Why Court Reporters Are Imperative For An Appeal
What happens when there is no court reporter present to memorialize the trial court proceedings? The short answer is, your appeal is dead on arrival. Appellate courts presume that trial court judgments are correct, and an appellant must demonstrate an error based on the record. Without a transcript, it may be impossible...
Can a Jury Verdict Be Appealed?
A jury verdict can be appealed, but disagreeing with...
Apple Slammed With Historic $5.7 Billion Patent Verdict
Taction is a California-based company which uses tapping vibrations technology in headphones and gaming headsets. It has two patents for this technology, and the company sued Apple in 2021 for patent infringement. Apple was alleged to have used the technology to power the haptic feedback in iPhones and Apple Watches. Last Friday, a...
The Value of Unpublished Federal Appellate Opinions
Most federal appellate court decisions are not published. Indeed, the figures are quite high: for the fiscal year of 2025, the nationwide unpublished rate was 85.9%. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued the second lowest number of the federal appellate circuits, with 69.5% cases unpublished. Of course, per Federal Rule of...
IP Infringement Trends on TikTok and Walmart Marketplace
Social commerce and third-party marketplaces have created new opportunities for brands, but they have also made intellectual property infringement faster and harder to contain. On TikTok Shop and Walmart Marketplace, businesses may encounter counterfeit products, copied product images, unauthorized trademark use, and listings designed to resemble established brands. Recent platform policies...
How Federal Appellate Courts Review Denials of Arbitration
The Seventh Circuit recently addressed an inconsistency in Seventh Circuit case law regarding how district court orders denying arbitration are reviewed.
The defendant sought de novo review of the ultimate waiver decision, and clear error review of only the underlying factual findings. Meanwhile, the plaintiff asserted clear error review of the...
Christopher Keleher Wins Appellate Court Reversal
Today, the Illinois Appellate Court issued a published opinion in Safe Zone v. Linn-Mathes, et al. The Keleher Appellate Law Group represented the Plaintiff-Appellant Safe Zone Services in its appeal in the First District Appellate Court. After a two-year, hard fought battle in the appeals court revolving around a contract dispute, the
Challenging Qualified Immunity Denials in Federal Appeals
A qualified immunity denial is not an ordinary pretrial setback. Because qualified...
Why Amazon Sellers Must Understand California Proposition 65
For Amazon stores that sell products in California, awareness of California Proposition 65 is critical. Proposition 65 is a law concerning the disclosure of certain chemicals in products. It raises a series of compliance issues and potentially expensive litigation claims.
Proposition 65 mandates that businesses provide a “clear and...
How Standards of Review Impact Legal Outcomes on Appeal
The standard of review can significantly affect the outcome of an appeal. Appellate courts do not reconsider every issue from the beginning. Instead, they apply different levels of deference depending on whether the appeal challenges a legal ruling, factual finding, jury determination, or discretionary decision made by the trial court.