This Week at the Ninth: Bellwether
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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, we take a close look at an appeal from the first jury trial in a flood of litigation alleging that a popular pesticide causes cancer. EDWIN HARDEMAN V. MONSANTO COMPANY The Court affirms a jury verdict and damages award in the first... ›
This Week at the Ninth: Preemption, New and Old
This week, the Ninth Circuit resolves a novel preemption challenge to California’s CalSavers retirement scheme, and revisits a well-tread preemption question on Nevada homeowner’s association liens. HOWARD JARVIS TAXPAYERS ASS'N V. CA SECURE CHOICE RETIRE. SVG. The Court holds ERISA does not preempt a... ›This Week at the Ninth: Falsity and Fiduciaries
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we examine a pair of Ninth Circuit decisions addressing when opinions are materially false under securities law, and what a plaintiff must plead to establish a duty-of-prudence violation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. GOLUB v. GIGAMON INC. The Ninth Circuit holds... ›This Week at the Ninth: Sand Dredgers and the Duty to Defend
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we take a look at a decision addressing the proper reading of “because” in federal discrimination statutes, and another addressing a California law precluding insurers from covering defense costs in litigation brought by the state. THOMAS v. CALPORTLAND COMPANY The Court holds... ›This Week At the Ninth: Surgical Robots and Scienter
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we take a look at one decision considering when California law requires application of California’s statute of limitations, and another reiterating the strict standard for pleading scienter in a securities fraud case. RUSTICO v. INTUITIVE SURGERY, INC. The Court holds that under... ›This Week in the Ninth: Chickens and Subpoenas
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we take a look at two Ninth Circuit decisions tracing the limits of federal courts’ jurisdiction. In the first, the Court addressed the Article III requirements that public interest organizations must satisfy in challenging alleged false advertising. In the second, the Court... ›This Week at the Ninth: Remand Review and Tax Evasion
By: James R. Sigel and Lena H. Hughes
This week, we look at one decision navigating the complicated jurisprudence governing review of remand orders (which one might think would be unreviewable), and another addressing the available penalties when taxpayers fail to disclose multiple foreign accounts. ACADEMY OF COUNTRY MUSIC v. CONTINENTAL CASUALTY... ›This Week at the Ninth: Payment and Prayer
By: James R. Sigel
This week, the Ninth Circuit issued two decisions addressing interesting employment-discrimination issues. In the first, a divided panel held that a university’s policy of raising the salaries of professors who threaten to leave for other posts may constitute gender discrimination under federal and Oregon... ›This Week at the Ninth: Old Debts and Flight Attendants
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we take a look at two cases requiring the Ninth Circuit to navigate interlocking provisions of state and federal law. In the first case, the Court addressed how the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies to a creditor's attempt to collect a... ›This Week at the Ninth: SLUSA and U.S. Waters
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we take a look at two Ninth Circuit decisions wrestling with issues of statutory interpretation. In the first, the Court considered the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act’s prohibition of state-law claims that might have been brought as federal securities actions, in a... ›