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Welcome to Left Coast Appeals

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.

Follow us on Twitter @LeftCoastAppeal. And check out our sister blog Federal Circuitry, which takes a data-driven look at the Federal Circuit.

November 12, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: Collections and Coverage
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we examine one Ninth Circuit decision holding that a debt collector cannot insulate itself from liability under the Federal Debt Collection Practice Act by contractually obligating its clients to provide it with accurate information, and another holding that an HMO’s refusal to
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November 05, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: Public Knowledge and Private Counsel
By: James R. Sigel
This week, the Ninth Circuit examines how the loss-causation requirement of a securities-fraud claim may be satisfied in cases involving FOIA disclosures, and considers the application of Younger v. Harris to a State civil-enforcement action pressed by private counsel. DAVID GRIGSBY v. BOFI HOLDING,
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October 29, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: Debarred and Debugged
By: James R. Sigel
This week, the Court knocks down a party’s argument that it was “de facto debarred” from exporting activities under the Arms Export Control Act, and explains what exactly triggers the statute of limitations in Wiretap Act suits. THORNE v. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE The
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October 22, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: FCRA Dicta and Medicare Channeling
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we examine two decisions confronting novel procedural issues. In the first, the Ninth Circuit sought to promote development of the law by encouraging courts to alter how they address claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). In the second, the Court
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October 16, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at the Ninth: Mobile Billboards and Secret Systems
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we take a look at Ninth Circuit cases holding a ban on mobile billboards subject to strict scrutiny given the vehicles exempted from its scope, and addressing the standards governing summary judgment and discovery in trade-secret litigation. BRUCE BOYER V. CITY OF
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October 09, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: Counterfeiting and Superfund
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we examine a Ninth Circuit decision addressing whether a plaintiff pursuing a Lanham Act counterfeiting claim must demonstrate that consumers were likely to be confused (the answer: yes), and another resolving the tricky issue of whether the federal government’s regulation of a
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October 02, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: The FAA and the FAAAA
By: James R. Sigel
This week at This Week, we take a look at two cases that divided the panels deciding them. In the first, the Ninth Circuit (splitting from the Fourth) held an arbitration clause the plaintiff had signed with a third party to be unenforceable even
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September 25, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at the Ninth: Class Waiver and FINRA
This week, we take a look at the Ninth Circuit’s decision handing an important victory to banks by declaring FINRA rules against compelled arbitration don’t bar enforcement of class waivers. LAVER v. CREDIT SUISSE SECURITIES (USA), LLC The Court holds that a FINRA rule
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September 17, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: Informational Injury and Union Dues
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we examine one Ninth Circuit decision exploring the extent to which the deprivation of information and statutorily-conferred powers can satisfy Article III’s injury-in-fact requirement, and a second declining to extend the Supreme Court’s decision in Janus to former union-members asserting First Amendment
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September 11, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: Jersey Boys and Restroom Doors
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we highlight Ninth Circuit decisions denying copyright protection to assertions of fact (even if those facts were made up), and deepening a slight Circuit split on the Americans with Disabilites Act's burden-shifting framework. CORBELLO v. VALLI The Court holds that factual descriptions
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