Appellate

  • August 11, 2025

    Data Co. Asks DC Circ. To Revive $22M Guinea Award Bid

    A data consulting company has again urged the D.C. Circuit to reverse a lower court order denying its bid to enforce a $22 million arbitral award against Guinea, saying the country wrongly wants the appeals court to ignore long-standing precedent and nix enforcement on jurisdictional grounds.

  • August 11, 2025

    9th Circ. Says LA Men Have Ammo In Gun Rights Class Action

    The Ninth Circuit found Monday that a Los Angeles gun licensing policy that allowed only judges or law enforcement agents to carry concealed weapons was unconstitutional in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, reviving a proposed class action brought by three men who were arrested for violating the policy.

  • August 11, 2025

    Tulsa Says Settlement Moots High Court Jurisdiction Bid

    Tulsa is asking the Supreme Court to deny a petition by an Oklahoma attorney that looks to undo his conviction stemming from a speeding ticket issued on tribal lands, arguing it seeks review of a broader jurisdictional question that the municipality and the Creek Nation have already resolved.

  • August 11, 2025

    Ex-Ill. Speaker's 'False Hope' Won't Delay Prison Sentence

    Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan must begin serving his seven-year bribery and wire fraud prison sentence as ordered in October, a federal judge has ruled, finding that Madigan "clings to false hope" in arguing his forthcoming appeal to the Seventh Circuit will present an issue substantial enough to overturn his entire conviction.

  • August 11, 2025

    Pa. Court Finds Man Who Wasn't Driving Can Still Get DUI

    A man found intoxicated in the driver's seat of his running truck in a parking lot had his sentence for driving under the influence affirmed by the Pennsylvania Superior Court, which found it was fair to assume the man had driven there.

  • August 11, 2025

    4th Circ. Affirms $2M Insurer Car Crash Payout, Plus Interest

    An excess insurer for a construction company must pay a woman and her two children its full $2 million limit after they suffered severe injuries in a head-on collision, the Fourth Circuit ruled, further finding the insurer must also pay both pre- and post-judgment interest.

  • August 11, 2025

    Posner Accuser Wants Roberts To Pick Judges For Wage Case

    The pro se plaintiff seeking to revive wage claims against retired Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner has filed an opposed motion asking the circuit's chief judge to request U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts assign out-of-circuit judges to preside over the case, arguing the circuit judges cannot be impartial.

  • August 11, 2025

    IP Atty Asks High Court To Hear 'US Space Force' TM Case

    An intellectual property lawyer has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear his case to register the trademark "US Space Force," seeking a reversal of a trademark board decision that denied him registration of the mark even though he applied for it before the creation of the military branch with the same name.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Justices' Ruling Lowers Bar For Reverse Discrimination Suits

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's unanimous opinion in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, lowering the evidentiary burden for plaintiffs bringing so-called reverse discrimination claims, may lead to more claims brought by majority group employees — and open the door to legal challenges to employer diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, say attorneys at Ice Miller.

  • Fed's Crypto Guidance Yank Could Drive Innovation

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    The Federal Reserve Board's recent withdrawal of guidance letters brings regulatory consistency and broadens banks' ability to innovate in the crypto-asset space, but key distinctions remain between the Fed's policy on crypto liquidity and that of the other banking regulators, says Dan Hartman at Nutter.

  • Attacks On Judicial Independence Tend To Manifest In 3 Ways

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    Attacks on judicial independence now run the gamut from gross (bald-faced interference) to systemic (structural changes) to insidious (efforts to undermine public trust), so lawyers, judges and the public must recognize the fateful moment in which we live and defend the rule of law every day, says Jim Moliterno at Washington and Lee University.

  • Statistics Tools Chart A Path For AI Use In Expert Testimony

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    To avoid the fate of numerous expert witnesses whose testimony was recently deemed inadmissible by courts, experts relying on artificial intelligence and machine learning should learn from statistical tools’ road to judicial acceptance, say directors at Secretariat.

  • High Court Birthright Case Could Reshape Judicial Power

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    Recent arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in cases challenging President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order primarily focused on federal judges’ power to issue nationwide injunctions and suggest that the upcoming decision may fundamentally change how federal courts operate, says Mauni Jalali at Quinn Emanuel.

  • Ore. High Court Ruling Widens Construction Defect Coverage

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    A recent Oregon Supreme Court decision, Twigg v. Admiral Insurance, dispels the myth that a contractor's liability for defective work is uninsurable if pursued as a breach of contract, say attorneys at Stoel Rives.

  • Justices Hand Agencies Broad Discretion In NEPA Review

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    By limiting the required scope of reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County could weaken the review process under NEPA, while also raising questions regarding the degree of deference afforded to agencies, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Appreciating Civil Procedure

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    If you’re like me, law school’s often complex and theoretical approach to teaching civil procedure may have contributed to an early struggle with the topic, but when seen from a practical perspective, new lawyers may find they enjoy mastering these rules, says Chloe Villagomez at Foster Garvey.

  • Appellate Guidance Needed On California Chatbot Litigation

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    There is wide variation in how courts are applying the California Invasion of Privacy Act against website owners that allegedly help third parties spy on visitors via chatbots — and the lack of appellate rulings creates uncertainty, especially as these cases move toward the summary judgment stage, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Calif. Bar Exam Fiasco Shows Why Attys Must Disclose AI Use

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    The recent revelation that a handful of questions from the controversial California bar exam administered in February were drafted using generative artificial intelligence demonstrates the continued importance of disclosure for attorneys who use AI tools, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • The Sentencing Guidelines Are Commencing A New Era

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    Sweeping new amendments to the U.S. sentencing guidelines — including the elimination of departure provisions — intended to promote transparency and individualized justice while still guarding against unwarranted disparities will have profound consequences for all stakeholders, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

  • Justices Widen Gap Between Federal, Calif. Enviro Reviews

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court's recent opinion in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County, Colorado, narrowed the scope of National Environmental Policy Act reviews, it may have broadened the gulf between reviews conducted under NEPA and those under the California Environmental Quality Act, say attorneys at Hanson Bridgett.

  • In 2nd Place, Va. 'Rocket Docket' Remains Old Reliable

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    The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was again one of the fastest civil trial courts in the nation last year, and an interview with the court’s newest judge provides insights into why it continues to soar, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • Foreign Sovereign Entities Should Heed 9th Circ. IP Ruling

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    After the Ninth Circuit recently held that four Chinese state-controlled companies were not immune from criminal indictment for alleged economic espionage, foreign sovereign-controlled entities should assess whether their operations and affiliation with their parent states qualify for sovereign immunity under the common law, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • How Attorneys Can Become Change Agents For Racial Equity

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    As the administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and law firms consider pulling back from their programs, lawyers who care about racial equity and justice can employ four strategies to create microspaces of justice, which can then be parlayed into drivers of transformational change, says Susan Sturm at Columbia Law School.

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