Appellate

  • August 19, 2025

    9th Circuit Pauses Oak Flat Land Transfer Pending Appeals

    A Ninth Circuit panel has hit pause on the federal government's scheduled transfer of a centuries-old Indigenous worship site within Arizona's Tonto National Forest to a copper mining company while challenges to a multibillion-dollar proposed project play out in the appellate court.

  • August 19, 2025

    Trump's 'Abnormal' Use Of FCA Could Get Tricky In Court

    The Trump administration is wielding the False Claims Act in unusually narrow ways to drive policies on social and cultural issues — including gender-affirming care and diversity, equity and inclusion programs — but the government's potential theories of liability under the federal law remain largely untested and might not hold up in court, experts say.

  • August 19, 2025

    5th Circ. Says NLRB Structure Likely Unconstitutional

    The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday upheld injunctions barring the National Labor Relations Board from prosecuting unfair labor practice cases against SpaceX and two other companies, saying the removal protections that federal labor law gives board members and agency judges likely violate the U.S. Constitution.

  • August 18, 2025

    Ex-NY AG Immune From Malicious Prosecution Suit

    Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has immunity from a suit by a former New York City Council member claiming wrongful prosecution, a federal judge has ruled.

  • August 18, 2025

    Williams-Sonoma Loses Bid To Narrow Thread-Count Class

    A California federal judge on Monday denied Williams-Sonoma's bid to exclude certain class members from a suit alleging it misled consumers about the thread count of its bedding, finding the company did not meet its burden to establish the consumers agreed to arbitrate their claims.

  • August 18, 2025

    9th Circ. Splits Over Ore.'s Denial Of Christian Youth Grants

    A split Ninth Circuit panel on Monday largely upheld a lower court's refusal to preliminarily block Oregon's requirement that recipients of certain youth grants agree not to discriminate on the basis of religion, though it also said the rule is unconstitutional if it restricts any initiatives that aren't tied to the grants.

  • August 18, 2025

    Monsanto Reaches Terms To Settle Wash. School PCB Torts

    Monsanto has come to tentative settlement terms to end claims from roughly 200 people who say they developed various health problems from chemical contamination at a Washington state school site, parent company Bayer AG said Monday.

  • August 18, 2025

    Farmer Didn't Own Cow Woman Crashed Into, Panel Says

    An Illinois state appeals court has affirmed the dismissal of a suit seeking to hold a farmer and his farm liable for injuries suffered by a motorist who hit a stray cow, saying the evidence showed that the farmer did not own the cow in question.

  • August 18, 2025

    College And Students Take Texas Dream Act Suit To 5th Circ.

    A Texas federal judge has ruled that bids by a state community college and a student association to intervene in a suit challenging a Texas law allowing in-state tuition for unauthorized immigrants would be "legally futile," prompting their appeal to the Fifth Circuit.

  • August 18, 2025

    4th Circ. Revives Ethylene Oxide Suit Against Union Carbide

    A split Fourth Circuit on Monday revived a West Virginia woman's lawsuit alleging that a Union Carbide Corp.- and Covestro LLC-owned plant exposed nearby residents to ethylene oxide, finding that a lower court erred in siding with the companies.

  • August 18, 2025

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Executives and board members of Cencora Corp. tentatively settled a stockholder derivative suit for $111.25 million, VectoIQ board members reached a $6.3 million deal on stockholder claims over electric carmaker Nikola's prospects, and class attorneys who secured a $50 million derivative suit settlement saw their proposed 25% attorney fee cut by almost half. Here's the latest from the Delaware Chancery Court.

  • August 18, 2025

    Age Act Doesn't Cover UC Residency Bid, 9th Circ. Affirms

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday affirmed a district court's decision to grant summary judgment to the Regents of the University of California in an age discrimination suit brought by a medical residency applicant, holding that selecting medical residents is an employment practice not covered by the Age Discrimination Act.

  • August 18, 2025

    Pa. Court Affirms $7.3M Verdict To Man Hit By SEPTA Train

    A split Pennsylvania appeals panel on Monday upheld a $7.3 million jury verdict in a suit accusing a construction company of negligently causing a subcontract worker to get hit by a SEPTA train while working, saying the company can't be considered the man's employer for purposes of workers compensation immunity.

  • August 18, 2025

    Gas Cos. Tell DC Circ. Russia Must Face $34M Award Suit

    Ukrainian gas companies seeking enforcement of a $34 million arbitral award against Russia have asked the D.C. Circuit to reject the Kremlin's sovereign immunity defense, saying the appeals court has already determined that argument lacks merit.

  • August 18, 2025

    Tribe, Groups Appeal Oak Flat Land Exchange To 9th Circ.

    The San Carlos Apache Tribe and environmental groups have filed a Ninth Circuit appeal looking to overturn an Arizona federal court judge's decision that denied their bid to block the transfer of 2,500 acres to a copper mining company that they say will crater an ancient Indigenous worship site.

  • August 18, 2025

    10th Circ. Says Mixed Police Motive Permits Drug Evidence

    A man sentenced to six years in prison for crimes related to drug trafficking crimes couldn't have evidence found in his car suppressed, the Tenth Circuit has affirmed, finding that police had the right to impound his vehicle after stopping him for having a car that was too loud and arresting him for outstanding misdemeanors.

  • August 18, 2025

    11th Circ. Revives Speech Suit Against Fla. Superintendent

    The Eleventh Circuit on Friday revived part of a man's First Amendment suit against a Florida school superintendent for ordering him removed from a school board meeting, ruling that the superintendent had not shown she was entitled to qualified immunity.

  • August 18, 2025

    Wash. High Court OKs Gun Rights Restoration In State Courts

    The Washington Supreme Court will allow trial courts across the state to hear firearms rights restoration claims from citizens who were previously convicted of a felony, reversing a state appeals court and rebuffing the state Legislature's attempt to restrict such claims.

  • August 18, 2025

    Del. Justices Reject CVS Bid For Opioid Claim Insurance

    CVS Corp. lost its bid on Monday for Delaware Supreme Court reversal of a lower court ruling rejecting the healthcare giant's argument that insurers should cover government, hospital and third-party payer claims for economic losses related to the company's opioid dispensing practices.

  • August 18, 2025

    $28M ND Pipeline Protest Case Paused Amid Settlement Talks

    A federal district court and the Eighth Circuit have paused a $28 million dispute between North Dakota and the United States over failure to control Dakota Access Pipeline protesters after the parties said they were negotiating to settle the case.

  • August 18, 2025

    Cannabis Interests Challenging Federal Pot Ban Get Extension

    The U.S. Supreme Court has said that marijuana companies challenging the federal ban on cannabis can have until October to submit their petition for a writ of certiorari.

  • August 18, 2025

    DC Circ. Stays District Court's Pause Of Expedited Removals

    The D.C. Circuit on Monday stayed a district court order that paused the Trump administration's ability to subject noncitizens paroled into the U.S. to expedited removal proceedings.

  • August 18, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says IRS Can Pursue Taxes In Decades-Old Fraud

    The IRS can go after a woman's unpaid taxes more than 20 years later because her return preparer committed fraud on her filings, even though the woman did not mean to evade taxes, the Third Circuit ruled Monday.

  • August 18, 2025

    2nd Circ. Partially Reopens Grocery Chain 401(k) Fee Suit

    The Second Circuit partially revived a proposed class action Monday against a Northeastern U.S. grocery chain alleging mismanagement of an employee 401(k) plan, finding a lower court wrongly tossed some allegations in the suit for failure to state a claim.

  • August 18, 2025

    RI, Wash. Say 2nd Circ. Dormant Commerce Pot Ruling Is Inapt

    Officials from Rhode Island and Washington state have said in separate letters to federal circuit courts that the Second Circuit's determination last week that the Constitution's dormant commerce clause applied to marijuana should not affect their pending appeals in related cases.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator

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    Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.

  • How Latest High Court Rulings Refine Employment Law

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    The 2024-2025 U.S. Supreme Court term did not radically rewrite employment law, but sharpened focus on textual fidelity, procedural rigor and the boundaries of statutory relief, say attorneys at Krevolin & Horst.

  • Calif. Air Waivers Fight Fuels Automakers', States' Uncertainty

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    The unprecedented attempt by Congress and the Trump administration to kill the Clean Air Act waivers supporting California's vehicle emissions standards will eventually end up in the U.S. Supreme Court — but meanwhile, vehicle manufacturers, and states following California's standards, are left in limbo, says John Watson at Spencer Fane.

  • Diversity, Equity, Indictment? Contractor Risks After Kousisis

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Kousisis v. U.S. decision, holding that economic loss is not required to sustain wire fraud charges related to fraudulent inducement, may extend criminal liability to government contractors that make false diversity, equity and inclusion certifications, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Navigating Client Trauma

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    Law schools don't train students to handle repeated exposure to clients' traumatic experiences, but for litigators practicing in areas like civil rights and personal injury, success depends on the ability to view cases clinically and to recognize when you may need to seek help, says Katie Bennett at Robins Kaplan.

  • 9th Circ. Customs Ruling A Limited Win For FCA Plaintiffs

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    While the decision last month in Island Industries v. Sigma may be welcome news for False Claims Act relators, under binding precedent courts within the Ninth Circuit still do not have jurisdiction to adjudicate customs-based FCA claims pursued by the government, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • Quantifying Trading-Based Damages Using Price Impact

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will likely increasingly rely on price impact analyses to demonstrate pecuniary harm from trading-related misconduct, meaning measuring price impact will be helpful in challenging SEC disgorgement, determining appropriate remedies, and assessing loss causation and damages in private litigation, says Vyacheslav Fos at Boston College and Erin Smith at Compass Lexecon.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • How McKesson Ruling Will Inform Interpretations Of The TCPA

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    Amid the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, we can expect to see both plaintiffs and defendants utilizing the decision to revisit the Federal Communications Commission's past Telephone Consumer Protection Act interpretations and decisions they did not like, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.

  • Justices Rethink Minimum Contacts For Foreign Entities

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    Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Devas v. Antrix and Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization, suggest that federal statutes may confer personal jurisdiction over foreign entities that have little to no contact with the U.S. — a significant departure from traditional due process principles, says Gary Shaw at Pillsbury.

  • Opinion

    High Court Must Overrule Outdated Patent Eligibility Doctrine

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    A certiorari petition should directly ask the U.S. Supreme Court to correct its 1972 patent decision in Gottschalk v. Benson, the critical point where patent eligibility law veered from the statutory text toward judicial policymaking, says Robert Greenspoon at Dunlap Bennett.

  • Examining TCPA Jurisprudence A Year After Loper Bright

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    One year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, lower court decisions demonstrate that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act will continue to evolve as long-standing interpretations of the act are analyzed with a fresh lens, says Aaron Gallardo at Kilpatrick.

  • Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures

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    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.

  • How Justices' Ruling Limits Options To Challenge DHS Orders

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    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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