Senate Tees Up 6th Circ. Nom Vote As 1st Of 2nd Trump Term

By Courtney Bublé

The first judicial confirmation of the second Trump administration was readied on Thursday, with the U.S. Senate voting 51-43 to end debate on the nomination of Whitney Hermandorfer to the Sixth Circuit.

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Dems Say 3rd Circ. Nominee Urged DOJ To Ignore Courts

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee on Thursday unveiled 150 pages of documents, which they say substantiate whistleblower allegations against Third Circuit nominee Emil Bove and raise concerns about his conduct during his tenure at the U.S. Department of Justice.

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$33M Sonos Appeal Has Fed. Circ. Asking: What's Up, Alsup?

By Dani Kass

A Federal Circuit panel struggled Thursday to piece together the different interpretations of what U.S. District Judge William Alsup decided before upending Sonos Inc.'s $32.5 million jury verdict against Google LLC, with one judge claiming disbelief that there could be such a "fundamental disconnect" between the companies' understandings.

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4th Circ. Pauses Air Quality Suit As EPA Rethinks W.Va. Plan

By Abigail Harrison

The Fourth Circuit on Thursday granted a request to pause West Virginia's ozone regulation lawsuit so the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can reconsider the state's air quality compliance plan.

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Trump Taps Holland & Hart Partner For Montana Bench

By Lauren Berg

President Donald Trump announced on social media Thursday he has chosen a Holland & Hart LLP partner and veteran government attorney to serve on the federal bench in Montana.

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Okla. Gov.'s Brother Seeks High Court Review Of Tribal Ticket

By Crystal Owens

Keith Stitt, brother of Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decision that denied his appeal of a speeding ticket issued on tribal lands, arguing that the state never intended to accept a landmark ruling on the restoration of proper criminal jurisdiction in Indian Country.

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IRS Leaker Fairly Sentenced To 5 Years, Gov't Tells DC Circ.

By Anna Scott Farrell

The judge who sentenced an IRS contractor for leaking thousands of wealthy people's tax returns to the media, including those of President Donald Trump, kept an open mind when she decided to deliver the maximum five-year prison term, the government told the D.C. Circuit, arguing the sentence was fair.

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Florida Restaurateur Can't Get Shrimp TM, Fed. Circ. Affirms

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Thursday refused to revive an author and restaurateur's bid to register a trademark for "Yucatán Shrimp" at his Florida eatery named after his crime novels, backing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's finding that the mark would be merely descriptive.

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Fed. Circ. Judges Get Tough With Phillips 66 In Retrial Spat

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Circuit tangled with Phillips 66 on Wednesday over the "talismanic significance" of a lower court judge declaring the oil and gas giant had made prejudicial arguments in an infringement case over oil refinery patents.

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Jazz Looks To Block Avadel From Asking For Sleep Drug OK

By Adam Lidgett

Jazz Pharmaceuticals wants a Delaware federal judge to block Avadel CNS Pharmaceuticals from seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for its Lumryz drug to treat the sleep disorder idiopathic hypersomnia, after the Federal Circuit sent the case back to the lower court.

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AT&T's $181M Patent Loss Gets Tough Look At Fed. Circ.

By Theresa Schliep

A Federal Circuit panel had hard questions for an attorney looking to safeguard Finesse Wireless' $181 million verdict against AT&T and Nokia for infringing a pair of radio interference patents, with one judge in particular seemingly taking issue Thursday with the infringement findings. 

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Brief

Fed. Circ. Backs Novartis PTAB Win Over Shilpa MS Patent

By Theresa Schliep

The Federal Circuit on Thursday issued a one-word order affirming a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision invalidating claims in a Shilpa Pharma Inc. patent that it has accused Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. of infringing with the drugmaker's multiple sclerosis drug.

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2nd Circ. Won't Touch Morgan Stanley Deferred Comp Ruling

By Patrick Hoff

The Second Circuit refused to upend part of a lower court's ruling that former Morgan Stanley financial advisers' deferred compensation fell within the reach of federal benefits law, saying the financial firm couldn't clear the high bar necessary to undo the decision.

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Feds Want Cheesesteak Shop Owner's Tax Sentence Restored

By Asha Glover

Prosecutors urged a Pennsylvania federal judge to reimpose a nearly two-year sentence on a Philadelphia cheesesteak shop owner who was convicted of paying employees off the books, a request that comes two months after the Third Circuit vacated his prison term.

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Unions Defend Block On DOGE's Social Security Data Access

By Emily Brill

The full Fourth Circuit should affirm a Maryland federal judge's decision to block the White House's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Social Security Administration data, two unions and a retirees' advocacy group argued, saying that dissolving the injunction would violate their members' right to privacy.

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6th Circ. Sinks Ex-Christian School Dean's Racial Bias Claims

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Christian school's onetime dean of students cannot have his dismissed race and sex discrimination lawsuit revived because his former position falls under a ministerial exception that bars employment claims, the Sixth Circuit has found.

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8th Circ. Won't Pause ND Tribes' Voting Rights Decision

By Crystal Owens

The Eighth Circuit on Thursday denied a bid by two North Dakota tribes to stay its decision to vacate a challenge to two of the state's voting laws while the ruling is appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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8th Circ. Backs EEOC Win In Deaf Bias Row With Trucking Co.

By Emmy Freedman

The Eighth Circuit declined on Thursday to upend decisions in favor of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in its lawsuit accusing a trucking company of refusing to hire a driver because he's deaf, rejecting the employer's argument that the applicant wasn't qualified for the job.

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9th Circ. Sides With Civil Aid Attys In H-2A Farm Docs Dispute

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel said Thursday that a lower court overstepped its authority by restricting a civil legal aid organization from using for advocacy purposes information that was gathered during discovery in a class of seasonal farmworkers' now-settled forced labor case against a Washington fruit grower.

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9th Circ. Backs Geico Win In COVID Auto Rebate Class Action

By Gina Kim

The Ninth Circuit affirmed Geico's victory in a certified class action alleging it owed additional refunds to drivers who overpaid their auto insurance premiums during COVID-19 stay-home orders, ruling on Wednesday that Geico charged rates that were previously approved by California's insurance commissioner, which bars the plaintiff's state Unfair Competition Law claim.

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9th Circ. Upholds Converse's Win In Website Chat Wiretap Suit

By Allison Grande

The Ninth Circuit has refused to revive a proposed class action accusing Converse Inc. of allowing a third-party vendor to intercept website visitors' chats, finding that there was "no evidence" that the sneaker maker had violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

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DOL Urges 9th Circ. To OK Toss Of HP 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor urged the Ninth Circuit to reject HP Inc. workers' bid to revive a proposed class action alleging forfeited employee 401(k) plan contributions were mismanaged, arguing a lower court properly tossed the case for failure to state a claim for violating federal benefits law.

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Groups Ask 9th Circ. To Sink EPA Pesticide Seed Exemption

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

Green groups on Wednesday asked the Ninth Circuit to revive their lawsuit alleging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is violating federal law by failing to regulate pesticide-coated crop seeds.

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Uber, Instacart Fight Seattle's Driver Rights Law At 9th Circ.

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel appeared split on Thursday while hearing Uber and Instacart's challenge to a Seattle city ordinance regulating deactivation of app-based worker accounts, with the judges seemingly at odds on whether the law forced commercial speech while still unconvinced of a First Amendment violation.

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10th Circ. Affirms Sentence In $1B Energy Tax Credit Scheme

By Anna Scott Farrell

A leader of a renewable-energy scheme that illicitly sought $1 billion in tax credits failed to persuade the Tenth Circuit to overturn his conviction by arguing that jurors were biased when his lawyer was identified as having helped Michael Jackson beat child molestation charges.

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11th Circ. Revives Case Over $3.1M Glassware Verdict Debt

By Elliot Weld

The Eleventh Circuit has revived a case over $3.1 million in debt resulting from a jury verdict finding that two glass companies had copied the designs of another business, saying a lower court was wrong to find that the infringing companies' bankruptcy had wiped the debt out.

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11th Circ. Keeps County Win In Prison Promotion Bias Row

By Irene Spezzamonte

The Eleventh Circuit kept intact a Georgia district court's decision to toss a county prison counselor's suit claiming she was passed over for promotion because of her gender, ruling Thursday that she lacked evidence to support a discrimination claim.

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11th Circ. Tosses Satellite Co.'s $829K Finder's Fee Suit

By Catherine Marfin

The Eleventh Circuit said Wednesday that a $829,000 award in favor of a satellite technology company should be tossed, writing that a Florida federal court didn't have jurisdiction over the case.

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Golfer's Defamation Suits Not Up To Par, 11th Circ. Says

By Mike Curley

The Eleventh Circuit won't revive a pair of defamation suits by golfer Patrick Reed against media outlets he accused of defaming him by reporting accusations of cheating and criticism of his association with a Saudi Arabia-backed golf organization.

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Conn. Panel Will Again Hear Ex-Alex Jones Atty's Ethics Case

By Christine DeRosa

The Connecticut Appellate Court will hear former Alex Jones attorney Norm Pattis' second appeal of his already-reduced, two-week suspension for allowing a former associate to send Sandy Hook medical records to other Jones attorneys who had not signed a confidentiality order.

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Fla. Atty Suspended After Conviction In Embezzlement Case

By Lynn LaRowe

The Florida Supreme Court has suspended a lawyer who was found guilty at a June retrial of embezzling from an Orlando law firm where she worked as a paralegal before acquiring her law license.

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Fla. High Court Revives Ex-Steak 'N Shake Worker's Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

The Florida Supreme Court backed the reinstatement Thursday of an ex-Steak 'n Shake worker's disability bias suit claiming he was fired after suffering a back injury, ruling he didn't need to invoke the state's civil rights law in his presuit bias charge to pursue his claims in court.

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Penn Hospital Can't Escape Record $207M Med Mal Judgment

By Y. Peter Kang

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday affirmed a record $187 million verdict and subsequent $207 million judgment in a suit accusing the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania of causing a newborn's catastrophic birth injuries, saying the award did not "shock the conscience" given the evidence presented at trial.

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Pa. Court Says DA Can Refile Murder Charge In Fatal Stabbing

By Parker Quinlan

A split appeals court in Pennsylvania has ruled that the commonwealth may refile charges against a woman for murdering her former girlfriend during an altercation, overturning a state trial court's finding that there was not enough evidence to bring the case.

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Brief

Pa. High Court Takes Up Appeal Over Criminal Gun Rights

By Parker Quinlan

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of a man who is accused of attempted murder and weapons charges and consider whether the weapons charges are at odds with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen.

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Island Community Gets NJ High Court Ruling To Switch Towns

By Carla Baranauckas

A barrier island community has met all legal requirements to formally separate from a Garden State township and join a neighboring borough, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday, ending a decade-long legal battle over local governance, geography and fairness in public services.

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How Justices' Ruling Limits Options To Challenge DHS Orders

In Riley v. Bondi, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a 30-day deadline for challenging deportation orders begins when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issues a final administrative review order, opening the door for the government to effectively bar circuit court review in future similar cases, says Kevin Gregg at Kurzban Kurzban.

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Examining TCPA Jurisprudence A Year After Loper Bright

One year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, lower court decisions demonstrate that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act will continue to evolve as long-standing interpretations of the act are analyzed with a fresh lens, says Aaron Gallardo at Kilpatrick.

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Opinion

High Court Must Overrule Outdated Patent Eligibility Doctrine

A certiorari petition should directly ask the U.S. Supreme Court to correct its 1972 patent decision in Gottschalk v. Benson, the critical point where patent eligibility law veered from the statutory text toward judicial policymaking, says Robert Greenspoon at Dunlap Bennett.

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Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures

With the recent rise of securities fraud actions based on external events — like a data breach or environmental disaster — that drive down stock prices, risk disclosures have become more of a sword for the plaintiffs bar than a shield for public companies, now the subject of a growing circuit split, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

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Series

Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing violin in a string quartet reminds me that flexibility, ambition, strong listening skills, thoughtful leadership and intentional collaboration are all keys to a successful legal practice, says Julie Park at MoFo.

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VC Giant Andreessen Rips Del. Courts, Plans Move To Nev.

By Rae Ann Varona

Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz on Wednesday announced plans to reincorporate in Nevada, saying that it was no longer a "no-brainer" to launch a company and incorporate in the historically corporate-friendly state of Delaware.

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Another Atty Sanctioned For Allegedly Hallucinated Case Law

By Andrea Keckley

A Florida judge on Wednesday issued a blistering order against an attorney who became the latest of many to face sanctions over filings with case law suspected of being hallucinated by generative artificial intelligence, ordering him to take AI ethics courses and repay opposing counsel's fees.

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'Admonition' But No More Amazon Penalty For Hidden Docs

By Bryan Koenig

A federal judge in Washington state took Amazon.com to task Thursday for "bad faith" material review that labeled tens of thousands of documents as covered by attorney-client privilege despite involving no legal advice, but the judge, who is presiding over the Federal Trade Commission's Prime subscriptions case against the company, opted against further punishment.

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Judge Blocks Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order Nationwide

By Britain Eakin

A New Hampshire federal judge on Thursday issued a nationwide block of President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, and granted certification to a nationwide class that will cover all affected children born in the U.S.

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Analysis

5 Employee Benefits Takeaways On The GOP Tax Bill

By Kellie Mejdrich

Congressional Republicans' sweeping tax and policy bill, which President Donald Trump sought and then signed, contains multiple provisions that caught the attention of employee benefits and executive compensation attorneys, including new changes to high-deductible health plans and an employer-side deduction limit affecting highly compensated employees. Here are five takeaways from employee benefits and executive compensation attorneys on what's in — and out of — the GOP megabill.

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