5 Fed. Circ. Clashes To Watch This Month

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit's argument calendar for May includes appeals of two nine-figure patent verdicts — one against Apple and one against Medtronic — and Roku's bid to revive its remote control patent suit at the U.S. International Trade Commission after a loss tied to the commission's domestic industry requirement.

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2nd Circ. Won't Revive Privacy Suit Over Video Data Sharing

By Allison Grande

The Second Circuit on Thursday upheld the toss of a proposed class action accusing digital streaming provider Flipps Media Inc. of unlawfully sharing video-viewing information with Meta Platforms Inc., finding that the disclosed data didn't fall within the scope of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act. 

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5th Circ. Keeps NFL Pension Plan's Atty Fee Appeal Afloat

By David Steele

The NFL retirement plan's appeal of a $1.86 million award of attorney fees and expenses to a former player fighting for additional disability benefits will go forward, after a panel of the Fifth Circuit rejected his bid to stop it.

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11th Circ. Says Ga. Smoke Shop Can't Burn $1.1M Verdict

By Chart Riggall

The Eleventh Circuit said a Georgia-based tobacco importer will remain on the hook for a $1.1 million verdict for selling counterfeit rolling papers, rejecting the company's arguments that the Lanham Act damages levied against it needed to bear close relation to the actual damages suffered by the papers' manufacturer.

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Senate Panel Delays A Vote On Martin Nomination For US Atty

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday held off for now a vote to call for a hearing on Ed Martin's nomination for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, a move Democrats say would allow more time to review his record and, they hope, convince enough Republicans to help them block his nomination.

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20 Former Federal Judges Launch Group To Defend Judiciary

By Jake Maher

Twenty former federal district and circuit judges on Thursday launched a coalition to speak out about and defend the federal judiciary as political impeachment attempts against judges increase and the federal courts system faces heightened scrutiny.

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GOP Seeks To Stop 'Frivolous Lawsuits' With Reconciliation

By Courtney Bublé

The House Judiciary Committee approved along party lines a proposal they say will prevent "frivolous lawsuits" by barring courts from enforcing contempt citations for failure to comply with injunctions if the plaintiff has not posted a bond for litigation costs.

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New Bill Holds Judges Accountable Even After They Retire

By Hailey Konnath

A Georgia Congressman on Thursday introduced legislation that would ensure misconduct complaints against judges would still be investigated, even if the judge has resigned, retired or even died.

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Analysis

'Fingers Crossed' At FCC As Court's Subsidy Ruling Closes In

By Christopher Cole

There's plenty of hand-wringing at the Federal Communications Commission as a U.S. Supreme Court decision draws near over the legality of the revenue-raising scheme used to pay for more than $9 billion in broadband and phone service subsidies.

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DHS Urges Justices To Let Venezuelan Protections Be Undone

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security turned to the nation's highest court on Thursday, asking the justices to pause a nationwide injunction blocking the agency from undoing the Biden administration's extension of temporary protected status for Venezuela during its appeal.

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Troops Urge High Court To Keep Transgender Ban On Ice

By Katie Buehler

Several transgender service members and recruits told the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to reject the Trump administration's bid to lift a federal judge's order prohibiting implementation of the Pentagon's ban on transgender military service, claiming the policy is so deeply rooted in animosity that it won't survive judicial inspection.

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US Tells Justices Telemedicine Case Isn't Ideal For Eligibility

By Dani Kass

The Justice Department is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a petition over the eligibility of telemedicine patents it's accused of infringing, but it said that if the petition is granted, it plans to argue the patents shouldn't have been invalidated as abstract.

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High Court Urged To Skip $272M Hertz 'Solvent Debtor' Appeal

By Clara Geoghegan

Wells Fargo has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Hertz's appeal of a Third Circuit ruling that the car rental giant owes $272 million in make-whole payments and interest to noteholders following a Chapter 11 case it launched in 2020.

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DC Circ. Doubts Venezuelan State Oil Co. In Asset Seizure Suit

By Nadia Dreid

The D.C. Circuit was having a hard time Thursday with a Venezuelan state-owned oil company's arguments that it should be allowed out of a nearly 14-year-old suit brought by an Oklahoma-based petroleum drilling company that claims its drilling rigs were illegally seized by the state.

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States Urge 1st Circ. To Reinstate Federal Housing Grants

By Grace Dixon

A coalition of states urged the First Circuit to reinstate a ruling that had blocked the Trump administration from cutting $30 million in fair housing grants, saying the federal government failed to consider the impact this decision would have on the groups' operations.

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RI Pot Rules Challenger Says Cause For Ditching Case Is Moot

By Sam Reisman

A Florida entrepreneur challenging Rhode Island's cannabis regulatory scheme said a judge's basis for dismissing the action no longer applies now that the state has published its rules, and has asked the First Circuit to remand the case to district court.

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NY School District Appeals Mascot Ban While Feds Investigate

By Crystal Owens

A Long Island, New York, school district is appealing a decision that denied its bid to block a ban on the use of Indigenous mascots and names in public schools, while the federal government investigates the state's education department and board of regents alleging Civil Rights Act violations.

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Ex-Exec's Claims Against Dechert Still No Good, 2nd Circ. Told

By Pete Brush

A North Carolina trade executive's latest trip to the Second Circuit in his quest to win damages for alleged hacking by a private investigator on Dechert LLP's behalf should end like the others, with a dismissal, defense counsel argued Thursday.

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3rd Circ. Unsure Defunct NJ Law Blocked ICE Detentions

By Carla Baranauckas

The Third Circuit appeared skeptical of prison operator CoreCivic Inc.'s argument Thursday that a defunct New Jersey law barring detention centers from contracting with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is unconstitutional, questioning whether the statute actually blocked the federal government from detaining migrants.

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3rd Circ. Backs Charter School In Black Worker's Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

The Third Circuit upheld the dismissal of a Black cafeteria manager's suit claiming she was fired for complaining that her bosses at a charter school system mistreated her due to her race, ruling the suit falls flat because she was employed by an outside food service company.

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4th Circ. Affirms Ex-Crypto COO's Fraud Conviction

By Ryan Harroff

The Fourth Circuit found no error in a former cryptocurrency executive's conviction for fraud and conspiracy related to his time working at a foreign currency and cryptocurrency trading investment firm that the panel said was actually just a Ponzi scheme that never made any trades.

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AT&T Win Is FDIC's Loss On In-House Cases, 5th Circ. Told

By Katryna Perera

A banker challenging the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s use of in-house proceedings to level a fraud judgment against him told the Fifth Circuit that its recent decision overturning a $57 million Federal Communications Commission fine against AT&T confirms that the FDIC cannot rely on a "public rights" exemption to impose fines without a jury trial.

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PBMs Tell 6th Circ. Ohio's Pricing Case Belongs In Fed Court

By Bryan Koenig

Express Scripts and Prime Therapeutics urged the Sixth Circuit to undo a district court order returning a lawsuit from Ohio's attorney general alleging they drove up prescription drug prices to state court, arguing Wednesday an after-the-fact disclaimer of federal program-based claims isn't enough to sever a federal law connection.

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States, Green Groups Look To Vacate NEPA Ruling

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

States that had asked the Eighth Circuit to revive vacated National Environmental Policy Act regulations are now abandoning their appeal because the White House has eliminated the standards — but they're still asking that a lower court's decision striking down the regulations be overturned.

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Unlockd Tells 9th Circ. Google Harms Ad Market Competition

By Gina Kim

A defunct advertising app that alleged Google's decision to boot it from the Google Play Store harmed market competition for digital advertising asked the Ninth Circuit to reinstate its claims, arguing Wednesday the lower court wrongly concluded that eliminating a "nascent competitor" in a large market didn't rise to antitrust injury.

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9th Circ. Asked To Revisit Ruling On Guam Munitions Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

A Ninth Circuit decision allowing a Guam group to challenge an Air Force permit renewal application to detonate expired munitions conflicts with precedent and threatens to burden permit applicants, agencies and courts, the U.S. government said in a rehearing petition filed Wednesday.

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Frida Kahlo Co. Tries To Revive Suit Against Kahlo Family

By Carolina Bolado

A company that claims to own various Frida Kahlo trademarks urged the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to revive its lawsuit against Kahlo's family over cease-and-desist letters the family sent to partners in exhibitions of the Mexican artist's work that the company says interfered with its business.

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Couple's J&J Pelvic Mesh Claims Too Late, 11th Circ. Affirms

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Eleventh Circuit held Thursday that a couple's lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson over injuries allegedly caused by a pelvic mesh device made by the company's med-tech unit was filed too late despite evidence that the woman's doctors had expressed uncertainty for years about whether the mesh was causing her pain.

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Worker Can't Ring Own Class's 'Death Knell,' Calif. Panel Says

By Craig Clough

A former construction company employee can't appeal an order denying his class certification motion in a putative wage and hour class action, a California state appeals court has ruled, finding it does not qualify under the so-called death knell doctrine because Private Attorneys General Act claims remained active when he appealed.

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'Continuous' Defaults Wipe $20M Gas Plant Verdict, Court Told

By Catherine Marfin

Arrow Field Services LLC has asked the Texas Supreme Court to wipe out a $20 million verdict for its general contractor on a North Dakota natural gas plant because the company "was in continuous default" during the project.

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Fla. Panel Reverses Default Judgment In Prized Horses Suit

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida appeals court Wednesday reversed a default judgment against a show horse owner in a dispute with investors, ruling that the court jumped the gun on the judgment after learning the owner faked brain cancer treatment to get preferred hearing dates.

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Fla. Condo Wins Noise Dispute With Autistic Man's Family

By David Minsky

A Florida appellate panel ruled in favor of a condominium association in a lawsuit over a noise dispute between a family caring for their autistic son and a neighbor, finding no evidence that the family faced discrimination in violation of housing laws.

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Fla. Appeals Court Puts Condo Damage Suit To Bed

By Elizabeth Daley

A Florida state appeals court upheld the dismissal of a condo's Hurricane Irma damage lawsuit against a Florida entity created to handle the claims for insolvent insurers, finding it was time-barred.

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Florida Ethics Panel Wants Judge Booted Over Campaign Talk

By Emily Sawicki

A Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission panel has "reluctantly, but of necessity" recommended the removal of a Florida judge found to have made inappropriate comments about abortion amid an election campaign, stating that the judge showed a lack of remorse for her actions in testimony before the panel.

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PepsiCo Owes $2.1M In Tax Penalties, Illinois Panel Affirms

By Lauraann Wood

PepsiCo was correctly assessed $2.1 million in penalties for categorizing Frito-Lay expatriates' compensation as foreign payroll that would allow the company's profits to be excluded from state income tax calculations, according to an Illinois Appellate Court panel.

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Uber Needed To Collect Tax Pre-Wayfair, Ga. Panel Affirms

By Maria Koklanaris

Uber was required to collect and remit millions in sales taxes on behalf of drivers and customers who used its app before the Wayfair decision, a Georgia appellate panel held Thursday, ruling against the ride-hailing company and upholding a trial court decision.

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Drew Eckl Digs In To Force Breakaway Firm's Arbitration

By Chart Riggall

Drew Eckl & Farnham LLP renewed its calls for the Supreme Court of Georgia to reconsider an appellate panel's ruling that a breakaway law firm can't be forced to arbitrate a fee dispute, arguing the Georgia Court of Appeals' ruling last month "should not be allowed to become the law."

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Trucker Chases Down Mich. Appeals Court Win In Injury Suit

By Elizabeth Daley

A trucker who was hit in his sleeper cab and then ran after the semi-truck that he believed caused the incident, jumping on its running board till he was thrown, may be entitled to insurance benefits, Michigan appellate judges said, reversing most of a lower court's judgment.

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Wash. Justices Take Up Meta's $35M Political Ad Penalty

By Greg Lamm and Rachel Riley

The Washington State Supreme Court has agreed to review a $35 million judgment for penalties and legal fees against Facebook parent company Meta for repeatedly running afoul of the state's political advertising transparency law.

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Colo. Fees Don't Violate TABOR, Appeals Panel Says

By Sanjay Talwani

The enterprise fees in Colorado's state transportation package passed in 2021 do not violate the state's Taxpayer Bill of Rights, a state appeals court said Thursday, upholding a district court ruling and rejecting a challenge from a conservative group.

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Zipcar, Garage Not Liable For Injuries To Driver Returning Car

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts-based car sharing company Zipcar and the owner of a public parking garage are not liable for injuries suffered by a college student who was struck by a drunken driver while dropping off a car back in 2017, an intermediate appellate court concluded Thursday.

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Series

Teaching College Students Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Serving as an adjunct college professor has taught me the importance of building rapport, communicating effectively, and persuading individuals to critically analyze the difference between what they think and what they know — principles that have helped to improve my practice of law, says Sheria Clarke at Nelson Mullins.

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Analysis

A Look At Trump's First Judicial Pick Of His Second Term

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's first judicial nominee, Whitney Hermandorfer, who's been tapped for a seat Democrats tried to fill while Joe Biden was in the White House, has been part of litigation on several politically charged issues due to her job with the Tennessee Attorney General's office.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Cannabis Drink Co. Accuses Stoel Rives Attorneys Of Fraud

By Sam Reisman

A startup that develops nonalcoholic cannabis beers has alleged in a California state court action that attorneys from Stoel Rives LLP and others conspired on a scheme to defraud the company out of millions by purporting to sell an unlicensed marijuana business.

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4 Mass. Rulings You May Have Missed In April

By Julie Manganis

Some notable Massachusetts state court decisions in April wrestled with a Staples affiliate's jurisdictional challenge in an employment case, a discovery dispute in the state's greenwashing litigation against Exxon involving McKinsey & Co., and an insurer's effort to be let off the hook for representing a lawyer in a malpractice claim.

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Trump Announces First Judicial Nominee Of 2nd Term

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced his first judicial nominee of his second administration late Thursday night.

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DC US Atty Pick Vows To Take On Judicial Threats

By Courtney Bublé

Ed Martin, nominee to be U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia who is currently serving in the role on an interim basis, has told federal judges in D.C. he is concerned about the increase in threats to judges and pledged to work together to stop it.

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Legal Job Sector Stayed Strong In April Despite Economy

By Tracey Read

The U.S. legal sector added 1,400 law-related jobs in April, marking the second straight month of improvement, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Colorado Investor, Ex-Counsel Trade Blows In Malpractice Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A Colorado real estate investor and Fox Rothschild LLP have filed a flurry of motions in a legal malpractice suit, with the investor requesting that the firm be found liable for damages amid its representation in an underlying fight over a soured development deal, and the firm contending the investor abandoned a claim over attorney fees.

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Ex-Litigator, Wilson Elser Plan To Drop Bias Suit

By Ryan Boysen

An ex-Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP litigator who sued the firm for allegedly firing him over his disabilities appears to have settled with his former colleagues, with both parties telling a New York federal judge on Friday they plan to dismiss the case.

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Reuters Escapes Suit Over NJ Judicial Privacy Law

By George Woolston

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging Thomson Reuters violated the New Jersey judicial privacy measure Daniel's Law, finding the plaintiffs failed to properly serve the Canadian organization.

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Convicted Ex-Sacks Weston Atty Gets Early End To Probation

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge has granted the request of a Philadelphia lawyer sentenced in 2023 to prison and supervised release for resolving cases behind the back of his former firm to be let out of probation early.

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Head Of Calif. State Bar To Step Down After Botched Exam

By Jack Karp

The leader of the State Bar of California, who oversaw the problem-plagued rollout of this year's state bar exam, will be leaving the organization when her contract expires in July, the bar announced Friday.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Corporate diversity policies are alive and thriving, according to a new report, although they are often taking on new names to dodge the anti-diversity backlash. Another new study warns that 60% of in-house lawyers are considering looking for a new job, primarily in search of higher pay and better benefits.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP and Pilot Law PC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federally employed military reservists called to active duty during wartime or a national emergency are entitled to a top-up differential pay, regardless of their specific role.

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NJ Bankruptcy Judges May Be Tapped As Unpaid Mediators

By Emily Lever

Bankruptcy judges may be among the jurists called upon to mediate New Jersey federal court cases without compensation, according to a proposed amendment to court rules.

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FIFA Seeks Fees After Citation Mistakes In Antitrust Case

By Madison Arnold

FIFA is demanding attorney fees from plaintiffs for misusing artificial intelligence in an antitrust suit against the soccer federation in Puerto Rico, with a formatting error revealing that it is seeking more than $50,000 for work performed by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP and a local firm, according to court documents.

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Abbe Lowell Launches New Firm With Ex-Skadden Associates

By Rachel Rippetoe

Tapping a team of ex-BigLaw associates, some of whom publicly quit their firms in response to deals struck to avoid scrutiny from the Trump administration, prominent defense lawyer and former Winston & Strawn LLP partner Abbe David Lowell launched a new boutique Friday aimed at helping clients facing what it called "politicized investigations" by the government.

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