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Supreme Court Caseload Hits 160-Year Low
Not since the Civil War has the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in as few cases as it will this term — the latest milestone for the court's shrinking docket, and one attorneys say might have more to do with the high court's culture than its expanding emergency appeals caseload.
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January 30, 2026
Tesla Gets Del. Justices To Cut $100M From Investor Atty Fees
The Delaware Supreme Court on Friday handed Tesla a win, reducing by roughly $100 million the attorney fees awarded to shareholder counsel as part of an excessive director compensation suit settlement, rejecting the lower court's fee calculation.
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January 30, 2026
11th Circ. Urged To Undo $38M Chiquita Verdict, $229K Fee
The Eleventh Circuit heard arguments Friday in two cases stemming from claims that Chiquita funded a right-wing paramilitary group, with Chiquita urging the court to vacate a $38 million verdict finding it caused eight deaths, while an attorney for the plaintiffs asked to reverse a firm's $229,000 fee award.
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January 30, 2026
Conn. Justices Free Calif. Woman From Tax Bank Seizure
The Connecticut Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a tax collector cannot recover a shuttered company's debts from a California woman's personal bank accounts, saying the case presented an issue of first impression that has "vexed legal scholars" and "spawned a split of authority" among and within federal and state courts.
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January 30, 2026
3rd Circ. Backs 'Modern Icarus' Conviction, Cuts Restitution
The Third Circuit affirmed Friday the fraud and identify theft conviction of a former clean-energy company CEO who characterized himself as a "modern Icarus" in his appeal, but held that the lower court wrongly ordered him to pay $100,000 in victims' attorney fees in addition to $1.1 million in restitution.
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January 30, 2026
3rd Circ. Preview: Privacy Issues Top Feb. Argument Lineup
Issues involving privacy feature prominently on the Third Circuit's February oral argument schedule, with panels set to hear a dispute regarding an optometry business's duty to protect private data belonging to third-party customers, and a case over whether the city of Philadelphia can be sued by a mother after a police officer shared images of her son's death from the scene where he committed suicide.
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January 30, 2026
Fla. Panel Axes Punitive Damages From Turo App Crash Suit
A Florida appeals court on Friday tossed a punitive damages claim in a suit accusing car sharing platform Turo Inc. of allowing a negligently maintained truck to be rented, resulting in a fatal crash, saying there were insufficient allegations of intentional misconduct.
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January 30, 2026
2nd Circ. Affirms $2.8M Award In Ex-NFL Player's PPE Suit
The Second Circuit declined Friday to let a New York real estate attorney escape from a roughly $2.8 million arbitration award to a former NFL linebacker after a deal to purchase and distribute medical gloves went sour, holding that the arbitrator did not exceed her authority or botch the process.
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January 30, 2026
Texas Appeals Court Upholds $14M Truck Crash Verdict
A Texas appellate court kept largely intact a $14 million verdict against a cellular phone tower construction company and an employee, saying the company knew the employee had a history of alcoholism before he caused a crash that left a couple with debilitating injuries.
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January 30, 2026
5th Circ. Gives Lumen Investors Another Shot In Lead Suit
The Fifth Circuit determined Friday that a group of shareholders should get another chance to amend their proposed class action accusing Lumen Technologies Inc. of not disclosing potential liabilities related to its lead-wrapped cables, saying the lower court did not sufficiently explain why it would not allow them to amend their suit after dismissing it.
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January 30, 2026
9th Circ. Says DOJ Can Withhold VW Grand Jury Records
The Ninth Circuit on Friday held that the U.S. Department of Justice couldn't be forced to hand over about 6 million Volkswagen documents that were part of a Jones Day investigation into the automaker's 2015 emissions-cheating scandal, as the government obtained them through a grand jury subpoena.
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January 30, 2026
8th Circ. Affirms Toss Of ND Tribal Landowners' Pipeline Suit
The Eighth Circuit Friday refused to revive a group of landowning Three Affiliated Tribes members' lawsuit accusing oil pipeline operator Andeavor of trespassing across their North Dakota reservation lands, with a panel majority concluding that the members had no federal common law trespass claim.
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January 30, 2026
Split 4th Circ. Reverses Va. Man's Revocation Sentence
A split Fourth Circuit panel on Friday ordered resentencing for a convicted drug dealer after a district court judge refused to engage with his arguments for why he should not have his probation revoked from an earlier drug charge.
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January 30, 2026
Planned Parenthood Drops Medicaid Fight After 1st Circ. Loss
Planned Parenthood abandoned a legal challenge to a ban on Medicaid reimbursements for its clinics Friday, following a loss at the First Circuit, which upheld the ban in December.
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January 30, 2026
Mich. Can't Shake Residents' Water Suit Based On Timeliness
A Michigan appellate court has allowed lead contamination claims from Benton Harbor residents to proceed, affirming that state officials did not make clear the level of danger in the city's water system for purposes of starting the clock on the statute of limitations.
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January 30, 2026
Back Pay Over Vax Mandate Is Equitable Relief, Justices Hear
A U.S. Air Force reservist told the U.S. Supreme Court this week that equitable relief under a religious freedom law should extend to his back pay claim related to his refusal to follow its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, arguing he's only seeking "status-restoring relief."
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January 30, 2026
7th Circ. Grills Trump Admin Atty Over Definition Of Illegal DEI
Seventh Circuit judges on Friday pushed an attorney for the Trump administration to define what kind of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives it deems illegal in requiring grant recipients to certify they don't promote DEI programs that violate anti-discrimination law, with one judge saying the unanswered question has caused "frustration" in litigation over the requirement.
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January 30, 2026
The Message From Delaware Courts: Change Is Coming
Delaware's Supreme Court delivered a reminder to the state's corporation law ecosystem recently with a reversal of a Court of Chancery decision invalidating a 7-year-old stockholder agreement that granted broad corporate powers to investment bank Moelis & Co.'s founder.
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January 30, 2026
Okla. Gov. Challenges AG's Tribal Hunting Policy Opinion
Oklahoma's governor and wildlife department have urged the Oklahoma Supreme Court to give them control over hunting and fishing rights on tribal reservation lands so they can issue state-managed permits, arguing that an opinion by the state's attorney general wrongly says federal law prohibits such permitting.
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January 30, 2026
9th Circ. Bars Coast Guard Suit Over Conception Boat Fire
A split panel of the Ninth Circuit Friday affirmed a California federal judge's decision to dismiss wrongful death litigation that the families of 34 people killed by a fire on the dive boat MV Conception had brought against the government.
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January 30, 2026
9th Circ. Allows Nevada Inmate's COVID Yard Restriction Case
A Nevada prison inmate who says he was denied almost all access to the outdoors for over a year during the COVID-19 pandemic in violation of his constitutional rights may continue his case against the warden who he claims kept his protective segregation unit indoors unlawfully, the Ninth Circuit has affirmed.
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January 30, 2026
ThermoLife Asks Justices To Resolve Split Over Sanctions
ThermoLife is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its fight against a lower court's decision to sanction the company and its CEO as part of a false advertising case, saying the Federal Circuit wrongly backed the award.
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January 30, 2026
Lindberg Takes $122M Contempt Order To NC Top Court
A convicted billionaire is asking North Carolina's top court to take up his appeal seeking to overturn a $122 million contempt order against him, saying the lower court's finding that he was able to pay ignored the precarious reality of selling off a complex business asset.
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January 30, 2026
Attys Rip Judge-Shopping Sanctions As Bid To 'Rewrite' Rules
Two Alabama attorneys who were sanctioned for allegedly judge shopping in a civil rights case urged the Eleventh Circuit to toss the sanctions Friday, arguing the judges accusing them were seeking to "rewrite" the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
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January 30, 2026
1st Circ. Revives Ex-Hasbro Workers' Religious Vax Bias Suit
Two former Hasbro employees who sought religious exemptions from the company's COVID-19 vaccination policy plausibly alleged they were disciplined because of their accommodation requests, the First Circuit ruled, reviving the workers' retaliation and discrimination suit.
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January 30, 2026
1st Circ. Upholds Atty's 7-Year Sentence In Email Fraud Case
A panel of the First Circuit has affirmed a more than seven-year prison term and $2 million restitution order for an Illinois lawyer convicted of collecting proceeds from a romance and real estate email fraud scheme.
Editor's Picks
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The Topics Appellate Attys Are Tracking Most Closely In 2026
A few far-reaching topics will dominate the appellate practice in 2026, attorneys predict, as appeals courts navigate an ever-growing thicket of Trump administration litigation and thorny questions involving artificial intelligence.
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4 High Court Cases To Watch This Spring
The U.S. Supreme Court justices will return from the winter holidays to tackle several constitutional disputes that range from who is entitled to birthright citizenship to whether transgender individuals are entitled to heightened levels of protection from discrimination.
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Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To 2025's Most Memorable Moments
Federal circuit courts in 2025 strained under a crush of Trump administration lawsuits, as judges directed animated language at litigants and even their fellow judges. And while the president only added a handful of appellate jurists, they had outsize impacts on circuit benches as they joined the cadre of conservatives seated in his first term.
Expert Analysis
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4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue
Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.
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2 Rulings Showcase Fuzzy Limits Of 'Related To' Jurisdiction
The Fifth and Ninth Circuits recently handed down decisions, in Sanchez Energy and Sawtelle Partners, respectively, reminding practitioners that bankruptcy court jurisdiction over lingering disputes is not guaranteed, regardless of whether confirmation orders contain specific "retention of jurisdiction" language, says Brian Shaw at Cozen O’Connor.
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3 Key Ohio Financial Services Developments From 2025
Ohio's banking and financial services sector saw particularly notable developments in 2025, including a significant Ohio Supreme Court decision on creditor disclosure duties to guarantors in Huntington National Bank v. Schneider, and some major proposed changes to the state's Homebuyer Plus program, says Alex Durst at Durst Kerridge.
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Patent Eligibility Faces Widening Gap Between USPTO, Courts
The year 2026 opened with a profoundly altered Patent Act Section 101 ecosystem — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has pushed eligibility as far open as it can for artificial intelligence technologies, but the courts are not on the same page, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Navigating Trade Secret Exceptions In Noncompete Bans
Recent and ongoing developments in the noncompete landscape, including a potential decision from the Tenth Circuit in Edwards Lifesciences v. Thompson, could offer tools for employers to bring noncompete agreements within trade secret exceptions amid an era of heightened employee mobility, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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Series
Playing Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer
An instinct to turn pain into purpose meant frequent trips to the tennis court, where learning to move ahead one point at a time was a lesson that also applied to the steep learning curve of patent prosecution law, says Daniel Henry at Marshall Gerstein.
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False Ad Suit Shows Need For Clear, Conspicuous Disclosure
The Eleventh Circuit's recent false advertising decision in Federal Trade Commission v. Corpay reiterated the FTC's guidance imploring advertisers to ensure that any disclosures are clear and conspicuous to consumers, providing companies with numerous lessons about truthful advertising and highlighting some common disclosure pitfalls to avoid, says Michael Justus at Carlton Fields.
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Justices' BDO Denial May Allow For Increased Auditor Liability
The Supreme Court's recent denial of certiorari in BDO v. New England Carpenters could lead to more actions filed against accounting firms, as it lets stand a 2024 Second Circuit ruling that provided a road map for pleading falsity with respect to audit certifications, says Dean Conway at Carlton Fields.
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What To Expect From Justices' 401(k) Ruling, DOL Rulemaking
The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming ruling in Anderson v. Intel, addressing alternative assets in defined contribution plans, coupled with the U.S. Department of Labor's recently proposed regulation on fiduciary duties in selecting alternative investments, could alleviate the litigation risk that has impeded wider consideration of such investments, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: January Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five rulings from October and November, and identifies practice tips from cases involving consumer fraud, oil and gas leases, toxic torts, and wage and hour issues.
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Series
Judges On AI: How Judicial Use Informs Guardrails
U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado discusses why having a sense of how generative AI tools behave, where they add value, where they introduce risk and how they are reshaping the practice of law is key for today's judges.
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Evenflo IP Ruling Shows Evidence Is Still Key For Injunctions
Notwithstanding renewed policy and doctrinal attention to patent injunctions, the Federal Circuit's December decision in Wonderland v. Evenflo signals that the era of easily obtained patent injunctions has not yet arrived, say attorneys at King & Wood.
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Justices' Med Mal Ruling May Spur Huge Shift For Litigators
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in the medical malpractice suit Berk v. Choy, holding that a Florida procedural requirement does not apply to medical malpractice claims filed in federal court, is likely to encourage eligible parties to file claims in federal court, speed the adjudicatory process and create both opportunities and challenges for litigators, says Thomas Kroeger at Colson Hicks.
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Challenging Restitution Orders After Supreme Court Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Ellingburg v. U.S. decision from last week, holding that mandatory restitution is a criminal punishment subject to the Sixth Amendment, means that all challenges to restitution are now fair game if the amount is not alleged in the indictment, say Mark Allenbaugh at SentencingStats.com and Doug Passon at Doug Passon Law.
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State Of Insurance: Q4 Notes From Pennsylvania
Last quarter in Pennsylvania, a Superior Court ruling underscored the centrality of careful policy drafting and judicial scrutiny of exclusionary language, and another provided practical guidance on the calculation of attorney fees and interest in bad faith cases, while a proposed bill endeavored to cover insurance gaps for homeowners, says Todd Leon at Marshall Dennehey.