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Appellate
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May 28, 2025
4th Circ. Finds Towers Watson's Merger Deals Not Covered
Towers Watson's insurers have no obligation to pay out their remaining directors and officers coverage to help fund settlements resolving shareholder litigation over the company's merger with Willis, the Fourth Circuit affirmed Wednesday, saying the deals fall plainly within the scope of a so-called bump-up exclusion.
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May 28, 2025
Alex Jones Is 'Defending Journalists,' Texas Court Hears
A Texas appeals court seemed taken aback after counsel for conspiracist Alex Jones claimed a $45 million default judgment relating to Jones' defamatory Sandy Hook statements should be thrown out, suggesting during oral arguments Jones was "thumbing [his] nose" at the trial court.
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May 28, 2025
Harvard To Give Slave Photos To Museum, Ending Legal Battle
Harvard University on Wednesday settled a suit over the ownership of photographs of enslaved people taken for a racist 1850 study, agreeing to transfer the images to a museum and to pay an undisclosed sum to a woman who says she is a descendant of the subjects.
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May 28, 2025
DC Circ. Denies Steve Bannon's Bid For En Banc Rehearing
Right-wing media figure Steve Bannon, who was a chief strategist during the first Trump administration, has been rebuffed in his bid for an en banc rehearing at the D.C. Circuit on his contempt of Congress conviction, a move his legal team deemed "overriding politicalization."
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May 28, 2025
Ga. Bank Wins Appellate Review Of Claim Against Law Firm
The Georgia Court of Appeals has agreed to review a dismissed portion of a bank's suit against law firm Stanley Esrey & Buckley LLP, after the bank argued it had sufficiently explained that it loaned millions of dollars to a woman who was later convicted of fraud based on the firm's "false assurances."
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May 28, 2025
Ex-Benghazi Investigator Sworn In As Interim NorCal US Atty
A longtime Los Angeles attorney and former investigator into the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans was appointed on Tuesday as interim U.S. attorney in California's Northern District, where he'll be allowed to serve up to 120 days pending Senate confirmation.
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May 28, 2025
Ga. Lawyer Disbarred After Contract Forgery Probe
A Georgia attorney was disbarred Wednesday for altering a contract at the heart of a commercial dispute in a failed attempt to deceive a trial court, as the state supreme court rejected his defenses for his "dishonesty, fraud, and deceit."
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May 28, 2025
Wash. Court Blocks Atty From Sharing Nonparty Client's File
A Washington appeals court says an Evergreen State attorney may not disclose a client's confidential file for in-camera review to support his defense in an estate's legal malpractice case, finding the disclosure would go against the state's professional conduct rules.
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May 28, 2025
Trump Nominates Ex-Personal Atty Emil Bove For 3rd Circ.
President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he is nominating Emil Bove, his former criminal defense attorney who served as acting deputy attorney general, for the Third Circuit.
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May 27, 2025
1st Circ. Won't Revive Challenge To Federal Cannabis Ban
The First Circuit on Tuesday refused to resurrect a suit challenging the long-standing federal prohibition of cannabis, rejecting the argument that the circumstances underlying a U.S. Supreme Court decision on cannabis policy had changed so much in the last 20 years that the precedent was no longer relevant.
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May 27, 2025
'Gone In 60 Seconds' IP Appeal 'Stalls At Starting Line'
A Ninth Circuit panel held Tuesday that the customized Ford Mustangs called "Eleanor" that were featured in four films — most recently in the 2000 Nicolas Cage film "Gone in 60 Seconds" — is not a copyrightable character.
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May 27, 2025
Philly Children's Hospital Can't Undo $11.6M Med Mal Award
A Pennsylvania appeals court panel on Tuesday affirmed an $11.6 million award in a suit accusing the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia of partially causing the death of a 4-year-old boy, saying there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict.
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May 27, 2025
11th Circ. Says Producer's Defamation Claims Came Too Late
The Eleventh Circuit refused Friday to revive a movie producer's defamation suit against The Hollywood Reporter over its article on his feud with a former business partner, ruling that a district court correctly applied California's statute of limitations, rather than Florida's, to dismiss the suit.
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May 27, 2025
2nd Circ. Revives Girl Scouts Race Bias Claim, Rejects Others
The Second Circuit on Tuesday declined to revive claims from former officers for a New York Girl Scouts chapter who said they suffered retaliation after complaining that the group misused pandemic relief loans, but held that one plaintiff can pursue racial bias allegations.
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May 27, 2025
Fed. Circ. Backs Engineering Co. Win In Patent Fight
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive allegations that a Texas-based engineering services company infringed a half dozen patents related to oil and gas industry pipeline integrity testing, finding a lower court judge's interpretation of key patent terms was correct.
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May 27, 2025
Abbott, Paxton Escape Texas Vision Insurance Bill Dispute
The Fifth Circuit has freed Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton from a First Amendment challenge to a bill governing certain disclosures between vision insurers and optometrists.
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May 27, 2025
Colo. Justices Won't Hear Atty's Challenge To Law Firm NDA
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that it will not consider an attorney's petition fighting her nondisclosure agreement with a prominent local law firm, ending her argument that the agreement violated a professional rule prohibiting firms from limiting an attorney's ability to practice law after ending an employment relationship.
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May 27, 2025
1st Circ. Axes NLRB's Northeastern Police Bargaining Order
The First Circuit quashed a National Labor Relations Board decision ordering Northeastern University in Boston to negotiate with a union representing campus police department employees, determining the board strayed from precedent when finding sergeants are not supervisors under federal labor law.
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May 27, 2025
Gorsuch Says Oak Flat Ruling Will Harm Native Generations
The Supreme Court's decision to deny an Apache nonprofit's petition that looked to save a centuries-old Arizona Indigenous worship site from destruction to make way for a multibillion-dollar copper mine is a grievous mistake with consequences that threaten to reverberate for generations, Justice Neil Gorsuch said in a Tuesday dissent.
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May 27, 2025
Bayer, Monsanto On Hook For $611M Roundup Cancer Awards
A Missouri appellate panel Tuesday affirmed a trial court's $611 million award reduced from a jury's $1.56 billion verdict for three people who claimed their cancer was caused by Bayer unit Monsanto Co.'s Roundup weedkiller, saying a law professor's testimony about a Ninth Circuit decision was not prejudicial.
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May 27, 2025
11th Circ. Won't Revisit FCC Ownership Ruling
The Eleventh Circuit won't take a second whack at its order upholding a Federal Communications Commission finding that Gray Television had broken agency ownership consolidation rules by owning one too many stations in Anchorage, Alaska.
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May 27, 2025
Feds Tell 11th Circ. 'No Error' In Ga. Bid-Rigging Conviction
Federal prosecutors urged the Eleventh Circuit Friday to uphold the bid-rigging and price-fixing convictions of one of two brothers accused of manipulating the coastal Georgia concrete market, arguing his push for a new trial is a "virtual carbon copy" of one a district court already rejected.
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May 27, 2025
NC Justices Say Doc Is Employee, Not Official With Immunity
The North Carolina Supreme Court has overturned an appeals court decision that a University of North Carolina professor had public-official immunity in a defamation suit over an investigation into a colleague's going-away party, holding he is an employee of a public agency, not a public official entitled to immunity.
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May 27, 2025
Chancery Footnotes Raise Post-SB 21 Stir In Delaware
A Delaware vice chancellor has created a stir with expansive opinion footnotes pushing back on the state Supreme Court's rejection of a controller's liability to stockholders after rechartering a business in more board-friendly Nevada, close on the heels of a bitter legislative debate over reworking Delaware corporate law.
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May 27, 2025
Tort Report: 'High-Low' Deal Nets Plaintiff Extra $10M
A last-minute "high-low" agreement that turned out to be a stroke of genius by lawyers for an injured motorcyclist and a $26 million verdict for a crash caused by a postal worker lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Adapting To Private Practice: From DOJ Enviro To Mid-Law
Practitioners leaving a longtime government role for private practice — as when I departed the U.S. Department of Justice’s environmental enforcement division — should prioritize finding a firm that shares their principles, values their experience and will invest in their transition, says John Cruden at Beveridge & Diamond.
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Independent Contractor Rule Up In The Air Under New DOL
In several recent court challenges, the U.S. Department of Labor has indicated its intent to revoke the 2024 independent contractor rule, sending a clear signal that it will not defend the Biden-era rule on the merits in anticipation of further rulemaking, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.
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Why Trade Cases May Put Maple Leaf Deference On Review
When litigation challenging the president’s trade actions reaches the Federal Circuit, the court will have to reevaluate the Maple Leaf standard in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 Loper Bright decision limiting Chevron-like deference to cases involving statutory provisions in which Congress delegated discretionary authority to the executive branch, say attorneys at Wiley.
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A Look At Probabilistic Tracing After High Court's Slack Ruling
Recent decisions following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Slack v. Pirani have increased the difficulty of pleading Securities Act claims for securities issued in direct listings by rejecting the use of statistical probabilities to establish that share purchases were traceable to a challenged registration statement, says Jonathan Richman at Brown Rudnick.
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Legal Ethics Considerations For Law Firm Pro Bono Deals
If a law firm enters into a pro bono deal with the Trump administration in exchange for avoiding or removing an executive order, it has an ethical obligation to create a written settlement agreement with specific terms, which would mitigate some potential conflict of interest problems, says Andrew Altschul at Buchanan Angeli.
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How To Address FCA Risk After 4th Circ. Ruling On DEI Orders
Following the Fourth Circuit's ruling in National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education v. Trump, which freed the administration to enforce executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs, government contractors should take stock of potentially unlawful DEI programs, given their heightened risk under the False Claims Act, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Del. Dispatch: Open Issues After Corp. Law Amendments
Recent amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law represent a significant change in the future structuring of boards and how the First State will approach conflicted transactions, but Delaware courts may interpret the amendments narrowly, limiting their impact, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Series
Playing Football Made Me A Better Lawyer
While my football career ended over 15 years ago, the lessons the sport taught me about grit, accountability and resilience have stayed with me and will continue to help me succeed as an attorney, says Bert McBride at Trenam.
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What Del. Supreme Court LKQ Decision Means For M&A Deals
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.
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10 Arbitrations And A 5th Circ. Ruling Flag Arb. Clause Risks
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.
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How High Court's Cornell Decision Will Affect ERISA Suits
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.
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Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions
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.
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2nd Circ. Ruling May Aid Consistent Interpretation Of ADA
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.
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EPA's Proposed GHG Reform Could Hinder Climate Regulation
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.
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Series
Power To The Paralegals: The Value Of Unified State Licensing
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.