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Appellate
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April 30, 2024
9th Circ. Says Calif. Bar Didn't Violate Student's Fed. Rights
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the dismissal of an octogenarian law school student's claims that the State Bar of California violated his 14th Amendment protected rights when it refused to excuse his delay in taking a first-year exam, saying the California Supreme Court has original jurisdiction over admission matters.
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April 30, 2024
Texas Doctor Can't Get Expert Report Tossed In Suicide Suit
A Texas appeals court on Tuesday refused to dismiss a mother's suit alleging a doctor and medical center failed to properly treat her son's depression, saying the expert report is sufficient in laying out how the doctor's alleged negligence led to the son's suicide.
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April 30, 2024
7th Circ. Backs Costco's Win In Gas Price-Matching Feud
The Seventh Circuit on Tuesday upheld Costco's victory against a dozen Wisconsin gas stations that claimed the warehouse giant sold regular unleaded fuel below a statutory minimum markup price that allegedly caused a decline in revenue, finding no evidence showing that Costco's pricing practices caused the stations a single lost sale.
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April 30, 2024
Drug Company Can't Escape Texas Counties' Opioid MDL
A Texas appeals court on Tuesday declined to cut loose a New Jersey-based pharmaceutical manufacturer from Texas multidistrict litigation over opioid addiction in the state, finding that the counties of Dallas and Bexar have demonstrated that it's made deliberate moves toward the Texas market.
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April 30, 2024
Split 9th Circ. Finds San Jose Nuisance Laws Constitutional
A split Ninth Circuit panel held Tuesday that San Jose, California, did not violate the First Amendment rights of a nightclub operator by suspending its license following a shooting, affirming that the public nuisance provisions and licensing scheme for entertainment venues used by the city are not unlawful prior restraints.
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April 30, 2024
3rd Circ. Preview: Kavanaugh Classmate Takes On HuffPost
The Third Circuit's May lineup will find the court weighing HuffPost's battle with an allegedly libeled former classmate of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and claims by consumers alleging they bought defective Bayer antifungal medicine.
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April 30, 2024
Colo. Justice Says Judges Need To Squash Lawyers' Sniping
Colorado Supreme Court Justice Richard L. Gabriel said Tuesday that more judges should call out lawyers' unprofessional behavior in their courtrooms to help restore civility in the profession, aiming to stamp out those behaving like "kids fighting in the sandbox."
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April 30, 2024
Ex-Enforcers Back CoStar At 9th Circ. Against Antitrust Claims
Several former antitrust enforcers told the Ninth Circuit that a lower court was right to toss a rival's claims that CoStar monopolizes commercial real estate information markets despite concerns from the Federal Trade Commission about the allegations.
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April 30, 2024
$626M Fee Award In BCBS Deal Is Unjust, High Court Told
A member of the class that settled multidistrict litigation with Blue Cross Blue Shield for $2.67 billion over anti-competitive practices has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up his challenge to the $626 million attorney fees award in the settlement, arguing the Eleventh Circuit's approval of the award runs counter to high court precedent.
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April 30, 2024
10th Circ. Says Biden Can Raise Contractors' Minimum Wage
President Joe Biden's minimum hourly wage increase for federal contractors to $15 is intertwined with furthering the economy and is therefore supported by the Procurement Act, a split Tenth Circuit panel ruled Tuesday, agreeing with a Colorado federal court to keep the wage bump.
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April 30, 2024
Customers Can't Get Ill. ComEd Bribery Suit Restored
An Illinois state appellate panel refused Monday to reinstate a putative class action accusing Commonwealth Edison of fraud in the wake of the utility's admission that it bribed the former Illinois House speaker to secure his support for favorable energy policy, saying the passage of the relevant legislation wasn't directly related to the bribes.
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April 30, 2024
1st Circ. Says Flyers' JetBlue-Spirit Deal Challenge Moot
The First Circuit has tossed an appeal brought by airline customers who had challenged a since-abandoned merger between JetBlue Airways Corp. and Spirit Airlines in light of the government's successful antitrust intervention.
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April 30, 2024
Fed. Circ. Upholds TM Win For Brazilian Hair Products Co.
A Tuesday precedential ruling from the Federal Circuit sided with a Brazilian hair products maker in its legal fight with a Massachusetts businessman over who could claim a Portuguese phrase celebrating curly hair.
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April 30, 2024
6th Circ. Weighs Merits, Procedure In NLRB Severance Case
The Sixth Circuit grappled Tuesday with a hospital's challenge to the National Labor Relations Board's ruling that it unlawfully offered severance agreements that muzzled workers, with one judge questioning how the agreements interfered with workers' rights and another whether the hospital was even entitled to oppose the new standard.
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April 30, 2024
SEIU Cites Starbucks Organizing In Push For Cemex Standard
The Service Employees International Union invoked the nationwide organizing campaign at Starbucks stores in a request for the Ninth Circuit to back a National Labor Relations Board precedent shift for bargaining orders, arguing the new standard will help deter labor law violations.
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April 30, 2024
DC Circ. Axes Challenges To FERC Gulf Pipeline Approval
The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday upheld federal energy regulators' approval of a natural gas pipeline project in Louisiana and Mississippi, rejecting arguments from environmentalists that claimed that the certification was the product of a botched environmental review.
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April 30, 2024
5th Circ. Backs La. Enviro Dept. In Gas Facility Permit Dispute
A Fifth Circuit panel upheld the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's permitting decision for a liquefied natural gas export facility, rejecting concerns raised by the Sierra Club that the facility's emissions will surpass national ambient air quality standards.
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April 30, 2024
3rd Circ. Denies Rehearing In Pa. Mail-In Ballot Case
The Third Circuit has rejected a do-over of its decision not to count Pennsylvania mail-in ballots with missing or incorrect dates on their outer envelopes, denying a request from voting rights groups for a rehearing Tuesday.
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April 30, 2024
Apple Says Astroworld Trial Is Halted For Pretrial Loss Appeal
Apple told a state court Monday that the first trial in litigation stemming from the 2021 Astroworld crowd crush is automatically stayed while it appeals a Houston judge's denial of its bid for a pretrial win in a move that the victims called a "bad-faith, desperate attempt" to "derail" the proceedings less than a week before jury selection is set to begin.
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April 30, 2024
8th Circ. Orders BASF Damages Trial In Herbicide Row
An Eighth Circuit panel on Tuesday once again directed a Missouri federal court to hold a trial to assess punitive damages for BASF Corp. in litigation alleging the sale of herbicide-resistant seeds led to the destruction of a farm's peach trees when herbicide drifted from neighboring farms.
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April 30, 2024
6th Circ. Nominee Denies Ethics Accusations Again
A nominee for the Sixth Circuit provided more detail to bolster his denial of claims of ethical misconduct during his time as a prosecutor, as outlined in a follow-up questionnaire.
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April 30, 2024
Wash. Panel Reverses Hartford Unit Fire Coverage Ruling
A Washington state appeals court reversed a trial court's ruling that a Hartford unit's policy included coverage for an electrical panel that caused a restaurant fire, instead finding that whether the electrical panel was in the care of the restaurant or its landlord remains disputed.
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April 30, 2024
EEOC Says High Court Ruling Supports Ex-Worker's ADA Suit
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission urged the Tenth Circuit to reinstate a worker's disability bias suit claiming she was fired from a Kansas health system for refusing mental health counseling, arguing that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling shows her case was improperly tossed.
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April 30, 2024
Atty, Pot Entrepreneurs Get Conspiracy Claims Thrown Out
A California state appeals court has thrown out claims against a group of attorneys and cannabis entrepreneurs that they were part of a "straw man practice" conspiracy to monopolize the San Diego cannabis market, finding the complaint failed to allege they did anything illegal.
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April 30, 2024
High Court Won't Stay Texas' Porn Site Age Check Law
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stay a Fifth Circuit decision that allowed a portion of a Texas law requiring visitors to adult-oriented websites to prove their age before accessing content.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
9th Circ. Nazi Art Theft Ruling Is Bad For Repatriation Cases
The Ninth Circuit’s recent decision in Cassirer v. Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection Foundation, holding that a Spanish museum doesn't have to return a Nazi-stolen painting to the original Jewish owners, spells trouble for future heirloom repatriation cases, which hinge on similar archaic laws, say Andrea Perez and Josh Sherman at Carrington Coleman.
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Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
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Opinion
High Court Should Endorse Insurer Standing In Bankruptcy
In Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum, the U.S. Supreme Court will examine bankruptcy standing doctrine as applied to insurers in mass tort cases, and should use the opportunity to eliminate spurious standing roadblocks to resolving insurer objections on their merits, says Frank Perch at White and Williams.
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High Court Social Media Speech Ruling Could Implicate AI
In Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether certain state laws can restrict content moderation by social media platforms, but the eventual decision could also provide insight into whether the first amendment protects artificial intelligence speech, say Joseph Meadows and Quyen Dang at GRSM50.
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Justices' Trump Ballot Ruling: Purposivism In Textualist Garb
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Trump v. Anderson decision earlier this week, allowing former President Donald Trump to remain on state primary ballots, alleviates uncertainty and minimizes the potential for abuse in future cases, but is difficult to square with the court’s own account of its textualist interpretive methods, says Will Havemann at Hogan Lovells.
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Disney Copyright Expiration Spurs Trademark Questions
While the recent expiration of Disney’s Steamboat Willie copyright is not likely to have an immediate impact, it could provide clarity on the extent to which trademark rights in character names and appearance affect what others can do with characters from works whose copyright has expired, says Bryan Wheelock at Harness IP.
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Texas Insurance Ruling Could Restore Finality To Appraisal
The Texas Supreme Court's decision in Rodriguez v. Safeco, determining that full payment of an appraisal award precludes recovery of attorney fees, indicates a potential return to an era in which timely payment undoubtedly disposes of all possible policyholder claims, says Karl Schulz at Cozen O'Connor.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Zero-Point Offender Eligibility May Hinge On Meaning Of 'And'
Some white collar defendants’ eligibility for the new zero-point offender sentencing adjustment comes down to whether the word “and” really means “and” — a question the U.S. Supreme Court is set to resolve in its upcoming Pulsifer v. U.S. decision, which could affect thousands of incarcerated people, say Brandon McCarthy and Nikita Yogeshwarun at Katten.
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Valeant Ruling May Pave Way For Patent-Based FCA Suits
The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Silbersher v. Valeant marks a significant development in False Claims Act jurisprudence, opens new avenues for litigation and potentially raises the stakes for patent applicants who intend to do business with the government, say Joshua Robbins and Rick Taché at Buchalter.
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A Former Bankruptcy Judge Talks 'Undue Hardship'
Former U.S. bankruptcy judge Robert Gordon reflects on his journey from student borrower to judicial observer, highlighting the challenges faced by modern students burdened with student loan debt and advocating for reform in bankruptcy laws, particularly regarding the "undue hardship" element of discharge.
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Recent Rulings Add Dimension To Justices' Maui Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court's 2020 decision in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund established new factual criteria for determining when the Clean Water Act applies to groundwater — and recent decisions from the Ninth and Tenth Circuits have clarified how litigants can make use of the Maui standard, says Steven Hoch at Clark Hill.
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Strategies For Single-Member Special Litigation Committees
The Delaware Supreme Court's recent order in the Baker Hughes derivative litigation allowing testimony from a single-member special litigation committee highlights the fact that, while single-member SLCs are subject to heightened scrutiny, they can also provide unique opportunities, says Josh Bloom at MoloLamken.
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10th Circ. Ruling Means More Okla. Oilfield Pollution Litigation
By applying Oklahoma's statutory definitions of pollution to a private landowner's claim for negligence for the first time, the Tenth Circuit's recent decision in Lazy S Ranch v. Valero will likely make it harder to obtain summary judgment in oilfield contamination cases, and will lead to more litigation, say attorneys at GableGotwals.