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Appellate
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July 25, 2025
11th Circ. Calls Dismissal Of Ga. Bar Bias Suit 'Indefensible'
An Eleventh Circuit panel appeared all but certain Friday that it would revive a Georgia attorney's race bias suit against the state's bar association, calling a federal district court's dismissal of her claims that the bar has a two-tiered disciplinary system "indefensible."
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July 25, 2025
Surety Can't Avoid Texas County's $11M Park Bond Dispute
A surety can't escape a county's suit accusing it of breaching a performance bond issued for an $11 million park development project, a Texas appellate court ruled, saying the surety failed to show that a one-year statute of limitations expired before the county filed suit.
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July 25, 2025
1st Circ. Backs Ex-Pharma Director's $24M Disability Bias Win
The First Circuit declined to scrap a $24 million verdict for a former lab director of a Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. subsidiary who claimed she was fired for seeking alternative public speaking arrangements due to her anxiety, ruling the evidence presented supported the jury's verdict.
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July 25, 2025
Will Tom Girardi's Wardrobe Mishap Help His Appeal?
When legendary attorney Tom Girardi's pants fell down as he finished testifying in his defense, the judge had to decide: Was this a desperate bid to feign incompetence and avoid prison for stealing client funds, or just an accident by an 86-year-old man with dementia? And if it really was an accident, does it now give Girardi a shot at winning his appeal and overturning his sentence?
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July 25, 2025
Top Immigration Cases Of 2025: Midyear Report
Federal courts repeatedly rebuffed key pillars of President Donald Trump's immigration policy during the first half of the year, with district courts halting efforts to curtail birthright citizenship, restrict asylum at the southern border and deport noncitizens without notice. Law360 looks at some of the most significant immigration litigation developments nearly six months into Trump's second term.
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July 25, 2025
Legal Org. Urges DC Circ. To Reject Trump's Tariff Powers
The D.C. Circuit should affirm a ruling that sided with toy makers and blocked President Donald Trump from using an international economic law to impose emergency tariffs because the law does not give the president the authority he claims, a legal organization argued.
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July 25, 2025
Calif. Court Axes Deported Man's Drug Plea Over Atty Advice
A California appeals court has vacated the drug conviction of a Mexican national and U.S. resident and has told the lower court to set a trial on the charge, finding he wasn't properly told by his lawyer that pleading guilty would lead to deportation.
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July 25, 2025
Iowa Urges 8th Circ. To Undo Block On E-Cig Law
Iowa's Department of Revenue is urging the Eighth Circuit to overturn a lower judge's ruling that blocked enforcement of a new state law that would have restricted the sale of some e-cigarettes in the Hawkeye State.
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July 24, 2025
Will 9th Circ. Take 'Rare' Step Of Nixing Kat Von D's IP Win?
A Ninth Circuit panel openly struggled this month with a jury's verdict clearing tattoo artist Kat Von D of infringing a photographer's copyrighted photo of Miles Davis, and is now facing the rare proposition of nullifying the verdict based on its own interpretation of the images.
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July 24, 2025
5th Circ. Says Deportation Waiver Did Not Violate Due Process
A split Fifth Circuit panel found that an unauthorized immigrant did not have his due process rights violated when he signed a form that waived his right to judicial review, saying in a Wednesday opinion that a conviction of an aggravated felony did not violate his rights.
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July 24, 2025
5th Circ. Loath To Say Guilty Plea Implicated Brother In Fraud
A Fifth Circuit panel seemed skeptical of a convicted Dallas fraudster's argument that the jury's learning of his brother's guilty plea in a conspiracy indictment tainted his own case, asking during oral arguments on Thursday how the guilty plea directly implicated him.
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July 24, 2025
NJ High Court Orders Questioning Of Murder Trial Juror
New Jersey's highest court cast doubt on three murder convictions on Thursday and ordered a judge to make up for inadequately questioning a juror after receiving a tip that she was Googling and discussing the case against three men who allegedly killed a schoolteacher, reportedly telling colleagues she would find them guilty and 'burn their asses.'
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July 24, 2025
7th Circ. Erases Class Cert. Over Progressive's Car Valuation
The Seventh Circuit on Thursday reversed a policyholder's class certification win against Progressive Insurance over certain adjustments the insurer makes when calculating a totaled vehicle's actual cash value, finding that whether Progressive paid insureds the proper amount is a primarily individualized inquiry.
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July 24, 2025
Split 9th Circ. Affirms Block Of Calif. Ammunition Regulation
A split Ninth Circuit panel Thursday affirmed a lower court's finding that California can't require gun owners to undergo background checks before buying ammunition, ruling that the law runs afoul of the Second Amendment in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 ruling in Bruen.
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July 24, 2025
Ky. Clerk Seeks To Overturn Marriage Equality Ruling
A Kentucky clerk who made international headlines for refusing to issue marriage licenses in protest of the legalization of same-sex marriage asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to overturn its 2015 marriage equality decision after she unsuccessfully tried to shake a civil judgment against her.
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July 24, 2025
Panel OKs Atty As Expert In 'Vanishingly Rare' Med Mal Suit
A Texas appellate court said Thursday that allegations that a hospital negligently discharged a newborn to adoptive parents can be considered a medical malpractice claim, but said a family law attorney can also serve as an expert witness in a "vanishingly rare" case where an expert needn't be a physician.
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July 24, 2025
Feds Say 9th Circ. Order Supports Nixing Delay Of TPS End
The U.S. Department of Justice told the Ninth Circuit it can hear an immediate appeal of a district court's decision postponing the Trump administration's termination of temporary protected status for Venezuelans, citing a recent decision from the appeals court narrowing an injunction in a separate case.
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July 24, 2025
NY Court Bars Monitoring Of Domestic Violence Survivors
A New York state appellate court held Thursday that the Family Court acted unlawfully in placing a mother under the supervision of New York City's child welfare agency just because she has experienced domestic abuse, further curtailing a controversial practice that's already banned elsewhere in the state.
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July 24, 2025
9th Circ. Urged Not To Let $1.3B India Award Suit Drag On
Weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned an outlier Ninth Circuit decision refusing to enforce a $1.3 billion arbitral award against India, an Indian satellite communications company's shareholders are now urging the circuit court to minimize or nix briefing on issues left open by the justices.
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July 24, 2025
Pa. Court Backs Use Of DNA From Trash In 1995 Rape Case
The Pennsylvania Superior Court on Thursday upheld the use of a John Doe warrant and decades-delayed DNA testing to identify and convict a man in 2024 for the violent rape of a Penn State student in 1995, saying in the precedent-setting opinion that police were allowed to collect DNA evidence from the man's trash years later.
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July 24, 2025
IRS Can Levy Religious Group's Property, Split 9th Circ. Says
The IRS can impose a lien on an Arizona residential property held by a religious organization to collect unpaid taxes owed by a bankrupt couple who had decision-making authority over the entity's finances and bank account, a divided Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday.
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July 29, 2025
CORRECTED: Nonprofit Attys Get OK To Appear In Yale Defamation Suit
The Connecticut Appellate Court on July 23 allowed six out-of-state attorneys representing special interest groups to appear in an appeal questioning whether an unapproved amicus brief in a separate case defamed an acquitted ex-Yale student.
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July 24, 2025
Insurer Asks 4th Circ. To Nix $1.1M Roof Damage Verdict
An insurer specializing in covering religious organizations asked the Fourth Circuit to set aside a $1.1 million jury verdict it faces over roof damage that a North Carolina church said was caused by snow, arguing the lower court's jury instructions adopted the wrong causation standard.
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July 24, 2025
NJ Attys Warn RICO Case Revival Would 'Chill' Lawyering
The New Jersey State Bar Association told a Garden State appellate court that lawyers across the state will be chilled from zealously advocating for their clients if it revives the state's racketeering indictment against two politically connected attorneys, making it the second attorney advocacy group to file a proposed amicus curiae brief in the case.
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July 24, 2025
Ex-Calif. Judge Says 'Trying To Do Too Much' Led To Backlog
A former California state appellate justice said health problems and a strong work ethic harmed his ability to handle his caseload quickly, leading to delays in hundreds of cases that precipitated ethics charges, telling a watchdog he "can only be faulted for trying to do too much under the circumstances."
Expert Analysis
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Fla. Workers' Comp Ruling Ups Bar For Emotional Injury Suits
A Florida appellate court’s recent opinion in Steak 'N Shake v. Spears requires that employees solely claiming emotional distress seek workers’ compensation before suing their employers, closing a potential loophole and reducing the potential proliferation of such disputes in Florida courts, says Rob Rogers at Kirwin Norris.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Spearin, Overpayments, Jurisdiction
Edward Arnold at Seyfarth examines three recent decisions addressing the limits of the Spearin doctrine in design-build contracts, the government's ability to recoup overpayments after a termination for convenience, and the Contract Disputes Act's strict and nonwaivable jurisdictional rules.
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What Calif. Appeals Split Means For Litigating PAGA Claims
After two recent California state appeals court rulings diverged on whether a former employee with untimely individual claims under the Private Attorneys General Act can maintain a representative action, practitioners' strategic agility will be key to managing risk and achieving favorable outcomes in PAGA litigation, say attorneys at Buchalter.
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Series
Competing In Modern Pentathlon Makes Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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NY Case Shows How LLC Agreements Can Be Amended
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.
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If Justices Accept, Maxwell Case May Clarify Meaning Of 'US'
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.
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The State Of Play In Copyright Protection For Floor Plans
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.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Teaching Yourself Legal Tech
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.
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Opinion
Legacy Of 3 Justices Should Guide Transgender Rights Ruling
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.
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How IPR Estoppel Ruling May Clash With PTAB Landscape
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.
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Texas Ruling Emphasizes Limits Of Franchisors' Liability
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.
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How AI May Reshape The Future Of Adjudication
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.
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Justices' Charter School Tie Delays Church-State Reckoning
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.
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When Legal Advocacy Crosses The Line Into Incivility
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.
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Florida Case Could Redefine Construction Defect Damages
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.