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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.

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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September 03, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at the Ninth: Long Arms and Sore Backs
By: James R. Sigel
This week, the Ninth Circuit explains when courts have personal jurisdiction over foreigners who contract with U.S.-based businesses, and whether severe pain can qualify as a disability under the Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act. GLOBAL COMM. TRADING GRP. v. BENEFICIO DE ARROZ CHOLOMA
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August 29, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at the Ninth: In Rem and Out of Time
This week, the Ninth Circuit creates a potential circuit split on personal jurisdiction in in rem proceedings, and clarifies whether a post-judgment motion for attorneys’ fees extends the time to appeal (spoiler alert: it does not). UNITED STATES v. TAREK OBAID The Court held
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August 25, 2020 - Ninth Circuit Insights
Know Your En Banc Ninth: The Dissents Stay Dissents
By: James R. Sigel
In the past two weeks, we’ve examined which judges tend to agree and disagree with one another when on the same en banc panel, and which of those judges tend to end up in dissent. This week, we look at whether the views of
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August 20, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: Employees, Independent Contractors, and ERISA
By: James R. Sigel
This week, this Ninth Circuit once again issued a number of opinions arising from the employment relationship. Here, we focus on two of particular interest. In the first, the Court sought to unravel whether an emergency room physician was an employee of the hospital
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August 18, 2020 - Ninth Circuit Insights
Know Your En Banc Ninth: Birds of a Feather
By: James R. Sigel
Last week , we continued our look at Ninth Circuit en bancs by examining which judges were most and least likely to dissent in the 60 en banc cases submitted and decided since December 2014.* This week, we look at cases featuring three key
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August 13, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at the Ninth: Sports, Drugs, and Pensions
By: James R. Sigel and Lena H. Hughes
This week, we take a look at two Ninth Circuit decisions concerning the employer-employee relationship. In the first, the Court let the lawsuit against the NFL for its negligent handling of drug distribution to its injured players live to see another day. In the
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August 11, 2020 - Ninth Circuit Insights
Know Your En Banc Ninth: Who Decides?
By: James R. Sigel
Last week , we began our look at the Ninth Circuit en bancs by examining which judges were most and least likely to be selected to en banc panels. This week, we address what these judges decide when selected: who tends to be in
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August 06, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: Appeals Dropping Like Flies
By: Lena H. Hughes
This week, the Ninth Circuit closely guarded its own jurisdiction while putting government litigants on the back foot. Read on to find out why county jailors’ qualified immunity appeal was dismissed, and how the Court handled a district court’s never-before-seen-in-the-Ninth Circuit order denying the
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August 04, 2020 - Ninth Circuit Insights
Know Your En Banc Ninth: Who's On It?
By: James R. Sigel
En banc proceedings are a central feature of the Ninth Circuit, which regularly revisits its panel decisions. Ninth Circuit en bancs come with a special twist: the uncertainty of which judges will hear the case. Given the Court’s size—currently 29 active judges—having all eligible
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