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Appellate

  • September 18, 2025

    Delaware Judge Calls For Civility After 'Annus Horribilis'

    In a rare postscript to her bench ruling this week, a Delaware vice chancellor lamented what she observed as a breakdown in the state bar's civility and mutual respect over the past "annus horribilis," comments that have since drawn cautious support and resonance with several in the First State's legal community.

  • September 18, 2025

    Ga. Panel Lifts Bar On Mom's Suit Over Accidental Shooting

    The Georgia Court of Appeals has revived a woman's wrongful death suit over her son's accidental shooting while in training as a security guard, overturning a lower court's ruling that her claims were preempted by a liability release in a workers' compensation settlement.

  • September 18, 2025

    Alaska Asks Justices To End Feds' Subsistence Fishing Regs

    The state of Alaska is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to step into its dispute with the federal government and Native American groups over fishing regulations in its navigable waters, challenging a Ninth Circuit ruling that barred the state from opening part of the Kuskokwim River to all fishers.

  • September 18, 2025

    Fed. Circ.'s PTAB Prior Art Ruling Risks Havoc, Justices Told

    The Federal Circuit created a "jumbled mess" when it ruled that the filing date of a patent application dictates whether it can be used as prior art to invalidate a later patent, rather than the date the application was published, Lynk Labs Inc. has told the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • September 18, 2025

    Texas Court Says Citizen Can't Intervene To Uphold Pot Law

    The citizen sponsor of a voter-approved marijuana decriminalization ordinance cannot intervene in the deal struck between the state attorney general and city of Elgin that declared the ordinance void, a Texas appeals court ruled, saying the advocate doesn't have standing.

  • September 18, 2025

    Conn. Justice 'Embarrassed' By State's Atty Discipline Rules

    A Connecticut Supreme Court justice said Thursday that he was "embarrassed" by the "terribly unclear" ethics rules at the center of an attorney discipline case, appearing sympathetic to the argument that a trial court should have entertained the lawyer's constitutional challenge to the grievance process.

  • September 18, 2025

    DC Circ. Judge Says PJM Monitor May Have 'Hint Of Paranoia'

    The D.C. Circuit didn't seem so sure Thursday morning that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was flouting the rules by denying an independent market monitor access to its liaison committee meetings, with one judge saying the monitor seemed to be exhibiting a "hint of paranoia."

  • September 18, 2025

    7th Circ. Judge Wary Of Ex-Firefighter's Free Speech Position

    A Seventh Circuit judge on Thursday said an attorney for a former Chicago firefighter seeking to revive a suit claiming he was unlawfully fired for a series of memes and other statements posted on Facebook seemed to be making a "hyperbolic" argument that public employers cannot regulate speech outside the workplace.

  • September 18, 2025

    Wash. Panel Calls Gas Station Co.'s Insurance Delay Risky

    Whether gas station operator Gull Industries Inc. is entitled to legal defense costs from Granite State Insurance Co. in long-running litigation over the company's environmental liability may ultimately boil down to timing, Washington state appellate judges suggested at a hearing Thursday.

  • September 18, 2025

    2nd Circ. To Weigh EFTA's Scope In NY's Citi Wire Fraud Case

    The Second Circuit has granted Citibank's request for an appeal in its fight with New York Attorney General Letitia James over the bank's response to incidents of online wire transfer fraud, agreeing to review whether key federal consumer protections for electronic payments apply to wire transfers initiated over the internet.

  • September 18, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Hears 'Settled Expectations' Are 'Lawless' In IP Feud

    SanDisk Technologies Inc. and its former parent have become the latest challengers at the Federal Circuit to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's discretionary denial practices, taking aim at its acting director's holdings that patent owners eventually have the right to assume their patents won't be challenged.

  • September 18, 2025

    Split Court Shields Mich. City From Teen's Drowning Suit

    The city of South Haven, Michigan, is immune from the claims of the estate of a man who drowned while swimming in Lake Michigan because the estate failed to establish that an exception to governmental immunity applied, a divided state appeals court ruled.

  • September 18, 2025

    Groups Look To Block EPA's $3B Grant Cuts Amid Appeal

    Conservation, tribal groups, and local and county governments are looking to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from terminating a $3 billion climate grant program while they appeal a decision that dismissed their claims, arguing that public interest and equities weigh heavily in their favor.

  • September 18, 2025

    6th Circ. Allows Case Against Deputy For Attacking Man

    A Sixth Circuit panel has affirmed a lower court's ruling, finding that a Tennessee police officer who went into a man's home and hit him on Halloween in 2021 could not use qualified immunity to shield himself from liability for his actions.

  • September 18, 2025

    Mich. Top Court To Weigh Medicare's Role In No-Fault Cases

    Michigan's highest court will weigh whether an injured driver who opted out of personal injury protection due to his Medicare coverage must offset his damages by billing the insurance program for accident-related medical expenses in a no-fault dispute. 

  • September 18, 2025

    Circuit Board Maker Fights $7.6M Trial Loss At 11th Circ.

    A Chinese circuit board manufacturer asked the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to reverse a ruling in its U.S. distributor's favor, arguing that the lower court improperly held it to a heightened pleading standard in their contract dispute, paving the way to a $7.6 million loss at trial.

  • September 18, 2025

    7th Circ. Questions Jurisdiction In $250M Van Gogh Dispute

    The Seventh Circuit on Thursday appeared skeptical that an Illinois court had jurisdiction to hear a dispute brought by heirs of a German Jewish art collector persecuted by the Nazi Party, seeking to recover a Vincent van Gogh "Sunflowers" painting from a Japanese firm.

  • September 18, 2025

    Army Challenges Tribe's Claims In Burial Dispute At 4th Circ.

    The U.S. Army told the Fourth Circuit this week that a tribe seeking the repatriation of remains from a former Pennsylvania Native American boarding school was wrong to claim that it couldn't find living relatives of the entombed children, citing a news article pointing to the existence of those relatives.

  • September 18, 2025

    9th Circ. Won't Stay Venezuelans' TPS Win Amid Feds' Appeal

    The Ninth Circuit denied on Wednesday the Trump administration's latest emergency-stay request, which would have let the government continue to unwind temporary protected status for 600,000 Venezuelans as it challenges its summary-judgment loss on appeal, rejecting the government's argument that the U.S. Supreme Court's prior stay ruling in the case controls.

  • September 18, 2025

    EPA Will Maintain Hazardous Designations For PFOA, PFOS

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has said it will defend the Biden administration's decision to list two common forever chemicals as hazardous substances under the federal Superfund law.

  • September 18, 2025

    Circuit Split On Felon Gun Ban Could Set Up High Court Review

    A growing divide among federal appellate courts on how a gun ban for felons fits within the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 expansion of individuals' right to carry firearms in public could force the high court to revisit the Second Amendment.

  • September 18, 2025

    Citing Lashify, ITC Finds Domestic Industry In Vape Case

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has agreed with a judge's finding that Pax Labs Inc. has satisfied a requirement for it to bring its case alleging imports of vape devices infringed various patents, relying on a pair of Federal Circuit rulings over what counts toward that requirement.

  • September 18, 2025

    Couple Slam NC Defense Attys In Hospital Negligence Appeal

    A couple pursuing negligence claims against a local hospital scoffed at the idea that they were lurking on the sidelines waiting to cash in on a favorable outcome in a similar case, telling the North Carolina appeals court to ignore an amicus brief by defense attorneys arguing as much.

  • September 18, 2025

    Colibri Wants Full Fed. Circ. To Rethink Medtronic Patent Case

    Colibri Heart Valve LLC wants the full Federal Circuit to review a panel's ruling overturning a patent infringement judgment of more than $125 million against Medtronic's CoreValve unit, saying the panel wrongly applied a reading of the law that is too broad.

  • September 18, 2025

    Ex-Trump Atty Says Fla. Discipline Case Is Over 'Void' Charges

    Former Trump campaign attorney Kenneth Chesebro told the Supreme Court of Florida this week to reject a push to discipline him over his conviction in Georgia's election interference racketeering case, arguing his name was cleared by a court order invalidating the charge to which he pled guilty.

Expert Analysis

  • EDNY Ruling May Limit Some FARA Conspiracy Charges

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    Though the Eastern District of New York’s recent U.S. v. Sun decision upheld Foreign Agents Registration Act charges against a former aide to New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, its recognition of an affirmative legislative policy to exempt some officials may help defendants charged with related conspiracies, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 9th Circ. Has Muddied Waters Of Article III Pleading Standard

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    District courts in the Ninth Circuit continue to apply a defunct and especially forgiving pleading standard to questions of Article III standing, and the circuit court itself has only perpetuated this confusion — making it an attractive forum for disputes that have no rightful place in federal court, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Fla. Workers' Comp Ruling Ups Bar For Emotional Injury Suits

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    A Florida appellate court’s recent opinion in Steak 'N Shake v. Spears requires that employees solely claiming emotional distress seek workers’ compensation before suing their employers, closing a potential loophole and reducing the potential proliferation of such disputes in Florida courts, says Rob Rogers at Kirwin Norris.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Spearin, Overpayments, Jurisdiction

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    Edward Arnold at Seyfarth examines three recent decisions addressing the limits of the Spearin doctrine in design-build contracts, the government's ability to recoup overpayments after a termination for convenience, and the Contract Disputes Act's strict and nonwaivable jurisdictional rules.

  • What Calif. Appeals Split Means For Litigating PAGA Claims

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    After two recent California state appeals court rulings diverged on whether a former employee with untimely individual claims under the Private Attorneys General Act can maintain a representative action, practitioners' strategic agility will be key to managing risk and achieving favorable outcomes in PAGA litigation, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • Series

    Competing In Modern Pentathlon Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Opening myself up to new experiences through competing in modern Olympic pentathlon has shrunk the appearance of my daily work annoyances and helps me improve my patience, manage crises better and remember that acquiring new skills requires working through your early mistakes, says attorney Mary Zoldak.

  • NY Case Shows How LLC Agreements Can Be Amended

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    The New York Court of Appeals in Behler v. Tao recently held that a merger clause contained in an amended limited liability company agreement superseded and extinguished an alleged oral agreement between the parties, highlighting the importance of determining early how and when an LLC agreement may be amended, says Kerrin Klein at Olshan Frome.

  • If Justices Accept, Maxwell Case May Clarify Meaning Of 'US'

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    If the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to take up Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal, it could clarify the meaning of “United States” in the context of plea agreements, and a plain language interpretation of the term would offer criminal defendants fairness and finality, say attorneys at Kudman Trachten.

  • The State Of Play In Copyright Protection For Floor Plans

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    With questions over copyright protections for floor plans potentially teed up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys in the real estate industry should take steps to clarify and strengthen clients' rights and reduce the risk of litigation, says Dylan I. Scher at Quinn Emanuel.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Teaching Yourself Legal Tech

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    New graduates often enter practice unfamiliar with even basic professional software, but budding lawyers can use on-the-job opportunities to both catch up on technological skills and explore the advanced legal and artificial intelligence tools that will open doors, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    Legacy Of 3 Justices Should Guide Transgender Rights Ruling

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    Three Republican-appointed U.S. Supreme Court justices — Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter — gave rise to a jurisprudence of personal liberty that courts today invoke to protect gender-affirming care, and with the court now poised to decide U.S. v. Skrmetti, it must follow the path that they set, says Greg Fosheim at McDermott.

  • How IPR Estoppel Ruling May Clash With PTAB Landscape

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    Though the Federal Circuit's narrowing of inter partes review estoppel in Ingenico v. Ioengine might encourage more petitions, tougher standards for discretionary denial established by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office could be a counterbalancing factor, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Texas Ruling Emphasizes Limits Of Franchisors' Liability

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    The Texas Supreme Court's recent ruling in Massage Heights Franchising v. Hagman, holding that a franchisor was not liable to a customer for the actions of a franchisee's employee, helps clarify the relative roles and responsibilities of the parties in such situations — and the limits of franchisors' duty of care, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • How AI May Reshape The Future Of Adjudication

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    As discussed at a recent panel at Texas A&M, artificial intelligence will not erase the human element of adjudication in the next 10 to 20 years, but it will drive efficiencies that spur private arbiters to experiment, lead public courts to evolve and force attorneys to adapt, says Christopher Seck at Squire Patton.

  • Justices' Charter School Tie Delays Church-State Reckoning

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent deadlock in Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board v. Drummond, blocking the creation of the nation’s first religious charter school, preserved the separation of church and state for now, but offered little reassurance about its continued viability, says Jeffrey Sultanik at Fox Rothschild.

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