Appellate

  • April 08, 2026

    3rd Circ. Asked To Undo Atty Fees For ICE Cooperation Suit

    A former Bucks County, Pennsylvania, sheriff asked the Third Circuit on Wednesday to undo a $35,000 attorney fee award granted to groups that remanded their case over his cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arguing the case belonged in district court because he'd effectively become a federal officer.

  • April 08, 2026

    Fla. Panel Told New Proposals Don't Protect Natural Springs

    A nonprofit urged a Florida state appellate panel Wednesday to overturn an administrative judge's decision siding with an agency's proposed rules for protecting natural springs, arguing the permitting measures are essentially the same as existing ones and do nothing to prevent overconsumption. 

  • April 08, 2026

    DC Circ. Allows DOD To Ax Anthropic Contracts Amid Review

    The D.C. Circuit Wednesday shot down Anthropic's request for an emergency order temporarily barring the U.S. Department of Defense from designating the artificial intelligence company as a national security risk while Anthropic's appeal plays out, although it agreed to expedite the appeal.

  • April 08, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Questions Specificity Needed In Oxy IP Invalidation

    A Federal Circuit panel expressed frustration with attorneys from both Purdue Pharma LP and generic-drug maker Accord Healthcare Inc. Wednesday as it tried to navigate whether the Delaware district court order invalidating Purdue's abuse-deterrence patent was explicit enough.

  • April 08, 2026

    NY Panel Skeptical Of TikTok Bid To Ax AG's Addiction Suit

    A five-judge appellate panel Wednesday voiced doubts about TikTok's bid to dismiss the New York attorney general's claims that the social media platform is an addictive product that targets and harms children, pushing back on the company's free speech defense.

  • April 08, 2026

    NJ Bank Can't Get Conversion Plan Revived On Appeal

    A New Jersey appellate court panel on Wednesday affirmed a ruling that the board of a savings-and-loan bank improperly adopted a plan to convert into a mutual savings bank to block an activist investor from gaining board seats.

  • April 08, 2026

    Juror Nondisclosure Can't Trigger Crash Retrial, Panel Says

    A car crash plaintiff who sought $1 million in damages but was awarded only $20,000 can't get a new trial because of juror misconduct, a Florida state appeals court ruled Wednesday, saying a juror's lengthy legal history could have been easily uncovered online.

  • April 08, 2026

    7th Circ. Questions Internet Scammer's Phone Search Appeal

    A Seventh Circuit judge seemed skeptical Wednesday of a Chicago area fraudster's argument that federal border protection agents needed a warrant before searching his cell phones for evidence of romance, mystery shopper and other scams that he received a nine-year prison sentence for leading.

  • April 08, 2026

    Trump Asks NY's Top Court To Toss AG's 'Flawed' Fraud Case

    President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked New York's highest court to throw out New York Attorney General Letitia James' "deeply flawed" civil fraud judgment entirely after a lower appellate court tossed what it called an "excessive" $489 million penalty against the president, his sons and his real estate companies.

  • April 08, 2026

    Mich. Panel Sides With Disabled Man In City Council Dispute

    A disabled Michigan man can submit his comments to the Inkster City Council via email and have them read into the official record, a Michigan court affirmed Wednesday.

  • April 08, 2026

    NY Panel Backs DLA Piper's $482K Fee Win In Malpractice Suit

    A New York appellate court affirmed Tuesday the dismissal of a Chinese software company's legal malpractice suit against DLA Piper, along with a $482,000 sanctions order against the company and its counsel, noting that the company's frivolous claims also drew a $635,000 sanctions ruling in "mirror" federal court litigation.

  • April 08, 2026

    Full 1st Circ. Hesitant To Undo Cop's Suspension For FB Post

    The full First Circuit seemed unmoved Wednesday by a police officer's argument that his free speech rights were trampled when he was suspended for making a private Facebook post critical of George Floyd.

  • April 08, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Zeroes In On Ecobee Jury Instruction Beef

    Judges on the Federal Circuit suggested that a lower court's jury form and instructions could undo at least some of an $11.5 million award against ecobee Technologies in a smart thermostat infringement row with Ollnova Technologies, particularly in light of the Federal Circuit's 2025 decision in a fight between Optis and Apple.

  • April 08, 2026

    Mich. Justices Told Youth Murder Sentence Cruel And Unusual

    An attorney for a man sentenced to 50 to 75 years in prison for second-degree murder told the Michigan Supreme Court on Wednesday that the "de facto life sentence" was cruel and unusual because someone convicted of the more serious crime of first-degree murder would be eligible for parole decades earlier.

  • April 08, 2026

    4th Circ. Revives Widow's Sewage Cleanup Clash With NC City

    A split Fourth Circuit panel Wednesday revived a widow's suit alleging she was coerced into giving up her claims against the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, after her home was flooded with raw sewage, finding she had enough evidence to take the case to trial.

  • April 08, 2026

    Judge Says 9th Circ. OK'd 'Annihilation' Of Sacred Lands

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday issued an amended opinion in its ruling to allow a 2,500-acre land exchange within Arizona's Tonto National Forest, which includes a partial dissent from U.S. Circuit Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson, who said the decision will "completely annihilate sacred Native lands."

  • April 08, 2026

    Mass. Justices Divided Over $325M Pro Soccer Stadium Project

    Justices on Massachusetts' highest court on Wednesday appeared split on whether a $325 million professional women's soccer stadium currently being built on part of Boston's historic Franklin Park is subject to a requirement for legislative approval of plans to convert parks to a new use.

  • April 08, 2026

    Fiat Chrysler Loses 'Absurd' Arb. Bid In Defect Suit At 9th Circ.

    A Ninth Circuit panel has rejected Fiat Chrysler's request to send a certified class action over allegedly defective Jeep and Dodge headrests to arbitration, finding that FCA's theory would lead to "absurd" results in which third parties with "no connection whatsoever to the underlying arbitration agreement" could force arbitration.

  • April 08, 2026

    Fla. Panel Says Pump Station Contract Recitals Aren't Binding

    A Florida state appeals court issued a split opinion Wednesday upholding a lower court decision favoring a commercial developer in a dispute over the construction of a pump station, ruling a city can't rely on the introductory language of a contract to avoid paying cost reimbursements.

  • April 08, 2026

    Mich. Appeals Panel Hears Challenge To School Aid Waiver

    A Michigan appellate panel heard arguments Wednesday over whether a school safety funding provision unlawfully forces districts to waive legal privileges in the event of a mass casualty investigation, with school districts saying the law is unconstitutionally vague and the state countering that it applies only to entities, not individuals. 

  • April 08, 2026

    NC High Court Asked to Review Castle Doctrine Killing Case

    A North Carolina man who was convicted of voluntary manslaughter following a dispute with a friend on his property has asked the state's highest court to review his case, claiming that recently decided precedent about how to instruct juries in castle doctrine cases would have changed the outcome of his trial.

  • April 08, 2026

    TD Bank Beats Whistleblower's Appeal For Shielded Info

    A New Jersey state appeals court on Wednesday backed a lower court's holding that TD Bank does not have to produce information it's seeking to shield from a whistleblower, finding that the disclosure of the information would have violated federal law.

  • April 08, 2026

    ERISA Recap: 6 Noteworthy Decisions From March

    JPMorgan Chase & Co. narrowed but couldn't escape a suit from workers who said their health plan paid too much for prescription drugs, Genworth Financial Inc. unwound a class at the Fourth Circuit, and the Sixth Circuit breathed new life into proposed class actions against FedEx and Kellogg. Here, Law360 looks at these and three other notable decisions from March in ERISA cases.

  • April 08, 2026

    Pa. Panel Splits Bellwether Pediatrician Sex Abuse Trial

    A Pennsylvania appeals court has reversed an order consolidating four civil cases against a hospital and pediatrics association related to sexual abuse allegations against a now-incarcerated doctor, saying putting the four cases together in one trial would prejudice the defendants and likely confuse the jury.

  • April 08, 2026

    $37M Award For Whistleblowers Nixed In Medicaid Fraud Row

    A Texas state appeals court did away with an order awarding three whistleblowers a $37 million share of the state's settlement resolving Medicaid fraud allegations against Xerox, finding their respective cases over the alleged scheme were based on publicly available information.

Expert Analysis

  • 2 Strands Of Patent Law In High Court's 'Skinny Label' Case

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    Amarin v. Hikma, which is set for oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court this month, highlights the distinction between two different strands of intellectual property law — analogizing a patent to either a property deed or a home, says Jonas McDavit at Spencer West.

  • Justices' Geofence Ruling May Test 4th Amendment's Future

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    When the U.S. Supreme Court decides in Chatrie v. U.S. whether law enforcement may use geofence warrants to compel Google to disclose location history data, the ruling is likely to become an important statement about the future of Fourth Amendment law in data-driven investigations, says Duncan Levin at Levin & Associates.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    In the first quarter of 2026, New York's banking developments were headlined by initiatives to expand oversight of financial institutions and strengthen consumer protection laws, including a new framework for buy now, pay later lenders, a sweeping debt collection rule and a revised corporate self-disclosure program for financial crimes, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Seeking A Policy Fix As Merger Reporting Fight Continues

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    A recently announced request by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice for public comment on the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger reporting requirements, as litigation challenging the commission's updated requirements continues, suggests the government's willingness to address how best to support modern merger enforcement without unduly burdening filing parties, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Opinion

    Wash. Amazon Ruling Should Reshape Suicide Liability

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    The Washington Supreme Court's reinstatement of negligence claims in Scott v. Amazon.com, brought by the families of people who died by suicide after purchasing chemicals online, signals a reckoning for digital commerce and the rejection of the defense that online marketplaces are merely passive technology platforms, says Donald Fountain at Clark Fountain.

  • Axed Trade Secret Award Cautions Against Bundling Damages

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent ruling in Trinseo v. Harper, vacating a $75 million jury verdict for trade secret misappropriation due to a bundled damages model, offers a strong reminder to apportion damages so a jury can award a nonspeculative figure when it credits only some alleged secrets, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • 2 Rulings Poke Holes In Mandatory Restitution Framework

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ellingburg v. U.S., as well as the Third Circuit’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Abrams, provide criminal defense practitioners with new tools to challenge Mandatory Victims Restitution Act orders, and highlight several restitution-related issues that converged in the recent prosecution of former Frank CEO Charlie Javice, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Pivotal 6th Circ. Ruling Threatens Decades Of NLRB Decisions

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    The Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Brown-Forman v. National Labor Relations Board fundamentally challenged the NLRB's long-standing practice of establishing policies through adjudication rather than formal rulemaking, giving employers and unions a new avenue to procedurally attack the vast majority of its rules, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • Exploring When Fraud Asset Freezes Limit Right To Pick Atty

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    The defendant’s claim in the Seventh Circuit’s pending U.S. v. Shah case that the government restrained his assets until he couldn’t afford his chosen counsel presents a useful case study in how criminal forfeiture procedure interacts with U.S. Supreme Court rulings on Sixth Amendment rights and appealing complex fraud convictions, says Elisha Kobre at Sheppard.

  • How Justices' GEO Ruling Resets Gov't Contractor Litigation

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent GEO Group v. Menocal decision, holding that government contractors cannot immediately exit cases via interlocutory appeals, may increase litigation costs, strengthen plaintiffs' leverage in settlement negotiations and dampen the government's ability to attract bids on high-risk or sensitive projects, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Appellate Strategy Lessons From Pa. Excess Coverage Ruling

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    In FedEx v. National Union Fire Insurance, a Pennsylvania state court recently set forth a clear holding that policyholders may recover postjudgment interest under excess liability insurance policies only when the policy language expressly allows, offering important takeaways for planning appeals, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Defense Counsel Options Widen As No-Bill Rate Increases

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    Citizens impaneled on grand juries in politically motivated cases who are reasserting their role as a critical check on state power could provide criminal defense attorneys an opportunity to pursue seldom-used preindictment strategies, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How Cos. Can Prepare For 'Made In America' Ad Scrutiny

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    The Trump administration's executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in consumer-facing advertising, along with actions by the Federal Trade Commission, suggest a potential increased focus on consumer protection and pricing-related matters, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Similar-Looking Designs May Not Always Prove Infringement

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Range of Motion Products v. Armaid is a reminder that even a strikingly similar design might not be found to infringe upon a patented design once design features driven by functionality are filtered out from consideration, say attorneys at BCLP.

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