Appellate

  • May 31, 2024

    Coinbase Says 'Unworkable' Crypto Enforcement Needs Rules

    Crypto exchange Coinbase told the Third Circuit on Friday that anything less than ordering the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to write rules for digital assets will "abet the dithering and delay" tactics that the regulator is using to "bludgeon" and "cripple" the industry with enforcement cases.

  • May 31, 2024

    Conn. Justices Order Arrested Univ. Employee Reinstated

    Connecticut's highest court on Friday ordered Central Connecticut State University to reinstate an employee who was fired after engaging the police in a nearly three-hour armed standoff, finding an arbitrator's decision to give him his job back did not violate "an explicit, well-defined and dominant public policy."

  • May 31, 2024

    Texas Appeals Court Revives Suit Over Drilling Near Homes

    A Texas appeals court has partially revived a lawsuit brought by an environmental group against a city that approved a gas drilling zone near residential homes, finding Thursday that the trial court has jurisdiction over alleged violations of a state law regulating government meetings.

  • May 31, 2024

    Judge Wonders If Wash. Social Media Ban Blocks Free Speech

    A Washington appellate judge on Friday questioned the constitutionality of a state law barring injured workers from posting video of their state workers' compensation medical exams on social media, saying it could be cutting off someone's only way of communicating with the outside world.

  • May 31, 2024

    Texas Justices Won't Review Boeing, Union Back Pay Suit

    The Texas Supreme Court on Friday declined to review a decision by the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District permitting the Southwest Airlines Pilot Association to continue its attempt to recover lost wages from Boeing after the Federal Aviation Administration grounded its 737 Max plane in 2019. 

  • May 31, 2024

    9th Circ. Says LA's COVID-19 Eviction Ban Was No Taking

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday declined to reinstate a Los Angeles landlord's $100 million suit challenging the city's pandemic-era eviction ban, finding it didn't constitute a physical taking since the landlord "voluntarily opened" his property to tenants, and that loss of rental income itself doesn't establish a governmental taking.

  • May 31, 2024

    3rd Circ. Preview: Labor Battles Heat Up In June

    Several cases are heating up the Third Circuit argument calendar in June, including a home care company's attempt to duck a $7 million payout to thousands of workers who claimed the company violated the Fair Labor Standards Act by not compensating them for travel time.

  • May 31, 2024

    Group Sued Over Immigrants' Benefits Too Late, Panel Holds

    A Michigan state appeals court has nixed a nonprofit's challenge to the court's ruling that working while unauthorized is a crime and that immigrant workers are not entitled to benefits once their unauthorized status is discovered, saying the group brought the lawsuit in an untimely manner.

  • May 31, 2024

    4th Circ. Sees Path For Deportee To Return, But Denies Appeal

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday found that a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement directive might provide a narrow path for a deported Salvadoran's return to the U.S. to fight his removal, but ultimately shot down his appeal.

  • May 31, 2024

    How Trump's Hush Money Sentencing Could Get 'Dicey'

    Now convicted of nearly three dozen felonies, former President Donald Trump must move through the machinery of the New York state court system's sentencing process, which involves sitting down for an interview with a probation officer and a chance to directly address a judge he's called biased and "corrupt."

  • May 31, 2024

    NY Appeals Court Backs Trimming Of 50 Cent Liquor Spat

    A New York appeals court has said a lower court rightly dismissed some components of a suit brought by a fine liquors company owned by rapper 50 Cent, allowing Jim Beam and its parent company to escape the rapper's claims they aided a fraud and rejecting his request for punitive damages and attorney fees.

  • May 31, 2024

    Michigan Justices Say Treadmill Claims Not Filed Too Late

    The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday revived a woman's claims against a delivery company she says negligently installed her treadmill, saying the state court claims related back to her timely filed claims in a previously dismissed federal court case with the same allegations.

  • May 31, 2024

    Off The Bench: NCAA Transfers Freed, Atty Plays Cards Right

    In this week's Off the Bench, the NCAA agrees to more historic rule changes while experts examine its post-House settlement future, and a patent lawyer looks back at his transformation into a poker champion.

  • May 31, 2024

    Colo. Justices Agree To Weigh In On Blackstone Lease Row

    Colorado's high court agreed Wednesday to answer two key questions in a putative class action against Blackstone subsidiaries, after a federal judge said tenants' claims alleging the companies' lease agreements violate state law present novel legal issues with little case law to provide guidance.

  • May 31, 2024

    A Potential Tipping Point For Transgender Athlete Litigation

    After heated policy debates in statehouses and academic institutions, the discourse over participation of transgender athletes in college and amateur sports has spilled into the nation's courts, with a flurry of recent suits and rulings suggesting the judiciary will have its hands full for years to come.

  • May 31, 2024

    Wash. Prison Law Not Biased Against GEO, 9th Circ. Told

    Washington state has urged the Ninth Circuit to lift a lower court's injunction blocking a law aimed at improving private prison standards, saying the law does not discriminatorily target private prison operator GEO Group Inc.

  • May 31, 2024

    Ex-Conn. Democratic Party Chief Can't Slip Ballot Fraud Rap

    Connecticut's intermediate appeals court on Friday upheld the forgery and false statements conviction of former Stamford Democratic Party chair John Mallozzi, who was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay $35,000 in fines for his role in a scheme to submit fake votes in the 2015 municipal election.

  • May 31, 2024

    Illinois Strengthens Atty Ethics Rules For Harassment, Bias

    The Illinois Supreme Court has announced that the state's professional conduct rules for attorneys have been amended to deem the act of engaging in harassment or discrimination as professional misconduct, and not just in the event a court or administrative agency finds that a lawyer violated a law prohibiting such actions.

  • May 31, 2024

    Texas Justices Take On Reach, Timing Of Atty Solicitation Law

    The Texas Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider whether personal injury attorneys can face claims they paid "case runners" to solicit grieving families in Louisiana and Arkansas, saying it will examine whether the state's barratry statute extends to out-of-state conduct and the applicable limitations period.

  • May 31, 2024

    Former Miami City Atty Must Face Real Estate Fraud Suit

    A former Miami city attorney can't escape a lawsuit that alleges she aided her husband in a real estate fraud scheme after a Florida state appeals court found the complaint had sufficient allegations to survive her sovereign immunity assertions.

  • May 31, 2024

    Robins Kaplan Can't Escape Sanction Over Dropbox Access

    A New York state appeals court has upheld the $156,000 sanction on litigation funding firm KrunchCash and its counsel Robins Kaplan LLP for poking through an opposing party's Dropbox database that was accidentally shared in a $10 million suit, finding that they knew or should have known it was privileged information.

  • May 31, 2024

    Atty Gets 2nd Suspension Over Sale Of $1.6M Painting

    The Florida Supreme Court approved a one-year suspension for a New Jersey-based attorney and real estate developer this week who pled guilty to smuggling a $1.6 million painting out of his house in 2013 to avoid an asset sale.

  • May 31, 2024

    New Antibody IP Ruling Still Needs To Be Tested In Courts

    A May decision from top U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officials is giving some attorneys renewed hope that they'll be able to secure antibody patents, but they say the agency's ruling may not be enough to overcome courts that have been hostile toward these patents.

  • May 31, 2024

    Split NH High Court Says Cops Must Pay Back Sick Leave

    An updated version of a City of Manchester ordinance requires four police officers to pay the city back for the sick leave benefits they received while their compensation claims for on-the-job injuries were pending, a split New Hampshire Supreme Court ruled.

  • May 31, 2024

    4th Circ. Won't Revive NC Homeowners' Storm Coverage Suit

    The Fourth Circuit refused on Friday to revive a suit brought by the owners of a North Carolina beach house accusing certain underwriters at Lloyd's London of stalling a $1 million payout over hurricane damage.

Expert Analysis

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

  • Fed. Circ. In Feb.: Using Prior Products To Invalidate A Patent

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    The Federal Circuit's recent Weber v. Provisu ruling, that prior-product operating manuals constituted printed publications that can be used to invalidate patents in an inter partes review proceeding, makes it easier for a petitioner to invalidate a patent, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • What's At Stake In Pending Fed. Circ. Design Patent Test Case

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    The full Federal Circuit recently heard argument in LKQ v. GM Global, a case concerning patent obviousness in the aftermarket for auto parts; the court's decision will likely influence how design patents are obtained, enforced and challenged, and affect the broader innovation ecosystem, says Larry DeMeo at Hunton.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Perspectives

    Compassionate Release Grants Needed Now More Than Ever

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    After the U.S. Sentencing Commission's recent expansion of the criteria for determining compassionate release eligibility, courts should grant such motions more frequently in light of the inherently dangerous conditions presented by increasingly understaffed and overpopulated federal prisons, say Alan Ellis and Mark Allenbaugh at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power

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    In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • After TikTok, Tiptoeing Toward Patent Transfer Alignment

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    Following the Fifth Circuit's TikTok decision, which aimed to standardize transfer analysis in patent cases, the Federal Circuit and Texas federal courts facing transfer requests have taken small steps to consider the practical realities of patent litigation, reinforcing the intensely factual focus of the analysis, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.

  • Mitigating Whistleblower Risks After High Court UBS Ruling

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    While it is always good practice for companies to periodically review whistleblower trainings, policies and procedures, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent whistleblower-friendly ruling in Murray v. UBS Securities helps demonstrate their importance in reducing litigation risk, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • What Recent Setbacks In Court Mean For Enviro Justice

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    Two courts in Louisiana last month limited the federal government's ability to require consideration of Civil Rights Act disparate impacts when evaluating state-issued permits — likely providing a framework for opposition to environmental justice initiatives in other states, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Perspectives

    Justices' Double Jeopardy Ruling Preserves Acquittal Sanctity

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous decision last week in McElrath v. Georgia, barring the state from retrying a man acquitted of murder after a so-called repugnant verdict, is significant in the tangled web of double jeopardy jurisprudence for its brief and unequivocal protection of an acquittal’s finality, says Lissa Griffin at Pace Law School.

  • Setting The Stage For High Court BofA Escrow Interest Case

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    Dori Bailey and Curtis Johnson at Bond Schoeneck examine relevant legislation and case law dating back 200 years ahead of oral arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in Cantero v. Bank of America, the outcome of which will determine whether state laws governing mortgage escrow accounts can be enforced against national banks.

  • High Court Forfeiture Case Again Pits Text Against Purpose

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    In oral arguments Tuesday in McIntosh v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether a federal court can impose asset forfeiture on a defendant even if it doesn’t comply with timing rules, which may affect the broader interpretation of procedural deadlines — and tees up the latest battle between textualism and purposivism, say Anden Chow and Christian Bale at MoloLamken.

  • Using Arbitration And Class Waivers As Privacy Suit Tools

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    Amid a surge in data breach class actions over the last few years, several federal court decisions indicate that arbitration clauses and class action waiver provisions can be possible alternatives to public court battles and potentially reduce the costs of privacy litigation, say Mark Olthoff and Courtney Klaus at Polsinelli.

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

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