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Appellate
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October 15, 2025
11th Circ. Leaves Hope For ESOP Suit Against Seafood Co.
The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday backed the dismissal of a proposed class action from ex-seafood company workers who claimed their employee stock ownership plan had been mismanaged, but left open the possibility that the former workers could resuscitate their suit at the trial court.
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October 15, 2025
11th Circ. Sides With Insurer In Fla. Gas Station Pollution Fight
An insurer for an owner and operator of Florida gas stations owes no coverage for pollution costs stemming from an underground fuel tank leak, the Eleventh Circuit ruled Wednesday, finding the owner failed to properly notify its insurer of a "pollution condition" that could result in an insurance claim.
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October 15, 2025
Meat Industry Fights To Defend Nix Of Slaughterhouse Rules
A meat and poultry industry group has told the Ninth Circuit it opposes green groups' challenge to the federal government's decision to rescind a Biden-era proposal that would have imposed stricter water discharge regulations on slaughtering, processing and rendering facilities.
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October 15, 2025
Wash. Panel Mulls Trimming $103M Ruling Against Nationwide
A Washington state appeals panel on Wednesday indicated it's open to cutting at least some of a $103 million judgment against insurer Nationwide over a car crash that killed three children, though the judges acknowledged they're still confused by the complicated nature of the case.
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October 15, 2025
10th Circ. Restores Asylum Grant In 10-Year Immigration Fight
A Tenth Circuit panel said a Honduran woman and her two children can remain in the U.S., ruling that the Board of Immigration Appeals misstepped when it overturned their grant of asylum for a second time in 10 years.
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October 15, 2025
Chancery 'Rewrote' $3.4B Merger Deal, J&J Tells Del. Justices
Johnson & Johnson told the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday that the Chancery Court "rewrote" its $3.4 billion agreement for the acquisition of surgical robotics firm Auris Health, wrongly using the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing to impose obligations the company never accepted.
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October 15, 2025
Fed. Circ. Again Urged To Probe Settled Expectations Rule
A nonprofit represented by former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal has thrown its weight behind the latest Federal Circuit petition challenging the USPTO's policy of denying review of patents based on the owner's "settled expectations," saying the rule is "economically harmful and legally unsound."
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October 15, 2025
Mass. Appeals Court Frees Getaway Driver From Gun Charges
A Massachusetts man cannot be tried again for unlicensed firearm possession after driving a gunman to and from shootings, since it was never clear whether the unidentified shooter he drove was licensed to carry a weapon, the state's intermediate appeals court held unanimously on Wednesday.
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October 15, 2025
Panel Weighs If Firings Centered On Chats Crossed Legal Line
A D.C. Circuit panel appeared torn Wednesday over where protected workplace activism in an employee workchat ended and fireable conduct began, in a case involving the termination of four employees from a Vermont software company over chat messages and a salary-sharing spreadsheet.
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October 15, 2025
Wash. Urges 9th Circ. To Deny GEO Detention Law Rehearing
Washington state called on the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to reject Geo Group's request that the full appellate court revisit a panel's decision siding with the state in a case challenging a new law imposing additional health and safety standards at the state's privately run immigration detention center.
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October 15, 2025
Judge Shouldn't Have Axed Lens Patent Claims, Fed. Circ. Says
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday vacated a lower court's finding that claims in two eyeglass lens patents are invalid based on a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling on different claims, saying that decision cannot stand because courts and the board use different burdens of proof.
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October 15, 2025
FERC Ignored La. LNG Terminal's Enviro Harms, DC Circ. Told
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shirked its obligation to evaluate the potential harms of a massive liquefied natural gas export terminal in Louisiana before approving its construction, environmental groups and fishermen have told the D.C. Circuit.
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October 15, 2025
Pa. Justice Criticizes Court For Passing On Pot-Smell Appeal
After hearing oral arguments and receiving briefs, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed an appeal as "improvidently granted," refusing to clarify whether a Philadelphia police chase that arose from the smell of pot smoke was legal, to the dismay of a dissenting justice.
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October 15, 2025
2nd Circ. Won't Block NY Ammo Sales Background Check Law
The Second Circuit on Wednesday decided not to block enforcement of a New York law requiring background checks for ammunition sales, finding the "mere inconveniences" of a potential delay and a $2.50 fee don't meaningfully constrain the plaintiffs' Second Amendment rights.
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October 15, 2025
Ga. Justices Stand By Holding That Runoff Fees Aren't Taxes
The Supreme Court of Georgia has for the second time ruled that a landowner can't use a constitutional challenge to get out of paying stormwater utility bills to its local government, declining Wednesday to overturn a decade-plus precedent that ruled the county was enforcing a fee rather than a tax.
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October 15, 2025
Binance Aided $125M Bitcoin Theft, Fla. Panel Told
A Dubai-based Australian man urged a Florida appeals court Wednesday to revive his lawsuit alleging Binance helped launder $125 million worth of stolen bitcoin, arguing the Sunshine State has jurisdiction over the cryptocurrency exchange.
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October 15, 2025
Patent Decisions Clearing Ford, BMW Upheld By Fed. Circ.
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive cases accusing Ford and BMW of infringing a pair of cruise control system patents, affirming how a lower court construed key claim terms when it cleared the automotive giants in the litigation.
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October 15, 2025
Colo. Urges Justices To Reject Nebraska South Platte Case
Colorado on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court not to get involved in Nebraska's claims that Colorado is failing to deliver water from the South Platte River according to the terms of an early 20th-century compact.
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October 15, 2025
IAM Fund Urges Justices To Back Pension Liability Ruling
Trustees for an International Association of Machinists pension fund urged the U.S. Supreme Court to back an appellate decision favoring the union in disputes with employers over pension plan liability, arguing federal benefits law gave a union arbitrator latitude on the methodology used to calculate the employers' withdrawal payments.
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October 15, 2025
9th Circ. Lets Alaska Flyers Redo Hawaiian Merger Case
The Ninth Circuit found that a lower court was right to toss a case from flyers and travel agents challenging the $1.9 billion merger between Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines but said they should have been given a chance to revise their allegations.
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October 15, 2025
Del. Justices Ask How Court Can Uphold Musk Pay Unwinding
A Delaware Supreme Court justice on Wednesday pressed a Tesla Inc. stockholder class attorney on how founder Elon Musk — facing a Court of Chancery strike-down of his $56 billion, multiyear compensation plan — can be "put back to the status quo ante after six years of achieving what he was asked to achieve."
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October 15, 2025
Fed. Circ. Affirms ITC Ruling That Brita Filter Patent Is Invalid
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday let stand the U.S. International Trade Commission's decision that a Brita LP water filter patent is invalid, affirming a finding that the patent wasn't adequately described and that it didn't enable someone to make the invention.
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October 15, 2025
Mich. AG Urges Justices To Leave Enbridge Suit In State Court
Michigan's attorney general has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strictly enforce the statutory deadline for transferring a case to federal court and refuse Enbridge Energy LP's entreaties to move her lawsuit seeking to shut down a pipeline out of state court.
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October 15, 2025
5th Circ. Says Union Can't Take SpaceX Case To Justices
The U.S. Supreme Court appears unlikely to get a chance to review a Fifth Circuit decision involving SpaceX that entitles the National Labor Relations Board's targets to enjoin the cases against them after the circuit court denied a union's bid to intervene to appeal the August ruling.
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October 15, 2025
Ex-Jail Officer's $1M Bias Award Miscalculated, 5th Circ. Says
A former Texas correctional officer's $1 million jury award was miscalculated for her lawsuit alleging she was terminated for taking leave because of her diabetes, hypertension and back pain, a split Fifth Circuit panel found, scrapping the award because jurors wrongly included potential future retirement benefits.
Expert Analysis
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Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures
With the recent rise of securities fraud actions based on external events — like a data breach or environmental disaster — that drive down stock prices, risk disclosures have become more of a sword for the plaintiffs bar than a shield for public companies, now the subject of a growing circuit split, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.
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How Justices' Ruling Limits Options To Challenge DHS Orders
In Riley v. Bondi, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a 30-day deadline for challenging deportation orders begins when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issues a final administrative review order, opening the door for the government to effectively bar circuit court review in future similar cases, says Kevin Gregg at Kurzban Kurzban.
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Series
Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing violin in a string quartet reminds me that flexibility, ambition, strong listening skills, thoughtful leadership and intentional collaboration are all keys to a successful legal practice, says Julie Park at MoFo.
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Purdue Case Could Transform Patent Obviousness Analyses
If accepted for review by the U.S. Supreme Court, Purdue Pharma v. Accord Healthcare — concerning whether Purdue's abuse-deterrent opioid formulation patents were invalid as obvious — could significantly shift how courts weigh secondary considerations in patent obviousness analyses, say attorneys at Lathrop.
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NM Cyber Ruling Will Spur Litigation As Coverage Remedy
In Kane v. Beazley, the New Mexico Court of Appeals recently found that a cyber liability provision insuring security breaches included coverage for funds transfer fraud, implicitly and incorrectly motivating policyholders to commence litigation to avoid contractual limitations on cyber coverages, say attorneys at Zelle.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Self-Care
Law schools don’t teach the mental, physical and emotional health maintenance tools necessary to deal with the profession's many demands, but practicing self-care is an important key to success that can help to improve focus, manage stress and reduce burnout, says Rachel Leonard at MG+M.
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Texas' Cactus Ruling Clarifies 'Produced Water' Rules
The Texas Supreme Court's decision in Cactus Water Services v. COG Operating, holding that mineral interest lessees have the rights to water extracted alongside oil and gas, should benefit industry players by clarifying the rules — but it leaves important questions about royalties unresolved, say attorneys at Yetter Coleman.
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ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'
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.
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How Political Divisions Are Stalling Pa. Energy Development
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.
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How High Court Ruling Can Aid Judgment Enforcement In US
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.
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What High Court's Tenn. Trans Care Ruling Means Nationally
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.
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Justices Rewrite Rules For Challenging Enviro Agency Actions
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.
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Series
My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer
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.
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High Court ACA Ruling May Harm Preventative Care
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.
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Opinion
Subject Matter Eligibility Test Should Return To Preemption
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.