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Appellate
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September 29, 2025
First Step Act Isn't All Retroactive, Gov't Tells High Court
The federal government has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to find that Congress never intended certain sentencing reduction provisions within the 2018 First Step Act to be applied retroactively, and to resolve a 6-4 circuit split.
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September 29, 2025
NC County Illegally Spent Occupancy Taxes, Justices Told
A North Carolina county unlawfully spent occupancy tax revenue on general government services instead of tourism-related initiatives, a group of local property owners told the state's high court, urging it to uphold an appeals court ruling.
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September 29, 2025
10th Circ. Backs DOJ's Prosecution Of Okla. Cannabis Atty
The Tenth Circuit has decided that the federal prosecution of an Oklahoma attorney accused of helping clients bypass the state's medical marijuana laws could proceed despite a federal policy that bars the U.S. Department of Justice from using funds to target state legal medical cannabis activity.
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September 29, 2025
Court Affirms Philly Policy Against Minor Traffic Stops
A divided Pennsylvania appeals court upheld a local ordinance and executive order issued by the Philadelphia mayor ordering police in the city not to enforce minor traffic violations, ruling that the orders are not preempted by the state's vehicle code.
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September 29, 2025
Pa. Justices Affirm Duty To Inform Voters Of Tossed Ballots
Pennsylvania county election offices must use the state's voter registration and tracking system to correctly notify mail-in voters if their ballots are rejected for technical reasons, so those voters can exercise their right to cast a replacement ballot, a split state Supreme Court has ruled.
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September 29, 2025
Tribal Members Push For Say In Supreme Court Tariff Review
Members of the Blackfeet Nation tribe told the U.S. Supreme Court Monday their inclusion in the justices' review of suits challenging the legality of President Donald Trump's emergency tariffs is crucial to protect Native American rights under federal law.
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September 29, 2025
3rd Circ. Denies Pilots' Bid To Revive Military Leave Class
The Third Circuit will not review a Pennsylvania federal judge's order decertifying a class of American Airlines pilots who claim they were denied pay and profit-sharing benefits during their time off on military leave, the court announced Monday.
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September 29, 2025
11th Circ. Backs Somatics' Win In Man's Brain Damage Suit
The Eleventh Circuit on Monday sided with Somatics LLC in a suit from a man who alleged that he suffered brain damage from treatments using one of its electroshock therapy devices, finding that the trial court was within its discretion when it dismissed and consolidated some of his claims for trial.
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September 29, 2025
Mass. Appellate Court Revives Hospital Worker's Vaccine Suit
A former surgical technician at UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital who was fired after her request for a religious exemption from a mandatory coronavirus vaccination policy was deemed to be based on "demonstrably false" information will get another chance to prove her discrimination claim, Massachusetts' intermediate-level appeals court ruled Monday.
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September 29, 2025
Immigration Board Reaffirms Social Group Limits For Asylum
The Board of Immigration Appeals issued a new decision reaffirming earlier limits on perceived social groups, ruling that such asylum claims can only succeed when the underlying group is legally recognized on its own.
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September 29, 2025
Fed. Courts To Operate If Shutdown Hits, But Limits Are Possible
If the government shuts down, the federal courts will operate as usual through Friday — after which judicial activities could be limited, depending on the availability of funds.
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September 29, 2025
Idaho Pushes Back On Effort To Moot Trans Athlete Ban Case
The state of Idaho is pushing back at a plaintiff's bid to stop the U.S. Supreme Court from hearing a case that challenges a state law banning transgender athletes, arguing that the athlete cannot toss a suit that is stayed or "manipulate" the docket to avoid an unfavorable decision.
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September 29, 2025
Fed. Circ. Backs Lyft Win In PTAB Car ID Patent Challenge
The Federal Circuit on Monday refused to revive claims across five vehicle identification system patents, affirming Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that rideshare giant Lyft was able to show that the claims were invalid.
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September 29, 2025
Penn Law Professor Takes Bias Suit Loss To 3rd Circ.
Suspended University of Pennsylvania law professor Amy Wax is appealing the dismissal of her federal discrimination lawsuit accusing the school of disciplining her based on her race.
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September 29, 2025
Posner Says 'Abusive' Pro Se Filings Warrant Harsh Sanctions
Retired U.S. Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner has asked the Seventh Circuit to end a pro se plaintiff's attempt to revive a $170,000 wage suit, while also seeking stiff sanctions for what he called decades of "abusive litigation."
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September 29, 2025
Verizon Resolves Wi-Fi Calling Patent Fight
Verizon has reached an agreement with VoIP-Pal.com Inc. to end patent infringement litigation over its free Wi-Fi calling service that was at one point seeking over $5 billion in damages.
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September 29, 2025
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
A Delaware vice chancellor expressed disappointment and concern over what she says is a "breakdown" in "civility and respect" that has emerged in recent Delaware corporate litigation. A $30 million settlement was approved in the five-year running Match.com reverse spinoff suit, and the top brass of Estée Lauder were hit with a derivative suit for allegedly covering up the company's reliance on prohibited, duty-free "gray market" sales of its products in China.
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September 29, 2025
Yale Unit Will Pay $45M To End Failed Hospitals Sale Dispute
Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. has agreed to pay $45 million to hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings Inc. to conclude their legal dispute over a failed $435 million sale of three Connecticut hospitals, according to a motion filed in Texas bankruptcy court.
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September 28, 2025
Trump Asks Justices To Rule On Birthright Order's Legality
President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the legality of his executive order denying citizenship to American-born babies of unauthorized immigrants, after lower courts ruled the order is likely unconstitutional and barred it across the country.
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September 26, 2025
No Immunity For Schools In Abuse Cases, NJ Justices Hear
Counsel for sex abuse victims urged the New Jersey Supreme Court on Friday to find that a 2019 law removes immunity for public entities sued over the actions of staffers, saying during an oral argument that a lower appeals court misinterpreted the statute.
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September 26, 2025
Meta Set To Appeal Flo Privacy Verdict As Users Seek Billions
Meta is gearing up to appeal a California federal jury verdict that found it liable for using a data analytics tool to illegally retrieve sensitive health data from users of the popular menstrual tracking app Flo, the company disclosed in a posttrial filing in which the plaintiffs separately asked the court to award statutory damages that could reach the billions.
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September 26, 2025
Exxon Beats BP's Defense Claims In Brooklyn Oil Spill Row
Exxon Mobil Corp. wasn't required to defend BP Products North America against lawsuits resulting from a Brooklyn oil spill nearly 50 years ago — or pay its multimillion-dollar legal tab — the Second Circuit ruled Friday, saying that an Illinois "complete defense" rule applicable to insurers doesn't cover indemnification deals between non-insurers.
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September 26, 2025
Trump Says Cook Can't Rely On 'Mantra' Of Fed Independence
The Trump administration Friday fired back at Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook's argument that the Fed's independence is at stake if the president is allowed to fire her, arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court that Cook invokes "the mantra of Federal Reserve independence" to impose removal protections Congress never enacted.
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September 26, 2025
Full Fed. Circ. Told There's Mixed Transfer Law In Patent Case
Software company VirtaMove Corp. is doubling down on efforts to keep its patent infringement suits against Amazon and Google in the Western District of Texas, telling the full Federal Circuit that a panel strayed from Fifth Circuit precedent by declining to disturb the suits' transfer to California.
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September 26, 2025
BIA Releases More Precedential Immigration Decisions
The Board of Immigration Appeals has released two more decisions designated as precedential, adding to the Trump administration's growing tally of opinions that are binding upon the board.
Expert Analysis
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Associates Can Earn Credibility By Investing In Relationships
As the class of 2025 prepares to join law firms this fall, new associates must adapt to office dynamics and establish credible reputations — which require quiet, consistent relationship-building skills as much as legal acumen, says Kyle Forges at Bast Amron.
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How 6th Circ. Ruling Deepens Split On Broker Liability
A growing divide in Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act jurisprudence is ripe for U.S. Supreme Court review, after the Sixth Circuit last month found in Cox v. Total Quality Logistics that brokers can be held liable for negligent hiring, says Gregory Reed at Hanson Bridgett.
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Trending At The PTAB: IPR Memo And Its Fed. Circ. Backdrop
There are new rules for when and how evidence other than patents or printed publications can be considered in inter partes reviews, and while this change is intended to reflect current Federal Circuit precedent, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's memo seems to acknowledge tension with last month's Shockwave decision, say attorneys at Finnegan.
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Calif. Arbitration Fee Ruling Gives Employers Slight Leeway
The California Supreme Court's decision in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County offers a narrow lifeline that protects employers from losing arbitration rights over inadvertent fee payment delays, but auditing arbitration agreements and implementing payment tracking protocols can ensure that deadlines are always met, say attorneys at Buchalter.
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Ruling Offers Insurers A Path To Settle Sans Insured Consent
A recent North Carolina federal court ruling, Martin Marietta Materials v. Ace, joins other states in holding that an insurer may consider its own interests in settlement negotiations, outlining a strong strategy for insurers faced with an uncooperative insured and the threat of a large verdict, say attorneys at Phelps Dunbar.
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Lessons From 7th Circ.'s Deleted Chat Sanctions Ruling
The Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in Pable v. Chicago Transit Authority, affirming the dismissal of an ex-employee’s retaliation claims, highlights the importance of properly handling the preservation of ephemeral messages and clarifies key sanctions issues, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.
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Adapting To USPTO's Tighter Inter Partes Review Rules
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent pivot regarding how it will address general knowledge in inter partes review petitions presents immediate strategic implications for petitioners, patent owners and litigants watching the contours of Patent Trial and Appeal Board practice, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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Series
Quilting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Turning intricate patterns of fabric and thread into quilts has taught me that craftsmanship, creative problem-solving and dedication to incremental progress are essential to creating something lasting that will help another person — just like in law, says Veronica McMillan at Kramon & Graham.
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3rd Circ. FMLA Suit Revival Offers Notice Rule Lessons
In Walker v. SEPTA, the Third Circuit reinstated a former Philadelphia bus driver's Family and Medical Leave Act lawsuit, finding the notice standard is not particularly onerous, which underscores employers' responsibilities to recognize and document leave requests, and to avoid penalizing workers for protected absences, say Fiona Ong and Leah Shepherd at Ogletree.
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Utility Agency Suits May Rise As Calif. Justices Nix Deference
A recent California Supreme Court ruling rejecting the uniquely deferential standard of review accorded to California Public Utilities Commission decisions interpreting the Public Utilities Code will incentivize more litigation against the agency, as long as litigants can show their challenges meet certain requirements, says Thaila Sundaresan at Davis Wright.
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2 Appellate Rulings Offer Clickwrap Enforcement Road Map
Two recent decisions from the Fourth and Eleventh Circuits in cases involving Experian signal that federal appellate courts are recognizing clickwrap agreements' power in spite of their simplicity, and offer practical advice on how companies can sufficiently demonstrate notice and assent when attempting to enforce contractual terms, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.
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Fleeing Or Just Leaving Quickly? 2nd Circ. Says It Depends
The Second Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Bardakova decision adopted a new approach for determining whether a defendant who commits a crime in the U.S., and then leaves and remains abroad, intends to avoid prosecution — making it more difficult to argue against the fugitive disentitlement doctrine in most cases, say attorneys at MoloLamken.
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What 2 Profs Noticed As Transactional Law Students Used AI
After a semester using generative artificial intelligence tools with students in an entrepreneurship law clinic, we came away with numerous observations about the opportunities and challenges such tools present to new transactional lawyers, say professors at Cornell Law School.
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What Patent Claim 'Invalidity' Means In Different Forums
A recent Federal Circuit order allowing a patent suit to proceed despite similar claims being invalidated in an inter partes review underscores how fractured the patent litigation landscape has become, leading to critical nuances in how district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission and Patent Trial and Appeal Board treat invalidity, says Jason Hoffman at BakerHostetler.
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Reel Justice: 'Eddington' Spotlights Social Media Evidence
In the neo-Western black comedy “Eddington” released last month, social media is a character unto itself, highlighting how the boundaries between digital and real-world conduct can become blurred, thereby posing evidentiary challenges in criminal prosecutions, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University School of Law.