Appellate

  • May 15, 2025

    11th Circ. Upholds Fla. Atty's COVID Relief Fraud Conviction

    The Eleventh Circuit upheld the 75-month sentence given to a Florida lawyer for a COVID-19 loan fraud scheme, finding that the lower court did not err by admitting a co-conspirator's testimony about a threat the attorney allegedly made.

  • May 15, 2025

    Minn. Justices Affirm $9M Medical Building Tax Valuation

    A Minnesota medical building was correctly valued by the state tax court, the state Supreme Court said Wednesday, affirming a decision that boosted the building's original valuation by more than $1 million.

  • May 15, 2025

    Judge Recuses After Atty's Conviction Partially Overturned

    The Boston federal judge who oversaw the trial of an attorney charged with bribing a Massachusetts police chief to secure a local marijuana license recused himself from the case Thursday, after the First Circuit vacated most of the convictions and ordered the lawyer to be resentenced on the remaining guilty finding.

  • May 15, 2025

    Immigration Board Says Email Notice Counts Even If Unread

    The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that email notifications sent through the Executive Office for Immigration Review's case portal constitute sufficient notice of briefing schedules — even if those emails are never opened — placing the burden on attorneys to monitor their inboxes and spam folders.

  • May 15, 2025

    Hawaii Justices Won't Review Honolulu Property Class Case

    The Hawaii Supreme Court declined to review an appellate court decision that found a special Honolulu property class did not violate the state and country's equal protection clause.

  • May 15, 2025

    Asset-Rich Menendez Associate Must Pony Up $1.8M Fine

    A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday refused to adjust the payment schedule for a $1.75 million criminal fine for a New Jersey businessman who was convicted of bribing former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, citing his plentiful assets.

  • May 15, 2025

    5th Circ. Says Samsung Must Face Battery Suit In Texas

    A divided Fifth Circuit panel has revived a man's claims against South Korea-based Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. in a suit over an exploding e-cigarette battery, finding the company's marketing to industrial companies in Texas is enough of a connection to the state to grant jurisdiction.

  • May 15, 2025

    Justices Say Context Matters When Evaluating Use Of Force

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday cleared the way for a civil rights lawsuit against a Houston-area traffic officer who shot and killed a fleeing man, ruling that courts must weigh the full sequence of events — not just the instant a threat arises — when deciding if police used excessive force.

  • May 14, 2025

    6th Circ. Won't Send Bitcoin Latinum Suit To Arbitration

    A Michigan federal judge was right to find that cryptocurrency firm Bitcoin Latinum can't send investor fraud claims to arbitration after waiting two years to seek that option, the Sixth Circuit has determined.

  • May 14, 2025

    Smartmatic Says Fox News Deleted 'Incriminating' Texts

    Fox News and its executives — including Rupert Murdoch and his son, Lachlan — deleted "critical" and "incriminating" text messages related to the network's allegedly defamatory broadcasts about Smartmatic during the 2020 election, the voting tech company said Wednesday.

  • May 14, 2025

    DOGE Can't Dodge Limited FOIA Discovery, DC Circ. Says

    The Office of Management and Budget and Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency must restart efforts to hand over thousands of pages of documents to a watchdog group seeking insight into DOGE's "secretive operations," the D.C. Circuit ruled Wednesday.

  • May 14, 2025

    Florida Appeals Court Says Pastor's Testimony Is Privileged

    A Florida appeals court on Wednesday reversed convictions for a man found guilty of sexual abuse of a minor after finding that his pastor's testimony should not have been allowed at trial because it was protected by the clergy communications privilege.

  • May 14, 2025

    Fla. Court Rules Trust Wasn't Entitled To Jury Trial Over $8.9M

    A Florida state appeals court ruled Wednesday that a charitable trust wasn't entitled to a jury trial in a lawsuit alleging Brown Brothers Harriman Trust Co. improperly withheld and invested $8.9 million, saying the complaint falls "within the exclusive jurisdiction of equity."

  • May 14, 2025

    RJ Reynolds Can Keep Trial Win In Engle Case, Court Says

    A Florida appeals court on Wednesday affirmed a verdict in favor of R.J. Reynolds in an Engle progeny suit over a longtime smoker's death, saying counsel's failure to use all their juror challenges invalidates an argument that a juror was unfairly selected.

  • May 14, 2025

    Chicken Price-Fixing Atty Fees Challenged Again At 7th Circ.

    A class objector in Chicago's massive consolidated suit over broiler chicken price-fixing is again urging the Seventh Circuit to vacate an attorney fee award for class counsel in a $181 million deal for chicken buyers, saying the district court erred in calculating the $51.66 million awarded on remand.

  • May 14, 2025

    Texas Appeals Court Asks If It Can Flip Arbitration Order

    A Texas appeals court questioned Wednesday whether it can flip an order compelling several whistleblowers at the center of a $14 million settlement with JPMorgan Chase Bank NA into arbitration, saying it may not have jurisdiction.

  • May 14, 2025

    Keep DOGE Out Of Social Security Data, Unions Tell Justices

    The U.S. Supreme Court has no reason to lift a ban on the Department of Government Efficiency accessing Social Security data, four unions argued in an amicus brief, backing two other unions in their bid to protect the injunction from the Trump administration's bid to defeat it.

  • May 14, 2025

    9th Circ. Doubts Wash. Anti-Vaxxers' Stance In Med Board Suit

    A Ninth Circuit judge expressed skepticism on Wednesday that the federal appellate court could revive Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s suit against the Washington Medical Commission for initiating disciplinary proceedings against physicians who publicly aired anti-vaccination views, pointing out that federal courts generally "don't interfere" with ongoing state litigation.

  • May 14, 2025

    Oilify Cleared Of Infringement In Oil Field Product Patent Suit

    A Texas federal court has granted a win to the designer and distributor of a device used to separate gas and solids from oil collection in a suit accusing them of infringing a trio of patents.

  • May 14, 2025

    Ga. Justices Consider Sovereignty In Telecom Permits Case

    Georgia's justices were urged by the state Wednesday to overturn a trial court order granting summary judgment to telecommunications providers that sued to enforce prior contracts with the Georgia Department of Transportation that did not include increased permitting fees.

  • May 14, 2025

    5th Circ. Declines To Rehear SEC's Kroger Proxy Decision

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday declined to rehear conservative shareholders' case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over a shareholder proposal from Kroger Co.'s 2023 ballot, following a November opinion that rejected the shareholders' challenge.

  • May 14, 2025

    Colo. Justices Leery Of Speaker's Motive In Anti-SLAPP Test

    The Colorado Supreme Court on Wednesday pressed a veterinary clinic on its position that courts should consider a speaker's motivations to determine if their comments involve issues of public interest, with some justices wondering if that would create too high a bar to trigger an anti-SLAPP law.

  • May 14, 2025

    Gaming Co. Asks High Court To Undo Wash. Compacts' Order

    A casino owner and operator is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to undo a Ninth Circuit ruling that dismissed its challenge to Washington state tribal gaming compacts, arguing the case implicates an acknowledged conflict about the interplay of the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • May 14, 2025

    2nd Circ. Has Tough Questions On Nixing Medical Imaging Award

    The Second Circuit appeared divided on Wednesday on whether parties to a medical imaging joint venture could agree to designate New York courts to decide whether to vacate an arbitral award issued in Switzerland under their contract without violating an underlying treaty.

  • May 14, 2025

    Alex Jones Can't Duck $1B Sandy Hook Payout During Appeal

    Infowars host Alex Jones cannot avoid a $1.3 billion defamation judgment favoring the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre while he crafts an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court in the hopes it accepts his final challenge to the record-breaking verdict, a Connecticut appeals court has ruled.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Preparing For Corporate Work

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    Law school often doesn't cover the business strategy, financial fluency and negotiation skills needed for a successful corporate or transactional law practice, but there are practical ways to gain relevant experience and achieve the mindset shifts critical to a thriving career in this space, says Dakota Forsyth at Olshan Frome.

  • Opinion

    The SEC Must Protect Its Best Tool For Discovering Fraud

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    By eliminating the consolidated audit trail's collection of most retail customer information, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may squander a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deter securities market fraud and abuse, something new Chair Paul Atkins must ensure doesn't happen, says former SEC data strategist Hugh Beck.

  • Series

    Florida Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    The first quarter of 2025 saw the Trump administration's crypto-forward approach permeate the banking industry, including Florida banking institutions, and a Fourth District Court of Appeal decision provide a new precedent for borrower/lender standing, say attorneys at Kozyak Tropin.

  • Meta Case Brings Customer-Facing Statements Issue To Fore

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    Now that Facebook v. Amalgamated Bank has returned to California federal court after the U.S. Supreme Court in November found it improvidently granted certiorari, it will be worth watching whether customer-facing communications, such as Facebook's privacy policies, are found to be made in connection with the sale of a security, says Samuel Groner at Fried Frank.

  • A Cold War-Era History Lesson On Due Process

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    The landmark Harry Bridges case from the mid-20th century Red Scare offers important insights on why lawyers must be free of government reprisal, no matter who their client is, says Peter Afrasiabi at One LLP.

  • Home Depot Ruling Tolls Death Knell For 'Silent Cyber'

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    The Sixth Circuit's recent ruling that Home Depot's insurers did not have to cover costs from a data breach hammered one more nail in the coffin of silent cyber, where coverage is sought under standard property or commercial general liability policies that were not intended to insure cyberattack claims, say attorneys at Zelle.

  • Series

    Improv Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Improv keeps me grounded and connected to what matters most, including in my legal career where it has helped me to maintain a balance between being analytical, precise and professional, and creative, authentic and open-minded, says Justine Gottshall at InfoLawGroup.

  • How BigLaw Executive Orders May Affect Smaller Firms

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    Because of the types of cases they take on, solo practitioners, small law firms and public interest attorneys may find themselves more dramatically affected by the collective impact of recent government action involving the legal industry than even the BigLaw firms named in the executive orders, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Texas Case Shows Why Juries Are Well-Suited To COVID Suits

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    The original jury verdict in Baylor College of Medicine v. Lloyd's, currently on appeal to the Texas Supreme Court after being overturned by an appellate panel, illustrates why COVID-19 business interruption claims with their case-specific facts need to be decided by juries, not by judges using a one-size-fits-all approach, says Jeremy Lawrence at Farella Braun.

  • Filial Consortium Claims' Future After Conn. High Court Ruling

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    While the Connecticut Supreme Court recently ruled for defendants in rejecting parents’ attempt to recover loss of companionship damages in a severe child injury case, there is still potential for the plaintiffs bar to lobby for a law that would allow filial consortium claims, Glenn Coffin at Gordon Rees.

  • 4th Circ. Health Data Ruling Opens Door To State Law Claims

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    In Real Time Medical v. PointClickCare, the Fourth Circuit recently clarified that state law claims can rest in part on violations of a federal law that prohibits electronic health information blocking, expanding legal risks for health IT companies and potentially creating exposure to a range of competitive implications, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Opinion

    Lawsuits Shouldn't Be Shadow Assets For Foreign Capital

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    Third-party litigation financing amplifies inefficiencies from litigation and facilitates national exposure to foreign influence in the U.S. justice system, so full disclosure of financing arrangements should be required as a matter of institutional integrity, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • 2 Del. Rulings Reinforce Proof Needed For Records Demands

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    Two recent Delaware Court of Chancery decisions involving Amazon and Paramount Global illustrate the significance of the credible basis standard on books and records requests, underscoring that stockholders seeking to investigate wrongdoing must come forward with actual evidence of misconduct — not mere allegations, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • How To Accelerate Your Post-Attorney Career Transition

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    Professionals seeking to transition to nonattorney careers may encounter skepticism as nontraditional candidates, but there are opportunities for thought leadership and to leverage speaking and writing to accelerate a post-attorney career transition, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Evgeny Efremkin at Toronto Metropolitan University.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Be An Indispensable Associate

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    While law school teaches you to research, write and think critically, it often overlooks the professional skills you will need to make yourself an essential team player when transitioning from a summer to full-time associate, say attorneys at Stinson.

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