WASHINGTON, D.C. — A divided Supreme Court stayed an injunction issued in a Massachusetts federal court that barred the Trump administration from implementing provisions of an executive order in 24 states and the District of Columbia that directs the creation of state-specific citizenship lists and changes to the administration of mail-in ballots for the November 2026 elections, ruling that the government is likely to succeed in showing that states challenging the order are doing so prematurely because they lack Article III standing and that leaving the injunction in place would irreparably harm the government by interfering with Executive Branch operations.

BOSTON —The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s dismissal of an insured’s breach of contract, negligence and breach of fiduciary duty claims against an insurance broker that arose from the insured’s allegations that the broker failed to procure adequate liability insurance to cover underlying claims arising from an accident involving the insured’s boat.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a U.S. Supreme Court amicus curiae brief supporting the position of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and Georgia Tech Athletic Association (GTAA) in a case involving sex discrimination suits filed by two former university system employees, the United States contends that “Congress did not implicitly authorize private suits under Title IX for employment discrimination at federally funded educational institutions” as a “straightforward application of” the principle that Congress, not the courts, decides who may enforce federal law.

BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal magistrate judge on Aug. 24 granted in part nonparty pharmaceutical manufacturers’ motions to quash subpoenas in a suit against Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. alleging violations of the federal False Claims Act (FCA) and similar state laws for purportedly fraudulent sales price reporting for a vision impairment drug, finding that the evidence sought could be relevant to scienter.

NEW ORLEANS — In an opinion that a split Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said involved multiple questions of first impression regarding the application of the Architectural Works Copyright Protection Act (AWCPA) and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) and a “thorny” question of appellate jurisdiction, the judge that wrote the majority opinion said that a section of the AWCPA does not reach copyrights in architectural plans as pictorial, graphic and sculptural works and could not support a Texas federal judge’s dismissal of an architectural firm’s architectural-work claims when the complaint did not establish that the challenged uses occurred after construction.

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has stayed issuance of its mandate for a July 30 ruling in a putative class case pending resolution of a certiorari petition that the appellants say they have already filed.  In the petition, the appellants argue that the panel ruling deepens a 7-1 circuit split concerning the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, with the Fourth Circuit’s recent Trauernicht v. Genworth Fin. Inc. ruling standing alone on one side of the conflict.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Virginia federal judge rightly dismissed a complaint brought by inventor advocacy groups against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and its director because the groups alleged neither a cognizable organizational injury nor an identified member facing imminent future harm in their suit claiming that the PTO violated rulemaking procedures by using misleading language in patent cover letters, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held.

RICHMOND, Va. — Finding no “reversible error,” the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling dismissing a suit alleging federal and state constitutional violations arising from a woman’s arrest at a protest against North Carolina’s COVID-19 emergency orders.