Appellate Practice

How I helped win an equal pay victory for the US Women’s National Soccer Team

“For the past two years, I served as lead appellate counsel for the players on the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team in their equal-pay case against the U.S. Soccer Federation,” writes Nicole A. Saharsky. “So you are probably wondering: How did we get from losing summary judgment and being entitled to $0 to getting $24 million and a guarantee of equal pay for the women’s and men’s national teams?”

Jun 1, 2022 1:30 AM CDT

First Amendment doesn’t protect fired police officers who criticized department changes, 6th Circuit rules

The First Amendment does not protect two Tennessee police officers who were fired for objecting to changes in their department, an appeals court has ruled.

May 4, 2022 12:18 PM CDT

Appeals court sides with judge who muted man during remote sentencing

A federal appeals court ruled Monday that a Missouri man’s rights were not violated when a judge muted him twice during his remote sentencing.

May 4, 2022 8:53 AM CDT

Richard Posner’s lawyer says the retired judge has Alzheimer’s, didn’t have capacity to contract

Richard Posner, a retired judge on the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago, didn’t have the capacity to enter into a contract because of Alzheimer’s disease, his lawyer said in a letter.

Mar 30, 2022 9:46 AM CDT

SCOTUS rules in favor of Texas school board that censured member

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that a school board has the right to censure one of its members. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the high court, pointed out that elected bodies in this country have censured their members “as early as colonial times.”

Mar 25, 2022 9:33 AM CDT

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson writes first appellate opinion; she’s seen as a potential SCOTUS nominee

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has released the first opinion written by Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, who is considered a potential U.S. Supreme Court nominee to replace retiring Justice Stephen G. Breyer.

Feb 2, 2022 10:40 AM CST

Lawyer with over $543K in student debt gets reprimand vacated after telling court of financial hardship

A federal appeals court has vacated its reprimand of a lawyer who skipped oral arguments in a late-settled case, citing information provided in her request for reconsideration.

Jan 18, 2022 11:56 AM CST

SCOTUS justices who look to ‘advocacy history’ find reasons to undermine precedent

Does the weight and meaning of a U.S. Supreme Court decision turn on the arguments presented beforehand? Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. appeared to suggest that the answer was yes during oral arguments on the constitutionality of a Mississippi abortion law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Dec 15, 2021 2:33 PM CST

‘The Practice’ vs. ‘Boston Legal’: How the original stacks up to the spinoff, part 3

Over my past two columns, I’ve focused on reviewing two related television series, The Practice and Boston Legal, with the ultimate goal of comparing them. To conduct my review, I utilized the top-rated episode from each series as calculated by episodeninja.com. So, which series came out victorious? The Practice? Boston Legal? Not so fast.

Dec 9, 2021 8:55 AM CST

7th Circuit reprimands lawyer for skipping oral arguments, relying on opposing counsel

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at Chicago has reprimanded a New York lawyer for skipping oral arguments in a late-settled case and relying on opposing counsel to represent the parties’ joint views on costs.

Dec 8, 2021 12:36 PM CST

If trends persist, there won’t be gender parity among lawyers arguing at 7th Circuit until 2059

The gender gap among lawyers arguing before the federal appeals court in Chicago barely improved over the last decade, according to a report published by the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession.

Dec 8, 2021 8:44 AM CST

‘The Practice’ vs. ‘Boston Legal’: How the original stacks up to the spinoff, part 2

In October, I reviewed The Practice. It’s now time to take a look at Boston Legal, compare the two related series and crown the better “legal TV” option. As was the case with The Practice, I am going into this viewing session blind; I'd never before watched an episode of Boston Legal. Let’s dig in.

Nov 30, 2021 9:09 AM CST

Supreme Court should reverse decision in Texas ineffective counsel case, ABA says

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals’ consideration of a Texas death row inmate’s case deviated from the U.S. Supreme Court’s prior instruction regarding ineffective assistance of counsel and conflicted with its precedents, the ABA told the Supreme Court on Thursday.

Nov 19, 2021 11:54 AM CST

‘The Practice’ vs. ‘Boston Legal’: How the original stacks up to the spinoff, part 1

In April, Screen Rant published its list of the 10 best legal drama shows of all time, ranked according to IMDb. After review, I realized two of the 10 were very closely related. Boston Legal was a spinoff of The Practice, and also according to IMDb, the byproduct is better than the initial offering.

Oct 25, 2021 1:28 PM CDT

Typo in 1928 Supreme Court opinion created ‘reign of error,’ law prof says

A tiny typographical error in a 1928 U.S. Supreme Court opinion had a big impact after it was picked up in subsequent opinions and used to bolster arguments for property rights, a law professor has found.

Oct 19, 2021 1:18 PM CDT