The intersection of the Davis-Bacon Act (DBA) and General Services Administration (GSA) leasing has undergone significant changes over the past year, raising important issues for lessors, legal practitioners and government...more
In July, the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found the FCC’s Universal Service Fund (USF) to violate the Constitution in several ways. This decision reversed an earlier decision by a panel of the court...more
Today's post is a digression into Roman history and etymology, two of my long-time interests....more
On Labor Day fifty years ago, September 2, 1974, President Ford signed the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) into law. It is a combination of tax and labor law incorporating trust law like fiduciary...more
On August 12, 2024, the Federal Circuit published its decision in Celanese International Corp. et al. v. International Trade Commission. The Federal Circuit concluded that, under the America Invents Act (AIA), patent claims...more
Twenty-six states filed litigation in courts nationwide to prevent the enactment of President Biden’s April 2024 revisions to the Title IX statute aimed at increasing protections for LGBTQIA+ athletes, pregnant and parenting...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (“USPTO”) Appeals Review Panel (“the Panel”) recently clarified that means-plus-function claims do not require that the specification disclose equivalents. See Ex parte...more
The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) requires federal courts to enforce agreements to arbitrate that impact interstate commerce. The FAA and its body of case law are binding on state courts and many states have adopted similar...more
The Fifth and D.C. Circuit federal appellate courts are now poised to issue pivotal decisions in the ongoing litigation challenging the constitutionality of the FCC’s universal service support mechanisms. Their opinions will...more
In holding that that Treas. Reg. § 1.170A-14(g)(6)(ii) (Proceeds Regulation) is procedurally invalid under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), the U.S. Tax Court abandoned its precedent in Oakbrook Land Holdings, LLC v....more
The National Small Business Association (NSBA) and a small business owner (also a member of the NSBA) filed a lawsuit on Nov. 15, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama challenging the...more
The Supreme Court of the United States declined to review a case alleging that facially race-neutral admissions criteria at a selective Virginia public high school were unlawfully intended to strike a racial balance, leaving...more
Despite the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's en banc Phillips v. AWH Corp. decision in 2005 that purported to establish the definitive standard for claim construction, two disparate lines of claim construction...more
After years of denials, the SEC has finally approved its first Bitcoin spot ETFs. Reaching this point has involved legal battles, repeated reviews of applications, and much more....more
Employers are confronting yet another expansion of what constitutes protected employee concerted activity under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). As employers well know, Section 7 guarantees employees "the...more
The decision articulates the standard for plaintiffs asserting derivative claims based on an alleged failure of oversight by directors and officers of California companies. Nearly three decades ago in the seminal case In...more
The Israeli Ministry of Justice recently published a memorandum of law amending the Contracts Law, which seeks to add unique rules of interpretation to business contracts. In the economic press, we saw dramatic headlines...more
When served with a summons and complaint for an out-of-state lawsuit, one of the first things a defendant is likely to ask is—can this court compel me to appear? Given that most transportation and logistics-related disputes...more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Aug. 29, 2023, issued a final rulemaking revising the definition of "Waters of the United States" (WOTUS) within Corps1 and EPA2...more
On August 24, 2023, the Second Circuit prevented turmoil in the commercial lending market, ruling in Kirschner v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A. (JPM), et al. that syndicated secured term loan notes were not securities for...more
The Georgia Supreme Court recently decided important premises liability questions and found landowners liable for injuries to persons on their property caused by third-party criminal assailants....more
With data privacy landscapes changing around the globe, how can organizations handle cross-border deals while still remaining compliant? This has been a burning question over recent years....more
Section 106(a) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code expressly abrogates the sovereign immunity of "governmental units" for purposes of certain bankruptcy-related litigation. A split of authority concerning whether that abrogation...more
In a decision highly anticipated by the auto finance industry, a federal appeals court recently held that auto loans remain exempt from the Military Lending Act even when they finance related costs or services beyond the...more
Public agencies prevailed in 71% of decisions involving the California Environmental Quality Act in 2022. Latham lawyers tracked key developments in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) case law throughout 2022....more