Appellate

  • October 17, 2025

    Ex-SEC Officials Support Activist Investor Before High Court

    Two former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission members are among those calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the ability of investors to sue funds over contracts that violate federal securities laws, saying that the SEC does not have the resources to go after every alleged wrongdoer.

  • October 17, 2025

    11th Circ. Ruling Could Unravel Strict ERISA Exhaustion Rule

    A recent Eleventh Circuit decision opens up a route for overturning the appellate court's strictest-in-the-nation precedent requiring administrative exhaustion of all claims brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, attorneys say, given that two judges in a panel concurrence advocated for such action following en banc review.

  • October 17, 2025

    Texas Appeals Court Clears River Authority Of Flood Claim

    A Texas appeals court found that the San Jacinto River Authority had governmental immunity when it decided to release water from its Lake Conroe reservoir during a hurricane, saying it took a good faith action even though the decision damaged some properties.

  • October 17, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says No Duty To Inform Criminal Clients Of Liability

    The Third Circuit in a precedential ruling Friday declined to apply immigration precedent concerning counsel's obligation to advise their criminal defendant clients about deportation risks associated with prosecutions to the civil setting, holding that the standard applies only in highly specific circumstances.

  • October 17, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Reopens Grid Construction Contract Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Friday again revived a company's long-running lawsuit over the termination of its contract to build an electrical substation serving a federally owned portion of the grid, saying a lower court wrongly dismissed the case.

  • October 17, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Rethink IRS Collections For Preparer Fraud

    The Third Circuit declined Friday to reconsider a panel decision allowing the IRS to pursue a woman's unpaid taxes more than 20 years later — well after the normal three-year deadline — because her return preparer committed fraud on her filings without her knowledge.

  • October 17, 2025

    Green Biz Group Says Enbridge Exaggerating Pipeline Stakes

    An environmental advocacy group made up of Great Lakes businesses told the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that Enbridge Energy LP and its supporters are overstating claims that shutting down a Michigan segment of one of its petroleum pipelines will threaten energy security.

  • October 17, 2025

    Georgia Justices Affirm Stormwater Charge Is Fee, Not Tax

    A stormwater utility charge levied by a local government in Georgia is a fee, not a tax, the state Supreme Court said, upholding a trial court's finding that the charge did not violate the state constitution's uniformity provision on property taxation.

  • October 17, 2025

    Idaho Asks Justices To Reject Mootness In Trans Ban Case

    The state of Idaho has again encouraged the U.S. Supreme Court to proceed with its review of whether the state's ban on transgender women in sports is unconstitutional after a lower court earlier this week rejected the plaintiff's efforts to voluntarily dismiss the suit.

  • October 17, 2025

    Man Arrested In Mistaken ID Case Can Sue, 11th Circ. Says

    A Florida police officer cannot escape a lawsuit alleging the officer violated the Fourth Amendment when he entered a home without a warrant and then tasered and arrested the father of a suspect in a case of mistaken identity, the Eleventh Circuit has ruled, while remanding related claims for further review.

  • October 17, 2025

    Federal Courts To Scale Back Operations Amid Shutdown

    The federal court system has run out of money and will scale back operations beginning Monday as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, possibly leading to case delays.

  • October 17, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs Noninfringement Ruling In Fence Patent Case

    The Federal Circuit on Friday wouldn't revive an Ohio-based outdoor product company's lawsuit accusing a Texas rival of infringing various fencing patents, finding nothing was wrong with the way the lower court interpreted key terminology in the patent.

  • October 17, 2025

    MGA Fights New Trial On Damages In Doll TM Case

    Toy maker MGA Entertainment wants to appeal a California federal judge's decision calling for a new jury trial to consider whether to award punitive damages to hip-hop moguls Clifford "T.I." Harris and Tameka "Tiny" Harris over a line of dolls called L.O.L. Surprise O.M.G.

  • October 17, 2025

    NC Justices Say Doctor Can't Appeal Dismissal Denial

    The North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday denied a doctor and hospital's attempt to reverse an appeals court order upholding the denial of their requests to dismiss a malpractice suit, saying they did not have the right to appeal the denial in the first place.

  • October 17, 2025

    11th Circ. Says Adjusters May Be Insurance Cos.' Employees

    A jury could reasonably find that a pair of insurance companies employed three insurance adjusters, the Eleventh Circuit ruled, flipping an Alabama district court's findings that the workers were independent contractors.

  • October 17, 2025

    NY Court Orders Hearing On Counsel Conflict In Drug Case

    A man who pled guilty to gun and drug charges and was sentenced to 12 years in prison can argue for a new trial due to ineffective counsel after a similarly culpable co-defendant got a light sentence allegedly due to cooperation between their attorneys, a New York state appeals court said in a reversal.

  • October 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds Nigerian's Asylum Denial For Marriage Fraud

    An immigration judge reasonably denied a Nigerian man's application for asylum after finding him not credible based on a prior marriage fraud admission, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled.

  • October 16, 2025

    Bannon Tells Justices Legal Advice Dooms Contempt Rap

    A lawyer's advice to Steve Bannon not to respond to a congressional subpoena over the Jan. 6 insurrection means he couldn't have "willfully" flouted the subpoena and negates his conviction, the onetime Trump adviser has told the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • October 16, 2025

    Protests Aren't Rebellions Justifying The Guard, 7th Circ. Says

    The Seventh Circuit elaborated Thursday on its reasoning for denying the Trump administration's request to stay a ruling blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago, noting that "spirited, sustained and occasionally violent actions" of protest demonstrators, without more, don't constitute a "rebellion" that would justify deploying the Guard.

  • October 16, 2025

    Farmers Urge Wash. Justices To Void Fuel Exemption Regs

    A Washington Supreme Court justice suggested Thursday that the state's framework for an exemption under its greenhouse gas "cap-and-invest" program has fallen short of lawmakers' express goal of ensuring farmers have access to surcharge-free fuel for agricultural purposes.

  • October 16, 2025

    7th Circ. Affirms French Montana's Win In Copyright Case

    The Seventh Circuit on Thursday backed French Montana's win in a copyright case brought by a musician who alleged the rapper sampled his instrumental song to make the hit single "Ain't Worried About Nothin'," saying there wasn't evidence to show Montana duplicated the work "as opposed to merely imitating it."

  • October 16, 2025

    Kalshi Tells 4th Circ. Md. Is Stepping On CFTC Oversight

    Maryland federal judge was wrong to reject sports betting company Kalshi's argument that its so-called prediction market, which allows users to wager on the outcome of real-world events, counts as a federal derivative exchange, the company said to the Fourth Circuit.

  • October 16, 2025

    Army Vets Say Fluor Deviating From 4th Circ. Ruling

    A U.S. Army veteran told the U.S. Supreme Court that defense contractor Fluor Corp. has "abandoned the Fourth Circuit's rationale" in defending a panel's decision that affirmed the dismissal of his state-based injury claims stemming from a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

  • October 16, 2025

    Justices Told Presidential Firing Limits Rely On 'Soured' Logic

    President Donald Trump and a cadre of supporters have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to wipe out what remains of a 90-year-old ruling that empowers Congress to prohibit the president from firing certain agency officials at will, arguing the decision was flawed when originally issued and is now well past its prime. 

  • October 16, 2025

    Texas Panel Blocks Hospital Subpoenas In Trans Care Suit

    A Texas appellate court on Thursday directed a trial court to withdraw an order requiring two Dallas hospitals to turn over documents concerning alleged gender affirming care, saying the lower court abused its discretion since nonparty patients had motions for protection pending in another court.

Expert Analysis

  • A Simple Way Courts Can Help Attys Avoid AI Hallucinations

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    As attorneys increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence for legal research, courts should consider expanding online quality control programs to flag potential hallucinations — permitting counsel to correct mistakes and sparing judges the burden of imposing sanctions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl and Connors.

  • Strategies For ICE Agent Misconduct Suits In The 11th Circ.

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    Attorneys have numerous pathways to pursue misconduct claims against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Eleventh Circuit, and they need not wait for the court to correct its misinterpretation of a Federal Tort Claims Act exception, says Lauren Bonds at the National Police Accountability Project.

  • Opinion

    SEC Should Restore Its 2020 Proxy Adviser Rule

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    Due to concerns over proxy advisers' accuracy, reliability and transparency, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should reinstate its 2020 rule designed to suppress the influence that they wield in shareholder voting, says Kyle Isakower at the American Council for Capital Formation.

  • Surveying The Changing Overdraft Fee Landscape

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    Despite recent federal moves that undermine consumer overdraft fee protections, last year’s increase in fee charges suggests banks will face continued scrutiny via litigation and state regulation, says Amanda Kurzendoerfer at Bates White.

  • What's At Stake In High Court Review Of Funds' Right To Sue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming review of FS Credit Opportunities v. Saba Capital Master Fund, a case testing the limits of using Investment Company Act Section 47(b) to give funds a private right of action to enforce other sections of the law, could either encourage or curb similar activist investor lawsuits, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • The Evolving Legal Landscape For THC-Infused Beverages

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    A recent Eighth Circuit ruling, holding that states may restrict the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived products without violating federal law, combined with ongoing regulatory uncertainty at both the federal and state levels, could alter the trajectory of the THC-infused beverage market, say attorneys at Pashman Stein.

  • How Securities Defendants Might Use New Wire Fraud Ruling

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    Though the Second Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Chastain decision — vacating the conviction of an ex-OpenSea staffer — involved the wire fraud statute, insider trading defendants might attempt to import the ruling’s reasoning into the securities realm, says Jonathan Richman at Brown Rudnick.

  • Cos. Must Tailor Due Diligence As Trafficking Risks Increase

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    As legislators, prosecutors and plaintiffs attorneys increasingly focus on labor and sex trafficking throughout the U.S., companies must tailor their due diligence strategies to protect against forced labor trafficking risks in their supply chains, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Unpacking The Supreme Court's Views On Judgment Finality

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's June opinion in BLOM Bank SAL v. Honickman reaffirmed that the bar for reopening a final judgment remains exceptionally high — even when the movant seeks to amend their complaint based on a new legal development, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Asbestos Ruling Cements All Sums Coverage Precedent In SC

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    With its recent decision in Protopapas v. Travelers, the South Carolina Court of Appeals becomes the highest court in South Carolina to adopt the all sums allocation approach for long-tail claims, providing key appellate precedent to support policyholders' efforts to maximize their coverage, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.

  • M&A Ruling Reinforces High Bar For Aiding, Abetting Claims

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent decision in In re: Columbia Pipeline may slow the filing of aiding and abetting claims against third-party buyers in situations where buyers negotiate aggressively, putting buy-side dealmakers' minds at ease that they likely won't be liable for seeking the best possible deal, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Series

    Creating Botanical Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pressing and framing plants that I grow has shown me that pursuing an endeavor that brings you joy can lead to surprising benefits for a legal career, including mental clarity, perspective and even a bit of humility, says Douglas Selph at Morris Manning.

  • What To Expect As Calif. Justices Weigh Arbitration Fee Law

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    If the California Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court holds that the Federal Arbitration Act does not preempt the California Arbitration Act's strict fee deadlines, employers and businesses could lose the right to arbitrate over minor procedural delays, say attorneys at Bird Marella.

  • 2 Circuit Court Rulings Offer A Class Certification Primer

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    Two recent decisions from the Third and Sixth Circuits provide guidance on the rigorous analysis of predominance that courts might require for class certification, and insights into how defendants might oppose or narrow potential class actions, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Supreme Court's Criminal Law Decisions: The Term In Review

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    Though the U.S. Supreme Court’s criminal law decisions in its recently concluded term proved underwhelming by many measures, their opinions revealed trends in how the justices approach criminal cases and offered reminders for practitioners, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

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