ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ

Appellate

  • May 23, 2025

    Former AG Garland Returns To Arnold & Porter

    Former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has returned to Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, where he worked early in his career, the firm announced Friday.

  • May 23, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Partly Revives Allstate Challenge To Tech Patent

    The Federal Circuit on Friday threw out the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Allstate failed to show the invalidity of two claims in a patent on cellphone sensors that can tell if a vehicle has accelerated or crashed, telling the board to take another look.

  • May 23, 2025

    Off The Bench: Tennis Officials, NCAA Stay On The Defensive

    In this week's Off The Bench, tennis players face pushback from the governing bodies they are accusing of antitrust violations, college basketball players claiming the NCAA exploited them want their class action revived, and a baseball player seeking one last year to play in college hits another legal roadblock.

  • May 23, 2025

    Southwest Flight Attendant Fights To Revive Nixed Sanctions

    A flight attendant urged the Fifth Circuit to reconsider its move to axe a contempt order against Southwest Airlines in her wrongful termination suit, arguing it shouldn't be scrapped just because the panel took issue with court-ordered religious liberty training for Southwest attorneys.

  • May 23, 2025

    Lindberg Urges NC Panel To Rebuff 'Ambush' Sanctions Bid

    A convicted billionaire seeking to unravel a receivership order against him has urged the North Carolina Court of Appeals not to scrap his case as a sanction for alleged procedural violations, saying the only gamesmanship afoot is opposing counsel's monthslong "radio silence."

  • May 23, 2025

    FTC Finally Drops Challenge To Microsoft-Activision Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission has dropped its in-house case seeking to block Microsoft's $68.7 billion purchase of video game developer Activision Blizzard, after its Ninth Circuit loss earlier this month, ending a lingering challenge to a deal that closed in late 2023.

  • May 22, 2025

    Ga. Judge Threated Atty Over Custody Case, Ethics Panel Told

    A Georgia attorney told the state's judicial watchdog Thursday that a trial judge improperly called her to discuss her child custody case, gave her preferential scheduling due to their membership in the same sorority and then threatened to take her child from her after she filed a recusal motion.

  • May 22, 2025

    Insurers Say La. Hotel Can't Appeal Fire Damage Fight

    A group of insurers has told the Fifth Circuit that it can't review a March order by a Louisiana federal judge instructing a New Orleans hotel to arbitrate its fire damage claims, slamming the hotel owner's argument that it has a constitutional right to pursue an appeal.

  • May 22, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Ruling Will Spark More Patent Damages Fights

    The full Federal Circuit's decision Wednesday ordering a new trial in a patent case against Google LLC and finding the plaintiff's damages expert unreliable is likely to lead to greater scrutiny of patent damages testimony and more attempts to get it thrown out, attorneys say.

  • May 22, 2025

    Bilfinger Urges NC Justices To Skip Cargill Arbitration Case

    International construction company Bilfinger is urging North Carolina's top court not to review a decision nixing Cargill's bid to revive arbitration it initiated in a dispute stemming from a construction contract, disputing the food conglomerate's argument that the case raises novel issues.

  • May 22, 2025

    Wash. Justices Undo Landlord Win In Eviction Answer Dispute

    Washington's highest court overturned a Seattle-area landlord's eviction victory on Thursday, saying any tenant who responds to a summons with a written "notice of appearance" can't be hit with a default judgment for failing to file an answer in an unlawful detainer action.

  • May 22, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs Pfizer Win Against Gene Therapy Patents

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday sided with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's findings that a pair of patents covering a new kind of experimental gene therapy to treat hemophilia were invalid, handing a win to patent challenger Pfizer.

  • May 22, 2025

    7th Circ. Wary Of Crypto Fund Owner's Appeal Of $231M Fine

    A Seventh Circuit panel on Thursday pressed counsel for a cryptocurrency fund operator challenging a $231 million judgment for running a Ponzi scheme to address whether he'd waived his argument that the digital tokens his funds invested in aren't "commodities" subject to regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission by not raising it in the lower court.

  • May 22, 2025

    Sen. Durbin Holds Up Florida US Attorney Nominee

    Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Thursday he will be holding up President Donald Trump's U.S. attorney nominee for the Southern District of Florida, blaming precedent set by Vice President JD Vance when he was in the Senate.

  • May 22, 2025

    Clinic Tells NC Justices Med Mal Reforms Apply To Practices

    An orthopedic clinic is urging North Carolina's highest court to free it from a family's negligent-retention claim over an allegedly faulty surgery by a doctor who later lost his license, asserting that the lower court incorrectly found that state medical malpractice statutes and subsequent reforms don't apply to medical practices.

  • May 22, 2025

    Gov't Presses High Court To Hear Activist Investor Suit

    The federal government Thursday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case accusing a series of closed-end funds of shutting an activist investor out of its voting rights, arguing that the investor's lawsuit threatens to have an "unpredictable impact" on the private fund industry.

  • May 22, 2025

    Alaska Airlines Grilled In Wash. COVID Workers' Comp Case

    Members of Washington's highest court cast doubt Thursday about Alaska Airlines' stance in a flight attendant's COVID-19 workers' compensation case, with several justices seemingly frustrated by the employer's attempt to draw a line between covered occupational disease and sickness that develops during job-related travel.

  • May 22, 2025

    Hungarian Co. Fights Croatia Delay Bid In $236M Award Case

    A Hungarian energy company has urged a D.C. federal court to nix Croatia's bid to stay a lawsuit aimed at enforcing a $236 million arbitral award against the country a month after it lost a motion to dismiss the suit.

  • May 22, 2025

    5th Circ. Revives 'Unclean Hands' Defense In Ch. 13

    A Louisiana homeowner can head back to bankruptcy court to try to discharge a $75,000 judgment against him from a contractor who said it was stiffed, a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled.

  • May 22, 2025

    Calif. Docs Bring FDA Stem Cell Regulation Fight To Top Court

    Two California clinics that provide stem cell treatments are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit panel's finding that their treatments are "drugs" subject to Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act regulations.

  • May 22, 2025

    Justices Urged To Undo Denial Of Fast Track For Gastro Drug

    Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse the Food and Drug Administration's decision denying fast-track approval for its gastroparesis drug tradipitant, saying it meets the statutory standard for fast-track review as a new treatment with the "potential to address unmet medical needs."

  • May 22, 2025

    Rehab Greenhouse Violated Zoning Rules, Conn. Justices Say

    A drug rehab center's attempt to operate a 2,100-square-foot plastic greenhouse as a therapy facility on a northwestern Connecticut farm was an impermissible expansion of a previous nonconforming land use, the state's highest court ruled Thursday, overturning the center's earlier appellate court victory in a zoning dispute.

  • May 22, 2025

    Florida AG Wants Block On Immigration Law Paused

    The state of Florida told the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday that a block on a state law criminalizing the entry of unauthorized immigrants should be paused, arguing that the law's challengers are trying to "push precedent past its breaking point" and have no standing to enforce federal immigration law.

  • May 22, 2025

    As Trump Wields FCA, Whistleblowers May See 'Dollar Signs'

    The Trump administration's plan to use the False Claims Act to target diversity programs and alleged civil rights fraud steers a well-worn statute into uncharted territory, and could spur significant whistleblower activity amid high-profile battles with Harvard University, BigLaw firms and other institutions, experts told Law360.

  • May 22, 2025

    Sutter Health's $228.5M Antitrust Deal Gets Initial OK

    A California federal judge on Thursday preliminarily approved Sutter Health's $228.5 million deal settling a 13-year case over claims the hospital chain boosted costs by pushing all-or-nothing networks on insurers, saying that after a trial and a Ninth Circuit reversal, "it's nice that we didn't have to try this case twice."

Expert Analysis

  • What Del. Supreme Court LKQ Decision Means For M&A Deals

    Author Photo

    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent decision in LKQ v. Rutledge greatly increases the enforceability of forfeiture-for-competition provisions, representing an important affirmation of earlier precedent and making it likely that such agreements will become more common in M&A transactions, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • 10 Arbitrations And A 5th Circ. Ruling Flag Arb. Clause Risks

    Author Photo

    The ongoing arbitral saga of Sullivan v. Feldman, which has engendered proceedings before 10 different arbitrators in Texas and Louisiana along with last month's Fifth Circuit opinion, showcases both the risks and limitations of arbitration clauses in retainer agreements for resolving attorney-client disputes, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.

  • How High Court's Cornell Decision Will Affect ERISA Suits

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cunningham v. Cornell, characterizing prohibited transaction exemptions as affirmative defenses, sets the bar very low for initiating Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation, and will likely affect many plan sponsors with similar service agreements, says Carol Buckmann at Cohen & Buckmann.

  • Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

    Author Photo

    The first quarter of 2025 was filled with the refinement of old theories in the property and casualty space, including in vehicle valuation, time to seek appraisal and materials depreciation, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling May Aid Consistent Interpretation Of ADA

    Author Photo

    In Tudor v. Whitehall Central School District, the Second Circuit joined the majority of circuits by holding that an employee's ability to perform their job without an accommodation does not disqualify them from receiving one, marking a notable step toward uniform application of the Americans with Disabilities Act nationwide, says Michelle Grant at Wilson Elser.

  • EPA's Proposed GHG Reform Could Hinder Climate Regulation

    Author Photo

    The Trump administration will reconsider the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's landmark 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding, which could leave the U.S. federal government with no statutory authority whatsoever to regulate climate change or greenhouse gas emissions, says David Smith at Manatt.

  • Perspectives

    Power To The Paralegals: The Value Of Unified State Licensing

    Author Photo

    Texas' proposal to become the latest state to license paraprofessional providers of limited legal services could help firms expand their reach and improve access to justice, but consumers, attorneys and allied legal professionals would benefit even more if similar programs across the country become more uniform, says Michael Houlberg at the University of Denver.

  • Fed. Circ. In March: Forfeiting Claim Construction On Appeal

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's decision in Wash World v. Belanger last month confirms the importance of fair notice to the district court when determining forfeiture of an argument on appeal in the context of patent claim construction, allowing appellants to better gauge the appropriate framing of arguments that may be presented, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • 1st Circ. Ruling May Slow SEC Retail Investment Advice Cases

    Author Photo

    The First Circuit's recent ruling, finding the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not substantiate its $93.3 million fine against a retail investment adviser, may raise the threshold on materiality findings in these cases and add a speed bump resulting in fewer such actions, say attorneys at Weil.

  • 10 Soft Skills Every GC Should Master

    Author Photo

    As businesses face shifting regulatory and technological uncertainty, general counsel will need to strengthen certain soft skills to succeed, from admitting when they make a mistake to maintaining a healthy dose of dispassion, says Douglas Brown at Manatt.

  • 6 Criteria Can Help Assess Executive Branch Actions

    Author Photo

    With new executive policy changes announced seemingly every day, several questions can help courts, policymakers and businesses determine whether such actions are proper, effective and in keeping with our democratic norms, say Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • Fed Circ.'s PTAB Ruling Highlights Obsolete Rationale

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in In re: Riggs shines a new light on its 2015 decision in Dynamic Drinkware v. National Graphics, and raises questions about why the claim support requirement established by Dynamic Drinkware exists at all, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • Traversing The Shifting Sands Of ESG Reporting Compliance

    Author Photo

    Multinational corporations have increasingly found themselves between a rock and a hard place attempting to comply with EU and California ESG requirements while not running afoul of expanding U.S. anti-ESG regimes, but focusing on what is material to shareholder value and establishing strong governance can help, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • An Unrestrained, Bright-Eyed View Of Legal AI's Future

    Author Photo

    Todd Itami at Covington offers a bright-eyed, laughing-all-the-way, skydive look at what the legal industry could look like after an artificial intelligence revolution, which he believes may happen much sooner and more dramatically than we expect.

  • Tracking The Evolution In Litigation Finance

    Author Photo

    Despite continued innovation, litigation finance remains an immature market with borrowers recieving significantly different terms as lenders learn to value cases, which firms need a strong handle on to ensure lending terms do not overwhelm collateral value, says Robert Wilkins at Lightfoot Franklin.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Appellate archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!