Appellate

  • April 17, 2026

    4th Circ. Says Merrill Bonus Plan Exempt From ERISA

    The Fourth Circuit on Friday refused to revive an ex-Merrill financial adviser's proposed class action claiming he was shorted deferred compensation, backing a lower court's holding that the retention bonuses at issue were exempt from federal benefits law.

  • April 17, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Reverses $18M Penile Implant Trade Secrets Win

    In a unanimous precedential decision, the Federal Circuit on Friday largely reversed a California jury's $18.3 million trade secrets verdict over a penile implant, holding that the asserted secrets were already publicly disclosed or generally known and therefore not protectable.

  • April 17, 2026

    High Court Sends La. Pollution Suit To Federal Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday said that pollution lawsuits against Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron in Louisiana belong in federal court, agreeing with the companies that their World War II-era oil production in the state was federal in nature.

  • April 16, 2026

    2nd Circ. Says Animal Groups Can't Challenge Swine Rule

    The Second Circuit on Thursday held that a trio of animal welfare groups don't have the standing to fight the U.S. Department of Agriculture's revised practices for inspecting pigs at slaughterhouses, ruling that none of the groups have shown they are likely to be harmed by the rule.

  • April 16, 2026

    Judiciary Panel Loves Paralegal's Idea To Modernize Briefs

    An Arizona paralegal's unsolicited idea for overhauling a procedural rule governing the format of briefs found a surprisingly enthusiastic audience Thursday at a federal judiciary meeting, where prominent officials and attorneys voiced strong interest and agreed to explore the concept in earnest.

  • April 16, 2026

    DC Circ. Ponders If FERC Mistakenly Rejected PJM Deal

    PJM transmission owners faced a skeptical D.C. Circuit Thursday, as aside from saying their arguments were properly preserved in an appeal of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejecting a plan they worked out with regional grid operator PJM Interconnection, they also had to defend the arguments themselves.

  • April 16, 2026

    9th Circ. Judge Rips 'Sophistry' By Online Prediction Markets

    A Ninth Circuit judge appeared skeptical Thursday of requests by KalshiEX LLC, Crypto.com and Robinhood to block Nevada from enforcing state gambling laws against sports and election-related contracts, telling Robinhood's counsel "I don't buy" the companies' regulatory interpretation and slamming a Crypto.com argument as "sophistry to the nth degree."

  • April 16, 2026

    Ex-ByteDance Exec Fights Perjury Sanction At 9th Circ.

    A former ByteDance executive urged the Ninth Circuit Thursday to revive a suit he filed against the TikTok owner after he was fired, saying the case should've been heard in state court and a federal judge had no jurisdiction to order terminating sanctions after finding he perjured himself.

  • April 16, 2026

    Wis. Supreme Court Upholds Pabst Asbestos Verdict

    The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a verdict in favor of the estate of a steamfitter exposed to asbestos through his work at a Pabst Brewing Co. brewery, saying Wednesday that the company still owed a duty of care to employees of independent contractors, but capped punitive damages to about $4.65 million.

  • April 16, 2026

    High Seas Drug Enforcement Constitutional, 11th Circ. Says

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday rejected a constitutional challenge to the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act by three drug traffickers who were picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard off the coast of the Dominican Republic, citing binding precedent that the felonies clause of the U.S. Constitution authorizes their prosecution.

  • April 16, 2026

    Ga. Appeals Court Weighs Safety Duty In Lineman's Burn Suit

    A power lineman told a Georgia appeals court Thursday that an engineering company he says caused him injury by failing to ensure a worksite feeder line was de-energized should face his lawsuit alleging the company had an obligation to keep him safe.

  • April 16, 2026

    NY Appeals Court Orders Competency Check In Gun Case

    A man convicted of possessing an untraceable gun should have been reexamined for competency and potentially prevented from representing himself after repeatedly making nonsensical legal statements that sounded like what an attorney might say but did not relate at all to the case, a New York state appeals court found.

  • April 16, 2026

    US, Okla. Tribes Fight DAs' Stay Bid In Jurisdiction Row

    Three tribal nations and the federal government are asking a district court to reject a request by two Oklahoma district attorneys to stay a jurisdictional challenge until another dispute with a Tulsa County prosecutor is resolved by the Tenth Circuit, arguing that the appeal is not likely to prevail.

  • April 16, 2026

    9th Circ. Says Security Officer's Firing OK For Court Review

    The Ninth Circuit found Thursday that it was fair game for a jury to consider whether a nuclear facility manager illegally fired a security officer due to his prescription opioid use, ruling the revocation of his fitness-for-duty certification didn't amount to a security clearance decision blocked from judicial review.

  • April 16, 2026

    6th Circ. Asks Retirees To Answer Mortality Data Suit Redo Bid

    The Sixth Circuit on Thursday asked participants in Kellogg and FedEx pension plans to respond to the companies' bids for reconsideration of the court's decision to revive their lawsuits alleging benefits were miscalculated because the plans used outdated mortality data.

  • April 16, 2026

    Brita Filter Labels Don't Dupe Consumers, 9th Circ. Affirms

    A reasonable consumer would not expect a low-cost Brita filter to remove or reduce all common tap water contaminants to below lab detectable limits, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday, affirming the dismissal of a consumer's proposed false advertising class action against the manufacturer.

  • April 16, 2026

    5th Circ. To Hear Amazon Challenge To Warehouse Union Vote

    Amazon and a Teamsters affiliate must present to the Fifth Circuit their competing challenges to a National Labor Relations Board decision requiring the e-commerce giant to bargain with the union, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled.

  • April 16, 2026

    Coin Seller Can't Get Out Of $2M Fraud Suit, Texas Panel Says

    A Texas appellate court has found that a company accused of charging a collector wildly overvalued prices for coins cannot use the state's anti-SLAPP law to have a complaint brought by the man's family dismissed, saying the company's speech was commercial in nature and therefore not covered by the statute.

  • April 16, 2026

    4th Circ. Seeks Genworth's Take On 401(k) Suit Rehearing Bid

    The Fourth Circuit on Thursday sought Genworth Financial Inc.'s response to employee 401(k) participants who asked the court to rethink nixing class certification in their lawsuit alleging their retirement savings were bogged down by underperforming BlackRock Inc. target date funds.

  • April 16, 2026

    Conn. Justices Nix Asbestos Widow's 'Double Recovery' Bid

    A town and a state agency are entitled to a lien on private asbestos litigation settlements in cases of combined work and home exposures, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday, blocking a widow from obtaining through lawsuits and worker compensation claims what one justice dubbed a possible "double recovery."

  • April 16, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Says Judge Wrongly Axed Teva's $177M Eli Lilly Win

    The Federal Circuit ruled Thursday that a Massachusetts federal judge was wrong to overturn a $177 million jury verdict that Teva won against Eli Lilly & Co. on headache drug patents, finding that contrary to the judge's finding, the patents are not invalid.

  • April 16, 2026

    Seattle's COVID-Era Tenant Protections Face Appellate Skeptic

    A Washington state appellate judge pushed back Thursday on Seattle's defense of COVID-19-era tenant rights ordinances, observing that the plaintiff landlord may have a stronger Fifth Amendment takings claim than usual because of the "unique" situation of "six regulations passed within a short time period."

  • April 16, 2026

    Fla. Panel Upholds Ex-Worker's Postclaim Arbitration Deal

    A Florida state appellate panel on Wednesday barred a woman from pursuing sexual discrimination allegations against her former employer in court, saying she agreed to arbitrate her claims in a settlement that followed her initial U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge. 

  • April 16, 2026

    5th Circ. Axes Southwest Customers' 737 Max Overcharge Suit

    The Fifth Circuit on Thursday shut down proposed class claims alleging Southwest Airlines overcharged consumers for riskier flights on Boeing 737 Max 8 jets, saying the consumers' alleged economic injury theory was implausible and that they lacked standing to sue.

  • April 16, 2026

    Georgia Insists Criminal Rules Should Cover Trump Fee Battle

    Georgia is urging a Fulton County judge to rethink his ruling that President Donald Trump and others' motions seeking more than $16 million in legal fees in the state's election interference case were covered by civil, not criminal, procedures, saying the designation would have "far-reaching implications."

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    BNP Paribas Case Could Upend Global Banking Norms

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    If upheld on appeal, a New York federal jury's multimillion-dollar verdict against BNP Paribas would create an unpredictable liability landscape for global financial institutions in which fully lawful services in foreign countries can give rise to civil liability in U.S. courts, in a manner contrary to federal law, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • Series

    Isshin-Ryu Karate Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My involvement in martial arts, specifically Isshin-ryu, which has principles rooted in the eight codes of karate, has been one of the most foundational in the development of my personality, and particularly my approach to challenges — including in my practice of law, says Kaitlyn Stone at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Opinion

    CBP's $166B Tariff Refund Portal Needs 4 Safeguards

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    Before launching its automated web portal to process tariff-refund disbursements on April 20, U.S. Customs and Border Protection should apply the expensive lessons learned from the pandemic-era employee retention credit, says Peter Gariepy at RubinBrown.

  • Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Tracing Paths To Award Recovery

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    Recent subpoenas to Adidas and Hilton deployed in Blasket Renewables v. Spain, pending in D.C. federal court, show arbitration award recovery to be a disciplined exercise in constructing visibility, applying pressure and sequencing procedural advantage, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn Square.

  • 5 Key Questions Attys Should Ask About Statistical Analyses

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    Even attorneys without a background in statistics can effectively vet the general concepts of a statistical analysis by asking targeted questions and can thereby reinforce the credibility and relevance of expert testimony — or expose its weaknesses, say Katrina Schydlower and Christopher Cunio at Hunton and Kevin Cahill at FTI Consulting.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: April Lessons

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    In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy identifies practice tips from three recent rulings involving allegations of racial discrimination in mortgage applications, health insurance networks and actual cash value losses.

  • 'Made In America' EO May Not Survive Section 230

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    President Donald Trump's recent executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in advertising directs the Federal Trade Commission to deem online marketplaces' failure to verify third-party origin claims as unlawful, but such a rule would likely run into Section 230's publisher immunity doctrine, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • Assessing EcoFactor's Impact On Damages Experts' Opinions

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    Though the Federal Circuit's ruling in EcoFactor v. Google gave rise to concerns that damages experts would be forced to rely on undisputed facts, recent case law suggests that those concerns are unwarranted, says Christopher Loh at Venable.

  • High Court Cert Case Would Test Sovereign Award Immunity

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    The D.C. Circuit's July 2025 Amaplat Mauritius v. Zimbabwe Mining Development decision appears to create a circuit split while elevating form over substance in a manner that, if left unreviewed by the U.S. Supreme Court, could bar the courthouse doors for creditors holding arbitration awards against recalcitrant foreign sovereigns, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.

  • CFTC Actions Show Prediction Market Insider Trading Risks

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    It is a myth that insider trading law does not apply in prediction markets, as the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent enforcement actions illustrate that it has full authority to pursue such cases federally — and intends to, says attorney Gregg Goldfarb.

  • 2nd Circ. Clarifies When Prior Good Acts May Be Admissible

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    The Second Circuit's recent ruling in U.S. v. Cardenas, vacating a drug conspiracy conviction over improperly excluded evidence, indicates that evidence of prior good acts may be admissible to corroborate a defendant's testimony about their understanding of events and intent, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Opinion

    Apple Discovery Fight Could Revive DOJ's Antitrust Appetite

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    Winning discovery disputes in the ongoing federal antitrust litigation over Apple’s app store practices is a huge opportunity for the Justice Department to return to its once-vigorous pursuit of product tying by tech monopolies, catch up with foreign competition regulators and establish clear standards for digital markets, says Ediberto Roman at Florida International University.

  • Lockdown To Ledger: COVID Rulings Inform Crypto Coverage

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    As cryptocurrencies move deeper into mainstream financial markets, courts tasked with determining whether traditional insurance policies respond to digital asset losses have been evaluating coverage through the analytical framework of COVID-19 business interruption litigation, with one key recurring theme, say attorneys at Kennedys.

  • Opinion

    State Bars Need To Get Specific About AI Confidentiality

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    Lawyers need to put actual client information into artificial intelligence tools to get their full value, but they cannot confidently do so until state bars offer clear, formal authority on which plan tiers of the three most popular generative AI tools are safe to use when sharing specific client details, says attorney Nick Berk.

  • The Federal Circuit's Evolving View Of Trade Secrets

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    In recent years, the Federal Circuit's approach to defining "readily ascertainable" information and determining sufficiency of trade secret identification has shifted, trending away from other circuits and potentially presenting a higher bar for trade secrets plaintiffs, say attorneys at MoFo.

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