United States: Court Procedure

Recent trade secret case law reveals critical standards for proving misappropriation, from the Ninth Circuit's reversal of a $57 million judgment over incorrect jury instructions on the "not readily ascertainable" element, to the Eighth Circuit's requirements for adequate trade secret identification. Courts continue to refine extraterritorial application of the DTSA and standards for demonstrating actual use of allegedly misappropriated information.

The False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions are among the federal government’s most important tools for identifying and pursuing alleged fraud involving Medicare, Medicaid, federal health care programs and other government funds. The statute permits a private individual, known as a relator, to bring a False Claims Act action “for the person and for the United States Government” in the name of the government.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has filed a federal lawsuit challenging New Jersey's disparate impact discrimination rules, arguing they lack constitutional safeguards and conflict with federal law. The complaint asserts the rules impose unrecoverable compliance costs on lenders and create operational burdens by requiring different policies across states.

The Eleventh Circuit’s recent decision in United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC marks an important development in the ongoing constitutional debate surrounding the False Claims Act’s qui tam provisions. By rejecting an Appointments Clause challenge, the court aligned itself with every other circuit that has spoken on the issue.

On September 9th, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied a motion to stay filed by SAM, Inc. and the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association, Inc. (collectively, “SAM”). The motion sought to stay (pause) the Attorney General’s final order placing state legal medical marijuana into Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”). While this ruling merely maintains the status quo, it is still a significant victory for state legal medical marijuana operators.

A federal court in Illinois recently dismissed a cybersecurity-related False Claims Act qui tam complaint against Archer Daniels Midland Company, primarily on materiality grounds. The decision highlights the stringent requirements relators face when pursuing cybersecurity FCA claims, particularly the need to demonstrate that alleged cybersecurity deficiencies would have significantly affected the government's payment decisions. The court's analysis provides critical guidance on pleading requirements for fal

Recent federal court decisions are reshaping the landscape of personal jurisdiction and enforcement of international arbitration awards following the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization. The DC and Ninth Circuits have issued critical opinions clarifying how Fifth Amendment due process standards apply differently than traditional Fourteenth Amendment minimum contacts analysis, particularly in cases involving foreign sovereigns and international arbitration. These deve

A North Carolina federal court has ruled that text messages do not fall under the TCPA's Do Not Call private right of action, following similar reasoning from the Seventh Circuit's Steidinger decision. The ruling leaves open broader questions about whether cell phone subscribers qualify for Do Not Call protections at all, while the bulk of TCPA compliance obligations under Section 227(b) remain unchanged.

A federal court has ruled on the scope of enforcement authority under the House settlement's NIL framework, determining that multimedia rights companies and third-party brand sponsors cannot be categorically excluded from oversight. The decision preserves case-by-case analysis while affirming judicial review of the College Sports Commission's investigative practices, setting the stage for ongoing disputes over how NIL arrangements are regulated in college athletics.