Appellate

  • July 27, 2026

    Wash. Panel Revives Island Health Wage, Break Class Action

    A Washington Court of Appeals panel has reinstated a worker's proposed class action accusing public hospital district Island Health of denying employees meal breaks and illegally rounding time worked when calculating wages, finding Monday that a trial court wrongly concluded the claims must be arbitrated under a union agreement.

  • July 27, 2026

    US Reps Tell DC Circ. ICE Oversight Notice Policy Is Unlawful

    Lawmakers have urged the D.C. Circuit to affirm a pause on a policy requiring seven days' notice for congressional oversight visits to immigration detention facilities, saying a lower court correctly held they could challenge the policy and would likely succeed.

  • July 27, 2026

    Speech Concerns Could Sink Maine Lobster Fishers' Suit

    A panel of First Circuit judges Monday closely scrutinized the Maine lobster industry's lawsuit over a sustainable seafood report that told consumers to avoid lobster, raising doubts that the lobster fishers can overcome a bar on group defamation claims. 

  • July 27, 2026

    NY AG Urges 2nd Circ. To Deny Kalshi Sports Bet Ban Shield

    New York regulators urged the Second Circuit to deny Kalshi's request for an emergency order that would allow the prediction market company to continue conducting business in New York while its challenge to the state's gambling laws is resolved, arguing the company's operations are both prohibited and predatory.

  • July 27, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Clears Boston Scientific In $49M Stent Patent Case

    The Federal Circuit on Monday overturned a $49.4 million patent judgment against Boston Scientific, ruling that the company's drug-eluting coronary stents did not infringe a patent owned by the University of Texas System and that the patent is invalid.

  • July 27, 2026

    7th Circ. Asked To Clarify Copyright Prevailing Party Status

    A man who successfully defended himself from being held liable for damages when he was sued by a food photography company that claimed his photo of raw meat on Facebook counted as copyright infringement has asked the Seventh Circuit to find that he's the "prevailing party" for purposes of seeking attorney fees.

  • July 27, 2026

    11th Circ. Won't Revive Cop's Sex Harassment Lawsuit

    The Eleventh Circuit declined to revive a former detention deputy's sexual harassment and malicious prosecution lawsuit against two officers with the Seminole County Sheriff's Office, affirming a Florida district court's decision to free the sheriff and a sergeant from the suit.

  • July 27, 2026

    Railroads, Feds Spar Over Train Crew Size Rule In 11th Circ.

    Railroads have told the Eleventh Circuit that the Federal Railroad Administration failed to properly justify its 2024 two-person train crew rule, saying the agency flip-flopped from its previous determination that such a rule was unnecessary.

  • July 27, 2026

    4th Circ. Says Inmate Can Represent Himself At Sentencing

    The Fourth Circuit held Monday that the Sixth Amendment rights of a South Carolina man were violated when a judge denied him the ability to represent himself during sentencing because he did not make the request prior to the start of his drug-trafficking trial.

  • July 27, 2026

    Mich. Justices Reject Federal Double Jeopardy Rule

    The Michigan Supreme Court has significantly expanded the state's constitutional protection against double jeopardy, finding prosecutors can be barred from retrying a criminal defendant following a mistrial, even if they did not specifically intend to provoke the defense into requesting one. 

  • July 27, 2026

    Conn. Panel Says Bad Atty Advice Warrants New Murder Trial

    A Connecticut appeals court granted a new trial to a man convicted of murder after finding that during initial plea negotiations, an attorney representing him gave him bad advice on whether his codefendant would testify in his case.

  • July 27, 2026

    11th Circ. Nixes Disinfectant-Spraying Worker's ADA Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit refused Monday to reopen a now-deceased Georgia county employee's lawsuit alleging she was fired for taking precautions to protect herself during the COVID-19 pandemic due to her health problems, concluding she was let go for spraying co-workers with disinfectant rather than her disabilities.

  • July 27, 2026

    Conn. Justices Clarify Guilt-Inference Jury Instructions

    The Connecticut Supreme Court placed new guardrails around consciousness-of-guilt jury charges in criminal trials, refusing Monday to rewrite model instructions or toss a conviction but cautioning trial judges to convey the positions of both prosecutors and defendants in a "neutral and balanced" manner.

  • July 27, 2026

    DC Circ. Overturns Its Own Holocaust Art Ruling

    The D.C. Circuit has substantially vacated its ruling ending long-running litigation brought by the descendants of a Hungarian Jewish art collector seeking the return of a priceless art collection looted by the Nazis, citing the passage of a new law.

  • July 27, 2026

    Google Can't Get 2nd Try At Eliminating Network-1 Patent

    A New York federal judge has denied Google's request for a second attempt at invalidating a patent asserted by a patent licensing company, rejecting its arguments that a Federal Circuit decision from last month made another try necessary.

  • July 27, 2026

    Fertilizer Biz Asks Justices To Reverse Idaho Tribal Land Swap

    An Idaho agribusiness is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to undo a Ninth Circuit decision that invalidated a U.S. Department of the Interior land transfer over tribal concerns of contamination from a planned fertilizer plant expansion, arguing the ruling undermines the country's food security, thousands of jobs and millions in economic activity.

  • July 27, 2026

    NJ Justices Set 3rd-Party Legal Fee Rules In Criminal Cases

    The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday set forth parameters for third-party legal fee arrangements in criminal cases, upholding a murder conviction on the grounds that no conflict of interest resulted from a state witness paying his lawyer and finding that third‑party payments don't create per se conflicts of interest.

  • July 27, 2026

    Ga. Gov. Appoints Attys To Judgeship, DA Roles

    Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has appointed a Dodd & Burnham partner and the managing partner of Walker Hulbert Gray and Moore LLP to serve as Superior Court judges and two attorneys as district attorneys.

  • July 27, 2026

    10th Circ. Upholds Colo.'s $3-A-Day Rental Car Fee

    The Tenth Circuit upheld Colorado's up-to-$3-a-day congestion impact fee on short-term vehicle rentals Monday, ruling that the charge falls on consumers rather than airport rental car companies.

  • July 27, 2026

    Hemp Co. Says DEA Defied Farm Bill By Banning HHC

    A North Carolina hemp company challenging the legality of a recent U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration rule designating a psychoactive hemp-derived compound as a Schedule I substance has told the Fourth Circuit that the agency defied Congress when it issued the rule.

  • July 27, 2026

    Cannabis In The Courts: A Midyear Litigation Review

    In the first half of 2026, lawsuits taking aim at recent federal shifts in cannabis policy, a federal ban on marijuana users owning firearms and purported residency criteria in state cannabis licensure programs were argued in multiple courts across the country.

  • July 27, 2026

    Trump Admin Appeals Partial Block On Mail Ballot Order

    The Trump administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in after the First Circuit declined on Saturday to lift a lower court's order prohibiting the administration from enforcing restrictions on mail-in balloting in 23 states and the District of Columbia in this year's general election.

  • July 27, 2026

    Pa. Felony Murder Bill Deadline Expires With No New Rules

    The deadline for Pennsylvania lawmakers to pass new sentencing rules for second-degree murder has passed, after the state Supreme Court didn't act Friday on a request to extend the delay on their ruling that mandatory life sentences for second-degree murder are unconstitutional.

  • July 24, 2026

    2nd Circ. Partly Revives NYC Employee's Disability Case

    The Second Circuit Friday vacated a lower court's dismissal of a New York City employee's suit claiming the city failed to accommodate his disability, although it said the trial court was correct in tossing the employee's discrimination and retaliation claims.

  • July 24, 2026

    1st Circ. Won't Stay Decision Blocking $100K H-1B Visa Fee

    The First Circuit on Friday refused to stay a Massachusetts federal court's order throwing out President Donald Trump's $100,000 fee for certain skilled-worker visas while the administration appeals the ruling.

Expert Analysis

  • 2 Strands Of Patent Law In High Court's 'Skinny Label' Case

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    Amarin v. Hikma, which is set for oral argument in the U.S. Supreme Court this month, highlights the distinction between two different strands of intellectual property law — analogizing a patent to either a property deed or a home, says Jonas McDavit at Spencer West.

  • Justices' Geofence Ruling May Test 4th Amendment's Future

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    When the U.S. Supreme Court decides in Chatrie v. U.S. whether law enforcement may use geofence warrants to compel Google to disclose location history data, the ruling is likely to become an important statement about the future of Fourth Amendment law in data-driven investigations, says Duncan Levin at Levin & Associates.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    In the first quarter of 2026, New York's banking developments were headlined by initiatives to expand oversight of financial institutions and strengthen consumer protection laws, including a new framework for buy now, pay later lenders, a sweeping debt collection rule and a revised corporate self-disclosure program for financial crimes, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • Seeking A Policy Fix As Merger Reporting Fight Continues

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    A recently announced request by the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice for public comment on the Hart-Scott-Rodino premerger reporting requirements, as litigation challenging the commission's updated requirements continues, suggests the government's willingness to address how best to support modern merger enforcement without unduly burdening filing parties, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Opinion

    Wash. Amazon Ruling Should Reshape Suicide Liability

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    The Washington Supreme Court's reinstatement of negligence claims in Scott v. Amazon.com, brought by the families of people who died by suicide after purchasing chemicals online, signals a reckoning for digital commerce and the rejection of the defense that online marketplaces are merely passive technology platforms, says Donald Fountain at Clark Fountain.

  • Axed Trade Secret Award Cautions Against Bundling Damages

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    The Fifth Circuit's recent ruling in Trinseo v. Harper, vacating a $75 million jury verdict for trade secret misappropriation due to a bundled damages model, offers a strong reminder to apportion damages so a jury can award a nonspeculative figure when it credits only some alleged secrets, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • 2 Rulings Poke Holes In Mandatory Restitution Framework

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Ellingburg v. U.S., as well as the Third Circuit’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Abrams, provide criminal defense practitioners with new tools to challenge Mandatory Victims Restitution Act orders, and highlight several restitution-related issues that converged in the recent prosecution of former Frank CEO Charlie Javice, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Pivotal 6th Circ. Ruling Threatens Decades Of NLRB Decisions

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    The Sixth Circuit's recent decision in Brown-Forman v. National Labor Relations Board fundamentally challenged the NLRB's long-standing practice of establishing policies through adjudication rather than formal rulemaking, giving employers and unions a new avenue to procedurally attack the vast majority of its rules, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • 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.

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