Appellate

  • May 02, 2024

    Immigrant Bond Co. Buyer Wants In On $811M Fine Appeal

    Libre Immigration Services has moved to intervene at the Fourth Circuit to fight an $811 million judgment against companies it recently acquired that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued over abusive immigrant bonding practices.

  • May 02, 2024

    3rd Circ. Reopens Chinese Tech Worker's Promotion Bias Suit

    The Third Circuit revived a Chinese software engineer's lawsuit Thursday alleging he was denied a promotion and fired by a tax technology company because he complained about racist comments he faced, ruling a lower court evaluated the worker's claims too narrowly.

  • May 02, 2024

    Kushner-Owned Co. Owes $15M For Scrapped Apartment Deal

    A New Jersey appeals panel has ordered a company owned by Kushner Cos. LLC to pay $15 million to real estate sellers in a $186 million deal that fell apart during the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • May 02, 2024

    2nd Circ. Skeptical About Ex-TD Bank Manager's Bias Suit

    The Second Circuit appeared unwilling Thursday to wipe out TD Bank's win over a former manager's suit alleging he was ousted because he asked for parental leave and had anxiety, with an appellate panel seeming unconvinced that the bank's claim that unethical conduct got him fired was dishonest.

  • May 02, 2024

    11th Circ. Rules Tribal Co. Is Not Immune In Trade Secrets Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit has revived a tribal-owned defense contractor's suit against another tribal-owned competitor and a former employee for allegedly stealing trade secrets, finding the competitor agreed to federal court jurisdiction when it participated in the bidding process for work on a missile detection system.

  • May 02, 2024

    Colo. Panel Says COVID Can Trigger Workers' Compensation

    A Colorado appellate court panel on Thursday ruled for the first time that COVID-19 can be considered an "occupational disease" under the state's workers' compensation law and affirmed the award of benefits to a woman whose husband died of the novel coronavirus while working at a skilled nursing facility.

  • May 02, 2024

    Split Conn. Supreme Court Says No To 'Ratio' Utility Bills

    In a rare 4-3 opinion, the Connecticut Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a corporate landlord cannot use a ratio utility billing system to divide monthly costs among units not equipped with precise individual meters, stressing a legislative policy of protecting tenants from fluctuating fees beyond their immediate control.

  • May 02, 2024

    11th Circ. Urged To Clear Final Hurdle To Interstate Water Deal

    As the finish line comes into view in Georgia and Alabama's decadeslong fight over water rights, the Peach State, the federal government and a host of local water providers are urging the Eleventh Circuit to reject a bid by environmental groups to block the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' management proposal for the Apalachicola watershed.

  • May 02, 2024

    Split 10th Circ. Spikes $17.3M Atty Fee Over Class Notice

    A split Tenth Circuit panel has vacated for a second time a $17.3 million attorney fee award for reaching a $52 million class action settlement over gas well royalty payments, with the majority writing that the lower court erred by not requiring a new class notice regarding the revised fee bid.

  • May 02, 2024

    4th Circ. Revives Workers' Suit Over SC Plant Explosion

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday revived claims from three workers burned in an explosion at a plastic recycling plant, saying the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Law can't deprive the federal courts of diversity jurisdiction in a case where they would otherwise have it.

  • May 02, 2024

    Coverage Recap: Day 6 Of Trump's NY Hush Money Trial

    Law360 reporters are providing live updates from the Manhattan criminal courthouse as Donald Trump goes on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments ahead of the 2016 election. Here's a recap from day six.

  • May 02, 2024

    Rules Against Judge Shopping Move Forward At Fed Agency

    Federal appellate courts should review most government agency actions, and cases involving those actions that wind up in district courts should be subject to district-wide assignment to avoid judge shopping, according to recommendations approved Thursday by a committee of the federal agency charged with improving government rulemaking.

  • May 02, 2024

    4th Circ. Finds Judge Appointment Legit In Black Lung Case

    The Fourth Circuit ruled that an administrative law judge who presided over a black lung benefits case was properly reappointed by the U.S. Department of Labor, rejecting Dominion Coal Corp.'s contention that his seating violated the Constitution's appointments clause.

  • May 02, 2024

    If High Court Upends Jan. 6 Conviction, What Happens Next?

    If the U.S. Supreme Court decides prosecutors overstepped by charging a rioter who stormed the Capitol with obstruction, the results will likely be mixed for hundreds of other defendants charged with the same crime, particularly those who have been convicted. That post-appeal uncertainty is nothing new, defense attorneys say.

  • May 02, 2024

    11th Circ. 'Emphatically' Upholds JCPenney's Sanctions Win

    The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed a $63,000 sanction against an Alabama shopping mall amid its lease dispute with JCPenney, finding that the mall acted in bad faith by not notifying the court of a lack of diversity jurisdiction, eventually sinking the case — only after JCPenney won partial summary judgment and a later mediation failed.

  • May 02, 2024

    Dilworth Paxson Attys Disciplined Over NJ Eatery Conflict

    Two Dilworth Paxson LLP partners were sanctioned by the New Jersey Supreme Court this week for investing in a restaurant on the campus of The College of New Jersey at the same time they were legally representing another investment group on the project.

  • May 02, 2024

    Schumer Reups Call For His Judge Shopping Bill

    U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday that a suit filed in a controversial Texas court challenging a new firearms policy from the Biden administration underscores the need for his bill to restrict so-called "judge shopping."

  • May 02, 2024

    NJ Group's Challenge To Town's Pot Law Partially Revived

    A New Jersey appeals panel has revived state law claims brought by a group challenging the Borough of Highland Park's cannabis licensing laws, while finding that the federal Controlled Substances Act does not preempt either the town's law or state cannabis law.

  • May 02, 2024

    5th Circ. Asks If Facts Matter In Construction Defect Row

    A Fifth Circuit panel weighed the importance of facts versus the law in a dispute over whether an insurer must indemnify a construction company for a $1.3 million arbitration award for construction defects in a Texas farming cooperative's grain silos.

  • May 01, 2024

    Monsanto Gets $185 Million Wash. PCB Verdict Overturned

    A Washington state appeals court sided with Monsanto on Wednesday, undoing a $185 million jury verdict for three teachers who claimed they were sickened by PCBs at a Washington school site and ruling the case could be limited by the Evergreen state's 12-year statute of repose for product liability claims.

  • May 01, 2024

    5th Circ. Nixes Use Of US Law In Maritime Malaria Dispute

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday overturned an order permitting an Indian man to invoke U.S. law in his lawsuit accusing a Singaporean ship management company of negligence after he contracted malaria during a trip to Gabon while working aboard a Liberian-flagged cargo ship.

  • May 01, 2024

    Pa. Justices Asked To Determine If Workers' Comp Covers CBD

    An attorney representing himself — and, in a way, suing himself — will get an opportunity to convince the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that CBD oil and other nonprescription medicine should be covered by workers' compensation, according to a Tuesday order from the justices.

  • May 01, 2024

    Fed. Judge's Handcuffing Of Girl Was Misconduct, Panel Says

    The Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit found Wednesday that a California federal judge who ordered a crying 13-year-old girl in his courtroom be handcuffed engaged in judicial misconduct, issuing a reprimand for his actions and ordering that the judge not be assigned new criminal cases for three years.

  • May 01, 2024

    Texas 'Gave Away The Game' In ATF Suit, 5th Circ. Judge Says

    A Fifth Circuit judge told Texas it "just gave away the game" by stating that the application for obtaining a firearm suppressor counts as the injury, asking how the state could contend it had experienced such an injury without having applied for a license to own a suppressor during oral arguments Wednesday in a suit challenging federal firearm regulations.

  • May 01, 2024

    Median Patent Damages Awards Are Shrinking

    A New York accounting firm that provides damages experts for intellectual property cases has found in a new study that median damages awards in patent cases have declined over the last 15 years.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown

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    While some are concerned about repercussions if the U.S. Supreme Court brings an end to Chevron deference in the Loper and Relentless cases this term, agencies and attorneys would survive just fine under the doctrines that have already begun to replace it, say Daniel Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.

  • What A Post-Chevron Landscape Could Mean For Labor Law

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Chevron deference expected by the end of June, it’s not too soon to consider how National Labor Relations Act interpretations could be affected if federal courts no longer defer to administrative agencies’ statutory interpretation and regulatory actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Perspectives

    Context Is Everything In Justices' Sentencing Relief Decision

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    In the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Pulsifer v. U.S. decision, limiting the number of drug offenders eligible for sentencing relief, the majority and dissent adopted very different contextual frames for interpreting the meaning of “and” — with the practical impact being that thousands more defendants will be subject to severe mandatory minimums, says Douglas Berman at Moritz College of Law​​​​​​​.

  • Opinion

    The SEC Is Engaging In Regulation By Destruction

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent use of regulation by enforcement against digital assets indicates it's more interested in causing harm to crypto companies than providing guidance to the markets or protecting investors, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.

  • Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs

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    Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.

  • Studying NY, NJ Case Law On Employee Social Media Rights

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    While a New Jersey state appeals court has twice determined that an employee's termination by a private employer for social media posts is not prohibited, New York has yet to take a stand on the issue — so employers' decisions on such matters still need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, say Julie Levinson Werner and Jessica Kriegsfeld at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • A 5th Circ. Lesson On Preserving Indemnification Rights

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Raymond James & Associates v. Jalbert offers an important lesson for creditors and parties to indemnification agreements: If a debtor has indemnified a creditor, the creditor should consider participating in the bankruptcy case to avoid being deemed to have forfeited its indemnification rights, say Dania Slim and Alana Lyman at Pillsbury.

  • ShapeShift Fine Epitomizes SEC's Crypto Policy, And Its Flaws

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    A recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission order imposing a fine on former cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift for failing to register as a securities dealer showcases the SEC's regulation-by-enforcement approach, but the dissent by two commissioners raises valid concerns that the agency's embrace of ambiguity over clarity risks hampering the growth of the crypto economy, says Keith Blackman at Bracewell.

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