Appellate

  • September 22, 2026

    Colo. Justices Mull Trial Court's Authority In Water Rights Suit

    The Colorado Supreme Court grappled Tuesday with ranchers' bid for the justices to overturn a water court's order allowing a change of water right for a right they say was not at issue, questioning counsel on the water court's authority to impose certain conditions in the neighbors' 10-year legal battle.

  • September 22, 2026

    High Court Told Sony Win In $500M Patent Case Flouted Law

    The owner of a patent that Sony's PlayStation controllers were cleared of infringing has told the U.S. Supreme Court that the Federal Circuit's decision applied a rule found nowhere in the statute governing functional patent claims or in high court precedent.

  • September 22, 2026

    Lender's $8.1M In Losses Were 'Self-Inflicted,' 11th Circ. Told

    The former CEO of a lender that financed independent insurance marketers has urged the Eleventh Circuit to reverse an $8.1 million trial judgment for breaching his work terms, arguing that the damages sustained by his previous employer were "self-inflicted." 

  • September 22, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Revives VA Fellow's AI Whistleblower Claim

    A Federal Circuit panel on Tuesday revived a former technology fellow's challenge to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' decision removing him from his position after he raised concerns over the agency's artificial intelligence tool used for processing disability benefits claims.

  • September 22, 2026

    Wash. Appeals Court Revives Colo. Tax Payment Dispute

    Whether intercompany payments count as profit, royalties or taxable management fees is a disputed question of fact, a Washington state appellate panel said Tuesday, ordering back to a trial court a dispute over whether a Colorado company and its affiliates owe Washington's business and occupation tax.

  • September 22, 2026

    Pa. Gov., Legislators Must Face Public-Defense Funding Suit

    A divided Pennsylvania appeals court has allowed a petition filed against the commonwealth's top political leaders to proceed, granting a path forward for the claims that chronic underfunding of public defender offices has led to indigent criminal defendants receiving ineffective legal assistance.

  • September 22, 2026

    Trump Admin Asks Justices To Curb Noncitizen Habeas Relief

    The Trump administration implored the U.S. Supreme Court to cure a circuit split over noncitizens filing habeas petitions to challenge their detention during pending removal proceedings, warning of "intolerable disuniformity" in how the Immigration and Nationality Act is administered.

  • September 22, 2026

    Christmas Tree Co. Must Face Claims Over Deal with Amazon

    The Eleventh Circuit has revived an antitrust claim alleging National Christmas Products entered into agreements with Amazon in 2020 that inflated the prices of artificial Christmas trees.

  • September 22, 2026

    Atty Urges 4th Circ. To Reverse Liability For Client's Taxes

    A Baltimore attorney asked the Fourth Circuit to reverse a lower court's order that he cover unpaid federal income taxes owed by his client's holding company, saying he didn't engage in self-dealing.

  • September 22, 2026

    DC Circ. Nixes Congressional Veto Over Capitol Protests

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Tuesday deemed regulations barring demonstrations on the U.S. Capitol building's Eastern steps without a congressional sponsor unconstitutional, holding that the government cannot "pick and choose" who gets to use the space for protected speech.

  • September 22, 2026

    8th Circ. Asked To Nix Fraud Tax Credit Suit, $90M Judgment

    A man accused of helping form a sham limited liability company that fraudulently received millions in alternative fuel mixture tax credits asked the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday to reverse a judgment of more than $90 million against him, saying he shouldn't be personally liable for the company's conduct.

  • September 22, 2026

    DOJ Says Fired NCUA Members Aren't Like Fed Officials

    The U.S. Department of Justice is urging the D.C. Circuit to reverse a district court order reinstating ousted National Credit Union Administration board members, arguing Congress didn't impose presidential removal restrictions on the NCUA and that the agency isn't analogous to the Federal Reserve.

  • September 22, 2026

    Fla. Court Nixes Prison Term Over Missed Curfew Check

    A Florida appeals court on Friday ruled that a man should not be incarcerated for a probation violation because there was insufficient evidence to prove that he was not actually home after his curfew.

  • September 22, 2026

    Texas Appeals Court Undoes $3.5M Apartment Murder Verdict

    A Texas appellate court on Tuesday dismissed a $3.5 million judgment and ordered a new trial in a suit accusing a Houston apartment complex of negligently causing a robbery victim's murder, saying the lower court should have let the jury consider the alleged murderers' culpability.

  • September 22, 2026

    Del. High Court Upholds Permanent Absentee Voting Law

    The Delaware Supreme Court has preserved the state's permanent absentee voting law, rejecting two state Senate candidates' argument that the system violates the Delaware Constitution by allowing voters to automatically receive absentee ballots in future elections without reestablishing their eligibility each time.

  • September 22, 2026

    3rd Time's A Charm As Netflix Gets PTAB To Ax DivX Patent

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has ruled that Netflix was able to show that all the claims in a DivX streaming patent were invalid, following two previous decisions to the contrary and two trips to the Federal Circuit.

  • September 22, 2026

    Flyers Tell 9th Circ. Alaska-Hawaiian Merger Eroding Service

    Airline customers have told the Ninth Circuit that Alaska Airlines' 2024 acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines eroded consumer choice on numerous routes, and that a district court improperly dismissed their antitrust lawsuit with premature and flawed findings that cannot be allowed to stand.

  • September 22, 2026

    Centripetal Asks Justices To Revive $2.6B Cisco Patent Case

    Centripetal Networks LLC has told the U.S. Supreme Court that a decision clearing Cisco Systems Inc. of infringing its cybersecurity patents in a $2.6 billion case was wrongly based on a new claim construction that a judge entered late in the case, without letting Centripetal respond.

  • September 22, 2026

    DC Circ. Says Copyright Board Must Explain Allocations

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday threw out a judicial copyright board's decision on how it divided cable retransmission payments from 2014 through 2017, faulting it for how it did a final step in determining allocations among claimants.

  • September 22, 2026

    Flyer Says Justices Must Hear CrowdStrike Tech-Outage Suit

    An airline passenger is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his proposed class action against CrowdStrike Inc. over expenses and injuries resulting from a 2024 tech outage, saying the justices need to resolve a widening circuit split on the scope of the Airline Deregulation Act.

  • September 22, 2026

    Ga. Justices Mull Reviving Injury Firm Client Solicitation Suit

    Georgia's justices pressed a personal injury law firm Tuesday on whether an attorney's racketeering case accusing it of using confidential crash reports to land clients was rightly dismissed, hinting that the lower courts might have held the claims to too high a bar.

  • September 22, 2026

    Ga. Justices Say Missed Deadline Warrants Atty's Suspension

    Georgia's highest state court imposed a six-month suspension on an attorney because of his handling of a personal injury case, finding Tuesday he violated state rules by not filing required written expert reports and failed to pay for sanctions in a timely manner.

  • September 22, 2026

    1st Circ. Affirms Prison Term, Repayment In Med Bill Scheme

    The First Circuit affirmed a lower court's calculations behind a 99-month prison sentence and $6.5 million restitution order for a psychiatrist convicted of submitting $19 million in claims to insurers for thousands of sessions that never took place.

  • September 22, 2026

    Salt-N-Pepa Copyright Bid May Get New Life From 2nd Circ.

    A Second Circuit judge said Tuesday the New York federal judge who quickly dismissed Salt-N-Pepa's bid to reclaim music copyrights from Universal Music Group's UMG Recordings "was incorrect" to dismiss the hip-hop duo's lawsuit for at least two albums.

  • September 22, 2026

    Mass. Justices Grant New Trial In Fatal Parade Shooting

    Massachusetts' top court ordered a new trial Tuesday for a man accused of fatally shooting a bystander during a parade, ruling that trace amounts of gunshot residue found on his body were improperly admitted as evidence. 

Expert Analysis

  • 3rd Circ. Hotel Ruling Flags Key Issues In Dynamic Pricing

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    The Third Circuit's recent decision in Cornish-Adebiyi v. Caesars Entertainment relies on allegations that competitors used nonpublic data to set real-time rates considered exorbitant, highlighting both the potential risks and substantial benefits of utilizing emerging technologies, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • 4th Circ. Class Cert. Ruling Offers Tips For Damages Experts

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent decision reversing class certification in litigation against Boeing raises the cost of a bare-bones damages model proposal for plaintiffs, but it also clarifies what a defensible proposal should contain, say Alok Khare and Erica Rose at FTI Consulting.

  • Opinion

    'Plain Meaning' Requires Plainer Meaning In IP Litigation

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Socket Solutions v. Import Global highlights the frequent ambiguity surrounding courts' references to "plain meaning" in patent claim construction — an ambiguity that should be resolved by courts, not litigants, say attorneys at Klarquist Sparkman.

  • What To Know As Legal Duty To Consider AI Takes Shape

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    While the U.K. Jurisdiction Taskforce’s recent statement on liability for artificial intelligence harms is nonbinding for both U.K. and U.S. lawyers, it highlights the importance of being able to distinguish between the availability of a tool and a professional obligation to use it, say Jonny Frank and Michael Costa at StoneTurn.

  • Patent Ruling Shows Concrete Tech Solution Key To Eligibility

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent Ceiva Opco v. Amazon.com decision offers an important reminder that software-related inventions can remain patent eligible when they claim a concrete technological solution to a specific problem, says Irah Donner at Manatt.

  • Appellate Vape Rulings May Expand State Regulation Powers

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    Two recent federal appeals courts decisions rejecting Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act preemption challenges to state electronic nicotine delivery systems directory laws signal an emerging appellate consensus that could significantly expand states' power to regulate vaping product sales where federal enforcement falls short, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • How Solar Fraud Case Affects Lender Oversight Of Dealers

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to review the Third Circuit's ruling in Migliore v. Sunlight Financial means that residential solar finance companies are protected from vicarious liability for deceptive acts by independent solar dealers — but lenders must still take steps to guard against dealer misconduct, says Rand Manasse at Green Lane Partners.

  • Fed. Circ. Rulings Emphasize Adjudicative Access And Review

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    Decisions from the Federal Circuit's 2026 docket indicate that the court is increasingly paying attention to whether tribunals possess authority to act, meaning practitioners will need to properly address procedural hurdles before they can argue the merits of a case, say attorneys at Reichman Jorgensen.

  • Amazon v. Perplexity Ruling Limits CFAA Reach Over AI Tools

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Amazon v. Perplexity provides important early guidance on how the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act applies to agentic artificial intelligence, and is the latest in a line of rulings in which courts have declined to stretch existing statutes to broadly regulate AI, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Managing OSHA Mental Illness Logs After 5th Circ. Vacatur

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    Employers with facilities in multiple states need to carefully weigh their recordkeeping procedures following the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cannot require employers to log work-related mental illness, as inconsistent logs across facilities may raise other issues, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Expect More Probes After 3rd Circ. Algorithmic Pricing Ruling

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    The Third Circuit's recent decision in Cornish-Adebiyi v. Caesars Entertainment, allowing algorithmic price-fixing claims to proceed past motions to dismiss, may serve as a road map for how to contend with increased litigation risk in this developing area of antitrust law, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Being In A Band Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing shows in storied New York City venues and rehearsing with my bandmates in poorly ventilated rooms helped develop the professional qualities I rely on as a litigator, including an ability to collaborate with strong-minded equals and the determination to treat each client with singular focus, says Eliad Shapiro at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    After 2026's second quarter, there is more authority rejecting class certification on total loss valuation theories from courts at the federal circuit, federal district and state appellate level — along with a resolution of a novel issue of depreciation on a wildfire claim, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

  • 10th Circ. Ruling Undermines False Ad 'Two Clicks' Rule

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    The Tenth Circuit’s recent ruling in KetoNatural Pet Foods v. Hill's Pet Nutrition substantially challenges a long-standing assumption that a company can avoid responsibility for promotional claims simply because the consumer encountered them by clicking a hyperlink to a third-party website, say attorneys at Venable.

  • How Drug Trial Prediction Markets Pose Insider Trading Risks

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    Multiple prediction market platforms have recently announced plans to offer event contracts related to clinical trial outcomes and regulatory decisions, creating new insider trading risks by expanding the group of people possessing related material nonpublic information far beyond traditional corporate insiders, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

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