Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Appellate
-
August 06, 2025
Ga. Judges Weigh Birth Defect Ruling in Sterigenics Case
A group of Georgia residents who alleged they were injured by emissions from a Sterigenics sterilization plant urged the Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday to overturn a lower court's grant of partial summary judgment to the company on the issue of whether the plant's emissions caused birth defects.
-
August 06, 2025
Ohio Panel Revives Robbery Case Over Receipt Evidence
An Ohio state appeals court has ruled that a state prosecutor's office did not violate evidence rules when it failed to turn over a sales receipt for a stolen cell phone in a robbery case, finding the evidence wouldn't have helped the defendant.
-
August 06, 2025
RJ Reynolds Keeps Trial Win In Cancer Death Suit, Panel Says
A Massachusetts intermediate-level appeals court on Wednesday affirmed RJ Reynolds' trial win in a suit accusing it of causing a man's lung cancer, saying a new trial was not warranted as the trial judge did not unfairly exclude certain evidence.
-
August 06, 2025
Compelling ERISA Arbitration No Sure Thing, 9th Circ. Shows
The Ninth Circuit aligned with several other federal appeals courts when it recently struck down a clause in a food service company's employee health plan that barred class or representative actions, marking the latest in a series of setbacks for employers looking to push federal benefits suits into solo arbitration.
-
August 06, 2025
Pa. Panel OKs Doctor's Midtrial Win In Bad Surgery Suit
A Pennsylvania appellate panel on Wednesday upheld a trial judge's decision to grant a midtrial win to a physician accused of botching a woman's saliva gland removal surgery, saying the plaintiff's liability theory was not supported by the testimony of her medical expert.
-
August 06, 2025
Axed Verdicts Put Spotlight On Patent Applicant Statements
Recent Federal Circuit decisions overturning substantial patent judgments due to statements the patent owner made during the application process illustrate the importance of applicants carefully calibrating their arguments, particularly when seeking design patents, attorneys say.
-
August 06, 2025
5th Circ. Upholds Gun Ban For Convicted Felons
A Fifth Circuit panel on Wednesday shot down a felon's attempt to have a gun charge thrown out after he was found guilty of a drive-by shooting, saying a historical analog from the time of the country's founding allows for confiscation of firearms from felons.
-
August 06, 2025
4th Circ. Says Habeas Request Prevented By Procedure
The Fourth Circuit denied habeas relief to a Virginia attempted bank robber who has since been released from prison, affirming Wednesday that his argument that he was sentenced under an unconstitutionally vague guideline did not meet procedural requirements for postconviction relief and could not be considered.
-
August 06, 2025
Parents Lose Deportation Appeal That Cited Child's Disability
An Eleventh Circuit panel said Wednesday that hardship determinations in deportation proceedings should be reviewed to ascertain whether federal immigration courts have "substantial evidence" to back the determinations, in the process rejecting an undocumented immigrant couple's bid to stay in the U.S. to continue treatment and schooling for their child, who has a learning disability.
-
August 06, 2025
Mich. Panel Wary Of MSU Student's Hazing Law Challenge
A former Michigan State University student may have an uphill battle convincing a state appellate panel to ax criminal hazing charges related to a student's death at a fraternity party, the judges on the panel suggested Wednesday.
-
August 06, 2025
Archdiocese Seeks Reinsurance Docs In Sex Abuse Row
The Archdiocese of New York urged a state appeals court Wednesday to uphold an order mandating that nine Chubb units turn over reinsurance documents as they litigate coverage for thousands of sex abuse lawsuits, noting Chubb already said before the trial court that "reinsurance is simply insurance for insurers."
-
August 06, 2025
Insulin Collusion Needn't Be 'Clever' To Exist, 2nd Circ. Says
A Second Circuit panel revived safety-net providers' proposed class action claims against Sanofi, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca on Wednesday that allege the company agreed to limit discount program participation to spike insulin and weight-loss drug costs, with the appeals court rejecting drugmaker arguments that their actions weren't "clever" enough to be collusion.
-
August 06, 2025
UC Policy Found Discriminatory Based On Immigration Status
A California state appeals court has ruled that the University of California's employment policy against hiring unauthorized immigrant students who lack federal work permits is "facially discriminatory," and that the university system couldn't lean on a risk of federal enforcement for justification.
-
August 06, 2025
4th Circ. Revives Chance Of Class Cert. For Overdraft Suit
The Fourth Circuit has reversed a denial of class certification in a lawsuit against Michigan-based Independent Bank, finding that a South Carolina federal judge had improperly ruled that bank customer Jamila Grice couldn't represent a nationwide class and remanding the case for further proceedings.
-
August 06, 2025
Golfer Wants Full 11th Circ. To Take Swing At Defamation Suit
Pro golfer Patrick Reed urged the full Eleventh Circuit Tuesday to take a second look at his failed defamation suit against a litany of media organizations and figures, arguing that a three-judge panel "abjectly failed" to properly review his complaints after their dismissal by a Florida federal judge.
-
August 06, 2025
7th Circ. Reverses Class Cert. In Wis. Gas Price-Fixing Suit
The Seventh Circuit unwound a lower court's decision to certify a class in a Wisconsin natural gas price-fixing case on Tuesday, saying the trial judge needed to "engage more fully" with conflicting expert evidence before deciding that common issues predominate in the case.
-
August 06, 2025
Colo. Justices Asked To Rule On Pro Se Appeal Authority
A plumbing company and two Colorado homeowners asked the state's Supreme Court on Tuesday to clarify that the Colorado Court of Appeals has jurisdiction to prevent litigants from making "frivolous" pro se filings, contrary to a prior ruling from the court.
-
August 06, 2025
US Asks High Court To Decide If Drug Users Can Have Guns
The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve "a four-way circuit conflict" over whether it is legal to prevent users of drugs including marijuana, which has been legalized in some fashion in the vast majority of states, from possessing firearms.
-
August 06, 2025
9th Circ. Backs SEC's No-Denials Settlements Rule
The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday rejected a First Amendment challenge to a decades-old U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule that restricts defendants who settle securities law charges from denying the claims against them, saying the law has "long regarded the voluntary relinquishment of constitutional rights as permissible" with safeguards.
-
August 06, 2025
Family Says Court Must Face Bias Suit Over Witness Killing
The father of a pregnant woman from Las Vegas who was fatally shot after traveling to Asheville to testify in a capital murder case urged the North Carolina Court of Appeals to restore his case against the state's court administrative office, arguing it was not time-barred.
-
August 06, 2025
Ark. Prisoners Challenge Nitrogen Gas Execution Law
Ten Arkansas death row inmates have challenged a new law authorizing their execution by nitrogen gas, arguing the law is unconstitutional because it violates the state's separation of powers doctrine, an attorney confirmed to Law360.
-
August 06, 2025
Vivint Asks 4th Circ. To Rethink Affirming $190M TM Verdict
Vivint Smart Home Inc. is looking for a do-over after the Fourth Circuit affirmed a nearly $190 million verdict in a suit accusing it of deceiving customers of a rival security company, saying the ruling flouts North Carolina's cap on punitive damages and ignores state appellate precedence.
-
August 06, 2025
NJ Panel Backs Jury Verdict For Law Firm In $244K Fee Row
A New Jersey appellate panel on Wednesday upheld a jury verdict in favor of the New York-based law firm Weg & Myers PC in a breach-of-contract action brought by a former client, finding no abuse of discretion or prejudicial error by the judge.
-
August 06, 2025
7th Circ. Adopts Flexible Standard For Collective Actions
The Seventh Circuit in a discrimination case against Eli Lilly & Co. laid out a new standard for certifying collective actions, joining the Fifth and Sixth circuits in departing from a two-step analysis courts had used for decades but taking a more middle-of-the-road approach.
-
August 06, 2025
2nd Circ. Backs J&J Spinoff In 'Rapid Release' Label Suit
The Second Circuit on Wednesday declined to revive a proposed class action alleging a Johnson & Johnson spinoff company misled consumers by claiming that "Rapid Release" Tylenol gelcaps dissolve faster than other types of Tylenol.
Expert Analysis
-
Google Damages Ruling Offers Lessons For Testifying Experts
The Federal Circuit's recent decision in EcoFactor v. Google represents a shift in how courts evaluate expert testimony in patent cases, offering a practical guide for how litigators and testifying experts can refine their work, says Adam Rhoten at Secretariat.
-
Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients
Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.
-
One Year On, Davidson Holds Lessons On 'Health Halo' Claims
A year after the Ninth Circuit's Davidson v. Sprout Foods decision — which raised the bar for so-called health halo claims — food and beverage companies can draw insights from its finding, subsequently expanded on by other courts, that plaintiffs must be specific when alleging fraud in healthfulness marketing, say attorneys at Sidley.
-
Justices' NRC Ruling Raises New Regulatory Questions
In Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court avoided ruling on the NRC's authority to license private, temporary nuclear waste storage facilities — and this failure to reach the merits question creates new regulatory uncertainty where none had existed for decades, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
-
Rocket Mortgage Appeal May Push Justices To Curb Classes
Should the U.S. Supreme Court agree to hear Alig v. Rocket Mortgage, the resulting decision could limit class sizes based on commonality under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Evidence as opposed to standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, say attorneys at Carr Maloney.
-
3 Judicial Approaches To Applying Loper Bright, 1 Year Later
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in its Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, a few patterns have emerged in lower courts’ application of the precedent to determine whether agency actions are lawful, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
-
Trending At The PTAB: Shifts In Parallel Proceedings Strategy
Dynamics are changing between the Patent Trial and Appeal Board and federal courts, with two recent discretionary denials and one Federal Circuit decision offering takeaways for both patent owners and challengers navigating parallel proceedings, say attorneys at Finnegan.
-
What Businesses Need To Know To Avoid VPPA Class Actions
Divergent rulings by the Second, Sixth and Seventh Circuits about the scope of the Video Privacy Protection Act have highlighted the difficulty of applying a statute conceived to regulate the now-obsolete brick-and-mortar video store sector in today's internet economy, say attorneys at DTO Law.
-
Series
Adapting To Private Practice: From US Rep. To Boutique Firm
My transition from serving as a member of Congress to becoming a partner at a boutique firm has been remarkably smooth, in part because I never stopped exercising my legal muscles, maintained relationships with my former colleagues and set the right tone at the outset, says Mondaire Jones at Friedman Kaplan.
-
Opinion
IRS Should Work With Industry On Microcaptive Regs
The IRS should engage with microcaptive insurance owners to develop better regulations on these arrangements or risk the emergence of common law guidance as taxpayers with legitimate programs seek relief in the federal courts, says Dustin Carlson at SRA 831(b) Admin.
-
FLSA Interpretation Patterns Emerge 1 Year After Loper Bright
One year after the U.S. Supreme Court's monumental decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, four distinct avenues of judicial decision-making have taken shape among lower courts that are responding to their newfound freedom in interpreting the Fair Labor Standards Act through U.S. Department of Labor regulations, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.
-
A Pattern Emerges In Justices' Evaluation Of Veteran Statute
The recent Soto v. U.S. decision that the statute of limitations for certain military-related claims does not apply to combat-related special compensation exemplifies the U.S. Supreme Court's view, emerging in two other recent opinions, that it is a reviewing court's obligation to determine the best interpretation of the language used by Congress, says attorney Kenneth Carpenter.
-
Fed. Circ. In May: Evaluating Opportunistic Trademark Filings
The Federal Circuit's decision last month in the "US Space Force" trademark case gives the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board additional clarity when working through opportunistic trademark filings, particularly when the mark's value is primarily due to the potential value of a false connection, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.
-
Opinion
Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System
The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.
-
Drawbacks For Taxpayers From Justices' Levy Dispute Ruling
The Supreme Court's June decision in Commissioner v. Zuch, holding the Tax Court lacks jurisdiction to resolve disputes where the IRS has stopped pursuing a levy, may require taxpayers to explore new tactics for mitigating the increased difficulty of appealing their liability via collection due process hearings, says Matthew Roberts at Meadows Collier.