opinion and polls

Sinkler v. Berryhill

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Following successful litigation of her Social Security claim, appellant challenges the 14-day filing period prescribed by Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(d)(2)(B) as applied to her application for attorney’s fees. District Court denied the application as untimely, the panel affirms.




opinion and polls

US v. Prado

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacated and dismissed. Defendants were convicted of criminal offenses relating to activities on a stateless marine vessel. Because the government failed to demonstrate that the vessel was subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, the judgement is vacated and the indictment dismissed.



  • Criminal Law & Procedure

opinion and polls

US v. Thiam

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Defendant appeals his bribery conviction, arguing improper jury instructions and insufficient evidence. The court finds the “official act” standard from McDonnell does not apply to Guinea’s Penal Code, and any potential evidentiary errors were harmless. Judgement is affirmed.




opinion and polls

Oxford University Bank v. Lansuppe Feeder, Inc.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Financial institutions that hold junior notes issued by the defendant, as trustee, appeal the grant of summary judgement. The district court erred in holding that ICA § 47(b) does not give rise to a private right of action. However, the district court ordered distribution of the assets of the trust according to the terms of the trust’s governing indenture, so summary judgment affirmed.




opinion and polls

US v. Eldred

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Defendant appealed the district court’s decision to deny suppression of evidence collected using the Network Investigative Technique (NIT). The court found that even if the warrant authorizing the use of NIT was invalid, suppression is not warranted.



  • Criminal Law & Procedure

opinion and polls

Palin v. The New York Times Company

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. Palin appeals the dismissal of her defamation complaint against The New York Times for failure to state a claim. Finding the district court erred in relying on facts outside the proceedings, the case is remanded for further proceedings.




opinion and polls

Kelly v. Honeywell Int’l, Inc.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Collective bargaining agreement contains unambiguous language vesting welfare benefits and there is a sufficiently serious question as to whether retirees were entitled to lifetime medical coverage. District court’s grant of summary judgement in favor of union retirees is affirmed.




opinion and polls

Tobias Bermudez Chavez, et al. v. Occidental Chemical Corp.

(United States Second Circuit) - Questions on appeal concern cross-jurisdictional tolling of a class action. Because the appeal presents state law questions that New York’s courts have yet to address, the court certifies the case to the New York Court of Appeals.




opinion and polls

Jeffrey Siegel, et al. v. HSBC North America Holdings, Inc. and HSBC Bank USA, N.A.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. The district court granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege that the defendants knowingly aided or abetted November, 2005 attacks in Jordan.




opinion and polls

4 Pillar Dynasty LLC v. New York & Co., Inc.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed in part, vacated and remanded in part. Finding no clear error in the district court’s determination that Defendant’s trademark infringement was willful, the award of gross profits was proper. However, the question of attorney’s fees and pre-judgement interest is remanded for further proceedings.




opinion and polls

Reyes v. Fischer

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed in part. The panel affirms that an administratively imposed term of post-release supervision deprived plaintiff of her due process rights, and defendants do not have qualified immunity.




opinion and polls

In re 650 Fifth Ave. & Related Props.

(United States Second Circuit) - Reversed in part, vacated in part, remanded for discovery. The district court abused its discretion by denying the Claimants’ motion for discovery on their statute‐of‐limitations defense and, accordingly, erroneously granted the Government’s motion for summary judgment on the timeliness issue.




opinion and polls

Kirschenbaum v. Assa Corp.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. The district court ordered the turnover of Assa’s property to terrorism victims holding default judgments against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Held the district court had jurisdiction to do so, the panel affirmed.




opinion and polls

US v. Ng Lap Seng

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. On appeal from his conviction of paying bribes to United Nations officials, Defendant argues the U.N. is not an “organization” within the meaning of the law and that the jury was not correctly instructed. Defendant's arguments fail on the merits.



  • Criminal Law & Procedure

opinion and polls

Naumovski v. Norris

(United States Second Circuit) - Reversed and remanded. Defendants claimed they were erroneously denied qualified immunity in a discrimination suit brought by a former employee. Because the District court conflated the standards under Title VII and Section 1983, the court reversed, entered judgment for the defendants, and remanded.




opinion and polls

Doctor’s Associates, Inc. v. Alemayehu

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. Finding the promise to arbitrate in the franchise application was supported by adequate consideration, the panel vacates the district court’s denial of DAI’s motion to compel arbitration and remands for further proceedings.




opinion and polls

Kayheem Lilly v. The City of New York, et al.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed in part. Due to the case’s simplicity, the district court’s decision to reduce Lilly’s attorney’s “reasonable hourly rate” is affirmed. Fees related to the fee application are vacated because Rule 68 only allows for fees incurred up to the date of the settlement offer.




opinion and polls

Lubavitch v. Litchfield Historic District Commission

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Finding that events occurring after judgement was entered do not matter, the panel affirms the district court’s award of attorney’s fees and denial of fees for administrative proceedings.




opinion and polls

Menaker v. Hofstra University

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. Finding the district court’s decision conflicts with 2nd Circuit precedent in Doe v. Columbia University, the judgement dismissing Menaker’s complaint for failure to make a claim reversed.




opinion and polls

United States v. Ryan et al.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. The panel affirms the district court’s application of a four-level enhancement to a defendant who either sells a firearm and drugs to a buyer in a single transaction or to a buyer who the defendant has reason to believe is a drug dealer.




opinion and polls

US v. Brown

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed in part, remanded in part. Encountering uncertainty whether sentencing judge was aware of the discretion authorized by Dean v. United States, court remands for resentencing.




opinion and polls

Van Buskirk v. The United Group of Companies

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. Because courts may freely permit jurisdictional amendments even at the appellate level, vacated the judgment of the district court and remanded for further proceedings.




opinion and polls

New York State Citizens’ Coal. For Children v. Poole

(United States Second Circuit) - Denied. In a 6-5 vote, the panel majority declines to rehear the case en banc, holding that the Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980 creates a privately enforceable right for foster parents to sue states for costs related to child care. Five judges dissent.




opinion and polls

Bentley v. AutoZoners, LLC, et al.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. In appealing an award of summary judgement for the defendants, plaintiff argues she proffered sufficient evidence to raise triable issues of fact in her sex discrimination case. Finding plaintiff’s arguments fail on the merits, the panel affirms.




opinion and polls

Biondo v. Kaledia Health

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. Plaintiff, who is profoundly deaf, appeals from dismissal on summary judgment her claim that a hospital violated the Rehabilitation Act by failing to provide an ASL interpreter. The panel concluded that material issues of fact preclude summary judgment.




opinion and polls

US v. Parkins

(United States Second Circuit) - Remanded. Defendant appeals a sentence imposing supervised release conditioned on performing 300 hours of community service per year over his term of supervision. Finding the condition is not reasonably related to any relevant sentencing factors, the panel vacates and remands for resentencing.




opinion and polls

Scrimo v. Lee

(United States Second Circuit) - Reversed. Finding the trial court’s exclusion of three defense witnesses violated defendant’s constitutional right to present a complete defense, the panel reverses and remands the judgement of the district court with direction to grant the writ.



  • Criminal Law & Procedure

opinion and polls

32BJ N. Pension Fund. v. Nutrition Mgmt. Servs.

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacated and remanded. Finding NMSC did not agree to be bound to the trust agreement until it executed an amendment to the collective bargaining agreement in 2014, the delinquency policy’s interest rate did not apply.




opinion and polls

Ennio Morricone Music v. Bixio Music Group

(United States Second Circuit) - Reversed. Concluding the musical works at issue were not works made for hire, the panel reverses the district court’s grant of summary judgement in favor of the defendant.




opinion and polls

Bifolck v. Phillip Morris

(United States Second Circuit) - Remanded. The panel agreed with Bifolck that the district court misapplied the nonmutual offensive collateral estoppel standard, but the error does not necessarily require the judgement to be vacated.




opinion and polls

Eastman Kodak v. Bath

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacated & remanded. Finding the circumstances of these plaintiffs to be materially different from those in In re Aluminum Warehousing Antitrust Litig., the panel held that the district court erred in concluding the plaintiffs failed to establish antitrust standing.



  • Antitrust & Trade Regulation

opinion and polls

Yamashita v. Scholastic, Inc.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Finding the plaintiff failed to name a single instance of infringement or breach of the terms of his licensing agreement with the stock photo company from which Scholastica obtained his photos, the panel affirms the district court’s dismissal.




opinion and polls

Prime International Trading Ltd., et al. v. BP PLC, et al

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. The application of the Commodity Exchange Act to alleged misconduct in trading of crude oil extracted from Europe’s North Sea is impermissibly extraterritorial.




opinion and polls

US v. Pugh

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed, remanded for resentencing. Because defendant’s letter describing his allegiance to the Islamic State was never translated or otherwise communicated to his wife, the marital communication privilege does not apply.



  • Criminal Law & Procedure

opinion and polls

US v. Barrett

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed in part, vacated in part. Defendant challenged his conviction for using firearms in the commission of violent crimes. Because categorizing crimes of violence cannot be done on a case-by-case basis, the defendant’s charge for using firearms in the commission of a robbery is vacated.



  • Criminal Law & Procedure

opinion and polls

Diesel eBooks, LLC v. Simon & Schuster, Inc.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment that although Apple and a group of major publishers committed an unlawful antitrust conspiracy there was no antitrust injury that resulted.




opinion and polls

The Container Store v. US

(United States Federal Circuit) - Reversing and remanding the final judgment of the United States Court of International Trade case granting summary judgment to the government because the subject modular storage unit imports were improperly classified as mountings and fittings rather than as parts of unit furniture.




opinion and polls

International Longshore and Warehouse Union v. ICTSI Oregon, Inc.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirming the district court's dismissal of an antitrust claim alleging anti-competitive activities engaged in by a labor union and a multi-employer collective bargaining association, holding that nonstatutory exemption, the Noerrr-Pennington doctrine, and Sherman Act immunized defendants' activities.



  • Antitrust & Trade Regulation
  • Labor & Employment Law

opinion and polls

In Re Quality Systems, Inc.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Remanding a case in which a Miami retirement trust obtained the stock of a company and later complained of false statements that the district court found to be puffery, forward looking, appropriately cautioned, without knowledge of their falsity, or protected by the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act but the panel found that many of these exceptions did not apply in the given situation.




opinion and polls

Diamond Sawblades Manufacturers Coalition v. US

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming the Court of International Trade's decision affirming a Department of Commerce ruling in the administrative review of an earlier anti-dumping order, the court held that no error occurred in the determination that a Chinese saw blade manufacturer was seeking to sell their products at less than fair market value in the United States.




opinion and polls

In Re Lipitor Antitrust Litigation

(United States Third Circuit) - Reversing the District Court dismissal of complaints in litigation that alleged Lipitor's fraudulent patent procurement and other misconduct because the allegations were plausible, and reversing the dismissal of allegations in Effexor litigation because it was plausible that the companies holding the pharmaceutical patents and generic manufacturers entered into reverse payment settlement agreements that subjected them to antitrust scrutiny.



  • Patent
  • Antitrust & Trade Regulation

opinion and polls

Connecticut Ironworkers Employers Association, Inc. v. New England Regional Council of Carpenters

(United States Second Circuit) - Vacating the district court's determination that a carpenters union was entitled to summary judgment as to Sherman Act Antitrust charges, but affirmed summary judgment for them as to unfair labor practices charges in a case where the union used subcontracting to include ironworking in their activities because the union did not qualify for the non-statutory exemption to antitrust liability, but qualified for the construction industry proviso.




opinion and polls

Puerto Rico Telephone Co. v. San Juan Cable

(United States First Circuit) - In an antitrust action, alleging that defendant's petitioning of the Puerto Rico Telecommunications Regulatory Board, government officials and tribunals, and commonwealth and federal courts to prevent plaintiff's application to provide internet protocol television service violated the Sherman Act, the district court's grant of summary judgment to defendant is affirmed where the facts of the case don't subject defendant to the sham exception of the Noerr-Pennington doctrine protecting the right to petition the government.




opinion and polls

Chemtall, Inc. v. US

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming that, for customs classification purposes, acrylamido tertiary butyl sulfonic acid is not an amide, but is an amide derivative as defined by the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States.




opinion and polls

North American Soccer League, LLC v. United States Soccer Federation, Inc.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirming the denial of the North American Soccer League's motion for preliminary injunction seeking Division II designation pending the resolution of its antitrust case against the United States Soccer Federation because they had failed to demonstrate a clear likelihood of success on the merits of their claim.




opinion and polls

Philadelphia Taxi Association, Inc. v. Uber Technologies, Inc.

(United States Third Circuit) - Affirming a district court dismissal of a case brought by numerous taxi associations seeking to prevent Uber from taking their business because Uber's conduct didn't arise to an antitrust violation, attempted monopoly, or other unfair business activity, even if it is killing the old taxicab businesses.




opinion and polls

WWRD US, LLC v. US

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirming a US Court of International Trade final decision denying a motion for summary judgment to a company and granting a government cross motion for summary judgment because the court agreed with the Customs and Border Patrol's classification of the plaintiff's subject imports finding that the articles at issue, decorative plates and mugs, weren't eligible for duty free treatment.




opinion and polls

SD3 II v. Black & Decker Inc.

(United States Fourth Circuit) - Affirming the grant of summary judgment to a group of table saw manufacturers sued under antitrust laws because the acts upon which the complaint was based occurred prior to 2002, the claims expired in 2006, and the suit was not filed until 2014, refusing to apply the equitable doctrine of fraudulent concealment because the plaintiff was found to have had notice, at latest, by 2003.




opinion and polls

Bell Supply Company, LLC v. US

(United States Federal Circuit) - Vacating a decision by the US Court of International Trade affirming a US Department of Commerce determination that certain imported oil country tubular goods (OCTG) fabricated as unfinished OCTG in China and finished in other countries were not subject to anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders covering OCTG imported from China because the Trade Court improperly proscribed the use of the substantial transformation analysis to determine the country of origin.




opinion and polls

Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. City of Seattle

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Reversing a district court dismissal of claims that an ordinance authorizing collective bargaining between driver coordinators like Uber and Lyft violates and is preempted by the Sherman Antitrust Act because the act sanctions price fixing by private cartels of independent contractor drivers but affirming the dismissal of claims that the ordinance was preempted by the National Labor Relations Act and remanding for further proceedings.