Appellate

  • October 07, 2025

    6th Circ. OKs Contested Deal In Foreclosure Class Action

    The Sixth Circuit on Monday affirmed the approval of a contested settlement to resolve claims that 43 Michigan counties illegally kept the proceeds from the sales of tax-foreclosed properties, although one judge's concurrence said he did so "with the greatest reluctance."

  • October 07, 2025

    DC, 18 States Back Campaign Spending Caps At High Court

    The District of Columbia and 18 states urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday not to lift caps on the amount political parties may spend in coordination with candidates for federal office, saying state-level campaign finance regulations could be destabilized.

  • October 07, 2025

    Drug Tax Outdoes Biblical Punishment, 5th Circ. Judge Says

    A Fifth Circuit panel pressed the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to justify the basis for the Medicare drug pricing program's steep excise tax, asking Tuesday whether the government had ever levied a higher tax in the nation's history.

  • October 07, 2025

    NY Appeals Court Nixes Chris Cuomo's Arbitrator Bias Claim

    Ex-CNN anchor Chris Cuomo on Tuesday could not convince a New York appeals court to revive his bid to disqualify the JAMS arbitrator overseeing his $125 million unlawful termination claim against CNN due to the arbitrator's representation of the news network more than two decades ago.

  • October 07, 2025

    Developer Wants Permit Fee Suit Against Miami Revived

    A developer on Tuesday asked a Florida appeals court to revive its claims against the city of Miami for allegedly overcharging builders permit and inspection fees, saying the city's unlawful carrying forward of the excess funds violates a state law limiting these actions.

  • October 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Rejects 'Kitchen Sink' Challenge To Vaccine Mandate

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Monday upheld a lower court's rejection of a lawsuit brought by dozens of former employees of a nonprofit healthcare system who claimed Washington state's requirement that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 violated their statutory and constitutional rights.

  • October 07, 2025

    DC Circ. Denies Biotech Co.'s Nasdaq Delisting Appeal

    Chinese biotech Shineco Inc. has lost its bid to block its delisting from the Nasdaq in the D.C. Circuit, which didn't buy its argument the federal government's shutdown prevented the company from petitioning the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission directly for relief.

  • October 07, 2025

    Colo. Panel Weighs School's Liability In 2019 Shooting

    Colorado appellate judges on Tuesday asked attorneys representing the parents of a student who was killed during a school shooting and the school itself how to interpret a state law that allows schools to be held liable for school shootings.

  • October 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Tosses Sporting Goods Co. Suit Against Ex-Landlord

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday backed the dismissal of a sporting goods retailer's suit against its former landlord, which was accused of wrongfully charging the retailer with monthly fee invoices even after the retailer left the location it was renting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • October 07, 2025

    Senate Confirms 2 DOJ Nominees, 16 US Attys

    The U.S. Senate voted 51-47 Tuesday, along party lines, to confirm a slew of nominees for the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • October 07, 2025

    Lawmakers, States Back Tribes In Supreme Court Voting Case

    A bipartisan group of 10 current and former members of Congress and 22 states have supported two North Dakota tribes in their U.S. Supreme Court bid to overturn an Eighth Circuit order that prohibits suits against states for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

  • October 07, 2025

    Fla. High Court Told Law Bars Insurer Suit Against Condo

    A condominium association told the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday that an insurer can't sue for damages to an owner's unit, arguing a 2021 state law that went into effect provided immunity from a negligence lawsuit stemming from a policy claim brought afterward. 

  • October 07, 2025

    Ex-Executives' Payroll Tax Convictions Biased, 4th Circ. Told

    Two former software executives asked the Fourth Circuit to reverse their criminal convictions stemming from their failure to pay employment taxes, claiming the jury's instructions were biased.

  • October 07, 2025

    EMS Workers Tell 4th Circ. NC County Owes Them Wages

    Emergency medical services workers argued that a North Carolina county created a "mathematical impossibility" when it calculated their wages, urging the Fourth Circuit to flip a federal court's ruling that the county didn't owe them anything despite having violated federal law.

  • October 07, 2025

    10th Circ. Rejects Colombian Family's Asylum Appeal

    A Tenth Circuit panel said Tuesday that four Colombian family members failed to show that death threats made by allies of a narcotics trafficking group's leader amounted to persecution or stemmed from protected political activities, and refused to revisit rulings denying their bid for asylum.

  • October 07, 2025

    Justices Probe Standard Of Care In 'Conversion Therapy' Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday wrestled with whether gay "conversion" therapy banned by a Colorado law is a medical treatment that falls outside the accepted standard of care, or whether it's protected First Amendment speech.

  • October 07, 2025

    2nd Circ. Rules Inmates Not Entitled To Specific Gender Care

    A Second Circuit panel has overturned a transgender inmate's partial win in a lawsuit against prison officials in Connecticut over allegedly inadequate gender dysphoria treatment, holding that the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity and that "inmates have no clearly established right to be treated by gender-dysphoria specialists" or receive specific treatments for the condition.

  • October 07, 2025

    Gov't, Gun Defendant Urge Justices Not To 'Double-Punish'

    The government and a New York man convicted in a fatal robbery both asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to rule that subjecting defendants to separate sentences stemming from a single deadly federal firearm offense is a double-jeopardy violation.

  • October 07, 2025

    Calif. Court Has Change Of Heart On Juror Challenge Question

    A California state appeals court has changed its mind on its own precedent governing when prosecutors can use a peremptory challenge to dismiss a non-white juror from a case, finding a "lack of life experience" can be good reason to dismiss a juror and affirming a man's life sentence

  • October 07, 2025

    Texas Court Overturns Forfeiture Verdict For Lack Of Evidence

    A Texas appellate panel on Tuesday reversed a civil-forfeiture judgment and ordered state officials to return nearly $42,000 in cash that sheriff's deputies seized from a driver, saying there was no direct evidence that he would have spent the money on illegal drugs.

  • October 07, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Rehear J&J Investor Cert. Appeal

    The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit declined Tuesday to reconsider backing a New Jersey federal judge's class certification order in a Johnson & Johnson investor action alleging the company artificially inflated its stock price by failing to disclose cancer risks.

  • October 07, 2025

    Duke Gas Rate Increase Was Improper, Ohio High Court Hears

    Duke Energy's Ohio utility shouldn't be allowed to collect $17 million from ratepayers to cover now-shuttered underground caverns used to store propane, the state's utility consumer advocate told the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday.

  • October 07, 2025

    Approach The Bench: Judge Kaplan On Suit Against The Gov't

    U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Elaine Kaplan's docket doesn't always garner attention in the same way trial court cases do, but that may change as the executive branch makes sweeping budget and policy changes that could lend more political significance to monetary claims against the government.

  • October 07, 2025

    Siemens Worker Asks 3rd Circ. To Save 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

    A Siemens Corp. employee urged the Third Circuit to reopen his lawsuit alleging the company violated federal benefits law by using forfeited retirement funds to cover its own contributions rather than plan expenses, arguing a lower court lost sight of his specific allegations when it tossed the case.

  • October 07, 2025

    EMTs Appeal Losses Ahead Of False Death Declaration Trial

    First responders facing trial for declaring a woman dead, only for a funeral home to discover she was alive, are urging a Michigan state appeals court to review what they say are "contradictory legal frameworks" imposed by a judge ahead of trial.

Expert Analysis

  • ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'

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    The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • How Political Divisions Are Stalling Pa. Energy Development

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    Despite possessing the nation's second-largest natural gas reserves and a legacy of energy infrastructure, Pennsylvania faces a fragmented and politically charged path to developing the energy resources it will need in the future, thanks to legislative gridlock, divided public opinion and competing energy interests, says Andrew Levine at Stradley Ronon.

  • How High Court Ruling Can Aid Judgment Enforcement In US

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    In CC/Devas (Mauritius) v. Antrix, a unanimous U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that only two steps are required to keep a foreign sovereign in federal court, making it a little easier for investors to successfully bring foreign states and sovereign-owned and -controlled entities into U.S. courts, says Kristie Blase at Felicello Law.

  • What High Court's Tenn. Trans Care Ruling Means Nationally

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in U.S. v. Skrmetti, upholding a Tennessee ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors, is fairly limited in scope and closely tailored to the specific language of Tennessee's law, but it may have implications for challenges to similar laws in other states, say attorneys at Hall Render.

  • Justices Rewrite Rules For Challenging Enviro Agency Actions

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    Three recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings — Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas, Oklahoma v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and EPA v. Calumet Shreveport Refining — form a jurisprudential watershed in administrative and environmental law, affirming statutory standing and venue provisions as the backbone of coherent judicial review, say attorneys at GableGotwals.

  • Series

    My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.

  • High Court ACA Ruling May Harm Preventative Care

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Kennedy v. Braidwood last week, ruling that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary has authority over an Affordable Care Act preventive care task force, risks harming the credibility of the task force and could open the door to politicians dictating clinical recommendations, says Michael Kolber at Manatt.

  • Opinion

    Subject Matter Eligibility Test Should Return To Preemption

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    Subject matter eligibility has posed challenges for patentees due to courts' arbitrary and confusing reasoning, but adopting a two-part preemption test could align the applicant, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the courts, says Manav Das at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

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    Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

  • Kousisis Concurrence Maps FCA Defense To Anti-DEI Suits

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    Justice Clarence Thomas' recent concurrence in Kousisis v. U.S. lays out how federal funding recipients could use the high standard for materiality in government fraud cases to fight the U.S. Justice Department’s threatened False Claims Act suits against payees deviating from the administration’s anti-DEI policies, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Justices' Review Of Fluor May Alter Gov't Contractor Liability

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to review Hencely v. Fluor, a case involving a soldier’s personal injury claims against a government contractor, suggests the justices could reconsider a long-standing test for determining whether contractors are shielded from state-tort liability, says Lisa Himes at Rogers Joseph.

  • Google Damages Ruling Offers Lessons For Testifying Experts

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in EcoFactor v. Google represents a shift in how courts evaluate expert testimony in patent cases, offering a practical guide for how litigators and testifying experts can refine their work, says Adam Rhoten at Secretariat.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

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    Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.

  • One Year On, Davidson Holds Lessons On 'Health Halo' Claims

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    A year after the Ninth Circuit's Davidson v. Sprout Foods decision — which raised the bar for so-called health halo claims — food and beverage companies can draw insights from its finding, subsequently expanded on by other courts, that plaintiffs must be specific when alleging fraud in healthfulness marketing, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Justices' NRC Ruling Raises New Regulatory Questions

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    In Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court avoided ruling on the NRC's authority to license private, temporary nuclear waste storage facilities — and this failure to reach the merits question creates new regulatory uncertainty where none had existed for decades, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

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