Appellate

  • June 11, 2024

    Pa. County Can't Give Voting Machine Data To Mich. Atty

    A Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday blocked Fulton County commissioners from giving data copied from the county's Dominion Voting Systems equipment to an attorney and Donald Trump ally facing criminal charges for illegally accessing voter information in Michigan.

  • June 11, 2024

    Texas AG Urges DC Circ. To Revive Media Matters Probe

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton wants the D.C. Circuit to revive his investigation into progressive media watchdog Media Matters' reporting on the social media platform X, saying the D.C. federal court had no authority to interfere with the probe.

  • June 11, 2024

    Justices Urged To Review Fee Denial In DOL Stock Plan Case

    A construction design firm is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its fight for attorney fees after beating an enforcement case brought by the U.S. Department of Labor alleging the company and its founders mismanaged an employee stock ownership plan, with the firm arguing the Ninth Circuit erred in siding with the DOL.

  • June 11, 2024

    Ga. Justices Accept Fla. Atty's Voluntary Suspension

    An attorney suspended by the Florida Bar for myriad failures — including a lack of communication with clients and the submission of illegible court filings — while practicing with Your Jacksonville Lawyer PA was reciprocally suspended Tuesday in Georgia and is currently ineligible to practice in either state.

  • June 11, 2024

    Spat Over Texas Trial, Vacation Plans Ends With New Date

    A Texas appeals court has dismissed a tech company's mandamus petition stating that a Harris County court scheduled a trial in its case despite several attorney vacation letters after the parties said the trial court moved the date.

  • June 11, 2024

    Ga. Justices Disbar Atty For Unlawful Disbursement Of $2M

    The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday disbarred an attorney who disbursed approximately $2 million of a digital asset trading company's funds, which had been intended for a bitcoin sale that never went through, into personal accounts controlled by her and her sister. 

  • June 11, 2024

    Ga. Justices OK Remote Work For Attys Not Licensed In State

    The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously put its stamp of approval Tuesday on an opinion stating that attorneys who reside in the Peach State but are not licensed there may provide legal services by remote means under certain circumstances.

  • June 11, 2024

    Mich. Court Says Insurer Can Yank Benefits For Litigation Lies

    The Michigan Supreme Court unanimously reversed an appeals court decision, ruling Tuesday that misrepresentations made during discovery could prevent the family of a deceased car accident victim from recovering benefits from an insurer assigned to his claim by a state safety net program.

  • June 11, 2024

    5th Circ. Won't Adopt Rule On AI-Drafted Docs

    The Fifth Circuit has decided this week not to adopt a proposed rule requiring attorneys to verify that documents were not written using generative artificial intelligence, or if they were, that they were checked for accuracy by humans.

  • June 11, 2024

    FDA Urges 11th Circ. To Back E-Cig Ban Over High Nicotine

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is urging the Eleventh Circuit to not let Bidi Vapor market an e-cigarette product that the agency claimed would expose users to nearly twice as much nicotine as a typical combustible cigarette.

  • June 10, 2024

    Calif. Targets Oil Giants' Profits In Amended Climate Suit

    California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday tweaked the state's climate deception suit against Exxon Mobil Corp., Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP to also target the oil and gas companies' "illegally obtained" profits under a recently enacted state law.

  • June 10, 2024

    New State Appeals Court Is Constitutional, Texas Says

    The Texas Health and Human Services Commission asked the state's high court to reject a petition by Dallas County seeking a declaration that the newly created Fifteenth Court of Appeals is unconstitutional, saying the legislature indeed can create an appeals court with subject-matter jurisdiction.

  • June 10, 2024

    Weinstein Calls Accuser 'Brazen Liar' In Calif. Criminal Appeal

    Harvey Weinstein told a California appellate court that prejudicial rulings deprived him of a fair trial in the Golden State, arguing in his opening brief that the jury wrongfully heard evidence of uncharged sex assault offenses but never heard evidence that would have exposed his accuser as a "brazen liar."

  • June 10, 2024

    9th Circ. Partially Revives Puget Sound Pollution Row

    The Ninth Circuit sided with an environmental group Monday in a regulation enforcement case against the Port of Tacoma, Washington, partially overturning a lower court to find previous iterations of state stormwater permitting rules do extend across marine cargo terminals and other transportation facilities.

  • June 10, 2024

    6th Circ. Won't Rethink Drop Of Suit Over Doped Derby Horse

    A Sixth Circuit panel on Monday declined to rehear arguments from a group of gamblers who claim they should have been paid for their 2021 Kentucky Derby winning bets after the first-place horse was eventually disqualified for doping.

  • June 10, 2024

    Home Flooding Was Unavoidable, Agency Tells Appeals Court

    A Texas river management agency has told a state appeals court that a group of Houston residents' properties would have flooded regardless of its actions to mitigate Hurricane Harvey's effects, urging the appellate court to overturn a trial court order denying its bid for release from the residents' suit.

  • June 10, 2024

    IHS Urges Budget Shift After High Court Healthcare Ruling

    The Indian Health Service, following a divided U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming that the federal government is liable for the reimbursement of millions in administrative healthcare costs for two Native American tribes, is urging Congress to shift its budget appropriations for fiscal year 2026 to protect the agency's overall health.

  • June 10, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Revive Ex-City Worker's Accommodation Suit

    The Ninth Circuit declined Monday to revive an employee's suit alleging the city he worked for used an argument he had with police officers as a cover-up to fire him because he requested leave to treat a knee injury, ruling that the worker lacked proof of prejudice.

  • June 10, 2024

    'Wicked Smart' Justice Sworn In To Mass. High Court

    If there's one thing that makes Supreme Judicial Court Justice Gabrielle Wolohojian uncomfortable, it's praise, former WilmerHale partner Peter Macdonald told an audience of hundreds of the jurist's colleagues, friends and family during a ceremonial swearing-in Monday evening.

  • June 10, 2024

    Injured Teen Athlete Drops Michigan Supreme Court Appeal

    A high school athlete who claimed a car crash ended his hopes of a college baseball career settled his lawsuit Friday, weeks after Michigan's top court had expressed interest in his appeal, which turned on who decides the seriousness of a crash victim's injury.

  • June 10, 2024

    Colo. Justice Blasts Majority Decision In Judge DQ Case

    The Colorado Supreme Court reinstated a man's motor vehicle theft conviction Monday after he convinced a lower court to overturn it because the judge who presided over his trial should have been disqualified, with a dissenting justice arguing the ruling upends "long-settled law" as to when the right to seek such disqualification can be deemed to have been waived.

  • June 10, 2024

    Baltimore Lands $45M Deal With Allergan In Opioid Litigation

    Baltimore has put to rest its claims that Allergan played a part in the opioid crisis, reaching a $45 million settlement with the pharmaceutical company, an amount the city called "unprecedented" in an announcement on Monday.

  • June 10, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Choctaw's Dispute With CVS Must Be Arbitrated

    A Ninth Circuit panel forced the Choctaw Nation to arbitrate a dispute over prescription drug reimbursement with CVS Health Corp. subsidiaries, affirming an Arizona federal judge's order in a published opinion Monday.

  • June 10, 2024

    Colo. Justices Say Toxic Tort Plaintiffs Didn't Waive Privilege

    Colorado's justices on Monday said plaintiffs suing a medical sterilization plant over exposure to a carcinogen cannot be forced to turn over communications with their lawyers related to an expert report, rejecting the plant's argument that the disclosure of a spreadsheet to an expert waived attorney-client privilege.

  • June 10, 2024

    Ga. Panel Revives Woman's Crash Injury Suit Against Sheriff

    A Georgia Court of Appeals panel revived a crash lawsuit against a Georgia sheriff and deputy Monday, ruling that the plaintiffs' serving of the suit upon county government officials instead of the sheriff himself did not doom her case after all.

Expert Analysis

  • Why Incorporating By Reference Is Rarely Good Practice

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Promptu Systems v. Comcast serves as a reminder that while incorporating by reference may seem efficient, it is generally prohibited by courts and can lead to sanctions when used to bypass a word count limit, says Cullen Seltzer at Sands Anderson.

  • Strategies For Defense Attys To Subpoena A Nonparty Witness

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    Federal criminal defendants seeking to subpoena potentially exculpatory information from nonparty witnesses must satisfy a stringent standard and should consider several often overlooked arguments to assure courts they’re not engaging in a fishing expedition, says James Roberts at Schlam Stone.

  • Series

    Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.

  • ESG Challenges In Focus After Sierra Club Opposes SEC Rule

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    The Sierra Club's recent objection to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosures for investors presents an unusual — pro-disclosure — legal challenge and an opportunity to take a close look at the varying critiques of ESG regulations, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.

  • Opinion

    High Court Should Settle Circuit Split On Risk Disclosures

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    The U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition for writ of certiorari in the Facebook case to resolve a growing circuit split concerning when risk disclosures can be misleading under federal securities laws, and its decision should align with the intent of Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    Why Supreme Court Should Allow Repatriation Tax To Stand

    If the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't reject the taxpayers' misguided claims in Moore v. U.S. that the mandatory repatriation tax is unconstitutional, it could wreak havoc on our system of taxation and result in a catastrophic loss of revenue for the government, say Christina Mason and Theresa Balducci at Herrick Feinstein.

  • For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

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    A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • High Court's Jan. 6 Rioter Case May Have Wide Ripple Effects

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    The U.S. Supreme Court will soon hear oral arguments in Fischer v. United States, a case that will determine whether a law enacted after the Enron scandal can be used to prosecute Jan. 6 rioters, and could affect the government’s ability to charge those who impede a range of official proceedings, say Brook Dooley and Sara Fitzpatrick at Keker Van Nest.

  • 5th Circ. Clarifies What Is And Isn't A 'New Use' Of PFAS

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    The Fifth Circuit's March 21 decision in Inhance Technologies v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, preventing the EPA from regulating existing uses of PFAS under "significant new use" provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act, provides industry with much-needed clarity, say Joseph Schaeffer and Sloane Wildman at Babst Calland.

  • CORRECTED: Endoscope Patent Case Offers Guidance On Right To Repair

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    An Alabama federal court's decision in Karl Storz v. IMS reaffirmed that product owners have broad rights to repair or modify their property as they see fit, highlighting the parameters of the right to repair in the context of patent infringement, say Dustin Weeks and Dabney Carr at Troutman Pepper. Correction: Due to an editing error, a previous version of this article and headline attributed the Karl Storz ruling to the wrong court. The error has been corrected.

  • Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law

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    A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.

  • How A Motion Before Justices May Help Trump Beyond Court

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    Even if Donald Trump loses his presidential immunity claim before the U.S. Supreme Court, the delay created by the motion may mean a trial can't be completed before the November election, says Paul Tuchmann at Wiggin and Dana.

  • Opinion

    $175M Bond Refiled By Trump Is Still Substantively Flawed

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    The corrected $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump on Thursday to stave off enforcement of the New York attorney general's fraud judgment against him remains substantively and procedurally flawed, as well as inadequately secured, says Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen.

  • Opinion

    Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

  • 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.

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