Appellate

  • April 18, 2024

    Ex-BigLaw Atty Can Stay Free During OneCoin Fraud Appeal

    A Manhattan federal judge Thursday granted a former Locke Lord LLP partner's motion for bail pending appeal of his 10-year prison sentence after he was found guilty of laundering around $400 million in proceeds from the global OneCoin cryptocurrency scam, saying he does not pose a flight risk given his medical conditions.

  • April 18, 2024

    Conoco Tells 3rd Circ. It Can Target Citgo For $8.5B Award

    ConocoPhillips urged the Third Circuit to nix Venezuela's challenge to a ruling paving the way for the oil company's participation in an auction for control of the U.S. oil giant Citgo to enforce an $8.5 million debt, arguing that the country can't prove that it's been acting in bad faith.

  • April 18, 2024

    BofA Keeps Win Against Movie Website's TM Suit At 10th Circ.

    The Tenth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a lower court's ruling that Bank of America's virtual assistant "Erica" did not infringe on the trademark of an online movie database, saying the plaintiff failed to establish that the service mark "E.R.I.C.A" was directly associated with the search services offered on the website.

  • April 18, 2024

    NY Fertility Clinic Must Face Lost, Damaged Embryos Suit

    A New York appellate panel issued a published opinion Thursday reviving a suit over the loss or damage of embryos due to a fertility clinic's alleged negligence, saying the routine storage and maintenance of frozen embryos can be considered ordinary negligence rather than medical malpractice.

  • April 18, 2024

    Lebanese Bank To Face Victims' Hezbollah Terrorism Suit

    New York's highest court ruled Thursday that an entity that acquires another entity's liabilities and assets inherits its status for purposes of personal jurisdiction even if there is no merger, greenlighting litigation targeting a Lebanese bank over its predecessor's alleged assistance to Hezbollah.

  • April 18, 2024

    Mich. High Court Takes Up Insurer Garnishment Dispute

    The Michigan Supreme Court agreed Thursday to consider whether an insurer's supposed bad faith refusal to settle a claim can be litigated in a garnishment action in The Burlington Insurance Co.'s appeal of an injured worker's attempt to collect the unsatisfied portion of a $13.7 million judgment.

  • April 18, 2024

    Colo. Panel Says UIM Insurers Didn't Meet State Requirements

    USAA and State Farm didn't meet statutory requirements before asserting that a mutual insured didn't comply with their claim inquiring following a motor vehicle incident, a Colorado state appeals court ruled Thursday, adding USAA was required to conduct a claim investigation independent of State Farm's.

  • April 18, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Maintains Newman Can't Invalidate Disability Law

    Suspended U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman has still not proven that the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act has no constitutional uses and should therefore be invalidated, the Federal Circuit's judicial council told a D.C. federal judge Thursday.

  • April 18, 2024

    $100M Arbitration Award Restored In Colo. Dispensary Fight

    A Colorado appellate panel on Thursday largely reinstated a roughly $100 million arbitration award in a dispute between former business partners in the cannabis dispensary chain Native Roots, finding no basis to conclude the arbitrator was biased.

  • April 18, 2024

    4th Circ. Vacates Enviro Win In Mining Co. Permit Ruling

    The special receiver for a defunct mining company can transfer mining permits for a site formerly owned by Patriot Coal Corp., the Fourth Circuit ruled, finding that a West Virginia federal judge interpreted a consent decree providing for mine shutdown and cleanup too broadly.

  • April 18, 2024

    Ga. Cargo Co. Says Marks Are Generic In $15M IP Dispute

    A Georgia-based cargo company urged the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to reverse a $15 million judgment awarded to a competitor over trademark violations, saying the intellectual property that it's accused of using is generic.

  • April 18, 2024

    6th Circ. Axes Ex-Perrigo Worker's Drug Test Firing Suit

    The Sixth Circuit refused to reinstate a bias suit from a worker who said drugmaker L. Perrigo Co. unlawfully fired him after lip balm caused him to test positive for marijuana, saying he didn't show that age or disability discrimination motivated the decision to let him go.

  • April 18, 2024

    3rd Circ. Unclear If 'Session Replay' Web Code Directed At Pa.

    A Third Circuit panel seemed torn Thursday over whether websites like those of Papa John's or Mattress Firm "directed conduct" at Pennsylvania when they ran "session replay" software to track users' visits and whether that gave courts in the Keystone State jurisdiction over users' claims that such tracking violated laws against wiretapping.

  • April 18, 2024

    Mich. Supreme Court To Hear Jet's Pizza Settlement Appeal

    A woman arguing that her settlement with a Jet's Pizza delivery driver should not have snuffed out her vicarious-liability claim against the driver's employer will get a hearing before Michigan's highest court.

  • April 18, 2024

    Sugar Co. Urges 11th Circ. To Revive Helms-Burton Suit

    North American Sugar Industries Inc. asked the Eleventh Circuit Thursday to revive its suit accusing several companies that shipped wind turbines to Cuba of violating the Helms-Burton Act, saying the trial court erred in tossing its claims for lack of jurisdiction.

  • April 18, 2024

    Bank Regulators Appeal Texas Judge's Halt Of New CRA Rules

    Federal regulators said Thursday that they are appealing a Texas federal judge's decision to block their rollout of new community lending rules amid a legal challenge from the banking industry.

  • April 18, 2024

    Red States Back Call To Overturn Nasdaq Diversity Rule

    Utah and 23 other Republican-led states have filed an amicus brief asking the full Fifth Circuit to vacate a Nasdaq board diversity rule and declare it unconstitutional, saying the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which approved the rule, is "affirmatively perpetuating" race-based discrimination instead of eliminating it.

  • April 18, 2024

    Ga. Election Spending Case Belonged In State Court, AG Says

    Attorneys representing the Georgia Attorney General's Office and a state campaign finance commission urged the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to overturn a ruling preventing their investigation of election spending by a pair of nonprofits founded by Stacey Abrams, citing the so-called Younger abstention doctrine.

  • April 18, 2024

    Dems Propose Inspector General For High Court, Judiciary

    Democratic lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would create an inspector general's office for the judicial branch to investigate and report on allegations of misconduct lodged against U.S. Supreme Court justices, as well as judges throughout the federal judiciary.

  • April 18, 2024

    NY Appeals Court Revives AI Firm CLO's Claim For Pay

    In a significant ruling for executives and professionals, a New York state appeals court has reversed the dismissal of key claims in a former chief legal officer's lawsuit alleging he wasn't paid all wages owed after his employment ended at artificial intelligence company Amelia US LLC.

  • April 18, 2024

    No Redo For Insurers In COVID-19 Coverage Row, Tribe Says

    The Ninth Circuit should stand by its decision ordering an AIG unit and other insurers to litigate the Suquamish Tribe's COVID-19 business interruption claims in tribal court, the tribe told the appeals court, saying the insurers' request for a do-over distorts the panel's decision and controlling law.

  • April 18, 2024

    Ousted Clerk Was A 'Loose Cannon,' NC Justices Told

    An attorney who started proceedings that led to the ouster of former Franklin County Clerk of Court Patricia Chastain urged the North Carolina Supreme Court to keep her out of office, arguing that she undermined judicial authority through a series of incidents, including a "vulgar" accidental call to a magistrate judge.

  • April 18, 2024

    9th Circ. Affirms Rosette's Win In Tribe Representation Fight

    The Ninth Circuit has backed a federal district court ruling that found Rosette LLP is not responsible for using allegedly false advertising to induce the Quechan Tribe to drop Williams & Cochrane LLP as counsel on the verge of closing a lucrative gambling contract.

  • April 18, 2024

    3rd Circ. Hesitates To Hear Hunter Biden Appeal In Gun Case

    The Third Circuit suggested it may be premature to hear Hunter Biden's appeal of a Delaware federal court's denial of his three motions to dismiss felony firearm charges.

  • April 18, 2024

    7th Circ. Nom Heads To Senate Despite GOP Backlog Criticism

    The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced five judicial nominees Thursday, including U.S. District Judge Nancy L. Maldonado, a nominee for the Seventh Circuit, whom Republicans had questioned about a backlog of cases in her court.

Expert Analysis

  • NY Bond, Enforcement Options As Trump Judgment Looms

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    In light of former President Donald Trump's court filing this week indicating that he can't secure a bond for the New York attorney general's nearly $465 million judgment against him, Neil Pedersen of Pedersen & Sons Surety Bond Agency and Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen explore New York state judgment enforcement options and the mechanics of securing and collateralizing an appellate bond.

  • What To Watch As Justices Consider Appeal Deadline Case

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    Next week, in Harrow v. U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Supreme Court will consider for the first time whether a statutory deadline for appealing from a federal agency to an Article III court is jurisdictional, setting the stage for a decision that could dramatically reshape the landscape for challenging agency decisions, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: March Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from consumer fraud to employment — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including coercive communications with putative class members and Article III standing at the class certification stage.

  • Opinion

    Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling May Spark Constitutional Crisis

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that former President Donald Trump must be reinstated to Colorado’s primary ballot endorses an unnecessarily broad legal theory of disqualification from federal office, raising constitutional questions that will only become more urgent as the next presidential election nears, says Devon Ombres at the Center for American Progress.

  • Rebuttal

    High Court Should Maintain Insurer Neutrality In Bankruptcy

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    While a recent Law360 guest article argues that the U.S. Supreme Court should endorse insurer standing in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum, doing so would create a playground for mischief and delay, and the high court should instead uphold insurance neutrality, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • The Future Of ERISA If High Court Ends Chevron Deference

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decisions in two cases involving fishing company challenges to regulatory requirements could weaken or repeal Chevron deference, meaning U.S. Department of Labor regulations adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act may be heavily scrutinized, modified or vacated by federal courts, say Naina Kamath and Julie Stapel at Morgan Lewis.

  • Assessing 2 Years Of High Court's Arbitration Waiver Ruling

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    In the two years since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Morgan v. Sundance, clarifying that no special rules apply to waiver of arbitration provisions, the ruling has had immediate ramifications in federal courts, but it may take some time for the effects to be felt on other federal issues and in state courts, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Risks Of Nonmutual Offensive Collateral Estoppel In MDLs

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    After the Supreme Court declined to review the Sixth Circuit's ruling in the E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. personal injury litigation, nonmutual offensive collateral estoppel could show up in more MDLs, and transform the loss of a single MDL bellwether trial into a de facto classwide decision that binds thousands of other MDL cases, say Chantale Fiebig and Luke Sullivan at Weil Gotshal.

  • Infringement Policy Lessons From 4th Circ. Sony Music Ruling

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Sony Music v. Cox Communications, which in part held that the internet service provider was liable for contributing to music copyright infringement, highlights the importance of reasonable policies to terminate repeat infringers, and provides guidance for litigating claims of secondary liability, say Benjamin Marks and Alexandra Blankman at Weil.

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • When Your Client Insists On Testifying In A Criminal Case

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    Speculation that former President Donald Trump could take the stand in any of the four criminal cases he faces serves as a reminder for counsel to consider their ethical obligations when a client insists on testifying, including the attorney’s duty of candor to the court and the depth of their discussions with clients, says Marissa Kingman at Fox Rothschild.

  • Tips On Numerical Range From Fed. Circ. Philip Morris Ruling

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    The Federal Circuit's recent RAI v. Philip Morris decision that a patent provided sufficient written description to support a claimed numerical range offers several takeaways for practitioners, including the need for a cautious approach to criticism of ranges, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • How Calif. Video Recording Ruling May Affect Insured Exams

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    A recent California appellate decision, Myasnyankin v. Nationwide, allowing policyholders to video record all parties to an insurance examination under oath, has changed the rules of the road for EUOs and potentially opened Pandora's box for future disputes, say John Edson and Preston Bennett at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 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.

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