Appellate

  • May 31, 2024

    Del. Chancellor Questions 'Rush' To Amend Corporation Law

    Weeks before the Delaware State Bar Association sent state lawmakers a draft bill explicitly allowing corporations to broadly cede some governance rights to chosen stockholders, Chancellor Kathaleen St. J. McCormick of Delaware Chancery Court made an unprecedented, direct appeal to think twice.

  • May 31, 2024

    DC Circ. Judge Ponders NLRB Jurisdiction Over 'Criminal' Biz

    The D.C. Circuit determined that the National Labor Relations Board lacked enough evidence to find a cannabis company illegally fired a pro-union employee, with one judge questioning the board's jurisdiction over a "criminal enterprise."

  • May 31, 2024

    Trump Condemns NY Trial As Verdict Echoes In DC

    A day after his conviction on 34 felony counts, former president Donald Trump on Friday attacked the Manhattan jury's verdict in a lengthy speech that mischaracterized multiple elements of the case as the decision reverberated through Washington, D.C.

  • May 31, 2024

    Texas Supreme Court Rejects Challenge To Abortion Ban

    The Texas Supreme Court unanimously rejected a petition Friday that challenged the state's near-total ban on abortion, ruling the law's narrow exceptions for pregnant women in life-threatening emergencies are broad enough to withstand a constitutional challenge.

  • May 31, 2024

    In Rarity, 1 Party's Judges Gain 100% Control Of Circuit Bench

    At the First Circuit, the judges' robes are all black, but the judges are all blue. It's a new and unusual instance of one political party's judicial picks controlling each active seat on a federal appeals court, and the Democratic dominance could prove magnetic for ideologically charged litigation.

  • May 30, 2024

    9th Circ. Reopens Mandatory Security Check Wage Fight

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday largely revived a proposed wage class action by a subcontractor who sought to be paid for undergoing mandatory security checks and vehicle inspections at a solar project site, following the California Supreme Court's ruling that found the time to be compensable as "hours worked."

  • May 30, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Revives Contract Breach Claim Against The US Mint

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday revived a coin processor's contention that the U.S. Mint breached a contract to pay for mutilated coins the agency redeemed, saying the U.S. Court of Federal Claims incorrectly concluded the processor failed to state a claim.

  • May 30, 2024

    3 Things To Watch In SF's High Court Water Standards Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court has granted San Francisco's request that it review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to incorporate narrative pollution standards in a Clean Water Act permit, throwing into question the use of a common permitting feature.

  • May 30, 2024

    Real Estate Investor Beats Niece's Suit Over Fall At LA Home

    Real estate investor and philanthropist Stanley Black can't be held liable for injuries suffered by his niece when she tripped and fell on the driveway of his Sunset Boulevard mansion, a California state appeals court has ruled, saying there's no evidence of defects on the driveway she walked on many times before.

  • May 30, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Cannabis Co. Can Retry Suit Over Lamp Fire

    A Washington cannabis company whose Spokane Valley growing facility was burned down, allegedly due to faulty indoor grow lamps, will get one last shot at suing the company which made the lights, the Ninth Circuit ruled, warning the cannabis company to be "mindful" when filing.

  • May 30, 2024

    5th Circ. Says WWII Art Transfer Is Act Of Foreign Gov't

    The Fifth Circuit said it's not its job to determine whether a Netherlands art foundation wrongly transferred to the United States an 18th-century painting once seized by Nazi Germany, upholding the dismissal of a suit filed by a Jewish art collector's heir over the 1949 transfer.

  • May 30, 2024

    Colo. Justice Says Outside Watchdog Key For Judicial Ethics

    A Colorado Supreme Court justice said Thursday that third-party oversight of judges' conduct was crucial to maintaining the public's trust in the legal system, speaking as part of an American Bar Association panel that touched on recent controversies, including those involving U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and his wife.

  • May 30, 2024

    Full 9th Circ. Won't Rehear Immigration Attys' Privacy Row

    The full Ninth Circuit on Thursday declined a request from a filmmaker and two immigration attorneys to rehear a panel decision finding that a purportedly covert government surveillance program tracking journalists and advocates tied to a migrant caravan didn't harm them.

  • May 30, 2024

    Ill. Made 'Big Concession' In 3M PFAS Suit, 7th Circ. Judge Says

    A Seventh Circuit judge observed Thursday that the state of Illinois made a "big concession" in its suit accusing 3M of polluting local waters with toxic "forever chemicals" when the state said 3M could avoid liability if Illinois can't prove contamination came exclusively from a particular facility.

  • May 30, 2024

    Mich. Supreme Court To Hear Town Benefits Breach Case

    The Michigan Supreme Court has said it will consider whether a village was entitled to coverage for damages it incurred in lawsuits from former employees who sued after the village decided to stop providing lifetime healthcare benefits, ordering oral arguments on an insurer's challenge to a state court's ruling.

  • May 30, 2024

    Here's What Comes Next After Trump's Conviction

    Donald Trump's forthcoming appeal of his historic conviction Thursday in the New York hush money case could include challenges to the state's evidence and jury instructions, but it's unlikely the case will be resolved before Election Day.

  • May 30, 2024

    Pipe Co. Says Appeals Court Erred In Indemnity Claim Waiver

    A steel pipe manufacturer asked Texas' Supreme Court to scrap an appellate court ruling it waived its ability to challenge a trial court order requiring it to defend another manufacturer in a multimillion-dollar suit over faulty pipes, saying the appellate panel should have concluded the company was challenging the decision.

  • May 30, 2024

    Gas Station Chain Owes Wash. Tax For In-Network Sales

    A Pacific Northwest gas station chain that issued fuel cards to customers must pay the Washington state business and occupation tax when holders of those cards purchase gas from other participating gas station chains, a Washington appeals court panel found, partially upholding the trial court.

  • May 30, 2024

    Dollar General Gets To Close Door On Injury Suit

    The Georgia Court of Appeals has shut down a patron's suit against Dollar General Store alleging she injured her hand closing a faulty door, saying the hazard was not hidden, she had as much knowledge of it as employees, and she'd negotiated the door successfully earlier the same day.

  • May 30, 2024

    SEC Cites High Court CFPB Ruling In Market Surveillance Suit

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has told the Eleventh Circuit that a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision finding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure is constitutional should sink a challenge from broker-dealer firms seeking to escape paying for a market surveillance tool.

  • May 30, 2024

    Christian Teacher Appeals Pronoun Case To 7th Circ.

    An evangelical teacher who lost his job after he objected to using gender-affirming names and pronouns for his transgender students is asking the Seventh Circuit to take another look at his religious bias case.

  • May 30, 2024

    SF Fed Lacked Good Reason To Deny Account, 9th Circ. Told

    An Idaho trade fintech urged the Ninth Circuit to revive its bid for a master account, saying the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco denied its application despite foreign banks potentially accessible to terrorists having access to the U.S. financial system.

  • May 30, 2024

    Insurance Atty Fights For Lone Woman On Death Row In Miss.

    Attorney A. Kate Margolis lives a double life: one, in which she fights on behalf of insurance policyholders as counsel at Bradley, and another, spent trying to save convicted murderer Lisa Jo Chamberlin, the only woman on Mississippi's death row.

  • May 30, 2024

    Apple Tells Fed. Circ. Albright Set Transfer Bar Too High

    Apple has asked the Federal Circuit to overrule U.S. District Judge Alan Albright in Texas after he refused to transfer patent litigation against it to the Northern District of California, saying the decision flouted Fifth Circuit precedent.

  • May 30, 2024

    Donald Trump Convicted Of All 34 Counts In NY Trial

    Former President Donald Trump was convicted by a Manhattan jury Thursday of 34 felonies over a plot to illegally sway the 2016 presidential election in his favor by concealing hush money payments to porn actress Stormy Daniels.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Stay The Course In Maritime Choice-Of-Law Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's narrowly drawn decision in Great Lakes Insurance v. Raiders Retreat Realty, enforcing the underlying insurance contract's choice-of-law provision, carefully distinguishes those provisions from forum selection clauses, and ensures that courts will not apply its precepts outside the maritime context, says John Coyle at the University of North Carolina.

  • More Than Drugs At Stake In High Court's 'Blind Mule' Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's eventual decision in Diaz v. U.S., evaluating whether expert witnesses may testify that most defendants caught with drugs at the border know they are transporting drugs, could have implications for prosecuting everything from complex financial crimes to gun and drug cases, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • Why Fla. High Court Adopting Apex Doctrine Is Monumental

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    The Florida Supreme Court recently solidified the apex doctrine in the Sunshine State, an important development that extends the scope of the doctrine in the state to include both corporate and government officials, and formalizes the requirements for a high-level corporate official to challenge a request for a deposition, says Laura Renstrom at Holland & Knight.

  • Why Biz Groups Disagree On Ending Chevron Deference

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    Two amicus briefs filed in advance of last month's U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo highlight contrasting views on whether the doctrine of Chevron deference promotes or undermines the stable regulatory environment that businesses require, say Wyatt Kendall and Sydney Brogden at Morris Manning.

  • Del. Ruling Stands Out In Thorny Noncompete Landscape

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    In Cantor Fitzgerald v. Ainslie, the Delaware Supreme Court last month upheld the enforceability of forfeiture-for-competition provisions in limited partnership agreements, providing a noteworthy opinion amid a time of increasing disfavor toward noncompetes and following a string of Chancery Court rulings deeming them unreasonable, say Margaret Butler and Steven Goldberg at BakerHostetler.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five notable circuit court decisions on topics from property taxes to veteran's rights — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including class representative intervention, wage-and-hour dispute evidence and ascertainability requirements.

  • Google Patent Case Is A Claim Construction Litigation Lesson

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    The Federal Circuit's recent precedential decision in Google v. EcoFactor, which held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board erred in the claim construction it had unknowingly adopted, shows that litigators should be alert to claim construction issues that masquerade as something else, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • NY's Revamped Card Surcharge Ban Is Unique Among States

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    Newly revised New York legislation bolsters the state's ban on credit card surcharges, potentially reinvigorating similar laws across the country despite the fact that many of them have been ruled unconstitutional, say Tom Witherspoon and Audrey Carroll at Stinson.

  • How VA Court Change Is Affecting Insurance Disputes

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    The expansion of the Virginia Court of Appeals' jurisdiction to include review of decisions involving insurance coverage stands to significantly grow the body of related case law, likely to the benefit of policyholders, as evident in the recent decision in Bowman II v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Co., say Michael Levine and Olivia Bushman at Hunton.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Helps Clarify When Gov't Clawback Is Timely

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    The Federal Circuit’s examination of claims accrual in a January decision that allows the Defense Contract Management Agency to pursue overpayment claims under a cost-reimbursement contract serves as a reminder that the government can lose such claims by waiting too long to file, say Evan Sherwood and Peter Hutt at Covington.

  • Don't Sit On Bankruptcy Sidelines, 5th Circ. Ruling Reminds

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    The Fifth Circuit’s recent In re: Louisiana Pellets decision, holding that a creditor couldn’t assert indemnification defenses in a suit brought by the trustee of a liquidation trust, highlights the risks faced by creditors and other contract parties that choose not to participate in a bankruptcy, say Gregory Hesse and Kaleb Bailey at Hunton.

  • Considering The Logical Extremes Of Your Legal Argument

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    Recent oral arguments in the federal election interference case against former President Donald Trump highlighted the age-old technique of extending an argument to its logical limit — a principle that is still important for attorneys to consider in preparing their cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • How High Court SEC Case Could Affect The ITC

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy will likely spare the U.S. International Trade Commission from major operative changes, the ITC’s ability to issue penalties for violations of its orders may change, say Gwendolyn Tawresey and Ryan Deck at Troutman Pepper.

  • 6th Circ. Ruling Breathes New Life Into Article III Traceability

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    The Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Hardwick v. 3M Co. to vacate a district court's certification of one of the largest class actions in American jurisprudence for lack of Article III standing has potentially broader implications for class action practice in the product liability sphere, particularly in medical monitoring cases involving far-fetched theories of causation, say attorneys at Skadden.

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