Appellate

  • October 08, 2025

    State Farm Unit Needn't Pay For $2.5M Assault Judgment

    A State Farm unit has no obligation to pay a $2.5 million judgment entered against a homeowners insurance policyholder after he attacked his housemate, a California state appeals court affirmed, finding that the victim's injuries were not the result of an accident for purposes of the policy.

  • October 08, 2025

    3rd Circ. Clarifies Good Conduct Credits For Prison Terms

    In a precedential ruling Wednesday, the Third Circuit clarified how good conduct credits for inmates serving time can be applied, finding that the credit of 54 days per year can be prorated to 28 days for the last six months of a man's 17-and-a-half-year sentence.

  • October 08, 2025

    NJ US Atty Appointment Was 'Shell Game,' 3rd Circ. Told

    Two New Jersey criminal defendants this week blasted the Trump administration's attempt to name Alina Habba as U.S. attorney for the state after her interim term ended, telling the Third Circuit that the government's plan was a "shell game."

  • October 08, 2025

    2nd Circ. Skeptical Of Reviving NY Teamsters Pension Suit

    The Second Circuit appeared unlikely Wednesday to revive a New York Teamsters worker's proposed class action alleging mismanagement by the caretakers of his multiemployer pension plan, as multiple judges seemed to doubt that the complaint contained enough evidence of a deficient process to manage fees and investments.

  • October 08, 2025

    Conn. High Court OKs DNA Taken From Trash Sans Warrant

    In a decision setting standards for privacy, Connecticut's highest court upheld the conviction of a man sentenced to 72 years in prison for a series of 1984 home invasion sexual assaults, finding that police were allowed to take his trash to obtain DNA without a warrant.

  • October 08, 2025

    Black NC Voters Take Redistricting Case To 4th Circ. Again

    Two Black voters have urged the Fourth Circuit to hear as soon as possible their case alleging the North Carolina General Assembly unlawfully redrew state senate districts in a way that diluted the voting power of Black residents.

  • October 08, 2025

    Colo. Justices Rule Newspaper Is 'Citizen,' Can Get Atty Fees

    The Colorado Supreme Court weighed in on a local newspaper's battle against the city of Aurora, ruling for the first time that a corporation is a "citizen" under the state's open meetings law and can recover litigation costs.

  • October 08, 2025

    Biz Groups Back Ariz. Land Swap Amid 9th Circ. Appeal

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and a slew of mining associations are backing the federal government's efforts to nix a Ninth Circuit appeal that looks to block the transfer of more than 2,500 acres within Arizona's Tonto National Forest to a copper mining company.

  • October 08, 2025

    7th Circ. Won't Rethink Reviving Christian Teacher's Bias Suit

    The Seventh Circuit declined a school district's invitation to revisit a panel opinion that reinstated a religious bias suit from a Christian teacher who said he was forced to quit because he wouldn't refer to transgender students by their preferred names.

  • October 07, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Talks Judge Denzel Washington, AI Susan Sarandon

    More than half of the Federal Circuit's judges were in Boston on Tuesday conducting out-of-town oral arguments, and afterward they discussed the most concerning and most promising elements of artificial intelligence, how to write a good brief, why en banc hearings are rare and which celebrities they'd love to see on a panel.

  • October 07, 2025

    Panel Said Congress Was 'Feckless,' 6th Circ. Told In FCC Row

    The Sixth Circuit should agree to a full court reconsideration of a panel's decision to back the Federal Communications Commission's expanded data breach notifications for telecom carriers, says a conservative legal organization that believes the panel assumed Congress was legislating "fecklessly."

  • October 07, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Focuses On Breadth Of UPenn IP In Eligibility Fight

    The University of Pennsylvania and Regenxbio Inc. on Tuesday tried to persuade a Federal Circuit panel that their gene therapy patent should be revived, but at least one judge repeatedly said it's too broad.

  • October 07, 2025

    11th Circ. Wary Of IRS Procedure In FBAR Penalty Appeal

    An Eleventh Circuit panel Tuesday appeared concerned about IRS procedures that could keep a man from recouping $419,000 he paid to resolve his failure to disclose funds held in foreign bank accounts as he appeals a district court determination that he actually owes $2.2 million.

  • October 07, 2025

    5th Circ. Queries If ChampionX Covered In $40M Oil Spill Suit

    A Fifth Circuit panel Tuesday pressed ChampionX Corp. to explain how it can pursue a lawsuit in Texas seeking to make multiple insurers pay for its defense in a $40 million oil spill lawsuit if the underlying policies don't name it.

  • October 07, 2025

    Urologist Provider Must Face Data Leak Claims, Panel Says

    The Georgia Court of Appeals has largely revived a proposed class action against a urology provider over a 2021 data breach that allegedly compromised the personal information of more than 79,000 patients, ruling Monday that the clinic could be liable for negligence and breach of contract.

  • October 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives Ex-Service Members' Antimalarial Drug Suit

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday breathed new life into a lawsuit by four former U.S. military service members who claim drugmakers Hoffman-La Roche Inc. and Genentech Inc. failed to warn them about permanent psychiatric side effects allegedly caused by the antimalarial drug mefloquine.

  • October 07, 2025

    11th Circ. Rules Atty Privacy Invasion Suit Can't Be Arbitrated

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday denied two Florida attorneys' request for the out-of-court resolution of a lawsuit brought by former clients alleging their private legal information was disclosed in public court dockets, ruling that the claims against the lawyers aren't covered by a retainer agreement's arbitration clause.

  • October 07, 2025

    Chamber Asks 9th Circ. For Clarity In Trade Secrets Cases

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce backed Boeing's bid for the Ninth Circuit to reconsider a panel's decision to reinstate a $72 million jury verdict against the company, saying the panel's "swift treatment" of such a complex issue threatens creating confusion.

  • October 07, 2025

    Goldstein's $968K Border Cash Claim To Be Admitted At Trial

    A Maryland federal jury will hear claims from prosecutors that SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein told Dulles International Airport border guards that the $968,000 in cash he brought into the country in 2018 had been gambling winnings, after a judge shot down his efforts to suppress his alleged statements Tuesday.

  • October 07, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says State Lawmakers Mostly Immune From TCPA

    State legislators in certain instances can make robocalls if they want, the Third Circuit has declared after finding that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's ban on automated and prerecorded texts and calls without consent doesn't apply to them.

  • October 07, 2025

    NJ Surgeon On The Hook For Full $1.6M In Med Mal Case

    A New Jersey physician found by a jury to be 60% at fault for a man's death following gallbladder removal surgery must pay the entire $1.6 million verdict, a New Jersey appeals court has ruled, citing a state statute regarding comparative fault in injury cases.

  • October 07, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Ponders Document Sealing In EDTX's Patent Cases

    A Federal Circuit panel grappled Tuesday with document sealing practices in patent cases in the Eastern District of Texas, appearing at points skeptical about a digital rights nonprofit's efforts to unseal records in since-concluded litigation involving Charter Communications Inc.

  • October 07, 2025

    4th Circ. Urged To Reverse $10M Medicare Fraud Conviction

    A former physician's assistant on Tuesday requested that the Fourth Circuit reverse a six-year prison sentence for his involvement in a $10 million Medicaid fraud scheme, claiming evidence that could exonerate him was suppressed by a federal district court.

  • October 07, 2025

    No Coverage For Smoke Shop Over Fatal Crash, Insurer Says

    A smoke shop's insurer told a North Carolina state appeals court the shop shouldn't receive coverage for a lawsuit alleging it's liable for a fatal auto collision because it sold nitrous oxide products to the at-fault driver, arguing its policy covered bodily injury only on the shop's premises.

  • October 07, 2025

    Cuban Cigar Co. Not Entitled To 'Cohiba' TMs, 4th Circ. Told

    General Cigar Co. has asked the Fourth Circuit to overturn a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision to grant a Cuban state-owned cigar producer's request to cancel two trademark registrations for the term "Cohiba," contending that the decision conflicts with U.S. law governing the embargo against Cuba.

Expert Analysis

  • Reel Justice: 'Eddington' Spotlights Social Media Evidence

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    In the neo-Western black comedy “Eddington” released last month, social media is a character unto itself, highlighting how the boundaries between digital and real-world conduct can become blurred, thereby posing evidentiary challenges in criminal prosecutions, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University School of Law.

  • 8th Circ. Rulings Show Employer ADA Risks In Fitness Tests

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    Two recent Eighth Circuit decisions reviving lawsuits brought by former Union Pacific employees offer guidance for navigating compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, serving as a cautionary tale for employers that use broad fitness-for-duty screening programs and highlighting the importance of individualized assessments, says Masood Ali at Segal McCambridge.

  • Rebuttal

    BigLaw Settlements Should Not Spur Ethics Deregulation

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    A recent Law360 op-ed argued that loosening law firm funding restrictions would make BigLaw firms less inclined to settle with the Trump administration, but deregulating legal financing ethics may well prove to be not merely ineffective, but counterproductive, says Laurel Kilgour at the American Economic Liberties Project.

  • 9th Circ. Leaves Scope Of CIPA Applicability Unclear

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    Three recent Ninth Circuit decisions declined to directly address whether all of the California Invasion of Privacy Act's provisions actually apply to internet activity, and given this uncertainty, companies should heed five recommendations when seeking to minimize CIPA litigation risk, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • 5 Ways Lawyers Can Earn Back The Public's Trust

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    Amid salacious headlines about lawyers behaving badly and recent polls showing the public’s increasingly unfavorable view of attorneys, we must make meaningful changes to our culture to rebuild trust in the legal system, says Carl Taylor at Carl Taylor Law.

  • What Insurers Must Know About New La. Proof Of Loss Law

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    Insurers that comply with all the requirements under a Louisiana law effective this month may condition claim payments on receipt of proof of loss statements, but those that overlook even one prerequisite risk penalties and late payments, say attorneys at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Criminal Healthcare Fraud Takeaways From 4th Circ. Reversal

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    After the Fourth Circuit reversed a doctor’s postconviction acquittal in U.S. v. Elfenbein last month, defense attorneys should consider three strategies when handling complex criminal healthcare matters, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: August Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses key takeaways from federal appellate decisions involving topics including antitrust, immigration, consumer fraud, birthright citizenship under the Fourteenth Amendment, and product defects.

  • A Look At Justices' Rare Decision Not To Limit Agency Powers

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    The Supreme Court's recent denial of Alpine's cert petition in its long-running case against the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority sends a strong signal that litigation strategies dependent on the elimination of government agencies merit caution, even from a court that lately hasn't been shy about paring back agency authority, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Notable Q2 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Vehicle valuation challenges regarding the use of projected sale adjustments continued apace in insurance class actions this quarter, where insurers have been scoring victories on class certification decisions in federal circuit courts, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Hiking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    On the trail, I have thought often about the parallels between hiking and high-stakes patent litigation, and why strategizing, preparation, perseverance and joy are important skills for success in both endeavors, says Barbara Fiacco at Foley Hoag.

  • 6 Tips On Drafting Machine Learning Patents Post-Recentive

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    While the Federal Circuit's decision in Recentive v. Fox narrows the scope of patent-eligible machine learning applications, there are several drafting and prosecution strategies that may help practitioners navigate Section 101 challenges, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Regulating Online Activity After Porn Site Age Check Ruling

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    A recent U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding an age verification requirement for accessing online adult sexual content applied a lenient rational basis standard, raising questions for how state and federal courts will determine what kinds of laws regulating online activity will satisfy this standard going forward, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Opinion

    3rd Circ. H-2A Decision Mistakenly Relies On Jarkesy

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    The Third Circuit's decision last month in Sun Valley v. U.S. Department of Labor found that the claims required Article III adjudication under the U.S. Supreme Court's Jarkesy decision — but there is an alternative legal course that can resolve similar H-2A and H-2B cases on firmer constitutional ground, says Alex Platt at the University of Kansas School of Law.

  • DC Circ. Ruling Augurs More Scrutiny Of Blanket Gag Orders

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    The D.C. Circuit’s recent ruling in In re: Sealed Case, finding that an omnibus nondisclosure order was too sweeping, should serve as a wake-up call to prosecutors and provide a road map for private parties to push back on overbroad secrecy demands, says Gregory Rosen at Rogers Joseph.

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