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Appellate
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June 07, 2024
Uber Can Arbitrate With Paralyzed Rider, Mass. Justices Rule
Massachusetts' highest court on Friday ruled Uber Technologies Inc. had made its terms of service clear enough to move a paralyzed rider's case to arbitration, despite a dissent from one justice who said the company should spell out the rights that riders surrender when they hail a car.
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June 07, 2024
Southwest Attys Get Pause On 'Punitive' Religious Training
In finding Friday that an order for several in-house Southwest Airlines attorneys to undergo "religious liberty training" should be permanently placed on hold while an appeal of a flight attendant's Title VII trial win is pending, the Fifth Circuit said the district court had likely exceeded "the scope of the court's civil-contempt authority."
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June 07, 2024
6th Circ. Sides With Hemp Co. In CVS Deal Commission Row
The Sixth Circuit has sided with hemp producers operating under Ecofibre Ltd. in a dispute with a group of businesses that sought commissions for linking the hemp companies with CVS, saying the businesses' prior concessions at the trial court dooms their new arguments on appeal.
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June 07, 2024
Calif. Ex-Atty Beats $330K Malpractice Judgment On Appeal
A former attorney escaped more than $300,000 in damages when a California appellate court ruled Friday that his former client didn't follow the proper procedure before receiving a default judgment in a case that's more than a decade old.
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June 07, 2024
9th Circ. Says University Can Sue Over Wash. AG Hiring Probe
A Ninth Circuit panel breathed new life Friday into a private Christian university's lawsuit accusing Washington state's attorney general of improperly investigating its anti-LGBTQ+ hiring practices, finding the possibility of potential future enforcement gives the school standing to sue.
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June 07, 2024
Fed. Circ. Panel Doubts Bid To Nix Actavis' $12M Deduction
A Federal Circuit panel seemed skeptical of the government's bid to overturn a decision allowing drugmaker Actavis to deduct $12 million it spent fending off lawsuits as it secured approval to sell generics, raising the question during oral arguments Friday whether the company was being uniquely targeted.
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June 06, 2024
5th Circ. Presses Feds On 'Perplexing' Razor Wire Arguments
A three-judge Fifth Circuit panel had terse words Thursday for the government's argument that the court couldn't consider new facts on Texas' use of concertina wire at the border when deciding whether to issue a new injunction preventing federal agents from removing the wire, asking how it was "supposed to even react" to that claim during oral arguments
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June 06, 2024
Calif. Justices OK UC Berkeley People's Park Housing Plan
The University of California, Berkeley, can move ahead with its plans to build a housing project in the historic People's Park, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday, saying a new state law wipes out opponents' claims that the university's environmental impact study failed to look at potential student noise pollution.
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June 06, 2024
Ex-Telemundo Worker Urges Panel To Revive Harassment Suit
A former Telemundo advertising executive urged an Eleventh Circuit panel Thursday to reverse a lower court's ruling to dismiss her sexual harassment lawsuit against the company, saying she sufficiently alleged a hostile work environment after reporting sexual harassment by her supervisors.
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June 06, 2024
11th Circ. Won't Revive State Farm Auto Policy Coverage Fight
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed Thursday the dismissal of a State Farm auto policyholder's proposed class action alleging the insurer breaches its own policies by routinely denying medical expense coverage based on an ambiguous "reasonableness" standard, finding that the policyholder's interpretation of the policy would render parts of it "meaningless."
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June 06, 2024
Wash. High Court Will Review Gun Magazine Law
The Washington state Supreme Court said Thursday it will review a trial court ruling that the state's ban on sales of large-capacity magazines for firearms is unconstitutional.
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June 06, 2024
Texas Court Revives Whataburger Customer's Injury Suit
A Texas appellate court on Thursday refused to let Whataburger escape a lawsuit seeking to hold it liable for injuries a customer sustained after her arm was lacerated by a worker carrying a condiment tray, reinstating the customer's claims against the restaurant chain and paving the way for a trial.
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June 06, 2024
Wash. Justices To Review Spokane Homeless Camp Initiative
The Washington State Supreme Court has agreed to hear a homeless advocacy group's appeal in its failed challenge to a voter-approved initiative expanding Spokane's restrictions on homeless encampments.
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June 06, 2024
9th Circ. Tells Insurer To Cover Teen's Treatment Center Stay
The Ninth Circuit has upheld a Massachusetts mother's win in her fight to get her insurer to cover behavioral health treatment for her son, ruling Thursday that a Washington federal judge was correct to order the insurer to cover her son's 14-month stay in a residential treatment center.
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June 06, 2024
Tribes Pan ND Assembly's High Court Brief In Subpoena Row
Two North Dakota tribes looking to undo an Eighth Circuit ruling that quashed subpoenas on North Dakota legislators and staff in underlying voting rights litigation told justices the ruling should be vacated as moot despite the lawmakers' arguments otherwise.
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June 06, 2024
Navy Denied IT Worker Promotions For Race, 11th Circ. Told
A Florida-based Navy information technology worker urged the Eleventh Circuit in a hearing Thursday to reverse a lower court's decision to toss his discrimination lawsuit, saying he was passed over for promotion because he was Hispanic and older than other candidates despite being the best qualified.
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June 06, 2024
6th Circuit Selected For Start Of Net Neutrality Fight
The Sixth Circuit was chosen by random drawing Thursday to consolidate, at least for now, more than half a dozen challenges to the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rules.
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June 06, 2024
High Bar For Booking.com Price Limits, EU High Court Told
A European Court of Justice advocate general recommended a high bar Thursday for Booking.com assertions that price parity clauses imposed on contracts with hotels are "ancillary" to, and thus protected as, legitimate business arrangements.
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June 06, 2024
Wash. Labor Dept. Wants To Back AG In ICE Inspections Suit
The Washington state labor and health departments want to throw their support behind efforts in the Ninth Circuit by the state's governor and attorney general to defend a state law that allows surprise inspections at private immigration detention centers.
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June 06, 2024
Ga. Panel Frees Railroad From Negligent Spotting Claim
The Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday said a trial court wrongly refused to free CSX Corp. and CSX Transportation Inc. from a so-called negligent spotting claim in a man's lawsuit alleging he was injured while moving a CSXT railcar as part of his work for a wood products company.
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June 06, 2024
Prof Can Test NC State Building For Carcinogens
A split state appeals court has granted a former North Carolina State University employee stricken by cancer access to gather evidence in a campus building that studies showed contained cancer-causing materials.
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June 06, 2024
Meta Can't Get Section 230 Shield Over Scam Ads At 9th Circ.
The Ninth Circuit has ruled that Section 230 is "not limitless" and doesn't shield Meta from contract claims in a proposed consumer class action over Chinese vendors' scam ads on Facebook and Instagram, with one judge calling on the Ninth Circuit to rethink precedent that broadly interprets Section 230's scope.
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June 06, 2024
Mass. AG Asks State High Court To Affirm Housing Law
Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell told the state's highest court this week that her office has the authority to seek enforcement of what she says is a mandatory state housing initiative requiring more than half the state's communities to allow multifamily housing development.
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June 06, 2024
FDA Urges High Court To Hear 5th Circ. Flavored E-Cig Case
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to grant its petition for a review of an en banc Fifth Circuit decision overturning its denial of a flavored e-cigarette marketing application, saying this case provides a better vehicle to decide the issues than other petitions at the high court.
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June 06, 2024
5th Circ. Sides With Miss. In Pipeline Permitting Row
The Fifth Circuit has found a lower court properly threw out an interstate pipeline company's assertion that annual levee crossing fees sought by Mississippi regulators were unconstitutional because they fell outside the scope of the company's 75-year-old permit.
Expert Analysis
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How Purdue Pharma High Court Case May Change Bankruptcy
The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in Purdue Pharma may be the death of most third-party releases in Chapter 11 cases, and depending on the decision’s breadth, could have much more far-reaching effects on the entire bankruptcy system, say Brian Shaw and David Doyle at Cozen O'Connor.
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Series
Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
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Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown
While some are concerned about repercussions if the U.S. Supreme Court brings an end to Chevron deference in the Loper and Relentless cases this term, agencies and attorneys would survive just fine under the doctrines that have already begun to replace it, say Daniel Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.
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What A Post-Chevron Landscape Could Mean For Labor Law
With the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Chevron deference expected by the end of June, it’s not too soon to consider how National Labor Relations Act interpretations could be affected if federal courts no longer defer to administrative agencies’ statutory interpretation and regulatory actions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Perspectives
Context Is Everything In Justices' Sentencing Relief Decision
In the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Pulsifer v. U.S. decision, limiting the number of drug offenders eligible for sentencing relief, the majority and dissent adopted very different contextual frames for interpreting the meaning of “and” — with the practical impact being that thousands more defendants will be subject to severe mandatory minimums, says Douglas Berman at Moritz College of Law.
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Opinion
The SEC Is Engaging In Regulation By Destruction
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent use of regulation by enforcement against digital assets indicates it's more interested in causing harm to crypto companies than providing guidance to the markets or protecting investors, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.
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Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
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Studying NY, NJ Case Law On Employee Social Media Rights
While a New Jersey state appeals court has twice determined that an employee's termination by a private employer for social media posts is not prohibited, New York has yet to take a stand on the issue — so employers' decisions on such matters still need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis, say Julie Levinson Werner and Jessica Kriegsfeld at Lowenstein Sandler.
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A 5th Circ. Lesson On Preserving Indemnification Rights
The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Raymond James & Associates v. Jalbert offers an important lesson for creditors and parties to indemnification agreements: If a debtor has indemnified a creditor, the creditor should consider participating in the bankruptcy case to avoid being deemed to have forfeited its indemnification rights, say Dania Slim and Alana Lyman at Pillsbury.
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ShapeShift Fine Epitomizes SEC's Crypto Policy, And Its Flaws
A recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission order imposing a fine on former cryptocurrency exchange ShapeShift for failing to register as a securities dealer showcases the SEC's regulation-by-enforcement approach, but the dissent by two commissioners raises valid concerns that the agency's embrace of ambiguity over clarity risks hampering the growth of the crypto economy, says Keith Blackman at Bracewell.
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2nd Circ. Adviser Liability Ruling May Shape SEC Enforcement
The Second Circuit’s recent decision in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Rashid, applying basic negligence principles to reverse a finding of investment adviser liability, provides a road map for future fraud enforcement proceedings, says Elisha Kobre at Bradley Arant.
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In Bribery Case, High Court's Past Is Probably Prologue
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in Snyder v. U.S. on the issue of whether federal law criminalizes gratuities that are not tied to an explicit quid pro quo, and precedent strongly indicates the court will limit an expansive reading of the bribery statute, say attorneys Sami Azhari and Don Davidson.
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Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
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Direct Claims Ruling May Alter Gov't Ties To Software Firms
A recent Federal Circuit decision allowing a software developer to pursue legal action under the Contract Disputes Act could change the government's relationship with commercial software providers by permitting direct claims, even in third-party purchase situations, say Dan Ramish and Zach Prince at Haynes Boone.
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Payment Provision Lessons From NJ Construction Ruling
A New Jersey appellate court's decision in Bil-Jim v. Wyncrest, holding that an American Institute of Architects contract was not an installment contract, highlights both the complexities of statute of limitations calculations and the significant consequences that can arise from minor differences in contract language, say Mitchell Taraschi and Zac Brower at Connell Foley.