Appellate

  • June 12, 2024

    6th Circ. Says Worker's Anti-Vax Bias Suit Prematurely Tossed

    A trial court was too tough on a Christian job seeker when it threw out her religious bias lawsuit against an in-home healthcare provider that she alleged turned her away for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine, the Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday.

  • June 12, 2024

    Feds Urge 5th Circ. Against Fast-Tracking Parole Suit

    The Biden administration rebuked a Texas-led coalition's efforts to fast-track its challenge to an immigration program for Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, telling the Fifth Circuit the states won't suffer financial injury from the program while the case is underway.

  • June 12, 2024

    Atty Fights For Reinstatement In NC After Conviction

    Disbarred attorney Gregory Bartko pressed the North Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday to give him a shot at reinstatement, arguing that his 2010 conviction for fraud and money laundering doesn't allow the state bar organization to outright reject his request for being licensed again.

  • June 12, 2024

    Ga. Appeals Seat Winner Accused Of Fraud Over Residency

    An unsuccessful candidate for a Georgia Court of Appeals seat has launched a bid challenging the victory of a former state bar leader, arguing that he committed election fraud when he lied about living in Atlanta when he qualified as a candidate.

  • June 12, 2024

    Dershowitz Wants Jury To Decide Defamation Suit Against CNN

    An attorney for law scholar Alan Dershowitz told an Eleventh Circuit panel Wednesday the court should revive a $300 million defamation lawsuit against CNN, arguing that a jury should decide whether the news network is liable for intentionally omitting Dershowitz's statements in broadcasts over former President Donald Trump's 2020 impeachment trial.

  • June 12, 2024

    Pleading Flaw Sinks $1.5M Malpractice Award In Miami

    A Miami appeals court on Wednesday vacated a $1.5 million legal malpractice arbitration award against The Ferraro Law Firm, finding the arbitrator had not followed pleading guidelines fairly in awarding the seven-figure award to the firm's ex-client, Royal Merchant Holdings LLC.

  • June 12, 2024

    Kelly Hart Atty, North Texas Judge Picked For Biz Court Seats

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced four more appointments to the statewide business court on Wednesday, a day after announcing his first picks for the state's newest appellate courts.

  • June 12, 2024

    Massachusetts Pot Shop To Take Union Fight To 1st Circ.

    A Massachusetts cannabis retailer found to have engaged in union busting is appealing a district court order that directed it to bargain with a United Food and Commercial Workers local and to offer to rehire two fired union supporters.

  • June 12, 2024

    Bannon Looks To Avoid Prison Amid Contempt Appeals

    Donald Trump ally Stephen Bannon wants the D.C. Circuit to put off his four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress while he continues to challenge the conviction, contending that the case is likely to pique the interest of the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • June 12, 2024

    EPA Urges DC Circ. To Uphold Chemical Rule Deadline

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday asked the D.C. Circuit to reject a Louisiana-based neoprene manufacturer's bid to immediately block the EPA from enforcing a chemical emissions rule that will directly affect the company.

  • June 12, 2024

    2nd Circ. Partially Nixes Injunction Over Amazon Firing

    The Second Circuit vacated on Wednesday a New York federal judge's order barring Amazon from firing workers for engaging in union activity, saying the judge did not explain why she imposed the broad prohibition while at the same time finding the company did not have to rehire a fired union activist.

  • June 12, 2024

    Biden Names Prosecutors, Judge For 3 District Courts

    President Joe Biden announced nominees Wednesday for district courts in Minnesota, California and Pennsylvania.

  • June 11, 2024

    Psychiatrist Can't Ax Verdict Over ADHD Drug Death

    A Missouri appeals court on Tuesday refused to let a psychiatrist off the hook for a $5 million jury verdict — later reduced to less than $1 million — that found that he had negligently prescribed amphetamines to a patient with a history of abusing them, ultimately resulting in a brain hemorrhage that killed her.

  • June 11, 2024

    Ohio Justices Will Review Bid To Toss Neck Injury Suit

    The Ohio Supreme Court said on Tuesday it would review an appellate court decision that pulled Mid-Ohio Physicians LLP and one of its doctors back into a medical malpractice lawsuit after they had escaped liability by leaning on the statute of limitations.

  • June 11, 2024

    6th Circ. Judge Doubts Clinic's Standing To Block Bias Law

    During Sixth Circuit arguments Tuesday probing whether a Christian medical clinic can block Michigan from targeting it for refusing to facilitate gender transitions, one judge searched for evidence that the clinic is actually at risk of being prosecuted under the state's civil rights law.

  • June 11, 2024

    2nd Circ. Cites Macquarie In Booting Suit Over Go-Private Deal

    The Second Circuit refused to revive a proposed class action accusing a real estate services provider of artificially depressing share prices, applying apparently for the first time the U.S. Supreme Court's Macquarie decision on alleged failures to disclose certain information.

  • June 11, 2024

    DC Circ. Affirms Petrobras' Immunity Denial In Fraud Case

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the denial of Petrobras' immunity defense against an investor fraud lawsuit filed after the petroleum company was implicated in a sprawling bribery scheme, ruling that the alleged fraud caused a direct impact on the United States sufficient to pull Petrobras into the court's jurisdiction.

  • June 11, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Reinstates Parts Of Blood Analyzer Secrets Verdict

    The Federal Circuit decided Tuesday that a Rhode Island jury was right to find that an Italian company's blood analyzer computer code was stolen by a U.S. rival, but another jury will have to determine any damages.

  • June 11, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge On Theranos Appeal: 'Good Story' For Holmes

    Two Ninth Circuit judges on a three-judge panel expressed concerns Tuesday that the district judge presiding over convicted former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes' criminal trial erred by allowing a layperson witness to offer expert testimony at trial, with one judge saying, "There's a pretty good story here for Ms. Holmes."

  • June 11, 2024

    Miss. Urges 5th Circ. To Approve Ban On Medical Pot Ads

    The state of Mississippi has told the Fifth Circuit that it should uphold state restrictions barring advertising for medical marijuana, saying that the First Amendment cannot protect such speech because marijuana is federally illegal.

  • June 11, 2024

    Ga. Justices Affirm Toss Of Adult Shop's Ordinance Challenge

    Georgia's justices on Tuesday affirmed a trial court's dismissal of an adult novelty chain's challenge of a Gwinnett County ordinance that restricts adult entertainment stores to certain locations and requires them to obtain an adult establishment license to operate, concluding that the suit was barred as an already-adjudicated matter.

  • June 11, 2024

    Senate Dems To Bring Supreme Court Ethics Bill Up For Vote

    U.S. Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin, D-Ill., plans to bring his U.S. Supreme Court ethics reform bill up for a vote Wednesday in a move Republican lawmakers have already vowed to block.

  • June 11, 2024

    Moelis-Inspired Del. Corporate Law Bill Clears Senate Panel

    A string of law professors turned out Tuesday to oppose a Delaware Senate bill that would let boards cede some governance rights to big stockholders and some Delaware Court oversight to other jurisdictions, with the measure nevertheless cleared for a full Senate vote.

  • June 11, 2024

    Smoking Habit Can't Nix Retired Miner's Black Lung Benefits

    The Seventh Circuit on Monday backed a review board's decision to uphold black lung benefits for a retired coal worker who smoked cigarettes through his entire career in the mines, saying it wouldn't second-guess medical findings made at the administrative level.

  • June 11, 2024

    Co. Wants Instant Effect For Revival Of USPS Contract Dispute

    A canine screening company has urged the Federal Circuit to immediately issue a formal mandate after it revived the company's eligibility for disputed U.S. Postal Service mail screening contracts, seeking to block the USPS from transferring work away from the company.

Expert Analysis

  • NJ Ruling Offers Road Map To Fight Dishonored Check Claims

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    As ATM and mobile check deposits become more common, a New Jersey state appellate court’s recent ruling in Triffin v. Neptune shows that issuers can rely on copies of checks to defend against claims that checks were wrongfully dishonored after being electronically deposited, say attorneys at Sherman Atlas.

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

  • A Look At Recent Challenges To SEC's Settlement 'Gag Rule'

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    Though they have been unsuccessful so far, opponents of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's so-called gag rule, which prevents defendants from denying allegations when settling with the SEC, are becoming increasingly vocal and filing more challenges in recent years, say Mike Blankenship and Regina Maze at Winston & Strawn.

  • How 3 Unfolding Cases Could Affect The Energy Industry

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    Three judicial decisions now in the pipeline — Texas' challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methane regulations, Delaware's climate suit against big energy companies, and a case before the Supreme Court of Texas on royalty lease interpretation — could have important implications for the energy industry, say Michelle Scheffler and Rachael Cox at Skadden.

  • Conn. Bankruptcy Ruling Furthers Limitation Extension Split

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    A recent Connecticut bankruptcy court decision further solidifies a split of authority on whether Bankruptcy Rule 9006(b) may be used to extend the limitations period, meaning practitioners seeking to extend should serve the motion on all applicable parties and, where possible, rely on the doctrine of equitable tolling, says Shane Ramsey at Nelson Mullins.

  • How Purdue Pharma High Court Case May Change Bankruptcy

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    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.

  • Series

    Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown

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    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.

  • What A Post-Chevron Landscape Could Mean For Labor Law

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    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.

  • Perspectives

    Context Is Everything In Justices' Sentencing Relief Decision

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    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​​​​​​​.

  • Opinion

    The SEC Is Engaging In Regulation By Destruction

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    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.

  • Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs

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    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.

  • Studying NY, NJ Case Law On Employee Social Media Rights

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    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.

  • A 5th Circ. Lesson On Preserving Indemnification Rights

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    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.

  • ShapeShift Fine Epitomizes SEC's Crypto Policy, And Its Flaws

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    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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