Appellate

  • June 27, 2025

    Justices Salvage FCC Subsidy Fees, Reversing 5th Circ.

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld the funding mechanism for the Federal Communications Commission's $9 billion Universal Service Fund used to subsidize low-income phone service, rural broadband, and school, library and healthcare telecommunications connectivity.

  • June 27, 2025

    Justices Back Task Force That Sets ACA Care Requirements

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' secretary had authority over a preventive care task force, rejecting a constitutional challenge to an Affordable Care Act clause that requires health insurers to cover certain treatments at no cost to patients.

  • June 27, 2025

    Justices Limit Universal Injunctions But Defer On Citizenship

    The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday that President Donald Trump can partially implement his executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, in a ruling that significantly limits the ability of federal district court judges to issue nationally applicable orders against presidential edicts and policy initiatives.

  • June 26, 2025

    NY Court Suppresses Evidence Due To Cannabis Law Change

    A man's guilty plea to possessing cocaine was vacated Thursday after a New York appeals court allowed suppression of evidence gleaned from a police search prompted by a cannabis smell, because the state barred this exact practice days after his indictment.

  • June 26, 2025

    Flaws In Expert Report Doom Mass. Suit Over Patient's Death

    A Massachusetts appellate court on Thursday affirmed the dismissal of a medical malpractice suit blaming a physician assisting on a gastric sleeve surgery for the patient's death, saying the plaintiff's expert failed to identify the relevant standard of care for the assisting doctor.

  • June 26, 2025

    Movie Cos. Ask 10th Circ. To Redo 'Inconsistent' Labor Ruling

    Two Hallmark-contracted movie studios asked the Tenth Circuit to rehear a claim from the National Labor Relations Board that the studios violated federal labor laws by refusing to rehire striking employees, calling the previous panel opinion both "inconsistent" and "confusing at best."

  • June 26, 2025

    Ga. Appeals Court Reverses Sanctions In Sinkhole Fight

    The Georgia Court of Appeals has reversed a trial court's decision to strike the complaint of a property owner over discovery violations in a fight over a sinkhole, ruling that Peachtree Renaissance Property LLC was not given a fair hearing before the sanctions were handed down.

  • June 26, 2025

    Fla. Lawyers Suspended For Online Criticism Of Judge

    Florida's high court on Thursday approved a one-month suspension for a father-daughter team of attorneys for their online comments criticizing a judge who reversed a $2.75 million jury verdict in favor of a doctor who sued for discrimination, finding that there were also mitigating factors in the attorneys' cases.

  • June 26, 2025

    Immigrants Tell 1st Circ. DHS Can't Justify Parole Program Ax

    A class of nearly 500,000 immigrants from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela told the First Circuit on Wednesday that the Trump administration can't show that a Massachusetts federal judge abused her discretion in blocking the government's rescission of temporary Biden-era removal protections.

  • June 26, 2025

    Ex-Trump Atty Chesebro Disbarred In NY For Fake Elector Plot

    President Donald Trump's former attorney Kenneth Chesebro, the so-called "architect" in the plot to use fake electors to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results, has been disbarred from practicing law in the state of New York, according to a unanimous decision issued on Thursday. 

  • June 26, 2025

    Mass. Court Lets Man Try Again To Escape Ankle Monitor

    A convicted rapist in Massachusetts who spent nearly 16 years in prison will get a second shot at challenging how long he must wear a GPS monitor now that he's been released, after a state appellate court on Thursday ruled a lower court did not properly weigh his constitutional rights.

  • June 26, 2025

    Wash. High Court Says State CBAs Are Private Until Funded

    The agency that negotiates Washington state employees' union contracts can reject public records requests for bargaining-related documents until the contracts are finalized and funded, the Washington Supreme Court held in an 8-1 vote Thursday, upholding a Washington Court of Appeals decision.

  • June 26, 2025

    SMU Law Professor's Tenure Suit Partly Revived By 5th Circ.

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday partially revived a former Southern Methodist University law professor's suit over the denial of her tenure application following a ruling last month by the Texas Supreme Court.

  • June 26, 2025

    5th Circ. Revives Biz Records Law, Citing Review Safeguard

    The Fifth Circuit on Thursday tossed a permanent injunction blocking a Texas statute requiring businesses to immediately comply with the state's demand to examine business records, saying the Texas Supreme Court recently "harmonized" the law in a way that addresses Spirit AeroSystems Inc.'s constitutional challenge.

  • June 26, 2025

    Del. Justices Mull New Appeal In $1.5B Pipeline Co. Cashout

    An attorney for cashed-out minority unitholders of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP urged Delaware's Supreme Court to consider whether a controlling investor's interests "subverted" a crucial attorney fairness opinion used to justify a 2018, $1.5 billion deal that took the company private.

  • June 26, 2025

    6th Circ. Backs Mich. Newborn Blood Testing Program

    A Sixth Circuit panel reversed a win for a group of parents challenging a Michigan newborn health screening program, finding that the way blood samples are stored and used in the program does not violate the parents' right to make medical decisions for their children.

  • June 26, 2025

    10 Years Later: Obergefell Attorneys, In Their Own Words

    Marking the decade anniversary of the Obergefell opinion, Law360 asked the attorneys who argued the case at the Supreme Court what it was like being at the center of such a monumental case, how a ruling favoring same-sex marriage changed the legal landscape over the past decade, and the remaining legal appetite to overturn it.

  • June 26, 2025

    No Work Needed For Military Leave Pay, Wash. Justices Say

    Washington state public employees are entitled to paid military leave even if they are not scheduled to work because they are on active duty during an extended military leave of absence, the state's Supreme Court ruled Thursday, saying the state's paid military leave statute is unambiguous.

  • June 26, 2025

    Ga. Panel Affirms $6.5M Verdict, $1.8M Fees Over Brain Injury

    A Georgia appellate panel said Thursday that a woman who said she was left permanently disabled while recovering from knee replacement surgery can keep her $6.5 million verdict, along with $1.8 million in attorney fees, ruling that neither award was unreasonable in the medical malpractice suit.

  • June 26, 2025

    2nd Circ. Won't Void Aerospace Co.'s $5M Hedge Fund Loan

    The Second Circuit has said a New York federal judge was correct in rejecting aerospace company Xeriant's bid to void a $5 million loan deal with Auctus Fund LLC, ruling that while the hedge fund was not registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a dealer, the contract didn't obligate it to do so.

  • June 26, 2025

    Seattle Jan. 6 Cops Again Ask Justices To Shield Identities

    Four current and former Seattle police officers who attended the Jan. 6, 2021, "Stop the Steal" insurrection have again asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an emergency stay to prevent the public release of their names after an initial denial from the high court, saying the justices have two days to act.  

  • June 26, 2025

    Calif. Judge Rejects CoStar, CREXi's Early Win Bids In IP Row

    A California federal judge has rejected cross partial summary judgment bids made by property listing rivals CoStar Group Inc. and Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc. in CoStar's copyright infringement suit against CREXi, which is accused of stealing nearly 50,000 CoStar commercial real estate images.

  • June 26, 2025

    9th Circ. Rejects Amazon's Bid To Claw Back Antitrust Docs

    A Ninth Circuit panel has summarily refused to reverse a Washington federal court ruling that rejected Amazon's bid to claw back documents inadvertently produced in a trio of proposed antitrust class actions.

  • June 26, 2025

    Pa. Panel Says Fla. Law Applies In Fatal Plane Crash Suit

    A Pennsylvania appeals court has found that Florida strict liability law applies in a suit alleging a defective engine led to a plane crash that killed two people, saying the Sunshine State has more ties and a bigger interest in the case than Pennsylvania.

  • June 26, 2025

    Trump 2.0's First Group Of Judicial Noms Goes To Full Senate

    The first batch of judicial nominations from President Donald Trump's second term were sent to the Senate floor on Thursday, as they were voted out of committee along party lines.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Baseball Fantasy Camp Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    With six baseball fantasy experiences under my belt, I've learned time and again that I didn't make the wrong career choice, but I've also learned that baseball lessons are life lessons, and I'm a better lawyer for my time at St. Louis Cardinals fantasy camp, says Scott Felder at Wiley.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From Fed. Prosecutor To BigLaw

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    Making the jump from government to private practice is no small feat, but, based on my experience transitioning to a business-driven environment after 15 years as an assistant U.S. attorney, it can be incredibly rewarding and help you become a more versatile lawyer, says Michael Beckwith at Dickinson Wright.

  • How Justices Rule On Straight Bias May Shift Worker Suits

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    Following oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court in Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services, in which a heterosexual woman sued her employer for sexual orientation discrimination, the forthcoming decision may create a perfect storm for employers amid recent attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • How Del. Supreme Court, Legislature Have Clarified 'Control'

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    The Delaware Supreme Court's January decision in In re: Oracle and the General Assembly's passage of amendments to the Delaware General Corporation Law this week, when taken together, help make the controlling-stockholder analysis clearer and more predictable for companies with large stockholders, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Service By Token Is Transforming Crypto Litigation Landscape

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    As the Trump administration advocates a new course of cryptocurrency regulation, courts in the U.S. and abroad are authorizing innovative methods of process service, including via nonfungible tokens and blockchain messaging, offering practical solutions for litigators grappling with the anonymity of cyber defendants, says Jose Ceide at Salazar Law.

  • Fed. Circ. In Feb.: Lessons On Cases With Many Patent Claims

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    The Federal Circuit's decision in Kroy IP v. Groupon last month establishes that inter partes review petitioners cannot rely on collateral estoppel to invalidate patent claims after challenging a smaller subset, highlighting the benefit that patent owners may gain from seeking patents with many claims, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • PG&E Win Boosts Employers' Defamation Defense

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    A California appeals court's recent Hearn v. PG&E ruling, reversing a $2 million verdict against PG&E related to an ex-employee’s retaliation claims, provides employers with a stronger defense against defamation claims tied to termination, but also highlights the need for fairness and diligence in internal investigations and communications, say attorneys at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Justices' False Statement Ruling Curbs Half-Truth Liability

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Thompson v. U.S. decision clarified that a federal statute used to prosecute false statements made to bank regulators only criminalizes outright falsehoods, narrowing prosecutors’ reach and providing defense counsel a stronger basis to challenge indictments of merely misleading statements, says Tamara de Silva at De Silva Law Offices.

  • Jurisdiction Argument In USAID Dissent Is Up For Debate

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    A dissent refuting the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent order directing the U.S. Agency for International Development to pay $2 billion in frozen foreign aid argued that claims relating to already-completed government contract work belong in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims – answering an important question, but with a debatable conclusion, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • Firms Still Have Lateral Market Advantage, But Risks Persist

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the fourth quarter of 2024 shows that we’re in a new, stable era of lateral hiring where firms have the edge, but leaders should proceed cautiously, looking beyond expected revenue and compensation analyses for potential risks, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Opinion

    We Must Allow Judges To Use Their Independent Judgment

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    As two recent cases show, the ability of judges to access their independent judgment crucially enables courts to exercise the discretion needed to reach the right outcome based on the unique facts within the law, says John Siffert at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: March Lessons

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    In this month's review of class actions appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses three federal appellate court decisions and identifies practice tips from cases involving antitrust allegations against coupon processing services, consumer fraud and class action settlements.

  • High Court Water Permit Ruling Lacks Specificity

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    The enforcement impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in San Francisco v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency may not be significant, because while the ruling makes clear that certain water permit provisions must instruct permittees on how to achieve stated goals, it doesn’t clarify the level of necessary instruction, says Daniel Deeb at ArentFox Schiff.

  • The Central Issues Facing Fed. Circ. In Patent Damages Case

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    The en banc Federal Circuit's pending review of EcoFactor v. Google could reshape how expert damages opinions are argued, and could have ripple effects that limit jury awards, say attorneys at McAndrews Held.

  • Series

    Performing Stand-Up Comedy Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Whether I’m delivering a punchline on stage or a closing argument in court, balancing stand-up comedy performances and my legal career has demonstrated that the keys to success in both endeavors include reading the room, landing the right timing and making an impact, says attorney Rebecca Palmer.

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