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Appellate

  • July 30, 2025

    DWI Test Legal Despite Old Notice, Texas Appeals Court Says

    A Texas appellate panel has found that a state trial court made a mistake in deciding to suppress blood test evidence showing a woman was drunk when she crashed into a parked trailer on an early morning in 2023.

  • July 30, 2025

    Grassley 'Offended' By Trump's Blue Slip Criticism

    Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday he was "surprised" and "offended" by President Donald Trump's post Tuesday night urging him to get rid of so-called blue slips, which are essentially vetoes for home state senators over U.S. attorney and district court nominee picks.

  • July 29, 2025

    Ex-LA Officer Can't Revive Suit Over COVID-19 Testing Costs

    A California appellate court Monday refused to revive a former Los Angeles police officer's suit claiming that he was denied due process when he was fired after refusing to comply with the city's COVID-19 policies, finding that the officer wasn't fired until after he made his case to the city.

  • July 29, 2025

    Axos Wants Justices To Undo Auditor's $1.5M Retaliation Win

    BofI Federal Bank, now operating as Axos Bank, has taken its dispute with a former auditor to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the justices to vacate a Ninth Circuit decision upholding a $1.5 million jury verdict in favor of the auditor, who claimed he was fired for whistleblowing.

  • July 29, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs Rejection Of Man's HPV Vaccine Claims

    A man who claimed vaccines he received as a teen, including one meant to guard against HPV, caused him to develop inflammatory bowel disease will receive no payments under the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program, the Federal Circuit ruled on Tuesday, affirming a determination that his theory that vaccines caused his illness is unsupported.

  • July 29, 2025

    5th Circ. Allows Challenge To Nonprofit Political Pro Bono Ban

    The Fifth Circuit said Monday a free speech nonprofit has the right to sue members of the Texas Ethics Commission in an attempt to conduct pro bono work for a political organization, saying the commissioners do not have sovereign immunity in their official roles and must face the suit.

  • July 29, 2025

    9th Circ. Urged To Rehear Alaskan Willow Project Ruling

    Alaskan Native and environmental advocacy groups are asking the Ninth Circuit for a rehearing on its ruling to uphold the federal government's decision to evaluate only alternatives for the ConocoPhillips Willow project that they say will result in full development of the Arctic oil reservoir.

  • July 29, 2025

    Haynes Boone Power Team Keeps Winning At Fed. Circ.

    Debbie McComas and Angela Oliver have emerged as the duo to beat at the Federal Circuit, as the Haynes Boone partners have taken victories in each of the seven patent appeals between them they've argued this year.

  • July 29, 2025

    Ambulance Co. Can't Undo $2.3M Verdict In Wash. Crash Case

    A Washington Court of Appeals panel has affirmed an ambulance operator's $2.3 million trial court loss in a patient's family's wrongful death case over a crash, rejecting the company's argument that its crew was shielded from liability by a state law that protects first responders providing emergency medical services.

  • July 29, 2025

    Affirmed Energy Says FERC Unlawfully Cut Auction Rights

    Affirmed Energy LLC told the D.C. Circuit the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can't justify orders approving PJM Interconnection LLC's proposal to bar energy efficiency resources from participating in its electricity capacity auctions.

  • July 29, 2025

    Conn. Prosecutors' Misstatements Doom Murder Conviction

    A Connecticut man who confessed to killing his apartment superintendent will get a second murder trial after the state's top court ruled in a split opinion Tuesday that prosecutors misstated the law about the defense's central theory during closing arguments and rebuttal.

  • July 29, 2025

    Mass. Appeals Court Won't Overturn $6.6M Fatal Stroke Award

    A Massachusetts appellate panel on Tuesday declined to toss a $6.6 million medical malpractice award in a suit accusing a physician of causing a patient's fatal stroke, saying certain instructions did not unfairly influence the jury.

  • July 29, 2025

    2nd Circ. Says Russian Helped Oligarch Dodge Sanctions

    A lower court correctly denied a Russian citizen's bid to dismiss an indictment purporting that she joined in a conspiracy to help an oligarch evade sanctions imposed by former President Barack Obama against people who contributed to the national emergency in Ukraine, a Second Circuit panel has found.

  • July 29, 2025

    8th Circ. Says Bankruptcy Sale Appeal Dead Without Stay

    The Eighth Circuit on Tuesday rejected a woman's bid to undo an order approving a sale in her Chapter 7 bankruptcy, saying she didn't get a stay of the sale and so her appeal had to be dismissed.

  • July 29, 2025

    Trump Says High Court Rulings Undermine Wash. Halt On EOs

    Recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court undermine a Washington federal judge's finding that portions of two executive orders concerning gender-affirming care and transgender identity likely violate the Constitution, the Trump administration argued in recent filings.

  • July 29, 2025

    Judiciary Advises Not Filling Next 10th Circ. Vacancy, For Now

    The Judicial Conference of the United States is recommending not filling the next vacancies on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit and a handful of district courts, for now, citing a "consistently low per-judgeship caseload" in those jurisdictions.

  • July 29, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Renew Suit Over Wash. Ban On 'DIY' Rape Kits

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday refused to revive a constitutional challenge to Washington state's ban on self-administered DNA evidence collection kits for sexual assault survivors, concluding that the plaintiff company failed to show the law illegally restricts commercial speech.

  • July 29, 2025

    Posner Wage Theft Claims Should Be Revived, 7th Circ. Told

    A former staffer for retired U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Posner has asked the Seventh Circuit to review federal court rulings in his loss of wage theft claims against the ex-judge, arguing an Indiana federal judge permitted a botched discovery process and prematurely dismissed claims while fact issues remained.

  • July 29, 2025

    Email Hack Info Dooms Coverage Bid For Fraudulent Payment

    A trial court that excused a construction management company's insurer from covering a $673,000 reimbursement claim otherwise characterized as a negligent contract breach was right to let a company representative's unreferenced summary about an email hack factor into its decision, a split Illinois appellate panel said Monday.

  • July 29, 2025

    Trump Calls 'Blue Slip' Process 'Probably Unconstitutional'

    President Donald Trump on Tuesday railed against the long-standing tradition for home state senators to have essentially veto power over U.S. attorney and district court nominee picks and called on U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to abandon the process.

  • July 29, 2025

    Senate Confirms DOJ Official Emil Bove To 3rd Circ.

    The Senate voted 50-49 on Tuesday night to confirm Emil Bove, one of President Donald Trump's former attorneys and a top official at the U.S. Department of Justice, as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

  • July 29, 2025

    11th Circ. Upholds Toss Of Sea Island Clean Water Act Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the toss of a suit filed against Georgia's Sea Island resort for allegedly misleading the Army Corps of Engineers about a wetlands filling project, finding that the resident and environmental groups who filed the suit failed to show a wetland on the property satisfied the test for "waters of the United States." 

  • July 29, 2025

    Jack Daniel's Toy TM Win Violates Free Speech, 9th Circ. Told

    The maker of a dog toy parodying Jack Daniel's iconic whiskey bottle has urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse a finding that its "Bad Spaniels" toy tarnishes Jack Daniel's mark, arguing the ruling constitutes unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination over "mild poo jokes" that weren't similar to famous Jack Daniel's marks.

  • July 29, 2025

    OxyChem, Nokia Tell 3rd Circ. Passaic Cleanup Deal Is Unfair

    Occidental Chemical Corp. and Nokia of America Corp. on Monday asked the Third Circuit to reverse a New Jersey federal district court's approval of a $150 million settlement to clean up the Lower Passaic River.

  • July 29, 2025

    Fight Over End To Migrant Parole May Be Moot, 1st Circ. Hints

    The First Circuit grappled Tuesday with whether the Trump administration could elect to abruptly end a Biden-era immigration parole program, even as it appeared to acknowledge that as a practical matter, the measure could die of attrition before the question is answered.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Indemnity Lessons From Mass. Construction Defect Ruling

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    The Massachusetts high court's decision in Trustees of Boston University v. CHA, holding that a bespoke contractual indemnity provision means that a construction defect claim is not subject to Massachusetts' statute of repose, should spur design and construction professionals to negotiate limited provisions, says Christopher Sweeney at Conn Kavanaugh.

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