Analysis

How A 'Risky' Move Fueled Kobre & Kim's Win Over Phillips 66

By Cara Salvatore

In the trial over Propel Fuels' claims that Phillips 66 stole trade secrets during due diligence for an acquisition, Kobre & Kim switched up standard witness order and convinced a jury to award $605 million.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ, Others Push High Court To Undo Cox Copyright Ruling

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. solicitor general and a host of groups and businesses have thrown their support behind Cox Communications' U.S. Supreme Court appeal of a finding that telecom companies can be liable for copyright infringement for providing an internet connection that leads to music piracy online.

15 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Jury Awards $15M In Topgolf Trial Over Oregon Child's Injury

By David Steele

A child who was struck in the face and seriously injured by a golf club at a Topgolf facility in 2021 has been awarded more than $15 million by an Oregon federal jury, with the company and the child's family reaching a settlement on punitive damages on Friday.

Verdict attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fla. Judge Sets Aside $30M Helms-Burton Verdict

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida federal judge on Friday set aside a $29.85 million verdict against Expedia, Orbitz and Hotels.com over Helms-Burton Act violations, finding that the entities stopped trafficking in properties confiscated by the Cuban government once they learned of a potential claim by an heir.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2nd Circ. Backs Ex-Pfizer Worker's Insider Trading Conviction

By Dorothy Atkins

The Second Circuit on Friday affirmed a former Pfizer Inc. statistician's insider trading conviction for making $272,000 in options trades from nonpublic news about the success of trials for the COVID-19 therapy drug Paxlovid, rejecting his arguments that prosecutors improperly shifted their legal theory at trial and pursued the case in the wrong venue.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Awards Over $6M In Atty Fees In Bluetooth Co.'s IP Suit

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado federal judge has awarded the attorneys representing a Bluetooth technology company more than $6 million after the company won on the bulk of its claims at trial last year in its trade secrets and breach of confidentiality case against a Massachusetts display technology company.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Ill. Speaker Asks 7th Circ. To Stay Prison Term For Appeal

By Craig Clough

Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan has asked the Seventh Circuit to stay his impending surrender to serve a seven-year prison sentence for bribery and wire fraud as he appeals that conviction to the appellate court, saying his appeal is likely to succeed. 

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

3rd Circ. Says Atty Needs Client OK To Admit Crime Elements

By MJ Koo

The Third Circuit has upheld a New Jersey man's conviction for unlawfully possessing a firearm as a felon, ruling that his lawyer could not admit part of the crime on his behalf when the client himself objected.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Solicitor Can Argue As Amicus In Right-To-Counsel Case

By Cara Salvatore

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday granted the U.S. solicitor general time to argue as an amicus in the Sixth Amendment case of a criminal defendant who was denied the opportunity to consult fully with his lawyer during an overnight break in his testimony.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Can't Duck ID Theft Conviction Over High Court Ruling

By Emily Sawicki

A 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling narrowing the definition of aggravated identity theft may not be used to vacate a former attorney's prison sentence for a mortgage fraud scheme, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled Thursday, denying a request to throw out his plea deal and order a new trial.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Mass. Trial Court Chief Justice Tapped As DA Integrity Chief

By Emily Sawicki

A longtime Massachusetts superior court judge and retired chief justice of the state's trial court has been named chief of the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Integrity Review Bureau, tasked with investigating and reviewing potential wrongful convictions by the Boston-area district attorney's office.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Connecticut Court Orders New Trial In $10.4M Fraud Case

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut state judge wrongly removed two combined $10.4 million investment fraud lawsuits from a jury docket at one party's request, the Connecticut Appellate Court ruled Friday, holding that both sides had agreed to present the case to a jury and ordering a new trial.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

9th Circ. Won't Pause $26M Fraud Ruling For Co.'s Appeal

By Tom Lotshaw

The Ninth Circuit has denied a New Jersey pipe importer's request to pause a decision affirming a $26 million fraud judgment while it appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GRSM Launches Practice For Correctional Healthcare

By Andrea Keckley

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani has announced that it is launching a new practice to advise correctional healthcare providers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Parenting Skills That Can Help Lawyers Thrive Professionally

As kids head back to school, the time is ripe for lawyers who are parents to consider how they can incorporate their parenting skills to build a deep, meaningful and sustainable legal practice, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Class Actions May Be The New Injunction Bid, And Next Target

By Cara Bayles

In the two months since the Supreme Court hobbled universal injunctions, lawyers and trial judges have pivoted to adjust to a new litigation landscape, with class actions playing a larger role in lawsuits seeking to stop presidential policies. That, in turn, could put the tactic in the administration's crosshairs.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GOP Sens. OK Fla. Judge Who Dems Claim Courted Trump

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Republicans voted on Monday evening to confirm to the Southern District of Florida bench Judge Edward L. Artau, a state appellate judge who ruled in favor of President Donald Trump in a defamation lawsuit when Democrats say he was simultaneously being vetted for the federal judgeship.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Judge Convicted Of Murdering Wife Seeks Trial Do-Over

By Gina Kim

A California judge convicted of murdering his wife earlier this year moved for a new trial, arguing the court's denial of his request to postpone the retrial was a "miscarriage of justice" because it limited his expert witness testimony and violated his right to present his defense that the shooting was accidental.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Barrett Talks Dobbs, Court's Role In New Book

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett defends her vote to overturn Roe v. Wade and declare there's no constitutional right to abortion in her new memoir, which also provides unique insight into her view of the judiciary's role in American democracy and her approach to interpreting law.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dems Again Ask NY Ethics Body To Investigate Bove

By Jack Karp

Two Democratic senators filed an updated ethics complaint with the New York State Courts' attorney ethics body against recently confirmed Third Circuit Judge Emil Bove, citing what they called his "quid pro quo deal" to drop criminal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other alleged ethical violations.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty In Judge Newman Suspension Feud Moves To DOJ

By Adam Lidgett

An attorney who has been representing Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman in the legal battle over her suspension has jumped from the New Civil Liberties Alliance to work at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FisherBroyles Can't Nix Stem Cell Patent Malpractice Claim

By Craig Clough

A California judge on Monday denied FisherBroyles LLP's motion to toss a claim in a $10 million malpractice suit brought against it by a stem cell treatment center, ruling the firm missed a deadline to file the motion. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Grassley Blocked On Quick US Attorney Confirmations

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Judiciary Committee chair Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tried Monday to quickly confirm 10 nominees for U.S. attorneys, but was blocked by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Immigration Board's Undoing Of Bond Practice Stuns Attys

By Britain Eakin

A Board of Immigration Appeals decision to deny bond and require mandatory detention for anyone entering the U.S. unlawfully has stunned immigration attorneys, who say the upending of decades of precedent will leave few options beyond leaving the country.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Tracking The Copyright Fights Between Creators And AI Cos.

By Theresa Schliep

In the three years since ChatGPT burst onto the scene, artificial intelligence developers like OpenAI, Meta and Anthropic have faced dozens of lawsuits accusing them of infringing the intellectual property of authors, artists, news organizations and the like.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Appeal Limited To NJ US Atty DQ Ruling, 3rd Circ. Told

By Madison Arnold

The federal government and defense counsel have agreed that the scope of a Third Circuit appeal is limited to the disqualification of New Jersey Acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba from overseeing two cases.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mass. Justices Asked To Find Atty Had Duty To Seek Plea Deal

By Julie Manganis

A man who has spent more than four decades in prison for a 1983 murder asked Massachusetts' high court Monday to find that his defense attorney's failure to pursue a plea bargain with prosecutors entitles him to a new trial, in a case that could alter the standard for finding a lawyer's work was ineffective.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

Securities Class Actions Had A Late Summer Appellate Bloom

By Jessica Corso

While the later summer months are often a quiet time for the nation's courts, the federal appellate courts were hard at work this past July and August issuing important rulings on class certification standards for shareholder lawsuits and handing down split-panel decisions over the future of disclosure litigation.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Sydney Price and Jeff Montgomery

Last week at the Delaware Court of Chancery, a bankruptcy administrator for a generic drugmaker formerly known as Teligent was told he can proceed with duty of oversight claims against most former officers and directors of the company, who the administrator said was complicit in the company's collapse. In an opinion, the Court of Chancery cites its 1996 decision In re Caremark International Inc. Derivative Litigation, which refined director duties of care and oversight.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »