Up Next At High Court: Criminal Sentences & Video Privacy

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will close out its October sitting by hearing oral arguments in two cases that ask what level of deference federal district courts should give to commentary interpreting the federal sentencing guidelines, and what purchases are protected under a video consumer privacy statute.

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5th Circ. Judges Clash Over Trans Restroom Photo Case

By Lauren Berg

A split Fifth Circuit on Friday declined to rehear a preliminary injunction bid in a case challenging the constitutionality of enforcing a Texas privacy law against a plaintiff who tweeted a photo of a trans woman in a bathroom, spurring three judges to author contentious concurring and dissenting opinions.

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11th Circ. OKs Experience-Based Price For Fla. Bar Exam

By Ryan Boysen

Florida can continue to charge "experienced" attorneys more money to sit for the state's bar exam than recent law school graduates, after the Eleventh Circuit on Friday rejected a lawsuit claiming the policy violates the Commerce Clause by discriminating against out-of-state attorneys.

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11th Circ. Orders Resentencing Under New Robbery Rule

By Parker Quinlan

The Eleventh Circuit has ruled that a man convicted of robbing two auto parts stores should be resentenced because changes in the federal sentencing guidelines retroactively updated language relating to the physical restraint of a victim.

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11th Circ. Tosses Crash Award Over Doctor Testimony

By David Aaro

The Eleventh Circuit on Friday threw out a roughly $400,000 damages award a trucking company was ordered to pay to a victim of a crash with one of its drivers, saying the lower court didn't issue a clear enough ruling on the testimony from her physician.

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Roundup

ERISA Recap: 6 Notable Decisions From September

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Tenth and Seventh circuits issued published opinions in two union retirement disputes, while the Sixth Circuit found that the Commonwealth of Kentucky's lawsuit against pharmacy benefit managers does not belong in state court, citing colorable federal preemption arguments. Here's more on those decisions and three other notable rulings involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act that came down in September.

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Cities Ask Justices To Undo Texas-DOJ Immigration Rule Deal

By Britain Eakin

Democracy Forward Foundation and several cities asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to stay a district court's approval of a deal Texas and the Trump administration struck to vacate a Biden-era rule allowing immigration courts to temporarily close cases.

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Arizona Tribe Loses Bid To Pause Border Wall Construction

By Crystal Owens

A D.C. federal judge has denied an Arizona tribe's request to block border wall construction on its reservation pending appeal, saying the Indigenous nation hasn't identified any reason for reconsideration of a previous decision that reached the same conclusion.

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Pot Farm Seeks Review Of 6th Circ. Federal-Illegality Ruling

By Sam Reisman

A Michigan cannabis farm is asking the Sixth Circuit to reconsider a recent holding that contracts in the federally illegal marijuana industry are unenforceable, saying the ruling would cause "unimaginable instability" in jurisdictions with legalized cannabis.

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9th Circ. Sides With Forest Service In Idaho Project Suit

By Hailey Konnath

The Ninth Circuit on Friday reversed a lower court's finding that the U.S. Forest Service ran afoul of the National Forest Management Act when it approved an Idaho project, ruling the court erred when analyzing the project's compliance with limits on road construction in areas in and around bear habitat.

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Feds Again Turn To 9th Circ. In Fight Over ICE Facility

By Gina Kim

The Trump administration said Friday it will ask the Ninth Circuit to overturn a trial court decision requiring ICE to give independent monitors access to conduct inspections and electronic records for detained immigrants at a lockup in Adelanto, California, where a judge has twice called for conditions to be improved.

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DirecTV, AGs Can't See Nexstar-Tegna Benefits Yet

By Bryan Koenig

A California federal magistrate judge refused to make Nexstar and Tegna explain how their $6.2 billion merger will boost local news against streaming competition and accelerate technological transition, rejecting as premature a motion to compel from DirecTV and the bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general challenging the deal.

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Gov't Can't Raise New Line In $16M Tax Suit, Founder Says

By Kevin Pinner

The government cannot use a postargument letter to introduce a new argument in a dispute with the founder of Buy.com over his nearly $16 million tax bill, he told the Tenth Circuit.

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Iberdrola Loses Bid To Revive Mass. Power Plant Fraud Suit

By Lauren Berg

A New York appellate court has declined to revive an Iberdrola unit's lawsuit accusing the funders of a Massachusetts power plant project of tricking the energy company into largely completing construction before interfering in the contract to avoid funding the work.

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Calif. Commission Bumps Up 3 Judges To Appellate Posts

By Ben Adlin

California's Commission on Judicial Appointments voted to elevate three Superior Court judges to state appellate court positions in Los Angeles and Santa Ana, the commission announced Friday.

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Texas Homeowners Lose Appeal In Harvey Flood Suit

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court ruled Friday that the companies behind a housing development had no duty to prevent the catastrophic flooding associated with Hurricane Harvey, handing a defeat to homeowners in a suit that appeared to pose a novel issue given the historic storm.

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Expert's Failure To Identify Doctors Dooms Texas Med Mal Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A Texas appellate court has tossed a medical malpractice lawsuit accusing three doctors of failing to diagnose a woman's brain cyst, holding that the plaintiff's expert report failed to identify which physicians allegedly caused the woman's injuries.

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Pa. Justices Won't Extend Deadline For 'Skill Games' Removal

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has denied a request from three state lawmakers and a group of "skill games" operators to extend the deadline for businesses to remove devices that the high court recently deemed illegal slot machines.

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Pa. Odd Fellows Lodge Can't Take Over Philly Charity

By Matthew Santoni

The Pennsylvania leaders of the International Order of Odd Fellows can't take over a Philadelphia charity that a local lodge had organized 140 years ago, since amendments to the charity's charter and bylaws giving the "Grand Lodge" control had not followed the original charter or state law, an appellate panel has ruled.

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Del. Justices Back ATG In Empery Proxy Fight

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Supreme Court has upheld a Chancery Court ruling requiring digital asset company Empery Digital Inc. to allow activist investor ATG Capital Opportunities Fund LP's nine board nominees to stand for election, rejecting the company's challenge less than a week before its annual meeting Oct. 14.

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Atty Wrongly Axed CitiMortgage Suit, Clients Tell NC Justices

By Corey Rothauser

A couple asked the North Carolina Supreme Court to revive their lawsuit against CitiMortgage Inc., claiming their attorney permanently dismissed their claims without their permission when they had agreed only to a dismissal that would allow them to refile.

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Mass. Court Hints At 2nd Look Of $165M Insurance Judgment

By Carolyn Muyskens

Massachusetts' highest court hinted Friday that it could order a judge to show how she calculated the restitution included in a $165 million judgment against three UnitedHealth-owned companies for deceptive marketing practices.

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Health Plan Takeaways After 2nd Circ. No Surprises Act Ruling

While the Second Circuit's recent ruling in East Coast Advanced Plastic Surgery v. Cigna gives health plans breathing room in finding that healthcare providers cannot enforce out-of-network billing dispute resolution awards in court, sponsors should not assume that declining to pay awards will go unaddressed by regulators, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

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Where The 3 Prediction Market Appellate Rulings Diverge

Although the recent Third, Sixth and Ninth Circuit opinions concerning prediction markets overlap on some issues, they differ on key statutory questions, deepening a circuit split over both the classification of sports event contracts and the scope of federal preemption, says Levi Giovanetto at Sheppard.

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Calif. Decision Shows Limits Of Self-Serving Testimony

A California appellate court's recent opinion in a dispute between two home renovation partners is a reminder that where there are admissions or undisputed documentary evidence, litigants need more than self-serving testimony to overcome summary judgment, says Tyler Palmer at Tucker Ellis.

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Fighting Class Cert. In Wash. False Email Promo Cases

Retailers facing a recent wave of class actions alleging their email promotions violated the Washington Commercial Electronic Mail Act may be able to demonstrate that sending individualized, customer-specific messages produced experiences too diverse to be adjudicated on a classwide basis, say attorneys at Benesch.

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Nelson Mullins Sued In SC Over October Data Breach

By Jake Maher

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP has been hit with a proposed class action in South Carolina federal court over a data breach that took place in early October.

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Justices Won't Eye 'Weaponized' Sanctions Of Election Attys

By Jeff Overley

Despite outrage among Ninth Circuit conservatives, the U.S. Supreme Court declined Tuesday to scrutinize six-figure sanctions of lawyers who challenged Arizona election protocols, leaving intact discipline designed to "send a message."

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Reddit Fights Proskauer's 'Hot Potato' AI Client Bid In IP Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

Reddit Inc. has urged a New York federal judge to block its former law firm Proskauer Rose from defending Perplexity AI in Reddit's suit over alleged data scraping used to train artificial intelligence models, arguing the firm can't represent Perplexity after dropping Reddit as a client like ‌a "hot potato."

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Pa. Firm Can't Toss Uber's RICO Claims Over Insurer Payouts

By Linda Chiem

A Pennsylvania federal judge allowed Uber to pursue Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act claims alleging a Philadelphia personal injury firm schemed with healthcare providers to fabricate medical records and inflate accident claims involving Uber and FedEx drivers, saying Uber doesn't lose standing just because its insurer paid its legal fees in underlying litigation.

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DOJ Cites Privacy Concerns In Rejecting NM Epstein Files Bid

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Department of Justice has rebuffed the state of New Mexico's request for the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files for its investigation into possible crimes at Epstein's Zorro Ranch, saying it would hinder law enforcement operations.

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Case Dropped Against Judge Accused Of Endorsing Violence

By Madison Arnold

Ethics charges against a Florida state court judge in Jacksonville alleging he made comments appearing to endorse violence, convey bias and demean individuals during several proceedings last year have been dropped.

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What The Justices Won't Hear: A Roundup Of Cert Denials

By Taylor Bowie

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant a writ of certiorari to another batch of applications Tuesday, including cases involving six-figure sanctions, wine shipment laws and overtime claims. 

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week saw stockholders challenge Nvidia Corp.'s roughly $20 billion deal with artificial intelligence chipmaker Groq Inc., Hertz Global Holdings Inc.'s electric vehicle strategy and more than $1.5 billion in Humana Inc. stock buybacks.

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