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Appellate

  • September 17, 2025

    11th Circ. Seems Open To Reviving Mortality Table Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday seemed open to reviving a proposed class action from married energy company retirees who claim outdated life expectancy data caused them to lose out on benefits, with judges questioning the lower court's holding that actuarial assumptions don't have to be reasonable.

  • September 17, 2025

    4th Circ. Told Panel's Ruling In Bestwall Ch. 11 Dangerous

    A group of asbestos claimants has asked the full Fourth Circuit to reconsider a panel's ruling that Georgia-Pacific asbestos unit Bestwall could stay in Chapter 11 despite its parent being solvent, saying the opinion defies U.S. Supreme Court precedent and will enable debtors to abuse the system.

  • September 17, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs Rejection Of Sterling Silver Patent App

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's rejection of a bid for a patent on a silver alloy resistant to corrosion, backing the agency's finding that the application lacked enough written description.

  • September 17, 2025

    7th Circ. Pick Shrugs Off Conservative Group's Opposition

    During her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin tapped for the Seventh Circuit, fended off opposition to her nomination from conservative groups, antipathy that the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee called a "new low" for the committee.

  • September 17, 2025

    3rd Circ. Panel Puzzled By Economics Of NCAA Eligibility

    The introduction of compensation for college athletes may have changed the economic effects of the NCAA's eligibility rules, but a Third Circuit panel wondered Wednesday whether enough analysis on the specific effects had been done to justify suspending one of those rules for a Rutgers University football player.

  • September 17, 2025

    Coaches Ask For Lower Court Redo On 'Sham' NFL Arbitration

    Arguing that a recent Second Circuit ruling supports their position that arbitration overseen by the NFL commissioner cannot be impartial, three former NFL coaches have asked the district court judge who sent part of their proposed racial discrimination class action to arbitration two years ago to again reconsider that decision.

  • September 17, 2025

    Split 3rd Circ. Says Cell Search Didn't Violate Suspect's Rights

    A split Third Circuit panel ruled Tuesday that a woman's protections against self-incrimination weren't violated when she allowed police officers to search her phone after requesting an attorney following her arrest for drug dealing, holding that evidence on the phone ultimately used against her was properly admitted because the search was voluntary.

  • September 17, 2025

    Del. High Court Probes Reviving Gellert Seitz Malpractice Case

    A Delaware justice took aim at an argument she seemed to suggest wasn't fleshed out enough in appellate filings as a homebuilder's attorney urged the state Supreme Court on Wednesday to undo Gellert Seitz Busenkell & Brown LLC's win in a legal malpractice case.

  • September 17, 2025

    Substitute Expert Testimony Is Hearsay, Mass. Justices Rule

    Trial prosecutors' use of a state crime lab supervisor to introduce results of drug tests performed by a former subordinate violated the Sixth Amendment's confrontation clause, the Massachusetts high court said Wednesday, in a decision with potentially far-reaching implications for the use of forensic evidence.

  • September 17, 2025

    NCDOT Dodges Liability In Fatal Snowstorm Accident

    The North Carolina Department of Transportation was freed Wednesday from having to contribute to wrongful death settlements of over $1.6 million after a North Carolina Court of Appeals panel found the department to be immune under the Emergency Management Act.

  • September 17, 2025

    Insurer Says Parkland Mass Shooting Was Multiple Occurrences

    Evanston Insurance Co. told the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday that a lower court erred when it said the term "occurrences" in an excess policy for the Broward Sheriff's Office was ambiguous and granted a win to the insured, which argued the 2018 mass shooting at a Parkland, Florida, school was one occurrence, not several.

  • September 17, 2025

    Pot Entrepreneur Pushes 4th Circ. To Rehear Licensing Fight

    A California cannabis entrepreneur has asked the Fourth Circuit to rehear her case after a panel rejected her bid to upend Maryland's marijuana social equity licensing program, arguing that the appellate judges' ruling turned on multiple errors of law and fact.

  • September 17, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Revives Hard Disk Patent Suit Against Seagate

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday threw out a Pennsylvania federal jury's finding that computer hard drive manufacturer Seagate Technology did not infringe a patent on magnetic material used in computer hard disk drives, finding the lower court gave jurors an incorrect claim construction.

  • September 17, 2025

    Shipbuilders Ask Justices To Weigh 4th Circ. No-Poach Ruling

    Shipbuilders and designers accused of conspiring to suppress industry wages urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fourth Circuit decision that revived a proposed class action against them, saying the allegedly untimely antitrust claims threaten ruinous damages.

  • September 17, 2025

    Venezuelan Bondholder Asks 11th Circ. To Revive Suit

    The holder of a $43.2 million judgment against Venezuela over defaulted bonds asked the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to revive its suit seeking to gain control of various Miami properties controlled by a wealthy businessman accused of bribing Venezuelan officials.

  • September 17, 2025

    Md. Hemp Cos. Plan To Challenge Cannabis Law At 4th Circ.

    A group of hemp companies challenging Maryland's cannabis policies told a federal judge Tuesday that they plan to appeal a pair of recent adverse rulings, citing in part a new federal appellate ruling that pot sellers are entitled to constitutional protections.

  • September 17, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Revisit $9M Nurse Misclassification Ruling

    The Fourth Circuit will not reconsider a panel decision keeping in place a $9 million judgment against a medical staffing company the U.S. Department of Labor accused of misclassifying more than 1,000 nurses as independent contractors, the appeals court said.

  • September 17, 2025

    Yale Health System Settles $435M Hospital Sale Suit

    Yale New Haven Health Services Corp., Connecticut's largest hospital system, has reached a settlement in principle with bankrupt Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. that would resolve a $435 million contract dispute over the sale of several hospitals in the state.

  • September 17, 2025

    Retired Judges Speak Out On 'Threats' To Constitution

    More than 40 retired federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties released an open letter Wednesday, the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, saying they sought to underscore the importance of the rule of law at a time when the nation's ideals "are under historic strain."

  • September 16, 2025

    Dr.'s COVID Falsehoods Are Free Speech, Wash. Panel Says

    A Washington state appeals court unanimously ruled Tuesday that the Washington Medical Commission overstepped its authority by punishing a doctor for COVID-19 falsehoods he published to his blog, but affirmed the commission's decision to discipline him for prescribing ivermectin to COVID-19 patients.

  • September 16, 2025

    6th Circ. Backs Liability Theory In Kia, Hyundai Car Theft Suits

    A split Sixth Circuit panel Tuesday held that a lower court erred in rejecting that Kia and Hyundai could be liable for victims' injuries from crashes involving vehicles stolen amid a TikTok-inspired wave of thefts, finding "theft-related accidents" could be considered "hazards that make a car's design defective.

  • September 16, 2025

    $300M Hyatt Rewards Tax Ruling Criticized By 7th Circ. Judge

    A Seventh Circuit judge took issue Tuesday with a U.S. Tax Court's finding that Hyatt should report $300 million in rewards program fund revenue, saying the decision seemed to focus on a factor that was shot down by decades-old legal precedent.

  • September 16, 2025

    'It's Confidential': Judiciary Chair Mum On Court System Strife

    The federal judiciary's leaders heard sharp criticism at a private meeting Tuesday regarding the U.S. Supreme Court's increasing willingness to block lower court decisions, according to remarks released publicly, and one of those leaders subsequently deflected requests for details during an official briefing.

  • September 16, 2025

    Miami Shipping Co. Asks Justices To Eye Cuba Seizure Suits

    A Miami-based global shipper has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an Eleventh Circuit decision reviving litigation in which the former owner of land near a Cuban port accused the company of "trafficking" in seized property, saying it wants clarity on the parameters of Helms-Burton Act suits.

  • September 16, 2025

    Military Contractor Tells Justices To Nix Army Vet's Injury Suit

    Fluor Corp. has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to toss a suit seeking to hold the defense contractor liable for a military veteran's injuries sustained in a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan, saying federal law preempts the state-based injury claims.

Expert Analysis

  • Calif. Air Waivers Fight Fuels Automakers', States' Uncertainty

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    The unprecedented attempt by Congress and the Trump administration to kill the Clean Air Act waivers supporting California's vehicle emissions standards will eventually end up in the U.S. Supreme Court — but meanwhile, vehicle manufacturers, and states following California's standards, are left in limbo, says John Watson at Spencer Fane.

  • Diversity, Equity, Indictment? Contractor Risks After Kousisis

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Kousisis v. U.S. decision, holding that economic loss is not required to sustain wire fraud charges related to fraudulent inducement, may extend criminal liability to government contractors that make false diversity, equity and inclusion certifications, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Navigating Client Trauma

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    Law schools don't train students to handle repeated exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, but for litigators practicing in areas like civil rights and personal injury, success depends on the ability to view cases clinically and to recognize when you may need to seek help, says Katie Bennett at Robins Kaplan.

  • 9th Circ. Customs Ruling A Limited Win For FCA Plaintiffs

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    While the decision last month in Island Industries v. Sigma may be welcome news for False Claims Act relators, under binding precedent courts within the Ninth Circuit still do not have jurisdiction to adjudicate customs-based FCA claims pursued by the government, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • Quantifying Trading-Based Damages Using Price Impact

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will likely increasingly rely on price impact analyses to demonstrate pecuniary harm from trading-related misconduct, meaning measuring price impact will be helpful in challenging SEC disgorgement, determining appropriate remedies, and assessing loss causation and damages in private litigation, says Vyacheslav Fos at Boston College and Erin Smith at Compass Lexecon.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • How McKesson Ruling Will Inform Interpretations Of The TCPA

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    Amid the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, we can expect to see both plaintiffs and defendants utilizing the decision to revisit the Federal Communications Commission's past Telephone Consumer Protection Act interpretations and decisions they did not like, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.

  • Justices Rethink Minimum Contacts For Foreign Entities

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    Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Devas v. Antrix and Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization, suggest that federal statutes may confer personal jurisdiction over foreign entities that have little to no contact with the U.S. — a significant departure from traditional due process principles, says Gary Shaw at Pillsbury.

  • Opinion

    High Court Must Overrule Outdated Patent Eligibility Doctrine

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    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.

  • Examining TCPA Jurisprudence A Year After Loper Bright

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    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.

  • Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures

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    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.

  • How Justices' Ruling Limits Options To Challenge DHS Orders

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    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.

  • Series

    Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • Purdue Case Could Transform Patent Obviousness Analyses

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    If accepted for review by the U.S. Supreme Court, Purdue Pharma v. Accord Healthcare — concerning whether Purdue's abuse-deterrent opioid formulation patents were invalid as obvious — could significantly shift how courts weigh secondary considerations in patent obviousness analyses, say attorneys at Lathrop.

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