Appellate

  • December 10, 2024

    Kid Climate Activists Ask Justices To Save Twice-Nixed Case

    Youth plaintiffs have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revive their climate change lawsuit against the federal government but said the court should decide a key death penalty case first that involves a similar constitutional question.

  • December 10, 2024

    Great-Grandson Brings Nazi-Looted Art Case Back To Justices

    A California man who has been trying for nearly two decades to get a Spanish museum to return a painting that the Nazis stole from his great-grandmother is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene for a second time after the Ninth Circuit again denied his request.

  • December 10, 2024

    Venezuela Oil Cos. Say $23M Suit Wasn't Properly Served

    Two Venezuelan oil companies urged the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to undo a $23 million judgment for a Florida-based chemical distributor, arguing neither company was properly served the summons and complaint.

  • December 10, 2024

    Ohio Justices Undo Paint-Maker's Lead Paint Coverage Win

    Insurers for Sherwin-Williams Co. don't have to cover the paint-maker's portion of a $305 million settlement to abate lead paint in California homes, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, finding the payment does not qualify as damages under its commercial general liability policies.

  • December 10, 2024

    2nd Circ. Backs Deloitte's Win In 401(k) Fee Suit

    The Second Circuit said a trial court correctly tossed a proposed class action by a group of workers claiming Deloitte saddled its $7.3 billion retirement plan with excessive recordkeeping fees, stating they couldn't overcome concerns that their claims amounted to comparisons of apples to oranges.

  • December 10, 2024

    Ga. Justices Say Courts To Decide Whether Utilities Are Taxes

    A Georgia trial court wrongly decided it could not judge whether a county's utility rates are a backdoor tax on property owners, the state's highest court said Tuesday, ruling that a restriction on the state Legislature's power to "regulate or fix" rates doesn't bar review by the judicial branch.

  • December 10, 2024

    Utah Counties' Narrow NEPA Test Meets High Court Critics

    Utah counties looking to narrow courts' ability to review federal agencies' environmental analyses of proposed projects hit roadblocks Tuesday from skeptical U.S. Supreme Court justices and the U.S. Department of Justice, who said the proposed limits go too far.

  • December 10, 2024

    Michigan Tribe Asks High Court To Undo Land Trust Order

    A Michigan tribe is asking the Supreme Court to overturn a decision that rejected its bid to compel the federal government to take land into trust for a casino venture outside Detroit, arguing that if the ruling is left to stand, it will forever impair its ability to achieve economic self-sufficiency.

  • December 10, 2024

    6th Circ. Wary Of Axing Fishing Pact Over Tribe's Objections

    A Sixth Circuit panel gave an icy reception Tuesday to a tribe's request that it unwind a Great Lakes fishing decree because the tribe was excluded from late-stage negotiations and denied a trial on its objections.

  • December 10, 2024

    Split 9th Circ. Won't Revive Tesla Worker's Whistleblower Suit

    A split Ninth Circuit refused to revive a terminated Tesla worker's Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower claim alleging he was retaliated against for reporting unlawful activity, ruling on Tuesday the worker is precluded from re-litigating in district court whether he engaged in protected activity, since an arbitrator already decided that he did not.

  • December 10, 2024

    Ex-CEO Argues Arbitrator's Failure To Disclose Sinks Award

    A former CEO of Canadian biopharmaceutical company FSD Pharma Inc. who sued after he was terminated is urging the Third Circuit to reverse a lower court's decision confirming an unfavorable Canadian arbitral award, asserting the arbitrator concealed an extensive prior relationship with the company.

  • December 10, 2024

    8th Circ. Remands Sexual Misconduct Removal Case

    The Eighth Circuit sent a Minnesota man's removal case back to immigration court for further review after finding that the third-degree sexual misconduct statute that he pled guilty to doesn't fall within the federal definition of rape that would allow him to be removed.

  • December 10, 2024

    4th Circ. Casts Doubt On Broker's FINRA Challenge

    A Fourth Circuit panel wondered Tuesday whether it was too soon to hear one North Carolina broker's constitutional challenge against the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, with the circuit judges pointing out that FINRA's case against the broker was not yet over.

  • December 10, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge Criticizes SF's 'Arbitrary' COVID Vax Mandate

    A Ninth Circuit panel doubted Tuesday whether a district judge followed the appellate panel's prior order requiring him to reconsider ex-San Francisco public employees' injunction bid in their civil rights case challenging the city's COVID-19 vaccination mandate, with one judge criticizing the city's since-expired worker vax mandate as "arbitrary."

  • December 10, 2024

    6th Circ. Judges Doubt Engineers' Claims Avoid Labor Act

    Sixth Circuit judges on Tuesday sounded skeptical that a group of auto engineers' claims over a bribery scheme between the United Auto Workers union and Fiat Chrysler, which the engineers allege negatively affected their employment, wouldn't be based on their collective bargaining agreement and thus preempted by federal labor law.

  • December 10, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Says VA Board Had The Power To Scrap Atty's Fee

    The Federal Circuit has ruled that a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs administrative tribunal was within its rights to scrap a 20% fee awarded to an attorney dropped from a veteran's benefits challenge, saying the "tortured history" of the dispute does not reflect well on the department.

  • December 10, 2024

    Movie Producer Asks 11th Circ. To Revive Defamation Claim

    A Hollywood movie producer urged the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to revive his defamation suit against The Hollywood Reporter over a story about a feud with another producer, but the appellate judges voiced skepticism about his argument that Florida law, and not California law, applies to the claim.

  • December 10, 2024

    NJ Panel Revives Union's Suit Over Sick Leave Policies

    A New Jersey appeals court upended Jersey City's win in a firefighters union's lawsuit challenging two city policies pertaining to sick leave, finding Tuesday the union put forward enough information to defeat the city's dismissal bid.

  • December 10, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Overturns VA Rule On 'Special' Ambulance Rates

    The Federal Circuit has vacated a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs rule effectively reducing the rates the VA pays for "noncontract" ambulance services for disabled veterans, saying the rule exceeded the agency's statutory authority.

  • December 10, 2024

    9th Circ. OKs Dues Language In Allegiant Union Contract

    Allegiant Air and a Transport Workers Union local can keep their victory over a challenge to the dues provision of their collective bargaining agreement, the Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, upholding a California federal judge's ruling that the provision's language is legal under the Railway Labor Act.

  • December 10, 2024

    Mountain West Calls Trans Athlete Suit Moot After Tournament

    The Mountain West Conference wants the Tenth Circuit to end a bid to obtain a restraining order that would have prevented a San Jose State University transgender volleyball player from participating in a now-finished tournament, arguing the point is moot and the case should be tossed.

  • December 10, 2024

    Crown Packaging Can Patents Ruled Invalid In Reversal

    The Federal Circuit ruled Tuesday that a series of Crown Packaging's patents on a machine that produces aluminum beverage cans is invalid, the latest in a case where a federal jury found that rival Belvac Production Machinery Inc. did not infringe the patents.

  • December 10, 2024

    NY DA Says Trump's 'President-Elect Immunity Does Not Exist'

    Prosecutors told the New York state judge presiding over Donald Trump's hush money case that "president-elect immunity does not exist" and that the court could delay sentencing — or even "terminate" the case without dismissing it.

  • December 10, 2024

    Ex-Denver Juvenile Judge Censured For Drinking On The Job

    Colorado justices have censured a former state judge on Denver's juvenile court after he fired an employee who reported him for drinking while he was supposed to be working.

  • December 10, 2024

    Ga. Justices Reject Bid To Overturn Judicial Election Win

    The Georgia Supreme Court dismissed a bid to overturn the May election of Jeffrey Davis as a state appellate judge because Davis allegedly wasn't a Peach State resident, finding Tuesday the challengers didn't use "every available means" to resolve their allegations prior to the election.

Expert Analysis

  • High Court 'Violent Crimes' Case Tangled Up In Hypotheticals

    Author Photo

    In Delligatti v. U.S., the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments next week on whether attempted murder constitutes a crime of violence, and because the court’s interpretive approach thus far has relied on hairsplitting legal hypotheticals with absurd results, Congress should repeal the underlying statute, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • Tracking The Slow Movement Of AI Copyright Cases

    Author Photo

    The tech community may be expecting a prompt resolution on whether products generated by artificial intelligence are a fair use of copyrighted works, but legal history shows that a response to this question — at the heart of over 30 pending cases — will take years, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • How Property Insurance Coverage Shrank After The Pandemic

    Author Photo

    Insurers litigating property claims are leveraging rulings that provided relief in the COVID-19 context to reverse the former majority rule on physical loss or damage in all contexts, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Considering Chevron's End Through A State Tax Lens

    Author Photo

    States took the lead in encouraging Chevron's demise, turning away from Chevron-type deference in state tax administration ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, a trend likely to accelerate as courts take a more active role in interpreting tax laws, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Curious Case Of FTC's Amicus Brief In Teva Fed. Circ. Appeal

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at BCLP explore the Federal Trade Commission's backing of Amneal's Orange Book-delisting efforts on Teva ahead of a key Federal Circuit hearing in a case between the two pharmaceutical companies, and wonder if the FTC amicus brief indicates a future trend, especially in the next administration.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

    Author Photo

    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • When 'Patented' Goes Beyond Inventorship In False Ad Cases

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's recent false advertising holding in Crocs v. Effervescent is significant because it offers a nuanced yet realistic understanding of what false claims about a product's status as "patented" can mean, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • 2nd Circ. Hostile Workplace Ruling Widens Arbitration Pitfalls

    Author Photo

    The Second Circuit’s recent decision, affirming the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act applies to a worker whose workplace hostility claims arose before the law’s 2022 enactment, widens the scope of the law — and the risks of unenforceable arbitration agreements for employers, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

  • 2nd Circ. Maxwell Ruling Adds To Confusion Over NPA Reach

    Author Photo

    The Second Circuit’s recent decision upholding Ghislaine Maxwell’s conviction made an analytical leap in applying plea agreement precedent to a nonprosecution agreement, compounding a circuit split and providing lessons for defense counsel, say attorneys at Kropf Moseley.

  • The Fed. Circ. In October: Aetna And License-Term Review

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's recent decision that Aetna's credit card licensing agreement with AlexSam did not give the insurer immunity from patent infringement claims serves to warn licensees to read their contracts carefully, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Recent Developments In Insurance Coverage For FCA Claims

    Author Photo

    As the U.S. Department of Justice continues its vigorous False Claims Act enforcement, companies looking to their insurers to help defray the costs of an investigation or settlement should note recent decisions on which types of policies cover FCA claims, which policy periods apply and which portions of FCA-related losses are covered, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Striking A Balance Between AI Use And Attorney Well-Being

    Author Photo

    As the legal industry increasingly adopts generative artificial intelligence tools to boost efficiency, leaders must note the hidden costs of increased productivity, and work to protect attorneys’ well-being while unlocking AI’s full potential, says Ed Sohn at Factor.

  • Boosting Confidence In Pennsylvania's Election System

    Author Photo

    As Election Day nears, Pennsylvania is facing an intense flurry of litigation, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court centered on mail-in and provisional ballots, but the state's election system is robust, and attorneys from all practice areas have an important role to play in ensuring confidence in and access to our election system, says Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie.

  • Takeaways From The IRS' Crypto Doc Summons Win

    Author Photo

    A recent First Circuit decision holding that taxpayers do not have a Fourth Amendment reasonable expectation of privacy in cryptocurrency transaction records should prompt both taxpayers and exchanges to take stock of past transactions and future plans, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • A Novel Expansion Of Alien Tort Statute In 9th Circ.

    Author Photo

    The Ninth Circuit's Doe v. Cisco rehearing denial allows a new invocation of the Alien Tort Statute to proceed, which could capture the U.S. Supreme Court's attention, and has potentially dramatic consequences for U.S. companies doing business with foreign governments, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

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!