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Appellate

  • June 03, 2025

    Mich. High Court To Weigh Warrantless DNA Testing Legality

    The Michigan Supreme Court will consider whether to take on an appeal from a man convicted of murder who says the police's warrantless testing of his clothes while he was jailed on unrelated warrants was unlawful.

  • June 03, 2025

    Irish Court Says US Co.'s Irish Units Not Owed Treaty Benefits

    Three Irish subsidiaries cannot benefit from the U.S.-Ireland tax treaty's provision of equally favorable treatment between U.S. and Irish residents because their ultimate parent entity, a Delaware financial firm, is disregarded for U.S. tax purposes, Ireland's Court of Appeal said in a judgment.

  • June 03, 2025

    4th Circ. Backs NLRB Order On Trucking Co.'s Union Threat

    The Fourth Circuit has upheld a National Labor Relations Board decision concluding a trucking company in Virginia made an illegal threat to workers in response to a union organizing push, and also clarified what messages from employers are protected under federal labor law.

  • June 03, 2025

    Akoustis' Appeal Of $39M IP Verdict Dropped After Bankruptcy

    Radio frequency filter firm Akoustis Technologies has agreed to drop an appeal of a jury's $39 million patent infringement and trade secrets misappropriation verdict in favor of Qorvo Inc. that drove it to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December.

  • June 03, 2025

    The Law360 400: A Look At The Top 100 Firms

    A rebound in client work sent the nation’s largest law firms into growth mode last year, driving a wave of hiring, mergers and strategic moves that reshaped the top tier of the Law360 400. Here's a preview of the 100 firms with the largest U.S. attorney headcounts.

  • June 03, 2025

    Calif. Panel Won't Restore Subclasses In Nurses' Wage Suit

    Two nurses failed to back up their assertions that a hospital system similarly refused to provide their colleagues with meal and rest breaks, a California state appeals court ruled, upholding an order that decertified two subclasses in their wage suit.

  • June 02, 2025

    5th Circ. Will Mull In-House Banking Cases In Jarkesy's Wake

    A Fifth Circuit panel is set to scrutinize in-house proceedings at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and other banking agencies on Tuesday in a trio of appeals with the potential to upend the regulators' primary mode of enforcement.

  • June 02, 2025

    Ga. Residents Urge Panel To Revive Sea Island Roads Fight

    A pair of Glynn County, Georgia, residents urged the state's Court of Appeals to revive their lawsuit seeking to prevent the Sea Island Co. from denying public access to roads on Sea Island that they say were never properly transferred to the company.

  • June 02, 2025

    Despite 11-1 Split Warning, 7th Circ. Limits Use Of Mandamus

    The Seventh Circuit shrugged off assertions that it has inexplicably adopted one-of-a-kind restrictions on change-of-venue challenges, refusing Monday to rethink its recent rejection of mandamus as a mechanism to fight forum selection decisions.

  • June 02, 2025

    Pa. Panel Grants New Trial In Death Suit Against ER Doctor

    A Pennsylvania appeals court on Monday ordered a new trial in a suit accusing an emergency room physician of negligently treating a man's cardiac issues which proved fatal, saying a medical journal article written by the defense's medical expert should have been admitted as evidence.

  • June 02, 2025

    9th Circ. Doubts Professor's DEI Free Speech Fight

    A Ninth Circuit panel appeared skeptical Monday of a professor's effort to revive his constitutional challenge of the California Community Colleges Board's diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility regulations, with one judge noting the board hasn't enforced the rules and another judge criticizing the professor for declining to amend his suit.

  • June 02, 2025

    PacificCorp Fights Wash.'s Carbon Limit Program At 9th Circ.

    PacificCorp urged the Ninth Circuit on Monday to revive claims alleging Washington's carbon emissions cap-and-invest program unconstitutionally discriminates against out-of-state customers by imposing emissions allowances for power exported out of state, while Washington argued that the lawsuit seeks to create a "loophole" that would result in a "free pass" on emissions.

  • June 02, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Asks Whether Trade Secrets Were Secret Enough

    The Federal Circuit set out Monday to determine whether an Ohio federal judge was right or wrong to throw out a $64 million jury verdict finding that Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. stole an inventor's ideas for self-inflating tires because the trade secrets were too vague to have gone to a jury.

  • June 02, 2025

    Retired Wash. High Court Justice Charles Wiggins Dies At 77

    Retired Washington Supreme Court Justice Charles K. Wiggins, who served a decade on the state's high court, died last week from complications due to Parkinson's disease at the age of 77, according to a news release.

  • June 02, 2025

    9th Circ. Sends Express Scripts Opioid Case To State Court

    The Ninth Circuit sent California's public nuisance lawsuit against Express Scripts and OptumRx over opioid dispensing back to state court Monday and denied the pharmacy benefit managers' bid to stay the remand pending appeal, saying the U.S. Supreme Court's 2009 Nken decision controls, not its later Coinbase ruling.

  • June 02, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Skeptical Applicant-Admitted Art Requires Expert

    Shockwave Medical Inc. didn't find enthusiastic support at the Federal Circuit on Monday as its attorney argued that applicant admitted prior art had to be coupled with expert testimony at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

  • June 02, 2025

    A Jury Says Fortress Controls VLSI. What Now?

    A Texas federal jury has concluded that Fortress Investment Group controls VLSI Technology, which could be a game-changing step in the patent company's multibillion-dollar patent fight with Intel. Here's how the jury's narrow finding could play into the widespread litigation.

  • June 02, 2025

    Iowa Taking Fight Over E-Cigarette Law To 8th Circ.

    Iowa's Department of Revenue is taking a decision blocking it from enforcing a new law prohibiting the sale of many e-cigarettes to the Eighth Circuit, according to documents filed recently in Iowa federal court.

  • June 02, 2025

    1st Circ. Largely Backs Convictions For Cop Union Kickbacks

    The First Circuit on Monday mostly upheld the convictions of a former Massachusetts state police union president and a Beacon Hill lobbyist who were found guilty of running a kickback scheme, but ordered new sentencing hearings for them after vacating some of the guilty findings.

  • June 02, 2025

    Crypto Business Loses Bid To Arbitrate $1M Refund Fight

    A California state appeals court has affirmed an order denying arbitration between an investment firm and a Cayman Islands cryptocurrency business, ruling that the court, not an arbitrator, had to decide the dispute's proper venue since the parties disagreed over whether an arbitration agreement existed.

  • June 02, 2025

    Trump Renews Call For Justices To Lift Gov't Overhaul Pause

    President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to lift a California federal judge's order barring the implementation of layoffs and reorganization plans at various federal departments and agencies, arguing the order imposes nonexistent congressional limits on his presidential authority.

  • June 02, 2025

    Florida Court Tosses $28M Verdict Over Ignored Mandate

    A Florida appeals court has vacated a $28 million verdict and ordered a new, bifurcated damages trial in a suit over a car accident, saying the trial court ignored a previous appeals court's mandate to keep evidence that the at-fault driver was drunk out of the compensatory-damages phase.

  • June 02, 2025

    White House Asks DC Circ. To Halt Tariff Injunction

    The White House on Monday asked the D.C. Circuit to hit pause on a lower court ruling that found President Donald Trump's tariffs unlawful, arguing the "legally indefensible preliminary injunction" would impede sensitive trade negotiations if left unchecked.

  • June 02, 2025

    Chinese Rival Shouldn't Get Code Docs, Micron Tells Justices

    Micron Technology Inc. is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to block a Chinese semiconductor competitor from accessing paper copies of sensitive source code during patent infringement litigation, asserting in a petition that a lower court "ignored completely the national-security concerns tied up" in the dispute.

  • June 02, 2025

    Fla. Appeals Court Backs Police In Pot Smell Search Dispute

    A Florida state appeals court has found that the smell of fresh cannabis can be enough to support probable cause for a car search in an area known for crime and drug trafficking, reversing a trial court order that suppressed evidence obtained in such a search.

Expert Analysis

  • How Design Thinking Can Help Lawyers Find Purpose In Work

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    Lawyers everywhere are feeling overwhelmed amid mass government layoffs, increasing political instability and a justice system stretched to its limits — but a design-thinking framework can help attorneys navigate this uncertainty and find meaning in their work, say law professors at the University of Michigan.

  • Justices' Certiorari Denial Leaves Interstate Tax Questions

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    Since the U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to review a Philadelphia resident’s claim that her Delaware state income taxes should be credited against her city wage tax liabilities, constitutional questions about state and local tax distinctions linger, and some states may continue to apply Supreme Court precedent differently, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Trending At The PTAB: Insights From 2024 Fed. Circ. Statistics

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    Looking at stats from the Federal Circuit's decisions in 219 Patent Trial and Appeal Board appeals last year sheds light on potential trends and strategy considerations that could improve appeals' chances of success, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Will Independent Federal Agencies Remain Independent?

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    For 90 years, members of multimember independent federal agencies have relied on the U.S. Supreme Court's 1935 ruling in Humphrey's Executor v. U.S. establishing the security of their positions — but as the Trump administration attempts to overturn this understanding, it is unclear how the high court will respond, says Harvey Reiter at Stinson.

  • High Court Sentencing Case Presents Legal Fork In The Road

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    On Feb. 25, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in Esteras v. U.S. about the factors trial courts may consider when imposing a sentence of imprisonment after revoking supervised release, and the justices’ eventual decision may prioritize either discretion or originalism, says Michael Freedman at The Freedman Firm.

  • Del. Justices' D&O Ruling Clarifies 'Related' Claim Analysis

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    In its recent decision in the Alexion Pharmaceuticals coverage case, the Delaware Supreme Court adopted a "meaningful linkage" standard for relatedness analysis, providing further guidance to Delaware policyholders on how to navigate those directors and officers insurance disputes, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five federal appellate court class certification decisions and identifies practice tips from cases involving breach of life insurance contracts, constitutional violations of inmates and more.

  • Defense Strategies For Politically Charged Prosecutions

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    Politically charged prosecutions have captured the headlines in recent years, providing lessons for defense counsel on how to navigate the distinct challenges, and seize the unique opportunities, such cases present, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • Series

    Competitive Weightlifting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The parallels between the core principles required for competitive weightlifting and practicing law have helped me to excel in both endeavors, with each holding important lessons about discipline, dedication, drive and failure, says Damien Bielli at VF Law.

  • Axed ALJ Removal Protections Mark Big Shift For NLRB

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    A D.C. federal court's recent decision in VHS Acquisition Subsidiary No. 7 v. National Labor Relations Board removed long-standing tenure protections for administrative law judges by finding they must be removable at will by the NLRB, marking a significant shift in the agency's ability to prosecute and adjudicate cases, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • NC COVID Ruling May Have Greater Coverage Implications

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    While the North Carolina Supreme Court's recent finding in favor of policyholders in a suit for business interruption coverage due to COVID-19 comes too late for most insureds to benefit, it should nonetheless have coverage implications far beyond COVID-19 claims, say attorneys at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • 3 Potential Developments That May Alter US Patent Rights

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    The Federal Circuit's upcoming decision in EcoFactor v. Google, pending legislation before Congress and the appointment of a new U.S Patent and Trademark Office director all have significant potential to strengthen or weaken patent rights, say attorneys at McKool Smith.

  • 11th Circ. TCPA Ruling Signals Erosion Of Judicial Deference

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    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently came to the rescue of the lead generation industry, striking down new regulations that were set to go into effect on Jan. 27, a decision consistent with federal courts' recent willingness to review administrative decisions, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • How Ill. Ruling Could Influence Future Data Breach Cases

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    The Illinois Supreme Court's recent decision in Petta v. Christie Business Holding, which was based solely on standing, establishes an important benchmark for the viability of Illinois-based lawsuits arising out of data security incidents that defendants can cite in future cases, say attorneys at Wilson Elser.

  • The Rising Need For The Selective Prosecution Defense

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    In a political climate where criminal and civil prosecution on the basis of political affiliation, constitutionally protected speech or other arbitrary classification is increasingly likely, existing precedent shows why judges should be more open to allowing a selective prosecution defense, say attorneys at Sidley.

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