Appellate

  • October 17, 2025

    1st Circ. Axes Claims For Unpaid Hurricane Maria Work

    The First Circuit has told a Puerto Rico federal court to throw out a payroll company's claims against a contractor for allegedly failing to pay $1.4 million in labor costs for rebuilding projects after Hurricane Maria swept through the island.

  • October 17, 2025

    Ex-SEC Officials Support Activist Investor Before High Court

    Two former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission members are among those calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the ability of investors to sue funds over contracts that violate federal securities laws, saying that the SEC does not have the resources to go after every alleged wrongdoer.

  • October 17, 2025

    11th Circ. Ruling Could Unravel Strict ERISA Exhaustion Rule

    A recent Eleventh Circuit decision opens up a route for overturning the appellate court's strictest-in-the-nation precedent requiring administrative exhaustion of all claims brought under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, attorneys say, given that two judges in a panel concurrence advocated for such action following en banc review.

  • October 17, 2025

    Texas Appeals Court Clears River Authority Of Flood Claim

    A Texas appeals court found that the San Jacinto River Authority had governmental immunity when it decided to release water from its Lake Conroe reservoir during a hurricane, saying it took a good faith action even though the decision damaged some properties.

  • October 17, 2025

    3rd Circ. Says No Duty To Inform Criminal Clients Of Liability

    The Third Circuit in a precedential ruling Friday declined to apply immigration precedent concerning counsel's obligation to advise their criminal defendant clients about deportation risks associated with prosecutions to the civil setting, holding that the standard applies only in highly specific circumstances.

  • October 17, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Reopens Grid Construction Contract Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Friday again revived a company's long-running lawsuit over the termination of its contract to build an electrical substation serving a federally owned portion of the grid, saying a lower court wrongly dismissed the case.

  • October 17, 2025

    3rd Circ. Won't Rethink IRS Collections For Preparer Fraud

    The Third Circuit declined Friday to reconsider a panel decision allowing the IRS to pursue a woman's unpaid taxes more than 20 years later — well after the normal three-year deadline — because her return preparer committed fraud on her filings without her knowledge.

  • October 17, 2025

    Green Biz Group Says Enbridge Exaggerating Pipeline Stakes

    An environmental advocacy group made up of Great Lakes businesses told the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that Enbridge Energy LP and its supporters are overstating claims that shutting down a Michigan segment of one of its petroleum pipelines will threaten energy security.

  • October 17, 2025

    Georgia Justices Affirm Stormwater Charge Is Fee, Not Tax

    A stormwater utility charge levied by a local government in Georgia is a fee, not a tax, the state Supreme Court said, upholding a trial court's finding that the charge did not violate the state constitution's uniformity provision on property taxation.

  • October 17, 2025

    Idaho Asks Justices To Reject Mootness In Trans Ban Case

    The state of Idaho has again encouraged the U.S. Supreme Court to proceed with its review of whether the state's ban on transgender women in sports is unconstitutional after a lower court earlier this week rejected the plaintiff's efforts to voluntarily dismiss the suit.

  • October 17, 2025

    Man Arrested In Mistaken ID Case Can Sue, 11th Circ. Says

    A Florida police officer cannot escape a lawsuit alleging the officer violated the Fourth Amendment when he entered a home without a warrant and then tasered and arrested the father of a suspect in a case of mistaken identity, the Eleventh Circuit has ruled, while remanding related claims for further review.

  • October 17, 2025

    Federal Courts To Scale Back Operations Amid Shutdown

    The federal court system has run out of money and will scale back operations beginning Monday as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, possibly leading to case delays.

  • October 17, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs Noninfringement Ruling In Fence Patent Case

    The Federal Circuit on Friday wouldn't revive an Ohio-based outdoor product company's lawsuit accusing a Texas rival of infringing various fencing patents, finding nothing was wrong with the way the lower court interpreted key terminology in the patent.

  • October 17, 2025

    MGA Fights New Trial On Damages In Doll TM Case

    Toy maker MGA Entertainment wants to appeal a California federal judge's decision calling for a new jury trial to consider whether to award punitive damages to hip-hop moguls Clifford "T.I." Harris and Tameka "Tiny" Harris over a line of dolls called L.O.L. Surprise O.M.G.

  • October 17, 2025

    NC Justices Say Doctor Can't Appeal Dismissal Denial

    The North Carolina Supreme Court on Friday denied a doctor and hospital's attempt to reverse an appeals court order upholding the denial of their requests to dismiss a malpractice suit, saying they did not have the right to appeal the denial in the first place.

  • October 17, 2025

    11th Circ. Says Adjusters May Be Insurance Cos.' Employees

    A jury could reasonably find that a pair of insurance companies employed three insurance adjusters, the Eleventh Circuit ruled, flipping an Alabama district court's findings that the workers were independent contractors.

  • October 17, 2025

    NY Court Orders Hearing On Counsel Conflict In Drug Case

    A man who pled guilty to gun and drug charges and was sentenced to 12 years in prison can argue for a new trial due to ineffective counsel after a similarly culpable co-defendant got a light sentence allegedly due to cooperation between their attorneys, a New York state appeals court said in a reversal.

  • October 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Upholds Nigerian's Asylum Denial For Marriage Fraud

    An immigration judge reasonably denied a Nigerian man's application for asylum after finding him not credible based on a prior marriage fraud admission, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled.

  • October 16, 2025

    Bannon Tells Justices Legal Advice Dooms Contempt Rap

    A lawyer's advice to Steve Bannon not to respond to a congressional subpoena over the Jan. 6 insurrection means he couldn't have "willfully" flouted the subpoena and negates his conviction, the onetime Trump adviser has told the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • October 16, 2025

    Protests Aren't Rebellions Justifying The Guard, 7th Circ. Says

    The Seventh Circuit elaborated Thursday on its reasoning for denying the Trump administration's request to stay a ruling blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to Chicago, noting that "spirited, sustained and occasionally violent actions" of protest demonstrators, without more, don't constitute a "rebellion" that would justify deploying the Guard.

  • October 16, 2025

    Farmers Urge Wash. Justices To Void Fuel Exemption Regs

    A Washington Supreme Court justice suggested Thursday that the state's framework for an exemption under its greenhouse gas "cap-and-invest" program has fallen short of lawmakers' express goal of ensuring farmers have access to surcharge-free fuel for agricultural purposes.

  • October 16, 2025

    7th Circ. Affirms French Montana's Win In Copyright Case

    The Seventh Circuit on Thursday backed French Montana's win in a copyright case brought by a musician who alleged the rapper sampled his instrumental song to make the hit single "Ain't Worried About Nothin'," saying there wasn't evidence to show Montana duplicated the work "as opposed to merely imitating it."

  • October 16, 2025

    Kalshi Tells 4th Circ. Md. Is Stepping On CFTC Oversight

    Maryland federal judge was wrong to reject sports betting company Kalshi's argument that its so-called prediction market, which allows users to wager on the outcome of real-world events, counts as a federal derivative exchange, the company said to the Fourth Circuit.

  • October 16, 2025

    Army Vets Say Fluor Deviating From 4th Circ. Ruling

    A U.S. Army veteran told the U.S. Supreme Court that defense contractor Fluor Corp. has "abandoned the Fourth Circuit's rationale" in defending a panel's decision that affirmed the dismissal of his state-based injury claims stemming from a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

  • October 16, 2025

    Justices Told Presidential Firing Limits Rely On 'Soured' Logic

    President Donald Trump and a cadre of supporters have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to wipe out what remains of a 90-year-old ruling that empowers Congress to prohibit the president from firing certain agency officials at will, arguing the decision was flawed when originally issued and is now well past its prime. 

Expert Analysis

  • How High Court Ruling Can Aid Judgment Enforcement In US

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    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.

  • What High Court's Tenn. Trans Care Ruling Means Nationally

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    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.

  • Justices Rewrite Rules For Challenging Enviro Agency Actions

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    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.

  • Series

    My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • High Court ACA Ruling May Harm Preventative Care

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Subject Matter Eligibility Test Should Return To Preemption

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    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.

  • 8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

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    Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

  • Kousisis Concurrence Maps FCA Defense To Anti-DEI Suits

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    Justice Clarence Thomas' recent concurrence in Kousisis v. U.S. lays out how federal funding recipients could use the high standard for materiality in government fraud cases to fight the U.S. Justice Department’s threatened False Claims Act suits against payees deviating from the administration’s anti-DEI policies, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • Justices' Review Of Fluor May Alter Gov't Contractor Liability

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to review Hencely v. Fluor, a case involving a soldier’s personal injury claims against a government contractor, suggests the justices could reconsider a long-standing test for determining whether contractors are shielded from state-tort liability, says Lisa Himes at Rogers Joseph.

  • Google Damages Ruling Offers Lessons For Testifying Experts

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in EcoFactor v. Google represents a shift in how courts evaluate expert testimony in patent cases, offering a practical guide for how litigators and testifying experts can refine their work, says Adam Rhoten at Secretariat.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

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    Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.

  • One Year On, Davidson Holds Lessons On 'Health Halo' Claims

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    A year after the Ninth Circuit's Davidson v. Sprout Foods decision — which raised the bar for so-called health halo claims — food and beverage companies can draw insights from its finding, subsequently expanded on by other courts, that plaintiffs must be specific when alleging fraud in healthfulness marketing, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Justices' NRC Ruling Raises New Regulatory Questions

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    In Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court avoided ruling on the NRC's authority to license private, temporary nuclear waste storage facilities — and this failure to reach the merits question creates new regulatory uncertainty where none had existed for decades, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Rocket Mortgage Appeal May Push Justices To Curb Classes

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    Should the U.S. Supreme Court agree to hear Alig v. Rocket Mortgage, the resulting decision could limit class sizes based on commonality under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Evidence as opposed to standing under Article III of the U.S. Constitution, say attorneys at Carr Maloney.

  • 3 Judicial Approaches To Applying Loper Bright, 1 Year Later

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    In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in its Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision, a few patterns have emerged in lower courts’ application of the precedent to determine whether agency actions are lawful, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

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