Akin Must Explain Client's 'Self-Indulgent' 9th Circ. Appeal

By Lauren Berg

Upholding a foreign arbitration award against a wine importer, the Ninth Circuit on Thursday ordered its attorneys at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP to explain why they and their client shouldn't pay their opponent's attorney fees for bringing a "frivolous" and "self-indulgent" appeal.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

'I Don't Know': 9th Circ. Presses Verrilli On Boeing Venue Issue

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit judge rehearing an appeal involving a $72 million trade secret verdict against Boeing on Thursday pressed the company's counsel Donald B. Verrilli Jr. of Munger Tolles & Olson LLP to explain why the aerospace giant never previously argued the case belongs in the Federal Circuit, and Verrilli conceded he didn't know the reason.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

11th Circ. Seems Split On Scope Of No-Bond Detention Policy

By Britain Eakin

An Eleventh Circuit panel appeared divided Thursday on whether the Trump administration can treat immigrants who didn't seek authorized entry at the border as perpetually seeking admission and subject them to mandatory detention without bond.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Reinstates Critical Habitat Designations For Seals

By Elaine Briseño

The Ninth Circuit has reinstated critical habitat designations for two Arctic seal species, finding that federal wildlife officials were in line with the Endangered Species Act and were not required to consider foreign conservation efforts or habitats when establishing the regions.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justices' Looming TPS Review Clouds Ethiopia Case

By Carolyn Muyskens

The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming review of the Trump administration's efforts to curtail the temporary protected status program loomed over a Massachusetts federal judge's hearing Thursday on the future of the protections for 5,000 Ethiopians living in the U.S.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Group Backs Newman's Suspension Fight At High Court

By Adam Lidgett

The Bar Association of the District of Columbia has thrown its support behind Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's U.S. Supreme Court challenge to the suspension imposed on her by her colleagues, saying it's doing so on behalf of those who are afraid that supporting her publicly will harm their careers.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Worker Who Scored High Court Win Can't Get Atty Fees Yet

By Grace Elletson

An Ohio federal judge refused to award $466,000 in attorney fees to a straight woman who persuaded the U.S. Supreme Court to revive her bias suit, saying that while she won her appeal she still hasn't technically won the case.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

SEC Urges Justices To Keep Disgorgement Powers Intact

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Supreme Court should continue allowing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to collect ill-gotten profits from fraudsters without having to identify any particular victims of said scheme, the agency told the high court in a case that could limit its disgorgement powers.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC Defends Waiver Power In Nexstar-Tegna Merger Fight

By Jared Foretek

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday defended its authority to waive the television station ownership cap and approve the transfers at the heart of Nexstar's $6.2 billion acquisition of Tegna, telling the D.C. Circuit that the cap, as an agency rule, can be dispensed with for good cause.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Unified Patents Keeps Win Over Email Filtering IP At Fed. Circ.

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Thursday said it won't restore claims in an email filtering patent challenged by Unified Patents, backing a Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision that earlier inventions rendered the claims invalid.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fed. Circ. Rejects Pharma Co. Refiling Suit To Reset Deadline

By Dani Kass

Ascendis Pharma missed its window to invoke a mandatory stay in California federal court based on parallel U.S. International Trade Commission proceedings, and its attempt to reset the patent litigation doesn't change that, the Federal Circuit said Thursday.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

ITC Domestic Industry Rules Keep Opening Up In Apple Case

By Ryan Davis

A Federal Circuit decision upholding a U.S. International Trade Commission exclusion order on the Apple Watch in a patent dispute with Masimo has again eased hurdles for patent owners aiming to make the ITC's required showing that they have domestic industry, attorneys say.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2nd Circ. Reopens Mortgage-Backed Securities ERISA Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Second Circuit on Thursday revived a federal benefits lawsuit against Wells Fargo and Ocwen accusing the companies of mishandling home loans tied to a union pension fund's investments, overturning a lower court ruling that handed the bank and loan servicing companies a pretrial win in the proposed class action.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty. Conduct Gets Fraud Conviction Thrown Out By 2nd Circ.

By Hailey Konnath

The Second Circuit has vacated a New York man's fraud conviction, pointing to the conduct of his former counsel, who had a private conversation with the judge in which he said he was worried the defendant was engaging in "delay tactics" that could include punching the lawyer in the head.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

3rd Circ. Says DNA Software Is Reliable Enough For Trial

By Elizabeth Daley

A Third Circuit panel rebuffed a man's attempt to argue that DNA software called TrueAllele shouldn't have been used to convict him for unlawful possession of a firearm, finding that the program was sufficiently verified as reliable under court rules of evidence.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Ex-Deloitte Workers Can't Undo Charge Revival, 4th Circ. Says

By Abigail Harrison

The full Fourth Circuit has declined to reconsider its late February decision to revive most of the charges against two ex-Deloitte workers accused of stealing the company's trade secrets, after the workers insisted the unfavorable ruling bucked circuit and U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Abbott Unit Beats Ex-Worker's Whistleblower Suit At 8th Circ.

By Grace Elletson

The Eighth Circuit declined Thursday to reinstate a former worker's suit claiming he was fired from an Abbott Laboratories subsidiary for reporting healthcare kickback violations, ruling he couldn't sue under the Minnesota whistleblower law as a Hawaii resident.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Upholds Medtronic Win In Spinal Cord Device Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

A Washington man cannot sue medical device maker Medtronic USA Inc. on allegations it sold him a spinal cord implant that malfunctioned causing greater pain, the Ninth Circuit ruled, saying he lacked expert witnesses to support his negligence claims.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Hyundai Loses 9th Circ. Bid To Arbitrate Palisade Liability Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

Hyundai Motor America Inc. can't push into arbitration a proposed class action over allegedly faulty tow wiring that can catch fire, the Ninth Circuit ruled in a split decision, rejecting as "absurd" the automaker's argument that the terms of the vehicles' subscription-based wireless service waived a driver's right to sue over defects in the rest of the SUV.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Won't Rehear Flagstar Escrow Interest Decision

By Jon Hill

The Ninth Circuit declined Thursday to revisit a panel decision that held federally chartered banks aren't exempt from a California law requiring interest to be paid on mortgage escrow accounts, leaving Flagstar Bank on the hook for a $9 million borrower class action judgment.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

11th Circ. Seems Skeptical Of White Former Exec's Bias Case

By Kelcey Caulder

The Eleventh Circuit pressed a white former medical waste disposal executive Thursday on whether the appellate court should revive his race bias case, asking him to square his discrimination argument with the fact that the woman who got the promotion he wanted was also white. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

11th Circ. Affirms Slashing Tax Breaks For Conservation Gifts

By Anna Scott Farrell

Two partnerships that claimed tens of millions of dollars in tax deductions for protecting 530 acres in Georgia from development grossly overvalued their contributions and rightfully drew penalties from the Internal Revenue Service, the Eleventh Circuit said in affirming a U.S. Tax Court decision.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Texas Court Won't Dismiss Patient's Cancer Misdiagnosis Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A Texas appellate court has greenlighted a suit accusing a physician and two healthcare companies of misdiagnosing a patient with cancer, finding the plaintiff's expert report adequately outlined how the alleged negligence led to an unnecessary procedure.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fla. Justices Halt Ex-Officer's Execution To Allow DNA Testing

By David Minsky

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday halted the execution of a former police officer convicted of the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl nearly four decades ago in order to wait for results of DNA testing that could prove his innocence. 

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Shutts & Bowen Must Face DQ Bid In Fla. Real Estate Dispute

By Madison Arnold

A Florida state appeals court on Wednesday revived a bid to disqualify Shutts & Bowen LLP from representing a member of a real estate business in a dispute with his fellow owners, saying a trial court improperly barred certain testimony before rejecting the disqualification motion.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. Justices End Mandatory Life Sentences For Felony Murder

By Parker Quinlan

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ended the use of mandatory life-without-parole sentences for felony murder offenses Thursday, potentially upending the sentences of more than 1,000 incarcerated people in a case that has drawn national attention.

5 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. High Court Nixes Convictions Over Use Of Silent Witness

By Elizabeth Daley

Pennsylvania's highest court vacated a man's drug and gun crime convictions Thursday due to prejudice, finding that a witness who had no intent to testify should never have been questioned before the jury by the prosecutor.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. Justices Deem Pot Group Unharmed By Abstinence Rule

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Thursday held that a cannabis trade association lacks standing to argue that a local court's policy of regulating medical marijuana use for treatment court participants hurts dispensary businesses, upholding a ruling that the association didn't suffer any harm itself from the policy.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. Justices Clarify Workers' Comp Notice For Self-Employed

By Hope Patti

A provision of the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act governing notice of work-related injuries does not require sole proprietors of a business to notify their insurers of their injuries within 120 days in order to be eligible for benefits, the state's highest court ruled Thursday.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pa. Justices Affirm Limit To Sex Abuse Immunity Exemption

By Matthew Santoni

A plaintiff who claimed he was sexually assaulted by employees at a Philadelphia jail can't sue the city because Pennsylvania law only grants a sexual-abuse exception to sovereign immunity if the victim was a minor at the time, the state's supreme court ruled Thursday.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Watchdog Suit Seeking NJ AG Ethics Training Docs Revived

By Rose Krebs

A New Jersey appellate panel on Thursday revived a government watchdog's suit over the state attorney general's office's denial of its public records request for attorney ethics training materials, ruling the trial court should have conducted an in camera review of the requested documents before dismissing the complaint.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Contractor Label Bars Bias Claims Against Cognizant

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey appellate panel on Thursday backed the dismissal of a technology recruiter's sexual harassment and discrimination suit against Cognizant Technology Solutions and a staffing vendor, finding she worked as an independent contractor and therefore could not invoke the protections of the state's Law Against Discrimination.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NC Justices Asked To Review 'Sealed Container' Defense

By Mike Curley

A man suing a retailer and distributor over injuries he sustained when a counterfeit lithium-ion battery exploded is asking the North Carolina Supreme Court to take up the case, saying the appeals court wrongly held that the sealed container defense blocked his claims.

Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. Appeals Court Rules Presentence Credit Can Be Waived

By Rachel Konieczny

A criminal defendant can waive their statutory right to presentence confinement credit as a negotiated term of a plea agreement, the Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday for the first time.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. Appeals Court Upholds Town's Short-Term Rental Fee

By Sanjay Talwani

A Colorado town's fee on owners of short-term rentals does not require a vote under the state's Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, a state appeals court ruled Thursday, rejecting the argument that it raises more revenue than is needed for its stated purpose.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Hawaii Condo Units Not Apts. For Tax Purposes, Court Rules

By Jaqueline McCool

Hawaii condominium units in a Maui multiunit property are considered nonowner-occupied properties — not apartments — and should be taxed at higher rates under a county ordinance, a Hawaii appeals court affirmed.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Creek Justices Order New Update On Freedmen Citizenship

By Crystal Owens

The Muscogee (Creek) Supreme Court has ordered a second status report on how the tribe's citizenship board and principal chief are complying with a decision to give citizenship to descendants of those once enslaved by the Indigenous nation.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fed. Circ. In February: When Grammar Trumps Patent Specs

The Federal Circuit's decision in Netflix v. DivX last month highlights the challenge of interpreting potentially misplaced modifiers in complicated technological patents, and the potential for grammatical rules to provide a default interpretation for unclear claim language, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Acquiring Co-Insurer Coverage Aid In Fla. Builder Defect Suits

With the recent influx of Florida construction defect lawsuits putting builder’s insurance carriers in the crosshairs, parties must actively seek new methods tailored to the state to compel as many subcontractors, carriers and co-insurers as possible to share the expense and risk of their defense, says Nick Richardson at Segal McCambridge.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

BigLaw Races To Capture Expanding Fund Finance Market

By Kevin Penton

Debt financing work at the fund level has long been dominated on the lender side by attorneys from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, Haynes Boone and Mayer Brown LLP, but other firms are increasingly crafting formal practices and poaching fund finance stars from the more established players.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The Lanier Law Firm, Kiesel Law LLP, Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP and Beasley Allen Law Firm lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California state jury in a bellwether trial found Meta and Google liable for harming the mental health of a woman who says she became addicted to their social media platforms as a child.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Federal Judge DQs Beasley Allen In J&J Talc MDL

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey federal judge has disqualified the Beasley Allen Law Firm from representing hundreds of plaintiffs in sprawling multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder, holding that the firm violated ethics rules by collaborating with former outside counsel for J&J, a ruling the law firm has vowed to appeal.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Sanctioned For AI Hallucinations In Workers' Comp Row

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New Jersey appellate court on Friday ordered an attorney to pay $1,000 in sanctions for failing to rectify AI-hallucinated case citations pointed out to him in an appeal concerning reimbursement sought by a workers' compensation carrier.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Apple hit back at a tech company's wireless charging patent claim, a flurry of businesses bring COVID-19 pandemic insurance claims as a key deadline draws closer and Ipulse Partners LLP file a claim against a luxury yacht company it represented in a trademark dispute. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Polsinelli Hires Practice Head From McDermott In NY

By Andrea Keckley

Polsinelli PC said Thursday that it has hired a longtime McDermott Will & Schulte LLP attorney to co-lead its special situations and alternative investment practice, saying the move "further advanc[es] the firm's strategic focus on private credit, distressed investing, and complex restructuring matters."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Apollo, BlackRock Deny Asking Kirkland To Abandon Optimum

By Tracey Read

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other major financial companies have denied Optimum Communications' claims accusing them of "bullying" Kirkland & Ellis LLP into withdrawing as the telecommunications company's transaction counsel to get revenge for a collusion lawsuit filed in New York federal court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

A federal judge has stopped the Pentagon from dropping AI giant Anthropic from the government's supply chain, and Latham & Watkins ranked first in a survey of in-house legal leaders on which law firms are most helpful in developing business, followed by King & Spalding, Jones Day and Ropes & Gray.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Firms Targeted By Trump Urge DC Circ. To Uphold EO Rulings

By Alison Knezevich

Four law firms targeted last year by President Donald Trump urged the D.C. Circuit on Friday to affirm lower court rulings that struck down executive orders restricting their ability to practice law, saying the directives blatantly violate the Constitution.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Amazon Swaps MoFo In, Perkins Coie Out In Cooker Suit

By Ben Adlin

Amazon.com LLP switched counsel Friday in a customer's product defect suit accusing the retail giant of selling a faulty pressure cooker that allegedly malfunctioned and caused her severe burns, substituting two Morrison Foerster LLP attorneys in place of an outgoing Perkins Coie LLP lawyer.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mich. Judge Signals No Stay If Attys Exit Retaliation Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge said Friday she is not inclined to pause a long-running sexual harassment suit again if counsel for an attorney who is suing her ex-mentor and former firm are allowed to withdraw, telling the parties, "We've been here. We've done this," as she heard arguments over a motion to exit the case.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judiciary Nixes Amicus Disclosure Reform Over Potential Chill

By Emily Sawicki

The federal judiciary has been asked not to move forward with a plan to add to amicus brief disclosure requirements designed to curb "dark money" groups from bankrolling amicus briefs, after rules committee chairs pulled the recommendation over concerns of a possible chilling effect.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Williams & Connolly Clerk Accused Of Posting Client Info

By Hailey Konnath

A former Williams & Connolly LLP clerk has been posting confidential firm information — including client information and work email exchanges — and he's threatening to "keep leaking" the materials, which he called "a fun read," according to a suit filed in District of Columbia Superior Court.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mayer Brown's $21M Fee Bid In RI Truck Tolls Suit Rebuffed

By Linda Chiem

A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday rebuffed Mayer Brown LLP's bid for $21 million in attorney fees for representing the commercial trucking industry's lead trade group in long-running litigation over the state's truck tolling program, saying the American Trucking Associations ultimately was not the "prevailing party."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC Told It Can't Make Foreign Call Centers Speak English

By Nadia Dreid

The National Creditors Bar Association is not pleased with the Federal Communications Commission's plans to pass new rules that would require companies to make sure their foreign call center operators speak "American Standard English," saying the agency has no power over foreign employees.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »