Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 334: Listen and Learn -- Standards of Review (Con Law)
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 160: Listen and Learn -- Standards of Review (Con Law)
Award Protests: Choosing the Forum
If I won my case, why do I need to worry about an appeal?
The California Supreme Court unanimously held that the California Coastal Commission lacked appellate jurisdiction over a coastal development permit granted by the County of San Luis Obispo, concluding that the proposed...more
Clarifying the proper scope of appellate review, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed an International Trade Commission final determination in full....more
Earlier this week in Bissell, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, the Federal Circuit affirmed the ITC’s determination that Tineco’s original wet/dry surface cleaning devices infringed Bissell’s patents and were properly...more
La décision du juge d’appel est insuffisamment motivée dès lors qu’elle ne répond pas à l’argumentation du contribuable contestant les termes de comparaison retenus par l’administration pour établir le caractère excessif des...more
For immigration practitioners, the message from the Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Urias-Orellana v. Bondi is clear: winning your asylum case at the administrative level is critical. By resolving a circuit split and...more
Two unpublished decisions involving the same change in control severance plan went in opposite directions on the standard of review. In 2026, the Fifth Circuit applied abuse of discretion based on plan language delegating...more
This issue of the Friday Five discusses the Fifth Circuit’s strict approach to review deadlines, a court chiding an administrator for relying on evidence not in the record, a court’s refusal to permit discovery into claims...more
Appellate outcomes often turn less on what happened in the trial court and more on how an appellate court is permitted to review it. For corporate litigants, the applicable standard of review – abuse of discretion, de novo,...more
In Beazer v. Richmond County Constructors, LLC (Mar. 10, 2026), the Eleventh Circuit held that equitable tolling saved the plaintiff’s Title VII complaint even though the district court received it after the ninety-day...more
A basic rule in the adversarial system is party presentation: the parties “frame the issues for decision,” while the court serves as a “neutral arbiter” of the issues those parties present. United States v. Sineneng-Smith,...more
On February 17, 2026, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ("OCC") proposed a significant overhaul of its internal appeals process for banks that would make it easier for them to challenge exam findings. ...more
Real estate laws in Canada present unique opportunities and challenges. Our lawyers have authored the “Canada” chapter of Real Estate: Zoning & Land Use 2026, a global guide published by Chambers and Partners. Our...more
This month’s Friday Five explores decisions reviewing what evidence is necessary to prove that a condition like long COVID is “sufficiently disabling”, what standard of review applies to benefits under FEGLI, whether an...more
As of April 1, 2025, subsection 56(5) of the Trademarks Act requires parties to obtain leave to file additional evidence on appeal from decisions of the Registrar of Trademarks (the “Registrar”), which include decisions of...more
Feagin v. Mansfield Police Dept., 155 F. 4th 595 (6th Cir. 2025) - In a colorful opinion from the Sixth Circuit, the court found that it was not excessive force to tase the plaintiff when he refused to supply his hand for...more
Rombach v. Plumbers Local Union No. 27 Pension Fund, No. 24-2482, 2025 WL 3110791 (3d Cir. Nov. 6, 2025) (The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the suspension of early-retirement benefits, holding that...more
Under the Michigan Court Rules, a party who has failed to timely file a claim of appeal (or application for leave to appeal if the judgment or order was not appealable as of right) has the option of filing a late appeal....more
Litigation looks like a single continuum from filing to verdict, but it isn’t. Trial and appellate practice are not merely different phases of the same work; they are different crafts with different habits, incentives, and...more
This month's Friday Five highlights recent decisions addressing the scope of permissible discovery outside of the administrative record, the admissibility of certain evidence in an LTD benefits termination trial, the role...more
On November 26, 2025, Vice Chancellor Fioravanti issued a 75-page opinion dismissing plaintiffs’ complaint in DrugCrafters, L.P., et al. v. Loh, et al., C.A. No. 2024-0111-PAF. The action was brought by former Paratek...more
The Ohio Board of Tax Appeals (Board) has found that chargebacks, i.e., above the line price reductions, are not discounts to the customer and should not be included in “gross receipts” for Commercial Activity Tax (CAT)...more
Trial lawyers often talk about preservation as if it were the entire universe of appellate risk. Preservation is essential, of course, but it is only the floor. In practice, many technically preserved issues still fail on...more
As a general rule, the scope of appellate review is limited to issues that were raised by the parties and ruled on by the trial court. As a result, appellate courts often refuse to rule on issues that are raised for the first...more
Harmless error is one of the most frequently invoked doctrines in appellate law—and one of the least scrutinized. It was designed as a tool of restraint, preventing new trials for inconsequential mistakes....more
This month’s Friday Five covers recent decisions on supplementation of the administrative record, offset of dependent benefits, full and fair review of claim for benefits, and timing of benefits determination, as well as an...more