Appellate

  • August 27, 2026

    5th Circ. Diverts From 9th Circ.'s Copyright Server Test

    The Fifth Circuit Thursday refused to adopt what's known as the server test, which considers where online content is stored when assessing copyright liability, although it ultimately still declined to disturb a lower court's dismissal of copyright infringement claims against news aggregator NewsBreak.

  • August 27, 2026

    PBMs Hammer Opioid Judge In Last-Ditch Gambit At 6th Circ.

    An Ohio federal judge knowingly flouted a Sixth Circuit rebuke by forcing two of the largest remaining defendants in multidistrict opioid litigation to either "settle for enormous sums or litigate for years hundreds of cases," says a Thursday petition urging the appeals court to intervene.

  • August 27, 2026

    La. Town Says 5th Circ. Insurance Decision Should Stand

    A Louisiana town is pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to pass on reviewing a Fifth Circuit decision nixing an arbitration order in a dispute with its insurers over coverage for hurricane damage, calling the case "mundane" and not worthy of the high court's attention.

  • August 27, 2026

    Meta Can't Arbitrate Deceptive Ads Suit, 7th Circ. Rules

    Meta Platforms cannot steer a media company's ad deception antitrust claims away from court and into arbitration, the Seventh Circuit ruled on Thursday, saying the case falls outside the agreement Meta is trying to enforce.

  • August 27, 2026

    'We Are Not Afraid To Try This Case,' Says Rep. McIver's Atty

    Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., and her legal team Thursday outlined her options following the appeals court decision affirming that charges against her arising from her oversight visit to an immigration detention facility can move forward.

  • August 27, 2026

    Chamber Says FTC's Meta Appeal Trying To 'Rewrite' Law

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other amicus filers urged the D.C. Circuit not to revive the Federal Trade Commission monopolization lawsuit targeting Meta's purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram, taking issue Thursday with how the FTC characterizes social media competition, consumer behavior and the law allowing it to sue.

  • August 27, 2026

    Officer Assaults Not Always Violent Crimes, 8th Circ. Says

    An Eighth Circuit panel has ruled that assault against a federal employee is not categorically a crime of violence, saying U.S. Supreme Court precedent demands proof of more physical force than a conviction under the federal statute requires.  

  • August 27, 2026

    Quectel Owes $3M For Infringing Philips Patent, Jury Says

    A Delaware federal jury awarded $3 million in damages Thursday and found Quectel Wireless Solutions had willfully infringed a telecommunications patent held by Dutch consumer electronics giant Philips.

  • August 27, 2026

    5th Circ. Backs FDA, Pharma Cos. In GLP-1 Shortage Fight

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not unlawfully remove blockbuster GLP-1 medications made by Eli Lilly & Co. and Novo Nordisk from the national drug shortage list, the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday, handing a loss to compounding pharmacies that produce copycat doses of the drugs.

  • August 27, 2026

    2nd Circ. Backs Lyft In Wheelchair Access, Disability Bias Suit

    The Second Circuit on Thursday rejected certified class claims from Westchester County, New York, residents accusing Lyft of systematically discriminating against disabled riders, saying the plaintiffs' suggestions for increasing the availability of wheelchair-accessible vehicles weren't reasonable.

  • August 27, 2026

    6th Circ. Rules Mich. Doesn't Own Unclaimed Accounts

    The Sixth Circuit revived proposed class claims accusing Michigan officials of violating property owners' due process rights by keeping interest earned on unclaimed financial accounts, holding that the state takes custody of abandoned property but does not take ownership of it. 

  • August 27, 2026

    3rd Circ. Backs Conviction, Life Term For Carjacking 'Spree'

    The Third Circuit on Thursday upheld the conviction and life sentence of a New Jersey man for a carjacking "spree," ruling that the trial court correctly barred evidence related to the arresting officer's past drunken-driving conviction.

  • August 27, 2026

    Grocers' Microcaptive Valid For Tax Benefits, 7th Circ. Told

    Chicagoland grocery chain owners' in-house insurance arrangement is a valid insurance transaction "and should be respected as such," they told the Seventh Circuit, saying their business should be allowed to claim microcaptive tax benefits to reduce its taxable income.

  • August 27, 2026

    Rising Star: Jones Day's David J. Feder

    Jones Day LLP partner David Feder has successfully steered thousands of cases as part of sprawling multidistrict litigation involving the herbicide paraquat and secured favorable rulings for Boeing in multiple California environmental cases, earning him a spot among the appellate attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 27, 2026

    11th Circ. Holds Real Estate Financier Liable For $56M Loan

    The Eleventh Circuit has found that a Florida real estate financier triggered default on a $56.3 million loan for three Houston, Austin and Dallas-area properties in Texas by filing for bankruptcy protection after assigning one property's management to a new entity, in a ruling favoring hotel lender Access Point Financial.

  • August 27, 2026

    1st Circ. Won't Revisit Discretionary Immigration Relief Denial

    The First Circuit said it lacks jurisdiction to review parts of a Jamaican citizen's bid to remain in the U.S. after entering as a tourist in 2004, noting he was later convicted of passport fraud and only sought asylum in 2016.

  • August 27, 2026

    DC Circ. Says Challenges To Pa. Power Plant Orders Can Wait

    A D.C. Circuit panel granted the Trump administration's push to pause consolidated cases challenging orders that blocked a Pennsylvania power plant from retiring while litigation over similar orders involving a Michigan power plant play out.

  • August 27, 2026

    Womble Bond Asks To Drop Dutch Software Client Over Rift

    Womble Bond Dickinson is looking to pull its representation of a Dutch software company after five years of a bitter trademark battle, citing a "fundamental disagreement" that has allegedly made it impossible for the firm to move forward as counsel of record.

  • August 27, 2026

    Claims Court Halts BMW's $38M Tax Bid Over COVID Tolling

    The U.S. Court of Federal Claims paused reviewing luxury automaker BMW's $38.4 million tax refund suit until an appeals court issues a decision in a similar case over the tolling of a COVID-19-era filing deadline.

  • August 27, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Hands Losses To Apple On 3 Smart Mobile Patents

    Smart Mobile Technologies LLC came out victorious in a set of Federal Circuit decisions Thursday in a patent fight involving Apple Inc., with the appeals court refusing to revive the tech giant's challenges to certain patent claims and reversing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation of other claims.

  • August 26, 2026

    5th Circ. Upholds Drug Negotiations In Blow To Big Pharma

    Medicare's landmark program of drug price negotiations doesn't flout constitutional provisions involving the separation of powers, due process or excessive fines, the Fifth Circuit ruled late Wednesday, delivering a fresh blow to the pharmaceutical industry's campaign to tee up U.S. Supreme Court review.

  • August 26, 2026

    9th Circ. Backs Google Privacy Deal With No Class Payouts

    A split Ninth Circuit panel Wednesday affirmed approval of a location data privacy deal that requires Google to pay $62 million to plaintiffs' counsel and third-party organizations but gives no money to individual class members, agreeing the structure was appropriate because direct distribution to all class members would be "infeasible."

  • August 26, 2026

    Oil Cos. Insist High Court Must End Colo. Climate Suit

    Exxon and Suncor Energy argued Wednesday in their latest brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to end the city and county of Boulder, Colorado's climate change tort lawsuit against them that allowing the case to proceed would set a precedent that juries can make decisions on energy policy.

  • August 26, 2026

    5th Circ. Rejects Felon's 'Weird' Second Amendment Claim

    The Fifth Circuit upheld a Louisiana man's felon-in-possession conviction Wednesday, rejecting his challenge that a prior conviction for trying to take a police officer's pepper spray lacked a founding-era analogue sufficient to justify barring him from possessing a firearm, as well as rejecting his "weird" argument that the disarmament was unsuccessful.

  • August 26, 2026

    11th Circ. Vacates $10.25M Verdict Over Carnival Assault

    The Eleventh Circuit has vacated a $10.25 million judgment against Carnival Corp. and ordered a new trial on a passenger's suit claiming she was held in a storage closet onboard a cruise ship and was sexually assaulted by a crew member.

Expert Analysis

  • Mapping 5 Fronts Of The Prediction Markets Regulatory Battle

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    The legal framework governing prediction markets is under simultaneous challenge in five independent areas, and the outcomes will determine not just who can operate prediction markets, but the compliance obligations of every participant in the ecosystem, says Ivor Wolk at Manatt.

  • Patent Ruling Highlights Risks Of Late Inventorship Fixes

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Implicit v. Sonos demonstrates the risk of forfeiture with retroactive correction of inventorship in inter partes review proceedings, with a clear message to the patent community that potential inventorship issues should be considered at every stage of a patent's life cycle, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Adjusting IPR Tactics As Google Fights 'Settled Expectations'

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    Google’s petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to scrutinize the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's so-called settled expectations practice underscores why accused infringers facing older asserted patents should treat discretionary denial as a case-dispositive risk from day one, says attorney Abdul Abdullahi.

  • 3 Misconceptions About Justices' FCC Fines Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's June 4 Federal Communications Commission v. AT&T decision rejecting AT&T’s and Verizon’s argument that the commission's forfeiture process violates the Seventh Amendment has yielded three common reactions that misunderstand the decision as a matter of law and how the FCC actually operates, says Samuel Feder at Jenner & Block.

  • SEC Disgorged Fund Distribution Is Next Query After Sripetch

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    Following the Supreme Court's Sripetch v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission decision, investor harm isn't required for the SEC to obtain a disgorgement award, but future cases must resolve whether the commission will be freed from a requirement to distribute disgorged funds to the victims of alleged misconduct, says Daniel Walfish at Katsky Korins.

  • If Upheld, Wash. Millionaire Tax Could Upend State Law

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    The Washington Supreme Court could open the door to broader income, rental and corporate taxes if it defies precedent and the historically established desires of voters by redefining the state constitution's concepts of “income” and “property” to uphold a new tax on wages over $1 million, says Richard Birmingham at Davis Wright.

  • Trump Admin's Agency Records Purge Tests Judicial Notice

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    While courts commonly take judicial notice of data in government websites and reports, the Trump administration's recent modification or wholesale deletion of these sources means that litigants must look elsewhere to support trial admission of this information, says Jon Gryskiewicz at Lewis Baach.

  • Series

    Cow Horse Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Moving an unwilling 800-pound cow while riding a horse at high speed is exhilarating, a little unhinged and, at least for me, a surprisingly effective training ground for litigation — both demand focus, preparation over rigid planning and the willingness to act despite fear, says Ashley Zitrin at Glenn Agre.

  • Fla. Driver Ruling Shows Renewed Focus On Privacy Standing

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    A Florida federal court's recent dismissal of a class action alleging that private driving records had been improperly used in violation of the Driver's Privacy Protection Act suggests that companies defending against privacy class actions in Florida may reconsider Article III challenges at the dismissal stage, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Vax Ruling Offers Employer Tips For Handling Political Speech

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    A California appeals court's recent decision in Rademacher v. ABC, rejecting a "General Hospital" actor's suit alleging he was terminated for opposing a vaccine policy, demonstrates the importance of the employer's process, including neutral policies, documentation, and evidence of who knew what and when, say attorneys at Krevolin Horst.

  • O Brother, Where Art DAO? Jurisdiction Issues Abound

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    While there is a dearth of decisions examining a decentralized autonomous organization's citizenship for diversity jurisdiction purposes, Second Circuit case law has defined citizenship for other unincorporated entities, which may guide how courts evaluate an increasing number of cases involving DAOs, says Michael Mix at Morrison Cohen.

  • Protecting AI-Driven Innovation In Life Sciences IP

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    Recent developments, including the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's evolving inventorship standards, and the impact of artificial intelligence on the "person of ordinary skill in the art" standard demand that life sciences companies elevate AI patent strategy to a top priority, says Sandra Haberny at Quinn Emanuel.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Notably Limits Sentencing Courts' Discretion

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision in U.S. v. Dralle clarifies the bounds of sentencing courts’ ability to consider uncharged or co-defendant conduct without tying it to statutory sentencing factors, and it may have broader implications for limiting loss attribution in white collar and other criminal cases, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • High Court's Hikma Decision Reshapes 'Skinny Label' Suits

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hikma v. Amarin marks a significant victory for generic drug manufacturers, but rather than putting an end to so-called skinny label inducement claims, it narrows and refocuses them, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • Opinion

    At High Court, Oil Cos.' Suncor Preemption Claims Fall Short

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    In Suncor Energy v. Boulder County, pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, oil and gas companies argue that municipalities' climate deception claims are equivalent to emissions standards for their industry — but the suit is ultimately incapable of imposing such standards, say Thomas McGarity at the University of Texas School of Law and James Goodwin at the Center for Progressive Reform.

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