Appellate

  • August 11, 2025

    Rising Star: McGuireWoods' Brian Schmalzbach

    Brian Schmalzbach of McGuireWoods LLP argued a civil rights case addressing attorney fees before the U.S. Supreme Court last fall, earning him a spot among appellate law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • August 11, 2025

    6th Circ. Bucks EEOC With Strict View On Client Harassment

    An employer can only be held liable for a customer's harassment of an employee if the company intended for the misconduct to happen, the Sixth Circuit ruled, a strict stance that breaks with long-standing U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidelines and other circuit case law.

  • August 11, 2025

    NY Judge Won't Unseal 'Redundant' Maxwell Grand Jury Docs

    A New York federal judge on Monday denied the Trump administration's bid to unseal grand jury transcripts and exhibits in the prosecution of Ghislaine Maxwell, who is appealing a 20-year prison sentence for trafficking teenage girls for sex offender and disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, concluding that the materials contain almost nothing new.

  • August 08, 2025

    9th Circ. Grounds Lufthansa Refund Deal On Atty Fee Question

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday vacated an order that granted class certification and gave final approval to a $56.6 million settlement reached between Lufthansa and customers in a dispute concerning refunds for flights canceled due to COVID-19, saying a district court's calculation gave class counsel a disproportionate distribution.

  • August 08, 2025

    8th Circ. Revives Floyd Protestor's Arson Case Challenge

    A protester convicted of arson at a Minneapolis pawn shop during 2020 protests over the murder of George Floyd — and where the dead body of another man was later found — will get another shot at vacating his sentence after the Eighth Circuit ruled Friday that a district court miscalculated the deadline to challenge his sentence.

  • August 08, 2025

    3rd Circ. Affirms Toss Of GameStop Website Tracking Suit

    The Third Circuit refused to revive a proposed class action accusing GameStop of violating Pennsylvania's wiretap law through its use of third-party software to record website visitors' browsing activities, finding that the plaintiff failed to show that the alleged interception of her non-personal data caused a sufficiently concrete injury.

  • August 08, 2025

    Ripple Exits SEC Case With An Injunction Still Over Its Head

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's long-running case against Ripple Labs has finally come to an end with both sides agreeing to drop competing appeals, but the crypto firm's inability to shake a court-ordered judgment leaves it potentially vulnerable to future enforcement actions.

  • August 08, 2025

    Wash. Justices Won't Touch Builder Seattle Condo Tower Win

    The Washington State Supreme Court will not take up a case involving a $19.2 million jury trial verdict for a construction company in a dispute with the owner and developer of a 41-story Seattle condo tower project, according to recent filings.

  • August 08, 2025

    9th Circ. Says Ex-Atty Sued By CFPB Still On Hook For $243M

    The Ninth Circuit refused to free a disbarred attorney from a $243 million order that included civil penalties to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for his role in a student loan scam, finding no genuine dispute whether the former lawyer violated consumer protection law.

  • August 08, 2025

    Fired Copyright Office Director Takes Fight For Job To DC Circ.

    The ousted head of the U.S. Copyright Office brought the fight over President Donald Trump's termination of her to the D.C. Circuit on Thursday, where she asked for an emergency injunction to reinstate her while she challenges her "patently unlawful removal."

  • August 08, 2025

    6th Circ. Revives Dodge Ram Drivers' Emissions Fraud Claims

    The Sixth Circuit signaled Friday that federal law doesn't preempt a group of drivers' claims alleging Fiat Chrysler and engine manufacturer Cummins deceptively marketed Dodge Ram trucks as being more environmentally friendly than they actually were, punting the dispute back to Michigan federal court.

  • August 08, 2025

    Injured Woman Owes Ex-Attys More Than She Won At Trial

    A Texas appeals court has affirmed a $150,000 arbitration award for a law firm sued over the contingency fees owed by a former client in a personal injury suit that ended in a post-trial settlement of about $130,000, rejecting the woman's bid to invalidate the award.

  • August 08, 2025

    Exxon, Suncor Urge Justices To Halt Colo. Climate Suit

    Exxon Mobil Corp. and Suncor Energy Inc. on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Colorado Supreme Court's decision allowing the city and county of Boulder's climate change tort against the companies to proceed in state court, arguing that the localities' claims are preempted by federal law.

  • August 08, 2025

    MSN Calls On Full Fed. Circ. To Rethink Double Patenting Rule

    MSN Laboratories urged the full Federal Circuit on Friday to reconsider a decision on when patents can be invalidated for double patenting, arguing in a Parkinson's disease drug case that the court has improperly limited the free use of expired patents and permitted harassing lawsuits.

  • August 08, 2025

    How Patent Attys Can Limit 'Skinny Label' Risks In Ads

    The Federal Circuit has twice cited a company's marketing practices to allow arguments that a generic drug's "skinny label" could induce patent infringement, and here, Law360 offers tips on how patent attorneys can take a more active role in making sure company and client advertisements pass muster.

  • August 08, 2025

    Florida Court Rejects Ex-Felon's Bid To Hold Public Office

    A Florida state appeals panel has rejected a bid by an ousted elected official challenging his removal from office for having prior felony convictions from another state.

  • August 08, 2025

    Hospital, Clinic Exit Suit Over Man's Fatal Stabbing

    A California appeals court has refused to revive a woman's suit against a psychiatric hospital and outpatient clinic blaming them for the death of her husband who was stabbed by her mentally ill son, saying the healthcare providers are shielded by a psychotherapist immunity statute.

  • August 08, 2025

    Colo. Conviction Axed Over Man's 'Rambling' Midtrial Speech

    A man who was allowed to go on an incoherent rant before a jury while wearing prison clothes and was subsequently sentenced to 12 years in prison for growing marijuana will get a new trial, a Colorado state appeals court said, finding that his unsworn ramblings undoubtedly deprived him of a fair hearing.

  • August 08, 2025

    Texas AG Asks State High Court To Strip Democrats Of Office

    The Texas Office of the Attorney General filed a lawsuit in the Texas Supreme Court on Friday aiming to strip several Texas House Democrats of their office and clear the way for a controversial redistricting plan in the Lone Star State.

  • August 08, 2025

    Man Wins Bid To Appeal Sentence For Gang Rape As Minor

    A 57-year-old man serving up to 150 years in prison for the brutal gang rape of a woman committed when he was 17 may appeal his sentence in light of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that sentencing minors to life in prison is unconstitutional, a Michigan appeals court said Thursday.

  • August 08, 2025

    Ch. 7 Claim Can't Nab Early Win For Litigation, 2nd Circ. Says

    A medical device distributor can't use an allowed claim from a former employee's Chapter 7 bankruptcy to win summary judgment in a long-running lawsuit, the Second Circuit ruled Friday.

  • August 08, 2025

    Calif. Justices Rip Deference To Regulator's Solar Ruling

    The Golden State's highest court unanimously struck down a lower court ruling that the justices said gave too much deference to the California Public Utilities Commission in a dispute over rooftop solar rates, saying when reviewing decisions of the state's utilities regulator, courts "remain the final arbiters of statutory meaning."

  • August 08, 2025

    Fla. Panel Slams 'Unending Demand' In Nursing Home Suit

    A Florida appeals court reinstated an estate's suit against the owners and managers of a nursing home over the lack of treatment of one of its now-deceased residents, chastising the "seemingly unending demand" for detail as the trial court repeatedly called for amendments to the initial complaint.

  • August 08, 2025

    6th Circ. Says Federal Machine Gun Ban Is Constitutional

    The Sixth Circuit has upheld a federal ban on machine guns, finding the prohibition to be in line with the country's tradition of regulating "dangerous and unusual weapons."

  • August 08, 2025

    FTC Maintains Support For Right-To-Repair In Med Robot Case

    The Federal Trade Commission is providing important backing for a surgical repair company's Ninth Circuit bid to revive claims accusing Intuitive Surgical of blocking third parties from refurbishing components for its popular da Vinci surgery robot, in an amicus brief suggesting defending right-to-repair work remains important for the Republican-controlled agency.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • Quantifying Trading-Based Damages Using Price Impact

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will likely increasingly rely on price impact analyses to demonstrate pecuniary harm from trading-related misconduct, meaning measuring price impact will be helpful in challenging SEC disgorgement, determining appropriate remedies, and assessing loss causation and damages in private litigation, says Vyacheslav Fos at Boston College and Erin Smith at Compass Lexecon.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • How McKesson Ruling Will Inform Interpretations Of The TCPA

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    Amid the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in McLaughlin Chiropractic Associates v. McKesson, we can expect to see both plaintiffs and defendants utilizing the decision to revisit the Federal Communications Commission's past Telephone Consumer Protection Act interpretations and decisions they did not like, says Jason McElroy at Saul Ewing.

  • Justices Rethink Minimum Contacts For Foreign Entities

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    Two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions, Devas v. Antrix and Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization, suggest that federal statutes may confer personal jurisdiction over foreign entities that have little to no contact with the U.S. — a significant departure from traditional due process principles, says Gary Shaw at Pillsbury.

  • Opinion

    High Court Must Overrule Outdated Patent Eligibility Doctrine

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    A certiorari petition should directly ask the U.S. Supreme Court to correct its 1972 patent decision in Gottschalk v. Benson, the critical point where patent eligibility law veered from the statutory text toward judicial policymaking, says Robert Greenspoon at Dunlap Bennett.

  • Examining TCPA Jurisprudence A Year After Loper Bright

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    One year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, lower court decisions demonstrate that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act will continue to evolve as long-standing interpretations of the act are analyzed with a fresh lens, says Aaron Gallardo at Kilpatrick.

  • Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures

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    With the recent rise of securities fraud actions based on external events — like a data breach or environmental disaster — that drive down stock prices, risk disclosures have become more of a sword for the plaintiffs bar than a shield for public companies, now the subject of a growing circuit split, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

  • How Justices' Ruling Limits Options To Challenge DHS Orders

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    In Riley v. Bondi, the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that a 30-day deadline for challenging deportation orders begins when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issues a final administrative review order, opening the door for the government to effectively bar circuit court review in future similar cases, says Kevin Gregg at Kurzban Kurzban.

  • Series

    Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing violin in a string quartet reminds me that flexibility, ambition, strong listening skills, thoughtful leadership and intentional collaboration are all keys to a successful legal practice, says Julie Park at MoFo.

  • Purdue Case Could Transform Patent Obviousness Analyses

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    If accepted for review by the U.S. Supreme Court, Purdue Pharma v. Accord Healthcare — concerning whether Purdue's abuse-deterrent opioid formulation patents were invalid as obvious — could significantly shift how courts weigh secondary considerations in patent obviousness analyses, say attorneys at Lathrop.

  • NM Cyber Ruling Will Spur Litigation As Coverage Remedy

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    In Kane v. Beazley, the New Mexico Court of Appeals recently found that a cyber liability provision insuring security breaches included coverage for funds transfer fraud, implicitly and incorrectly motivating policyholders to commence litigation to avoid contractual limitations on cyber coverages, say attorneys at Zelle.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Self-Care

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    Law schools don’t teach the mental, physical and emotional health maintenance tools necessary to deal with the profession's many demands, but practicing self-care is an important key to success that can help to improve focus, manage stress and reduce burnout, says Rachel Leonard​​​​​​​ at MG+M.

  • Texas' Cactus Ruling Clarifies 'Produced Water' Rules

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    The Texas Supreme Court's decision in Cactus Water Services v. COG Operating, holding that mineral interest lessees have the rights to water extracted alongside oil and gas, should benefit industry players by clarifying the rules — but it leaves important questions about royalties unresolved, say attorneys at Yetter Coleman.

  • ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'

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    The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

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