Appellate

  • March 26, 2024

    Pilot HOA Tells Justices Rail Easement Clouds Airstrip Access

    An Alaska homeowners association made up largely of pilots has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit ruling granting a railroad full control of an easement jutting into an airstrip used by residents of a surrounding subdivision.

  • March 26, 2024

    9th Circ. Unsure Uber Can Dodge Suit Over Slain Driver

    A pair of Ninth Circuit judges seemed to question Tuesday if Uber Technologies Inc. could avoid liability after a driver was murdered in a carjacking, with one judge asking if the law needed to catch up with new technology in a case where the company controlled information about the identity of riders.

  • March 26, 2024

    Ski Resort Corp. Says Sheep Used As Pretext To Ruin Project

    Ski resort corporation The Vail Corp. told the Colorado Court of Appeals Monday to revive its workforce housing project after the town of Vail allegedly gave into local opposition against the project and used a local bighorn sheep herd as pretext to condemn the 23.3 acres of land that the ski resort corporation planned to use for the project.

  • March 26, 2024

    DC Circ. Rebukes NLRB's 'Nonsense' In Driver Camera Case

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday vacated a National Labor Relations Board decision that found a produce company unlawfully disciplined a pro-union worker and gave another the impression he was being surveilled, calling the board's approach to the case "nonsense."

  • March 26, 2024

    Insurance Mogul's Ex-Political Consultant Wants Own Retrial

    A former political consultant charged alongside embattled insurance mogul Greg Lindberg wants their criminal retrial on wire fraud and bribery charges severed, telling a federal court that Lindberg's potential plan to throw him under the bus will destroy any defenses against the government's accusations.

  • March 26, 2024

    Opioid Public Nuisance Claims 'Unique,' Ohio High Court Told

    Counsel for two Ohio counties that won a $650 million verdict against Walmart, CVS and Walgreens told the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday that opioids are a "unique" problem during oral arguments about whether the counties' public nuisance claims are blocked by the state's product liability law.

  • March 26, 2024

    NY Urges 2nd Circ. To Deny Tribe's Eel Fishing Challenge

    The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation called on the Second Circuit to uphold a lower court's rejection of the Unkechaug Indian Nation's challenge to the agency's regulations on eel harvests, saying contrary to the tribe's arguments, they're not preempted by any federal treaty or statute.

  • March 26, 2024

    3rd Circ. Says EMS Transport Without Consent Is Med Mal

    A patient who was transported to a Pennsylvania hospital against his will was effectively making a medical malpractice claim against the emergency medical services technicians and needed to file a "certificate of merit" to back up such a claim, a split Third Circuit panel ruled Tuesday.

  • March 26, 2024

    Boeing Can't Exit Wash. Worker's Birth Defect Suit

    A Washington state judge has declined to throw out a lawsuit accusing Boeing of exposing a factory worker to chemicals that caused birth defects in his child, after casting doubt last month on the company's assertion it had no legal duty to protect employees' future children from foreseeable harm.

  • March 26, 2024

    Greens Sue NRC Over Delayed Diablo Canyon Inspections

    The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission violated federal law when it rejected community and environmental groups' request for a public hearing over allegedly outdated inspections at Diablo Canyon, California's last remaining nuclear power plant, the groups told the Ninth Circuit on Monday.

  • March 26, 2024

    Student Focused On Claims, Not Classes, 11th Circ. Suggests

    Two of three judges on an Eleventh Circuit panel raised doubts Tuesday that Atlanta's Morehouse School of Medicine had failed to accommodate a disabled student, suggesting the student had failed his classes not because of inadequate note-taking services, but because he was too busy preparing to sue the school.

  • March 26, 2024

    DOL Urges 4th Circ. To Keep $9M Nurse Classification Ruling

    A medical staffing company is trying to circumvent clear error standards simply because it didn't like a federal court's conclusion that the company must pay $9 million in a misclassification suit, the U.S. Department of Labor told the Fourth Circuit.

  • March 26, 2024

    In Abortion Case, Gorsuch Frets 'Rash' Of National Injunctions

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch renewed his criticisms of nationwide injunctions Tuesday, saying a Texas judge's universal order limiting access to popular abortion medication mifepristone turned a potentially small legal challenge into a national debate.

  • March 26, 2024

    Ill. Judge Needs More Info To OK $57M Chicken Antitrust Fee

    An Illinois federal judge overseeing a sprawling antitrust litigation against broiler chicken producers said he couldn't rule on class counsel's renewed bid for a $57 million attorney fee award thrown out by the Seventh Circuit last year without more information on one of the firm's graduated fee arrangements in a similar 2015 antitrust case, which wasn't disclosed in the first go-around.

  • March 26, 2024

    Golf Pro Out Of Bounds In Atty Fee Stay Bid, 11th Circ. Told

    Media companies have urged the Eleventh Circuit to reject pro golfer Patrick Reed's bid to block their award of attorney fees after defeating the player's defamation suit alleging that journalists' criticism of his recruitment to the Saudi-backed LIV Tour hurt his health and career.

  • March 26, 2024

    REIT Exec Tells 2nd Circ. To Toss $3.2M Judgment

    The co-founder of a real estate investment trust told the Second Circuit to toss the $3.2 million judgment awarded in a former partner's 2014 suit, arguing that related jury instructions were "too confusing and prejudicial."

  • March 26, 2024

    NY Lawyer Disbarred As Result Of $1.2M Theft Conviction

    A New York appeals court on Tuesday disbarred former Gordon & Silber partner Arthur Cohen, who was sentenced to prison in October for siphoning about $1.2 million from the now-defunct law firm.

  • March 26, 2024

    Wash. Appeals Court Reinstates Nurse's Sex Harassment Suit

    A trial court jumped the gun when it tossed a lawsuit from a nurse who said a University of Washington-owned air ambulance outfit transferred her after she complained about sexual harassment, a state appeals court ruled, saying a reasonable jury could find in her favor.

  • March 26, 2024

    2nd Circ. Revives Gender Bias Case Against Grocery Chain

    A district court applied too harsh a standard when it dismissed a fired manager's sex bias suit against a supermarket chain, the Second Circuit said Tuesday, in a ruling that sought to "demystify" the test for assessing whether some discrimination claims can move to trial.

  • March 26, 2024

    NC Justices Find BofA Mortgage Fraud Suit Filed Too Late

    The North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that homeowners accusing Bank of America NA of fraud in a mortgage modification program filed their claims too late, finding they knew or should have known about the alleged fraud when their homes were foreclosed upon — four to seven years before they sued.

  • March 26, 2024

    High Court Wary Of Bid To Limit Abortion Pill Access

    The U.S. Supreme Court seemed skeptical Tuesday of efforts by anti-abortion groups to severely limit access to the abortion medication mifepristone, with several justices appearing unconvinced that the groups had the right to sue over the Food and Drug Administration's regulation of the pill.

  • March 25, 2024

    In High Court Sentencing Case, It's Everyone V. Gibson Dunn

    As the U.S. Supreme Court scrutinizes severe sentencing of repeat offenders, one view is backed by the Biden administration, defense bar groups, incarceration reformers and a household name among appellate advocates. And then there's the view backed by a few lawyers at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

  • March 25, 2024

    4th Circ. Sides With Trump Jr. In Ex-Coal CEO's Libel Suit

    A Fourth Circuit panel on Monday upheld Donald Trump Jr.'s win against former coal company CEO and U.S. Senate candidate Don Blankenship's defamation suit, saying there's no evidence Trump Jr. acted with actual malice when he called Blankenship a "felon" — instead of a person convicted of a federal misdemeanor — on social media.

  • March 25, 2024

    Something In The Way Of Nirvana Logo Trial, Judge Told

    Counsel for a former record company employee who claims he created Nirvana's "smiley face" logo urged a California federal judge Monday to let him immediately appeal a ruling denying his ownership claim, and argued the band's copyright suit against designer Marc Jacobs over the logo should be delayed in the meanwhile.

  • March 25, 2024

    Meta Defends Axon Reading To DC Circ. In Privacy Deal Fight

    Meta Platforms Inc. on Friday insisted to the D.C. Circuit that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on structural constitutional challenges supports the social media giant's efforts to block the Federal Trade Commission from pursuing changes to a $5 billion privacy settlement.

Expert Analysis

  • Fed. Circ. Patent Lesson: No Contradiction, No Indefiniteness

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Maxwell v. Amperex Technology highlights the complexities of construing patent claims when seemingly contradictory limitations are present, and that when a narrowing limitation overrides a broader one, they do not necessarily contradict each other, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • 11th Circ. FMLA Ruling Deepens Divide Over Causation

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent ruling in Lapham v. Walgreen distinguishes the circuit as the loudest advocate for the but-for causation standard for assessing Family and Medical Leave Act retaliation claims, though employers in other jurisdictions may encounter less favorable standards and the U.S. Supreme Court will likely have to address the circuit split eventually, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • 3 Notification Pitfalls To Avoid With Arbitration Provisions

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    In Lipsett v. Popular Bank, the Second Circuit found that a bank's arbitration provision was unenforceable due to insufficient notice to a customer that he was bound by the agreement, highlighting the importance of adequate communication of arbitration provisions, and customers' options for opting out, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Why Preemption Args Wouldn't Stall Trump Hush-Money Case

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    With former President Donald Trump's New York hush-money criminal trial weeks away, some speculate that he may soon move to stay the case on preemption grounds, but under the Anti-Injunction Act and well-settled case law, that motion would likely be quickly denied, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.

  • Golf Course Copyright Bill Implications Go Beyond The Green

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    A new federal bill, the BIRDIE Act, introduced in February would extend intellectual property protections to golf course designers but could undercut existing IP case law and raise broader questions about the scope of copyright protection for works that involve living elements or nonhuman authorship, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • BIPA's Statutory Exemptions Post-Healthcare Ruling

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    The Illinois Supreme Court's November opinion in Mosby v. Ingalls Memorial Hospital, which held that the Biometric Information Privacy Act's healthcare exemption also applies when information is collected from healthcare workers, is a major win for healthcare defendants that resolves an important question of statutory interpretation, say attorneys at Quinn Emanuel.

  • 2nd Circ.'s Nine West Ruling Clarifies Safe Harbor Confusion

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    The Second Circuit’s recent ruling in Nine West’s Chapter 11 suit clarifies that courts in the circuit will apply a transfer-by-transfer analysis to determine the applicability of Section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code, and that to be safe harbored, a financial institution must act as an agent with respect to the specific transfer at issue, says Leonardo Trivigno at Carter Ledyard.

  • Opinion

    9th Circ. Nazi Art Theft Ruling Is Bad For Repatriation Cases

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    The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation, holding that a Spanish museum doesn't have to return a Nazi-stolen painting to the original Jewish owners, spells trouble for future heirloom repatriation cases, which hinge on similar archaic laws, say Andrea Perez and Josh Sherman at Carrington Coleman.

  • Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Opinion

    High Court Should Endorse Insurer Standing In Bankruptcy

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    In Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum, the U.S. Supreme Court will examine bankruptcy standing doctrine as applied to insurers in mass tort cases, and should use the opportunity to eliminate spurious standing roadblocks to resolving insurer objections on their merits, says Frank Perch at White and Williams.

  • High Court Social Media Speech Ruling Could Implicate AI

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    In Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether certain state laws can restrict content moderation by social media platforms, but the eventual decision could also provide insight into whether the first amendment protects artificial intelligence speech, say Joseph Meadows and Quyen Dang at GRSM50.

  • Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling: Purposivism In Textualist Garb

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s Trump v. Anderson decision earlier this week, allowing former President Donald Trump to remain on state primary ballots, alleviates uncertainty and minimizes the potential for abuse in future cases, but is difficult to square with the court’s own account of its textualist interpretive methods, says Will Havemann at Hogan Lovells.

  • Disney Copyright Expiration Spurs Trademark Questions

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    While the recent expiration of Disney’s Steamboat Willie copyright is not likely to have an immediate impact, it could provide clarity on the extent to which trademark rights in character names and appearance affect what others can do with characters from works whose copyright has expired, says Bryan Wheelock at Harness IP.

  • Texas Insurance Ruling Could Restore Finality To Appraisal

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    The Texas Supreme Court's decision in Rodriguez v. Safeco, determining that full payment of an appraisal award precludes recovery of attorney fees, indicates a potential return to an era in which timely payment undoubtedly disposes of all possible policyholder claims, says Karl Schulz at Cozen O'Connor.

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