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Appellate
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September 03, 2025
Enviro Groups Urge 11th Circ. To Keep Detention Center Shut
Seven environmental groups filed an amicus brief Tuesday in the appeal of an order shutting down an Everglades immigration detention center, arguing that the district court was right to enjoin the center because the federal government failed to fulfill its obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act.
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September 03, 2025
3rd Circ. Says Preclusion Ends NJ Foreclosure Fight
The Third Circuit affirmed a bankruptcy court's order allowing Nationstar Mortgage to proceed with a home foreclosure sale, finding that the homeowner was trying to relitigate the exact same issues she had already lost in state court.
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September 03, 2025
9th Circ. Upholds Ruling Against Wash. Tribe's Fishing Claims
A Ninth Circuit panel Wednesday affirmed a lower court's ruling that determined a Washington tribe fell short of its evidentiary burden to establish that a 19th century treaty included its customary fishing grounds near the Puget Sound after vacating the dispute for further review last year.
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September 03, 2025
4th Circ. Says Md. Immunity Doesn't Apply In Tugboat Case
The Fourth Circuit said Wednesday that a tugboat owner's petition seeking to limit its liability over a 2015 accident involving Maryland's Nanticoke River Memorial Bridge does not infringe on the state's sovereign immunity, so it can proceed in the district court.
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September 03, 2025
Mich. Atty Tells Appeals Court He's Worth $1,500 Per Hour
A Michigan attorney told an appellate panel Wednesday that his track record and experience warrant the $1,500 hourly rate awarded by a trial court which found a city's breach-of-contract suit against his client, a former councilor, was frivolous.
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September 03, 2025
Investment Co. Founder's Life Insurance Award Dropped To $1
The Fourth Circuit affirmed Wednesday that a jury did not have sufficient evidence to conclude that historian and investment firm founder Malcolm Wiener suffered $16 million in damages over a canceled life insurance policy, saying Wiener may only recover $1 in nominal damages.
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September 03, 2025
5th Circ. Asks How Many Policies Really Exist In Arb. Appeal
Hearing separate appeals over a group of eight domestic insurers' bid to arbitrate hurricane damage claims from two Louisiana policyholders, a Fifth Circuit panel wrestled Wednesday with whether those policyholders' respective property insurance coverages constituted one single policy, separate policies with each insurer or something in-between.
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September 03, 2025
1st Circ. Doubts Eateries' Suit Over Outdoor Dining Limits
The First Circuit appeared unlikely on Wednesday to revive a suit on behalf of restaurant owners in Boston's North End over the city's restrictions on outdoor dining, repeatedly questioning the basis for the plaintiffs' retaliation claims.
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September 03, 2025
7th Circ. Judge Probes FDIC's In-House Enforcement Powers
A Seventh Circuit judge on Wednesday pushed counsel for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to address whether an Illinois community bank's ex-chairman alleging the agency's in-house proceedings are unconstitutional waived his Seventh Amendment right to trial by jury by virtue of working at an institution that participates in the FDIC's insurance program.
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September 03, 2025
9th Circ. Saves Tribes' Cultural Superfund Claims Against Teck
The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday revived the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation's natural resource damages claims against Teck Cominco Metals Ltd. for the company's alleged pollution of the Columbia River.
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September 03, 2025
8th Circ. Cuts Down Challenge To Minn. Captive Audience Law
A split Eighth Circuit panel on Wednesday reversed a decision letting proceed a challenge to Minnesota's law banning mandatory anti-union meetings, saying an employer coalition doesn't have a case because state enforcers have said they don't intend to enforce the law.
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September 03, 2025
NC Panel Revives Biotech Co.'s Legal Malpractice Case
A divided North Carolina appellate panel on Wednesday partially revived a biotech company's case accusing its former counsel of botching its defense in a $26 million defamation suit, finding the refiled complaint is not barred by the state's four-year statute of repose on legal malpractice claims.
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September 03, 2025
Del. Justices Mull Sports Media Co. Investors' Doc Appeal
An attorney for sports streaming platform FloSports Inc. told a Delaware Supreme Court panel on Wednesday that three company stockholders put themselves in a "self-inflicted" predicament by pursuing revised, but unsupported, demands for company documents that were ultimately dismissed by the state's chancellor.
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September 03, 2025
Liberace Piano Dispute Returns To 1st Circ. After Gibson Win
A Massachusetts music shop took its campaign to hold onto Liberace's rhinestone-encrusted piano to the First Circuit for the second time Wednesday, telling the appellate court that Gibson Guitars should never have been allowed to ask a jury for its return.
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September 03, 2025
Mich. Panel Orders New Trial After Race-Based Juror Removal
A Michigan appeals court has reversed a murder conviction, finding that a man should be given a new trial because prosecutors struck three prospective Black jurors from his trial for racially motivated reasons.
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September 03, 2025
Ex-Twitter Worker Fights X's Arbitration Push At 9th Circ.
X waived its arbitration rights in a $20 million severance suit and should not be able to challenge a district court's decision keeping the case in court, Twitter's former chief marketing officer told the Ninth Circuit.
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September 03, 2025
Sports Doctor Group Can't Ditch $8.5M Patient Death Verdict
A Connecticut appeals panel won't let surgical group Orthopaedic Sports Specialists PC out of an $8.5 million wrongful death verdict in a suit from the estate of a patient who died after a knee replacement, rejecting its arguments challenging the trial court's handling of witness examination.
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September 03, 2025
Fla. Justices Ban Referrals Over Judicial Election Conduct
The Florida Supreme Court has signed off on a rule change the state bar sought that prohibits ethics referrals from judges about their opponents' conduct with respect to judicial elections.
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September 03, 2025
ND Tribes Ask Supreme Court To Protect Voting Rights Act
Two North Dakota tribes are asking the Supreme Court to undo an Eighth Circuit decision that prohibits lawsuits against states for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, arguing that if not overturned, the ruling would kneecap the main federal protection against racial discrimination in voting.
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September 03, 2025
Pick For Del.'s 3rd Circ. Seat Questioned On Ties To The State
Jennifer L. Mascott, nominee for a Delaware seat on the Third Circuit who is currently serving in the White House Counsel's Office, came under questioning from Democrats on Wednesday regarding her lack of connections to the state and her qualifications for the judgeship.
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September 03, 2025
Sullivan & Cromwell Hires Ex-Asst. To The Solicitor General
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP announced Wednesday that it has hired a former assistant to the solicitor general whose wealth of appellate experience includes six arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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September 03, 2025
Software Co. Founder Fights $100M Tax Bill At 11th Circ.
A software company founder facing more than $100 million in tax debt from his participation in an illegal tax shelter should have been allowed to settle with the Internal Revenue Service for $1.5 million because he can't pay the whole bill, he told the Eleventh Circuit.
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September 03, 2025
Ohio Panel Says Judge Can't Thwart Prison Credit Programs
A split Ohio appeals court on Tuesday ruled an incarcerated man should be allowed to participate in prison programs that can earn him credit toward his release, adding that a state trial judge cannot bar access to the programs.
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September 03, 2025
Claim Mistake Dooms Flutist's Benefits Suit, 7th Circ. Says
The Seventh Circuit backed the dismissal of a musician's suit alleging an insurer wrongfully denied her long-term disability benefits claim after a COVID-19 infection caused chronic ear ringing, ruling she needs to file a new claim because she made an error in her first application.
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September 03, 2025
5th Circ. Deems Trump's Use Of Wartime Removal Law Illegal
A split Fifth Circuit panel ruled that President Donald Trump's March proclamation invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members likely ran afoul of the wartime law and blocked removals in the Northern District of Texas.
Expert Analysis
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Trending At The PTAB: IPR Memo And Its Fed. Circ. Backdrop
There are new rules for when and how evidence other than patents or printed publications can be considered in inter partes reviews, and while this change is intended to reflect current Federal Circuit precedent, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's memo seems to acknowledge tension with last month's Shockwave decision, say attorneys at Finnegan.
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Calif. Arbitration Fee Ruling Gives Employers Slight Leeway
The California Supreme Court's decision in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County offers a narrow lifeline that protects employers from losing arbitration rights over inadvertent fee payment delays, but auditing arbitration agreements and implementing payment tracking protocols can ensure that deadlines are always met, say attorneys at Buchalter.
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Ruling Offers Insurers A Path To Settle Sans Insured Consent
A recent North Carolina federal court ruling, Martin Marietta Materials v. Ace, joins other states in holding that an insurer may consider its own interests in settlement negotiations, outlining a strong strategy for insurers faced with an uncooperative insured and the threat of a large verdict, say attorneys at Phelps Dunbar.
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Lessons From 7th Circ.'s Deleted Chat Sanctions Ruling
The Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in Pable v. Chicago Transit Authority, affirming the dismissal of an ex-employee’s retaliation claims, highlights the importance of properly handling the preservation of ephemeral messages and clarifies key sanctions issues, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.
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Adapting To USPTO's Tighter Inter Partes Review Rules
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent pivot regarding how it will address general knowledge in inter partes review petitions presents immediate strategic implications for petitioners, patent owners and litigants watching the contours of Patent Trial and Appeal Board practice, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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Series
Quilting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Turning intricate patterns of fabric and thread into quilts has taught me that craftsmanship, creative problem-solving and dedication to incremental progress are essential to creating something lasting that will help another person — just like in law, says Veronica McMillan at Kramon & Graham.
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3rd Circ. FMLA Suit Revival Offers Notice Rule Lessons
In Walker v. SEPTA, the Third Circuit reinstated a former Philadelphia bus driver's Family and Medical Leave Act lawsuit, finding the notice standard is not particularly onerous, which underscores employers' responsibilities to recognize and document leave requests, and to avoid penalizing workers for protected absences, say Fiona Ong and Leah Shepherd at Ogletree.
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Utility Agency Suits May Rise As Calif. Justices Nix Deference
A recent California Supreme Court ruling rejecting the uniquely deferential standard of review accorded to California Public Utilities Commission decisions interpreting the Public Utilities Code will incentivize more litigation against the agency, as long as litigants can show their challenges meet certain requirements, says Thaila Sundaresan at Davis Wright.
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2 Appellate Rulings Offer Clickwrap Enforcement Road Map
Two recent decisions from the Fourth and Eleventh Circuits in cases involving Experian signal that federal appellate courts are recognizing clickwrap agreements' power in spite of their simplicity, and offer practical advice on how companies can sufficiently demonstrate notice and assent when attempting to enforce contractual terms, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.
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Fleeing Or Just Leaving Quickly? 2nd Circ. Says It Depends
The Second Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Bardakova decision adopted a new approach for determining whether a defendant who commits a crime in the U.S., and then leaves and remains abroad, intends to avoid prosecution — making it more difficult to argue against the fugitive disentitlement doctrine in most cases, say attorneys at MoloLamken.
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What 2 Profs Noticed As Transactional Law Students Used AI
After a semester using generative artificial intelligence tools with students in an entrepreneurship law clinic, we came away with numerous observations about the opportunities and challenges such tools present to new transactional lawyers, say professors at Cornell Law School.
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What Patent Claim 'Invalidity' Means In Different Forums
A recent Federal Circuit order allowing a patent suit to proceed despite similar claims being invalidated in an inter partes review underscores how fractured the patent litigation landscape has become, leading to critical nuances in how district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission and Patent Trial and Appeal Board treat invalidity, says Jason Hoffman at BakerHostetler.
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Reel Justice: 'Eddington' Spotlights Social Media Evidence
In the neo-Western black comedy “Eddington” released last month, social media is a character unto itself, highlighting how the boundaries between digital and real-world conduct can become blurred, thereby posing evidentiary challenges in criminal prosecutions, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University School of Law.
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8th Circ. Rulings Show Employer ADA Risks In Fitness Tests
Two recent Eighth Circuit decisions reviving lawsuits brought by former Union Pacific employees offer guidance for navigating compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, serving as a cautionary tale for employers that use broad fitness-for-duty screening programs and highlighting the importance of individualized assessments, says Masood Ali at Segal McCambridge.
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Rebuttal
BigLaw Settlements Should Not Spur Ethics Deregulation
A recent Law360 op-ed argued that loosening law firm funding restrictions would make BigLaw firms less inclined to settle with the Trump administration, but deregulating legal financing ethics may well prove to be not merely ineffective, but counterproductive, says Laurel Kilgour at the American Economic Liberties Project.