Appellate

  • May 14, 2026

    Water Utilities Urge DC Circ. To Toss EPA PFAS Regs Suit

    A trade association for local public clean water utilities is urging the D.C. Circuit to affirm the dismissal of a suit from a group of farmers alleging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hasn't adequately regulated so-called forever chemicals, saying the plaintiffs' suit risks interfering with their ability to do their jobs.

  • May 14, 2026

    Trump's 8th Circ. Pick Clears Senate Panel Vote

    President Donald Trump's nominee for the Eighth Circuit, who represented the president in the cases brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, advanced to the full Senate on Thursday.

  • May 14, 2026

    NCR To Pay $48M To End Former Execs' Lifetime Benefits Suit

    NCR Corp. will pay nearly $48 million to resolve a class action from former executives who alleged the software company broke its promise to send them annuity payments for life, the workers told a Georgia federal court.

  • May 14, 2026

    Justices Back Courts' Power Over Cases Sent To Arbitration

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that federal courts that have sent a dispute to arbitration have jurisdiction to confirm or vacate a subsequent award, affirming a Second Circuit decision enforcing an award issued in a discrimination case involving a former hotel employee.

  • May 14, 2026

    Justices Say Freight Brokers Can Face Negligence Suits

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday that freight brokers might also be liable under state law for selecting unsafe motor carriers that then get into highway crashes that kill or injure people, offering long-sought clarity on liability standards in a commercial trucking industry unnerved by supersized verdicts against carriers and drivers.

  • May 13, 2026

    Rebel Wilson Can't Defeat Calif. Defamation Suit On Appeal

    California appellate justices upheld an order denying Rebel Wilson's bid to ax a defamation suit alleging she spread lies about producers of the movie "The Deb," and whom she accused of embezzlement and sexually harassing the lead actress, ruling Wednesday there's evidence to support Wilson knew her statements were likely untrue. 

  • May 13, 2026

    Ore. Justices Urged To Reverse PacifiCorp Appeal Win

    Property owners urged the Oregon Supreme Court Wednesday to overturn a decision wiping out their wildfire damages verdict against PacifiCorp, saying the ruling leaves the state "without a workable framework" for class trials and citing "unfortunate appearance-of-justice concerns" regarding the judge who wrote the opinion.

  • May 13, 2026

    EPA Must Reconsider Flame Retardant Regs, 9th Circ. Says

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must revisit rulemaking on a flame retardant known as decaBDE, a Ninth Circuit panel said Wednesday, agreeing with a Native American tribe and environmental groups that the federal agency failed to adequately explain its past decisions declining to further regulate the chemical's disposal.

  • May 13, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Won't Save Actelion's Suit Over Hypertension Drug

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld a lower court's rejection of Actelion Pharmaceuticals' patent case against Viatris Inc. over its planned generic version of Actelion's hypertension drug, finding no issues with the court's approach to pH measurement in the patent.

  • May 13, 2026

    4th Circ. Says Prison Misconduct Sank Sentence Cut Bid

    The Fourth Circuit has ruled that a Virginia man convicted of illegal ammunition possession should be made to serve an entire federal sentence, despite being eligible for a reduction under recently revised sentencing guidelines.

  • May 13, 2026

    1st Circ. Doubts Trump Admin's 3rd-Country Removal Policy

    The First Circuit on Wednesday questioned the sufficiency of a country's diplomatic assurances that a noncitizen won't be persecuted or tortured if the Trump administration deports them there, and whether such assurances eliminate obligations to provide notice to the deportee.

  • May 13, 2026

    2nd Circ. Backs Fed Reserve's Power To Cut Master Accounts

    The Federal Reserve has broad discretion to cut financial institutions off from master accounts, the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday, rejecting a Puerto Rico bank's argument that it has a statutory right to what is commonly referred to as "bank accounts for banks."

  • May 13, 2026

    Ex-Client Can Relitigate Malpractice Suit Over Workers' Comp

    An Illinois appellate panel has reversed a summary judgment win for a Chicago attorney and her law firm in a legal malpractice dispute, saying a jury must evaluate whether her ex-client lost his workers' compensation case because of her failure to introduce a medical expert's opinion or whether he could have prevailed on appeal had the attorney filed one.

  • May 13, 2026

    NCAA Says Injunction Mooted WVU Players' Eligibility Suit

    The NCAA has asked a West Virginia federal judge to toss the antitrust suit of four football players, arguing that the athletes lack standing because a preliminary injunction that allowed them to play during the 2025-26 season remedied their alleged injuries.

  • May 13, 2026

    Pa. School OK To Remove List Of 'Infamous' Strikebreakers

    A divided Pennsylvania appeals panel on Wednesday held that administrators at a Pennsylvania university were allowed to remove a list of "infamous" strike-breaking union faculty members from a public bulletin board, even though the posting itself was legally protected.

  • May 13, 2026

    4th Circ. Judge Flags Energy Shortage Harms In Pipeline Fight

    A Fourth Circuit judge on Wednesday appeared less than pleased with counsel for a collection of environmental groups during a hearing to consider halting construction on an interstate pipeline, calling attention to the "one sentence" devoted to the public harm of ongoing energy shortages.

  • May 13, 2026

    Florida Panel Orders Evidence Suppressed In Cockfighting Case

    A man convicted of cockfighting and animal cruelty should have had the evidence against him suppressed, a Florida appeals court found Wednesday, saying in a reversal that because the state couldn't provide proof that there was a warrant to search his property, nothing officers discovered there could be used.

  • May 13, 2026

    Arbitrators See Global Stakes In Trump BigLaw EO Fight

    Ahead of a D.C. Circuit hearing on Thursday in the Trump administration's effort to revive executive orders imposed against four BigLaw firms, an official at the College of Commercial Arbitrators told Law360 this week there are several things arbitrators are going to be watching for.

  • May 13, 2026

    Conn. Justices Unsure Foreclosure Rule Changed In 2022

    Connecticut Supreme Court justices expressed doubt Wednesday that a 2022 opinion silently overturned a decades-old standing rule in foreclosure cases, musing about whether the General Assembly's choice to stay on the sidelines and the standards of other states meant that the original decision was right all along.

  • May 13, 2026

    Full 5th Circ. Weighs Jackson, Mississippi, Lead Poisoning Claims

    The full Fifth Circuit on Tuesday weighed whether to keep intact a lawsuit alleging the city of Jackson, Mississippi, poisoned its residents by allowing lead to leach into the water supply, asking what level of lead in the water would constitute "shocking the conscience."

  • May 13, 2026

    Mich. Panel Revives FOIA Suit, Finds Defense Frivolous

    A Michigan appellate panel partly revived a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against a Detroit-area prosecutor's office, ruling that the office failed to adequately justify withholding records related to threats against the prosecutor and her staff, while also finding that one of its legal defenses was frivolous and sanctionable. 

  • May 13, 2026

    Tesla Shareholders Appeal Suit Dismissal Tied To Texas Move

    Tesla shareholders, whose breach of fiduciary duty suit against Elon Musk and the automaker's directors was dismissed last month following the company's move to Texas, appealed the dismissal to the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday.

  • May 13, 2026

    10th Circ. Considers Fire Chief's Immunity In Termination Suit

    A Colorado fire chief urged the Tenth Circuit Wednesday to find a lower court erred in denying him qualified immunity after terminating a union president, with the three-judge panel questioning the relationship between the union's collective bargaining agreement and the U.S. Constitution's requirements.

  • May 13, 2026

    Fla. Law Makes Lyft Immune To Passenger's Assault Suit

    A Florida state appeals court ruled Wednesday that a state law shielding Lyft and other ride-hailing companies from liability bars a suit over a driver's alleged assault of a passenger, noting that the law's immunity provision is "very broad."

  • May 13, 2026

    Fla. Court Revives Killer's Bid Over Witness Recantation

    A Florida appeals court reversed a lower court's order denying a convicted murderer's motion for postconviction relief based on newly discovered evidence, ruling Wednesday that the trial court should have held an evidentiary hearing on the evidence.

Expert Analysis

  • 2 Strands Of Patent Law In High Court's 'Skinny Label' Case

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    Amarin v. Hikma, which is set for oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court this month, highlights the distinction between two different strands of intellectual property law — analogizing a patent to either a property deed or a home, says Jonas McDavit at Spencer West.

  • Justices' Geofence Ruling May Test 4th Amendment's Future

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    When the U.S. Supreme Court decides in Chatrie v. U.S. whether law enforcement may use geofence warrants to compel Google to disclose location history data, the ruling is likely to become an important statement about the future of Fourth Amendment law in data-driven investigations, says Duncan Levin at Levin & Associates.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    In the first quarter of 2026, New York's banking developments were headlined by initiatives to expand oversight of financial institutions and strengthen consumer protection laws, including a new framework for buy now, pay later lenders, a sweeping debt collection rule and a revised corporate self-disclosure program for financial crimes, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Seeking A Policy Fix As Merger Reporting Fight Continues

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    A recently announced request by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice for public comment on the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger reporting requirements, as litigation challenging the commission's updated requirements continues, suggests the government's willingness to address how best to support modern merger enforcement without unduly burdening filing parties, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Opinion

    Wash. Amazon Ruling Should Reshape Suicide Liability

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    The Washington Supreme Court's reinstatement of negligence claims in Scott v. Amazon.com, brought by the families of people who died by suicide after purchasing chemicals online, signals a reckoning for digital commerce and the rejection of the defense that online marketplaces are merely passive technology platforms, says Donald Fountain at Clark Fountain.

  • Axed Trade Secret Award Cautions Against Bundling Damages

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent ruling in Trinseo v. Harper, vacating a $75 million jury verdict for trade secret misappropriation due to a bundled damages model, offers a strong reminder to apportion damages so a jury can award a nonspeculative figure when it credits only some alleged secrets, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • 2 Rulings Poke Holes In Mandatory Restitution Framework

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ellingburg v. U.S., as well as the Third Circuit’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Abrams, provide criminal defense practitioners with new tools to challenge Mandatory Victims Restitution Act orders, and highlight several restitution-related issues that converged in the recent prosecution of former Frank CEO Charlie Javice, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Pivotal 6th Circ. Ruling Threatens Decades Of NLRB Decisions

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    The Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Brown-Forman v. National Labor Relations Board fundamentally challenged the NLRB's long-standing practice of establishing policies through adjudication rather than formal rulemaking, giving employers and unions a new avenue to procedurally attack the vast majority of its rules, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • Exploring When Fraud Asset Freezes Limit Right To Pick Atty

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    The defendant’s claim in the Seventh Circuit’s pending U.S. v. Shah case that the government restrained his assets until he couldn’t afford his chosen counsel presents a useful case study in how criminal forfeiture procedure interacts with U.S. Supreme Court rulings on Sixth Amendment rights and appealing complex fraud convictions, says Elisha Kobre at Sheppard.

  • How Justices' GEO Ruling Resets Gov't Contractor Litigation

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent GEO Group v. Menocal decision, holding that government contractors cannot immediately exit cases via interlocutory appeals, may increase litigation costs, strengthen plaintiffs' leverage in settlement negotiations and dampen the government's ability to attract bids on high-risk or sensitive projects, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Appellate Strategy Lessons From Pa. Excess Coverage Ruling

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    In FedEx v. National Union Fire Insurance, a Pennsylvania state court recently set forth a clear holding that policyholders may recover postjudgment interest under excess liability insurance policies only when the policy language expressly allows, offering important takeaways for planning appeals, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Defense Counsel Options Widen As No-Bill Rate Increases

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    Citizens impaneled on grand juries in politically motivated cases who are reasserting their role as a critical check on state power could provide criminal defense attorneys an opportunity to pursue seldom-used preindictment strategies, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How Cos. Can Prepare For 'Made In America' Ad Scrutiny

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    The Trump administration's executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in consumer-facing advertising, along with actions by the Federal Trade Commission, suggest a potential increased focus on consumer protection and pricing-related matters, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Similar-Looking Designs May Not Always Prove Infringement

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Range of Motion Products v. Armaid is a reminder that even a strikingly similar design might not be found to infringe upon a patented design once design features driven by functionality are filtered out from consideration, say attorneys at BCLP.

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