Fed. Circ. Judges Cast Doubts On Trump Tariff Powers

By Dylan Moroses

Several Federal Circuit judges raised concerns about whether President Donald Trump's tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act override constitutional and congressional authority during oral arguments Thursday in their questions to better understand the extent of the appeals court's review.

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Analysis

3 Federal Circuit Clashes To Watch In August

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit's argument calendar for August includes Brita's effort to revive a patent suit against water filter rivals that fell short at the U.S. International Trade Commission, and a prolific inventor's bid to undo a decision clearing Coca-Cola of infringing a beverage dispenser patent.

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Judges Speak Out On Rising Threats Amid Safety Concerns

By Courtney Bublé

Federal judges who have been at the center of some of the most high-profile litigation of the second Trump administration spoke publicly Thursday about threats they've faced after their rulings.

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Justices Told State Med Mal Laws Fly In Federal Court

By Y. Peter Kang

A Delaware federal court must apply a state statute requiring an expert affidavit in all medical malpractice suits, a hospital defendant told the U.S. Supreme Court, as key aspects of the Delaware law and similar statutes in 28 other states "should not be checked at the federal courthouse doors."

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Appeals Court Resurrects DC's Privacy Suit Against Facebook

By Allison Grande

A Washington, D.C., appeals court Thursday revived a lawsuit from the district's attorney general accusing Facebook of misleading users about how their data could be shared with Cambridge Analytica and other third-party apps, finding the lower court relied on too high an evidence standard in axing the claims.

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Witness' Use Of 'Fraud' Doesn't Cancel TV Sports Exec's Verdict

By Julie Manganis

The First Circuit rejected arguments by a former executive at the cable channel for the Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins that a witness' use of the word "fraud" and testimony about his lavish spending tainted the jury that convicted him of a fake invoice scheme.

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1st Circ. Denies Marathon Bomber's Bid To DQ Trial Judge

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit on Thursday denied a request by convicted Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to have the judge who presided over his 2015 trial removed from conducting a probe into whether some of the jurors who sentenced him to death were biased.

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2nd Circ. Vacates OpenSea Crypto Insider Trading Conviction

By Aislinn Keely

The Second Circuit on Thursday overturned the fraud conviction of a former OpenSea manager accused of insider trading on nonfungible token sales on his employer's platform, finding that a Manhattan jury may have convicted him "based on conduct that it found to be unethical rather than fraudulent."

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Split 3rd Circ. Expels Rutgers MBA Fraud Suit Over Standing

By Jack McLoone

The plaintiff leading a proposed class action against Rutgers University for allegedly cooking its MBA rankings by fudging job placement statistics doesn't have standing because he was in a different part-time certificate program, a split Third Circuit has ruled, affirming a New Jersey federal court's decision.

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3rd. Circ. Lets Khalil Remain Free During Feds' Appeal

By Britain Eakin

The Third Circuit denied the Trump administration's request to fully stay a district court order releasing pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil from immigration detention, ruling that the federal government failed to show it would be irreparably harmed without a stay.

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Energy Co. Tells 4th Circ. Land Access Needed For Power Line

By Tom Lotshaw

A Public Service Energy Group unit trying to build a 67-mile transmission line in Maryland asked the Fourth Circuit to deny property owners' bid to keep it off their lands, arguing it has a right to complete surveys needed for regulatory approvals.

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4th Circ. Says Brokers Owe Atty Fees Over Case Removal Row

By Katryna Perera

A unanimous Fourth Circuit panel has affirmed a South Carolina federal judge's order requiring several financial firms to pay more than $63,000 in legal fees for improperly trying to remove a securities class action to federal court for a second time, but said they don't have to pay additional fees to cover the cost of the appeal.

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Anadarko Asks 5th Circ. To Back La. Suit Indemnity Win

By Catherine Marfin

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has asked the Fifth Circuit to uphold its indemnification win against an environmental remediation company in connection with a decade-old Louisiana kickback suit, writing that "one who makes his own bed must lie in it."

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6th Circ. OKs Toss Of Trustee Removal Bid In Union Fund Row

By Irene Spezzamonte

A Sixth Circuit panel on Thursday upheld an Ohio federal court's decision finding that a trade union, three trustees of a union benefit fund, and a fund participant cannot remove two other trustees they accused of self-dealing, saying they failed to show they would face irreparable harm.

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6th Circ. Doubts Union Failed Fire Chief Accused Of Threats

By Carolyn Muyskens

A federal appellate panel appeared unlikely based on oral arguments Thursday to revive a suit by a former fire chief at a Michigan paper mill who allegedly threatened coworkers but claimed that the United Steelworkers shirked its representation duties by failing to fight the company's decision to fire him.

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7th Circ. Says Chemical Co. OK To Stop Paying Union Fund

By Emily Brill

A chemical distributor was allowed to stop paying into a Teamsters pension fund in 2021, and an Illinois federal judge was wrong to conclude otherwise, the Seventh Circuit said Thursday, reversing a ruling that ordered the company to pay the fund over $365,000.

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8th Circ. Says Firm's Conspiracy Suit Wrongly Tossed

By Mike Curley

The Eighth Circuit on Thursday revived a law firm's suit alleging that the defendants in a wrongful death suit conspired to have the firm withdraw from that suit after raising false accusations, saying the trial court "took a trip back in time" to an older interpretation of court doctrine.

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9th Circ. Upholds Google's Play Store Antitrust Trial Loss

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit panel Thursday affirmed Epic Games' 2023 antitrust jury trial win, along with an injunction requiring Google to open its Google Play Store to rivals, backing a landmark finding that Google monopolized the Android app-distribution market.

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10th Circ. Says Water Exclusion Bars Co.'s $1.75M Loss

By Ganesh Setty

A Kansas office building's property insurer has no duty to provide coverage for roughly $1.75 million in repairs over a broken water pipe, the Tenth Circuit ruled, rejecting the building owner's argument that an exception in one exclusion conflicted with a separate exclusion for water damage.

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11th Circ. Revives American Airlines Cuban Property Suit

By Joyce Hanson

The Eleventh Circuit has sent back to lower court a Miami man's suit claiming that American Airlines illegally benefited when using a Havana airport he says the Cuban government stole from his family in 1959.

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11th Circ. Says 'Urban Cowboy' Can Amend Taken Horses Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

A divided Eleventh Circuit on Thursday granted a Georgia man whose horses were seized by Atlanta-area authorities a fresh shot at amending a lawsuit over the seizure, with the majority saying the lower court wrongly found that amending the suit was futile under the Fifth Amendment's takings clause.

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Immigration Board Raises Bar To Fight State Drug Convictions

By Britain Eakin

The Board of Immigration Appeals ruled that an individual fighting removal after being convicted on state drug charges has the burden of proving the law they were convicted under is broader than federal law to avoid deportation.

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NY Court Tosses 10-Year Sentence After Illegal Arrest

By Elizabeth Daley

A homeless man sentenced to 10 years in prison for assaulting and trying to rob a woman in Manhattan had his conviction vacated Thursday when a New York appeals court said evidence against him never should have been allowed in court since it was gained via his illegal arrest.

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Calif. Med Mal Law Can't Apply To Ambulance Crash Suits

By Y. Peter Kang

The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the state's one-year time limit for medical malpractice claims does not apply to suits over ambulance drivers' negligence, saying instead the two-year deadline for ordinary negligence governs.

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New Evidence Not Enough To Get Texas Inmate Off Death Row

By Elizabeth Daley

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has rejected a death row inmate's habeas corpus petition, finding that although he claimed new evidence shows his victim's death during a robbery was unintentional, the information wouldn't have altered his conviction or sentence.

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Texas Court Allows Habeas Relief In Misdemeanor Fine Case

By Brandon Lowrey

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals on Wednesday ruled that defendants facing only fines can be eligible for pretrial habeas corpus relief, saying complaints, preliminary convictions and appellate bonds can constitute "restraint" under state law.

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Colo. Court Affirms Stalking Conviction In 'True Threat' Case

By Zach Dupont

The Colorado Court of Appeals on Thursday declined to overturn the stalking and harassment convictions of a man who claimed his threatening emails to a police officer were protected First Amendment speech.

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NJ Justices Clarify Pension Beneficiary Designation Process

By Carla Baranauckas

The Garden State's Police and Firemen's Retirement System improperly distributed more than $200,000 in unpaid pension benefits to the estranged spouse of a deceased Newark police officer, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Thursday, ordering the money to be redirected to his estate.

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NJ Town Knocks Out Worker's $1.6M Disability Bias Win

By Grace Elletson

A New Jersey appellate court scrapped a $1.6 million verdict Thursday for a township employee who said she was discriminated and retaliated against for taking leave to treat her anxiety, ruling the evidence presented at trial didn't justify the damages award.

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Mass. Court Allows Consecutive Resentencing In Murder Case

By Parker Quinlan

Massachusetts' highest court has ruled that prosecutors may seek two consecutive life sentences with parole eligibility in a double murder case after outlawing life without parole sentences for defendants who committed crimes between the ages of 18 and 20-years-old.

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Georgia Court Panel Revives Woman's Bus Injury Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

A commuter who filed a personal injury lawsuit against an Atlanta-area bus company two years and two days after she was injured did not run afoul of Georgia's statute of limitations, a state appeals court ruled on Thursday, saying the law gives plaintiffs additional time when the last day would technically fall on a weekend.

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Mich. Justices Say Employer Suit Limits Must Be Reasonable

By Carolyn Muyskens

The Michigan Supreme Court held Thursday that employment agreements that limit how much time employees have to sue their employer must be examined for reasonableness before they are enforced by courts.

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Sex Abuse Verdict Tossed Because Jury Wasn't Sworn In

By Parker Quinlan

A Michigan man will be given a new trial after a split state appeals panel on Thursday found that because a trial judge failed to swear in the jury that convicted him of criminal sexual conduct, a structural error occurred with the proceeding.

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Justices' Decision Axing Retiree's ADA Claim Offers Clarity

The U.S. Supreme Court's holding in Stanley v. City of Sanford that protections under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act don't extend to retirees potentially limits liability by giving employers additional support to challenge complaints, and highlights the need for proactive policy management to mitigate risk, say attorneys at Jackson Lewis.

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Fed. Circ. In June: Transitional Phrases In Patent Claims

The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Eye Therapies v. Slayback Pharma takes on the rarely addressed topic of transitional phrases in patent claims, providing some useful lessons regarding restating claim language and broadly distinguishing prior art, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

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Series

Playing Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Soccer has become a key contributor to how I approach my work, and the lessons I’ve learned on the pitch about leadership, adaptability, resilience and communication make me better at what I do every day in my legal career, says Whitney O’Byrne at MoFo.

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Legal Job Sector Continued 5-Month Growth Streak In July

By Tracey Read

For the fifth straight month, the U.S. legal industry experienced job growth, adding 600 positions in July, according to preliminary data released on Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Brief

Test-Taker's Collapse At NY Bar Exam Sparks Criticism

By Anna Sanders

New York bar-takers were allegedly forced to continue the test after witnessing a Fordham University School of Law graduate suffer a medical incident and receive CPR while she took the exam, according to the school and accounts posted online by people who said they were present.

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DC Panel Calls For Former DOJ Official Clark's Disbarment

By Phillip Bantz

The majority of a Washington, D.C., lawyer ethics panel has called for the disbarment of Jeffrey Clark, a White House official and ally of President Donald Trump, over his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

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NJ Court Will Mull Legality Of Habba's US Atty Appointment

By Lauren Berg

If Alina Habba was illegally appointed acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey, a pair of defendants in a drug trafficking case are not entitled to dismissal of the indictment, but it "appears appropriate" that Habba would be barred from prosecuting them, a federal judge ruled Friday.

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Politics And Privacy Laws Collide 5 Years After Salas Shooting

By Jack Karp

Five years after a disgruntled litigant killed a New Jersey federal judge's son at their home, experts and judges disagree over whether the judicial privacy laws enacted following the shooting are doing much to protect jurists, while political leaders' heated rhetoric makes for an even more dangerous landscape for judges.

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Analysis

Wheeling & Appealing: Midyear Highlights For Every Circuit

By Jeff Overley

In this special edition of Wheeling & Appealing, we're spotlighting key decisions and developments in every circuit court during the first half of 2025, while also previewing August's most intriguing oral arguments, including a remarkably "fierce" showdown between Edible Arrangements and 1-800-Flowers with millions of dollars in attorney fees on the line.

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1st Circ. Doubtful Of Trump's Stance On Birthright Citizenship

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit on Friday seemed inclined to say that the children of unauthorized immigrants are citizens if they were born on U.S. soil, citing both the 14th Amendment and a subsequent U.S. Supreme Court ruling and pushing back on an argument by President Donald Trump's administration.

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Brief

Ex-Copyright Chief Appeals Denial Of Reinstatement Bid

By Elliot Weld

The former head of the U.S. Copyright Office will appeal a D.C. federal judge's denial of her request to be immediately reinstated to her former position after she was fired by President Donald Trump while her suit remains pending.

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NY Law Mandating Judicial Fine Declared Unconstitutional

By Madison Arnold

A New York state appeals court has declared unconstitutional a statute that mandates a judge forfeit $1,000 to a plaintiff if the judge refuses to issue a writ of habeas corpus.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Department of Justice abandoned its challenge of a corporate travel management deal, while lawmakers are calling for scrutiny of the agency's recent decision to settle a different case, and the Federal Trade Commission agreed to nix the requirements placed on a pair of oil and gas deals.

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The Top In-House Hires Of July

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires over the past month included high-profile appointments at Warner Bros. Discovery, Deutsche Bank and Kroger. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from July.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen several telco giants hit with a trademark claim, a collapsed hotel company sue a property investor in an ongoing dispute over a decades-old hotel sale, and two litigation funders square off against each other.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Department store retailer Dillard's has asked for a special shareholder's vote on Aug. 19 on management's plan to move its incorporation from Delaware to Texas, becoming the latest company to join the so-called DExit trend.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Ninth Circuit panel affirmed Epic Games Inc.'s 2023 antitrust jury trial win, along with an injunction requiring Google to open its Google Play Store to rivals.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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