Appellate

Expert Analysis

• Shipper Liability Ruling Aligns Mich. With Federal Safety Reg

  

  The Michigan Court of Appeals' recent decision in McMaster v. DTE Energy Co., absolving a shipper of liability for personal injuries arising from an unsecured load, brings the state in line with a key federal safety regulation, and may nudge other states to follow suit, say Eric Conn and Thomas Lurie at Segal McCambridge.

• Helping Clients Overcome Financial Hurdles Mid-Litigation

  

  In perilous economic times like these, abandoning litigation in progress could be a tempting cost-cutting measure for companies, but lawyers can help clients evaluate two alternative financial arrangements to stanch the bleeding from expenditures while preserving valuable litigation assets, say Charles Agee at Westfleet Advisors and Collin Cox at Yetter Coleman.

• 5th Circ. PPP Ruling Doesn't Doom Debtors Seeking Loans

  

  Despite the Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling in Hidalgo County Emergency Service Foundation v. Carranza barring debtors from receiving Paycheck Protection Program loans, this financial assistance is still available by filing in other circuits and through further workarounds, say Shane Ramsey and John Baxter at Nelson Mullins.

• Pa. Ruling Shows Limits To Worker Free Speech Rights

  

  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Carr v. Pennsylvania proves that public sector employees’ First Amendment rights are not ironclad, and could trigger an accountability standard for their off-duty social media comments, says Mathew Parker at Fisher Phillips.

• ERISA Remedies Could Increase Under Liu V. SEC Ruling

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling allowing disgorgement of profits as equitable relief in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could open the door to additional remedies for Employee Retirement Income Security Act claimants, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Sherman.

• Inclusivity Considerations For Law Firms Reopening Offices

  

  While most law firms will focus on ensuring physical office spaces are as safe as possible for attorneys and staff members, it's equally important to consider the impact office reopening decisions will have on a firm's culture of diversity and inclusion, says Manar Morales at the Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.

• What DC Circ. Tolling Order Ruling Means For FERC Cases

  

  Given the D.C. Circuit's recent ruling in Allegheny Defense Project v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that FERC cannot use tolling orders to indefinitely delay rehearing of Natural Gas Act cases, the commission must consider new procedures to manage NGA rehearing requests — and probably Federal Power Act rehearing requests too, say Michael Yuffee and Ryan Norfolk at Winston & Strawn.

• 6 Recent Insurance Decisions You May Have Overlooked

  

  Several insurance coverage decisions from the first half of the year, in addition to those discussed in a recent Law360 article, hold important lessons regarding courts' current stance toward commonly litigated insurance principles, arguments and strategies, say attorneys at Anderson Kill.

• 3 Ways High Court's Liu V. SEC Ruling Curtails FTC Authority

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission limited the Federal Trade Commission's authority in important ways, and the court's eventual decision in FTC v. Credit Bureau Center could prevent the regulator from seeking disgorgement or restitution altogether, say attorneys at Sidley.

• HHS Discrimination Rule Conflicts With LGBTQ Bias Ruling

  

  A new rule from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services scaling back nondiscrimination regulations raises compliance questions for health providers, especially in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent broad interpretation of "on the basis of sex," say attorneys at Reed Smith.

• Booking.com Ruling May Help Generic Hashtag Mark Owners

  

  If brand owners can show that consumers perceive a generic term combined with a hashtag as source-identifying, the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Booking.com decision — that "generic.com" marks are not automatically unregistrable as trademarks — may just give refused hashtag marks new life, say Paul Thomas and Patricia Cotton at Pillsbury.

• Employer Considerations After Justices' LGBTQ Rights Ruling

  

  In light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that Title VII protects LGBTQ workers in Bostock v. Clayton County, companies should review employment policies for compliance, update diversity and inclusion mission statements, and consider several questions about the opinion’s potential reach, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

• NY High Court Case Could Upend Litigation Finance Industry

  

  A ruling in favor of the defendant in Fast Trak Investment v. Sax, a case recently accepted by the New York Court of Appeals, could enable borrowers to avoid repaying litigation funders by claiming state usury law violations, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

• Unpacking The Supreme Court's Praise For The TCPA

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants strengthens the Telephone Consumer Protection Act as one of the most vexing and frequently deployed privacy statutes in the U.S., and paints the TCPA in a favorable light, say Ezra Church and Terese Schireson at Morgan Lewis.

• Associates Can Prioritize Biz Development Despite Pandemic

  

  Although many traditional business development activities are on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, associates should seize the unique opportunities of this time to cultivate business by strengthening their personal and professional relationships, and developing new ones, says Jeremy Schneider at Jackson Lewis.