This Week at the Ninth: Class Objections and Robocalls
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At Left Coast Appeals, we provide insights into all things Ninth Circuit. Check out our Ninth Circuit Statistics page, which offers an empirical window into the Court’s workings. At our En Banc Tracker, we monitor the Court’s busy en banc proceedings. And at This Week at the Ninth, we highlight key recent decisions.
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- This week, the Court addresses when a defendant can raise personal jurisdiction objections to non-resident members of a putative class, and explains the scope of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s prohibition on robocalls to cell phones. MOSER v. BENEFYTT The Court holds that a... ›
This Week at the Ninth: Toxic Water and Railroad Taxes
By: James R. Sigel
This week, the Court examines whether EPA guidance on water toxicity tests could be challenged under the APA, and addresses whether California’s scheme for taxing railroad property contravenes federal law. SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ALLIANCE v. EPA The Court holds that trade associations for California water... ›This Week at the Ninth: Beef Speech and Presumptive Plaintiffs
By: James R. Sigel
This week, the Court addresses the constitutionality of government assessments that fund third-party beef advertisements, and clarifies the burden-shifting framework for appointing lead plaintiffs under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. RANCHERS CATTLEMEN ACTION LEGAL FUND UNITED STOCKGROWERS OF AMERICA v. VILSACK The Court... ›The Ninth Quickens its Pace
By: James R. Sigel
A Ninth Circuit appeal is generally a long-term endeavor. The Court itself tells parties that the likely “time-to-argument”—i.e. the time between a filing a notice of appeal and the Court hearing oral argument—is between 12 and 20 months, and even that range may sometimes... ›This Week at the Ninth: Offshore Occupation
This week, the Ninth Circuit resolves a split among trial courts about the application of California labor laws on drilling platforms on the Outer Continental Shelf. IAFETA MAUIA v. PETROCHEM INSULATION, INC. The Court holds that California labor laws requiring meal and rest breaks... ›This Week at the Ninth: Manuka Honey and Waterslides
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we take a look at a decision addressing what a “reasonable” consumer will know in purchasing a product (and distinguishing the Seventh Circuit in the process), and at another assessing the legality of Washington’s pandemic-related shutdown of a waterpark. MOORE v. TRADER... ›This Week at the Ninth: Drug Tests and Foreign Arbitration
By: James R. Sigel
This week, the Ninth Circuit considers a challenge to the constitutionality of the FAA’s regulations governing drug and alcohol testing for air-carrier employees, and it wrestles with difficult choice-of-law questions concerning foreign arbitration agreements. REGENCY AIR, LLC v. DICKSON The Court holds that FAA... ›This Week at the Ninth: Presumed Reliance and Evident Partiality
By: James R. Sigel
This week, a divided Ninth Circuit panel addressed when a plaintiff’s reliance on an omission may be presumed in a securities-fraud case, and another panel considered when an arbitration award must be set aside due to an arbitrator’s failure to disclose a relationship with... ›This Week at the Ninth: Injured Discriminators and Rails-to-Trails
By: James R. Sigel
This week, the Ninth Circuit addresses whether a corporate shareholder has standing to challenge a statute allegedly requiring the corporation to discriminate, and considers the interaction between the 1922 Abandoned Railroad Right of Way Act and the 1988 Rails-to-Trails Act. MELAND v. WEBER The... ›This Week at the Ninth: Formation Trials and Tribal Corporations
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we take a look at a Ninth Circuit decision navigating the intricacies of appellate review of interlocutory arbitration orders, and another exploring the difference between a federally chartered tribal corporation and the tribe itself. HANSEN v. LMB MORTGAGE SERVICES, INC. The Court... ›