Appellate

  • October 01, 2026

    Developer Bound By Emailed Settlement Offer, Court Says

    A three-sentence email with the subject line "settlement communication," which proposed a meeting followed by dismissal of a lawsuit over a real estate development, was a binding agreement to end the case, Massachusetts' intermediate-level appellate court said Thursday.

  • October 01, 2026

    Pa. Justices Back Transit Prosecutor Law Challenged By DA

    The Pennsylvania Legislature's creation of a "special prosecutor" to address Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner's allegedly unsatisfactory handling of crime in the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority does not run afoul of the state constitution because of the city's special status, the state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

  • October 01, 2026

    Justices To Review Ex-Spouse Military Pay Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to review a woman's attempt to enforce a divorce settlement under which she said she was entitled to a share of her ex-husband's military retirement pay, even if he waived it to receive disability benefits.

  • October 01, 2026

    Trump Announces Judicial Noms For 5th Circ., NC

    President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he's nominating Todd Butler, a managing partner at Phelps Dunbar LLP, to serve as a judge on the Fifth Circuit. 

  • October 01, 2026

    Justices To Review Trump's No-Bond Migrant Detention Policy

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to review whether the Trump administration can detain unauthorized immigrants without bond until their immigration cases conclude, regardless of whether they had already been living in the country.

  • September 30, 2026

    9th Circ. Judges Doubt X's Claims Against Anti-Hate Group

    Ninth Circuit judges appeared skeptical Wednesday of X Corp.'s bid to revive claims against two nonprofits for scraping tweets to study online hate speech, with one judge questioning X's contract damages claim and another doubting that the nonprofits could be held liable for publishing true information.

  • September 30, 2026

    Eli Lilly Loses Full Fed. Circ. Bid To Nix Teva's $177M IP Win

    Federal Circuit judges Wednesday denied Eli Lilly & Co.'s bid for a full court review of a panel decision that reinstated a $177 million jury verdict against it for infringing Teva headache drug patents, while one dissenting judge said the panel's holding "creates confusion" over enablement standards for patent method claims.

  • September 30, 2026

    7th Circ. Backs Truckers In Union Pacific BIPA Suit

    A Seventh Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed that fingerprint scans at Union Pacific's Illinois facilities violated a state privacy law, rejecting the company's stance that a government contractor exception applies anytime the contract is active.

  • September 30, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Won't Order Judge To Invalidate Injection Patents

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday refused to issue an order for a Utah federal judge to declare patents held by CR Bard Inc. and Bard Peripheral Vascular Inc. invalid at the request of Medical Components Inc.

  • September 30, 2026

    Defamation Litigation Roundup: Candace Owens, Firm DQ

    In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 highlights a new suit over right-wing media personality Candace Owens and her conspiracy theories about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, as well as Quinn Emanuel's disqualification from a suit against a former client.

  • September 30, 2026

    Baker Donelson Gets 2nd Chance To Toss Malpractice Suit

    A Florida state appeals court reversed an order denying law firm Baker Donelson's bid to escape a construction company's malpractice lawsuit alleging it relied on bad legal advice, saying Wednesday the lower court must first determine if any misconduct occurred in the Sunshine State. 

  • September 30, 2026

    Tow Co. Can't Nix $27M Default Judgment, Texas Court Rules

    The father of a U.S. Postal Service worker who was totally incapacitated following a collision with a tow truck will get a second shot at securing a $27 million default judgment against the repossession company, a Texas appeals court ruled, saying the company was properly served.

  • September 30, 2026

    DC Circ. Unsure Annulled $40M Award Is 'Repugnant'

    The D.C. Circuit is set to decide whether it was "repugnant" of a Swedish court to retroactively cancel an arbitration agreement after a $40 million award had already been won, based on a finding that European Union law didn't allow it.

  • September 30, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Spurns Partial ParkerVision Appeal In Patent Suit

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday found that it couldn't consider ParkerVision's challenge to a lower court's construction of some patent claims in its suit against Qualcomm while others from the same patent remain undecided, saying courts can't enter final judgments in such situations.

  • September 30, 2026

    23andMe Beats Calif.'s Bankruptcy Sale Privacy Challenge

    A Missouri federal judge on Tuesday denied California's bid to undo the $305 million bankruptcy sale of 23andMe over concerns that the sale sidestepped state consumer data protections, ruling that the state lacks standing to challenge the sale and that the court's "good-faith" findings aren't clearly erroneous.  

  • September 30, 2026

    Texas Court Revives Suit Over Sponge Left In Surgery Patient

    A Texas appellate court on Wednesday revived a medical malpractice suit accusing three radiologists of failing to identify a surgical sponge left inside a patient after open-heart surgery, saying there is a factual dispute over whether the plaintiffs acted with sufficient diligence to overcome a statute-of-limitations defense.

  • September 30, 2026

    3rd Circ. Topples Materiality Rule For Securities Suits

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday revived a securities fraud class action against pharmaceutical company Ocugen Inc., scrapping a decades-old circuit rule that treated a stock price's failure to move after a corrective disclosure as conclusive proof that an alleged misstatement was immaterial.

  • September 30, 2026

    11th Circ. Skeptical Of PACE Lenders' CFPB Rule Challenge

    An Eleventh Circuit panel on Wednesday appeared poised to reject an industry challenge to Biden-era Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rules for providers of property-assessed clean-energy loans, repeatedly questioning claims that the agency overstepped its authority.

  • September 30, 2026

    Ga. Judge Must Justify No Sanctions In Alice-Doomed IP Case

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday ordered a Georgia federal judge to explain why it wasn't appropriate to sanction Epic Tech LLC when there were three major signs the patent it asserted against Pen-Tech Associates Inc. was invalid.

  • September 30, 2026

    Fla. Panel Says Hot-Car Conviction Needs Knowledge Element

    A Florida state appeals court Wednesday ruled that a nanny convicted of felony murder after forgetting she left a 10-month-old inside a hot car should be tried again, saying prosecutors used an improper underlying charge as a basis for the felony murder charge.

  • September 30, 2026

    3rd Circ. Calls Westlaw AI Fight 'Ordinary Copyright Case'

    The Third Circuit said the first appellate fight over artificial intelligence training and fair use ultimately came down to an "ordinary copyright case," affirming that Ross Intelligence infringed Thomson Reuters' Westlaw headnotes when it used them to train a competing legal research platform.

  • September 30, 2026

    3rd Circ. Probes Payment Recipients In Fund's $100M Tax Row

    A Third Circuit panel examined dealer-and-customer relations under accounting rules governing their transactions on Wednesday to determine whether the Internal Revenue Service was right to slap a $100 million tax bill against a Cayman Islands hedge fund for payments tied to U.S. portfolio companies.

  • September 30, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs PTAB Ax Of Twist Drill Patent Claims

    A Chinese inventor lost his attempt to revive claims in his twist drill patent he accused a Minnesota company of infringing on Wednesday when the Federal Circuit backed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation of the claims.

  • September 30, 2026

    Biz Groups Urge 5th Circ. To Back Texas Derivative-Suits Limit

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Texas Association of Business on Wednesday urged the Fifth Circuit to uphold the dismissal of a Southwest Airlines shareholder's derivative suit, saying Texas law properly blocks such suits for those who hold less than 3% of shares.

  • September 30, 2026

    Amazon, Investor Clash Over Del. Forum Limits On Records

    Amazon.com Inc. and a stockholder seeking company records clashed before the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday over whether the investor should be restricted to using those documents in Delaware litigation, with the stockholder arguing the condition is too broad and Amazon saying it protects against duplicative lawsuits in multiple courts.

Expert Analysis

  • 3rd Circ. Hotel Ruling Flags Key Issues In Dynamic Pricing

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    The Third Circuit's recent decision in Cornish-Adebiyi v. Caesars Entertainment relies on allegations that competitors used nonpublic data to set real-time rates considered exorbitant, highlighting both the potential risks and substantial benefits of utilizing emerging technologies, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • 4th Circ. Class Cert. Ruling Offers Tips For Damages Experts

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent decision reversing class certification in litigation against Boeing raises the cost of a bare-bones damages model proposal for plaintiffs, but it also clarifies what a defensible proposal should contain, say Alok Khare and Erica Rose at FTI Consulting.

  • Opinion

    'Plain Meaning' Requires Plainer Meaning In IP Litigation

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Socket Solutions v. Import Global highlights the frequent ambiguity surrounding courts' references to "plain meaning" in patent claim construction — an ambiguity that should be resolved by courts, not litigants, say attorneys at Klarquist Sparkman.

  • What To Know As Legal Duty To Consider AI Takes Shape

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    While the U.K. Jurisdiction Taskforce’s recent statement on liability for artificial intelligence harms is nonbinding for both U.K. and U.S. lawyers, it highlights the importance of being able to distinguish between the availability of a tool and a professional obligation to use it, say Jonny Frank and Michael Costa at StoneTurn.

  • Patent Ruling Shows Concrete Tech Solution Key To Eligibility

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent Ceiva Opco v. Amazon.com decision offers an important reminder that software-related inventions can remain patent eligible when they claim a concrete technological solution to a specific problem, says Irah Donner at Manatt.

  • Appellate Vape Rulings May Expand State Regulation Powers

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    Two recent federal appeals courts decisions rejecting Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act preemption challenges to state electronic nicotine delivery systems directory laws signal an emerging appellate consensus that could significantly expand states' power to regulate vaping product sales where federal enforcement falls short, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • How Solar Fraud Case Affects Lender Oversight Of Dealers

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to review the Third Circuit's ruling in Migliore v. Sunlight Financial means that residential solar finance companies are protected from vicarious liability for deceptive acts by independent solar dealers — but lenders must still take steps to guard against dealer misconduct, says Rand Manasse at Green Lane Partners.

  • Fed. Circ. Rulings Emphasize Adjudicative Access And Review

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    Decisions from the Federal Circuit's 2026 docket indicate that the court is increasingly paying attention to whether tribunals possess authority to act, meaning practitioners will need to properly address procedural hurdles before they can argue the merits of a case, say attorneys at Reichman Jorgensen.

  • Amazon v. Perplexity Ruling Limits CFAA Reach Over AI Tools

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Amazon v. Perplexity provides important early guidance on how the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act applies to agentic artificial intelligence, and is the latest in a line of rulings in which courts have declined to stretch existing statutes to broadly regulate AI, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Managing OSHA Mental Illness Logs After 5th Circ. Vacatur

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    Employers with facilities in multiple states need to carefully weigh their recordkeeping procedures following the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration cannot require employers to log work-related mental illness, as inconsistent logs across facilities may raise other issues, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Expect More Probes After 3rd Circ. Algorithmic Pricing Ruling

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    The Third Circuit's recent decision in Cornish-Adebiyi v. Caesars Entertainment, allowing algorithmic price-fixing claims to proceed past motions to dismiss, may serve as a road map for how to contend with increased litigation risk in this developing area of antitrust law, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Being In A Band Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing shows in storied New York City venues and rehearsing with my bandmates in poorly ventilated rooms helped develop the professional qualities I rely on as a litigator, including an ability to collaborate with strong-minded equals and the determination to treat each client with singular focus, says Eliad Shapiro at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    After 2026's second quarter, there is more authority rejecting class certification on total loss valuation theories from courts at the federal circuit, federal district and state appellate level — along with a resolution of a novel issue of depreciation on a wildfire claim, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

  • 10th Circ. Ruling Undermines False Ad 'Two Clicks' Rule

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    The Tenth Circuit’s recent ruling in KetoNatural Pet Foods v. Hill's Pet Nutrition substantially challenges a long-standing assumption that a company can avoid responsibility for promotional claims simply because the consumer encountered them by clicking a hyperlink to a third-party website, say attorneys at Venable.

  • How Drug Trial Prediction Markets Pose Insider Trading Risks

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    Multiple prediction market platforms have recently announced plans to offer event contracts related to clinical trial outcomes and regulatory decisions, creating new insider trading risks by expanding the group of people possessing related material nonpublic information far beyond traditional corporate insiders, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

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