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Appellate

  • June 05, 2025

    Justices Fault Wis. For Denying Tax Break To Charities

    Wisconsin discriminated against a group of Catholic charities when it denied them an unemployment tax exemption, the U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday, rejecting the state's argument that the charities were not operated primarily for religious purposes.

  • June 05, 2025

    Justices Nix Higher Hurdle For Heterosexual Bias Claims

    A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday vacated the Sixth Circuit's ruling that plaintiffs claiming anti-heterosexual workplace discrimination need to provide extra "background circumstances" evidence, opining that it improperly imposed special standards on majority-group plaintiffs.

  • June 04, 2025

    Del. Justices Probe Bid For Biden Laptop Suit Revival

    A Delaware Supreme Court justice asked a computer repair shop owner's attorney Wednesday if his client had a right to claim anonymity after informing Congress he had a left-behind copy of Hunter Biden's laptop hard drive, in a politically controversial case that originated during President Donald Trump's first term

  • June 04, 2025

    Fla. School Urges 11th Circ. To Allow Jury Trial In TM Dispute

    A Florida distance learning school urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to revive its trademark infringement lawsuit against a rival, arguing it should be allowed to prove to a jury that it sustained actual damages because parents were confused by a competitor's website.

  • June 04, 2025

    Walmart Slip-And-Fall Suit Must Go To Trial, 4th Circ. Rules

    Walmart can't argue it had no duty to treat a specific patch of black ice that caused a woman's slip and fall after a winter storm, the Fourth Circuit ruled Wednesday, saying that a winter storm puts retailers on notice that their entire parking lot had become a potential hazard for customers.

  • June 04, 2025

    1st Circ. Upholds Block On Trump's Education Dept. Job Cuts

    The First Circuit on Wednesday rejected a bid by President Donald Trump to greenlight massive job cuts at the U.S. Department of Education, finding that the administration had not provided enough evidence to overturn a block put in place by a Massachusetts federal judge.

  • June 04, 2025

    Yogis' Legal Warrior Pose Gets Beach Ban Lifted At 9th Circ.

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday ordered a lower court to grant a preliminary injunction to yoga instructors who challenged San Diego's prohibition on free yoga classes at shoreline parks, finding the activity to be speech protected by the First Amendment since it imparts a skill derived from special knowledge.

  • June 04, 2025

    4th Circ. Invokes Rooker-Feldman In Hospitalization Case

    The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday found that a woman could not challenge a consent order she signed to be released from an involuntary hospital commitment, marking the first opinion of its kind from the court in two decades invoking the Rooker-Feldman doctrine.

  • June 04, 2025

    French Plane Co. Escapes Crash Suit In Fla. Courts

    A Florida appeals panel on Wednesday threw out product liability claims against a French plane manufacturer in a suit over a crash that killed all but one of its passengers, saying the company's ties to the Sunshine State are not related to the allegations in the complaint.

  • June 04, 2025

    Cheesesteak Icon Asks 3rd Circ. If Loper Bright Slices Sentence

    Counsel for a Philadelphia cheesesteak shop owner seeking a lighter sentence for paying employees off the books told the court Wednesday that he has asked the Third Circuit to consider how the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision striking longstanding agency deference framework might affect his case.

  • June 04, 2025

    High Court Told 'Categorical' Right To Counsel Must Persist

    A criminal defendant's right to consult with counsel during an overnight trial recess is "clear and categorical," a man who didn't receive that right has told the U.S. Supreme Court in preparation for his Sixth Amendment case to be heard before the justices.

  • June 04, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Pushes Back As Ramey Fights Fee Award To Google

    A Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned Ramey LLP managing partner William Ramey's challenge to one of several sanctions that have recently been imposed on his firm in patent cases, with some judges suggesting that the order in question in a case against Google LLC appeared warranted.

  • June 04, 2025

    Scalia Invoked Against Trump's Citizenship Stance At 9th Circ.

    A panel of Ninth Circuit judges scrutinized the Trump administration's take on the citizenship clause as the government argued Wednesday to preserve the president's push to curb birthright citizenship, with one judge suggesting the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia would've rejected the attempt to read "beyond the mere words" of the 14th Amendment.

  • June 04, 2025

    NC Mall Owner Fails To Boost $1K Water Damage Award

    A North Carolina mall property owner lost its bid to increase a paltry water damage award when a state appellate panel ruled Wednesday that the landlord failed to show sufficient evidence of damage from a neighboring property's stormwater runoff. 

  • June 04, 2025

    NJ Contractor Tells 3rd Circ. One-Man Rule Voids CBA

    A New Jersey contractor told a Third Circuit panel Wednesday that it isn't obliged to negotiate over a successor collective bargaining agreement with union-represented sheet metal workers, arguing it no longer employs any workers represented by the union.

  • June 04, 2025

    Judge Ponders If Netflix's Tax Theory Is 'Too Philosophical'

    A Colorado appellate judge on Wednesday wondered if Netflix's argument for why its subscriptions are not subject to state sales tax is "too philosophical" and doesn't reflect its actual transactions with customers, at a hearing in the state's appeal.

  • June 04, 2025

    Justices Won't Intervene To Let Jan. 6 Cops Stay Incognito

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to grant an emergency stay that would have allowed current and former Seattle police officers who attended the Jan. 6, 2021, "Stop the Steal" insurrection to shield their identities from the public.

  • June 04, 2025

    Ex-Potomac Law Partner Joins Pierson Ferdinand In Boston

    Pierson Ferdinand LLP has added a former Potomac Law Group partner with experience representing OpenSky in patent fights involving VLSI to the firm's intellectual property department in Boston.

  • June 04, 2025

    Trump Ordered To Explain Why Layoffs Don't Flout Injunction

    A California federal judge ordered the Trump administration Wednesday to explain why preparations for layoffs at the State Department and Department of Housing and Urban Development do not violate an injunction she issued last month, saying she needed more details about the agencies' plans to evaluate their compliance.

  • June 04, 2025

    Full 4th Circ. Asked To Rethink Copter Pilot's Death Suit

    Farmers accused of negligently allowing a crop-dusting pilot to fly into a steel cable stretched across a property are urging the full Fourth Circuit to release them from a lawsuit filed by the pilot's widow, arguing that, as nonpilots, they had no way of foreseeing aerial hazards.

  • June 04, 2025

    Deportees Urge Justices To Keep 'Basic Measure Of Fairness'

    A class of deportees who are being sent to countries where they have no prior ties asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to leave in place a preliminary injunction requiring that they be provided a meaningful opportunity to challenge their destinations, calling it "a basic measure of fairness."

  • June 04, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Moderna's IP Win Over COVID Vax

    A Delaware federal judge rightly interpreted claims of two Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. patents, which means Moderna Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine doesn't infringe them, the Federal Circuit said Wednesday.

  • June 04, 2025

    Calif. Justices Asked To Clarify Limits Of Good Faith Defense

    A worker's counsel urged the California Supreme Court on Wednesday to find that employers must show they proactively took steps to ensure its pay practices complied with state requirements to establish a good faith defense against liquidated damages, while the employer's counsel declined to address the merits of the appeal.

  • June 04, 2025

    Epic Wins IP Award Interest Fight With Tata At 7th Circ.

    The Seventh Circuit on Wednesday sided with Epic Systems and ordered a lower court to recalculate interest on a $140 million punitive damages award it won against Tata Group in an intellectual property case, saying interest ran from the first judgment in 2017 even though an amended version was entered five years later.

  • June 04, 2025

    Damages Retrial Ordered In NC Massage Envy Sex Assault Suit

    A North Carolina state appeals court on Wednesday ordered a new trial on damages in a suit over alleged sexual assaults at a Massage Envy location, finding the jury was improperly instructed on joint and several liability.

Expert Analysis

  • Appealing An Interlocutory Order On Insurer Duty To Defend

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    A recent First Circuit decision on a motion regarding an insurer's duty to defend underlying litigation highlights how policyholders may be able to pursue immediate appeals of interlocutory orders, especially in light of other circuit courts' stances on this issue, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.

  • Rethinking 'No Comment' For Clients Facing Public Crises

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    “No comment” is no longer a cost-free or even a viable public communications strategy for companies in crisis, and counsel must tailor their guidance based on a variety of competing factors to help clients emerge successfully, says Robert Bowers at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Del. Supreme Court TripAdvisor Ruling May Limit 'MFW Creep'

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent Maffei v. Palkon ruling regarding TripAdvisor's proposed reincorporation to Nevada potentially signals a turning point in the trend of expanding the protections from Kahn v. M&F Worldwide to other types of transactions, says Andrew J. Haile at Elon University.

  • 9th Circ. Draws The Line On Software As A Derivative Work

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent decision in Oracle International v. Rimini Street clarifies the meaning of derivative work under the Copyright Act, and when a work based upon a preexisting item doesn't constitute a derivative, says John Poulos at Norton Rose.

  • As Failure-To-Warn Preemption Wanes, Justices May Weigh In

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    Federal preemption of state failure-to-warn claims has long been a powerful defense in strict liability tort cases, but is now under attack in litigation over the weedkiller Roundup and other products — so the scope and application of preemption may require clarification by the U.S. Supreme Court, says Michael Sena at Segal McCambridge.

  • 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.

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