Appellate

  • April 09, 2026

    Mich. Justices Revisit Med Mal Wrongful Death Filing Limits

    The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday heard arguments revisiting its 2004 decision that narrowed the window for filing certain medical malpractice suits, with attorneys for a patient's estate urging the justices to overturn the ruling and extend the limit for wrongful death claims during the statutory notice period.

  • April 09, 2026

    Cigna 401(k) Suit Won't Wait For Intel Supreme Court Decision

    A Pennsylvania federal court turned down Cigna's bid to stay a proposed class action alleging the insurance company misspent forfeitures from its employee 401(k) plan and offered an underperforming investment fund while the U.S. Supreme Court considers a 401(k) suit against Intel, finding the request unjustified.

  • April 09, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Army Refund Over $73M Hangar Contract

    A contractor must refund the U.S. Army roughly $494,000 under a nearly $73 million hangar contract after the Army deleted certain requirements, the Federal Circuit ruled Thursday, rejecting the contractor's position that performing the contract was already impossible.

  • April 09, 2026

    Judge Says Poultry Enviro Deals In 20-Year Suits Fall Short

    An Oklahoma federal judge has rejected a bid by the state and several poultry companies to enter consent decrees in their two-decade-old dispute, finding the agreements did not go far enough to address pollution of the Illinois River Watershed.

  • April 09, 2026

    Split 4th Circ. Backs West Virginia Schoolchildren Vax Law

    A split Fourth Circuit panel struck down an order barring West Virginia from applying a compulsory vaccination law to a student whose parents alleged the law violates her religious rights, ruling the law serves the state's interest in reducing the spread of infectious diseases.

  • April 09, 2026

    Texas Panel Nixes $7.9M Pipe Award Over 'Meager' Evidence

    A Texas state appeals court on Thursday erased a $7.9 million judgment tied to defective pipe work on natural gas liquefaction projects, finding there wasn't enough evidence that the company the jurors ruled liable was the one that actually made the deal.

  • April 09, 2026

    Colo. Appeals Court Upholds State Sanctuary Law

    A Colorado law that prohibits counties from entering into immigration detention agreements with the federal government does not violate the state's constitution, the Colorado Court of Appeals held Thursday in rejecting Douglas County's challenge to the law.

  • April 09, 2026

    Miami Police Chief's Firing Was Justified, 11th Circ. Told

    Former Miami officials urged the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to dismiss retaliation claims against them, arguing they're immune from a lawsuit brought by a police chief who alleged he was wrongfully terminated after informing the FBI and state law enforcement officials that corruption was occurring within the city.

  • April 09, 2026

    1st Circ. Sees Rationale For Puerto Rico 'X' Birth Marker Ban

    A First Circuit panel floated a possible legal pathway for Puerto Rico to refuse to add a neutral gender option on birth certificates Thursday as the commonwealth appealed a mandate to permit nonbinary people to change their gender to "x."

  • April 09, 2026

    Wash. Justices Oust Judge Pro Tem Over Forged Parking Doc

    Washington's highest court voted unanimously Thursday to remove a substitute judge from his King County District Court post for forging a court document in an effort to save $10 on daily parking costs.

  • April 09, 2026

    Philip Morris, RJR Keep Win In Widower's Death Suit

    A Massachusetts appeals panel Thursday refused to reinstate a suit from a widower against Philip Morris USA Inc. and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. over the death of his wife from COPD, saying he hadn't properly preserved his arguments for tolling the statute of limitations.

  • April 09, 2026

    Ex-Player Asks NC Justices To Revive School Negligence Suit

    A former college football player is urging North Carolina justices to take up his appeal and rule that a lower court was wrong to hand a pretrial win to Gardner-Webb University, arguing a jury should decide if the school took reasonable care to protect him from "attempted murder."

  • April 09, 2026

    9th Circ. Nixes Tribe's Bid To Vacate Union Card Check Award

    A California Native American tribe can't undo an arbitration award requiring it to follow the guidelines for union representation elections outlined in its 2017 agreement with UNITE HERE, the Ninth Circuit has ruled.

  • April 09, 2026

    Nonprofit Insurer Wants To Seek AstraZeneca Claims Revival

    EmblemHealth asked a Massachusetts federal judge to let it seek First Circuit intervention against a decision that cut in half its proposed class action accusing AstraZeneca unit Alexion of using sham patents to protect blood disorder treatment Soliris from biosimilar rivals.

  • April 09, 2026

    Texas Man On Death Row Seeks Pause For New Evidence

    An incarcerated man on death row in Texas has asked a state pardon board to push back his execution date so he can present new evidence he says proves that his cousin, not him, committed a pair of murders nearly 20 years ago.

  • April 09, 2026

    Attys, Scholars Can Back Khalil In 3rd Circ. Detention Fight

    The Third Circuit granted three separate motions from civil rights groups, immigration experts and habeas scholars Thursday to file amicus briefs supporting Mahmoud Khalil's request for en banc review of a precedential decision that cleared the way for the government to continue detaining the Columbia University activist.

  • April 09, 2026

    Report Finds No Evidence Mass. Judge, Prosecutor Had Affair

    A former Massachusetts state court judge and a county prosecutor were cleared in a special master's report made public Thursday about anonymous accusations that they were having an affair while he was presiding over her cases.

  • April 09, 2026

    Zillow, Redfin Ask To Use 4th Circ. NCAA Ruling In FTC Suit

    Property listing giants Zillow and Redfin asked a Virginia federal court to let them use a recent Fourth Circuit ruling for an NCAA case to bolster their dismissal bid against antitrust claims filed by the Federal Trade Commission and multiple states.

  • April 09, 2026

    Green Card Redo Moots Suit Over Denial, 10th Circ. Says

    A Tenth Circuit panel said a federal judge was right to toss a suit challenging a green card denial after U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services reopened the application and denied it again when the applicant failed to provide requested information.

  • April 09, 2026

    DOL Urges 11th Circ. To Scrap ERISA Exhaustion Rule

    The U.S. Department of Labor urged the full Eleventh Circuit to overturn precedent making it the only appellate court requiring workers to exhaust administrative remedies before bringing any statutory claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. arguing that the standard is unfair and in conflict with ERISA.

  • April 09, 2026

    PNC Tells Justices $233M Patent Win Was Rightly Axed

    PNC Bank told the U.S. Supreme Court to leave untouched a Federal Circuit ruling that nixed a set of $233 million patent infringement verdicts in suits brought by the United Services Automobile Association, saying USAA's patents were "plainly directed to an abstract idea" not eligible for patent protection.

  • April 09, 2026

    US Again Urges High Court To Back Drug Price Program

    The administration of President Donald Trump again urged the Supreme Court not to hear a challenge to the Medicare drug price negotiation program, arguing against a constitutional challenge brought by Boehringer Ingelheim that drug companies aren't forced to accept lower prices because they can choose not to participate. 

  • April 09, 2026

    5th Circ. Revives Reinsurance Broker Row Over Credit Mishap

    The Fifth Circuit revived a suit by an insurer's owner alleging that its broker failed to administer its reinsurance program properly, leading to over $100 million in losses when it discovered the program lacked a valid line of credit.

  • April 08, 2026

    3rd Circ. Asked To Undo Atty Fees For ICE Cooperation Suit

    A former Bucks County, Pennsylvania, sheriff asked the Third Circuit on Wednesday to undo a $35,000 attorney fee award granted to groups that remanded their case over his cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, arguing the case belonged in district court because he'd effectively become a federal officer.

  • April 08, 2026

    Fla. Panel Told New Proposals Don't Protect Natural Springs

    A nonprofit urged a Florida state appellate panel Wednesday to overturn an administrative judge's decision siding with an agency's proposed rules for protecting natural springs, arguing the permitting measures are essentially the same as existing ones and do nothing to prevent overconsumption. 

Expert Analysis

  • What A Court Doc Audit Reveals About Erroneous Filings

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    My audit of 1,522 court documents from last month found that over 95% contained at least one verifiable error, with fewer than 1% showing clear indicators of artificial intelligence use — highlighting above all else that lawyers may want to focus most on strengthening their review processes, says Elliott Ash at ETH Zurich.

  • Exploring When Fraud Asset Freezes Limit Right To Pick Atty

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    The defendant’s claim in the Seventh Circuit’s pending U.S. v. Shah case that the government restrained his assets until he couldn’t afford his chosen counsel presents a useful case study in how criminal forfeiture procedure interacts with U.S. Supreme Court rulings on Sixth Amendment rights and appealing complex fraud convictions, says Elisha Kobre at Sheppard.

  • How Justices' GEO Ruling Resets Gov't Contractor Litigation

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent GEO Group v. Menocal decision, holding that government contractors cannot immediately exit cases via interlocutory appeals, may increase litigation costs, strengthen plaintiffs' leverage in settlement negotiations and dampen the government's ability to attract bids on high-risk or sensitive projects, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Appellate Strategy Lessons From Pa. Excess Coverage Ruling

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    In FedEx v. National Union Fire Insurance, a Pennsylvania state court recently set forth a clear holding that policyholders may recover postjudgment interest under excess liability insurance policies only when the policy language expressly allows, offering important takeaways for planning appeals, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Defense Counsel Options Widen As No-Bill Rate Increases

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    Citizens impaneled on grand juries in politically motivated cases who are reasserting their role as a critical check on state power could provide criminal defense attorneys an opportunity to pursue seldom-used preindictment strategies, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How Cos. Can Prepare For 'Made In America' Ad Scrutiny

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    The Trump administration's executive order to combat fraudulent "Made in America" claims in consumer-facing advertising, along with actions by the Federal Trade Commission, suggest a potential increased focus on consumer protection and pricing-related matters, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Similar-Looking Designs May Not Always Prove Infringement

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Range of Motion Products v. Armaid is a reminder that even a strikingly similar design might not be found to infringe upon a patented design once design features driven by functionality are filtered out from consideration, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Series

    Mich. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    Michigan's financial services sector saw several significant developments in 2026's first quarter, including the state Department of Insurance and Financial Services' issuance of a bulletin on the use of artificial intelligence and the Michigan House's introduction of a bill based on the Model Money Transmission Modernization Act, say attorneys at Dykema.

  • Pension Case Offers Entertainment Work Exception Insights

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    A recent Ninth Circuit decision clarified that any amount of entertainment work can satisfy the entertainment industry exception under the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act, reinforcing that statutory language, rather than evolving business models, dictates withdrawal liability outcomes, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Justices' Ruling Stresses Quick Action Against Absconders

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding in Rico v. U.S. that a supervised release term is not automatically extended when a defendant absconds, probation officers and prosecutors risk being unable to address later violations if they don't act promptly to secure warrants, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Justices May Hesitate To Limit Courts' Arbitration Review

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    Based on Monday's argument in Jules v. Andre Balazs, the U.S. Supreme Court seems poised to preserve federal jurisdiction over arbitral award enforcement stemming from actions originated in federal court, a holding that would markedly limit the court's 2022 Walters v. Badgerow decision, says Ashwini Jayaratnam at DarrowEverett.

  • Series

    Ultramarathons Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Completing a 100-mile ultramarathon was tougher, more humbling and more rewarding than I ever imagined, and the experience highlighted how long-distance running has sharpened my ability to adapt to the evolving nature of antitrust law and strengthened my resolve to handle demanding, unforeseen challenges, says Dan Oakes at Axinn.

  • State FARA Laws Pose Unique Constitutional Challenges

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    Several states have recently enacted foreign agent registration and disclosure regimes that were modeled after the Foreign Agents Registration Act, but these state laws raise several constitutional questions, including concerns about preemption, speech and petition, and vagueness, says Alexandra Langton at Covington.

  • Series

    Pa. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    The first quarter of 2026 brought several consequential developments for Pennsylvania financial institutions, including the state banking department's first assessment overhaul in 10 years, a bill prohibiting interchange fees on card transaction sales taxes and a federal appeals court's upholding of a $52 million enforcement action, say attorneys at Gross McGinley.

  • Determining When Engineered Biologics May Be Patentable

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Regenxbio v. Sarepta, concluding that engineered cells with DNA from different organisms are not patent-ineligible natural phenomena, raises questions surrounding what framework courts will use to evaluate the patent eligibility of engineered biologics moving forward, says Robert Frederickson at Goodwin.

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