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Appellate
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May 09, 2024
Plumbing Co. Ignoring OT Precedent, 1st Circ. Judge Chides
A First Circuit judge said Thursday that a plumbing supply distributor arguing that its inside sales representatives don't qualify for overtime pay appears to be "running as fast as you can to get away" from a key recent precedent.
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May 09, 2024
NFL Player-Turned-Atty Can't Appeal After Contempt Deal
An appeal of a contempt-of-court order by NFL-player-turned-lawyer Walter Bernard is moot because the underlying dispute over unpaid rent has been settled and Bernard has been released from jail, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.
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May 09, 2024
Visa Lottery Winners Urge DC Circ. To Finish 2-Yr-Old Review
Attorneys for thousands of diversity visa winners urged the D.C. Circuit to finish reviewing stayed orders mandating the visas' release, saying many clients are losing hope of coming to the U.S.
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May 09, 2024
EPA Defends Factory Farm Water Pollution Regs At 9th Circ.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday urged the Ninth Circuit to toss green groups' lawsuit seeking to revive their petition for new, stronger Clean Water Act regulations for large animal feeding facilities.
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May 09, 2024
Calif. Atty Wins Ruling To Pursue YouTube Defamation Suit
A California state appeals court has revived an Orange County attorney's defamation suit over comments made in a YouTube video regarding her father's affiliation with the Vietnamese Communist party.
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May 09, 2024
3rd Circ. Judge Jordan To Retire In January 2025
Judge Kent A. Jordan will retire from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit next year after serving on that bench for nearly two decades, Law360 has learned.
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May 09, 2024
6th Circ. Nominee Sparks Debate Over Blue Slips
Four judicial nominees were approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday, including a Sixth Circuit nominee who has come under fire from Republicans for ethics accusations and whose nomination sparked a larger debate about the lack of blue slips for appellate nominees.
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May 09, 2024
4th Circ. Mulls Scope Of Farm Bill In Virginia Hemp Fight
A Fourth Circuit panel on Thursday pushed attorneys for the state of Virginia and a group of hemp companies and customers to define precisely how much power states have to restrict the production and sale of intoxicating products derived from federally legal hemp.
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May 09, 2024
Del. Supreme Court Rejects Mid-Case Appeals In Oil Harm Suit
Observing a mid-case appeal would "further complicate and delay an already complex litigation," Delaware's Supreme Court has refused to review claims dismissed or retained in an ongoing, potential landmark suit seeking state-level damages for fossil-fuel company emissions tied to climate change.
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May 09, 2024
11th Circ. Rejects Monsanto's Roundup Suit Redo Request
The full Eleventh Circuit has rejected Monsanto's renewed request for review of a panel's ruling that a Georgia doctor can allege the company failed to warn about cancer risks associated with the use of Roundup weedkiller despite federal pesticide labeling requirements.
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May 09, 2024
Fla. Justices Say Widow Is Surviving Spouse Under The Law
The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the widow of a mesothelioma victim who married her spouse after his injury can be considered a surviving spouse under the state's Wrongful Death Act.
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May 09, 2024
Ex-Pharma Exec Asks 1st Circ. To DQ Judge In Contempt Case
U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf cannot be impartial and must be disqualified from presiding over a criminal contempt trial against a former pharmaceutical executive accused of using an alias to flout a civil judgment, the defendant told the First Circuit in a Wednesday filing.
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May 09, 2024
Justices Uphold Civil Forfeiture Standards Amid Abuse Fears
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that people whose property is seized during criminal investigations of others aren't entitled to a quicker process to seek its return, even though a majority of justices expressed concerns about the constitutionality of civil forfeiture systems in general.
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May 09, 2024
Justices Say Copyright Damages Can Go Beyond 3 Years
The U.S. Supreme Court concluded Thursday that plaintiffs in copyright ownership disputes can recover damages beyond the three-year statute of limitations for bringing a claim, rejecting Warner Chappell Music's argument that the only time that could happen is in cases involving fraud.
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May 08, 2024
Committing Bribery Or Fixing 'Chaos': Mogul's Retrial Begins
An insurance mogul and his one-time political consultant resorted to "pure and simple" bribery when they promised North Carolina's insurance commissioner up to $2 million in campaign contributions to remove an inquisitive official, federal prosecutors told a jury Wednesday, while the mogul's counsel countered that he just wanted a fair shake from a department in "chaos."
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May 08, 2024
Tribes And Groups Urge 9th Circ. To Uphold TikTok Ban Pause
Free speech and internet advocacy groups, as well a Native American nonprofit and two tribes, are urging the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court's decision that blocks Montana from banning social app TikTok, arguing that First Amendment protections include such media platforms.
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May 08, 2024
High Court Ruling May Shake Up CFPB's Litigation Docket
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that may come as soon as Thursday could decide the fate of not only the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure but also numerous pending enforcement actions the agency has brought around the country. Here, Law360 surveys what's at stake and where.
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May 08, 2024
Colo. Justice Doubts Auto-Reversal In 'Very Rare' Atty Conflict
Colorado's chief justice questioned Wednesday why a man should get to automatically reverse his sexual assault conviction because his lawyer was being simultaneously prosecuted by the same district attorney's office, a situation that the convicted man said is exceedingly rare.
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May 08, 2024
ND Changes Course In Residents' High Court VRA Dispute
In a move Native American tribes are calling "unconscionable," North Dakota Secretary of State Michael Howe is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate and remand Voting Rights Act litigation, saying the state is unable to defend the basis for which it won the lawsuit.
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May 08, 2024
BIA Tells 8th Circ. Energy Co. Can't Revive Lease Suit
The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs has asked the Eighth Circuit to uphold a North Dakota federal judge's dismissal of Prima Exploration Inc.'s oil and gas lease termination suit, saying the lower court correctly dismissed the case for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
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May 08, 2024
Jury Instruction Won't Upend $1.4M Motorcycle Crash Verdict
A California appeals court won't undo a $1.4 million verdict in a suit over a motorcycle accident, saying that even if the trial court gave a jury instruction that was extraneous and not applicable to the facts of the case, there's no indication that it prejudiced or misled the jury.
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May 08, 2024
Arendi Seeks Revival Of Google, Oath IP Rows At Fed. Circ.
Arendi SARL has urged the Federal Circuit to revive its two data system patent lawsuits alleging infringement by Google and Oath Holdings, arguing in part that the lower court erred when it failed to find the patents eligible.
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May 08, 2024
Mich. Justices Unsure New Mandate Altered Old Auto Policies
Michigan Supreme Court justices appeared divided Wednesday over whether an overhaul of the state's compulsory car insurance scheme affected pre-existing policies or applied only to policies issued after the reforms went into effect.
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May 08, 2024
Split 6th Circ. Says Digital Media TM Case Has To Stay In Tenn.
The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday held that a trademark fight between two companies that digitally preserve home movies, photos and other media will have to play out in a Tennessee federal court, after the panel split over how many customers are enough to extend jurisdiction in the trademark dispute.
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May 08, 2024
Black & Decker's Stud Finder Patent Win Gets Fed. Circ. OK
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld a decision clearing Stanley Black & Decker Inc. in a stud finder patent suit by rival Zircon Corp., backing the U.S. International Trade Commission's finding that Zircon didn't show it has a domestic industry of products protected by the patents.
Expert Analysis
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Zero-Point Offender Eligibility May Hinge On Meaning Of 'And'
Some white collar defendants’ eligibility for the new zero-point offender sentencing adjustment comes down to whether the word “and” really means “and” — a question the U.S. Supreme Court is set to resolve in its upcoming Pulsifer v. U.S. decision, which could affect thousands of incarcerated people, say Brandon McCarthy and Nikita Yogeshwarun at Katten.
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Valeant Ruling May Pave Way For Patent-Based FCA Suits
The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Silbersher v. Valeant marks a significant development in False Claims Act jurisprudence, opens new avenues for litigation and potentially raises the stakes for patent applicants who intend to do business with the government, say Joshua Robbins and Rick Taché at Buchalter.
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A Former Bankruptcy Judge Talks 'Undue Hardship'
Former U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Gordon reflects on his journey from student borrower to judicial observer, highlighting the challenges faced by modern students burdened with student loan debt and advocating for reform in bankruptcy laws, particularly regarding the "undue hardship" element of discharge.
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Recent Rulings Add Dimension To Justices' Maui Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund established new factual criteria for determining when the Clean Water Act applies to groundwater — and recent decisions from the Ninth and Tenth Circuits have clarified how litigants can make use of the Maui standard, says Steven Hoch at Clark Hill.
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Strategies For Single-Member Special Litigation Committees
The Delaware Supreme Court's recent order in the Baker Hughes derivative litigation allowing testimony from a single-member special litigation committee highlights the fact that, while single-member SLCs are subject to heightened scrutiny, they can also provide unique opportunities, says Josh Bloom at MoloLamken.
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10th Circ. Ruling Means More Okla. Oilfield Pollution Litigation
By applying Oklahoma's statutory definitions of pollution to a private landowner's claim for negligence for the first time, the Tenth Circuit's recent decision in Lazy S Ranch v. Valero will likely make it harder to obtain summary judgment in oilfield contamination cases, and will lead to more litigation, say attorneys at GableGotwals.
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Race Bias Defense Considerations After 11th Circ. Ruling
In Tynes v. Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed that the McDonnell Douglas test for employment discrimination cases is merely an evidentiary framework, so employers relying on it as a substantive standard of liability may need to rethink their litigation strategy, says Helen Jay at Phelps Dunbar.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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Fed. Circ. In Feb.: Using Prior Products To Invalidate A Patent
The Federal Circuit's recent Weber v. Provisu ruling, that prior-product operating manuals constituted printed publications that can be used to invalidate patents in an inter partes review proceeding, makes it easier for a petitioner to invalidate a patent, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.
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7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
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What's At Stake In Pending Fed. Circ. Design Patent Test Case
The full Federal Circuit recently heard argument in LKQ v. GM Global, a case concerning patent obviousness in the aftermarket for auto parts; the court's decision will likely influence how design patents are obtained, enforced and challenged, and affect the broader innovation ecosystem, says Larry DeMeo at Hunton.
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Series
Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.
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Perspectives
Compassionate Release Grants Needed Now More Than Ever
After the U.S. Sentencing Commission's recent expansion of the criteria for determining compassionate release eligibility, courts should grant such motions more frequently in light of the inherently dangerous conditions presented by increasingly understaffed and overpopulated federal prisons, say Alan Ellis and Mark Allenbaugh at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.
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Args In APA Case Amplify Justices' Focus On Agency Power
In arguments last week in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Supreme Court justices paid particular importance to the possible ripple effects of their decision, which will address when a facial challenge to long-standing federal rules under the Administrative Procedure Act first accrues and could thus unleash a flood of new lawsuits, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.
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After TikTok, Tiptoeing Toward Patent Transfer Alignment
Following the Fifth Circuit's TikTok decision, which aimed to standardize transfer analysis in patent cases, the Federal Circuit and Texas federal courts facing transfer requests have taken small steps to consider the practical realities of patent litigation, reinforcing the intensely factual focus of the analysis, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.