Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Appellate
-
May 09, 2025
Trustees Can't Charge Fees In Tossed Ch. 13s, 2nd Circ. Says
A standing Chapter 13 trustee in the Eastern District of New York must return some $20,000 in fees from a dismissed bankruptcy, the Second Circuit ruled Friday, holding trustees are not entitled to charge a percentage fee on payments a debtor makes unless a plan is confirmed.
-
May 09, 2025
2nd Circ. OKs $6.5M Verdict Over Coerced Murder Confession
The Second Circuit on Friday upheld a wrongfully imprisoned man's $6.5 million verdict against a Buffalo police officer for fabricating his confession during an episode of psychosis, saying the jury made reasonable findings based on the evidence.
-
May 09, 2025
Fed. Circ. Veers From USPTO Agenda In IPR Estoppel Ruling
The Federal Circuit has cleared patent challengers to pursue grounds in district court that weren't available in inter partes reviews, which attorneys say will likely increase the amount of Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges at a time when the agency is working toward the opposite.
-
May 09, 2025
BDO Urges Justices To Hear 'Crucial' Auditor Fraud Case
BDO USA LLP is petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a case that the firm warns could have "devastating" consequences for public companies' auditors, arguing in a Friday filing that the Second Circuit created a "dangerous precedent" by reviving a lawsuit brought by AmTrust Financial Services Inc. shareholders.
-
May 09, 2025
Pathology Lab Urges 8th Circ. Not To Revive Antitrust Claims
Iowa Pathology Associates told the Eighth Circuit a lower court was right to toss a rival lab's case accusing it of monopolizing the market because the claims are really about the lab's failure to attract enough clients from the competing practice to achieve its expected profits.
-
May 09, 2025
Split 4th Circ. Revives Naval Engineers' No-Poach Case
A split Fourth Circuit panel Friday revived a putative class action accusing major shipbuilders and naval engineering consultants of an illegal "no-poach" conspiracy, with the majority holding that just because the alleged conspirators never formalized their purported agreements in writing, it doesn't mean the conspiracy can't be unlawful.
-
May 09, 2025
Texas High Court Says Writing Trumps Verbal Drilling Deal
The Texas Supreme Court handed a victory to an energy company that sold mineral rights it had acquired for about $5 million, reversing a state appeals court in a Friday opinion finding that supposed oral agreements didn't prevent the resale.
-
May 09, 2025
Tech-Averse Souter Still Kept Up With The Times In IP Cases
U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who famously rejected facets of modernity like email and cellphones, nonetheless evinced a willingness to keep up with technology and culture in his writing on intellectual property matters, including important copyright cases on parody and peer-to-peer file sharing, attorneys said.
-
May 09, 2025
Texas Justices Let Home Depot Off Hook In Cop Shooting Suit
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday tossed a suit seeking to hold Home Depot and an off-duty police officer serving as a security guard liable for the shooting death of a responding police officer, saying police officers trying to prevent crimes even when off duty are entitled to immunity.
-
May 09, 2025
Florida Atty Loses Law School Loan Appeal In Connecticut
A Connecticut state appeals court backed a lower court decision on Friday that said a Florida attorney must repay $30,000 to his ex-girlfriend and mother of his child, a woman whom a state trial court said "unwisely cosigned" on his law school loans and made payments on them.
-
May 09, 2025
DC Circ. Tosses DOD's Time-In-Service Appeal As Moot
A D.C. Circuit panel ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Defense cannot appeal to defend a since-rescinded policy setting service duration requirements for noncitizen soldiers to pursue an expedited path to citizenship.
-
May 09, 2025
Fed. Circ. Scolds Apple, Optis For Staying Mum On UK Ruling
The Federal Circuit was in court Friday to decide whether a $300 million verdict against Apple for infringing standard-essential 4G patents owned by Optis ought to be wiped out, kept in place or sent back down to be nearly doubled, but first they had questions about another set of judges.
-
May 09, 2025
From Fox News To DOJ: This Is The Next Interim DC US Atty
Former Fox News host and judge Jeanine Pirro will soon take the helm of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia after more than a decade at the network where she was a figure in high-profile defamation cases.
-
May 09, 2025
W.Va. Justices Say UIM Coverage Needn't Always Be Offered
West Virginia does not require commercial auto insurers to offer underinsured motorist, or UIM, coverage for all vehicles they insure, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled, answering a question from the Fourth Circuit in a dispute over a policy insuring both owned and "non-owned" vehicles.
-
May 09, 2025
Food Importer Can't Secure Lower Duty Rate On Frozen Fruit
The Federal Circuit on Friday denied a company's efforts to have its mixed frozen fruit imports from Canada reclassified as "other food preparations" instead of frozen fruit in order to secure duty-free treatment for the products.
-
May 09, 2025
4th Circ. Digests 'Unappetizing' Relief For Jordan's NASCAR Team
The Fourth Circuit on Friday seemed poised to unravel a federal court's injunction allowing two NASCAR teams, including one co-owned by NBA legend Michael Jordan, to continue racing as chartered teams while they pursue antitrust claims against the organization, with one judge saying the teams "can't have your cake and eat it too."
-
May 09, 2025
Sandy Hook Families Want Alex Jones To Pay Up Amid Appeal
A Connecticut appeals court should not extend a stay on the enforcement of a $1.3 billion judgment against bankrupt Infowars host Alex Jones while he brings his case to the U.S. Supreme Court, the families of Sandy Hook shooting victims said in opposition to his pending motion, arguing that his newly raised constitutional claims are late and meritless.
-
May 09, 2025
9th Circ. Pins SEC Legal Expenses On Recycler, Not Insurer
The Ninth Circuit affirmed Friday that a Nevada appliance recycler had no coverage for more than $1.3 million in costs associated with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fraud case against it, finding that regardless of which state law applied, the result was unchanged.
-
May 09, 2025
Munger Tolles, Hogan Lovells Alums Tapped For Calif. Bench
Alumni of Hogan Lovells, Munger Tolles & Olson LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP as well as multiple public defenders are among the latest judicial picks by California Gov. Gavin Newsom to fill three state appellate court vacancies and a dozen trial court seats in the Golden State.
-
May 09, 2025
NJ Panel Backs $78M Sports Complex Contract Award
A New Jersey appellate panel rejected a bidder's challenge to the awarding of a $78 million construction contract for a sports complex in a Middlesex County park, saying the proposal with the lowest price met the requirements in the bid specifications.
-
May 09, 2025
No Immunity For Fla. Cop Who Choked Driver, 11th Circ. Says
The Eleventh Circuit has ruled that a Florida police officer who allegedly choked and beat a compliant and subdued driver during a traffic stop is not entitled to qualified immunity on the driver's Fourth Amendment claims.
-
May 09, 2025
6th Circ. Ruling Shows Toughening On ERISA Fiduciary Suits
A recent Sixth Circuit decision that backed the dismissal of a proposed class action against an auto parts maker demonstrates how appellate courts are raising the bar for cases alleging breaches of fiduciary duty under federal benefits law, experts say.
-
May 09, 2025
Columbia Student Protester Is Free For Now, 2nd Circ. Says
The Second Circuit on Friday said Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, arrested by immigration officials for his pro-Palestinian activism, can remain free as he fights an attempt to put him back behind bars amid deportation proceedings in Louisiana.
-
May 09, 2025
Texas AG Lands $1.4B Data Privacy Settlement With Google
Google has agreed to shell out $1.375 billion to resolve a pair of suits from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over how the tech giant tracked and collected user data including geolocation, incognito-mode searches and biometric data, according to a Friday announcement.
-
May 09, 2025
Texas Supreme Court Won't Review 'Love Is Blind' Case
The Texas Supreme Court has once again declined to take up a dispute between the producers behind the Netflix reality series "Love Is Blind" and a former contestant who claims she was imprisoned after a fellow contestant sexually assaulted her.
Expert Analysis
-
Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises
“No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.
-
Del. Supreme Court TripAdvisor Ruling May Limit 'MFW Creep'
The Delaware Supreme Court's recent Maffei v. Palkon ruling regarding TripAdvisor's proposed reincorporation to Nevada potentially signals a turning point in the trend of expanding the protections from Kahn v. M&F Worldwide to other types of transactions, says Andrew J. Haile at Elon University.
-
9th Circ. Draws The Line On Software As A Derivative Work
The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Oracle International v. Rimini Street clarifies the meaning of derivative work under the Copyright Act, and when a work based upon a preexisting item doesn't constitute a derivative, says John Poulos at Norton Rose.
-
As Failure-To-Warn Preemption Wanes, Justices May Weigh In
Federal preemption of state failure-to-warn claims has long been a powerful defense in strict liability tort cases, but is now under attack in litigation over the weedkiller Roundup and other products — so the scope and application of preemption may require clarification by the U.S. Supreme Court, says Michael Sena at Segal McCambridge.
-
How Design Thinking Can Help Lawyers Find Purpose In Work
Lawyers everywhere are feeling overwhelmed amid mass government layoffs, increasing political instability and a justice system stretched to its limits — but a design-thinking framework can help attorneys navigate this uncertainty and find meaning in their work, say law professors at the University of Michigan.
-
Justices' Certiorari Denial Leaves Interstate Tax Questions
Since the U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review a Philadelphia resident’s claim that her Delaware state income taxes should be credited against her city wage tax liabilities, constitutional questions about state and local tax distinctions linger, and some states may continue to apply Supreme Court precedent differently, say attorneys at Dentons.
-
Trending At The PTAB: Insights From 2024 Fed. Circ. Statistics
Looking at stats from the Federal Circuit's decisions in 219 Patent Trial and Appeal Board appeals last year sheds light on potential trends and strategy considerations that could improve appeals' chances of success, say attorneys at Finnegan.
-
Will Independent Federal Agencies Remain Independent?
For 90 years, members of multimember independent federal agencies have relied on the U.S. Supreme Court's 1935 ruling in Humphrey's Executor v. U.S. establishing the security of their positions — but as the Trump administration attempts to overturn this understanding, it is unclear how the high court will respond, says Harvey Reiter at Stinson.
-
High Court Sentencing Case Presents Legal Fork In The Road
On Feb. 25, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Esteras v. U.S. about the factors trial courts may consider when imposing a sentence of imprisonment after revoking supervised release, and the justices’ eventual decision may prioritize either discretion or originalism, says Michael Freedman at The Freedman Firm.
-
Del. Justices' D&O Ruling Clarifies 'Related' Claim Analysis
In its recent decision in the Alexion Pharmaceuticals coverage case, the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a "meaningful linkage" standard for relatedness analysis, providing further guidance to Delaware policyholders on how to navigate those directors and officers insurance disputes, say attorneys at Hunton.
-
Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five federal appellate court class certification decisions and identifies practice tips from cases involving breach of life insurance contracts, constitutional violations of inmates and more.
-
Defense Strategies For Politically Charged Prosecutions
Politically charged prosecutions have captured the headlines in recent years, providing lessons for defense counsel on how to navigate the distinct challenges, and seize the unique opportunities, such cases present, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
-
Series
Competitive Weightlifting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The parallels between the core principles required for competitive weightlifting and practicing law have helped me to excel in both endeavors, with each holding important lessons about discipline, dedication, drive and failure, says Damien Bielli at VF Law.
-
Axed ALJ Removal Protections Mark Big Shift For NLRB
A D.C. federal court's recent decision in VHS Acquisition Subsidiary No. 7 v. National Labor Relations Board removed long-standing tenure protections for administrative law judges by finding they must be removable at will by the NLRB, marking a significant shift in the agency's ability to prosecute and adjudicate cases, say attorneys at Proskauer.
-
NC COVID Ruling May Have Greater Coverage Implications
While the North Carolina Supreme Court's recent finding in favor of policyholders in a suit for business interruption coverage due to COVID-19 comes too late for most insureds to benefit, it should nonetheless have coverage implications far beyond COVID-19 claims, say attorneys at Robinson Bradshaw.