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Appellate
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June 06, 2025
Calif. Bar Hires Investigator To Review Exam Snafu
The State Bar of California's board of trustees voted to approve a $185,000 contract with a nonprofit to review "exam scoring irregularities and testing accommodations" from its fraught February 2025 bar exam.
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June 06, 2025
Trump Seeks High Court's OK On Education Dept. Job Cuts
The Trump administration has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a Massachusetts federal judge's order halting massive job cuts at the U.S. Department of Education, arguing that the judge's finding that almost 1,400 employees must be reinstated to ensure the department's continued operation "has no basis in reality."
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June 06, 2025
Texas Justices Say 'Reciprocal' Discipline Is Time-Limited
Texas' four-year time limit on attorney discipline applies to "reciprocal" discipline cases, in which a lawyer is sanctioned in Texas after being similarly sanctioned in another state, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday.
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June 06, 2025
4th Circ. Stays Ruling Restoring Frozen Federal Grant Funding
A split Fourth Circuit panel has blocked a South Carolina federal judge's order directing the federal government to restore 32 congressionally funded grants that were frozen by the Trump administration, while casting doubt on nonprofits' and cities' legal challenge.
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June 06, 2025
Litigation Funder Can't Stop Attys' Texas Fee Fight Remand
A divided Texas First Court of Appeals won't disturb a split decision that revived a dispute between an attorney and a former attorney over a fee-sharing agreement in tobacco litigation, rejecting a litigation finance company's en banc request to keep its trial court victory and prevent the case from being remanded.
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June 06, 2025
Calif. Panel Remands Fee Claims Over Evidence Exclusion
A California trial court erred when it blocked any reference to underlying legal malpractice allegations in a trial for recovery of fees brought by a San Francisco lawyer against his former clients, according to a Golden State appeals panel, which found the malpractice claims, though "effectively abandoned," had not reached final judgment on the merits.
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June 06, 2025
OpenAI CEO Calls NYT's ChatGPT Log Demand 'Inappropriate'
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his company have said they intend to appeal a Manhattan federal court order mandating the preservation of ChatGPT logs at the request of The New York Times and other news agencies in ongoing copyright infringement litigation, saying the demand goes too far.
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June 06, 2025
Off The Bench: NASCAR Antitrust Saga, White Sox Transfer
In this week's Off The Bench, an appeals court says Michael Jordan's auto racing team cannot compete amid an antitrust suit against NASCAR, the Chicago White Sox start a long ownership transfer process, and the woman who accused a college football coach of sexual harassment sues the university over its handling of the complaint.
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June 05, 2025
Fla. High Court Denies Property Rights In Special Taxi Permits
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ruled taxi permits that weren't recognized by a county jurisdiction after a special district was dissolved don't constitute an unconstitutional taking by the government without compensation, saying the state Legislature repealed the licenses' property rights in 2017.
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June 05, 2025
9th Circ. Broadens Test For ERISA Claim Releases
The Ninth Circuit on Thursday reversed a finding that releases signed by two former microchip manufacturer employees bar them from leading a class action over claims the company illegally revoked its severance program, finding that the court should consider whether the company breached its fiduciary duty in obtaining the releases.
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June 05, 2025
Infant Cushion Maker Urges DC Circ. To Vacate CPSC Rule
A company that manufactures infant support cushions has told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission overstepped its authority by issuing a rule regulating the products as "durable" and thus skirting congressional limits on its ability to issue mandatory product safety standards.
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June 05, 2025
Fed. Circ. Probes IGT Claim That Zynga Couldn't Target Patent
Gambling technology company IGT faced hurdles Thursday as it argued to the Federal Circuit that mobile game maker Zynga should have been stopped from challenging one of its patents due to an earlier dispute, as the judges questioned whether the issue is appealable.
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June 05, 2025
SEC Wants 8th Circ. To Remand 'Dealer' Suit After Dismissals
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked the Eighth Circuit on Thursday to send a $12 million case it won against Carebourn Capital back to the district court in light of its recent decision to take a less expansive approach to the definition of "securities dealer."
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June 05, 2025
DC Circ. Won't Make FCC Reconsider LTD Broadband Funds
The D.C. Circuit isn't going to touch a Federal Communications Commission decision denying LTD Broadband LLC $1.3 billion in rural network deployment funds after the company failed to convince the agency that it could connect the half-million locations that came with the money.
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June 05, 2025
Venezuela Asks To Undo $17M Loss Over Bolivar Artifacts
The government of Venezuela asked the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to undo a $17 million default judgment against it over the theft of a Florida man's collection of South American liberator and military general Simón BolÃvar's possessions.
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June 05, 2025
Med Mal Juror Misconduct Claim Won't Mean New Trial
An Indiana state appeals court Thursday upheld a defense win in a medical malpractice trial despite a juror's post-verdict revelation that she had previously heard of a defense expert witness.
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June 05, 2025
Wash. Judge Rejects Spiritual Group's Revived Guru IP Claims
A Seattle religious group has failed to prove copyright claims against an ex-member over the spiritual teachings of its late founder, a Washington federal judge has ruled following the case's revival on appeal, quipping that time and money spent on the case "vastly exceeds" any evidence of harm.
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June 05, 2025
States, Attys, Groups Push 8th Circ. For ND Tribes' Voting Rights
Nineteen states, 16 former federal attorneys and a slew of civil rights groups are backing two North Dakota tribes in their efforts for an Eighth Circuit rehearing, arguing the appellate court's semantic shift regarding voting rights presents important questions that merit its full consideration.
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June 05, 2025
Fed. Circ. Says Dolby Can't Appeal PTAB Decision In Its Favor
The Federal Circuit on Thursday dismissed Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corp.'s challenge to Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings that it prevailed on, spurning the company's appeal asserting that Unified Patents' failure to identify all of the interested parties should have nullified its case.
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June 05, 2025
3rd Circ. Says Amgen Can Proceed With Subpoena In IP Suit
The Third Circuit on Thursday sided with biotechnology company Amgen Inc. in its efforts to subpoena a competitor that it accused of patent infringement, reasoning that the panel lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because the lower court's decision regarding discovery was not ripe for appeal.
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June 05, 2025
Fed. Circ. Backs Apple Loss In PTAB Gesture Patent Fight
The Federal Circuit on Thursday backed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Apple failed to show that a Gesture Technology patent on using cameras to recognize human gestures is invalid, with the majority panel saying the "case should serve as a warning."
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June 05, 2025
Pa. City's Receiver Asks Court To Rein In Stormwater Board
The receiver for the bankrupt city of Chester, Pennsylvania, told a state court Thursday that the city-created stormwater authority and its board of directors violated their charter and state law by expanding the board and paying the elected officials who were on it.
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June 05, 2025
Ga. Court Nixes 'Massive' $65M Punitive Award In Fraud Case
The Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday struck down $65 million in punitive damages awarded to a doctor who was defrauded of his investments in a series of restaurants, ruling that the verdict was "grossly excessive" at more than 100 times the value of the compensatory damages awarded by a state court jury.
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June 05, 2025
NJ Justices To Take Look At Boys & Girls Club Abuse Claims
Garden State justices have agreed to hear whether New Jersey courts have jurisdiction over the alleged sexual abuse in the 1970s and '80s by a counselor for the Hudson County chapter of the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, according to a court order.
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June 05, 2025
4th Circ. Won't Revive Ex-Fire Captain's Free Speech Suit
The Fourth Circuit refused to reopen a former Lynchburg, Virginia, fire captain's suit alleging he was unconstitutionally fired for social media posts that citizens called transphobic and racist, ruling Thursday that he failed to show why the city should be held liable.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Playing Guitar Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a lawyer not only requires logic and hard work, but also belief, emotion, situational awareness and lots of natural energy — playing guitar enhances all of these qualities, increasing my capacity to do my best work, says Kosta Stojilkovic at Wilkinson Stekloff.
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Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook
The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.
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High Court's Ruling May Not Stop Ghost Gun Makers
In Bondi v. VanDerStok, a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Gun Control Act applies to untraceable "ghost gun" kits under certain circumstances — but companies that produce these kits may still be able to use creative regulatory workarounds to evade government oversight, says Samuel Bassett at Minton Bassett.
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Justices' Labcorp Questions Explore Class Cert. Tensions
At the recent oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings v. Davis, the justices' questioning highlighted a fundamental tension between constitutional standing requirements, the procedural framework of Rule 23, and the practical challenges of managing large, diverse classes in complex litigation, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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Immunity Waiver Ruling A Setback For Ch. 7 Trustees
While governmental units should welcome the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in U.S. v. Miller restricting the reach of the Bankruptcy Code's sovereign immunity waiver, Chapter 7 trustees now have a limited ability to maximize bankruptcy estates, says Dan Prieto at Jones Day.
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Wash. Justices' Moonlight Ruling Should Caution Employers
The Washington Supreme Court's recent decision in David v. Freedom Vans, which limited when employers can restrict low-wage workers from moonlighting, underscores the need for employers to narrowly tailor restrictive covenants, ensuring that they are reasonable and allow for workforce mobility, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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What To Watch For As High Court Mulls NRC's Powers
If successful, Texas’ challenges to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authority — recently heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and currently pending before a Texas federal court — may have serious adverse consequences for aspiring NRC licensees, including potential nuclear power plant operators, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
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Series
Adapting To Private Practice: From NY Fed To BigLaw
While the move to private practice brings a learning curve, it also brings chances to learn new skills and grow your network, requiring a clear understanding of how your skills can complement and contribute to a firm's existing practice, and where you can add new value, says Meghann Donahue at Covington.
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Calif. Smoke Claim Ruling Gives Insurers Support On Denials
Far from being an outlier among ash, soot and smoke coverage cases, a California appellate court's recent opinion in Gharibian v. Wawanesa General Insurance reinforces the principle that policyholders must establish entitlement to coverage as a threshold matter, while supporting denials of coverage for meritless claims, says Kyle Espinola at Zelle.
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Cos. Face Enviro Justice Tug-Of-War Between States, Feds
The second Trump administration's sweeping elimination of environmental justice policies, programs and funding, and targeting of state-level EJ initiatives, creates difficult questions for companies on how best to avoid friction with federal policy, navigate state compliance obligations and maintain important stakeholder relationships with communities, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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Top 3 Litigation Finance Deal-Killers, And How To Avoid Them
Like all transactions, litigation finance deals can sometimes collapse, but understanding the most common reasons for failure, including a lack of trust or a misunderstanding of deal terms, can help both parties avoid problems, say Rebecca Berrebi at Avenue 33 and Boris Ziser at Schulte Roth.
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5th Circ. Ruling Is Latest Signal Of Shaky Qui Tam Landscape
In his recent concurring opinion in U.S. v. Peripheral Vascular Associates, a Fifth Circuit judge joined a growing list of jurists suggesting that the False Claims Act's whistleblower provisions are unconstitutional, underscoring that acceptance of qui tam relators can no longer be taken for granted, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.
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How Attys Can Use A Therapy Model To Help Triggered Clients
Attorneys can lean on key principles from a psychotherapeutic paradigm known as the "Internal Family Systems" model to help manage triggered clients and get settlement negotiations back on track, says Jennifer Gibbs at Zelle.
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Tracking The Evolution Of Liability Management Exercises
As liability management exercises face increasing legal scrutiny, understanding the history of these debt restructuring tools can help explain how the playbook keeps adapting — and why the next move is always just one ruling or transaction away, say attorneys at Weil.
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Navigating Florida's Bad Faith Reforms After Appellate Ruling
A Florida appellate court's recent decision is among the first to interpret two significant amendments to the state's insurance bad faith law, and its holding that one of the statutes could not apply retroactively may affect insurers' interpretation of the other statute, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.