Appellate

  • November 27, 2024

    Split Ohio High Court Revives Death Suit Against Pa. Doctor

    An Ohio law that pauses the statute of limitations for lawsuits against parties who leave the state does not violate the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution because it neither facially discriminates against out-of-state entities nor has some economic protectionist purpose, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

  • November 27, 2024

    Nonprofit Warns 3rd Circ. Against 'Abuse' In Merck Vax Case

    The anti-monopoly think tank Open Markets Institute urged the full Third Circuit to rethink a panel's immunization of Merck & Co. Inc. from antitrust claims over its mumps vaccine, arguing in an amicus brief that the doctrine cementing the right to petition the government doesn't justify the use of courts and administration as a "competitive weapon."

  • November 27, 2024

    Illinois Top Court Will Decide Fate Of $7B Power Line Permit

    The Illinois Supreme Court has agreed to review a lower court's decision striking state utility regulators' approval to build part of the $7 billion Grain Belt Express high-voltage transmission line.

  • November 27, 2024

    5th Circ. Reverses Treasury's Block Of Crypto Mixer

    The Fifth Circuit has rejected the government's blacklisting of Tornado Cash for "its role in laundering virtual currency for malicious cyber actors," saying the cryptocurrency service's immutable smart contracts, or lines of privacy-enabling software code, are not "property" and are therefore unownable and cannot be blocked under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

  • November 27, 2024

    City Golf Course Exempt From Property Tax, Fla. Justices Say

    A municipal golf course in Florida is exempt from property taxes despite a management agreement with a for-profit company, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, reversing an appeals court decision.

  • November 27, 2024

    6th Circ. Revives Fired State Farm Worker's Retaliation Suit

    The Sixth Circuit reinstated a suit by a Black former State Farm employee claiming her firing resulted from complaining that the company discriminated against nonwhite customers and failed to address racism, saying Wednesday she cast enough doubt on the employer's position that she was canned for mishandling emails.

  • November 27, 2024

    Conn. High Court Snapshot: Bank Regulation, Workers' Comp

    When it convenes for the third term of the season, the Connecticut Supreme Court will hear cases that could affect the scope of the state banking department's authority to determine its own jurisdiction and clarify a workers' compensation benefits law.

  • November 27, 2024

    Up Next At The High Court: Transgender Care, Holocaust Art

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday for its December arguments session, which will include blockbuster questions about the constitutionality of state laws banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors and whether Hungary can be held liable for property stolen during World War II.

  • November 27, 2024

    Fla. Atty Vows To Fight Litigation Funder's Law Firm Stock Win

    A Florida attorney is planning to challenge a state appellate decision issued Wednesday that he must turn over stock interest in his law firms to a litigation finance company to help cover tobacco settlement funds, asserting that the ruling must be vacated in light of a recent Texas appellate decision that invalidated an underlying judgment.

  • November 27, 2024

    Howard Hughes Corp. Beats Hurricane Harvey Flood Suit

    A Texas state appellate court has sided with Howard Hughes Corp. and an engineering company in an appeal brought by homeowners who claimed the companies were liable for property damage caused by Hurricane Harvey in August 2017.

  • November 27, 2024

    Calif. Law Means FERC Must Yank Grid Perk, 9th Circ. Told

    California officials and several municipal utilities have backed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's revocation of a grid incentive for Pacific Gas & Electric Co. for voluntarily belonging to a regional transmission organization, telling the Ninth Circuit that FERC is properly following state law.

  • November 27, 2024

    EPA Mercury Rule Is Fatally Flawed, DC Circ. Told

    Republican-led states and fossil fuel industry groups fired back at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent defense of its rule strengthening standards for mercury and other toxic air emissions at power plants, telling the D.C. Circuit the agency misinterpreted the Clean Air Act's pollution reduction goals.

  • November 27, 2024

    EPA Asks DC Circ. To Keep Emissions Rules In Place

    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is defending its strict new emissions limits for cars, trucks and vans against a legal challenge from red states and industry groups, telling the D.C. Circuit that the Clean Air Act grants federal regulators authority over both gas-powered and electric vehicles.

  • November 27, 2024

    Fla. Judge Suspended For Cursing From Bench

    The Supreme Court of Florida on Wednesday accepted findings by the Judicial Qualifications Commission on the conduct of a Seminole County judge and recommended a 60-day suspension without pay, a public reprimand and continued anger management and stress treatment.

  • November 27, 2024

    Ex-Texas Atty Can't Beat Sanctions For 'Egregious Conduct'

    A disbarred Lone Star State lawyer must pay more than half a million dollars in sanctions for wide-ranging misconduct in his representation of another attorney, who claimed he used their relationships to "control her life," a state appellate panel said Tuesday.

  • November 27, 2024

    Attys, Insurance Broker Seek Appeal In $22M Tax Scheme

    Two attorneys and an insurance agent plan to appeal to the Fourth Circuit their convictions in a criminal case that accused them of participating in a $22 million tax avoidance scheme, according to Wednesday filings in North Carolina federal court.

  • November 27, 2024

    Better, Faster, Stranger: What Attys Think Of Our AI Future

    Law firms are increasingly embracing the use of artificial intelligence, wary of its limitations but enchanted by its potential to transform the practice of law through smaller headcounts and cheaper litigation.

  • November 27, 2024

    Black Priest Harassment Claim Against NY Church Revived

    A Black, Nigerian Catholic priest's suit claiming the diocese failed to act and then fired him when he complained that a colleague called him a racial slur was revived by New York's highest court, ruling his case was improperly foreclosed by a religious carveout to the First Amendment.

  • November 27, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Rethink Revival Of Swimmers' Antitrust Suit

    The Ninth Circuit has refused to reconsider a decision reinstating a pair of lawsuits brought by a trio of swimmers and the International Swimming League claiming a boycott by swimming's international governing body violated antitrust law.

  • November 27, 2024

    4th Circ. Rejects Asylum Bid By Son Of Ex-Guinean Politician

    The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday rejected a petition to halt the removal of the son of a former prominent political figure in the Republic of Guinea, ruling the Board of Immigration Appeals was right in finding he failed to prove a likelihood of torture if he returned to his home country.

  • November 27, 2024

    3 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In Dec.

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear the federal government's constitutional challenge to Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, the Ninth Circuit will weigh if Idaho can ban abortions even in emergencies, and the D.C. Circuit will wade into a pension withdrawal liability fight. Here are three argument sessions benefits attorneys should keep an eye on in December.

  • November 27, 2024

    How Trump's Ga. Allies Could Walk Back Their Guilty Pleas

    If any of President-elect Donald Trump's four co-defendants who secured early plea deals in the Georgia election meddling prosecution regret their decisions now that scandal has engulfed the case and Trump is returning to the White House, they might have some long shot options left on the table.

  • November 27, 2024

    High Court Bar's Future: Deputy Solicitor General Brian Fletcher

    Principal Deputy U.S. Solicitor General Brian H. Fletcher is the legal equivalent of the coveted five-tool baseball player, who uses his unique intellect to dissect complex issues, quickly develop theories and arguments and level with skeptical U.S. Supreme Court justices, former colleagues and court watchers say.

  • November 26, 2024

    Fla. Bar Alleges Atty Delayed Trial Over His Broken Tooth

    The Florida Bar has launched a complaint against a criminal attorney in the Florida Supreme Court, accusing him of violating state bar rules by refusing to proceed with a jury trial because he had a broken tooth.

  • November 26, 2024

    Prosecutors Want Full Karen Read Media Interviews

    Massachusetts prosecutors set to retry Karen Read over the death of her police officer boyfriend asked a judge Tuesday to order the handover of a Boston Magazine reporter's full records of interviews with Read, calling them "some of the most crucial, damning evidence in this case."

Expert Analysis

  • Nvidia Supreme Court Case May Not Make Big Splash

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    The skeptical tenor of the justices' questioning at oral argument in Nvidia v. Ohman Fonder suggests that the case is unlikely to alter the motion to dismiss pleading standard in securities class actions, as some had feared, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.

  • Purse-Case Scenarios: 'MetaBirkin' Appeal Tests TM Rights

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    A federal court's finding that "MetaBirkin" nonfungible tokens infringed on Hermes' iconic Birkin bag imagery is now on appeal in the Second Circuit, and the order will have a lasting effect on how courts balance trademark rights and the First Amendment, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

  • 6th Circ. Ruling Prevents Disability Insurer Overreach

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    The Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in McEachin v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance offers disability insurance claimants guidance on how they might challenge misapplications of policy limitations for mental illness when a medical condition accounts for their disability, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Unclear Criteria, Data Rights, Conflicts

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    Liam Bowers at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims examining the use of unstated evaluation criteria, an agency's investigation of its own data rights and unequal access to information about an organizational conflict of interest.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • Foreclosing Lenders Still Floating In Murky Legal Waters In NY

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    The New York foreclosure landscape remains in disarray after the state's highest court last month declined to weigh in on whether legal changes from 2022 that severely curtailed lenders' ability to bring successive foreclosure cases were retroactive, says Brian Rich at Barclay Damon.

  • In Terror Case, DC Circ. Must Weigh Justices' Twitter Ruling

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    When the D.C. Circuit hears oral argument in AstraZeneca UK v. Atchley, how the court interprets the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling in Twitter v. Taamneh will have a significant impact on future claims brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act and Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, say attorneys at Lewis Baach.

  • Series

    Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • 3 Policyholder Lessons From NY Bad Faith Ruling

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    A New York appellate court's recent decision finding that Rockefeller University alleged viable bad faith claims against its insurers reinforces the principle that insurers may not elevate their own economic interests over those of their insureds, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • In SF Water Case, Justices Signal How Loper May Be Applied

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    Skeptical questions from U.S. Supreme Court justices during oral argument in San Francisco v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency offer hints of how the court intends to apply limits on agency regulatory autonomy established last term in Loper Bright, says Karen Cullinane at Goldberg Segalla.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: November Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses six federal court decisions that touch on Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and when individual inquiries are needed to prove economic loss.

  • Notable Q3 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    Total loss valuation cases and labor depreciation cases dominated the past quarter of insurance class actions, with courts continuing to reject challenges to condition adjustments in the former, and a pro-insured trend persisting in the latter, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

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