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Appellate

  • September 12, 2025

    2nd Circ. OKs Verdict In DEA Bribe Case But Nixes Forfeiture

    The Second Circuit on Friday affirmed the convictions of a pair of ex-Drug Enforcement Administration agents over a bribery scheme but overturned an order requiring both to forfeit funds, saying it would constitute a double payment for the same crime.

  • September 12, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs $3.5M Award In Wallet Gadget Patent Case

    The Federal Circuit held Friday that it won't undo Dynamite Marketing's $3.5 million win in a suit in which a jury found that WowLine Inc. infringed a patent covering the Wallet Ninja, upholding awards for both damages and attorney fees.

  • September 12, 2025

    DC Circ. Probes NLRB's Employee Criticism Protections

    A D.C. Circuit panel struggled Friday with the appropriate line for when an employee's public criticisms of their employer maintain protection under federal labor law as it weighed upholding a National Labor Relations Board ruling finding a Texas utility unlawfully fired a worker who testified before the state Senate.

  • September 12, 2025

    Atlanta Braves, Player Pulled Back Into Fans' Injury Suit

    The Georgia Court of Appeals on Friday reversed a trial court order freeing the Atlanta Braves and baseball outfielder Jorge Soler from a suit filed by a married couple who allege the wife was injured after being struck in the eye with a baseball during a 2021 World Series game.

  • September 12, 2025

    Trump Admin Asks Justices To Shut Down Climate Torts

    The Trump administration has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to put an end to climate change lawsuits brought by state and local governments against fossil fuel companies, arguing that such suits are barred by both the U.S. Constitution and Clean Air Act.

  • September 12, 2025

    Appeals Courts Rethink Harsh Youth Sentences, Search Rules

    State appellate courts across the country have issued major criminal law opinions this year, softening some of the harshest sentences for young defendants while shifting rules for searches and evidence collection.

  • September 12, 2025

    Entertainment Center Escapes Suit Over 'Freakish' Collision

    A Florida appeals court on Friday tossed a suit accusing an entertainment center of causing a customer to get hit by a truck outside the venue after an event, saying criminal behavior by the truck's passenger, which led to a "freakish and improbable chain of events," could not have been foreseen.

  • September 12, 2025

    Va. City Attorney Tells 4th Circ. He's Immune From FMLA Suit

    A Virginia federal judge erred by allowing a Family and Medical Leave Act suit against a municipal attorney to head to trial, the attorney said Friday, asking the Fourth Circuit to hold that he is immune from suit.

  • September 12, 2025

    Conn. Supreme Court Snapshot: Amazon Wages Top Sept.

    A wage and hour dispute between Amazon and its Connecticut warehouse workers is the top corporate dispute on the Connecticut Supreme Court's September docket after the justices agreed to answer a certified question over whether state law requires the retailer to pay employees undergoing security screenings.

  • September 12, 2025

    Insurer Doubles Down On Bid To Undo $1.1M Roof Verdict

    A North Carolina federal court adopted the wrong causation standard in its instructions to a jury that awarded a church $1.1 million over its roof damage claim under what is known as an all-risk property policy, the church's insurer told the Fourth Circuit, urging the appeals court to set aside the verdict.

  • September 12, 2025

    1st Circ. Says Cops Partially Immune In Kneeling Case

    Two Massachusetts police officers have qualified immunity for some conduct that allegedly led to a man's death following a wellness check, the First Circuit has ruled.

  • September 12, 2025

    Ohio Panel Won't OK Sanctions In Casino Assault Suit

    An Ohio appeals panel denied a man's bid for sanctions against another man who sued him over an assault at a Cleveland casino, saying the record doesn't show that the case was frivolous or filed in bad faith.

  • September 12, 2025

    Fresh Angles On Display In ERISA Summer Filing Uptick

    Attorneys dealing with a rise in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases are paying close attention to a handful of recent suits with allegations that put a twist on traditional benefits disputes. Here, Law360 looks at three cases with fresh angles that lawyers are keeping an eye on.

  • September 11, 2025

    4th Circ. Uneasy Weighing SSA Data Case After Justices' Stay

    The full Fourth Circuit on Thursday seemed inclined to maintain the government's access to U.S. Social Security Administration records since the U.S. Supreme Court granted the same relief in an emergency order, but also noted that the justices left them bereft of a blueprint for evaluating the merits of that access.

  • September 11, 2025

    Khalil Asks 3rd Circ. To Affirm His Release From ICE Detention

    Mahmoud Khalil, the pro-Palestinian activist whom immigration officials are seeking to deport, urged the Third Circuit on Wednesday to affirm his release from immigration detention, saying a lower court got it right in several decisions that led to his release.

  • September 11, 2025

    Trump Wants Fed Gov. Cook Out Before Next Rate Meeting

    The Trump administration asked the D.C. Circuit Thursday to halt a preliminary injunction barring the removal of Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook, urging the appellate court to fast-track its decision in an effort to block Cook from participating in a meeting regarding interest rates next week.

  • September 11, 2025

    9th Circ. Says News Article Doesn't Doom Biotronik FCA Suit

    The Ninth Circuit revived a False Claims Act suit alleging that Biotronik orchestrated an illicit compensation scheme to boost the implantation of its cardiac devices in patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, saying the whistleblower's complaint presents new information that is not barred by fraud allegations disclosed in an earlier news article.

  • September 11, 2025

    6th Circ. Says Papa John's Founder's Ex-PR Can't Arbitrate

    The Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday that a marketing agency Papa John's founder and former CEO accused of leaking comments that led to his resignation from the pizza company's board cannot ship his lawsuit to arbitration, saying in a published opinion that the agency had defaulted on its arbitration rights.

  • September 11, 2025

    Medicare Drug Pricing Plan Survives Novartis' 3rd Circ. Appeal

    The Third Circuit ruled Thursday that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' ability to negotiate "maximum fair prices" with drugmakers doesn't violate their constitutional rights, rejecting an argument by Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. that the practice amounted to a raw deal for the pharmaceutical industry.

  • September 11, 2025

    Texas Justices Debate When Eco-Devo Public Purposes End

    Texas Supreme Court justices seemed hesitant Thursday to give JPMorgan Chase Bank NA a green light to continue collecting payments on a $10 million economic development loan for a project that went belly up, asking what public purpose the payments would serve.

  • September 11, 2025

    6th Circ. Backs Toss Of Suit Over Alleged Jif Contamination

    A Sixth Circuit panel affirmed a lower court win for J.M. Smucker Co. on Wednesday, saying customers in a proposed class action over a Jif peanut butter recall lacked proof that their specific items were contaminated with salmonella bacteria.

  • September 11, 2025

    1st Circ. OKs Freeze Of Planned Parenthood Medicaid Funding

    The First Circuit on Thursday allowed the Trump administration to halt Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood and its affiliates, pausing a pair of lower court rulings that had blocked the funding cut.

  • September 11, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives 'Beauty' FX Copyright Verdict Against Disney

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a verdict that Walt Disney Pictures vicariously infringed a digital effects company's facial-motion capture software by using it for the 2017 "Beauty and the Beast" film, saying the tech company presented sufficient evidence for jurors to find Disney could have stopped its effects contractor's infringement.

  • September 11, 2025

    Moelis Says Pact Spurring Del. Corp. Law Rework Is Lawful

    Attorneys for Moelis & Co. have told Delaware's justices that a stockholder agreement that solidified Ken Moelis' control of the investment bank was either valid or lawfully obtainable by other means before the Court of Chancery struck it down last year, with time to challenge key provisions long since expired.

  • September 11, 2025

    Russia To Seek Guidance From Justices In $50B Award Suit

    Russia said Thursday it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a D.C. Circuit decision reviving its bid to escape litigation to enforce $50 billion in arbitral awards against it, arguing the appellate decision "cements an irreconcilable conflict" with the Second and Fifth circuits.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Competing In Modern Pentathlon Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Opening myself up to new experiences through competing in modern Olympic pentathlon has shrunk the appearance of my daily work annoyances and helps me improve my patience, manage crises better and remember that acquiring new skills requires working through your early mistakes, says attorney Mary Zoldak.

  • NY Case Shows How LLC Agreements Can Be Amended

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    The New York Court of Appeals in Behler v. Tao recently held that a merger clause contained in an amended limited liability company agreement superseded and extinguished an alleged oral agreement between the parties, highlighting the importance of determining early how and when an LLC agreement may be amended, says Kerrin Klein at Olshan Frome.

  • If Justices Accept, Maxwell Case May Clarify Meaning Of 'US'

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    If the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to take up Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal, it could clarify the meaning of “United States” in the context of plea agreements, and a plain language interpretation of the term would offer criminal defendants fairness and finality, say attorneys at Kudman Trachten.

  • The State Of Play In Copyright Protection For Floor Plans

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    With questions over copyright protections for floor plans potentially teed up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys in the real estate industry should take steps to clarify and strengthen clients' rights and reduce the risk of litigation, says Dylan I. Scher at Quinn Emanuel.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Teaching Yourself Legal Tech

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    New graduates often enter practice unfamiliar with even basic professional software, but budding lawyers can use on-the-job opportunities to both catch up on technological skills and explore the advanced legal and artificial intelligence tools that will open doors, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    Legacy Of 3 Justices Should Guide Transgender Rights Ruling

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    Three Republican-appointed U.S. Supreme Court justices — Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter — gave rise to a jurisprudence of personal liberty that courts today invoke to protect gender-affirming care, and with the court now poised to decide U.S. v. Skrmetti, it must follow the path that they set, says Greg Fosheim at McDermott.

  • How IPR Estoppel Ruling May Clash With PTAB Landscape

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    Though the Federal Circuit's narrowing of inter partes review estoppel in Ingenico v. Ioengine might encourage more petitions, tougher standards for discretionary denial established by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office could be a counterbalancing factor, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Texas Ruling Emphasizes Limits Of Franchisors' Liability

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    The Texas Supreme Court's recent ruling in Massage Heights Franchising v. Hagman, holding that a franchisor was not liable to a customer for the actions of a franchisee's employee, helps clarify the relative roles and responsibilities of the parties in such situations — and the limits of franchisors' duty of care, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • How AI May Reshape The Future Of Adjudication

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    As discussed at a recent panel at Texas A&M, artificial intelligence will not erase the human element of adjudication in the next 10 to 20 years, but it will drive efficiencies that spur private arbiters to experiment, lead public courts to evolve and force attorneys to adapt, says Christopher Seck at Squire Patton.

  • Justices' Charter School Tie Delays Church-State Reckoning

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent deadlock in Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board v. Drummond, blocking the creation of the nation’s first religious charter school, preserved the separation of church and state for now, but offered little reassurance about its continued viability, says Jeffrey Sultanik at Fox Rothschild.

  • When Legal Advocacy Crosses The Line Into Incivility

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    As judges issue sanctions for courtroom incivility, and state bars advance formal discipline rules, trial lawyers must understand that the difference between zealous advocacy and unprofessionalism is not just a matter of tone; it's a marker of skill, credibility and potentially disciplinary exposure, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • Florida Case Could Redefine Construction Defect Damages

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    If a Florida appellate court overturns the trial court in a pending construction contract dispute, the state could experience a seismic shift in construction defect damages, effectively leaving homeowners and developers with an incomplete remedy, says Andrew Gold at Akerman.

  • 2 NY Rulings May Stem Foreign Co. Derivative Suits

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    In recent decades, shareholders have challenged the internal affairs doctrine by bringing a series of derivative actions in New York state court on behalf of foreign corporations, but the New York Court of Appeals' recent rulings in Ezrasons v. Rudd and Haussmann v. Baumann should slow that trend, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • 8th Circ. Ruling Highlights Complicated Remote Work Analysis

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    The Eighth Circuit’s recent opinion in Kuklenski v. Medtronic USA demonstrates that the applicability of employment laws to remote workers is often a fact-driven analysis, highlighting several parameters to consider when evaluating what state and local laws may apply to employees who work remotely, say attorneys at Vedder Price.

  • Class Standing Issues Still Murky After Justices Punt LabCorp

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    While litigants and district courts had hoped the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in LabCorp v. Davis would provide much-needed clarity on the interplay between Article III standing and class certification, the court's failure to rule on the issue leaves disagreement, confusion and uncertainty for stakeholders, says Erica Rutner at Cozen O'Connor.

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