Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 334: Listen and Learn -- Standards of Review (Con Law)
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 160: Listen and Learn -- Standards of Review (Con Law)
Award Protests: Choosing the Forum
If I won my case, why do I need to worry about an appeal?
In its unanimous decision rendered on February 4, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed the Delaware Court of Chancery’s ruling in the widely followed “TripAdvisor” case (Palkon v. Maffei) regarding the standard of review...more
On February 13, 2025, the Second District Court of Appeal (Div. 7) filed its 71-page published opinion affirming the trial court’s judgment rejecting CEQA safety hazard and cumulative impacts analysis challenges – as well as...more
On February 4, 2025, the Delaware Supreme Court, on interlocutory appeal, reversed the decision of the Delaware Court of Chancery to deny defendants’ motion to dismiss breach of fiduciary duty claims against directors and a...more
Last year, we reported on a significant published appellate decision, South San Joaquin Irrigation District v. PG&E, which concluded that when a public agency uses eminent domain to acquire the assets of an electric, gas, or...more
On January 7, 2025, Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III of the Delaware Court of Chancery issued a post-trial decision in favor of defendant, a private equity fund (the “Fund”), finding that the Fund’s sale of a portfolio...more
Over the past two years, Director Vidal has issued two Director Review decisions related to the proper use of Applicant Admitted Prior Art (AAPA) in Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) proceedings. In both cases, Director...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court judgment of noninfringement, finding that deleting a portion of a definition between a provisional application and a nonprovisional application was...more
On November 22, 2024, the First District Court of Appeal’s (Div. 4) partially-published opinion in People of the State of California ex rel. Bonta v. County of Lake (Lotusland Investment Holdings, Inc., et al. Real Parties in...more
As we previously reported, in January 2024, the Court held in a stockholder derivative suit against the CEO and directors of a sustainable energy and electric vehicle company (the “Company”) that a record-setting $55.8...more
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) in two recent companion decisions, Auer v. Auer (“Auer”) and TransAlta Generation Partnership v. Alberta (“TransAlta”), has clarified that the reasonableness standard as set out in Canada...more
In an important opinion filed October 21, and later ordered published on November 18, 2024 (at the request of the California State Association of Counties and the Rural County Representatives of California), the Sixth...more
In a partially published opinion filed October 31, 2024, the Second District Court of Appeal (Div. 1) held, in light of AB 1307 and the Supreme Court’s decision in Make UC a Good Neighbor v. Regents of University of...more
The standard of review (“SOR”) is the lens through which an appellate court examines a trial court’s or agency’s decision making and often determines the outcome of an appeal. Consider the tips below to get the most out of...more
“It’s like déjà vu all over again.” Yogi Berra - In a (mostly) published opinion filed October 24, 2024, the Second District Court of Appeal (Div. 2) affirmed the trial court’s judgment denying a writ petition in a CEQA...more
On October 18, 2024, Vice Chancellor Glasscock of the Delaware Court of Chancery declined to dismiss a putative class action brought by stockholders of special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”) Mountain Crest Acquisition...more
With the surge of artificial intelligence (AI) development in recent years, state legislatures, including California's, have contemplated how to balance patient safety and quality of care with the need for and expectation of...more
On October 7, 2024, the First District Court of Appeal (Div. 5) issued a 6-page “Order Denying Respondent’s Petition for Rehearing and Modifying Opinion [No Change in Judgment]” (the “Order”) in Sunflower Alliance v....more
In a terse opinion filed September 13, and modified and ordered partially published on October 3, 2024, the Third District Court of Appeal upheld an award of reasonable record preparation cots to prevailing lead agency County...more
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director, Kathi Vidal, released a final rule on Director Review effective October 31, which expands the director's authority to review a wide range of decisions made during PTAB...more
In an opinion filed August 15, and modified and certified for publication on September 13, 2024, the Fourth District Court of Appeal (Div. 2) resolved cross-appeals from a judgment granting a limited writ by reversing with...more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit that upheld a Tennessee state law banning gender-affirming care for minors and overturned a lower court injunction that...more
The UK government has released its latest annual report on the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, covering the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. The report outlines key trends, statistics, and developments...more
In a published decision filed September 6, 2024, the First District Court of Appeal (Div. 5) reversed the trial court’s judgment granting a writ of mandate and upheld the use of CEQA’s Class 1 categorical exemption (CEQA...more
Recent cases show the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director's interest in using director review to address substantive issues like obviousness, not just procedural matters or changes in the law. Grants in these cases,...more
In an opinion filed on July 24, and later ordered published on August 19, 2024, the Second District Court of Appeal (Div. 4) affirmed the trial court’s judgment denying a writ petition challenging actions taken by the Los...more