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Appellate
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January 31, 2025
Seasoned Patterson Belknap Trial Team Joins Linklaters In NY
Linklaters LLP announced Friday it has brought aboard a high-profile team of litigation partners from Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, including one who is the current president of the New York City Bar Association and a lawyer former President Joe Biden had nominated to the Third Circuit.
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January 31, 2025
6th Circ. Affirms Pot Biz Owner's $2.8M Tax Restitution
The owner of a medical marijuana dispensary who was sentenced to prison and ordered to pay $2.8 million in restitution to the IRS after being convicted of tax crimes failed to convince the Sixth Circuit that Congress lacked the power to tax his sales of the drug.
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January 31, 2025
NC Prosecutors Say Evidence Backs Cannabis Conviction
State prosecutors urged a North Carolina appeals court to stand by a man's conviction for possession and intent to distribute cannabis, arguing that even if there was no forensic analysis of the substance he possessed there was plenty of other evidence to conclude it was cannabis rather than legal hemp.
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January 31, 2025
Manufacturer Can't Arbitrate Wage Suit, Calif. Panel Affirms
A California panel upheld an order that refused to send to arbitration an employee's Private Attorneys General Act lawsuit against a power transformer manufacturer, saying the company failed to show sufficient evidence it wasn't technically the worker's employer.
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January 30, 2025
11th Circ. Revives Wage Suit From Biz Owners' Fla. Worker
The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday revived a Florida domestic worker's lawsuit accusing his former employers of refusing to pay him overtime wages, saying in a published opinion that the employers shouldn't have gotten a summary judgment win in light of conflicting evidence concerning the worker's regular hourly rate.
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January 30, 2025
5th Circ. Says 18-Year-Olds Can Buy Handguns
The Fifth Circuit found a law banning Americans under 21 years old from buying handguns was unconstitutional, saying in a Thursday opinion the law doesn't have any kind of historical analogs that would pass a Second Amendment smell test.
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January 30, 2025
Texas Panel Asks If Late Votes Should Decide Judge's Election
A Texas appellate panel asked what it was supposed to do with voters who wrote that they lived outside the county in deciding the last remaining challenge to the county's 2022 election results, saying during oral arguments Thursday that voters' own assertions seemed convincing.
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January 30, 2025
Calif. AG Asks 9th Circ. To Block Meta's MDL Discovery Win
The California attorney general urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to block orders requiring third-party state agencies to respond to Meta Platforms' discovery demands in multidistrict litigation over social media's alleged harms, arguing in a mandamus petition the "clearly erroneous" ruling "runs roughshod" over the state's constitutional divisions of power.
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January 30, 2025
2nd Circ. Voices Unease Over Ex-Iconix CEO's Fraud Retrial
The Second Circuit on Thursday expressed doubt regarding the conviction of Iconix Brand Group founder Neil Cole, who was found guilty of fraudulently booking $11 million of revenue to hit earnings targets, and appeared open to the argument that his retrial violated the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment.
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January 30, 2025
Lower Court Altered Contract Reading, Texas Justices Told
An Energy Transfer subsidiary told the Texas Supreme Court that a lower court upended the way contracts are interpreted in the state when it found no remedy for alleged losses from a soured $1 billion deal with an Exxon Mobil Corp. unit.
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January 30, 2025
2nd Circ. Sees No Skadden Conflict In Pharma Merger Work
The Second Circuit on Thursday declined to revive an investor suit alleging a merger between Sumitomo Pharma America Inc. and Myovant Sciences Ltd. was undervalued because the lawyers from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP who helped negotiate the deal had undisclosed conflicts of interest.
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January 30, 2025
FERC Says Pacific NW Pipeline Approval Was By The Book
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is defending its approval of a controversial TC Energy Corp. pipeline expansion project in the Pacific Northwest, telling the Fifth Circuit it reasonably determined that the project was needed and adequately reviewed its environmental impacts.
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January 30, 2025
Ex-Rabobank Exec Asks Justices To Hear 9th Circ. OCC Fight
A former Rabobank compliance chief who wants to clear her name after a now-abandoned Office of the Comptroller of the Currency enforcement action has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up her case following the Ninth Circuit's dismissal of her appeal for lack of standing.
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January 30, 2025
Hotel Guests Get Backing For Algorithmic Pricing Suit
Hotel guests accusing a group of Atlantic City properties of using shared software to fix room rates are getting a helping hand in their Third Circuit fight to revive their suit from antimonopoly interest groups, who filed in separate amicus briefs in support of their effort this week.
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January 30, 2025
Sheriffs Raise Concern About New FCC Prison Phone Caps
A sheriffs' group brought concerns to the Federal Communications Commission about recently adopted caps on prison phone rates, saying the exclusion of certain cost categories would lead to less access to services for the incarcerated.
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January 30, 2025
DC Circ. Weighs Mootness In DOD's Time-In-Service Appeal
A D.C. Circuit panel on Thursday wrestled with mootness in the federal government's appeal of a ruling that blocked the U.S. Department of Defense from setting service duration requirements for noncitizen soldiers to become citizens, questioning whether the 2021 recission of the policy leaves anything to rule on.
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January 30, 2025
Supreme Court Urged To Clarify Alice, End 1-Line Orders
The owner of a pair of invalidated patents covering medical machinery has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to look at what it called "confusion" stemming from the high court's Alice decision and also at the Federal Circuit's practice of issuing one-line orders.
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January 30, 2025
Wash. Court Rejects Palestinian Patient's Verdict Bias Appeal
A Washington state appeals court said Thursday it would not touch a doctor's win in a medical malpractice trial, rejecting arguments from the Palestinian plaintiff that the jury's verdict was tainted by racial bias, while further clarifying the benchmark for judges to make such a determination.
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January 30, 2025
Biz Groups Back 2nd Circ. Appeal In Morgan Stanley Pay Fight
Business trade groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce wrote in support of Morgan Stanley's Second Circuit appeal in a proposed class action from ex-advisers seeking additional deferred compensation, backing the investment bank's argument that an arbitrator should get to determine if federal benefits law applies to the arrangements.
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January 30, 2025
Colo. Panel Says Atty Errors May Sink Contempt Sanctions
In a precedential ruling Thursday, a Colorado Court of Appeals panel determined that a party facing a contempt sanction may bring a motion to reconsider premised on challenging the effectiveness of their legal representation.
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January 30, 2025
Peruvians Tell High Court Smelter Lawsuit Should Proceed
Peruvian nationals suing U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert's The Renco Group Inc. for allegedly poisoning them with toxic chemicals from a smelting and refining complex in a rural part of the country are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to let their litigation move forward.
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January 30, 2025
1st Circ. Restores Endangered Whale's Cape Cod Protections
The First Circuit on Thursday upheld the National Marine Fisheries Service's decision to seasonally ban some lobster and crab fishing equipment near Cape Cod in order to protect endangered North Atlantic right whales.
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January 30, 2025
Amazon Can't Lob 'Hail Mary' In Price-Gouging Suit, AG Says
Washington's attorney general said Wednesday that Amazon can't dodge a proposed class action alleging price-gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic, telling a federal judge that a pivotal state high court ruling in the case was clear on how Washington law allows the consumers to sue.
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January 30, 2025
Telephone Co. Workers Ask 8th Circ. To Revive 401(k) Fee Suit
Two workers urged the Eighth Circuit to revive their proposed class action claiming a telephone and data company allowed their $1.3 billion 401(k) plan to be overcharged with excessive fees, arguing the lower court held their claims to a high bar unsupported by circuit precedent.
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January 30, 2025
Ky. Clerk Asks 6th Circ. To Ax $100K Marriage License Verdict
A Kentucky clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses to couples in protest of the legalization of same-sex marriage asked the Sixth Circuit on Thursday to toss damages awarded to one couple for emotional distress, citing insufficient evidence and invoking free speech protections.
Expert Analysis
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False Patent Marking Claims Find New Home In Lanham Act
While the Patent Act may have closed the courthouse doors for many false patent marking claims, the Federal Circuit, in its recent decision in Crocs v. Effervescent, may be opening a window to these types of claims under the Lanham Act, says John Cordani at Robinson & Cole.
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3rd. Circ. Ruling Shows Employers Where To Put ADA Focus
A recent Third Circuit decision in Morgan v. Allison Crane & Rigging, confirming that the Americans with Disabilities Act protects some temporarily impaired employees, reminds employers to pursue compliance through uniform policies that head off discriminatory decisions, not after-the-fact debates over an individual's disability status, says Joseph McGuire at Freeman Mathis.
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Nvidia Case's Potential Impact On Securities Class Actions
In Nvidia v. Ohman Fonder, the U.S. Supreme Court could strip lower courts of their long-standing ability and obligation to holistically weigh all relevant facts supporting plaintiffs' allegations of securities fraud, which would have a wide-ranging impact on securities fraud class actions in the U.S., say attorneys at Labaton Keller.
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Justices Face Tough Question On HHS Hospital Pay Formula
In Advocate Christ Medical Center v. Becerra, the U.S. Supreme Court will determine whether the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services properly applied certain Medicare reimbursement adjustments to hospitals — a decision that could significantly affect hospitals' ability to seek higher Medicare reimbursement for low-income patients, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment
Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.
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Where Can Privacy Plaintiffs Sue When Injury Is Online?
Website owners need to understand wiretapping laws to understand whether they may be sued for activity tracking in California or Pennsylvania courts, where the statutory damages for violations of half-century-old laws can be substantial — and a recent Third Circuit decision suggests establishing specific jurisdiction is not as easy as 1-2-3, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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Short-Seller Implications Of 10th Circ.'s Overstock Decision
The Tenth Circuit's Oct. 15 decision in Overstock Securities Litigation provides clarity on the pleading standard for a market manipulation claim under the Exchange Act, and suggests that short sellers might not be able to rely on the fraud-on-the-market presumption typically invoked by securities plaintiffs, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.
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Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In September
Cases that were reversed or vacated by the Federal Circuit last month provide helpful clarity on collateral estoppel, patent eligibility, construction of claim terms that have different boundaries across different claims, and the role of courts as neutral arbiter, say attorneys at Bunsow De Mory.
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11th Circ. Ruling Offers Refresher On 'Sex-Plus' Bias Claims
While the Eleventh Circuit’s recent ruling in McCreight v. AuburnBank dismissed former employees’ sex-plus-age discrimination claims, the opinion reminds employers to ensure that workplace policies and practices do not treat a subgroup of employees of one sex differently than the same subgroup of another sex, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.
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Ex-Chicago Politician's Case May Further Curb Fraud Theories
The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear Thompson v. U.S. to determine whether a statement that is misleading but not false still violates federal law, potentially heralding the court’s largest check yet on prosecutors’ expansive fraud theories, with significant implications for sentencing, say attorneys at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.
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Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity
Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.
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High Stakes In Justices' Review Of Clean Air Act Venue Fights
Disputes over the Clean Air Act's venue provision may seem arcane, but a forthcoming U.S. Supreme Court decision encompassing three cases will affect core principles of the separation of powers and constitutional due process in ways that could have significant consequences for the regulated community, say J. Michael Showalter and David Loring at ArentFox Schiff.
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Testing The Waters As New Texas Biz Court Ends 2nd Month
Despite an uptick in filings in the Texas Business Court's initial months of operation, the docket remains fairly light amid an apparent wait-and-see approach from some potential litigants, say attorneys at Norton Rose.
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Employer Lessons From Mass. 'Bonus Not Wages' Ruling
In Nunez v. Syncsort, a Massachusetts state appeals court recently held that a terminated employee’s retention bonus did not count as wages under the state’s Wage Act, illustrating the nuanced ways “wages” are defined by state statutes and courts, say attorneys at Segal McCambridge.
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Opinion
Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules
The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.