Appellate

  • July 03, 2025

    What Judges Might Ponder In Judicial Safety Law Challenge

    A Third Circuit panel set to examine the constitutionality of a judicial safety law born out of the murder of a New Jersey federal judge's son is tasked with what experts are viewing as a lesser-of-two-evils choice: chilling free speech or chilling public service.

  • July 03, 2025

    Mich. Justices Turn Down Challenge To Med Mal Damage Cap

    Michigan's highest court won't weigh in on the constitutionality of the state's caps on medical malpractice awards, rejecting a federal district court's certified question Thursday.

  • July 03, 2025

    What To Watch In Mass. Courts In The Second Half Of 2025

    Massachusetts courts should be busy through the second half of 2025, with litigation against the Trump administration playing a starring role at both the state and federal level. Here are some of the key cases and issues that attorneys are monitoring.

  • July 03, 2025

    7th Circ. Backs Firing Of Counselor Over Anti-Trans Speech

    The Seventh Circuit upheld the Milwaukee public school district's win over a former counselor's suit claiming she was unlawfully fired for speaking at an anti-trans rally, saying the district reasonably concluded that her expletive-laden public remarks didn't mesh with her professional responsibilities.

  • July 03, 2025

    The Firms That Won Big At The Supreme Court

    The number of law firms juggling three or more arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this past term nearly doubled from the number of firms that could make that claim last term.

  • July 03, 2025

    Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

    The U.S. Supreme Court once again waited until the term's closing weeks — and even hours — to issue some of its most anticipated and divided decisions.

  • July 03, 2025

    5th Circ. Won't Revive Singer's TM Claims Against Bandmates

    The Fifth Circuit has declined to revive a case between the former members of the R&B group Jade, saying the Lanham Act claims brought by one member aren't supported when they are against co-owners of a trademark.

  • July 03, 2025

    The Biggest Rulings From Mass. High Court So Far In 2025

    Massachusetts' top court has tackled a controversial housing initiative, the thorny issue of qualified immunity for public employees and even a high-profile murder case in the first six months of 2025.

  • July 03, 2025

    Justices To Probe NJ Transit Cases Over Sovereign Immunity

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to consider whether New Jersey Transit Corp. is entitled to sovereign immunity from private lawsuits, taking an opportunity to smooth out conflicting state court rulings concerning the scope of the public transportation operator's liability for accidents.

  • July 03, 2025

    Justices Clarify Question Underlying Withdrawal Liability Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court clarified the question presented in a case it recently agreed to take up over the methodology for calculating businesses' liability for pulling out of multiemployer pension plans.

  • July 03, 2025

    Supreme Court Takes Up Transgender Sports Bans

    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Thursday to hear challenges to West Virginia and Idaho laws barring transgender athletes from competing on sports teams consistent with their gender identity, putting yet more anti-trans legislation to the test after upholding Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors this term. 

  • July 02, 2025

    NCAA, NASCAR Antitrust Challenges Permeate 2025's 1st Half

    The first half of 2025 saw the dispute between NASCAR and two of its teams become supercharged and a judge give final approval to the disputed settlement for the NCAA name, image and likeness antitrust litigation.

  • July 02, 2025

    The Biggest Patent Rulings Of 2025: A Midyear Report

    A ruling by the full Federal Circuit invited greater scrutiny of patent damages testimony, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's acting director established new criteria for rejecting patent challenges. Here's a look at the top patent decisions from the first half of 2025.

  • July 02, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds Sutter Health's Win In Doc's Kickback Suit

    The Ninth Circuit refused to revive a gastroenterologist's constitutional challenge against Sutter Health alleging the nonprofit paid kickbacks to its physicians to refer low-income patients to other hospitals, ruling Wednesday the appellant lacks evidence of purported kickbacks and doesn't address how the alleged injury to those patients harmed him. 

  • July 02, 2025

    Charter Company On The Hook For Bruce Willis Flight Mishap

    A Texas appeals court panel on Wednesday mostly kept intact a decision finding a private jet company tasked with transporting Bruce Willis on the hook for repairs after the plane had problems starting, saying that contract language made the company responsible for repairs.

  • July 02, 2025

    Trump Asks Justices To Pause CPSC Members' Reinstatement

    The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to stay a Maryland federal court's ruling that the president's removal of three U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission members was unlawful, while the commissioners argue they should be allowed to continue serving through the government's appeal.

  • July 02, 2025

    Pa. Court Rejects Concealed Carry Constitutional Challenge

    In yet another decision clarifying the state's gun laws, the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that although a 19-year-old convicted of having a firearm in his car illegally couldn't obtain a concealed carry license due to his age, state licensing requirements did not violate his Second Amendment rights.

  • July 02, 2025

    Vax Maker Ends Appeal After Stewart Halts Patent Ax Sanction

    After the acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office last month undid her predecessor's decision canceling all the claims of five Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics LLC patents as a sanction for misconduct, the company dropped its appeal in the case Wednesday.

  • July 02, 2025

    11th Circ. Won't Revive Disney Workers' COVID Vax Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit refused to revive a discrimination suit by former Disney employees over the company's COVID-19 vaccine mandate and augmented protocols requiring unvaccinated workers to socially distance and wear masks, ruling Wednesday the appellants never made religious objections to those protocols and never sought religious-based accommodations. 

  • July 02, 2025

    2nd Circ. Affirms NY Court Can't Nix Swiss Arbitration Loss

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday affirmed that an arbitral award issued by a Swiss tribunal to a Singapore company in a dispute over a medical imaging joint venture cannot be vacated in New York, concluding in a published opinion that the court lacks the power to do so.

  • July 02, 2025

    2nd Circ. Reinstates FIFA Bribery Convictions

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday reinstated two conspiracy convictions linked to the FIFA bribery scandal, saying a former 21st Century Fox executive and a company that brokers media rights for major tournaments weren't absolved by new U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

  • July 02, 2025

    Drugmaker Escapes Suit As Deceased Found To Be Negligent

    A medication manufacturer can't be held liable for the death of a woman who suffered a heart attack after using a drug designed only for those with asthma and potentially fatal to those without, a North Carolina appeals court ruled Wednesday in a published opinion, saying the death was caused by the failure of the woman and her boyfriend to read the label.

  • July 02, 2025

    Fla. Man Gets $1.7M For 34-Yr Wrongful Incarceration

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Tuesday that will provide $1.7 million in compensation to a man wrongfully convicted of armed robbery who served 34 years in prison before his release in 2023.

  • July 02, 2025

    Fla. Panel Says Shooting Suspect Had Right To Atty Violated

    A state appeals court in Florida on Tuesday ruled that a man convicted of first-degree murder must get a new trial because his trial court judge allowed evidence from a police interview that occurred after police ignored the man's repeated requests for an attorney.

  • July 02, 2025

    Unions Say Halt Of Parole Is Spreading Chaos In Workplaces

    A coalition of labor unions has told the First Circuit that the abrupt termination of Biden-era humanitarian parole programs is generating "chaos in American workplaces," as workers lose their work authorization and employers are left in the lurch.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Brazilian Jiujitsu Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in Brazilian jiujitsu – often against opponents who are much larger and younger than me – has allowed me to develop a handful of useful skills that foster the resilience and adaptability necessary for a successful legal career, says Tina Dorr of Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Fed. Circ. Offers Lesson On Gov't Data Rights In Contracts

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in FlightSafety v. Air Force serves as a warning for U.S. Department of Defense contractors attempting to mark their commercial technical data developed at private expense, say attorneys at Butzel Long.

  • Birthright Ruling Could Alter Consumer Financial Litigation

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming decision about the validity of the nationwide injunctions in the birthright citizenship cases, argued on May 15, could make it much harder for trade associations to obtain nationwide relief from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's enforcement of invalid regulations, says Alan Kaplinsky at Ballard Spahr.

  • Fed. Circ. In April: Introducing New Evidence During IPR

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    The Federal Circuit's decision in Sage Products v. Stewart last month upheld the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decision to allow a petitioner to rely on case-dispositive evidence beyond prior art references, affording petitioners in inter partes review proceedings greater latitude in the timing of evidence presentation, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • 1st Circ. Ruling Widens Split Over Sentencing Enhancements

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    In U.S. v. Salvador-Gutierrez, the First Circuit recently switched sides in a circuit split by holding that certain sentencing enhancements apply only where the defendant used a minor in the commission of the crime, deepening a divide over the scope of role adjustments, says Sarah Sulkowski at Gelber & Santillo.

  • A Cautionary Fed. Circ. Tale On Design Patents

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    The Federal Circuit's decision last month in Floyd highlights a risk in design patent prosecution — attempting to claim priority to a utility application, says John Hemmer at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: An Untapped Source For Biz Roles

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    Law firms looking to recruit legal business talent should consider turning to paralegals, who practice several key skills every day that prepare them to thrive in marketing and client development roles, says Vanessa Torres at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Google Case Amicus Briefs Reveal Patent Damage Fault Lines

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    The 21 amicus briefs filed before the en banc rehearing of EcoFactor v. Google offer opposing viewpoints on important patent damages issues that extend beyond the specific question the Federal Circuit eventually ruled on, helping practitioners anticipate and address likely objections to future damages opinions, say attorneys at Stout.

  • Using Federal Forum Provisions To Nix State Securities Cases

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    A California appeals court's recent decision in Bullock v. Rivian clarifies that underwriters may enforce federal forum provisions to escape state court Securities Act claims, marking progress in restoring such lawsuits to federal court and reducing the litigation costs arising from duplicative state court litigation, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • 30 Years Later: 2nd Circ.'s Road To Arbitral Preemption

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    The Second Circuit's recent decision in Lloyds of London v. 3131 Veterans Blvd. overturns its own 1995 precedent and squares its position with decades of circuit court jurisprudence holding that international arbitration agreements must take primacy over state anti-arbitration insurance laws, say attorneys at Linklaters.

  • Series

    Playing Poker Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Poker is a master class in psychology, risk management and strategic thinking, and I’m a better attorney because it has taught me to read my opponents, adapt when I’m dealt the unexpected and stay patient until I'm ready to reveal my hand, says Casey Kingsley at McCreadyLaw.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Becoming A Firmwide MVP

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    Though lawyers don't have a neat metric like baseball players for measuring the value they contribute to their organizations, the sooner new attorneys learn skills frequently skipped in law school — like networking, marketing, client development and case evaluation — the more valuable, and less replaceable, they will be, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Clarifies Derivative Suit Representation Test

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    The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in Bigfoot Ventures v. Knighton clarifies the test used to assess the adequacy of a plaintiff's representation in a shareholder derivative action, and will likely prove useful to litigants by ensuring that courts can fully examine all relevant circumstances, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Patenting AI And Machine Learning In The Wake Of Recentive

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    Though the Federal Circuit's recent decision in Recentive Analytics v. Fox Corp. initially appears to doom patents related to artificial intelligence and machine learning, a closer look shows that strategies for successfully drafting and prosecuting such patents offer hope despite increased pushback from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, say attorneys at Banner Witcoff.

  • Age Bias Suit Against Aircraft Co. Offers Lessons For Layoffs

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    In Raymond v. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, an aircraft maker's former employees recently dismissed their remaining claims after the Tenth Circuit rejected their nearly decade-old collective action alleging age discrimination stemming from a 2013 reduction in force, reminding employers about the importance of carefully planning and documenting mass layoffs, say attorneys at Cooley.

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