Appellate

  • February 27, 2026

    Felony Murder Law And Life Sentences Intersect In Pa. Case

    Pennsylvania's highest court is weighing whether mandatory life-without-parole sentences for felony murder violate constitutional protections against cruel punishment when a defendant neither killed nor intended to kill.

  • February 27, 2026

    When Murder Charges Reach People Who Didn't Kill

    Felony murder murder charges permit people to be convicted of murder, even when they neither killed nor intended to kill. Critics say the charges drive excessive sentences, and a wave of reconsideration in courts and legislatures have led states like California to narrow their reach, while others are weighing whether the long prison terms tied to them are constitutional.

  • February 27, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Rejects Tesla's PTAB Challenge, Leaving Just 1

    The Federal Circuit on Friday rejected Tesla Inc.'s mandamus petition challenging how the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's leadership is discretionarily denying Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions.

  • February 27, 2026

    Geofence Warrants Harm 'Privacies Of Life,' Amici Tell Justices

    Geofence warrants violate Fourth Amendment protections against government surveillance by being imprecise and overbroad in the information they obtain, civil rights and public interest groups argued Friday, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to prevent the warrants' use.

  • February 27, 2026

    Fla. Appeals Court Won't Revive Chick-Fil-A Injury Suit

    A Florida state appellate court on Friday upheld a lower court order tossing a case brought by a woman who sued Chick-fil-A after falling off a bench and injuring herself, finding the restaurant didn't owe a duty to warn or reasonably maintain a safe condition. 

  • February 27, 2026

    Injury Defense Atty Scolded For 'Gotcha' Litigation Tactic

    A Florida appellate panel on Friday upheld the dismissal of a car crash suit after plaintiffs' counsel failed to appear at a pretrial hearing due to illness, but also chastised defense counsel for a "gotcha" litigation tactic in not informing the judge of opposing counsel's illness despite knowing about it.

  • February 27, 2026

    Keep DraftKings Suit In State Court, Baltimore Tells 4th Circ.

    Maryland courts should decide whether DraftKings and FanDuel use deceptive and exploitative practices on local residents, attorneys for the city of Baltimore told the Fourth Circuit, saying that the state's power to enforce its consumer protection laws must be upheld.

  • February 27, 2026

    DraftKings Denied 7th Circ. Appeal In Sports Betting Ad Suit

    An Illinois federal judge rejected DraftKings' bid to certify a question to the Seventh Circuit about whether a mobile app can be a "product" under Illinois product liability law, after he refused last year to dismiss most claims in a proposed class action claiming the company's advertisements fuel gambling addiction.

  • February 27, 2026

    3rd Circ. Preview: Janssen, Penn State Prof. Seek Relief

    A packed March argument calendar will put several high‑stakes disputes before the Third Circuit, including a billion‑dollar False Claims Act judgment and challenges at the intersection of academic freedom, DEI programming, cannabis‑sector finance and campus Title IX procedures.

  • February 27, 2026

    6 Arguments Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In March

    An ex-Wells Fargo worker will ask the Eighth Circuit to revive a suit challenging 401(k) forfeiture spending, the Trump administration will push the Ninth Circuit to greenlight its transgender health coverage policies and the Fourth Circuit will hear a severance fight from manufacturing plant workers. Here, Law360 looks at six oral argument sessions to watch out for in the coming month.

  • February 27, 2026

    Blue States Rally Behind Birthright Citizenship At High Court

    More than two dozen state and local governments urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject President Donald Trump's effort to end automatic birthright citizenship, filing an amicus brief arguing that the executive order violates the Constitution and would impose sweeping harms on states and their residents.

  • February 27, 2026

    Ex-Officials Back Union Challenge To Feds' Resignation Offer

    A group of former public officials and legal scholars have urged the First Circuit to revive a union-led challenge to the Trump administration's resignation program for federal employees, saying a lower court improperly expanded a doctrine for evaluating when disputes must go through administrative channels rather than court.

  • February 27, 2026

    Texas Justices Have No Home For Zillow's Defamation Row

    The Texas Supreme Court on Friday passed on Zillow Inc.'s bid to dismiss a business defamation suit alleging the online real estate marketplace company mistakenly listed a luxury $14 million home as having entered foreclosure.

  • February 27, 2026

    Split 11th Circ. Vacates 20-Year Sentence In Fla. Gun Case

    A split Eleventh Ciruit vacated a 20-year sentence for a Florida man convicted of gun- and drug-related charges following a jury trial, finding his crimes didn't count as violent in accordance with a 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision. 

  • February 27, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Cements Apple Loss In PTAB Patent Challenge

    A split Federal Circuit on Friday rejected Apple's attempt to revive its challenge to some of the claims in a Smart Mobile wireless patent it was unable to kill at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

  • February 27, 2026

    Georgia Justice Reveals Cancer Diagnosis Amid Reelection Bid

    The Georgia Supreme Court justice who is next in line to serve as chief justice and is seeking reelection announced this week that she has been diagnosed with "small, early-stage breast cancer," but plans to remain on the bench while undergoing treatment, the high court announced.

  • February 27, 2026

    Freight Brokers Fear Liability Pileup In Pivotal Top Court Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Wednesday on whether freight brokers might also be liable for roadway crashes that have killed or injured people, in a case that could reshape liability standards in a commercial trucking industry unnerved by supersized verdicts against carriers and drivers.

  • February 27, 2026

    School Beats Bias Suit From Ex-Worker Arrested Over Laptop

    The Sixth Circuit declined to reinstate a Black human resources manager's suit claiming the University of Toledo fired him out of race bias and then got him arrested, ruling the university justified its actions based on his performance issues and his refusal to return his work laptop.

  • February 27, 2026

    Ga. Court Says Eye Care Cos. Were Wrongly Lumped Together

    A Georgia appeals court has sent back to trial court a man's suit alleging medical negligence caused him to develop blindness in one eye after cataract surgery, saying the lower court wrongly found three defendants in the case were alter egos of one another.

  • February 27, 2026

    3 Takeaways From The Supreme Court's Mich. Tax Sale Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court will consider issues of fairness and just compensation in a case in which a Michigan county seized a home over a disputed $2,200 tax debt and sold it at auction, but oral arguments made clear it will not be an easy decision. Here, Law360 presents three takeaways from the oral arguments in Pung v. Isabella County.

  • February 27, 2026

    121-Year-Old Ruling Still A Shot In The Arm For Vax Mandates

    Having already withstood five global pandemics, 21 presidencies and more than a century of developments in both the law and public health policy, the U.S. Supreme Court's most durable precedent blessing mandatory vaccination is well positioned to survive a new wave of challenges, experts say.

  • February 27, 2026

    Amazon Ruling May Shift E-Commerce Litigation, Attys Say

    The Washington State Supreme Court signaled a willingness to hold online platforms accountable for societal harm and took a progressive stance on mental health in a recent decision reinstating lawsuits against Amazon over the suicides of teens who died by ingesting sodium nitrite purchased on the platform, legal experts say.

  • February 27, 2026

    Del. Supreme Court OKs Disputed Corporate Law Rework

    Delaware's Supreme Court upheld Friday hotly contested legislation approved by state lawmakers in 2025 that expanded liability shields for some corporate acts involving controlling stockholders or potentially conflicted officers or directors, and narrowed public access to some corporate books and records.

  • February 27, 2026

    Up Next At High Court: Drug User Gun Possession

    The U.S. Supreme Court will close out its February oral argument session by hearing its newest Second Amendment case over a federal law that prohibits drug users from possessing firearms, as well as a dispute over whether motor carrier brokers can be held liable for truck crashes under state law.

  • February 26, 2026

    Florida Admits Fed Funds For Immigration Facility Unlikely

    Florida admitted to a federal appellate court that it likely won't be reimbursed for an Everglades detention center used to support the Trump administration's strict immigration policy, even though last year the state's governor told the public that the federal government would fund the facility's construction. 

Expert Analysis

  • What To Know As Rulings Limit NLRB's Expanded Remedies

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    Two recent appellate decisions strongly rebuke the National Labor Relations Board's expansion of remedies beyond reinstatement and back pay under Thryv, which compensated employees for all direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms, signaling increased judicial skepticism toward the board's broadened remedial authority, says Shay Billington at CDF Labor.

  • Opinion

    Despite Deputy AG Remarks, DOJ Can't Sideline DC Bar

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    Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s recent suggestion that the D.C. Bar would be prevented from reviewing misconduct complaints about U.S. Department of Justice attorneys runs contrary to federal statutes, local rules and decades of case law, and sends the troubling message that federal prosecutors are subject to different rules, say attorneys at HWG.

  • Workers' Comp Ruling May Expand Ohio Employer Liability

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    The Ohio Supreme Court's recent decision in State ex rel. Berry v. Industrial Commission marks a shift in Ohio workers' compensation law by reducing judicial deference to the Industrial Commission's interpretations of the state's specific safety requirements and potentially expanding employer exposure, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • 10th Circ. Debtor Ruling May Expand Wire Fraud Law Scope

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    The Tenth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Baker decision, holding that federal fraud law can reach deceptive schemes designed to prevent a creditor from collecting on a debt, may represent an expansive new theory of wire fraud — even as the ruling reaffirmed the requirements of the interstate commerce element, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 8th Circ. Decision Shipwrecks IRS On Shoals Of Loper Bright

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    The Eighth Circuit’s recent decision invalidating transfer pricing regulations in 3M Co. v. Commissioner may be the most significant tax case implementing Loper Bright's rejection of agency deference as a judicial tool in statutory construction, says Edward Froelich at McDermott.

  • Rule Amendments Pave Path For A Privilege Claim 'Offensive'

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    Litigators should consider leveraging forthcoming amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which will require early negotiations of privilege-related discovery claims, by taking an offensive posture toward privilege logs at the outset of discovery, says David Ben-Meir at Ben-Meir Law.

  • Series

    My Miniature Livestock Farm Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Raising miniature livestock on my farm, where I am fully present with the animals, is an almost meditative time that allows me to return to work invigorated, ready to juggle numerous responsibilities and motivated to tackle hard issues in new ways, says Ted Kobus at BakerHostetler.

  • Justices' Ruling Will Ease Foreign Arbitral Award Enforcement

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization suggests that U.S. courts can constitutionally decide whether to recognize and enforce foreign arbitral awards in accordance with U.S. treaty obligations, regardless of the award debtor's connections to the U.S., says David Cinotti at Pashman Stein.

  • Litigation Funding Could Create Ethics Issues For Attorneys

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    A litigation investor’s recent complaint claiming a New York mass torts lawyer effectively ran a Ponzi scheme illustrates how litigation funding arrangements can subject attorneys to legal ethics dilemmas and potential liability, so engagement letters must have very clear terms, says Matthew Feinberg at Goldberg Segalla.

  • How To Prepare If Justices Curb Gov't Contractor Immunity

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    Given the very real possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will determine in GEO v. Menocal that government contractors do not have collateral immunity, contractors should prepare by building the costs of potential litigation, from discovery through trial, into their contracts and considering other pathways to interlocutory appeals, says Lisa Himes at Rogers Joseph.

  • What To Mull After 9th Circ. Ruling On NLRB Constitutionality

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    The Ninth Circuit recently rejected three constitutional attacks on the National Labor Relations Board in NLRB v. North Mountain Foothills Apartments, leaving open a debate about what remedies the NLRB can award employees and creating a circuit split that could foretell a U.S. Supreme Court resolution, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • 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 five recent rulings and identifies practice tips from cases involving claims related to oil and gas royalty payments, consumer fraud, life insurance, automobile insurance, and securities violations.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Dynamic Databases

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    Several recent federal court decisions illustrate how parties continue to grapple with the discovery of data in dynamic databases, so counsel involved in these disputes must consider how structured data should be produced consistent with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Comey Case Highlights Complex Speedy Trial Rights Calculus

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    Former FBI Director James Comey’s decision to waive his Speedy Trial Act rights in the false statement prosecution against him serves as a reminder that the benefits of invoking these rights are usually outweighed by the risks of inadequate preparation, but it can be an effective strategy in the right case, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.

  • Wash. Email Subject Line Ruling Puts Retailers On The Hook

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    The Washington state Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Old Navy, finding that a state law prohibits misleading email subject lines, has opened the door to nationwide copycat litigation, introducing potential exposure measured not in thousands, but in millions or even billions of dollars for retailers, say attorneys at Benesch.

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