On May 25, 2023, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that a post-trial motion under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“FRCP”) 50(b) is not required to preserve appellate review of a purely legal issue resolved at...more
With essential unanimity, though with an array of concurrences in one of them, the Supreme Court ruled against government parties in three cases, two of them in favor of homeowners, and in property rights and environmental...more
Plaintiff did not exhaust administrative remedies when challenging the City’s approval of a homeowner’s development project on the ground that a Class 1 categorical exemption was inapplicable. Arcadians for Environmental...more
The United States Supreme Court issued a decision in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, No. 21-887, opening the door for future claims against schools for compensatory monetary damages. In its unanimous opinion, the Supreme...more
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of a deaf student in Perez v. Sturgis Public Schools, 143 S. Ct. 81 (U.S. 2022), where the Court held that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“IDEA”) exhaustion...more
Participants in administrative proceedings are routinely cautioned to raise, or "exhaust," all issues with the agency to avoid being barred from later raising those issues in court. But whether a court will require issue...more
Does marijuana have a currently accepted medical use in the U.S.? That is the question in front of the Ninth Circuit currently. On May 21, 2020, Suzanne Sisley and multiple U.S. veterans petitioned the Ninth Circuit Court of...more
On April 3, 2020, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit in EEOC v. Vantage Energy Services, Inc., No. 19-20541, clarified its interpretation of the relate-back doctrine for administrative charges. The Fifth Circuit...more
Ninth Circuit Affirms Decision Rejecting Suit Seeking Early Retirement Benefits - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed a district court’s decision rejecting a plaintiff’s lawsuit seeking to overturn...more
Continuing a trend toward stricter application of the administrative exhaustion doctrine, an appellate court held that plaintiffs could not bring a takings claims against the Coastal Commission because they did not “present...more
On May 30, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ?—in an opinion delivered by the eminent Guido Calabresi?— offered the cannabis industry a glimmer of hope in its pursuit of the federal legalization of...more
“Plaintiffs claim that marijuana has extended their lives, cured seizures and made pain manageable. If true, these are no small things.” So wrote Judge Calabresi on behalf of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second...more
Last week, in Washington v. Barr, the Second Circuit addressed a case seeking to strike down the federal government’s classification of marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA)....more
Recently, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama issued a decision reminding employers to take care when reviewing and responding to charges of discrimination....more
In Fudge v. City of Laguna (G055711), published on February 13, 2019, the Fourth District Court of Appeal joined the First and Sixth Districts by reaffirming the need for a litigant to wait for the California Coastal...more
On March 5, 2019, Chief Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that United Behavioral Health (UBH), a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, violated its fiduciary...more
The First Circuit held that a plaintiff failed to timely exhaust her administrative remedies under a long-term disability plan because the plan’s 180-day time limit for submitting appeals commenced on the date the plaintiff...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Court”) addressed an individual’s appeal of his conviction for allegedly violating United States Forest Service (“Forest Service”) regulations that: . . . prohibit...more
For those of you who have followed Nossaman’s eminent domain blog since the very early days, you’ll recall our coverage of a significant regulatory takings case, Monks v. City of Rancho Palos Verdes. ...more
The City of Rancho Palos Verdes is the site of the ancient Portuguese Bend and Abalone Cove landslides, both of which remain active. In 1978, in response to movement of the Abalone Cove landslide, the City adopted an...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey recently issued a ruling with respect to Defendants’ “compelling” exhaustion argument that Plaintiffs failed to exhaust administrative remedies with...more
Seeking legal relief in court can be a lot more intimidating than asking a teacher to settle a playground argument, but in both cases the first question you may be asked is "did you try to work it out first?" The same...more
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the federal appeals court covering Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, affirmed the trial court’s decision to dismiss a contractor’s breach of contract...more
My law firm colleague Allan Gates undertook a webinar presentation for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (“NACWA”) titled: - Shaking Things Up – The Trump Administration, Regulatory Change, and...more
On August 28, 2017, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan held that a provider must fully exhaust administrative remedies before it can seek a remedy in Federal court against a Medicare...more