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Roberts Wants Less Talk. Supreme Court Attorneys Disagree.

Near the end of last term, Chief Justice John Roberts voiced his frustration with the U.S. Supreme Court's lengthening oral argument sessions and suggested the justices might tweak their format over the summer. But as the new term begins Monday, the court has yet to announce any changes, and advocates see little need for improvement.
October 21, 2026
9th Circ. Judges Hint Hospital CBA May Mandate Arbitration

A Ninth Circuit panel appeared receptive on Wednesday to Long Beach Memorial Medical Center's argument that a nurse should be forced to individually arbitrate proposed class break claims, with two judges suggesting that a union contract's repeated references to Golden State labor law bolster the hospital's position.
October 21, 2026
Verisk Denies Fault For Canceled $2.35B AccuLynx Acquisition

Verisk Analytics Inc. urged the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday to let it abandon its $2.35 billion acquisition of roofing software company AccuLynx, arguing a lower court wrongly blamed it for federal antitrust delays, while AccuLynx insisted the company must keep working to close the deal.
October 21, 2026
Chinese Light Makers Reach Deal After $1.5M Patent Verdict

Chinese company Jiaxing Super Lighting has reached a deal to end a patent lawsuit over LED tube lamp products after a Texas federal jury earlier this year awarded the business $1.5 million in damages for infringing one of its patents.
October 21, 2026
Mich. Appeals Court Revives Hunting Shooting Suit

A Michigan state appeals court has reinstated claims against a father and a farm that stem from a hunting accident that left a man with catastrophic injuries, ruling a jury should have decided whether the father was grossly negligent when he gave his son a shotgun despite knowing about his drinking problem and history of reckless behavior.
October 21, 2026
2nd Circ. Says NYC Could Have Sped Up Man's Rikers Release

The Second Circuit has revived a suit by a man held on Rikers Island for over seven years who alleged that inadequate procedures by the agency that runs New York City's jail kept him incarcerated for an extra 17 days.
October 21, 2026
Trucking Group Tells DC Circ. Fee System Doesn't Deliver

A trucking trade group is challenging the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's interstate motor carrier fees for 2027, claiming in a new D.C. Circuit petition that the agency never lawfully established the fee-setting system by regulation.
October 21, 2026
Ex-Arizona Recorder Urges High Court To Drop Voter ID Case

A former recorder for Maricopa County, Arizona, says the Supreme Court should dismiss the Republican National Committee's challenge to two state voting laws as improvidently granted, telling the justices that the case is an improper vehicle for deciding provisions of the National Voter Registration Act.
October 21, 2026
6th Circ. Weighs First Amendment Right To Court Videos

Modern technology necessitates updated court-access rules, a representative for a University of Michigan professor told a Sixth Circuit panel Wednesday, saying that citizens should have access to audio and video recordings of public court proceedings in addition to written transcripts.
October 21, 2026
Fed. Circ. Says Sioux Tribe Can't Shift Building Repair Costs

A Federal Circuit Court of Appeals panel has rejected a South Dakota tribe's bid to overturn a decision that the federal government isn't responsible for paying for a deteriorating building on its reservation, saying it is not persuaded by the Indigenous nation's contract-based arguments.
October 21, 2026
Verisk Denies Fault For Canceled $2.35B AccuLynx Acquisition

An investment fund manager and three affiliated entities urged the Delaware Supreme Court Wednesday to overturn a ruling that stripped them of interests in a Congolese palm oil business, arguing it handed fellow investor Kuramo Capital Management LLC an enormous windfall, while Kuramo defended the unusual remedy as necessary to protect its investment from the manager's misconduct.
October 21, 2026
5th Circ. Finds Afghan Educator Didn't Show Torture Risk

A split Fifth Circuit let stand deportation orders for a former Afghan education official beaten by the Taliban after he protested the closure of girls' schools, finding the evidence did not support he would likely face torture if he returned.
October 21, 2026
Fla. Court Refers Atty To Bar Over Pro Se-Like Filings

A Florida appeals court on Wednesday referred a divorce attorney to the Florida Bar for filings with AI-hallucinated quotations and motion practice that the judges said they "typically see from vexatious pro se litigants."
October 21, 2026
Amarin Ends 'Skinny Label' Patent Case Against Hikma

Amarin Pharma Inc. is dropping its patent suit over Hikma Pharmaceuticals USA Inc.'s generic version of a heart drug that uses a so-called skinny label, months after the U.S. Supreme Court shut the case down.
October 21, 2026
9th Circ. Confused By San Jose's Firefighter OT Math

A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday appeared skeptical of an argument by the City of San José, California, that a lower court miscalculated the overtime pay owed to firefighters, but the judges also said they were "struggling with" the firefighters' argument.
October 21, 2026
Pa. Panel Sets 3-Year Limit On Minimum Wage Claims

A split Pennsylvania appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that workers have three years, not six, to sue for unpaid wages under the state's minimum wage law, siding with a pharmacy accused of shorting 20 employees on overtime pay.
October 21, 2026
Italian Winery Asks Justices To Revive TM Victory

An Italian winery has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to restore a trademark infringement ruling it won in New York federal court that was later overturned by the Second Circuit, saying the circuit had misapplied the justices' guidance for finding trademark preclusion.
October 21, 2026
High Court Lets Block On Prison Gender Care Ban Stand

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed federal prisons to continue to offer gender transition medical services to incarcerated people.
October 20, 2026
11th Circ. Upholds Producer's Financing Scheme Conviction

The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday refused to disturb the conviction and sentencing of a producer accused of stealing $68.7 million from film and theater investors and producers, ruling that the producer hasn't shown that the district court made any mistakes.
October 20, 2026
'Petulant' Attorney Behavior Requires New Trial, 5th Circ. Says

The Fifth Circuit ordered a new trial Friday for a woman who was halted while speaking at a Louisiana local council meeting, saying defense lawyers for two council members threw "a skunk into the jury box" with a bevy of improper maneuvers.
October 20, 2026
Kagan: High Court 'Blinded Itself' To Election Ruling Effects

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan criticized her conservative colleagues' approach to deciding election law cases Tuesday, saying they often rule without considering the real-world consequences of their decisions.
October 20, 2026
Mariah Carey Defeats Brother's $20M Memoir Defamation Suit

A New York judge has thrown out Mariah Carey's brother's $20 million defamation suit claiming his sister defamed him in her 2020 memoir, "The Meaning of Mariah Carey," ruling that he hasn't adequately alleged she knowingly or recklessly made false statements about him.
October 20, 2026
Meta Wins Stay Of Wash. Ad Case Amid High Court Cert. Bid

A Washington state judge on Tuesday granted Meta Platforms Inc.'s request to pause a permanent injunction requiring "full compliance" with a state political advertising disclosure law, agreeing to put the requirement on hold while the company asks the U.S. Supreme Court to review the law's constitutionality.
October 20, 2026
Zimbabwe Says $441M Award Suit Deserves More Attention

Zimbabwe is fighting European investors' efforts to summarily affirm a ruling enforcing some $441 million in arbitral awards they won after their land was seized under a controversial land reform program, telling the D.C. Circuit the case is not that simple.
October 20, 2026
Colo. Justices Mull Criminal Trial Court's Restitution Authority

Colorado's justices appeared hesitant Tuesday to limit a trial court's ability to impose restitution in cases where prosecutors fail to make a diligent effort to bring restitution information to sentencing, but pressed the state on what ruling would make victims whole and incentivize prosecutors to meet statutory deadlines.
October 20, 2026
Florida Board Must Testify In Book Ban Suit, 11th Circ. Says

A split Eleventh Circuit panel held Monday that current and former Florida school board members cannot invoke legislative privilege to avoid testifying about why they removed specific library books, finding that the privilege protects their adoption of book removal policies but not the decisions applying those policies to particular titles.

Editor's Picks

Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To The US Supreme Court's Term

Federal appeals courts had wide-ranging successes and struggles during the U.S. Supreme Court's recently completed term: One had its best showing in years following its worst showing in years; one felt déjà vu after recently starting to find favor with the justices; and one saw its reputation for independence occupy a rare role in the Supreme Court spotlight.
After Tense Terms, Hints Of High Court Harmony With Circuits

Following several U.S. Supreme Court terms teeming with reversals and rebukes of lower appeals courts, the justices this term found fault less often with rulings by circuit judges, who are likely becoming better attuned to the conservative supermajority, attorneys say.
The Funniest Moments Of The Supreme Court's Term

When one of the U.S. Supreme Court's most talkative members suddenly struggled to speak, the atmosphere at oral arguments grew increasingly anxious — until the justice deadpanned that it was an advocate's golden opportunity to avoid a grilling.

Expert Analysis

Remote Work Ruling Clarifies Calif. Law Limits, With Caveats

Although a California state appeals court's recent decision in Saberin v. Alation confirmed that California employment laws do not operate extraterritorially merely because a company is headquartered in the state, employers shouldn't construe this as authorization to relocate decision-makers to circumvent statutory obligations, says Hallie Aylesworth at Sheppard.
EPA Rollback Puts Power Plant GHG Rules In Flux

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent actions on power plant greenhouse gas emissions create immediate implications for power plant operators and long-term regulatory uncertainty, while raising questions about the relationship between federal and state approaches to climate-related litigation, say attorneys at Van Ness Feldman.
What $5.7B Apple Verdict Reveals About Patent Risk

A California federal jury's recent $5.7 billion damages verdict against Apple exemplifies the enormous financial exposure that can occur when patent-infringing features are incorporated into many units, though the outcome is ultimately dependant on the strength of the underlying infringement, validity and damages theories, says Michael Dorfman at Barclay Damon.
Dissecting Dodd's, Gensler's Prediction Market Amicus Briefs

Former Sen. Chris Dodd and former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler's recent amicus briefs in support of New Jersey's petition for U.S. Supreme Court review of Kalshi v. Flaherty draw on legislative history to counter the CFTC's claim of federal preemption over the prediction markets, says Trace Schmeltz at Steptoe.
What Colo. High Court Will Weigh In Insurer Disclosure Case

In Bohanan v. Esurance, the Colorado Supreme Court will decide whether an insurance policy must be produced to a claimant notwithstanding the insurer's coverage position, and the court's interpretation of what "may be relevant to the claim," in the statute, will be paramount, say attorneys at Burg Simpson.
6th Circ. Spotlights Cannabis Contract Enforceability Risks

The Sixth Circuit's recent reversal of a $31.8 million jury verdict against a subsidiary of cannabis giant Curaleaf highlights that state licenses do not necessarily provide the legal foundation needed to enforce contracts in federal court, which is a pattern that appears across many sectors, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
Preventing HOA Bias After Wash. Ruling Highlights Risk

Because homeowners nationwide can now draw on precedent from a recent Washington state appellate decision holding that state antidiscrimination law forbids homeowners associations from biased enforcement of their rules, common-interest communities should immediately work to mitigate their expanded exposure to postsale fair housing liability, says Brett Sullivan at Fennemore.
2nd Circ. Eases Employer Defense Of Dress Code Rules

The Second Circuit recently sided with Starbucks in a ruling that makes it easier for companies to defend dress code policies against unfair labor practice challenges, but employers shouldn't read it as a license to ban union insignia, say attorneys at Shipman & Goodwin.
5 Prediction Market Queries For Every League, Athletic Dept.

The NFL's recent amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split over regulating prediction markets and operators like Kalshi raises important, enterprisewide governance questions for leagues, teams and athletic departments, and highlights that regulatory oversight and institutional integrity are related but distinct, say attorneys at Robins Kaplan.
Tips For Employers As Calif. Court Limits Harassment Liability

Doe v. Wells Fargo appears to be the first published California appellate decision to determine that the harasser must have supervisory authority over the plaintiff to trigger strict liability, underscoring the value of accurately documenting job roles and reporting lines, says Ellen Connelly Cohen at Call & Jensen.
What CMS Audit Rule Means For Medicare Advantage Plans

Despite ongoing legal challenges, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is moving forward with implementation of its risk adjustment data validation audits, raising statistical concerns around overpayments indicated by variance in unbalanced samples, say Stephen Fink, Brad Rice and Igor Karagodsky at Analysis Group.
SEC's Insider Trading Duty Rule May Face Loper Bright Test

In U.S. v. Jennings, pending in New Jersey federal court, the defense has an opportunity to challenge the rule defining the boundaries of the misappropriation theory of insider trading under Loper Bright, as the only litigated case testing the rule's limits relied on Chevron deference, say attorneys at O'Melveny.
What's At Stake As Justices Rethink Sentencing Commentary

Tuesday’s oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in Beaird v. U.S. highlighted the tension between preserving sentencing consistency and limiting the authority of sentencing guidelines commentary, and a decision favoring the latter could significantly reduce sentencing exposure for white collar defendants, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
Bankruptcy Deadlines, Concessions Can Decide Lien Priority

The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Adler v. Energy Debt Holdings warns buyers of secured claims to watch for binding concessions in earlier proceedings and court-imposed lien challenge deadlines, says Jennifer Maleski at Dilworth Paxson.
What Lawyers Should Know Before Accepting Crypto Payment

As clients increasingly request to pay legal fees, retainers and escrow funds using cryptocurrency, lawyers should consider how only a handful of state bar authorities have addressed the issue with varying ethics opinions, as well as the related questions that no authority has yet answered, says attorney Felix Shipkevich.