Appellate

  • January 12, 2026

    High Court Passes On Russia $50B Award Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a petition filed by Russia as part of its long-running bid to escape litigation to enforce $50 billion in arbitral awards against it, in which the Kremlin sought clarity on the applicability of its sovereign immunity defense.

  • January 12, 2026

    Justices Stay Out Of Nuke Waste Storage Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review the D.C. Circuit's dismissal of an anti-nuclear group's lawsuit challenging the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval of a temporary nuclear waste storage site in New Mexico.

  • January 12, 2026

    High Court Turns Down Chance To Review McDonnell Douglas

    The U.S. Supreme Court rejected an invitation Monday by a former medical school dean to rethink a five-decade-old precedent for evaluating discrimination claims that several conservative justices have recently indicated should get a fresh look.

  • January 12, 2026

    Justices Pass On Houston Hospital Workers' COVID Vax Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a challenge to a Houston hospital's win in a lawsuit brought by a group of employees who said they were unlawfully terminated after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.

  • January 12, 2026

    High Court Won't Hear Whistleblowers' FCC Fraud Claims

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review whether the D.C. Circuit erred by rejecting two lawyers' claims that entities linked to UScellular defrauded the government by falsely claiming small business credits in a federal spectrum auction.

  • January 12, 2026

    High Court Won't Hear Michigan Tribe's Fishing Pact Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court won't overturn a Sixth Circuit decision to uphold a 2023 decree governing fishery management in the Great Lakes after a Michigan tribe argued that the agreement was negotiated over its objections and that it will micromanage the waters for the next quarter-century.

  • January 12, 2026

    Justices Won't Weigh Collective Cert. Process In Eli Lilly Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review whether courts should stick with a long-standing two-step analysis for certifying collective actions in an age discrimination case against Eli Lilly and Co. that could have affected wage and hour litigation.

  • January 09, 2026

    Up Next At High Court: Pollution Lawsuits & Trans Athletes

    The U.S. Supreme Court will kick off the new year by hearing disputes over the constitutionality of state laws banning transgender female athletes from female-only sports and whether state or federal courts are the proper forum for lawsuits seeking to hold major oil companies accountable for harm caused by their oil production activities along Louisiana's coast. 

  • January 09, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Doubts Trade Secret Was Properly Spelled Out

    The Federal Circuit spent part of its Friday morning mulling whether it is the court's job to, in the words of the judge who killed the trade secrets claims brought by a MasterCard unit against two McKinsey consultants, "do APT's job for it by mining its trade secrets from the raw materials."

  • January 09, 2026

    Cuban Co. Urges Justices To Affirm Property Seizure Ruling

    A Cuban state-owned entity is pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to find that a federal law allowing U.S. victims of property seizures by the Cuban government to seek damages does not automatically abrogate the sovereign immunity of state-owned agencies and instrumentalities targeted in such cases.

  • January 09, 2026

    $500K Revelation Doesn't Nix Surgeon's Win In Eye Injury Row

    A California appeals court won't order a retrial in a suit alleging a surgery center blinded a patient in one eye during spinal surgery, saying she failed to properly object to a closing argument that implied that a co-defendant's settlement was the source of $500,000 she had received.

  • January 09, 2026

    Netflix Wins Atty Fees In 'Orgasm Inc.' Defamation Case

    A California state appellate court affirmed an award of attorney fees to Netflix Inc. after the streaming giant's anti-SLAPP victory in a defamation case over its documentary "Orgasm Inc.: The Story of OneTaste," saying the trial court had the authority to award fees despite the case being under appeal.

  • January 09, 2026

    Calif. Climate Laws Violate Free Speech Rights, 9th Circ. Told

    A coalition of business groups urged a Ninth Circuit panel Friday to preliminarily block new California laws requiring large companies to disclose financial risks tied to climate change, arguing the laws are unprecedented and violate the First Amendment, in part by being "completely untethered" to any product or transaction.

  • January 09, 2026

    Pegasystems Opt-Out Investors Get Green Light For IP Claims

    A majority of claims brought by Pegasystems Inc. investors who opted out of a $35 million securities class action settlement will proceed after a Massachusetts federal judge found that a Virginia Court of Appeals ruling reversing a trial court's $2 billion intellectual property judgment against Pega doesn't change the viability of the current suit's claims.

  • January 09, 2026

    High Court Grants Review Of Falun Gong Cisco Spying Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it will determine whether the Ninth Circuit was right to reinstate a suit brought under the Alien Tort Statute suit alleging that Cisco aided the Chinese government's allegedly unlawful crackdown on the Falun Gong religious movement.

  • January 09, 2026

    Justices To Consider DHS Authority Over Green Card Entries

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review whether the U.S. Department of Homeland Security can treat a lawful permanent resident returning from a trip abroad as an applicant for admission based solely on pending criminal charges.

  • January 09, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Wary Of Reviving $200M Google Case Axed Midtrial

    A Federal Circuit panel on Friday appeared skeptical of efforts by Brazos Licensing & Development to overturn a directed verdict decision by U.S. District Judge Alan Albright that cleared Google of infringing a Brazos location tracking patent during a more than $200 million trial.

  • January 09, 2026

    Gov't Can't Use NYT Article As Evidence In Goldstein Trial

    A Maryland federal judge on Friday barred prosecutors from pre-admitting Thomas Goldstein's statements in a New York Times article as evidence in the SCOTUSblog co-founder's tax fraud trial, but she left open the possibility for the government to call either Jeffrey Toobin, the article's author, or a Times fact-checker, as a witness.

  • January 09, 2026

    NYSE Affiliates Back Calls To Block New Options Exchange

    Two New York Stock Exchange affiliates have entered the fray over a new options exchange that it says could be given an "an unearned competitive advantage" if allowed to go live this year, urging the Eleventh Circuit to vacate the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission order that green-lit the exchange.

  • January 09, 2026

    Alabama Steps Away From Appeal In ACF Water Dispute

    Alabama on Thursday dropped its appeal at the Eleventh Circuit in a fight over water management of the Apalachicola watershed after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers agreed to changes proposed by Alabama and Georgia to end the decadeslong water feud.

  • January 09, 2026

    Is 9th Circ.'s Copyright Test Doomed After Kat Von D Verdict?

    Celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D's realistic tattoo of a famous Miles Davis photo on a friend's arm — and the jury ruling that it did not violate copyright law — could imperil a decades-old Ninth Circuit doctrine for assessing similarity between works, with potential review by a full panel of judges on the horizon.

  • January 09, 2026

    DOL Praises Resolution Of Home Depot 401(k) Battle

    The U.S. Department of Labor on Friday lauded the withdrawal of a petition for high court review from Home Depot employees who alleged their 401(k) plan was mismanaged, saying the end of the case shows the department's commitment to getting rid of "regulation by litigation."

  • January 09, 2026

    7th Circ. Upholds Ex-Atty's Conviction In Burke Bribery Case

    The Seventh Circuit on Friday kept in place the conviction and 32-month prison sentence of a Chicago real estate developer and former attorney for offering legal work to ex-Alderman Edward Burke as a bribe for help with a zoning permit, finding the government presented sufficient evidence to support a guilty verdict and arguments to the contrary were "unavailing."

  • January 09, 2026

    Pa. Justices Urged To Apply Jarkesy To State Proceedings

    A Pennsylvania financial professional has asked the state's Supreme Court to consider, in a matter of first impression, whether the state Constitution guarantees a right to a jury trial in securities fraud enforcement actions brought by the state regulator, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court's Jarkesy ruling should be incorporated against states.

  • January 09, 2026

    Worker's Poor Performance Dooms Bias Suit, 4th Circ. Says

    The Fourth Circuit declined to revive a Black USPS worker's retaliation suit claiming her white boss crafted a paper trail to oust her after she filed a race bias complaint against him, ruling Friday that she couldn't overcome evidence that her repeated performance issues got her temporarily fired, not bias.

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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