Appellate

  • September 03, 2025

    Liberace Piano Dispute Returns To 1st Circ. After Gibson Win

    A Massachusetts music shop took its campaign to hold onto Liberace's rhinestone-encrusted piano to the First Circuit for the second time Wednesday, telling the appellate court that Gibson Guitars should never have been allowed to ask a jury for its return.

  • September 03, 2025

    Mich. Panel Orders New Trial After Race-Based Juror Removal

    A Michigan appeals court has reversed a murder conviction, finding that a man should be given a new trial because prosecutors struck three prospective Black jurors from his trial for racially motivated reasons.

  • September 03, 2025

    Ex-Twitter Worker Fights X's Arbitration Push At 9th Circ.

    X waived its arbitration rights in a $20 million severance suit and should not be able to challenge a district court's decision keeping the case in court, Twitter's former chief marketing officer told the Ninth Circuit.

  • September 03, 2025

    Sports Doctor Group Can't Ditch $8.5M Patient Death Verdict

    A Connecticut appeals panel won't let surgical group Orthopaedic Sports Specialists PC out of an $8.5 million wrongful death verdict in a suit from the estate of a patient who died after a knee replacement, rejecting its arguments challenging the trial court's handling of witness examination.

  • September 03, 2025

    Fla. Justices Ban Referrals Over Judicial Election Conduct

    The Florida Supreme Court has signed off on a rule change the state bar sought that prohibits ethics referrals from judges about their opponents' conduct with respect to judicial elections.

  • September 03, 2025

    ND Tribes Ask Supreme Court To Protect Voting Rights Act

    Two North Dakota tribes are asking the Supreme Court to undo an Eighth Circuit decision that prohibits lawsuits against states for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, arguing that if not overturned, the ruling would kneecap the main federal protection against racial discrimination in voting.

  • September 03, 2025

    Pick For Del.'s 3rd Circ. Seat Questioned On Ties To The State

    Jennifer L. Mascott, nominee for a Delaware seat on the Third Circuit who is currently serving in the White House Counsel's Office, came under questioning from Democrats on Wednesday regarding her lack of connections to the state and her qualifications for the judgeship.

  • September 03, 2025

    Sullivan & Cromwell Hires Ex-Asst. To The Solicitor General

    Sullivan & Cromwell LLP announced Wednesday that it has hired a former assistant to the solicitor general whose wealth of appellate experience includes six arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • September 03, 2025

    Software Co. Founder Fights $100M Tax Bill At 11th Circ.

    A software company founder facing more than $100 million in tax debt from his participation in an illegal tax shelter should have been allowed to settle with the Internal Revenue Service for $1.5 million because he can't pay the whole bill, he told the Eleventh Circuit.

  • September 03, 2025

    Ohio Panel Says Judge Can't Thwart Prison Credit Programs

    A split Ohio appeals court on Tuesday ruled an incarcerated man should be allowed to participate in prison programs that can earn him credit toward his release, adding that a state trial judge cannot bar access to the programs.

  • September 03, 2025

    Claim Mistake Dooms Flutist's Benefits Suit, 7th Circ. Says

    The Seventh Circuit backed the dismissal of a musician's suit alleging an insurer wrongfully denied her long-term disability benefits claim after a COVID-19 infection caused chronic ear ringing, ruling she needs to file a new claim because she made an error in her first application.

  • September 03, 2025

    5th Circ. Deems Trump's Use Of Wartime Removal Law Illegal

    A split Fifth Circuit panel ruled that President Donald Trump's March proclamation invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members likely ran afoul of the wartime law and blocked removals in the Northern District of Texas.

  • September 02, 2025

    DC Circ. Refuses To Block Fired FTC Dem's Reinstatement

    A split D.C. Circuit panel Tuesday refused to stay a lower court's order reinstating a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission, finding that the government has "no likelihood of success" fighting her reinstatement because President Donald Trump broke the law when he fired her without cause.

  • September 02, 2025

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    For appellate attorneys feeling sad summer's over, September's circuit calendars are here to help with argument topics — including the former Meghan Markle, an ex-Jones Day lawyer's religious liberty suit and $17 million in fees after "a vigorous litigation battle" between BigLaw firms — offering enough intrigue to vanquish any autumn ennui.

  • September 02, 2025

    5th Circ. Judge Says Reimbursement Drop 'Not Chicken Feed'

    A U.S. Circuit judge pushed the government to explain the policy rationale behind lowering how much hospitals can recoup in Medicare reimbursements for treating low-income patients who use state-specific programs, saying Tuesday the rule was seemingly aimed at "screwing these hospitals out of reimbursements."

  • September 02, 2025

    DC Circ. Says EPA Can Freeze Climate Grant Funds

    A D.C. Circuit panel vacated an injunction on Tuesday ordering Citibank to relinquish grant funding frozen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, finding green groups are not likely to succeed on the merits of their "essentially contractual" claims.

  • September 02, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Told PTAB Ineligibility Rule Flouts Due Process

    Marketing software company HighLevel Inc. has urged the Federal Circuit to prohibit the Patent Trial and Appeal Board from retroactively applying a decision barring patent reviews after a district court has found the patent invalid on eligibility grounds, saying the practice violates due process.

  • September 02, 2025

    9th Circ. Rejects Unvaxxed Firefighters' Discrimination Appeal

    A Ninth Circuit panel declined on Tuesday to revive a group of Washington firefighters' suit against their employer for refusing them religious exemptions from a state COVID-19 vaccination mandate, concluding the fire agency would've faced "substantial costs" had it allowed them to continue working without the shot in 2021.

  • September 02, 2025

    4th Circ. Says Cooking For Terrorists Doesn't Bar Asylum

    The Fourth Circuit revived a deported Nigerian man's immigration case Tuesday, ruling a brief stint as a cook for a terrorist group did not rise to a level of "material support" to make him ineligible for asylum.

  • September 02, 2025

    Defamation Litigation Roundup: Patel's GF, Dershowitz, Nunes

    In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 reports on a new suit by the girlfriend of the current FBI director over a podcaster's claims that she was an Israeli intelligence agent, as well as the latest settlement between a voting machine company and a conservative news organization over 2020 election claims. 

  • September 02, 2025

    Harley-Davidson Riders Want Another Look At Warranty Case

    Customers targeting Harley-Davidson's motorcycle warranties are asking the Seventh Circuit for a rehearing, arguing that an appeals panel misconstrued language in the warranties and was wrong to reject claims that the company competes in a market for American motorcycles.

  • September 02, 2025

    5th Circ. Says Firm Is Making 'Circular Problem' In Doc Dispute

    A Fifth Circuit panel pushed back Tuesday on a law firm's assertion that it gets to keep documents associated with a $30 million settlement with Ocwen Financial Corp. even though those documents were allegedly used to breach the settlement agreement, saying they were making a circular argument.

  • September 02, 2025

    2nd Circ. Affirms Arizona Iced Tea's Audit Expense Coverage

    Hanover Insurance Co. must cover the maker of Arizona Iced Tea for additional audit expenses from a power surge that erased years of financial data, the Second Circuit determined Tuesday, finding that delays and additional costs were directly traced to the surge and therefore covered.

  • September 02, 2025

    VLSI Wants Chance To Defend Patent At Stewart's PTAB

    VLSI Technology LLC is asking the Federal Circuit for another chance to stop OpenSky Industries LLC from challenging its patent after being sanctioned, saying Tuesday that the inter partes review was only allowed based on guidance that has since been withdrawn.

  • September 02, 2025

    Progressive Owes No Coverage For Truck Transport Mishap

    A Progressive Insurance unit has no duty to defend or indemnify a transportation company facing an injury lawsuit alleging that a disabled truck rolled into oncoming interstate traffic while a worker was loading it onto a trailer, an Alabama federal court ruled Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • How Political Divisions Are Stalling Pa. Energy Development

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    Despite possessing the nation's second-largest natural gas reserves and a legacy of energy infrastructure, Pennsylvania faces a fragmented and politically charged path to developing the energy resources it will need in the future, thanks to legislative gridlock, divided public opinion and competing energy interests, says Andrew Levine at Stradley Ronon.

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