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Appellate

  • June 13, 2025

    9th Circ. Renews Copyright Claims In Software Cos. Fight

    A Ninth Circuit panel has partially revived an intellectual property dispute between software companies Cloanto Corp. and Hyperion Entertainment, ruling that the lower court erred in tossing Cloanto's copyright claims while correctly axing its breach of contract claim.

  • June 13, 2025

    5th Circ. Says No Private Right Of Action In No Surprises Act

    The Fifth Circuit has ruled a pair of flight ambulance providers cannot pursue their lawsuit seeking to enforce out-of-network billing dispute resolution awards against a health insurance company, saying there's no private right of action built into a 2022 law that protects patients from surprise medical bills.

  • June 13, 2025

    Calif. State Bar Is Immune From Atty's ADA Suit, 9th Circ. Says

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday declined to revive an attorney's claims alleging the California State Bar violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by not granting extra time to respond to disciplinary action based on outstanding debt, finding the bar, as an arm of the state, is entitled to sovereign immunity.

  • June 13, 2025

    DC Circ. Urged To Reject Approval For Braille-Free Drug Label

    Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. is urging the D.C. Circuit to reverse a lower court decision upholding the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of a generic sleep-disorder drug without Braille labeling, a move the company argues jeopardizes patient safety.

  • June 13, 2025

    Omitted Jury Instruction Tainted Fraud Trial, DC Circ. Says

    A D.C. Circuit panel ruled Friday that a new trial was warranted in a pandemic relief loan fraud case based on the trial court's inadvertent failure to instruct jurors to not draw negative conclusions from the defendant's decision not to testify.

  • June 13, 2025

    4th Circ. Axes Guilty Plea Over Police Misconduct

    The Fourth Circuit vacated a North Carolina man's guilty plea on drug trafficking charges, holding Friday that new information regarding "egregious police misconduct" that plagued the prosecution's case rendered his plea involuntary. 

  • June 13, 2025

    Wash. High Court Suspends Atty Amid Delays In Bar Probe

    The Washington State Supreme Court has suspended an Evergreen state attorney's legal license, at the state bar association's request, for allegedly stalling disciplinary investigations into her work representing student families in two federal lawsuits against school districts.

  • June 13, 2025

    11th Circ. Holds Local GOP Had Right To Bar Anti-Trumpers

    An Eleventh Circuit panel has sided with a county-level Georgia Republican Party and reversed a federal district court's dismissal of the party's suit, which looked to vindicate its right to exclude purportedly anti-Trump candidates from qualifying for local office on the GOP ticket.

  • June 13, 2025

    2nd Circ. Won't Rehear Trump Appeal Of $5M Assault Verdict

    The full Second Circuit refused Friday to revisit President Donald Trump's challenge to writer E. Jean Carroll's $5 million sexual assault finding against him, with two judges dissenting.

  • June 13, 2025

    Pa. Court Faults Agency For Rebuffing Late Child-Death Filing

    Pennsylvania's labor regulator should have at least considered accepting a business's late submission of a response to accusations of child labor stemming from a fatal accident with a wood chipper, a state appellate panel ruled Friday in an opinion that clarified when to make exceptions to agency filing deadlines.

  • June 13, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Rehear Bid To Toss Boy Scouts' Ch. 11 Plan

    The Third Circuit declined to hold a panel or full court rehearing of its May decision to uphold the Boy Scouts of America's Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan in a pair of Friday orders rejecting petitions by two sets of abuse survivors, with the orders implying some judges on the court had supported taking another look.

  • June 13, 2025

    Texas Justices Pass On Final 'Love Is Blind' Appeal

    The Texas Supreme Court on Friday declined for the third time to intervene in a suit between the producers of Netflix's "Love Is Blind" and a former contestant who says she was sexually assaulted while filming the show.

  • June 13, 2025

    DC Circ. Sides With FERC In Substation Cost Dispute

    A D.C. Circuit panel ruled Friday that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission got it right when it denied a wind facility operator's petition seeking reimbursement from the Western Area Power Administration for its contribution to a substation expansion.

  • June 13, 2025

    Midyear Report: 5 ERISA Decisions Attys Should Know

    The U.S. Supreme Court revived retirement plan mismanagement allegations against Cornell University, the Sixth Circuit restarted a yacht company's suit against its health benefits administrator and American Airlines took a hit for emphasizing socially conscious investing in its 401(k) plan decisions. Here are five important decisions that came down in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases during the first half of this year.

  • June 13, 2025

    Oregon Takes Cannabis Labor Peace Row To 9th Circ.

    Oregon officials will appeal a federal judge's order barring enforcement of a voter-approved law that required licensed cannabis businesses to enter into labor peace pacts with their workers.

  • June 13, 2025

    Grassley Budget Bill Calls For More Use Of Injunction Bonds

    Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has released his portion of the budget reconciliation text, which would bolster the use of injunction bonds to raise the stakes for plaintiffs seeking to halt White House initiatives.

  • June 13, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Remands Wine Trademark Dispute To TTAB

    The Federal Circuit on Friday revived a challenge that Chateau Lynch-Bages' launched against an application for a trademark with a similar name to the chateau's second-label Bordeaux wine, saying the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board must take another look.

  • June 13, 2025

    Ex-Defender Urges 4th Circ. To 'Fortify' Workplace Protections

    A former assistant public defender has doubled down on efforts to revive her sex bias suit against the federal judiciary, telling the Fourth Circuit that siding with the judiciary would further discourage its employees from speaking up or reporting abuse out of fear of retaliation.

  • June 13, 2025

    Mayer Brown Helps Get Man Off Death Row After 21 Years

    A team of Mayer Brown LLP attorneys fought for decades to get the death sentence of a Houston man commuted to life in light of the inmate's intellectual disability, in a case that shows how legal standards have evolved in an area once known as "death county."

  • June 13, 2025

    Colo. Appeals Upholds State Board Rules On Teacher Reviews

    A state appeals court sided with the Colorado State Board of Education in a challenge brought by an educators union against the board's new teacher performance evaluation system and the appeal process for those evaluations, precedentially ruling that the board acted within its delegated authority.

  • June 13, 2025

    NJ Judge Accepts Feds' New Bid To Keep Khalil Jailed

    A New Jersey federal judge on Friday declined Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil's request to be released from immigration detention after the Trump administration said earlier in the day it has alternative grounds to keep him behind bars.

  • June 12, 2025

    Feds Urge 1st Circ. To Allow End Of Immigrant Parole Program

    The Trump administration Wednesday urged the First Circuit to lift a district court's block on the federal government from rescinding temporary Biden-era removal protections from more than 500,000 Cuban, Haitian, Nicaraguan and Venezuelan immigrants, saying the U.S. Supreme Court already hinted that the order was a mistake.

  • June 12, 2025

    Ex-UPS Workers Urge 9th Circ. To Revive State Law Claims

    An attorney for some former United Parcel Service workers urged a Ninth Circuit panel Thursday to undo a decision barring them from proceeding with some state employment claims because the workers memorialized them on union grievance forms, telling the panel the claims aren't preempted by federal law.

  • June 12, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Hartford's Denial Of Benefits To Ex-PwC Exec

    The Seventh Circuit on Thursday refused to revive a lawsuit by a former PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP executive accusing the accounting firm's disability insurance provider of wrongly denying her long-term disability benefits for her fibromyalgia, affirming a lower court's "detailed and diligent opinion" that found her condition limiting, but not disabling.

  • June 12, 2025

    Publisher Slams Lindberg's 'Inappropriate' Use Of Affidavit

    A publisher seeking to collect on a $1.24 million judgment from a Florida holding company linked to convicted insurance fraudster Greg Lindberg pushed back Wednesday at Lindberg's bid to avoid the payout, telling a North Carolina appeals court that it's "inappropriate" of him to use a 2-year-old filing in a separate case to back his argument.

Expert Analysis

  • The Sentencing Guidelines Are Commencing A New Era

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    Sweeping new amendments to the U.S. sentencing guidelines — including the elimination of departure provisions — intended to promote transparency and individualized justice while still guarding against unwarranted disparities will have profound consequences for all stakeholders, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • Justices Widen Gap Between Federal, Calif. Enviro Reviews

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, narrowed the scope of National Environmental Policy Act reviews, it may have broadened the gulf between reviews conducted under NEPA and those under the California Environmental Quality Act, say attorneys at Hanson Bridgett.

  • In 2nd Place, Va. 'Rocket Docket' Remains Old Reliable

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    The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was again one of the fastest civil trial courts in the nation last year, and an interview with the court’s newest judge provides insights into why it continues to soar, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Foreign Sovereign Entities Should Heed 9th Circ. IP Ruling

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    After the Ninth Circuit recently held that four Chinese state-controlled companies were not immune from criminal indictment for alleged economic espionage, foreign sovereign-controlled entities should assess whether their operations and affiliation with their parent states qualify for sovereign immunity under the common law, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • How Attorneys Can Become Change Agents For Racial Equity

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    As the administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and law firms consider pulling back from their programs, lawyers who care about racial equity and justice can employ four strategies to create microspaces of justice, which can then be parlayed into drivers of transformational change, says Susan Sturm at Columbia Law School.

  • Opinion

    9th Circ. Shopify Decision Gets Personal Jurisdiction Wrong

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent opinion in Briskin v. Shopify, rejecting the differential targeting requirement for personal jurisdiction, not only deviates from long-standing jurisprudence, but it also significantly expands the reach of internet-based claims under California law, says Matthew Pearson at Womble Bond.

  • Seven County Ruling Should Trim Agency Enviro Analysis

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County provides needed clarity for infrastructure projects by expressly directing agencies to narrow environmental reviews, and reducing the threat of litigation if even tangential issues are not exhaustively evaluated, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Series

    Running Marathons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    After almost five years of running marathons, I’ve learned that both the race itself and the training process sharpen skills that directly translate to the practice of law, including discipline, dedication, endurance, problem-solving and mental toughness, says Lauren Meadows at Swift Currie.

  • High Court Ruling Bucks Trend Of Narrowing Fraud Theories

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Kousisis v. U.S. decision, holding that economic loss is not required to establish prosecutors’ fraudulent inducement theory of fraud, is at odds with its decadeslong narrowing of federal fraud statutes’ reach, and may lead to convictions for a wide variety of contractual misrepresentations, say attorneys at Keker Van Nest.

  • High Court Order On Board Firings Is Cold Comfort For Fed

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Trump v. Wilcox order, upholding the firings of two independent agency board members during appeal, raises concerns about the future of removal protections for Federal Reserve System members, and thus the broader politicization of U.S. monetary policy, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Supporting A Trial Team

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    While students often practice as lead trial attorneys in law school, such an opportunity likely won’t arise until a few years into practice, so junior associates should focus on honing skills that are essential to supporting a trial team, including organization, adaptability and humility, says Lucy Zelina at Tucker Ellis.

  • Google Damages Ruling May Spur Income Approach Usage

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in EcoFactor v. Google may affect the extent to which damages experts apply the market approach in patent infringement matters, and income approach techniques may assume greater importance, says Erin Crockett at Charles River Associates.

  • Opinion

    Address Nationwide Injunction Issues With Random Venues

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    Many of the qualms about individual district court judges' authority to issue nationwide injunctions could be solved with a simple legislative solution: handling multiple complaints about the same agency action filed in different district courts by assigning a venue via random selection, says Harvey Reiter at Stinson.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From US Attorney To BigLaw

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    When I transitioned to private practice after government service — most recently as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia — I learned there are more similarities between the two jobs than many realize, with both disciplines requiring resourcefulness, zealous advocacy and foresight, says Zach Terwilliger at V&E.

  • 11th Circ. Ruling Warns Parties To Follow Arbitral Rules

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in Merritt Island Woodwerx v. Space Coast is important for companies utilizing arbitration clauses because it clearly demonstrates the court's intent to hold noncompliant parties responsible in federal court — regardless of subsequent efforts to cure, says Ed Mullins at Reed Smith.

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