Appellate

  • October 17, 2025

    Justices Urged To Review Circ. Split Over SEC Disgorgement

    A man accused by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of participating in a $6 million pump-and-dump scheme is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to review a circuit split that he says has created "intolerable confusion" over when the agency can collect disgorgement.

  • October 17, 2025

    Florida Court Backs County's Switch To At-Large Voting

    A Florida state appeals court greenlit a county's resident-approved referendum to discard single-district elections and to switch back to an at-large voting system, ruling that the language listed in the ballot measure properly followed state law. 

  • October 17, 2025

    8th Circ. Partially Reverses $14.6M Warehouse Damage Award

    An Arkansas federal court correctly determined that a manufacturer of vacuum products breached its lease with a warehouse owner by failing to purchase insurance coverage equal to the warehouse property's "full replacement cost," the Eighth Circuit ruled Friday, though partially reversing the court's nearly $14.6 million damages award.

  • October 17, 2025

    Texas Appeals Court Revives Yelp Abortion Notice Suit

    The statewide Texas appeals court revived Texas' claims that Yelp misled customers about crisis pregnancy centers' limited services, finding that a lower court got it wrong by tossing the suit for lack of personal jurisdiction.

  • October 17, 2025

    Fla. Panel Urged To Revive Defamation Suit Over Peacock Doc

    A woman alleging she was falsely portrayed by a Peacock docuseries character as a pimp and sex worker urged a Florida appeals court Friday to revive her defamation lawsuit against the network, arguing her case should go before a jury. 

  • October 17, 2025

    NC Justices Curb Agency Deference In Prof's Firing Case

    Courts in North Carolina are bound by a "constitutional command" to review legal questions anew rather than defer to agency interpretation, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled Friday in a case from an ex-professor alleging his free speech rights were violated when he was fired.

  • October 17, 2025

    Pa. Court Voids $1.75M Judgment, Affirms Insurer's Bad Faith

    The Pennsylvania Superior Court affirmed Friday that Erie Insurance Exchange acted in bad faith when it withheld payment from its insured following arbitration over a claim for underinsured motorist benefits, but vacated a $1.75 million judgment against the insurer based on improper calculations of attorney fees and interest.

  • October 17, 2025

    1st Circ. Axes Claims For Unpaid Hurricane Maria Work

    The First Circuit has told a Puerto Rico federal court to throw out a payroll company's claims against a contractor for allegedly failing to pay $1.4 million in labor costs for rebuilding projects after Hurricane Maria swept through the island.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Rethink Minimum Contacts For Foreign Entities

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    Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Devas v. Antrix and Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization, suggest that federal statutes may confer personal jurisdiction over foreign entities that have little to no contact with the U.S. — a significant departure from traditional due process principles, says Gary Shaw at Pillsbury.

  • Opinion

    High Court Must Overrule Outdated Patent Eligibility Doctrine

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    A certiorari petition should directly ask the U.S. Supreme Court to correct its 1972 patent decision in Gottschalk v. Benson, the critical point where patent eligibility law veered from the statutory text toward judicial policymaking, says Robert Greenspoon at Dunlap Bennett.

  • Examining TCPA Jurisprudence A Year After Loper Bright

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    One year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, lower court decisions demonstrate that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act will continue to evolve as long-standing interpretations of the act are analyzed with a fresh lens, says Aaron Gallardo at Kilpatrick.

  • Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures

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    With the recent rise of securities fraud actions based on external events — like a data breach or environmental disaster — that drive down stock prices, risk disclosures have become more of a sword for the plaintiffs bar than a shield for public companies, now the subject of a growing circuit split, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

  • How Justices' Ruling Limits Options To Challenge DHS Orders

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    In Riley v. Bondi, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a 30-day deadline for challenging deportation orders begins when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issues a final administrative review order, opening the door for the government to effectively bar circuit court review in future similar cases, says Kevin Gregg at Kurzban Kurzban.

  • Series

    Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing violin in a string quartet reminds me that flexibility, ambition, strong listening skills, thoughtful leadership and intentional collaboration are all keys to a successful legal practice, says Julie Park at MoFo.

  • Purdue Case Could Transform Patent Obviousness Analyses

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    If accepted for review by the U.S. Supreme Court, Purdue Pharma v. Accord Healthcare — concerning whether Purdue's abuse-deterrent opioid formulation patents were invalid as obvious — could significantly shift how courts weigh secondary considerations in patent obviousness analyses, say attorneys at Lathrop.

  • NM Cyber Ruling Will Spur Litigation As Coverage Remedy

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    In Kane v. Beazley, the New Mexico Court of Appeals recently found that a cyber liability provision insuring security breaches included coverage for funds transfer fraud, implicitly and incorrectly motivating policyholders to commence litigation to avoid contractual limitations on cyber coverages, say attorneys at Zelle.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Self-Care

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    Law schools don’t teach the mental, physical and emotional health maintenance tools necessary to deal with the profession's many demands, but practicing self-care is an important key to success that can help to improve focus, manage stress and reduce burnout, says Rachel Leonard​​​​​​​ at MG+M.

  • Texas' Cactus Ruling Clarifies 'Produced Water' Rules

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    The Texas Supreme Court's decision in Cactus Water Services v. COG Operating, holding that mineral interest lessees have the rights to water extracted alongside oil and gas, should benefit industry players by clarifying the rules — but it leaves important questions about royalties unresolved, say attorneys at Yetter Coleman.

  • ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'

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    The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • How Political Divisions Are Stalling Pa. Energy Development

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    Despite possessing the nation's second-largest natural gas reserves and a legacy of energy infrastructure, Pennsylvania faces a fragmented and politically charged path to developing the energy resources it will need in the future, thanks to legislative gridlock, divided public opinion and competing energy interests, says Andrew Levine at Stradley Ronon.

  • How High Court Ruling Can Aid Judgment Enforcement In US

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    In CC/Devas (Mauritius) v. Antrix, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that only two steps are required to keep a foreign sovereign in federal court, making it a little easier for investors to successfully bring foreign states and sovereign-owned and -controlled entities into U.S. courts, says Kristie Blase at Felicello Law.

  • What High Court's Tenn. Trans Care Ruling Means Nationally

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti, upholding a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors, is fairly limited in scope and closely tailored to the specific language of Tennessee's law, but it may have implications for challenges to similar laws in other states, say attorneys at Hall Render.

  • Justices Rewrite Rules For Challenging Enviro Agency Actions

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    Three recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings — Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas, Oklahoma v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining — form a jurisprudential watershed in administrative and environmental law, affirming statutory standing and venue provisions as the backbone of coherent judicial review, say attorneys at GableGotwals.

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