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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.

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
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
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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July 30, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: CAFA and Dog Food Deception
By: James R. Sigel
This week, the Ninth Circuit decided cases involving Ashley Judd’s lawsuit against Harvey Weinstein , allegedly deceptive prescription pet food, and the interaction between the Class Action Fairness Act and the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act. Naturally, here at Left Coast Appeals, we focus on the
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July 23, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: Settlement Classes and State Action
By: James R. Sigel
This week, we highlight two decisions revisiting (largely) settled principles of civil procedure and constitutional law. In the first, the Court reaffirmed its recent decision holding that a district court generally need not conduct a choice-of-law analysis before certifying a class for settlement. In
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July 16, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: Nationwide Injunctions and CAFA
This week, the Ninth Circuit weighs in on the hot topic of nationwide injunctions and resolves a novel jurisdictional question in a case involving two staples of American life: Harley-Davidson motorcycles and class-action lawsuits. CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO v. BARR The Ninth
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July 09, 2020 - This Week at the Ninth
This Week at The Ninth: Railroad Discrimination and Remand Review
By: James R. Sigel
This week at This Week, we highlight the Ninth Circuit’s decision holding that an Oregon tax unlawfully discriminated against railroads, along with the Court’s opinion examining the strict limits on the appellate jurisdiction over orders remanding to state courts (and further cementing a circuit
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Welcome to Left Coast Appeals

This Week at The Ninth: Employees, Independent Contractors, and ERISA

By: James R. Sigel

Know Your En Banc Ninth: Birds of a Feather

By: James R. Sigel

This Week at the Ninth: Sports, Drugs, and Pensions

By: James R. Sigel

Know Your En Banc Ninth: Who Decides?

By: James R. Sigel

This Week at The Ninth: Appeals Dropping Like Flies

Know Your En Banc Ninth: Who's On It?

By: James R. Sigel

This Week at The Ninth: CAFA and Dog Food Deception

By: James R. Sigel

This Week at The Ninth: Settlement Classes and State Action

By: James R. Sigel

This Week at The Ninth: Nationwide Injunctions and CAFA

This Week at The Ninth: Railroad Discrimination and Remand Review

By: James R. Sigel