Appellate

  • September 05, 2024

    TM Ruling Creates Way To Pierce Corporate Veil, Justices Told

    A conservative legal group says that a Fourth Circuit ruling the justices have agreed to review over a $43 million trademark award in a fight between two businesses that use the name "Dewberry" provides a new way to pierce the corporate veil that "veers far from acceptable legal principles."

  • September 05, 2024

    Ohio Justices Craft New Jury Rule For Negligence Trials

    An Ohio state appeals court on Friday reinstated a jury verdict clearing a hospital and others of liability in a suit accusing them of negligently causing a patient's death, and it set new guidelines for jury deliberations in all negligence cases.

  • September 05, 2024

    US, Germany Back Hungary In Holocaust Seizure Fight

    The United States and Germany are both backing Hungary as it urges the U.S. Supreme Court to nix a D.C. Circuit decision greenlighting expropriation claims by Czechoslovakian plaintiffs over the Hungarian government's confiscation of property owned by Jews during the Holocaust.

  • September 05, 2024

    Navy Justifiably Terminated Deal Over Staffing, Fed. Circ. Told

    The U.S. Navy has urged the Federal Circuit to uphold a lower court ruling finding that it reasonably canceled a deal with a defense contractor to perform work at the naval air station in Jacksonville, Florida, over proper staffing, saying the company didn't follow the agreement's terms to provide a team of 20 professionals.

  • September 05, 2024

    Labor, Industry Agree: Mich. Wage Ruling Should Stand

    Hospitality groups and workers' rights campaigners have both slammed Michigan regulators' request that the state supreme court clarify its recent minimum wage ruling, the groups coming to opposite conclusions about the state's intent but agreeing that the justices should deny the request and let the ruling speak for itself. 

  • September 05, 2024

    Law Firms Appeal Atty Fee Denial In Opioid Settlements

    Two law firms, Goldstein & Russell PC and Kelley & Ferraro LLP, have claimed in an appeal to the Sixth Circuit that they were improperly shut out of the $2.13 billion attorney fee pool created by recent national opioid settlements with major pharmaceutical companies and pharmacy chains.

  • September 05, 2024

    Wash. Justices Uphold State's Wastewater Nitrogen Limits

    The Washington Supreme Court overturned a win for the city of Tacoma and other municipal wastewater treatment plant operators challenging state caps on nitrogen discharges, finding Thursday that the limits state regulators added to its permits don't qualify as a rule under the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • September 05, 2024

    Referral Model Means No Tax Exemption For Texas Health Co.

    The commissioner of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service told a Fifth Circuit panel Thursday that the U.S. Tax Court got it right when it barred a Texas company that coordinates healthcare for chronically ill patients from claiming tax-exempt status, telling the court that secondary social welfare effects of the company's business model aren't enough to establish tax-exempt status.

  • September 05, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Court 'Lost The Letter' In ERISA Coverage Row

    A California federal court "lost the letter" in remanded proceedings over allegations that United Behavioral Health improperly denied nearly 70,000 claims for mental health coverage, the Ninth Circuit has said in a new memorandum.

  • September 05, 2024

    Panel Finds Colo. Attys Can't Poach From Current Employers

    A Colorado Court of Appeals panel on Thursday upheld a $4,000 verdict and $1.2 million in fee awards against an attorney who violated an employment contract when she tried to lure colleagues away from a prominent regional personal injury firm, finding the firm's contract was valid and enforceable.

  • September 05, 2024

    Unconstitutionality Of Transparency Act Clear, 11th Circ. Told

    A small business group and one of its members have told the Eleventh Circuit that an Alabama federal judge correctly ruled that the Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional, so there was no need for them to demonstrate that the law fails to pass constitutional muster.

  • September 05, 2024

    Advisory Opinion Backs Italian Case Against Android Auto

    Italian antitrust authorities got a boost Thursday defending a more than €100 million fine ($113.3 million at current exchange rates) against Google and an order requiring the company to further open up its Android Auto app that integrates with car infotainment systems, thanks to an advisory opinion submitted to Europe's highest court.

  • September 05, 2024

    LA Developer Beats RICO Suit Over CEQA Fight At 9th Circ.

    The Ninth Circuit affirmed Thursday a decision tossing a Hollywood hotel developer's $100 million racketeering suit against rival hotel developers, rejecting the plaintiff developer's allegations that its competitors had pursued "objectively baseless" sham California Environmental Quality Act litigation to extort the firm.

  • September 05, 2024

    Asbestos Claimants Want A Say In 4th Circ. 'Two-Step' Appeal

    Asbestos cancer survivors and the estates of victims with pending claims against Aldrich Pump LLC, DBMP LLC and Murray Boiler LLC have asked the Fourth Circuit's permission to file an amicus brief in an appeal centered on the separate Chapter 11 case of Georgia-Pacific unit Bestwall, saying they had been prevented from pursuing relief while Aldrich, DBMP and Murray pursue bankruptcy.

  • September 05, 2024

    Liberty Global Urges 10th Circ. To Grant $248M Tax Credit

    The U.S. Tax Court improperly applied an Internal Revenue Code provision to some of the $2.8 billion gain from Liberty Global's sale of a Japanese entity, the telecommunications company said in urging the Tenth Circuit to overturn the resulting rejection of a $248 million tax credit.

  • September 05, 2024

    3rd Circ. Relieves Insurer Of Additional UIM Coverage

    The Third Circuit reversed an early win a lower court handed to a couple whose son suffered serious injuries in a motorized dirt bike accident, finding that the couple's insurer needn't pay an additional $250,000 under another household policy because of the policy's household vehicle exclusion.

  • September 05, 2024

    Split 3rd Circ. Won't Rule Out Pa. As Wiretapping Suit Forum

    The Third Circuit ruled in a precedential opinion Thursday that a lower court must reconsider if Pennsylvania consumers can sue for privacy violations caused by session replay software, reviving a portion of consolidated wiretapping class claims over activity tracking on websites for companies including Papa John's and Mattress Firm.

  • September 05, 2024

    Dodge Ram Drivers Urge 6th Circ. To Revive Emissions Claims

    Dodge Ram drivers pressed the Sixth Circuit to revive their proposed class action alleging Fiat Chrysler and engine manufacturer Cummins deceptively marketed their trucks as being more environmentally friendly than they actually were, saying a Michigan federal judge incorrectly found that their claims conflicted with federal law.

  • September 05, 2024

    DA Pans Trump Maneuvering On Hush Money Case Removal

    Attorneys in the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told the Second Circuit in a letter Thursday that Donald Trump is mischaracterizing a federal judge's recent order to further his baseless bid to move his hush money case to U.S. district court.

  • September 05, 2024

    Ga. Panel Affirms Tax Assessors' Partial Win In Valuation Fight

    The Georgia Court of Appeals has affirmed a trial court's order granting partial summary judgment to the Lowndes County Board of Tax Assessors in a dispute concerning the $5.3 million ad valorem tax assessment on a rent-restricted apartment complex.

  • September 05, 2024

    7th Circ. Doubts JPMorgan Traders' Spoofing Appeal

    The Seventh Circuit seemed skeptical Thursday about three former JPMorgan traders' assertion that evidentiary issues surrounding their underlying spoofing trials warrant unwinding their convictions for manipulating the market with fake orders for precious metals.

  • September 05, 2024

    Placid Oil Tells 5th Circ. It's Clear Of Contamination Claims

    Placid Oil told a Fifth Circuit panel that previous bankruptcy proceedings cleared it of contamination claims on a Louisiana property, saying during oral arguments Thursday that language in the contract calling it a party to the surface lease agreement didn't count as an assignment.

  • September 05, 2024

    'Regrettable Mistake' Can't Bar Subrogation Bid, Insurer Says

    An insurer for a Hardee's restaurant urged a North Carolina state appeals court to revive its subrogation action over a December 2019 fire, after it said its counsel made a "regrettable mistake" in naming a related brokerage as the plaintiff rather than the insurer itself.

  • September 05, 2024

    5th Circ. Rejects Overtime For Highly Paid Oil Rig Workers

    A group of reamers for an oil and gas company aren't entitled to overtime under federal law because they are paid an annual salary and performed exempt duties, a Fifth Circuit panel ruled, affirming a lower court's decision.

  • September 05, 2024

    EPA Asks To End Texas, Okla. Air Plan Fight Due To Lost Docs

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is asking the Fifth Circuit to vacate its challenged 2016 rule that partially disapproved regional haze plans created by Texas and Oklahoma and imposed a federal plan, having lost key records needed to justify its decisions.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices' Intent Witness Ruling May Be Useful For Defense Bar

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    At first glance, the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Diaz v. U.S. decision, allowing experts to testify to the mental state of criminal defendants in federal court, gives prosecutors a new tool, but creative white collar defense counsel may be able to use the same tool to their own advantage, say Jack Sharman and Rachel Bragg at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • High Court's Expert Ruling May Help Health Fraud Defendants

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Diaz v. U.S. appears to give the government a powerful new tool in calling its own agents as expert witnesses, but it could also benefit defense counsel in criminal healthcare fraud and other white collar criminal cases that arise in complex legal or regulatory environments, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Patent Lessons From 5 Federal Circuit Reversals In June

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    A look at June cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court highlights a potential path for branded drugmakers to sue generic-drug makers for off-label uses, potential downsides of violating a pretrial order offering testimony, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Jarkesy's Impact On SEC Enforcement Will Be Modest

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    Though the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision found that fraud defendants have a constitutional right to a jury trial, the ruling will have muted impact on the agency’s enforcement because it’s already bringing most of its cases in federal court, say Jeremiah Williams and Alyssa Fixsen at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.

  • NY Ruling Offers A Foreclosure Road Map For Lenders

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    A New York appellate court recently upheld a summary judgment ruling in favor of a commercial lender's foreclosure in U.S. Bank v. 1226 Evergreen Bapaz, illustrating the proofs lenders will need to prosecute a foreclosure action, especially where the plaintiff is an assignee of the originating lender, say attorneys at Sherman Atlas.

  • What Chevron's End Means For How Congress Does Business

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, overturning the Chevron doctrine, will have a far-reaching impact across the entire public policy life cycle, beginning with how Congress writes its laws and extending through agency implantation and judicial review, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Preserving Payment Rights

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    Stephanie Magnell and Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions that together illustrate the importance of keeping accurate records and adhering to contractual procedures to avoid inadvertently waiving contractual rights to cost reimbursements or nonroutine payments.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

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    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Alice Step 2 Trends Show Courts' Extrinsic Evidence Reliance

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    A look at recent trends in how district courts are applying Step 2 of the Alice framework shows that courts have increasingly relied on extrinsic evidence to help determine whether a claimed invention is "well-understood, routine, and conventional," says Jonathan Tuminaro at Sterne Kessler.

  • Opinion

    OFAC Sanctions Deserve To Be Challenged Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision opens the door to challenges against the Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions regime, the unintended consequences of which raise serious questions about the wisdom of what appears to be a scorched-earth approach, says Solomon Shinerock at Lewis Baach.

  • How Calif. Ruling Alters Worker Arb. Agreement Enforcement

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    The California Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ramirez v. Charter Communications should caution employers that while workers’ arbitration agreements will no longer be deemed unenforceable based on their number of unconscionable provisions, they must still be fair and balanced, says Sander van der Heide at CDF Labor.

  • Opinion

    After Jarkesy, IRS Must Course-Correct On Captive Insurance

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy decision has profound implications for other agencies, including the IRS, which must stop ignoring due process and curtailing congressional intent in its policing of captive insurance arrangements, says Peter Dawson at the 831(b) Institute.

  • The Rise Of State And Local Environmental Leadership

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    While Congress is deadlocked, and a U.S. Supreme Court with a hostility toward the administrative state aggressively dismantles federal environmental oversight, state and local governments are stepping up with policies to shape a more sustainable future for all species, says Jonathan Rosenbloom at Albany Law School.

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