lawsuit seeking to hold it liable for injuries a customer sustained after her arm was lacerated by a worker carrying a condiment tray, reinstating the customer's claims against the restaurant chain and paving the way for a trial.

  • June 06, 2024

    Wash. Justices To Review Spokane Homeless Camp Initiative

    The Washington State Supreme Court has agreed to hear a homeless advocacy group's appeal in its failed challenge to a voter-approved initiative expanding Spokane's restrictions on homeless encampments.

  • June 06, 2024

    9th Circ. Tells Insurer To Cover Teen's Treatment Center Stay

    The Ninth Circuit has upheld a Massachusetts mother's win in her fight to get her insurer to cover behavioral health treatment for her son, ruling Thursday that a Washington federal judge was correct to order the insurer to cover her son's 14-month stay in a residential treatment center.

  • June 06, 2024

    Tribes Pan ND Assembly's High Court Brief In Subpoena Row

    Two North Dakota tribes looking to undo an Eighth Circuit ruling that quashed subpoenas on North Dakota legislators and staff in underlying voting rights litigation told justices the ruling should be vacated as moot despite the lawmakers' arguments otherwise.

  • June 06, 2024

    Navy Denied IT Worker Promotions For Race, 11th Circ. Told

    A Florida-based Navy information technology worker urged the Eleventh Circuit in a hearing Thursday to reverse a lower court's decision to toss his discrimination lawsuit, saying he was passed over for promotion because he was Hispanic and older than other candidates despite being the best qualified.

  • June 06, 2024

    6th Circuit Selected For Start Of Net Neutrality Fight

    The Sixth Circuit was chosen by random drawing Thursday to consolidate, at least for now, more than half a dozen challenges to the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules.

  • June 06, 2024

    High Bar For Booking.com Price Limits, EU High Court Told

    A European Court of Justice advocate general recommended a high bar Thursday for Booking.com assertions that price parity clauses imposed on contracts with hotels are "ancillary" to, and thus protected as, legitimate business arrangements.

  • June 06, 2024

    Wash. Labor Dept. Wants To Back AG In ICE Inspections Suit

    The Washington state labor and health departments want to throw their support behind efforts in the Ninth Circuit by the state's governor and attorney general to defend a state law that allows surprise inspections at private immigration detention centers.

  • June 06, 2024

    Ga. Panel Frees Railroad From Negligent Spotting Claim

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday said a trial court wrongly refused to free CSX Corp. and CSX Transportation Inc. from a so-called negligent spotting claim in a man's lawsuit alleging he was injured while moving a CSXT railcar as part of his work for a wood products company.

  • June 06, 2024

    Prof Can Test NC State Building For Carcinogens

    A split state appeals court has granted a former North Carolina State University employee stricken by cancer access to gather evidence in a campus building that studies showed contained cancer-causing materials.

  • June 06, 2024

    Meta Can't Get Section 230 Shield Over Scam Ads At 9th Circ.

    The Ninth Circuit has ruled that Section 230 is "not limitless" and doesn't shield Meta from contract claims in a proposed consumer class action over Chinese vendors' scam ads on Facebook and Instagram, with one judge calling on the Ninth Circuit to rethink precedent that broadly interprets Section 230's scope.

  • June 06, 2024

    Mass. AG Asks State High Court To Affirm Housing Law

    Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell told the state's highest court this week that her office has the authority to seek enforcement of what she says is a mandatory state housing initiative requiring more than half the state's communities to allow multifamily housing development.

  • June 06, 2024

    FDA Urges High Court To Hear 5th Circ. Flavored E-Cig Case

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to grant its petition for a review of an en banc Fifth Circuit decision overturning its denial of a flavored e-cigarette marketing application, saying this case provides a better vehicle to decide the issues than other petitions at the high court.

Expert Analysis

  • For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

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    A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • High Court's Jan. 6 Rioter Case May Have Wide Ripple Effects

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    The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in Fischer v. United States, a case that will determine whether a law enacted after the Enron scandal can be used to prosecute Jan. 6 rioters, and could affect the government’s ability to charge those who impede a range of official proceedings, say Brook Dooley and Sara Fitzpatrick at Keker Van Nest.

  • 5th Circ. Clarifies What Is And Isn't A 'New Use' Of PFAS

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    The Fifth Circuit's March 21 decision in Inhance Technologies v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, preventing the EPA from regulating existing uses of PFAS under "significant new use" provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act, provides industry with much-needed clarity, say Joseph Schaeffer and Sloane Wildman at Babst Calland.

  • CORRECTED: Endoscope Patent Case Offers Guidance On Right To Repair

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    An Alabama federal court's decision in Karl Storz v. IMS reaffirmed that product owners have broad rights to repair or modify their property as they see fit, highlighting the parameters of the right to repair in the context of patent infringement, say Dustin Weeks and Dabney Carr at Troutman Pepper. Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article and headline attributed the Karl Storz ruling to the wrong court. The error has been corrected.

  • Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law

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    A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.

  • How A Motion Before Justices May Help Trump Beyond Court

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    Even if Donald Trump loses his presidential immunity claim before the U.S. Supreme Court, the delay created by the motion may mean a trial can't be completed before the November election, says Paul Tuchmann at Wiggin and Dana.

  • Opinion

    $175M Bond Refiled By Trump Is Still Substantively Flawed

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    The corrected $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump on Thursday to stave off enforcement of the New York attorney general's fraud judgment against him remains substantively and procedurally flawed, as well as inadequately secured, says Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen.

  • Opinion

    Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

  • NJ Ruling Offers Road Map To Fight Dishonored Check Claims

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    As ATM and mobile check deposits become more common, a New Jersey state appellate court’s recent ruling in Triffin v. Neptune shows that issuers can rely on copies of checks to defend against claims that checks were wrongfully dishonored after being electronically deposited, say attorneys at Sherman Atlas.

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

  • A Look At Recent Challenges To SEC's Settlement 'Gag Rule'

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    Though they have been unsuccessful so far, opponents of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's so-called gag rule, which prevents defendants from denying allegations when settling with the SEC, are becoming increasingly vocal and filing more challenges in recent years, say Mike Blankenship and Regina Maze at Winston & Strawn.

  • How 3 Unfolding Cases Could Affect The Energy Industry

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    Three judicial decisions now in the pipeline — Texas' challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methane regulations, Delaware's climate suit against big energy companies, and a case before the Supreme Court of Texas on royalty lease interpretation — could have important implications for the energy industry, say Michelle Scheffler and Rachael Cox at Skadden.

  • Conn. Bankruptcy Ruling Furthers Limitation Extension Split

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    A recent Connecticut bankruptcy court decision further solidifies a split of authority on whether Bankruptcy Rule 9006(b) may be used to extend the limitations period, meaning practitioners seeking to extend should serve the motion on all applicable parties and, where possible, rely on the doctrine of equitable tolling, says Shane Ramsey at Nelson Mullins.

  • How Purdue Pharma High Court Case May Change Bankruptcy

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in Purdue Pharma may be the death of most third-party releases in Chapter 11 cases, and depending on the decision’s breadth, could have much more far-reaching effects on the entire bankruptcy system, say Brian Shaw and David Doyle at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Series

    Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

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