Appellate

  • July 23, 2026

    Mich. High Court Says Pot Smell Not Grounds For Car Search

    Police can't search a vehicle without a warrant based only on probable cause that someone committed a civil marijuana infraction, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, finding that the state's interest in enforcing a minor violation doesn't outweigh a driver's Fourth Amendment rights. 

  • July 23, 2026

    Mo. Panel Says Exclusion Bars Mallinckrodt Opioid Coverage

    A Missouri appellate court upheld a win for a group of insurers on their arguments that a "your products" policy exclusion applied to bar coverage of alleged damages from drugmaker Mallinckrodt's unbranded marketing of opioid products.

  • July 23, 2026

    Ga. Panel Says Closed Courtroom For Child Testimony OK

    The Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled that a man convicted of sex crimes was given a fair trial even though the courtroom was temporarily closed while his 12-year-old victim was allowed to testify because state law requires that the identity of juvenile witnesses be protected.

  • July 23, 2026

    Pa. AG Criticizes 'Inadequate' Felony Murder Sentence Bill

    Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday has urged lawmakers to reject a proposed new sentencing framework for people convicted of second-degree murder, calling a proposal amended Thursday too lenient even as a deadline set by the state's Supreme Court draws near.

  • July 23, 2026

    6th Circ. Challenges Exoneree's Fabricated Evidence Claim

    A Sixth Circuit panel on Thursday questioned whether a Michigan man who spent more than two decades in prison before his assault convictions were vacated had done enough to revive his civil rights suit accusing Detroit police officers of fabricating and withholding evidence during the investigation that led to his arrest.

  • July 23, 2026

    Third Murder Trial Not Double Jeopardy, 3rd Circ. Says

    The Third Circuit ruled on Thursday that a Pennsylvania man is not eligible for habeas corpus relief after he was made to face trial over the same murder three separate times, because a state court previously ruled he was correctly convicted and the retrials did not violate double jeopardy rules.

  • July 23, 2026

    11th Circ. Upholds Toss Of Cuban Cigar Trafficking Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit brought against British companies accused of trafficking cigars from a factory nationalized by the Cuban government, ruling that the lower court lacked jurisdiction. 

  • July 23, 2026

    Mass. Justices Say Health Board Can't Halt Verizon Tower

    A western Massachusetts city's health board lacked the power to order a Verizon cell tower to shut down due to health concerns, the state's highest court ruled Thursday.

  • July 23, 2026

    State High Courts Issue Top 2026 Specialty Insurance Rulings

    State high courts took the lead on specialty line insurance issues in the first half of 2026, including on cyber recovery disputes and the nuances of directors and officers coverage. Law360 has a midyear look.

  • July 23, 2026

    Chemours Tells 4th Circ. To Deny Refrigerant Antitrust Suit

    DuPont spinoff The Chemours Co. FC LLC urged the Fourth Circuit not to revive an antitrust suit from a refrigerant distributor alleging it was effectively denied access to a key refrigerant, arguing Wednesday that there's nothing monopolistic about refusing to sell "on the plaintiff's own preferred terms."

  • July 23, 2026

    Lack Of Jurisdiction Dooms $273M 'Rip And Replace' Suit

    The Court of Federal Claims has tossed a complaint from a telecom that says the Federal Communications Commission wrongly denied it $273 million in "rip and replace" funds for replacing Chinese-made equipment, saying that the company's dispute belongs in federal appeals court.

  • July 23, 2026

    Ex-Client Can't Revive Brach Eichler Malpractice Suit

    A New Jersey appellate panel on Thursday affirmed a lower court ruling granting summary judgment to Brach Eichler LLC in a suit accusing the firm of legal malpractice from its work in a long-running real estate dispute.

  • July 23, 2026

    Philly Judge Says Keller Postman Slowing Zantac Litigation

    A Pennsylvania state court judge has said Keller Postman LLC's "crusade" to remove him from presiding over several matters has ground to a halt the Zantac cancer mass tort in Philadelphia, leaving the plaintiffs' cases to "languish."

  • July 23, 2026

    7th Circ. Backs Chicago's Tenant Payout Ordinance

    The Seventh Circuit held Wednesday that a Chicago ordinance requiring owners of foreclosed rental buildings to pay tenants $10,600 to help with relocation costs is not an unconstitutional taking of property, saying that state and local authorities have broad power to regulate landlord-tenant relationships.

  • July 23, 2026

    Senate Confirms 2 Judges, Advances Ohio And Colo. Picks

    The Senate on Thursday voted 48-47 to confirm Judge Daniel Traynor of the District of North Dakota to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and 49-44 to confirm Antonio M. Pozos, a partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, as a judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

  • July 23, 2026

    9th Circ. Urged To Keep Reddit Moderator Subpoenas Alive

    A YouTube creator's production company has pressed the Ninth Circuit to reject a bid by anonymous Reddit moderators to block subpoenas seeking their identities, arguing that a federal judge properly found the company presented sufficient evidence that they facilitated alleged copyright infringement by directing people to livestreamed "watch parties" of its content.

  • July 23, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Partly Undoes Amazon Digital Photo Frame IP Win

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday refused to reboot a trio of digital picture framing patents Amazon was accused of infringing but reversed a California federal judge's finding that another patent was invalid.

  • July 23, 2026

    NJ Justices Adopt Atty Rule Barring Sex With Clients

    New Jersey attorneys will be prohibited from having sexual relationships with current clients beginning Sept. 1 under a new ethics rule that the state's highest court approved Thursday, replacing New Jersey's case-by-case approach with a bright-line prohibition.

  • July 23, 2026

    J&J's Delays Should End $25M Asbestos Appeal, Builder Says

    A western Massachusetts real estate developer has asked a Connecticut appeals court to toss Johnson & Johnson's appeal of a $25 million asbestos cancer verdict in his favor, saying the company has yet to file an opening brief despite receiving five deadline extensions.

  • July 23, 2026

    EEOC, UPenn Resolve Fight Over Jewish Workers' Info

    The University of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission struck a deal to end their battle over a subpoena seeking contact information of Jewish UPenn employees after the agency agreed to back away from enforcing it, the parties told the Third Circuit on Thursday.

  • July 23, 2026

    NCAA Appeals Ohio Judge's Block On Athletes' Eligibility

    The NCAA has appealed an Ohio state judge's decision that permitted 24 college basketball players to play in the upcoming season while they challenge the organization's eligibility restrictions.

  • July 22, 2026

    6 Copyright Cases To Watch In The Second Half Of 2026

    An appeal over whether an AI-powered legal research tool unlawfully used Westlaw material and a long-running fight involving a Miles Davis tattoo could produce some of 2026's most significant copyright rulings. Here is Law360's list of the most notable copyright cases to watch for the rest of the year.

  • July 22, 2026

    SoFi Stadium Owner Beats Suit Over Fan's Broken Hip

    A California appeals court has tossed a suit accusing the owner of SoFi Stadium and the Los Angeles Chargers of causing a season ticket holder's broken hip, saying the fan's ticket agreement contained an enforceable liability waiver.

  • July 22, 2026

    Mass. Justices Uphold Murder Conviction In Strangling

    Massachusetts' high court has upheld the first-degree murder conviction of a man who admitted to strangling the mother of his child, rejecting his claim that a judge erred in refusing to give jury instructions on a lesser manslaughter charge until after he testified at trial.

  • July 22, 2026

    US Marshals Can't Make Immigration Arrests In DC Court

    A D.C. federal judge Wednesday refused to toss a lawsuit from a certified class of immigrants challenging immigration arrests by U.S. marshals in D.C. Superior Court, declaring that the marshals lack authority and necessary training for the arrests.

Expert Analysis

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

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    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • Salt-N-Pepa Suit May Shake Up Music Copyright Issue

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    James v. UMG Recordings is a copyright termination rights case that provides an opportunity for the Second Circuit to make concrete choices about grant language, authorship, work-for-hire status and survival of derivative works, says attorney Abdul Abdullahi.

  • Opinion

    5th Circ.'s Abortion Pill Order Is Shaky On Multiple Grounds

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent order in Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion medication mifepristone, seems to turn federalism upside-down, and is also questionable for several other reasons, says Gregory Curtner at Curtner Law.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

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    Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

  • 5 Takeaways From Justices' Subpoena Fight Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in First Choice v. Davenport fortifies a line of First Amendment associational privacy cases stretching back nearly 70 years, and ensures that organizations subject to government demands for donor information have a meaningful federal forum in which to defend their constitutional rights, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

  • Where The Preemption Fight Over Prediction Markets Stands

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    While the Third Circuit's recent ruling in Kalshi v. Flaherty remains a significant win for the federal government in its quest to regulate prediction markets, the Fourth, Sixth and Ninth Circuits appear more skeptical, indicating that this fight is likely headed for the Supreme Court, says Johnny ElHachem at Holland & Knight.

  • Md. Justices' State Climate Tort Ban May Shape National Path

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    The Maryland Supreme Court’s recent ruling that federal law preempted state-level deceptive marketing tort claims brought by several municipalities could offer the U.S. Supreme Court a road map to use in the pending Suncor Energy v. Boulder County case to exclude states from the business of regulating global emissions, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • 4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

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    Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

  • What Justices Are Focusing On In 'Skinny Label' Patent Case

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    Though Hikma v. Amarin appears to be a patent dispute that could reshape inducement doctrine in the pharmaceutical context, oral argument suggests the U.S. Supreme Court may treat this as primarily a pleading-stage dispute, with important unresolved questions lurking beneath the surface, says Shashank Upadhye at Upadhye Tang.

  • Employer Tips After 4th Circ. Rejects Trimmed Suit Deadlines

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    The Fourth Circuit's recent holding in Thomas v. EOTech that employers cannot use contractual provisions to shorten statutory filing periods for Title VII or Age Discrimination in Employment Act claims offers a warning for employers to review any such documents and reassess their litigation risk, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • Binance Win Shows Constraints On Anti-Terrorism Act Claims

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    The Southern District of New York's recent ruling in Troell v. Binance illustrates that the Second Circuit's earlier decision in Ashley v. Deutsche Bank is holding weight with courts, and companies facing aiding and abetting risk should thus monitor evolving case law and assess exposure based on nexus allegations, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Understanding The Insider Trading Gap In Prediction Markets

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    While the first-ever insider trading indictment involving a prediction market — the recent prosecution of a service member involved in the capture of Nicolás Maduro — comprised extreme facts and straightforward legal theories, future cases will test the bounds of insider trading law, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Heppner Ruling Left AI Privilege Risk For Lawyers Unresolved

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    While a New York federal judge’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner resolved a privilege question surrounding client-side artificial intelligence use, it did not address how to mitigate the risks that can arise when confidential information enters the operative context of an AI system used by an attorney, says Jianfei Chen at Quarles & Brady​​​​​​​.

  • How 10 Years Of Case Law Have Shaped The DTSA

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    As the Defend Trade Secrets Act reaches its 10th anniversary, attorneys at Ropes & Gray examine recent DTSA case law and highlight key takeaways regarding pleading requirements, damages and risk factors.

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