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Appellate

  • May 23, 2025

    Chief Justice Pauses DOGE's FOIA Discovery For Now

    Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily paused discovery Friday into whether the Department of Government Efficiency is an agency subject to Freedom of Information Act requests, giving the initiative a short reprieve as the U.S. Supreme Court considers DOGE's bid to more fully halt a purported "fishing expedition."

  • May 23, 2025

    Texas Atty Still Disbarred For Failing To Report Client's Death

    A Texas appeals court has upheld the disbarment of an attorney who was found by a jury to have engaged in professional misconduct, in part, by failing to report the death of a client he had represented in an attempt to recover the value of bounced checks.

  • May 23, 2025

    Law Prof Rebuked For Trying To End Sister's Conservatorship

    Colorado appellate judges have said a Northwestern University law professor lacked standing to request termination of a conservatorship over his sister, citing the professor stealing at least $1.5 million from his sister's inheritance and calling him "the antithesis" of a person interested in her welfare.

  • May 23, 2025

    Split DC Circ. Affirms Ax Of Ex-Trump Aide's Surveillance Suit

    A split D.C. Circuit affirmed Friday the dismissal of claims by former Trump 2016 campaign adviser Carter Page that the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI and former top officials violated privacy statutes in surveilling him as part of a Russian election interference probe.

  • May 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Urged To Force ERISA 401(k) Suit Arbitration

    A Los Angeles-based investment management company urged the Ninth Circuit to force individual arbitration of an ex-worker's proposed class action alleging 401(k) mismanagement, arguing a lower court incorrectly concluded an arbitration provision in employees' retirement plan wasn't enforceable because it waived statutory rights under federal benefits law.

  • May 23, 2025

    My So-Called Retirement: Some IP Lawyers Just Can't Quit

    When patent partner Terry Rea set out to retire, the onetime acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had her eyes on the independence that retirement promises — flexible hours, fewer deadlines and less stress over having lots of people counting on you.

  • May 23, 2025

    DeSantis Taps Ex-Governor's Office Atty For Appellate Seat

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday appointed his former chief deputy general counsel to the First District Court of Appeal bench in Tallahassee.

  • May 23, 2025

    Mich. Justices To Hear Law Firm's Roof 'Addition' Appeal

    Michigan's highest court said it will review whether a law firm office building's new roof was an addition to the property for the purposes of evaluating taxable value, meaning the property's value could increase beyond a 5% cap. 

  • May 23, 2025

    Philly Firm Dodges DQ Despite 'Troubling' Discovery Conduct

    Philadelphia-based construction law specialists Horn Williamson LLC can't be disqualified from a batch of negligence lawsuits against home builder Toll Brothers Inc. over "troubling" misconduct involving third-party subpoenas, a Pennsylvania Superior Court said Friday.

  • May 23, 2025

    Boston Not Liable Over School Shooting, Appeals Court Says

    The city of Boston is not liable for injuries to a high school student shot by a classmate while being dismissed early to attend a funeral, nor for the trauma experienced by his mother and younger siblings who were also in the line of fire, a Massachusetts intermediate appellate court concluded Friday.

  • May 23, 2025

    Mich. Justices Agree To Hear Insurer's PIP Benefits Appeal

    The Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to review a split lower court's finding that an auto insurer must provide personal injury protection, or PIP, benefits to a policyholder's son who was injured in an out-of-state tractor-trailer crash.

  • May 23, 2025

    Former AG Garland Returns To Arnold & Porter

    Former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has returned to Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, where he worked early in his career, the firm announced Friday.

  • May 23, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Partly Revives Allstate Challenge To Tech Patent

    The Federal Circuit on Friday threw out the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Allstate failed to show the invalidity of two claims in a patent on cellphone sensors that can tell if a vehicle has accelerated or crashed, telling the board to take another look.

  • May 23, 2025

    Off The Bench: Tennis Officials, NCAA Stay On The Defensive

    In this week's Off The Bench, tennis players face pushback from the governing bodies they are accusing of antitrust violations, college basketball players claiming the NCAA exploited them want their class action revived, and a baseball player seeking one last year to play in college hits another legal roadblock.

  • May 23, 2025

    Southwest Flight Attendant Fights To Revive Nixed Sanctions

    A flight attendant urged the Fifth Circuit to reconsider its move to axe a contempt order against Southwest Airlines in her wrongful termination suit, arguing it shouldn't be scrapped just because the panel took issue with court-ordered religious liberty training for Southwest attorneys.

  • May 23, 2025

    Lindberg Urges NC Panel To Rebuff 'Ambush' Sanctions Bid

    A convicted billionaire seeking to unravel a receivership order against him has urged the North Carolina Court of Appeals not to scrap his case as a sanction for alleged procedural violations, saying the only gamesmanship afoot is opposing counsel's monthslong "radio silence."

  • May 23, 2025

    FTC Finally Drops Challenge To Microsoft-Activision Deal

    The Federal Trade Commission has dropped its in-house case seeking to block Microsoft's $68.7 billion purchase of video game developer Activision Blizzard, after its Ninth Circuit loss earlier this month, ending a lingering challenge to a deal that closed in late 2023.

  • May 22, 2025

    Ga. Judge Threated Atty Over Custody Case, Ethics Panel Told

    A Georgia attorney told the state's judicial watchdog Thursday that a trial judge improperly called her to discuss her child custody case, gave her preferential scheduling due to their membership in the same sorority and then threatened to take her child from her after she filed a recusal motion.

  • May 22, 2025

    Insurers Say La. Hotel Can't Appeal Fire Damage Fight

    A group of insurers has told the Fifth Circuit that it can't review a March order by a Louisiana federal judge instructing a New Orleans hotel to arbitrate its fire damage claims, slamming the hotel owner's argument that it has a constitutional right to pursue an appeal.

  • May 22, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Ruling Will Spark More Patent Damages Fights

    The full Federal Circuit's decision Wednesday ordering a new trial in a patent case against Google LLC and finding the plaintiff's damages expert unreliable is likely to lead to greater scrutiny of patent damages testimony and more attempts to get it thrown out, attorneys say.

  • May 22, 2025

    Bilfinger Urges NC Justices To Skip Cargill Arbitration Case

    International construction company Bilfinger is urging North Carolina's top court not to review a decision nixing Cargill's bid to revive arbitration it initiated in a dispute stemming from a construction contract, disputing the food conglomerate's argument that the case raises novel issues.

  • May 22, 2025

    Wash. Justices Undo Landlord Win In Eviction Answer Dispute

    Washington's highest court overturned a Seattle-area landlord's eviction victory on Thursday, saying any tenant who responds to a summons with a written "notice of appearance" can't be hit with a default judgment for failing to file an answer in an unlawful detainer action.

  • May 22, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs Pfizer Win Against Gene Therapy Patents

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday sided with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's findings that a pair of patents covering a new kind of experimental gene therapy to treat hemophilia were invalid, handing a win to patent challenger Pfizer.

  • May 22, 2025

    7th Circ. Wary Of Crypto Fund Owner's Appeal Of $231M Fine

    A Seventh Circuit panel on Thursday pressed counsel for a cryptocurrency fund operator challenging a $231 million judgment for running a Ponzi scheme to address whether he'd waived his argument that the digital tokens his funds invested in aren't "commodities" subject to regulation by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission by not raising it in the lower court.

  • May 22, 2025

    Sen. Durbin Holds Up Florida US Attorney Nominee

    Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced Thursday he will be holding up President Donald Trump's U.S. attorney nominee for the Southern District of Florida, blaming precedent set by Vice President JD Vance when he was in the Senate.

Expert Analysis

  • What Del. Supreme Court LKQ Decision Means For M&A Deals

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent decision in LKQ v. Rutledge greatly increases the enforceability of forfeiture-for-competition provisions, representing an important affirmation of earlier precedent and making it likely that such agreements will become more common in M&A transactions, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • 10 Arbitrations And A 5th Circ. Ruling Flag Arb. Clause Risks

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    The ongoing arbitral saga of Sullivan v. Feldman, which has engendered proceedings before 10 different arbitrators in Texas and Louisiana along with last month's Fifth Circuit opinion, showcases both the risks and limitations of arbitration clauses in retainer agreements for resolving attorney-client disputes, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.

  • How High Court's Cornell Decision Will Affect ERISA Suits

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cunningham v. Cornell, characterizing prohibited transaction exemptions as affirmative defenses, sets the bar very low for initiating Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation, and will likely affect many plan sponsors with similar service agreements, says Carol Buckmann at Cohen & Buckmann.

  • Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    The first quarter of 2025 was filled with the refinement of old theories in the property and casualty space, including in vehicle valuation, time to seek appraisal and materials depreciation, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling May Aid Consistent Interpretation Of ADA

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    In Tudor v. Whitehall Central School District, the Second Circuit joined the majority of circuits by holding that an employee's ability to perform their job without an accommodation does not disqualify them from receiving one, marking a notable step toward uniform application of the Americans with Disabilities Act nationwide, says Michelle Grant at Wilson Elser.

  • EPA's Proposed GHG Reform Could Hinder Climate Regulation

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    The Trump administration will reconsider the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's landmark 2009 greenhouse gas endangerment finding, which could leave the U.S. federal government with no statutory authority whatsoever to regulate climate change or greenhouse gas emissions, says David Smith at Manatt.

  • Perspectives

    Power To The Paralegals: The Value Of Unified State Licensing

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    Texas' proposal to become the latest state to license paraprofessional providers of limited legal services could help firms expand their reach and improve access to justice, but consumers, attorneys and allied legal professionals would benefit even more if similar programs across the country become more uniform, says Michael Houlberg at the University of Denver.

  • Fed. Circ. In March: Forfeiting Claim Construction On Appeal

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    The Federal Circuit's decision in Wash World v. Belanger last month confirms the importance of fair notice to the district court when determining forfeiture of an argument on appeal in the context of patent claim construction, allowing appellants to better gauge the appropriate framing of arguments that may be presented, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • 1st Circ. Ruling May Slow SEC Retail Investment Advice Cases

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    The First Circuit's recent ruling, finding the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not substantiate its $93.3 million fine against a retail investment adviser, may raise the threshold on materiality findings in these cases and add a speed bump resulting in fewer such actions, say attorneys at Weil.

  • 10 Soft Skills Every GC Should Master

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    As businesses face shifting regulatory and technological uncertainty, general counsel will need to strengthen certain soft skills to succeed, from admitting when they make a mistake to maintaining a healthy dose of dispassion, says Douglas Brown at Manatt.

  • 6 Criteria Can Help Assess Executive Branch Actions

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    With new executive policy changes announced seemingly every day, several questions can help courts, policymakers and businesses determine whether such actions are proper, effective and in keeping with our democratic norms, say Marc Levin and Khalil Cumberbatch at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • Fed Circ.'s PTAB Ruling Highlights Obsolete Rationale

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in In re: Riggs shines a new light on its 2015 decision in Dynamic Drinkware v. National Graphics, and raises questions about why the claim support requirement established by Dynamic Drinkware exists at all, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • Traversing The Shifting Sands Of ESG Reporting Compliance

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    Multinational corporations have increasingly found themselves between a rock and a hard place attempting to comply with EU and California ESG requirements while not running afoul of expanding U.S. anti-ESG regimes, but focusing on what is material to shareholder value and establishing strong governance can help, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • An Unrestrained, Bright-Eyed View Of Legal AI's Future

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    Todd Itami at Covington offers a bright-eyed, laughing-all-the-way, skydive look at what the legal industry could look like after an artificial intelligence revolution, which he believes may happen much sooner and more dramatically than we expect.

  • Tracking The Evolution In Litigation Finance

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    Despite continued innovation, litigation finance remains an immature market with borrowers recieving significantly different terms as lenders learn to value cases, which firms need a strong handle on to ensure lending terms do not overwhelm collateral value, says Robert Wilkins at Lightfoot Franklin.

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