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Featured
Supreme Court Caseload Hits 160-Year Low
Not since the Civil War has the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in as few cases as it will this term — the latest milestone for the court's shrinking docket, and one attorneys say might have more to do with the high court's culture than its expanding emergency appeals caseload.
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February 05, 2026
Amazon Screenings Are 'Hours Worked,' Conn. Justices Rule
Amazon security screenings count as "hours worked" under Connecticut state employment law, and no legal exception permits the retailer to withhold pay for time spent on minimal matters at the end of a worker's shift, the state supreme court ruled unanimously on Thursday.
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February 05, 2026
McGuireWoods Enters Seattle With 9 Ex-Perkins Coie Attys
McGuireWoods LLP announced Thursday that it has launched a Seattle office with a nine-partner team of former Perkins Coie LLP litigators and appellate advocates, including a former federal judge and two former U.S. Supreme Court clerks.
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February 05, 2026
2nd Circ. Won't Kick Luxottica Pension Fight To Arbitration
The Second Circuit on Thursday backed a lower court's refusal to compel individual arbitration of a former Luxottica worker's proposed class action alleging pension underpayments but found the ex-worker lacked standing to seek monetary payments on the plan's behalf.
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February 04, 2026
DC Circ. Preserves Secrecy Of DOJ's Gag Orders On Google
The D.C. Circuit has rejected a nonprofit group's push to unmask applications filed by the U.S. Department of Justice that blocked Google from informing one of its email subscribers about a subpoena for some of his account data, agreeing with the lower court that the records were shielded by grand jury secrecy rules.
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February 04, 2026
Goldstein Accountant Admits Tax Return Errors
A star government witness and the top outside accountant for SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein and his law firm admitted to making mistakes on Goldstein's tax returns and offering the grand jury erroneous testimony, under cross-examination in the U.S. Supreme Court lawyer's tax fraud trial Wednesday.
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February 04, 2026
What's Left In VLSI-Intel's $3B Patent Litigation
Intel and VLSI are set to square off Thursday at the Federal Circuit in one arm of their high-stakes fight over semiconductor patents, but questions over the state of $3 billion in verdicts, a potential license, fraud allegations and invalidations are still playing out in other cases. Here's where things stand.
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February 04, 2026
PacifiCorp Urges Appeals Court To Scotch Broad Fire Liability
The power utility PacifiCorp argued to an Oregon appeals court Wednesday that broad-brush trial evidence and class certification issues require overturning a 2023 verdict that made the company liable to property owners for wildfires around the state on Labor Day 2020.
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February 04, 2026
9th Circ. Reopens Funko Investors' Securities Class Action
A Ninth Circuit panel Wednesday revived a proposed securities class action against toy-maker Funko Inc. and two former executives, ruling that shareholders sufficiently alleged that some company statements about its handling of millions of dollars of dead inventory were false and misleading.
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February 04, 2026
Fed. Circ. Leans Toward Vacating $12.7M Copyright Award
The Federal Circuit appeared likely to vacate a $12.7 million copyright infringement award against the federal government on Wednesday, pressing attorneys for a software developer and the government to answer what instructions should be given to the claims court on remand.
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February 04, 2026
Fla. Court Affirms Win For Law Firm In $10M Malpractice Case
A Florida appeals court Wednesday affirmed a win for Conrad & Scherer LLP in a suit accusing the law firm of improperly withdrawing at a critical point in a lawsuit against its clients' business partner over the acquisition of a hotel.
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February 04, 2026
9th Circ. Seems Reluctant To Keep Netflix Bias Case In Court
The Ninth Circuit zeroed in on timing Wednesday as a former Netflix worker pushed to keep her sexual harassment suit out of arbitration, appearing sympathetic to the streaming company's argument that her dispute began before a law banning mandatory arbitration for sexual harassment claims became effective.
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February 04, 2026
CREXi Fights Bid To Disqualify Quinn Emanuel In CoStar IP Suit
Commercial real estate platform CREXi has urged a California federal judge to let it keep Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP as its counsel as it fights CoStar's accusations of copyright infringement, saying CoStar is only now raising conflict of interest concerns to gain a "tactical advantage."
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February 04, 2026
Judge Says $40B Ligado Suit Looks 'Destined' For High Court
Network company Ligado's nearly $40 billion lawsuit accusing the government of wrongly blocking its use of a certain slice of the airwaves seems likely to eventually land in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit's chief judge said Wednesday.
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February 04, 2026
Calif. Court Revives Walmart Worker's Background Check Suit
California appellate justices Wednesday revived a Walmart employee's lawsuit alleging the retailer added extraneous consumer reporting agencies in a background check notice during her hiring process, finding she has standing since Walmart obscured the specific agency that provided the report and the ways she could contact the agency to fix errors.
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February 04, 2026
SPEX Urges Fed. Circ. To Revert Slashed $1 IP Win To $553M
SPEX Technologies Inc. is asking the Federal Circuit to reinstate the $553 million award it had won against Western Digital for patent infringement, after a California federal judge lowered it to a single dollar.
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February 04, 2026
Under Armour Wants 4th Circ. To Review $100M Coverage Cap
Under Armour asked the Fourth Circuit to review a recent ruling that capped its coverage for a securities class action, government investigations and derivative matters at $100 million, saying the panel overlooked the significance of an endorsement that essentially settled a dispute over when certain claims were made.
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February 04, 2026
Parent Tells 9th Circ. Roblox Can't Arbitrate Suit
A parent has urged the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court's ruling that Roblox can't arbitrate claims that his daughter was preyed upon by adults on the popular gaming platform, since it was his minor child, not him, who made purchases on the app.
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February 04, 2026
Split NC Panel Rules Adviser Can't Arbitrate Fee Fight
An investment adviser who was fired can't arbitrate a fee fight with the company he hired to scrub his termination from public databases, a split North Carolina appeals court ruled Wednesday, finding the arbitration clause in his contract doesn't cover the company's claim for nonpayment.
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February 04, 2026
EPA Can't OK Calif. Engine Emissions Rules, 9th Circ. Told
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency failed to determine whether California's plan to set tighter emissions rules for off-road engines warranted a Clean Air Act waiver before giving the go-ahead to the Golden State, industry groups have told the Ninth Circuit.
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February 04, 2026
2nd Circ. Rules Medication Didn't Affect Guilty Plea Validity
A man who took bipolar and sleep medication the night before pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute cocaine and possessing a firearm cannot appeal his 15-year sentence by implying the medications confused him, the Second Circuit affirmed Wednesday, finding questions about his state of mind covered medication side effects.
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February 04, 2026
Fed. Circ. Backs Infringement Immunity For NASA Contractor
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday endorsed a California federal judge's decision that a NASA contractor doesn't have to face a patent infringement suit from a pair of California men, given that its allegedly infringing use was authorized by the federal government.
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February 04, 2026
US Supreme Court Won't Halt New Calif. Congressional Map
The U.S. Supreme Court will not block California's new, voter-approved congressional districts before they can be used in this year's midterm election while California Republicans appeal their previous failed bid to block the redrawn map that they argue constitutes illegal racial gerrymandering with Democratic officials "maximizing Latino voting strength."
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February 04, 2026
Clemency Was 'Broken' Long Before Trump. Can It Be Fixed?
President Donald Trump has transformed what has historically been a bureaucratic process for seeking federal pardons and commutations into a more freewheeling affair with few clear rules — and no easy solutions for reform, experts say.
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February 04, 2026
3rd Circ. Asks If Death Scene Photo Row Is Privacy Matter
The Third Circuit on Wednesday pondered whether the mother of a man who jumped from a bridge to his death was entitled to privacy after a Philadelphia police officer shared a photo of the man's death scene, focusing its questioning on whether there was a reasonable expectation of privacy concerning a public death.
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February 04, 2026
Conn. Justices Say Miranda Waiver Covers Vague Bid For Atty
In a 4-3 opinion, the Connecticut Supreme Court has upheld murder and burglary convictions hinged on a confession obtained after an arrestee's equivocal request for counsel, a decision the dissent said distorted a state constitutional rule that affords greater custodial interrogation protections than the federal constitution.
Editor's Picks
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The Topics Appellate Attys Are Tracking Most Closely In 2026
A few far-reaching topics will dominate the appellate practice in 2026, attorneys predict, as appeals courts navigate an ever-growing thicket of Trump administration litigation and thorny questions involving artificial intelligence.
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4 High Court Cases To Watch This Spring
The U.S. Supreme Court justices will return from the winter holidays to tackle several constitutional disputes that range from who is entitled to birthright citizenship to whether transgender individuals are entitled to heightened levels of protection from discrimination.
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Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To 2025's Most Memorable Moments
Federal circuit courts in 2025 strained under a crush of Trump administration lawsuits, as judges directed animated language at litigants and even their fellow judges. And while the president only added a handful of appellate jurists, they had outsize impacts on circuit benches as they joined the cadre of conservatives seated in his first term.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Teaching Logic Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Teaching middle and high school students the skills to untangle complicated arguments and identify faulty reasoning has made me reacquaint myself with the defined structure of thought, reminding me why logic should remain foundational in the practice of law, says Tom Barrow at Woods Rogers.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Resilience
Resilience is a skill acquired through daily practices that focus on learning from missteps, recovering quickly without internalizing defeat and moving forward with intention, says Nicholas Meza at Quarles & Brady.
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How Specificity, Self-Dealing Are Shaping ERISA Litigation
Several recent cases, including the U.S. Supreme Court's forthcoming ruling in Anderson v. Intel, illustrate the competing forces shaping excessive fee litigation, with plaintiffs seeking flexibility, courts demanding specificity, fiduciaries facing increased scrutiny for conflicts of interest, and self-dealing amplifying exposure, says James Beall at Willig Williams.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Terminations Galore
Three recent decisions from the Federal Circuit and the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals provide valuable insights about sticking to a contract's plain language, navigating breach of contract claims, and jurisdictional limits on reinstatement of a canceled contract, say attorneys at Seyfarth.
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Opinion
Minn. Can Still Bring State Charges In Absence Of Fed Action
After two fatal shootings by federal immigration officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota's role isn't waiting to see if the federal government brings criminal charges, but independently weighing state homicide charges and allowing the judiciary to decide whether the subject conduct falls within the narrow protections of supremacy clause immunity, says Sheila Tendy at Tendy Law.
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State Of Insurance: Q4 Notes From Illinois
In 2025's last quarter, Illinois’ appellate courts weighed in on overlapping homeowners coverages for water-related damages, contractual suit limitation provisions in uninsured motorist policies, and protections for genetic health information in life insurance underwriting, while the Department of Insurance sought nationwide homeowners' insurance data from State Farm, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.
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How 2 Tech Statutes Are Being Applied To Agentic AI
The application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the California Invasion of Privacy Act to agentic artificial intelligence is still developing, but recent case law, like Amazon's lawsuit against Perplexity in California federal court, provides some initial guidance for companies developing or deploying these technologies, say attorneys at Weil.
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Defense Strategy Takeaways From Recent TCPA Class Actions
Although recent Telephone Consumer Protection Act decisions do not establish any bright-line tests for defeating predominance based on an argument that class members provided consent for the calls, certain trends have emerged that should inform defense strategies at class certification, say attorneys at Womble Bond.
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NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools
Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.
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Series
The Biz Court Digest: Dispatches From Utah's Newest Court
While a robust body of law hasn't yet developed since the Utah Business and Chancery Court's founding in October 2024, the number of cases filed there has recently picked up, and its existence illustrates Utah's desire to be top of mind for businesses across the country, says Evan Strassberg at Michael Best.
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4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue
Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.
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2 Rulings Showcase Fuzzy Limits Of 'Related To' Jurisdiction
The Fifth and Ninth Circuits recently handed down decisions, in Sanchez Energy and Sawtelle Partners, respectively, reminding practitioners that bankruptcy court jurisdiction over lingering disputes is not guaranteed, regardless of whether confirmation orders contain specific "retention of jurisdiction" language, says Brian Shaw at Cozen O’Connor.
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3 Key Ohio Financial Services Developments From 2025
Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw particularly notable developments in 2025, including a significant Ohio Supreme Court decision on creditor disclosure duties to guarantors in Huntington National Bank v. Schneider, and some major proposed changes to the state's Homebuyer Plus program, says Alex Durst at Durst Kerridge.
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Patent Eligibility Faces Widening Gap Between USPTO, Courts
The year 2026 opened with a profoundly altered Patent Act Section 101 ecosystem — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has pushed eligibility as far open as it can for artificial intelligence technologies, but the courts are not on the same page, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Navigating Trade Secret Exceptions In Noncompete Bans
Recent and ongoing developments in the noncompete landscape, including a potential decision from the Tenth Circuit in Edwards Lifesciences v. Thompson, could offer tools for employers to bring noncompete agreements within trade secret exceptions amid an era of heightened employee mobility, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.