Appellate

  • August 14, 2025

    5th Circ. Tosses Challenge To Texas Gas Terminal Permit

    The Fifth Circuit has dismissed an environmental group's petition challenging a permit issued by Texas regulators for a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal, finding that a previous permit for another project, which stipulated a lower emissions rate, has no bearing on the permit at issue here.

  • August 14, 2025

    Mich. Panel Greenlights 911 Dispatcher's Whistleblower Suit

    A Michigan appellate panel said Wednesday that a former 911 operator may be protected by a whistleblower law for criticizing a supervisor's handling of a 911 call, clearing the way for his lawsuit to move forward.

  • August 14, 2025

    Fla. Bar Fights Demand For Bondi Ethics Probe

    The Florida Bar has again pushed back on a request to investigate U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi for alleged unethical conduct, telling the Supreme Court of Florida that a group of complainants can't bulldoze past its policy of not investigating sitting government officials.

  • August 14, 2025

    Senate Democrats Urge 'Robust' Funding For US Defenders

    Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday implored congressional appropriators to ensure that the federal public defender program has adequate funding for fiscal year 2026 after budget shortfalls. 

  • August 14, 2025

    4th Circ. Won't DQ Judge From Church Mass Shooting Case

    Hearsay evidence and conclusory allegations of impartiality are not enough to cause the Fourth Circuit to remove the federal judge presiding over white supremacist mass shooter Dylann Roof's criminal case in South Carolina, a panel of out-of-circuit judges determined in a nonprecedential ruling.

  • August 14, 2025

    Rising Star: Hogan Lovells' Katie Wellington

    Hogan Lovells' Katie Wellington was one of the chief architects of an argument that resulted in a win for a voting rights group in a dispute over the so-called independent state legislature theory before the U.S. Supreme Court, preventing state legislatures from changing election rules and maps without being subject to judicial review, earning her a spot among the appellate law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 14, 2025

    Biz Rips Law Firm Over Arbitration Push After Filing Suit

    A former client of Herman Jones LLP urged a Georgia state appeals court to overturn a trial judge's decision to send a lawsuit over legal fees to arbitration, arguing that if the law firm wanted to stay out of court, it should have filed an arbitration demand, not a lawsuit.

  • August 14, 2025

    Pa. Tax Board Must Revisit Denial Of Calif. Co.'s $4.9M Refund

    The Pennsylvania Board of Finance and Revenue must review its denial of a California corporation's request for a refund of an overpayment of Pennsylvania income tax following a federal audit, the Commonwealth Court ruled Thursday.

  • August 14, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Won't Revive RFCyber Mobile Data Patent

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday refused to revive a mobile payment patent owned by RFCyber Corp., backing a Patent Trial and Appeal Board finding that a prior patent application rendered it obvious.

  • August 14, 2025

    NC Lawmaker's Judicial Campaign Returns Lobbyists' Money

    A Republican state lawmaker in North Carolina has returned lobbyists' donations to her judicial campaign after the contributions came under scrutiny for potentially violating state campaign finance laws, her campaign adviser confirmed Thursday to Law360.

  • August 14, 2025

    Anthropic Asks 9th Circ. To Halt AI Copyright Trial For Appeal

    Artificial intelligence developer Anthropic has urged the Ninth Circuit to overturn a California federal judge's refusal to delay trial in a copyright lawsuit from authors who allege their works were illegally obtained to train the company's large language model, Claude.

  • August 14, 2025

    2nd Circ. Publicly Reprimands Ghosting NY Attorney

    The Second Circuit has rebuked a New York attorney who was removed from a case for disappearing on his client while appealing criminal migrant smuggling charges, and then failing to respond to a court order for years.

  • August 14, 2025

    3rd Circ. Clarifies 'New Evidence' In Immigration Cases

    The Third Circuit on Thursday declined to stop the deportation of a Guatemalan citizen, determining that although the Board of Immigration Appeals erred in finding the birth of his daughter was introduced too late in his appeal, the error was ultimately harmless.

  • August 14, 2025

    Justices Allow Mississippi's Social Media Age Verification Law

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday that social media giants like Facebook, X, YouTube and Reddit must comply with a Mississippi law that requires platforms to verify users' ages and obtain parental consent before minors can create accounts, while the companies challenge its constitutionality.

  • August 14, 2025

    Pa. Court Rejects Challenge To Alternative Energy Regs

    A state appeals court swatted down challenges to Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission regulations that put grid improvement and connection costs onto customers with solar and other alternative energy systems that generate excess power for sale to distribution companies.

  • August 14, 2025

    2nd Circ. Denies NFL Arbitration In Flores Case

    Fired Miami Dolphins coach Brian Flores won efforts to keep his racial discrimination claims against the NFL in federal court, with the Second Circuit finding Thursday that the league cannot force him into arbitration because the organization has unilateral control over the process.

  • August 14, 2025

    Fla. Court Says Developer Can Build On Contested Property

    A Florida appellate court has partially reversed a man's lower court win in his easement dispute with a developer that wanted to build a single-family home and install a seawall on the company's purchased Santa Rosa County property, ruling that the developer was wrongfully barred by the lower court from working on the property.

  • August 14, 2025

    2nd Circ. Affirms Sanctions In Abandoned Suit Against Dylan

    In a precedential ruling, the Second Circuit upheld limited fee sanctions imposed by a Manhattan federal judge against attorneys found to have violated a discovery order and committed other wrongs, despite having been warned, in a now-abandoned sexual assault suit against Bob Dylan.

  • August 13, 2025

    DC Circ. Upholds Toss Of Video Privacy Suit Against Paper

    The D.C. Circuit has refused to revive a proposed class action accusing the Washington Examiner of illegally sharing website visitors' video-viewing information with Meta, finding that the plaintiff had failed to show that she "subscribed" to the content that she accessed online rather than through her newsletter subscription.

  • August 13, 2025

    Mich. Tribe Asks High Court To Undo Great Lakes Fishing Pact

    A Michigan tribe is asking the Supreme Court to overturn a Sixth Circuit decision to uphold a 2023 decree governing fishery management in the Great Lakes, saying the document was negotiated over its objections, restricts its treaty rights and will micromanage the waters for the next quarter-century.

  • August 13, 2025

    6th Circ. Clarifies Class Cert. Standard In FirstEnergy Suit

    A class of FirstEnergy investors suing in the wake of a $1 billion bribery scandal should not have been certified, the Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday, saying the district court applied the wrong standard, but indicated the class could be recertified on remand.

  • August 13, 2025

    4th, 11th Circs. Shoot Down Local Gov't Cell Tower Denials

    Both the Fourth and the Eleventh Circuits issued decisions Wednesday allowing cell tower companies to move forward with projects over the objections of local governments that denied them permission.

  • August 13, 2025

    Ga. Defends Polling Place Food And Water Ban At 11th Circ.

    The state of Georgia urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to restore a ban on handing out food and water to voters in line after it was partially blocked by a federal district judge, telling a panel that the First Amendment controversy over the restriction shouldn't outweigh the state's interest in maintaining order at polling places.

  • August 13, 2025

    Mich. Panel Says Teen's 67-Year Term 'Does Not Pass Muster'

    A Michigan man who was sentenced to at least 67 years in prison for crimes allegedly committed when he was 17 will be resentenced after a state appeals court ruled the punishment was unconstitutionally long.

  • August 13, 2025

    9th Circ. Greenlights Expansive Use Of Discovery Statute

    The Ninth Circuit ruled for the first time that documents produced under a foreign discovery statute may be used in proceedings other than those identified in a petition, affirming an Oregon federal court decision in an acrimonious dispute over control of a Luxembourg-based investment fund.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices Could Clarify Post-Badgerow Arbitration Jurisdiction

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    If the U.S. Supreme Court grants a certiorari petition in Jules v. Andre Balazs Properties, it could provide some welcome clarity on post-arbitration award jurisdiction, an issue lingering since the court's 2022 decision in Badgerow v. Walters, says David Pegno at Dewey Pegno.

  • A Simple Way Courts Can Help Attys Avoid AI Hallucinations

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    As attorneys increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence for legal research, courts should consider expanding online quality control programs to flag potential hallucinations — permitting counsel to correct mistakes and sparing judges the burden of imposing sanctions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl and Connors.

  • Strategies For ICE Agent Misconduct Suits In The 11th Circ.

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    Attorneys have numerous pathways to pursue misconduct claims against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the Eleventh Circuit, and they need not wait for the court to correct its misinterpretation of a Federal Tort Claims Act exception, says Lauren Bonds at the National Police Accountability Project.

  • Opinion

    SEC Should Restore Its 2020 Proxy Adviser Rule

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    Due to concerns over proxy advisers' accuracy, reliability and transparency, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should reinstate its 2020 rule designed to suppress the influence that they wield in shareholder voting, says Kyle Isakower at the American Council for Capital Formation.

  • Surveying The Changing Overdraft Fee Landscape

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    Despite recent federal moves that undermine consumer overdraft fee protections, last year’s increase in fee charges suggests banks will face continued scrutiny via litigation and state regulation, says Amanda Kurzendoerfer at Bates White.

  • What's At Stake In High Court Review Of Funds' Right To Sue

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming review of FS Credit Opportunities v. Saba Capital Master Fund, a case testing the limits of using Investment Company Act Section 47(b) to give funds a private right of action to enforce other sections of the law, could either encourage or curb similar activist investor lawsuits, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • The Evolving Legal Landscape For THC-Infused Beverages

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    A recent Eighth Circuit ruling, holding that states may restrict the sale of intoxicating hemp-derived products without violating federal law, combined with ongoing regulatory uncertainty at both the federal and state levels, could alter the trajectory of the THC-infused beverage market, say attorneys at Pashman Stein.

  • How Securities Defendants Might Use New Wire Fraud Ruling

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    Though the Second Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Chastain decision — vacating the conviction of an ex-OpenSea staffer — involved the wire fraud statute, insider trading defendants might attempt to import the ruling’s reasoning into the securities realm, says Jonathan Richman at Brown Rudnick.

  • Cos. Must Tailor Due Diligence As Trafficking Risks Increase

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    As legislators, prosecutors and plaintiffs attorneys increasingly focus on labor and sex trafficking throughout the U.S., companies must tailor their due diligence strategies to protect against forced labor trafficking risks in their supply chains, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Unpacking The Supreme Court's Views On Judgment Finality

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's June opinion in BLOM Bank SAL v. Honickman reaffirmed that the bar for reopening a final judgment remains exceptionally high — even when the movant seeks to amend their complaint based on a new legal development, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Asbestos Ruling Cements All Sums Coverage Precedent In SC

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    With its recent decision in Protopapas v. Travelers, the South Carolina Court of Appeals becomes the highest court in South Carolina to adopt the all sums allocation approach for long-tail claims, providing key appellate precedent to support policyholders' efforts to maximize their coverage, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.

  • M&A Ruling Reinforces High Bar For Aiding, Abetting Claims

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's recent decision in In re: Columbia Pipeline may slow the filing of aiding and abetting claims against third-party buyers in situations where buyers negotiate aggressively, putting buy-side dealmakers' minds at ease that they likely won't be liable for seeking the best possible deal, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Series

    Creating Botanical Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pressing and framing plants that I grow has shown me that pursuing an endeavor that brings you joy can lead to surprising benefits for a legal career, including mental clarity, perspective and even a bit of humility, says Douglas Selph at Morris Manning.

  • What To Expect As Calif. Justices Weigh Arbitration Fee Law

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    If the California Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in Hohenshelt v. Superior Court holds that the Federal Arbitration Act does not preempt the California Arbitration Act's strict fee deadlines, employers and businesses could lose the right to arbitrate over minor procedural delays, say attorneys at Bird Marella.

  • 2 Circuit Court Rulings Offer A Class Certification Primer

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    Two recent decisions from the Third and Sixth Circuits provide guidance on the rigorous analysis of predominance that courts might require for class certification, and insights into how defendants might oppose or narrow potential class actions, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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