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Appellate

  • July 25, 2025

    Social Media Cos. Score Toss Of 2022 Mass Shooting Suit

    A divided New York state appeals court on Friday dismissed a lawsuit that sought to hold Meta, Google and other social media companies liable for a fatal 2022 mass shooting that targeted Black people in Buffalo, New York, saying federal law shielded the companies from liability for the shooter's acts.

  • July 25, 2025

    ​In New Twist, W.Va. Judges Suddenly At Odds In Opioid Suits

    A new ruling in West Virginia opioid crisis litigation is revealing sharp divisions among the Mountain State's federal judges regarding a pivotal legal theory, potentially boosting a Fourth Circuit appeal by beleaguered municipalities aiming to erase a landmark win for drug distributors.

  • July 25, 2025

    6th Circ. Upholds Rape Charge, Says Defense Was Reasonable

    The Sixth Circuit has ordered a lower court to deny the habeas petition from a man who was convicted of raping a woman at a party, finding that, because his attorney was reasonable in defending the man, he cannot request that his sentence be tossed.

  • July 25, 2025

    11th Circ. Says Court Can't Nix Discovery Evidence In FCA Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday revived a whistleblower lawsuit that said moving companies conspired to defraud the U.S. General Services Administration, saying a lower court can't dismiss an amended complaint while ignoring information obtained through discovery.

  • July 25, 2025

    OpenAI Urges 9th Circ. To Ax Injunction In Trademark Dispute

    OpenAI has asked the Ninth Circuit to vacate an injunction temporarily blocking it from using the trademark associated with acquired competitor IO Products Inc., slamming the litigation as a "transparent attempt to exploit the recent merger announcement."

  • July 25, 2025

    4th Circ. Revives Kraft Heinz Suit Over Safety Complaints

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday overturned a win for Kraft Heinz Inc. in a suit by a former worker at a meatpacking plant who alleged that he'd been fired for reporting safety issues, saying the district court wrongly concluded that a separate disciplinary investigation was the sole reason he was terminated.

  • July 25, 2025

    DC Circ. Pauses Order Reinstating 2 NCUA Members

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday intervened and granted the Trump administration's request to pause a Washington federal judge's order reinstating two National Credit Union Administration board members fired by President Donald Trump, after the federal judge declined to pause the order himself.

  • July 25, 2025

    Kalshi Tells 3rd Circ. Fed Law Bars NJ From Restricting Its Biz

    Sports betting company Kalshi's so-called prediction market that allows users to wager on the outcome of real-world events counts as a federal derivative exchange and, as a result, can't be regulated by state enforcers, the gambling company told the Third Circuit.

  • July 25, 2025

    Texas Justices Leave Atty Fees In UDJA Cases Alone, For Now

    The Texas Supreme Court declined to take up a case dealing with attorney fees in suits where a court defines a legal relationship, but in a Friday opinion one justice wrote that the court will eventually need to address how jurisdiction plays into the issue.

  • July 25, 2025

    Drivers Ask 9th Circ. To Revive Fiat Chrysler Gear Shift Suit

    Chrysler drivers are asking the Ninth Circuit to revive their proposed class action alleging defective gear shifters in Fiat Chrysler vehicles, in a bid to overcome a California federal court's finding that the injury is hypothetical.

  • July 25, 2025

    Sports & Betting Cases To Watch In The Second Half Of 2025

    Certain court cases have become staples on both the midyear and end-of-year must-watch lists in sports and betting at Law360. One that seemed best positioned to finally fall off the list, as it turns out, is far from over: the multibillion-dollar NCAA settlement regarding name, image and likeness payments and revenue sharing with hundreds of thousands of college athletes. A handful of other suits from past years will also continue to bear watching through the end of 2025.

  • July 25, 2025

    9th Circ. Rejects Suit Against Wash. Youth Gender Care Laws

    A Ninth Circuit panel has unanimously declined to revive a challenge to a Washington state law allowing shelters to help runaway teens seek gender-affirming treatment without notifying their parents, ruling on Friday that the plaintiff parents and anti-trans advocacy groups haven't shown actual or imminent harm from the statute.

  • July 25, 2025

    9th Circ.: Gila River Tribe-Farmer Water Fight Not Over

    The Ninth Circuit has ruled a federal judge prematurely sided with the Gila River Indian Community in a water rights dispute, finding future fact-finding is needed before ordering Arizona farmers to shut off wells that allegedly draw water from the river.

  • July 25, 2025

    Helicopter Crash Suit Belongs In New Zealand, Calif. Court Says

    Survivors of a helicopter crash cannot sue the U.S.-based companies that manufactured the aircraft in Los Angeles County, a California appeals court said Thursday, affirming a trial court's finding that it makes more sense for New Zealand courts to handle the case because that's where the crash happened and where the passengers live.

  • July 25, 2025

    11th Circ. Overturns Funding Model For SEC Database

    The Eleventh Circuit sent the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission back to the drawing board on Friday to chart a path forward for its $500 million market surveillance tool, telling the regulator that it was unreasonable to potentially force broker-dealers to fund the entire project.

  • July 25, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Revive Unraised Claims In Immigration Appeal

    The Third Circuit has rejected a Guatemalan mother and son's bid to overturn the Board of Immigration Appeals' denial of asylum and other removal protections, ruling that the board's summary affirmance of the underlying immigration judge's decision can't revive unexhausted claims.

  • July 25, 2025

    Ohio Court Tosses Sentence In Pot Case Over Phone Search

    An Ohio state court abused its discretion when it imposed the maximum possible jail sentence on a man who pled guilty to marijuana charges, a state appellate court has ruled, saying the judge improperly penalized the defendant for refusing to allow police to search his cell phone.

  • July 25, 2025

    Fluoride Fans Tell 9th Circ. To Preserve Drinking Water Use

    A pro-fluoride group is supporting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's fight to overturn a California federal judge's ruling that current limits on the chemical in drinking water aren't protective enough.

  • July 25, 2025

    5th Circ. Backs Life Insurer's Denial Of Disability Benefits

    A life insurance company did not abuse its discretion in discontinuing long-term disability benefits to a former employee of a payroll software provider after a review of updated medical records, the Fifth Circuit said, finding that substantial evidence supported the insurer's decision.

  • July 25, 2025

    4th Circ. Sends Power Plant Labor Row Back To Arbitration

    The Fourth Circuit ruled Friday that Wheeling Power Co.'s attempt to vacate an arbitrator's finding of liability in favor of a coal plant's labor union was premature because the decision wasn't final when Wheeling Power took the issue to court.

  • July 25, 2025

    8th Circ. Lifts Online Ban For Convict With 'Abhorrent' Views

    A Minnesota man sentenced to more than six years in prison after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a machine gun should be allowed online in accordance with his First Amendment rights, though he had used the internet to research mass shootings and terrorist groups, the Eighth Circuit ruled Friday.

  • July 25, 2025

    Appeal Clock Starts After Restitution Determined, Panel Rules

    In a precedential decision Friday, the Pennsylvania Superior Court held that a sentence involving restitution isn't final until the financial penalty is actually set, making that the date when the appellate clock starts ticking.

  • July 25, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Review $3.2M Wawa Breach Fee Award

    The Third Circuit on Thursday won't revisit its prior decision upholding $3.2 million in fees to plaintiffs' counsel in a case that secured a $12 million deal for Wawa shoppers affected by a data breach after attorney Ted Frank argued the fees were disproportionate to the class' recovery.

  • July 25, 2025

    Texas Inmate Seeks To Stop Execution In Shaken Baby Case

    A Texas death row prisoner convicted of killing his 2-year-old daughter under the controversial shaken baby syndrome theory has asked the state's top criminal appeals court to halt his upcoming execution, arguing new evidence discredits the diagnosis, his attorney said Friday.

  • July 25, 2025

    NY Court Sides With Junior Investors In RMBS Trust Dispute

    A New York state court resolved a dispute between bondholders in 34 residential mortgage-backed securities trusts about how to handle repayment of principal amounts deferred during the 2008 financial crisis, siding with junior bondholders after a 17-day bench trial.

Expert Analysis

  • 4th Circ. Favors Plain Meaning In Bump-Up D&O Ruling

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    The Fourth Circuit's latest denial of indemnity coverage in Towers Watson v. National Union Fire Insurance and its previous ruling in this case lay out a pragmatic approach to bump-up provisions that avoids hypertechnical constructions to limit the effect of a policy's plain meaning, say attorneys at Kennedys.

  • A Look At Key 5th Circ. White Collar Rulings So Far This Year

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    In the first half of 2025, the Fifth Circuit has decided numerous cases of particular import to white collar practitioners, which collectively underscore the critical importance of meticulous recordbuilding, procedural compliance and strategic litigation choices at every stage of a case, says Joe Magliolo at Jackson Walker.

  • High Court Cert Spotlights Varying Tests For Federal Removal

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    A recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to review Chevron v. Plaquemines Parish, a case involving the federal officer removal statute, highlights three other recent circuit court decisions raising federal removal questions, and serves as a reminder that defendants are the masters of removal actions, says Varun Aery at Hollingsworth.

  • Rule 23 Class Certification Matters In Settlements, Too

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Trump v. CASA Inc. highlighted requirements for certifying classes for litigation in federal court, but counsel must also understand how Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure may affect certifying classes for settlement purposes, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Privity, Pressure, Procedural Traps

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    Three recent decisions from the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims offer fresh lessons for contractors navigating the procedural edge of Contract Disputes Act litigation, says Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth.

  • Series

    Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.

  • 3rd Circ. Bias Ruling Offers Safety Policy Exception Lessons

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    The Third Circuit's decision in Smith v. City of Atlantic City, partially reinstating a religious bias suit over a policy requiring firefighters to be clean-shaven, cautions employers on the legal risk of including practical or discretionary exceptions in safety procedures, say Joseph Quinn and Mark Schaeffer at Cozen O'Connor.

  • APA Relief May Blunt Justices' Universal Injunction Ruling

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    The Administrative Procedure Act’s avenue for universal preliminary relief seems to hold the most promise for neutralizing the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Trump v. CASA to limit federal district courts' nationally applicable orders, say attorneys at Crowell.

  • Opinion

    Prosecutors' Duty To Justice Sometimes Demands Mea Culpa

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    Two recent cases — U.S. v. Lucas and U.S. v. Echavarria — demonstrate that prosecutors’ special ethical duty to seek justice can sometimes be in tension with other obligations and incentives, but it nonetheless requires them to concede their mistakes in the interests of justice, say Eastern District of Texas law clerk Ian Stephens and Texas A&M University law professor Jemila Lea.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Skillful Persuasion

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    In many ways, law school teaches us how to argue, but when the ultimate goal is to get your client what they want, being persuasive through preparation and humility is the more likely key to success, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • How NY Appeals Ruling Alters Employers' Sex Abuse Liability

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    In Nellenback v. Madison County, the New York Court of Appeals arguably reset the evidentiary threshold in sexual abuse cases involving employer liability, countering lower court decisions that allowed evidence of the length of the undiscovered abuse to substitute as notice of an employee's dangerous propensity, say attorneys at Hurwitz Fine.

  • Fed. Circ. Ingenico Ruling Pivotal For IPR Estoppel Landscape

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Ingenico v. Ioengine brings long-awaited clarity to the scope of inter partes review estoppel, confirming that a patent challenger is not precluded from relying on the same or substantially similar prior art in both IPR and district court proceedings, so long as it is used to support a different invalidity theory, say attorneys at Irwin IP.

  • Litigation Inspiration: How To Respond After A Loss

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    Every litigator loses a case now and then, and the sting of that loss can become a medicine that strengthens or a poison that corrodes, depending on how the attorney responds, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Justices' Resentencing Ruling Fortifies First Step Act Tools

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Hewitt v. U.S. ruling clarifies that resentencing after vacatur must reflect the law in effect at the time of the new sentencing, ultimately strengthening the strategic tools available to defense attorneys under the First Step Act, says Benson Varghese at Varghese Summersett.

  • The Metamorphosis Of The Major Questions Doctrine

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    The so-called major questions doctrine arose as a counterweight to Chevron deference over the past few decades, but invocations of the doctrine have persisted in the year since Chevron was overturned, suggesting it still has a role to play in reining in agency overreach, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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