Appellate

  • September 05, 2025

    Anthropic Agrees To Pay $1.5B To Settle AI Copyright Fight

    Leading artificial intelligence developer Anthropic has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to settle a case brought by a group of authors who accused the company of illegally using their works to train its flagship large language model, the authors told a California federal court on Friday.

  • September 05, 2025

    Ex-Mass. Trial Court Chief Justice Tapped As DA Integrity Chief

    A longtime Massachusetts superior court judge and retired chief justice of the state's trial court has been named chief of the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Integrity Review Bureau, tasked with investigating and reviewing potential wrongful convictions by the Boston-area district attorney's office.

  • September 05, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says Atty Needs Client OK To Admit Crime Elements

    The Third Circuit has upheld a New Jersey man's conviction for unlawfully possessing a firearm as a felon, ruling that his lawyer could not admit part of the crime on his behalf when the client himself objected.

  • September 05, 2025

    US Producers Urge Fed. Circ. To Reinstate Turkish Steel Duties

    Counsel for the U.S. steel industry urged the Federal Circuit on Friday to reverse the U.S. Department of Commerce's removal of duties on Turkish imports, saying those companies are directly benefitting from subsidies in the procurement of scrap steel and production of steel rebar that should warrant countervailing measures.

  • September 05, 2025

    8th Circ. Won't Revisit Crop Damage Arbitration Fight

    The Eighth Circuit has ruled that the existence of arbitration agreements for some farmland owners, who are suing over depressed crop yields in the aftermath of an Alliance Pipeline project, does not amount to grounds for the appeals court to review a decision reviving proceedings.

  • September 05, 2025

    Arnold & Porter Hires Sidley's Telecom Co-Lead In DC

    The former co-leader of Sidley Austin LLP's telecommunications and internet competition practice has joined Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP in Washington, D.C., to continue representing clients in administrative proceedings and appellate matters before federal agencies.

  • September 05, 2025

    Tribal Groups Urge Justices To Address Religious Violations

    Three Native American advocacy groups are backing a former Louisiana prisoner's U.S. Supreme Court petition for damages after guards forcibly shaved his head, arguing that the case presents issues vital to Indigenous cultural survival.

  • September 05, 2025

    DC Circ. Revives Emergency Defense Rule For Air Polluters

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday restored air pollution-emitting facilities' right to defend themselves against alleged violations of the Clean Air Act by blaming emergency circumstances, finding that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's attempt to ban the practice was unlawful.

  • September 04, 2025

    Feds Seek Stay On Court Order Releasing Foreign Aid Billions

    The Trump administration urged the D.C. Circuit on Thursday to stay a federal judge's order that it release billions in frozen foreign aid pending its appeal, saying the disbursement will likely be "impossible" to recover according to the international aid organization plaintiffs' "own description of their financial condition."

  • September 04, 2025

    11th Circ. Says 'Alligator Alcatraz' Can Stay Open For Now

    A split Eleventh Circuit Thursday paused a Florida federal judge's order that preliminarily ordered the federal government to begin winding down the immigration detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz," saying the government likely didn't need to prepare an environmental impact report for the facility built on the Florida Everglades.

  • September 04, 2025

    7th Circ. Mulls Ex-Cushman & Wakefield GC's Defamation Row

    A Seventh Circuit panel on Thursday asked an attorney for Cushman & Wakefield's former general counsel, who has alleged a Law.com article about his departure was defamatory, if there was any reasonable interpretation of the story other than his claim that it linked his termination with his handling of the firm's involvement in an investigation into President Donald Trump.

  • September 04, 2025

    Split 3rd Circ. Rejects Janssen, Bristol Myers Pricing Appeal

    A split Third Circuit panel Thursday shot down another challenge to the Medicare drug pricing negotiation, this time rejecting a consolidated appeal from Bristol Myers Squibb and Janssen and upholding a lower court's finding that the program is indeed voluntary and therefore constitutional.

  • September 04, 2025

    NJ Transit Urges Justices To Affirm Its Sovereign Immunity

    New Jersey Transit is a sovereign arm of the state of New Jersey and should be immune from out-of-state lawsuits according to U.S. Supreme Court precedent, attorneys for the agency told the justices in a brief filed Thursday.

  • September 04, 2025

    5th Circ. Ponders If Lack Of Vote Can Beget Takings Claim

    A Fifth Circuit judge pushed counsel for real estate ownership entities to explain how a Texas city council declining to grant a time extension could give rise to a claim that the state interfered with private rights, saying Thursday the city council seemingly just did nothing.

  • September 04, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms Dismissal Of Google-Apple Antitrust Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday affirmed a lower court's decision dismissing a lawsuit alleging an antitrust conspiracy between Apple and Google over search engine technology, agreeing with the lower court that a restaurant meeting between the companies' CEOs is not sufficient evidence to back up the claims. 

  • September 04, 2025

    Doc Tells 1st Circ. Acquitted Conduct Marred Drug Sentence

    A Massachusetts psychiatrist convicted over an alleged scheme to import and dispense nonapproved forms of addiction medication on Thursday told the First Circuit the trial judge wrongly ran afoul of limitations on the consideration of acquitted conduct in federal sentencings when handing him a three-year prison term.

  • September 04, 2025

    10th Circ. Ends Huffing Death Product Liability Suit

    The Tenth Circuit refused to revive a Kansas man's proposed class action seeking damages against the makers of canned compressed air after his adult son fatally inhaled their product, saying the manufacturers can't be held liable because intentionally huffing the toxic gases in the product is against state law.

  • September 04, 2025

    Calif. High Court Nixes Death Sentence Over Gang Law Shift

    The California Supreme Court on Thursday reversed the convictions of a prisoner on Death Row, saying developments in legislation and case law defining gang involvement have invalidated his death sentence.

  • September 04, 2025

    Door Maker Asks 4th Circ. To Kill Landmark Divestiture Order

    Door maker Jeld-Wen is accusing a rival who convinced a court to order a landmark divestiture as part of its antitrust case of moving the goalposts now that it's out of hot water, telling a Fourth Circuit that the forced sale is no longer necessary.

  • September 04, 2025

    Ill. Court Says Employer Immunity Bars Shovel Attack Suit

    An Illinois appellate court has upheld the dismissal of a suit seeking to hold an employer liable for injuries suffered by a worker whose coworker repeatedly hit him on the head with a shovel, saying the claims are barred by the state's workers' compensation statute.

  • September 04, 2025

    Feds Stand By $10M Medicare Fraud Conviction At 4th Circ.

    The Fourth Circuit should uphold the six-year sentence of a physician assistant who was found guilty of Medicare fraud after prosecutors said he rubber-stamped bogus prescriptions for genetic testing worth about $10 million, the government told the court.

  • September 04, 2025

    Chevron, Exxon Kick Off High Court La. Pollution Case

    Chevron and Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the Fifth Circuit's ruling that Louisiana state court, not federal court, is the proper venue for claims that their World War II-era oil production activities violated state law.

  • September 04, 2025

    Yale Hospital's Info Request Upheld In $435M Property Suit

    Three third-party hospital real estate holding companies and their corporate parent cannot challenge a decision requiring them to give records to Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. for its $435 million asset sale dispute with bankrupt Prospect Medical Holdings Inc., a Connecticut appeals court has ruled.

  • September 04, 2025

    Conn. Justices Don't Create Notice Duty For Insurance Agents

    An insurance agency had no duty to tell a Connecticut couple that their homeowners' policy was at risk of nonrenewal before an accidental fire destroyed their house, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday, affirming that it is a carrier's job to try to notify policyholders when continuation of coverage is on the line.

  • September 04, 2025

    Ga. Panel Weighs Tolling Issue In Archdiocese Abuse Cases

    An attorney urged the Georgia Court of Appeals on Thursday to overturn a trial court order freeing the Archdiocese of Atlanta, the city's current and former archbishops and a number of parish churches from a set of consolidated cases related to sexual abuse that allegedly took place from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Expert Analysis

  • If Justices Accept, Maxwell Case May Clarify Meaning Of 'US'

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    If the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to take up Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal, it could clarify the meaning of “United States” in the context of plea agreements, and a plain language interpretation of the term would offer criminal defendants fairness and finality, say attorneys at Kudman Trachten.

  • The State Of Play In Copyright Protection For Floor Plans

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    With questions over copyright protections for floor plans potentially teed up in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, attorneys in the real estate industry should take steps to clarify and strengthen clients' rights and reduce the risk of litigation, says Dylan I. Scher at Quinn Emanuel.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Teaching Yourself Legal Tech

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    New graduates often enter practice unfamiliar with even basic professional software, but budding lawyers can use on-the-job opportunities to both catch up on technological skills and explore the advanced legal and artificial intelligence tools that will open doors, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    Legacy Of 3 Justices Should Guide Transgender Rights Ruling

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    Three Republican-appointed U.S. Supreme Court justices — Anthony Kennedy, Sandra Day O'Connor and David Souter — gave rise to a jurisprudence of personal liberty that courts today invoke to protect gender-affirming care, and with the court now poised to decide U.S. v. Skrmetti, it must follow the path that they set, says Greg Fosheim at McDermott.

  • How IPR Estoppel Ruling May Clash With PTAB Landscape

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    Though the Federal Circuit's narrowing of inter partes review estoppel in Ingenico v. Ioengine might encourage more petitions, tougher standards for discretionary denial established by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office could be a counterbalancing factor, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Texas Ruling Emphasizes Limits Of Franchisors' Liability

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    The Texas Supreme Court's recent ruling in Massage Heights Franchising v. Hagman, holding that a franchisor was not liable to a customer for the actions of a franchisee's employee, helps clarify the relative roles and responsibilities of the parties in such situations — and the limits of franchisors' duty of care, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • How AI May Reshape The Future Of Adjudication

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    As discussed at a recent panel at Texas A&M, artificial intelligence will not erase the human element of adjudication in the next 10 to 20 years, but it will drive efficiencies that spur private arbiters to experiment, lead public courts to evolve and force attorneys to adapt, says Christopher Seck at Squire Patton.

  • Justices' Charter School Tie Delays Church-State Reckoning

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent deadlock in Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board v. Drummond, blocking the creation of the nation’s first religious charter school, preserved the separation of church and state for now, but offered little reassurance about its continued viability, says Jeffrey Sultanik at Fox Rothschild.

  • When Legal Advocacy Crosses The Line Into Incivility

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    As judges issue sanctions for courtroom incivility, and state bars advance formal discipline rules, trial lawyers must understand that the difference between zealous advocacy and unprofessionalism is not just a matter of tone; it's a marker of skill, credibility and potentially disciplinary exposure, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • Florida Case Could Redefine Construction Defect Damages

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    If a Florida appellate court overturns the trial court in a pending construction contract dispute, the state could experience a seismic shift in construction defect damages, effectively leaving homeowners and developers with an incomplete remedy, says Andrew Gold at Akerman.

  • 2 NY Rulings May Stem Foreign Co. Derivative Suits

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    In recent decades, shareholders have challenged the internal affairs doctrine by bringing a series of derivative actions in New York state court on behalf of foreign corporations, but the New York Court of Appeals' recent rulings in Ezrasons v. Rudd and Haussmann v. Baumann should slow that trend, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • 8th Circ. Ruling Highlights Complicated Remote Work Analysis

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    The Eighth Circuit’s recent opinion in Kuklenski v. Medtronic USA demonstrates that the applicability of employment laws to remote workers is often a fact-driven analysis, highlighting several parameters to consider when evaluating what state and local laws may apply to employees who work remotely, say attorneys at Vedder Price.

  • Class Standing Issues Still Murky After Justices Punt LabCorp

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    While litigants and district courts had hoped the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in LabCorp v. Davis would provide much-needed clarity on the interplay between Article III standing and class certification, the court's failure to rule on the issue leaves disagreement, confusion and uncertainty for stakeholders, says Erica Rutner at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Indemnity Lessons From Mass. Construction Defect Ruling

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    The Massachusetts high court's decision in Trustees of Boston University v. CHA, holding that a bespoke contractual indemnity provision means that a construction defect claim is not subject to Massachusetts' statute of repose, should spur design and construction professionals to negotiate limited provisions, says Christopher Sweeney at Conn Kavanaugh.

  • Series

    Volunteering At Schools Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Speaking to elementary school students about the importance of college and other opportunities after high school — especially students who may not see those paths reflected in their daily lives — not only taught me the importance of giving back, but also helped to sharpen several skills essential to a successful legal practice, says Guillermo Escobedo at Constangy.

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