Appellate

  • March 19, 2026

    9th Circ. Upholds Gun Ban For Domestic Violence Offenders

    Three men who were found to have used violence against their female partners in separate incidents were correctly convicted under a federal law prohibiting domestic abusers from possessing guns, the Ninth Circuit said, agreeing with other circuits that such restrictions were legal.

  • March 19, 2026

    Del. Supreme Court Revives Payscale's Noncompete Suit

    The Delaware Supreme Court on Thursday revived Payscale Inc.'s lawsuit seeking to enforce an 18-month noncompete agreement and related restrictive covenants against a former sales executive, ruling that a lower court dismissed the case too early by improperly weighing facts and drawing inferences against the company.

  • March 19, 2026

    7th Circ. Dissenters: Due Process Row Deserved Rehearing

    A trio of judges on the Seventh Circuit accused the full appeals court of cementing a circuit split with its sister courts by refusing to rehear a case about whether incarcerated people moved into disciplinary housing are entitled to formal due process hearings.

  • March 19, 2026

    Apple Watch Redesign Gets Early OK As Patent Loss Upheld

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed a U.S. International Trade Commission decision that found a previous version of the Apple Watch infringes two Masimo blood oxygen monitor patents, but the ruling came one day after an ITC judge said Apple's redesigned version does not infringe those patents.

  • March 19, 2026

    11th Circ. Partially Reopens Aetna Twin Birth Coverage Fight

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday undid Aetna's escape from a worker's coverage dispute over an extended hospital stay for her newborn twins, agreeing with the lower court that allegations failed to state a claim for violating federal benefits law but holding that an amended complaint should have been allowed.

  • March 19, 2026

    Justice Kagan Denies Apache Bid To Block Ariz. Land Transfer

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Thursday declined to block a federal government land transfer in Arizona after four Apache women looked to stop the exchange on behalf of their daughters, arguing that the area contains a site used for a coming of age ceremony that will be destroyed.

  • March 19, 2026

    Still No Shenanigans: Fed. Circ. Keeps Review Bar High

    The Federal Circuit's rejection of all mandamus petitions asking it to rein in the way U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leadership is ​evaluating patent challenges cements the appeals court's near-impossible standard for reviewing institution decisions, attorneys say.

  • March 19, 2026

    Ex-Uber Exec Takes Data Breach Conviction To High Court

    A former Uber security executive has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review his conviction for attempting to cover up a data breach from government investigators, saying the Ninth Circuit's decision affirming his conviction entrenched a circuit split over what kind of conduct actually rises to criminal liability.

  • March 19, 2026

    NC Justices Shouldn't Ax Severance Fight, Ex-CEO Says

    North Carolina's long-arm statute means its business court had jurisdiction to decide a lawsuit filed by the former CEO of a cybersecurity and IT firm over its alleged failure to buy out his equity interest as part of a severance agreement, he has argued to the state's high court in opposition to the company's appeal of a ruling keeping the case in the Tar Heel State.

  • March 19, 2026

    Zimbabwe Urges Justices To Pass On $50M Award Suit

    Zimbabwe urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday not to review a D.C. Circuit decision from last summer ending litigation seeking to enforce an 11-year-old, $50 million arbitral award against that African country, arguing that the question presented is "narrow and unimportant."

  • March 19, 2026

    4th Circ. Probes Basis For Chemours River Pollution Order

    The Chemours Co. FC LLC found favor Thursday with at least one Fourth Circuit judge who appeared skeptical of why a lower court decided to render an injunction that blocks the company from continuing to discharge forever chemicals into the Ohio River.

  • March 19, 2026

    Maya Kowalski Says Atty Made Her 'Uncomfortable'

    The attorney who persuaded a jury to award $261 million to Netflix documentary subject Maya Kowalski also provided unsolicited dating and sex advice to his 18-year-old client and arranged an advance funding loan for the Kowalski family in violation of Florida Bar rules, according to a statement Kowalski filed.

  • March 19, 2026

    Netflix Sinks Patent Claim In Streaming Tech Dispute

    Netflix has scored a win in a suit the streaming giant brought asserting it did not infringe a Broadcom subsidiary's data-caching patents, with a judge finding a patent claim was directed at an ineligible abstract idea.

  • March 19, 2026

    Del. High Court Revives Banker's Pay Claims Against Firm

    The Delaware Supreme Court has revived key claims brought by a former investment firm banker, ruling that a lower court went too far in blocking his case based on earlier findings that he was not a partner at the firm.

  • March 19, 2026

    Texas Court Erases $7.8M In Taxes On Stored Export Oil

    A Texas company storing presold crude oil to be exported to foreign countries was wrongly taxed $7.8 million by a county assessor, a state appeals court ruled Thursday, reversing a trial court decision.

  • March 19, 2026

    NJ Justices Say Wage Laws Protect Unauthorized Workers

    New Jersey wage and hour protections require employers to pay employees regardless of their immigration status, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday, finding that state law doesn't clash with federal immigration law prohibiting the employment of immigrants living in the country without legal permission.

  • March 19, 2026

    11th Circ. Says Black Cop's Race Bias Suit Thin On Evidence

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday backed the dismissal of a Black ex-cop's suit claiming Miami-Dade County disciplined and fired him for calling out systemic race discrimination in its police department, shutting down a case the appeals court revived in 2020.

  • March 19, 2026

    Judges Scrutinize DOD's Claim Of Hesai's China Military Ties

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Thursday raised serious questions about the U.S. Department of Defense's broad interpretation of a law used to designate companies as "contributors" to the Chinese military-industrial base, pressing a government attorney on the basis for finding links between Shanghai LiDAR-maker Hesai and the Chinese military.

  • March 19, 2026

    Civil Rights Groups Back Creek Freedmen's Citizenship Battle

    Civil rights groups are looking to back two members of the Muscogee Creek Freedmen Band in their bid to postpone a May 30 special tribal election until they're approved for citizenship, arguing that the delay in processing their applications is legally indefensible and risks invalidating the results of the election itself.

  • March 19, 2026

    Financial Firms Must Face Suit Over Adviser's Thefts

    A group of investors whose funds were stolen by a now-jailed financial adviser will get another chance to convince a judge the investment firms he worked for should be held civilly liable, a Massachusetts intermediate appellate court ruled Thursday.

  • March 19, 2026

    Affiliated Cos. Not Automatically Linked, EU High Court Says

    Businesses are not automatically linked for the purposes of determining state aid eligibility merely because an individual holds a majority stake in each of them, the European Court of Justice said Thursday in a dispute between a Latvian company and the country's tax authorities.

  • March 19, 2026

    Ill. Justices Say Wage Law Doesn't Bar COVID Screening Pay

    The Illinois Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state's minimum wage law doesn't incorporate the limitations on compensable preshift activities found in federal law, answering the Seventh Circuit's call for help determining whether Amazon must pay workers for time they spent undergoing preliminary COVID-19 screenings.

  • March 19, 2026

    McGuireWoods Gains Former Fried Frank IP Litigator In DC

    McGuireWoods LLP announced Thursday it has hired an intellectual property litigator from Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, which he moved to in 2022 alongside his wife.

  • March 19, 2026

    Ex-Workers Ask 11th Circ. To Overturn ERISA Exhaustion Rule

    Former workers for a seafood company urged the full Eleventh Circuit to overturn precedent that led a three-judge panel to uphold dismissal of their suit alleging mismanagement of an employee stock ownership plan, arguing the court's strictest-in-the-nation standard on exhausting administrative remedies didn't align with federal benefits law.

  • March 18, 2026

    Key Details As 3rd Circ. Ponders FCA's Fate, $1.6B J&J Fine

    Third Circuit judges Wednesday explored divergent views of the False Claims Act's constitutionality and a record fraud verdict against Johnson & Johnson, expressing little eagerness to gut the FCA's whistleblower mechanism, and voicing uncertainty about evidence and jury instructions underpinning the drug promotion punishment.

Expert Analysis

  • Reviewing 2025's Most Pertinent Wiretap Developments

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    2025 was a remarkable year in the world of web tracking wiretapping litigation, not only for the increased caseload but also because of numerous developing theories of liability, with disputes expected to continue unabated in 2026, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • Series

    Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

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    Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

  • Software Patents May Face New Eligibility Scrutiny

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    November guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, along with recent litigation trends from the Federal Circuit, may encourage new challenges in the USPTO and district courts to artificial intelligence and software patents that rely on generic computing functions without concrete details, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Delay, Plain Text, Sovereign Acts

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    Three recent decisions addressing familiar pressure points show that even well-worn doctrines evolve, and both contractors and the government should reexamine their assumptions, says Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth.

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

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    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Clarifies Auditor Liability For IPO Errors

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Hunt v. PricewaterhouseCoopers elucidates the legal standard for claims against auditors in connection with a company's initial public offering, confirming that audit opinions are subjective and becoming the first circuit to review this precise question since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2015 Omnicare ruling, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • 10th Circ. Dissent May Light Path For Master Account Access

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    While the Tenth Circuit's majority in Custodia Bank v. Federal Reserve Board recently affirmed Federal Reserve banks' control over master account access, the dissent raised constitutional questions that could support banks seeking master accounts in future litigation, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

  • 3 Defense Strategies For Sporadically Prosecuted Conduct

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    Not to be confused with selective prosecutions, sporadic prosecutions — charging someone for conduct many others do without consequences — can be challenging to defend, but focusing on materiality, prosecutorial motivations and public opinion can be a winning strategy, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

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    Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.

  • Patent Disclaimers Ruling Offers Restriction Practice Insights

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Focus Products v. Kartri confirms that prosecution disclaimers can extend to examiner-defined species in restriction practice, making it important for patent practitioners to manage restriction requirement responses carefully to avoid unintended claim scope limitations, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Opinion

    Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

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    While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • Suncor Is Justices' Chance To Rule On Climate Nuisance Suits

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    If the U.S. Supreme Court chooses to hear Suncor Energy v. County Commissioners of Boulder County, Colorado, it will have the chance to resolve whether federal law precludes state law nuisance claims targeting interstate and global emissions — and the answer will have major implications for climate litigation nationwide, say attorneys at Liskow & Lewis.

  • Key Crypto Class Action Trends And Rulings In 2025

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    As the law continued to take shape in the growing area of crypto-assets, this year saw a jump in crypto class action litigation, including noteworthy decisions on motions to compel arbitration and class certification, according to Justin Donoho at Duane Morris.

  • NBA, MLB Betting Indictments: Slam Dunks Or Strikeouts?

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    Recent fraud charges against bettors, NBA players and MLB pitchers raise questions about what the government will need to prove to prosecute individuals involved in placing bets based on nonpublic information, and it could be a tough sell to juries, say attorneys at Ford O'Brien.

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