ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ

Appellate

  • May 21, 2025

    NRA Asks Justices To End Fla.'s Age Limit On Gun Sales

    The National Rifle Association is taking its fight against Florida's prohibition on gun sales to anyone under 21 up to the U.S. Supreme Court, telling the justices that a circuit split makes the Eleventh Circuit's March decision upholding the ban ripe for review.

  • May 21, 2025

    DOGE Seeks High Court's Help In Ducking FOIA Discovery

    The Department of Government Efficiency asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to halt discovery into whether it's an agency subject to Freedom of Information Act requests, arguing a Washington, D.C., federal judge has improperly authorized a "fishing expedition" into the internal workings of a presidential advisory entity.

  • May 21, 2025

    Clerk Shouldn't Have Deemed Injury Suit Late, Pa. Court Rules

    The Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled in a precedential opinion that a county prothonotary clerk did not have the authority to reject an injury lawsuit against a resort as lacking the proper signatures or as untimely after the filing sat in the courthouse for five days, with the appellate court reviving the case for further proceedings.

  • May 21, 2025

    NC Panel Sides With County In Builder's Service Fee Spat

    North Carolina's intermediate appeals court on Wednesday backed a county's interpretation of an ordinance allowing it to collect water service fees from a homebuilder, reasoning that the builder's residential neighborhood is a "new development" subject to the law.

  • May 21, 2025

    11th Circ. Lets Man Seek Rare Writ To Fight $21M Restitution

    A former payroll director serving time for defrauding hospitals in an employment tax scheme can challenge his $21 million restitution by pursuing a rare legal remedy, the Eleventh Circuit ruled, saying the fact that he's in custody doesn't make him ineligible to apply.

  • May 21, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Rules 'Vetements' Generic, Bars Clothing TM

    The Federal Circuit affirmed the denial of trademark registrations for "Vetements" for clothes, saying in a precedential opinion Wednesday that because the word means clothing in French, the applied-for marks are generic and therefore can't be registered.

  • May 21, 2025

    Democracy Forward Adds Another Ex-DOJ Hand

    Legal advocacy group Democracy Forward has added a former deputy associate U.S. attorney general and co-chair of the Supreme Court and appellate practice at WilmerHale to its ranks of former U.S. Department of Justice litigators.

  • May 21, 2025

    Fla. Atty Says NC Bar Has No Power To Discipline Him

    A Florida attorney facing claims he filed a baseless suit to collect attorney fees for his former firm from a pair of intellectually disabled brothers whom his ex-partner defrauded told the North Carolina state appeals court that the state bar has no jurisdiction to bring an enforcement action against him.

  • May 20, 2025

    'Not A Denny's': 5th Circ. Judge Chides High Court Stopwatch

    The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday expedited a case brought by Venezuelans who are accused of being gang members and who are challenging the use of a 1798 wartime law to deport them to an El Salvador prison, with one judge chastising the U.S. Supreme Court's majority for allowing the appeal to move forward.

  • May 20, 2025

    Subpoena For Alleged Trans Care Must Stand, Texas Says

    A Texas appeals court on Tuesday pressed the state to explain why the principle of sovereign immunity should stop patients who potentially received gender affirming care from trying to block a subpoena, saying during oral arguments a challenge to a subpoena seems to fall outside sovereign immunity.

  • May 20, 2025

    Barclays Officials Beat Shareholder's Suit At NY High Court

    New York's highest court on Tuesday rejected arguments that current and former officials of London-based Barclays PLC can be sued under New York law over a series of scandals that have rocked the bank, a decision that sparked rebuke from the court's chief judge.

  • May 20, 2025

    Split 5th Circ. Clears Ex-Texas Tech Dean In Free Speech Suit

    A split Fifth Circuit panel ruled Tuesday that the qualified immunity doctrine shields a former Texas Tech University business school dean from First Amendment claims brought by a professor who alleged he was retaliated against for his anti-tenure views, while a dissenting judge criticized the majority for their truncated qualified-immunity analysis.

  • May 20, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Suit Over Copter Pilot's Death Must Go To Jury

    The Fourth Circuit has reinstated a lawsuit by the widow of a crop-dusting pilot who crashed after his helicopter became tangled in a steel cable stretched over the property, ruling in a published opinion issued Monday that a jury must be the one to decide whether the landlord should have known that the wire posed a danger to the pilot.

  • May 20, 2025

    DC Circ. Won't Revive Okla. Tribe's Creek Land Dispute

    The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the dismissal of an Oklahoma tribe's challenge to a decision that rejected its proposed liquor ordinance in a dispute over shared jurisdiction with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, agreeing with the district court that the complaint failed to identify a valid cause of action that entitles relief.

  • May 20, 2025

    Dem Lawmakers Reintroduce Supreme Court Ethics Bill

    Two Democratic lawmakers on Tuesday reintroduced bills in the House and Senate that would require the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt a binding ethics code and create new recusal and disclosure standards for the nine justices.

  • May 20, 2025

    UPS Can't Escape $75M Crash Award To Brain-Damaged Baby

    A Missouri appellate panel on Tuesday affirmed a jury's $65 million verdict plus about $10 million in interest in a suit accusing United Parcel Service of negligently causing a car crash resulting in a baby's brain damage, saying evidence regarding the driver's history of drug abuse was properly allowed.

  • May 20, 2025

    Full 11th Circ. Asked To Review Case Of Fla. Lodge Shooting

    A Virginia insurer petitioned for a full Eleventh Circuit panel hearing to review a three-judge opinion holding that a jury should decide whether it was in bad faith to not settle a case of a woman who was killed in a Florida lodge shooting, saying the ruling could make insurance more expensive.

  • May 20, 2025

    Assessing The Design Patent Impact Of LKQ, One Year Later

    It's been one year since the full Federal Circuit's LKQ v. GM decision threw out longstanding tests for determining if design patents are invalid as obvious, and attorneys say it's too soon to tell if the ruling will change invalidity results, but it has reshaped legal strategies.

  • May 20, 2025

    Ga. Panel Says Affidavit Won't Sink Couple's Surgery Suit

    The Georgia Court of Appeals rejected Southern Regional Medical Center and one of its nurses' arguments that a trial court should have tossed a married couple's lawsuit over injuries stemming from a hysterectomy over their failure to attach a required affidavit to their complaint.

  • May 20, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't Revive Md. Retirees' Drug Benefits Case

    The Fourth Circuit backed Maryland's defeat of a proposed class action alleging it broke promises made to retirees when it transitioned their prescription drug benefits to Medicare Part D, saying Tuesday that a lower court was right to toss the case.

  • May 20, 2025

    Wash. Panel Affirms Toss Of Vrbo Host's Rental Coverage Row

    Washington appellate judges refused to revive a Vrbo host's suit against a Liberty Mutual unit and a company that arranged a policyholder's temporary housing while her home was being repaired, saying the companies did not breach a nonexistent contract with the host by ceasing to pay the policyholder's rent.

  • May 20, 2025

    The Alien Enemies Act Cases: A Roundup

    Litigation over President Donald Trump’s March 14 proclamation invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act has moved at breakneck speed, spurring two U.S. Supreme Court decisions already while at least five different districts weigh his authority to invoke the wartime law. Here, Law360 catches you up on major developments in the litigation.

  • May 20, 2025

    9th Circ. Says Dad Didn't Show Sons' Hardships If Deported

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday rejected a Mexican father's bid for deportation relief based on extreme hardships he claimed his sons would face if they accompanied him to Mexico, saying in a published opinion that substantial evidence suggested otherwise.

  • May 20, 2025

    Texas A&M Says Prof's Pregnancy Leave Wasn't Under FMLA

    Texas A&M University told a state appellate court that it should be freed from a lawsuit brought by a professor who was denied tenure because she technically never took family medical leave as she claimed.

  • May 20, 2025

    2nd Circ. Affirms Dismissal Of Lab's Payment Suit Against Cigna

    The Second Circuit on Tuesday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that a New Jersey-based diagnostics laboratory brought to seek payments from Cigna Health & Life Insurance Co., holding that the lab's "failure to allege contract formation" defeated many of its claims and it has no standing under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

Expert Analysis

  • Patent Drafting Pointers From Fed. Circ. COVID Test Ruling

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in DNA Genotek v. Spectrum Solutions provides several best practice pointers for drafting and prosecuting patent applications, highlighting how nuances in wording can potentially limit the scope of claims or otherwise affect claim constructions, says Irah Donner at Manatt.

  • Series

    Baseball Fantasy Camp Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    With six baseball fantasy experiences under my belt, I've learned time and again that I didn't make the wrong career choice, but I've also learned that baseball lessons are life lessons, and I'm a better lawyer for my time at St. Louis Cardinals fantasy camp, says Scott Felder at Wiley.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From Fed. Prosecutor To BigLaw

    Author Photo

    Making the jump from government to private practice is no small feat, but, based on my experience transitioning to a business-driven environment after 15 years as an assistant U.S. attorney, it can be incredibly rewarding and help you become a more versatile lawyer, says Michael Beckwith at Dickinson Wright.

  • How Justices Rule On Straight Bias May Shift Worker Suits

    Author Photo

    Following oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, in which a heterosexual woman sued her employer for sexual orientation discrimination, the forthcoming decision may create a perfect storm for employers amid recent attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • How Del. Supreme Court, Legislature Have Clarified 'Control'

    Author Photo

    The Delaware Supreme Court's January decision in In re: Oracle and the General Assembly's passage of amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law this week, when taken together, help make the controlling-stockholder analysis clearer and more predictable for companies with large stockholders, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Service By Token Is Transforming Crypto Litigation Landscape

    Author Photo

    As the Trump administration advocates a new course of cryptocurrency regulation, courts in the U.S. and abroad are authorizing innovative methods of process service, including via nonfungible tokens and blockchain messaging, offering practical solutions for litigators grappling with the anonymity of cyber defendants, says Jose Ceide at Salazar Law.

  • Fed. Circ. In Feb.: Lessons On Cases With Many Patent Claims

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's decision in Kroy IP v. Groupon last month establishes that inter partes review petitioners cannot rely on collateral estoppel to invalidate patent claims after challenging a smaller subset, highlighting the benefit that patent owners may gain from seeking patents with many claims, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • PG&E Win Boosts Employers' Defamation Defense

    Author Photo

    A California appeals court's recent Hearn v. PG&E ruling, reversing a $2 million verdict against PG&E related to an ex-employee’s retaliation claims, provides employers with a stronger defense against defamation claims tied to termination, but also highlights the need for fairness and diligence in internal investigations and communications, say attorneys at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Justices' False Statement Ruling Curbs Half-Truth Liability

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Thompson v. U.S. decision clarified that a federal statute used to prosecute false statements made to bank regulators only criminalizes outright falsehoods, narrowing prosecutors’ reach and providing defense counsel a stronger basis to challenge indictments of merely misleading statements, says Tamara de Silva at De Silva Law Offices.

  • Jurisdiction Argument In USAID Dissent Is Up For Debate

    Author Photo

    A dissent refuting the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent order directing the U.S. Agency for International Development to pay $2 billion in frozen foreign aid argued that claims relating to already-completed government contract work belong in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims – answering an important question, but with a debatable conclusion, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • Firms Still Have Lateral Market Advantage, But Risks Persist

    Author Photo

    Partner and associate mobility data from the fourth quarter of 2024 shows that we’re in a new, stable era of lateral hiring where firms have the edge, but leaders should proceed cautiously, looking beyond expected revenue and compensation analyses for potential risks, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Opinion

    We Must Allow Judges To Use Their Independent Judgment

    Author Photo

    As two recent cases show, the ability of judges to access their independent judgment crucially enables courts to exercise the discretion needed to reach the right outcome based on the unique facts within the law, says John Siffert at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: March Lessons

    Author Photo

    In this month's review of class actions appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses three federal appellate court decisions and identifies practice tips from cases involving antitrust allegations against coupon processing services, consumer fraud and class action settlements.

  • High Court Water Permit Ruling Lacks Specificity

    Author Photo

    The enforcement impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in San Francisco v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may not be significant, because while the ruling makes clear that certain water permit provisions must instruct permittees on how to achieve stated goals, it doesn’t clarify the level of necessary instruction, says Daniel Deeb at ArentFox Schiff.

  • The Central Issues Facing Fed. Circ. In Patent Damages Case

    Author Photo

    The en banc Federal Circuit's pending review of EcoFactor v. Google could reshape how expert damages opinions are argued, and could have ripple effects that limit jury awards, say attorneys at McAndrews Held.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Appellate archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!