Appellate

  • January 08, 2026

    Amazon Drivers Can Keep Wage Suit In Court, Calif. Panel Says

    Amazon cannot ship to arbitration six drivers' individual claims under California's Private Attorneys General Act that they were misclassified as independent contractors, a state appeals court has ruled, agreeing with a trial court that their last-mile deliveries were part of an uninterrupted interstate trip.

  • January 08, 2026

    Trump Admin Says Climate Grant Class Suit Is Moot

    The Trump administration has told the D.C. Circuit that a proposed class action accusing it of illegally terminating a $3 billion environmental justice block grant program is moot because Congress has rescinded the funds that green groups and local governments are seeking to recover.

  • January 08, 2026

    Ex-Dean Of 2 Law Schools Nominated To Lead NYCBA

    The New York City Bar Association on Thursday announced the nomination of the former dean of the Fordham University School of Law and Yeshiva University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law to serve as its next president, elevating a prominent voice at the intersection of law and social welfare.

  • January 08, 2026

    Amici Back CoStar's Review Bid For Rival's Antitrust Claims

    Technology industry coalition Chamber of Progress and other parties are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant commercial real estate information company CoStar's review petition for a Ninth Circuit ruling that revived a business rival's antitrust counterclaims.

  • January 08, 2026

    Audits Get Final Word On Economic Substance, IRS Atty Says

    IRS attorneys provide legal guidance during audits on whether a transaction lacks economic substance, but examiners make the ultimate determination, an agency associate chief counsel said Thursday while explaining how the agency applies a powerful anti-abuse tool in audits.

  • January 08, 2026

    Trump Admin Can't Undo Block On Drug Rebate Program

    A First Circuit panel has refused to lift a district judge's block on a Trump administration plan to pilot a rebate model for a federal drug discount program that benefits low-income patients, saying the federal government is unlikely to win its appeal.

  • January 08, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Navy Doesn't Owe Contractor Labor Costs

    The federal circuit affirmed an Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals decision denying a materials supplier $1.15 million in labor costs allegedly owed by the U.S. Navy, finding the blanket purchase agreement did not separate out that expense.

  • January 07, 2026

    10th Circ. Halts Kan. Bank's $20M FDIC Appeal For Settlement

    The Tenth Circuit will hold off on hearing a small Kansas bank's push to challenge a $20 million anti-money laundering enforcement proceeding from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. after the two sides said Wednesday that they have reached a settlement.

  • January 07, 2026

    Trader Asks Wary Colo. Appeals Court To Award $10M Penalty

    A Colorado appellate panel pushed back Wednesday on an ex-trading director's bid for a $10 million statutory penalty against his former employer following a $6.8 million judgment against the natural gas marketing company for failing to pay him a bonus on lucrative trades made during a 2021 winter storm.

  • January 07, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Notes Ambiguity In VA Data Migration Procurement

    A Federal Circuit judge on Wednesday acknowledged that a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs solicitation for data migration services was confusing, but challenged a protester's attorney to answer why his client never asked for clarification during the procurement.

  • January 07, 2026

    NJ Panel Says Erlinger Only Applies To Direct Appeal Cases

    A New Jersey state appeals court on Wednesday held that new rules from the U.S. Supreme Court over how a criminal defendant's prior convictions are used when calculating sentences cannot be applied retroactively if the defendant has previously appealed their sentence.

  • January 07, 2026

    Fla. Panel Says Tenants Can't Delay Condo Partition After Fire

    A Florida state appellate court on Wednesday upheld an order denying a class affected by a Miami condominium fire from intervening in a receiver's action to partition and sell units to distribute proceeds to the owners, ruling that tenants have no ownership interests in the properties.

  • January 07, 2026

    VW Joins The Fed. Circ. Fray Over Patent Review Discretion

    Volkswagen is the latest company to contest policy changes at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that make it harder to pursue patent challenges, telling the Federal Circuit that the agency's "unfettered discretion" to deny such challenges violates the U.S. Constitution.

  • January 07, 2026

    11th Circ. Affirms YouTube Win Over DMCA Safe Harbor

    The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a win for YouTube in a dispute with a movie producer, finding that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act does not require YouTube to police its site for infringing clips beyond responding to takedown notices.

  • January 07, 2026

    Home Depot 401(k) Fight Wraps Before High Court Gets A Say

    The Home Depot and workers alleging mismanagement of their 401(k) plan told the nation's highest court Wednesday they wrapped up their legal battle, just a month after the U.S. solicitor general urged the justices to grant the workers' bid for review and rule for the retailer.

  • January 07, 2026

    Wash. Appeals Court Overturns Double-Voting Conviction

    A split Washington state appeals court has overturned the conviction of a man found guilty of voting in two states, ruling that because they were different elections with separate issues and candidates, he did not violate a state voting law.

  • January 07, 2026

    Incora Minority Noteholders To Appeal 'Uptier' Loss

    Minority noteholders that lost collateral rights in a 2022 financing deal at aircraft parts supplier Incora will appeal a decision by a Texas federal judge that had upheld the debt exchange, according to a notice filed Tuesday.

  • January 07, 2026

    3rd Circ. Says Visa Omission Of Kids Sinks Naturalization Bid

    In a precedential opinion Wednesday, the Third Circuit ruled that a green card holder attempting to gain U.S. citizenship was properly denied naturalization for failing to list his two children on the original visa paperwork, an omission that made his permanent residence unlawful.

  • January 07, 2026

    Reckless Conduct Can Be Willful FBAR Failure, 2nd Circ. Says

    The standard for willful failure to report foreign bank accounts includes reckless conduct, and a 6% late payment penalty is mandatory for a couple who neglected fines for stashing millions in an undisclosed Swiss account, the Second Circuit said Wednesday, upholding a lower court's judgment.

  • January 07, 2026

    FERC Defends Grid Planning Policy Revamp At 4th Circ.

    The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has told the Fourth Circuit that the overhaul of its regional transmission planning policy was needed to address a pervasive failure to efficiently build out the U.S. electric grid, and that allegations the agency acted unlawfully are meritless.

  • January 07, 2026

    NFL Takes Arbitration Fight In Flores Case To Supreme Court

    The National Football League has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether its arbitration process, overseen by the commissioner, complies with federal law, appealing a Second Circuit ruling in favor of a coach suing the league for discrimination.

  • January 07, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Suggests Sepsis Test IP Needs Claim Construction

    U.S. Circuit Judge Todd M. Hughes appeared largely persuaded Wednesday that a Delaware federal jury improperly engaged in post-trial claim construction when overriding Magnolia Medical Technologies Inc.'s $2 million infringement verdict, in an appeal that also had the Federal Circuit jurist thanking God that he doesn't try patent cases.

  • January 07, 2026

    NC Panel Backs GOP In Judicial Appointment Power Clash

    A split panel in North Carolina's intermediate appeals court Wednesday sided with Republican lawmakers in an ongoing constitutional battle over the governor's appointment powers, finding the Legislature can restrict his ability to fill judicial vacancies in the state appellate courts.

  • January 07, 2026

    Objector To PACER Overcharge Settlement Faces Uphill Battle

    An objector to a $125 million settlement to end class claims alleging the federal government overcharged nonprofits and other lawyers to access court documents faced a skeptical Federal Circuit panel Wednesday, with judges indicating they had not found legal errors in the district court's approval of the deal.

  • January 07, 2026

    Pittsburgh Paper To Close In Midst Of Legal Woes With Union

    The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette announced plans to close after nearly 240 years, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday lifted Justice Samuel Alito's stay of a Third Circuit order making the company comply with a National Labor Relations Board order to restore its newsroom workers' healthcare plan.

Expert Analysis

  • Top 10 Employer Resolutions For 2026

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    Heightened regulatory attention, shifting enforcement priorities and increased litigation risk mean that routine workplace decisions in 2026 will require greater discipline and foresight, including in relation to bias and inclusion training, employee resource groups, employee speech, immigration compliance, workplace accommodations, and shadow artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Krevolin & Horst.

  • Navigating AI In The Legal Industry

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    As artificial intelligence becomes an increasingly integral part of legal practice, Law360 guest commentary this year examined evolving ethical obligations, how the plaintiffs bar is using AI to level the playing field against corporate defense teams, and the attendant risks of adoption.

  • 4 California Insurance Law Decisions To Know From 2025

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    California continued to shape the national insurance landscape in 2025, issuing a series of decisions that may recalibrate claims handling, underwriting strategy and policy drafting in areas from property damage claims after a wildfire to automobile coverage for delivery drivers in the gig economy, say attorneys at Nicolaides Fink.

  • The Major Securities Litigation Rulings And Trends Of 2025

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    The past 12 months saw increased regulator focus on disclosures concerning artificial intelligence, signs of growing judicial scrutiny at the class certification stage, and shifting regulatory priorities at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — all major developments that may significantly affect securities litigation strategy in 2026 and beyond, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • A 6th Circ. Snapshot: 3 Cases That Defined 2025

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    With more than a thousand opinions issued this year, three rulings from the Sixth Circuit stood out for the impact they'll have on the practice of civil procedure, including a net neutrality decision, a class certification standards ruling and an opinion about vulgarity in school, say attorneys at Ice Miller.

  • How Fractional GCs Can Manage Risks Of Engagement

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    As more organizations eliminate their in-house legal departments in favor of outsourcing legal work, fractional general counsel roles offer practitioners an engaging and flexible way to practice at a high level, but they can also present legal, ethical and operational risks that must be proactively managed, say attorneys at Boies Schiller.

  • Health, Legal Employers Face Unique Online Speech Hurdles

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    Employers in the legal and healthcare industries must consider distinctive ethical obligations and professional requirements when disciplining employees for social media posts, while anticipating an area of the law in flux as courts seek to balance speech rights and the workplace function, say attorneys at FordHarrison.

  • Opinion

    Justices Should Clarify Loper Bright Doctrine Via Patent Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court should use the Lynk Labs v. Samsung patent case to provide urgently needed guidance on how last year’s Loper Bright decision should be applied to real-world questions of agency authority in the post-Chevron world, says Timothy Hsieh at Oklahoma City University School of Law.

  • 3 Notable Developments In Ch. 15 Bankruptcy This Year

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    Several notable Bankruptcy Code Chapter 15 decisions from 2025 warrant review, including rulings that clarified the framework of Chapter 15 surrounding nonparty releases, reinforced the principles of a debtor's center of main interest in the face of extensive mass tort litigation, and reviewed synthetic cross-border proceedings, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Reviewing 2025's Most Pertinent Wiretap Developments

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    2025 was a remarkable year in the world of web tracking wiretapping litigation, not only for the increased caseload but also because of numerous developing theories of liability, with disputes expected to continue unabated in 2026, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • Series

    Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

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    Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.

  • Software Patents May Face New Eligibility Scrutiny

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    November guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, along with recent litigation trends from the Federal Circuit, may encourage new challenges in the USPTO and district courts to artificial intelligence and software patents that rely on generic computing functions without concrete details, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Delay, Plain Text, Sovereign Acts

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    Three recent decisions addressing familiar pressure points show that even well-worn doctrines evolve, and both contractors and the government should reexamine their assumptions, says Zachary Jacobson at Seyfarth.

  • Opinion

    A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

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    To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.

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