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May 24, 2024
Red States Target Blue States In Push To End Climate Torts
A novel red-state request that the U.S. Supreme Court nix climate change torts brought by state governments against fossil fuel companies can be seen as an attempt to urge the justices not to pass up another opportunity to weigh in on the issue, legal experts told Law360.
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May 24, 2024
11th Circ. Lets Carnival Passenger Pursue Pain Damages
The Eleventh Circuit on Friday granted a Carnival Cruise passenger's bid for a new trial seeking damages stemming from her falling out of a wheelchair while disembarking a ship, agreeing that the movant's previous jury award for medical expenses is inadequate without a nominal award for pain and suffering.
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May 24, 2024
5th Circ. Clears Co. In Case That Sparked NLRB Remedy Shift
The Fifth Circuit on Friday vacated a National Labor Relations Board order finding an ad software company violated federal labor law by laying off workers without bargaining with a union, but did not weigh in on the legality of the expanded remedies that the board used the case to adopt.
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May 24, 2024
9th Circ. Says H-2A Employers Must Pay Highest Wages
The Ninth Circuit on Friday said the U.S. Department of Labor can't let employers pay foreign farmworkers on H-2A visas a lower wage rate, rejecting the department's argument that the matter is moot because the previous harvest season is over.
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May 24, 2024
No-Show Plaintiff, 'Jackass' Atty Booted Too Fast, Court Says
A Michigan appellate court sympathized with a trial court dealing with a no-show plaintiff and his lawyer who acted like a "jackass" — according to one appellate judge — but ruled Thursday that the trial court needed to do a better job documenting why it tossed the case instead of issuing a lesser sanction.
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May 24, 2024
Petition Watch: Forum Shopping, Monopolies & Gun Safety
Law360 looks at four U.S. Supreme Court petitions filed in the past two weeks, including the FDA's request that the justices curb an increase in forum shopping at the Fifth Circuit, and two veterinarians who want the justices to allow plaintiffs to pursue antitrust claims for actions allegedly leading to the creation of a monopoly.
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May 24, 2024
Ohio Justices Say Regulator Must Take Freezing Death Case
An Ohio trial court cannot hear a lawsuit seeking to hold Dominion Energy liable for a woman's freezing death after her natural gas was shut off, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday, reasoning the matter belongs before the state's utilities regulator because the shutoff was an act authorized by the utility.
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May 24, 2024
NJ Panel Won't Revive Atty's Turnpike Authority Harassment Suit
A New Jersey state appeals court panel stood by an attorney's loss Friday in his suit claiming the New Jersey Turnpike Authority and its officials held him back from promotions and raises and harassed him based on his military service in the U.S. National Guard.
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May 24, 2024
Florida Urges Quick Appeal Of Wetlands Permitting Decision
The state of Florida has pushed to expedite its appeal of a lower court ruling that stripped the state of its federally delegated authority to permit wetlands development after the D.C. Circuit declined to pause the ruling's implementation earlier this week.
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May 24, 2024
Green Groups Lose In California Fish Protection Lawsuit
The federal government properly considered the needs of fish protected under the Endangered Species Act when it approved water supply contracts for California's Central Valley Project, the Ninth Circuit said in a ruling rejecting environmental groups' claims to the contrary.
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May 24, 2024
5th Circ. Again Upholds Engineers' OT Win
A Fifth Circuit panel on Friday backed for the second time a lower court's ruling that two engineers receiving a weekly minimum salary as part of their compensation package were not overtime-exempt and sent the case back to the district court to determine damages awards.
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May 24, 2024
Mich. Trampoline Park Defeats Jumper's Quadriplegia Suit
Michigan appellate judges have reversed a lower court's refusal to end a negligence suit by a patron who became quadriplegic after landing on his neck at an indoor trampoline park while performing a flip, finding no dispute the patron was at least half responsible since he was intoxicated.
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May 24, 2024
Biden's Judicial Impact And What's Left On The Wish List
President Joe Biden secured confirmation of his 200th federal judge Wednesday and has transformed the judiciary by picking more women and people of color than any other president. But the upcoming election season could derail his hopes of confirming many more judges.
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May 24, 2024
US Cos. Call On Fed. Circ. To Restore Chinese Plywood Duties
A U.S. plywood group is urging the Federal Circuit to unwind five U.S. Court of International Trade remands that shrank a Chinese competitor's anti-dumping duties from 183.36% to nothing, saying the court forced the government to accept unreliable data.
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May 24, 2024
Wrong Circuit Law Used To Deport Moroccan, Board Says
The Board of Immigration Appeals faulted an immigration court for applying incorrect circuit law to deport a Moroccan national, saying Friday that the case was ruled by Sixth Circuit law, even though the case record was sent to the Third Circuit.
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May 24, 2024
4th Circ. Urged To Keep Suit Against Credit Co. In Fed. Court
A Maryland credit card customer pressed the Fourth Circuit to affirm a district court's decision to keep in federal court a proposed class action alleging subprime credit card company Mercury Financial did business without a license, arguing arbitration cannot be fairly enforced, and that Mercury is trying to raise new arguments on appeal.
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May 24, 2024
DC Circ. Says Bainbridge Can't Have Argentina's Building
The D.C. Circuit on Friday denied an appeal from Bainbridge Fund Ltd. in a property dispute with Argentina, saying the company can't take possession of the property in an effort to satisfy a $95 million judgment over defaulted bonds.
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May 24, 2024
3rd Circ. Backs US Immunity Over Marine Recruit's Death
The Third Circuit has said that "tragedy does not trump sovereign immunity" in a precedential ruling finding that the federal government is immune from a wrongful death suit brought by a U.S. Marine Corps recruit's family after he crashed his car and died on the way to an event for the corps.
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May 24, 2024
Ga. Appeals Seat Winner Faces Challenge Over Residency
A Georgia attorney is looking to pause the certification of Tuesday's election win by a onetime state bar leader for a Georgia Court of Appeals seat, arguing that he lied about his Atlanta residence when he qualified to run for the judgeship since he allegedly lived in Tennessee.
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May 24, 2024
Alito Flag Displays 'Improper' And 'Dumb,' District Judge Says
A Massachusetts federal judge is calling out U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for controversial flags reportedly seen flying outside his homes, saying such actions erode public trust in the courts.
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May 24, 2024
No Private Suits Under State Enviro Law, Ill. Justices Say
The daughter of a woman badly burned in a condominium complex explosion cannot bring bodily injury claims against Marathon Petroleum Co. and others under Illinois' environmental protection laws because they do not provide private statutory rights of action, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled.
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May 24, 2024
CFPB Will Ask DC Circ. To Rescue Rule Challenged By PayPal
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Friday it will appeal a Washington, D.C., federal judge's recent decision that sided with payments giant PayPal in its lawsuit challenging the agency's extension of certain prepaid card regulations to digital wallets.
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May 24, 2024
Any Coloradan Can Enforce Open Meetings Law, Panel Says
The Colorado Court of Appeals has sided with an attorney who has filed dozens of open meetings law claims against government bodies in the state, finding that the attorney has standing to sue a school board even though he lives hundreds of miles away.
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May 24, 2024
Biden Urges 1st Circ. To Find Debt Cap Challenge Moot
The Biden administration asked the First Circuit to affirm a finding that a government workers' union lacks standing to challenge the debt ceiling's constitutionality and that its case was further rendered moot by passage of a deal to suspend the spending limit until January.
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May 24, 2024
Fulton DA Appeals Nixing Of Six Counts In Ga. Elections Case
The Fulton County District Attorney's Office said it is appealing a ruling that dismissed six counts from the Georgia election interference indictment of former President Donald Trump and his co-defendants.
Expert Analysis
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9th Circ. Arbitration Ruling Could Have Int'l Implications
In Patrick v. Running Warehouse, the Ninth Circuit's recent matter-of-fact invocation of an unusual California rule in a domestic arbitration context raises choice of law questions, and could make California law a strategic option for some international arbitration parties, says Jerry Roth at FedArb.
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5 Employer Actions Now Risky After Justices' Title VII Ruling
Last week in Muldrow v. St. Louis, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that harm didn't have to be significant to be considered discriminatory under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, making five common employer actions vulnerable to litigation, say Kellee Kruse and Briana Scholar at The Employment Law Group.
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Series
Being An Equestrian Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Beyond getting experience thinking on my feet and tackling stressful situations, the skills I've gained from horseback riding have considerable overlap with the skills used to practice law, particularly in terms of team building, continuing education, and making an effort to reset and recharge, says Kerry Irwin at Moore & Van Allen.
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7th Circ. Mootness Fee Case May Curb Frivolous Merger Suits
On April 15, the Seventh Circuit in Jorge Alcarez v. Akorn Inc. mapped out a framework for courts to consider mootness fees paid to individual shareholders after the voluntary dismissal of a challenge to a public company merger, which could encourage objections to mootness fees and reduce the number of frivolous merger challenges filed, say attorneys at Skadden.
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4 Ways To Refresh Your Law Firm's Marketing Strategy
With many BigLaw firms relying on an increasingly obsolete marketing approach that prioritizes stiff professionalism over authentic connection, adopting a few key communications strategies to better connect with today's clients and prospects can make all the difference, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law.
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What 3rd Circ. Trust Ruling Means For Securitization Market
Mercedes Tunstall and Michael Gambro at Cadwalader break down the Third Circuit's March decision in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau v. National Collegiate Master Student Loan Trust, as well as predict next steps in the litigation and the implications of the decision for servicers and the securitization industry as a whole.
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9th Circ. Ruling Puts Teeth Into Mental Health Parity Claims
In its recent finding that UnitedHealth applied an excessively strict review process for substance use disorder treatment claims, the Ninth Circuit provided guidance on how to plead a Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act violation and took a step toward achieving mental health parity in healthcare, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Using Rule 23(f) To Review Class Certification Orders
Since plaintiffs on average are prevailing in certifying a class more often than not, the best-positioned class action defendants are those prepared to pursue relief under Rule 23(f) well before the district court issues its certification decision, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Perspectives
Justices' Forfeiture Ruling Resolves Nonexistent Split
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in McIntosh v. U.S., holding that a trial court’s failure to enter a preliminary criminal forfeiture order prior to sentencing doesn’t bar its entry later, is unusual in that it settles an issue on which the lower courts were not divided — but it may apply in certain forfeiture disputes, says Stefan Cassella at Asset Forfeiture Law.
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Opinion
SC's Courts Have It Wrong On Amazon Marketplace Sales Tax
The South Carolina Supreme Court should step in and correct the misguided change in tax law effectuated by lower court rulings that found Amazon owes state sales tax for marketplace sales made prior to the U.S. Supreme Court’s Wayfair v. South Dakota decision in 2018, says Hayes Holderness at the University of Richmond.
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What Have We Learned In The Year Since Warhol?
In the almost year since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith, which was widely seen as potentially chilling to creative endeavors, seven subsequent decisions — while illuminating to some extent — do not indicate any trend toward a radical departure from prior precedents in fair use cases, says Jose Sariego at Bilzin Sumberg.
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The Practical Effects Of Justices' Arbitration Exemption Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries, that a transportation worker need not work in the transportation industry to be exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act, may negatively affect employers' efforts to mitigate class action risk via arbitration agreement enforcement, say Charles Schoenwetter and Eric Olson at Bowman and Brooke.
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Binance Ruling Spotlights Muddled Post-Morrison Landscape
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Williams v. Binance highlights the judiciary's struggle to apply the U.S. Supreme Court's Morrison v. National Australia Bank ruling to digital assets, and illustrates how Morrison's territorial limits on the federal securities laws have become convoluted, say Andrew Rhys Davies and Jessica Lewis at WilmerHale.
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Practical Pointers After Fed. Circ. Double-Patenting Decision
With the Federal Circuit recently denying a full court review of In re: Cellect, a decision regarding obviousness-type double-patenting, affected patent family holders should evaluate their rights through both patent prosecution and future litigation lenses to minimize risks, say Austin Lorch and Jeff Wolfson at Haynes Boone.
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Sorting Circuit Split On Foreign Arbitration Treaty's Authority
A circuit court split over whether the New York Convention supersedes state law barring arbitration in certain disputes — a frequent issue in insurance matters — has left lower courts to rely on conflicting decisions, but the doctrine of self-executing treaties makes it clear that the convention overrules state law, says Gary Shaw at Pillsbury.