Appellate

  • May 13, 2024

    'This Is America,' Not A Copyright Case, 2nd Circ. Says

    Second Circuit judges shut down an appeal from a Miami rapper who says the 2018 hit Childish Gambino song "This Is America" bit off the flow from his 2016 record "Made In America," agreeing with a New York federal judge that the less successful rapper never protected the composition of his older song with a copyright.

  • May 13, 2024

    Jackson, Sotomayor Would Have Taken Up Jury Pool Dispute

    U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Sonia Sotomayor dissented Monday from the other justices' refusal to review a case in which a defendant and his counsel were excluded from attending initial juror qualification in his capital murder case, calling the circumstances "significant and certworthy."

  • May 13, 2024

    FTC Can't Modify $5B Meta Privacy Deal, DC Circ. Told

    Meta Platforms Inc. told the D.C. Circuit on Monday that the Federal Trade Commission lacks the ability to unilaterally modify a $5 billion privacy settlement, contending that the courts are the ones responsible for enforcing the agreement.

  • May 13, 2024

    SEC Tells 3rd Circ. Coinbase Can't Force Crypto Rulemaking

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has told the Third Circuit that it already "reasonably explained" why it denied Coinbase's petition for crypto rulemaking and that it shouldn't have to retool its policy priorities just because crypto firms find it challenging to comply with existing laws.

  • May 13, 2024

    Challenger Says Ga. Justice Is 'Working The Refs'

    Georgia Supreme Court candidate John Barrow accused his incumbent opponent on Monday of "working the refs" and capitalizing on the prospect that Barrow could face discipline for running on a platform that is stridently in favor of abortion rights in his bid for a seat on the state's highest court.

  • May 13, 2024

    Wall Fraud Conviction Affirmed Despite Juror-Prosecutor Tie

    The Second Circuit on Monday affirmed the conviction of a Colorado man found to have siphoned online donations meant to fund a Southern border wall, saying the fact that a federal prosecutor had mentored a juror's daughter didn't warrant vacating the conviction.

  • May 13, 2024

    'Grinch' Is Not A Protected Class, HHS Tells 4th Circ.

    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has urged the Fourth Circuit to reject a chemist's discrimination, hostile work environment and retaliation claims, arguing that "Grinch" is not a protected class and federal law doesn't protect an individual "from not being well-liked in the workplace."

  • May 13, 2024

    Fla. Court Upholds Apt. Complex's Win In Wrongful Death Suit

    The mother of an autistic 6-year-old girl who drowned in a river near her Tampa, Florida, home can't sue the apartment complex for not putting up a fence, a state appeals court ruled, saying there was nothing unusually dangerous about that waterway.

  • May 13, 2024

    6th Circ. Backs Toss Of Private Security Co.'s Stolen Info Suit

    A Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals panel has sided with a private security company accused of partnering with a similar business and stealing trade secrets so it could flourish while the other one wilted, saying the plaintiff failed to support its allegations.

  • May 13, 2024

    Netflix Gets 10th Circ. To Take 2nd Look At 'Tiger King' Ruling

    The Tenth Circuit on Monday agreed to revisit an appeal from Netflix Inc. regarding a copyright complaint about its docuseries "Tiger King," after filmmakers and others told the appeals court it had misapplied U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

  • May 13, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Uses Rule 36 To Nix Centripetal Patent Appeals

    A Federal Circuit panel decided Monday to quickly give a stamp of approval to a pair of administrative board rulings killing off two patents that were once at issue in a lawsuit involving cybersecurity software.

  • May 13, 2024

    2nd Circ. Affirms Dismissal Of Bystolic Antitrust Suit

    The Second Circuit issued its first decision under the high court's Actavis "pay for delay" ruling on Monday, affirming the dismissal of a case alleging that an AbbVie predecessor delayed competition for its hypertension treatment Bystolic through deals with several generic makers.

  • May 13, 2024

    Corp. Transparency Act An Overbroad Dragnet, 11th Circ. Told

    Congress exceeded its authority in passing the Corporate Transparency Act, which prompted the U.S. Treasury Department to solicit personal information for law enforcement purposes from those that registered and owned state-registered entities, a small-business group told the Eleventh Circuit on Monday.

  • May 13, 2024

    New FCC Rules Preempt NY Broadband Price Cap, Prof Says

    A Second Circuit ruling that revived New York's low-price broadband law in April should be reversed because the Federal Communications Commission's recent decision not to regulate rates for internet services preempts the Empire State's price cap, a law professor said Friday.

  • May 13, 2024

    US Tells DC Circ. Ayahuasca Church's Settlement Inapt

    Federal regulators are telling the D.C. Circuit to ignore a recent settlement that will allow a Phoenix-based church to continue using ayahuasca in its ceremonies, saying it has nothing to do with the Iowa-based ayahuasca church challenging the IRS's refusal to give it tax-exempt status.

  • May 13, 2024

    E-Rate Requests Aren't FCA Claims, Law Group Tells Justices

    The Washington Legal Foundation urged the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether reimbursement requests for the Federal Communications Commission's E-Rate program are "claims" under the False Claims Act, arguing that a Seventh Circuit ruling that answered in the affirmative threatens wide-ranging consequences beyond the E-Rate program.

  • May 13, 2024

    Airlines Ask 5th Circ. To Void DOT 'Junk Fees' Disclosure Rule

    A lead lobbying group for major U.S. airlines has asked the Fifth Circuit to vacate a recent final rule from the U.S. Department of Transportation requiring airlines to clearly disclose add-on fees upfront, saying the agency overstepped with a needless rule that will only confuse consumers.

  • May 13, 2024

    2nd Circ. Won't Revive UBS Suit Over Disclosed Account Info

    The Second Circuit declined Monday to revive a couple's suit accusing UBS of fraudulently flagging an account to the Internal Revenue Service, finding that any alleged harm resulting from an audit would have been caused by the agency itself.

  • May 13, 2024

    Calif. Jury Awards Ex-UCLA Doctor $14M In 2nd Bias Trial

    A California state jury awarded $14 million to a former UCLA oncologist and professor who said she was discriminated against and constructively discharged from her job due to her gender, four years after the state appeals court threw out a $13 million jury verdict from the first trial.

  • May 13, 2024

    Assault Exclusion Dooms Restaurant's Coverage For Murder

    An insurer doesn't have to indemnify a Detroit restaurant accused of contributing to the 2019 shooting death of a potential patron by failing to provide adequate security, the Sixth Circuit said.

  • May 13, 2024

    NJ Justices Hold Contract Supersedes Real Estate Wage Law

    The contract a real estate agent signed deeming him an independent contractor is enough to resolve his claims of improper wage deductions, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Monday, saying that a state three-prong test doesn't need to apply.

  • May 13, 2024

    EPA Wrongly Approved New Chevron Chemicals, Group Says

    A Mississippi community group has asked the D.C. Circuit to revoke the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authorization for Chevron Corp. to produce 18 new chemicals derived from plastic waste "despite their extreme health risks."

  • May 13, 2024

    11th Circ. Says Ga. County's Trans Health Ban Violates Title VII

    A split Eleventh Circuit panel upheld a win Monday for a transgender sheriff's deputy who challenged a Georgia county health plan's refusal to pay for gender-affirmation surgery, ruling the coverage exclusion violated federal anti-discrimination law.

  • May 13, 2024

    Pa. Supreme Court Snapshot: Kleinbard Bill Battle Starts May

    The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania will weigh the spending powers of district attorneys in a Kleinbard LLC bill battle and whether an appeals court overstepped by greenlighting a hospital closure when the May argument lineup begins Tuesday.

  • May 13, 2024

    Ex-Banker Tied To Murdaugh Says Juror Issue Merits Retrial

    A former banker who was convicted of helping ex-attorney and convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh steal clients' money has urged the Fourth Circuit to give him a new trial, arguing two jurors were unconstitutionally removed.

Expert Analysis

  • Tips On Numerical Range From Fed. Circ. Philip Morris Ruling

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    The Federal Circuit's recent RAI v. Philip Morris decision that a patent provided sufficient written description to support a claimed numerical range offers several takeaways for practitioners, including the need for a cautious approach to criticism of ranges, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • How Calif. Video Recording Ruling May Affect Insured Exams

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    A recent California appellate decision, Myasnyankin v. Nationwide, allowing policyholders to video record all parties to an insurance examination under oath, has changed the rules of the road for EUOs and potentially opened Pandora's box for future disputes, say John Edson and Preston Bennett at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Fed. Circ. Patent Lesson: No Contradiction, No Indefiniteness

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Maxwell v. Amperex Technology highlights the complexities of construing patent claims when seemingly contradictory limitations are present, and that when a narrowing limitation overrides a broader one, they do not necessarily contradict each other, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • 11th Circ. FMLA Ruling Deepens Divide Over Causation

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent ruling in Lapham v. Walgreen distinguishes the circuit as the loudest advocate for the but-for causation standard for assessing Family and Medical Leave Act retaliation claims, though employers in other jurisdictions may encounter less favorable standards and the U.S. Supreme Court will likely have to address the circuit split eventually, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • 3 Notification Pitfalls To Avoid With Arbitration Provisions

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    In Lipsett v. Popular Bank, the Second Circuit found that a bank's arbitration provision was unenforceable due to insufficient notice to a customer that he was bound by the agreement, highlighting the importance of adequate communication of arbitration provisions, and customers' options for opting out, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Why Preemption Args Wouldn't Stall Trump Hush-Money Case

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    With former President Donald Trump's New York hush-money criminal trial weeks away, some speculate that he may soon move to stay the case on preemption grounds, but under the Anti-Injunction Act and well-settled case law, that motion would likely be quickly denied, says former New York Supreme Court Justice Ethan Greenberg, now at Anderson Kill.

  • Golf Course Copyright Bill Implications Go Beyond The Green

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    A new federal bill, the BIRDIE Act, introduced in February would extend intellectual property protections to golf course designers but could undercut existing IP case law and raise broader questions about the scope of copyright protection for works that involve living elements or nonhuman authorship, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • BIPA's Statutory Exemptions Post-Healthcare Ruling

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    The Illinois Supreme Court's November opinion in Mosby v. Ingalls Memorial Hospital, which held that the Biometric Information Privacy Act's healthcare exemption also applies when information is collected from healthcare workers, is a major win for healthcare defendants that resolves an important question of statutory interpretation, say attorneys at Quinn Emanuel.

  • 2nd Circ.'s Nine West Ruling Clarifies Safe Harbor Confusion

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    The Second Circuit’s recent ruling in Nine West’s Chapter 11 suit clarifies that courts in the circuit will apply a transfer-by-transfer analysis to determine the applicability of Section 546(e) of the Bankruptcy Code, and that to be safe harbored, a financial institution must act as an agent with respect to the specific transfer at issue, says Leonardo Trivigno at Carter Ledyard.

  • Opinion

    9th Circ. Nazi Art Theft Ruling Is Bad For Repatriation Cases

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    The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation, holding that a Spanish museum doesn't have to return a Nazi-stolen painting to the original Jewish owners, spells trouble for future heirloom repatriation cases, which hinge on similar archaic laws, say Andrea Perez and Josh Sherman at Carrington Coleman.

  • Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • Opinion

    High Court Should Endorse Insurer Standing In Bankruptcy

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    In Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum, the U.S. Supreme Court will examine bankruptcy standing doctrine as applied to insurers in mass tort cases, and should use the opportunity to eliminate spurious standing roadblocks to resolving insurer objections on their merits, says Frank Perch at White and Williams.

  • High Court Social Media Speech Ruling Could Implicate AI

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    In Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether certain state laws can restrict content moderation by social media platforms, but the eventual decision could also provide insight into whether the first amendment protects artificial intelligence speech, say Joseph Meadows and Quyen Dang at GRSM50.

  • Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling: Purposivism In Textualist Garb

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s Trump v. Anderson decision earlier this week, allowing former President Donald Trump to remain on state primary ballots, alleviates uncertainty and minimizes the potential for abuse in future cases, but is difficult to square with the court’s own account of its textualist interpretive methods, says Will Havemann at Hogan Lovells.

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