Squire Patton Boggs

Subscribe to all posts by Squire Patton Boggs

The Corpus Linguistics Bug: New Cases in the Sixth, Fourth Circuits.

In a previous post, we discussed corpus linguistics, an emerging tool in statutory and constitutional interpretation.  It appears that the corpus linguistics bug is spreading, both in this Circuit and to other circuits as well.  Two recent cases serve as a reminder that the Sixth Circuit is both a thought leader in analyzing and utilizing … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Dissolves Nationwide Injunction of Immigration Guidance

The Sixth Circuit issued a very interesting decision three days ago in Arizona v. Biden (22-3272).  The origins of the dispute go back to last fall when the Secretary of Homeland Security issued “Guidelines for the Enforcement of Civil Immigration Law.”  The Guidance notes the Department lacks the resources to apprehend and remove the roughly … Continue Reading

Potential Sea Change in Sixth Circuit’s Certification of FLSA Collective Actions

A Fair Labor Standards Act case is working its way through the Sixth Circuit and could have serious ramifications for FLSA plaintiffs in the Sixth Circuit.  In this post, we discuss the potential sea change that a decision in In re: A&L Home Care and Training Center, et al. could effect in the Sixth Circuit’s … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Declines to Enjoin HHS’s Title X Abortion Referral Rule

On February 8, the Sixth Circuit issued an unsigned order declining to enjoin (pending appeal) an HHS rule that does at least two notable things:  (1) the rule eliminates the prior Administration’s requirement “that grantees create strict physical and financial separation between their Title X programs and any abortion services they may provide” and (2) … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Awards Attorney Fees to Multiple Qui Tam Relators

Last week, a panel of the Sixth Circuit unanimously greenlighted an award of attorney fees for multiple qui tam relators who had entered into a settlement agreement with the government and defendants under the False Claims Act.  Judge Moore authored the Court’s opinion.  She was joined by Judge Clay and Judge Gibbons. The seven relators … Continue Reading

OSHA Announces Intent to Withdraw ETS

The saga of the OSHA ETS litigation has (nearly) come to an end.  Yesterday, the DOJ filed a motion in the Sixth Circuit to dismiss as moot all of the consolidated petitions challenging OSHA’s vaccine-or-test mandate.  The DOJ informed the Sixth Circuit that, “[a]fter evaluating the [Supreme] Court’s decision, OSHA decided to withdraw the Vaccination … Continue Reading

The Sixth Circuit Deals Another Blow to the Contractor Mandate

As readers of this Blog know, the OSHA vaccine-or-test mandate has occupied much of the Sixth Circuit’s time the past few weeks.  That mandate is now before the Supreme Court, which hears oral argument on the OSHA and CMS mandates tomorrow.  In the meantime, a third pandemic-era mandate—the federal contractor mandate—made its own splash in … Continue Reading

Vaccine Cases Step Out of the Shadows at High Court

An important development occurred yesterday evening in both the OSHA and CMS vaccine mandate cases pending before the Supreme Court.  The Court took the very rare step of scheduling a special hearing for both sets of cases.  The hearing will be held on Friday, January 7, 2022. In the OSHA mandate cases, the Court consolidated … Continue Reading

New Sixth Circuit Vacancy Announcements

Important vacancy news was announced out of the Sixth Circuit today.  Judge R. Guy Cole and Judge Helene White both announced their intent to take senior status. That makes three Sixth Circuit judges so far (including Judge Bernice Donald) who have announced their intent to take senior status during the current presidential administration. Both Judge … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit stays injunction in challenge to Kentucky public health measures that did not exempt religious schools from general prohibition on in-person instruction.

This post arrives thanks to Erica M. Van Heyde, a 2020 graduate of The Ohio State University Mortiz College of Law, who joins Squire Patton Boggs as an associate in 2021.  Like most states, Kentucky is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases. Governor Andy Beshear has responded by implementing a number of public health measures aimed … Continue Reading

Tennessee election officials’ motion to stay injunction “too little, too late,” so first-time voters may continue to vote by mail.

This post arrives thanks to Erica M. Van Heyde, a 2020 graduate of The Ohio State University Mortiz College of Law, who joins Squire Patton Boggs as an associate in 2021.  Last week, in Memphis A. Philip Randolph Institute v. Hargett, the Sixth Circuit considered the application of the factors for a stay pending appeal of … Continue Reading

In staying injunction, the Sixth Circuit effectively upholds Ohio’s limitation of ballot drop boxes to one per county.

Ohioans have four ways to cast a ballot in this (currently underway) Presidential election: (1) vote in person on election day, (2) vote in person at some point in the four weeks leading up to election day, (3) mail in an absentee ballot; or (4) drop off an absentee ballot at a drop box.  Given … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Practice Tip: You Can’t Renew a Motion for Judgment as a Matter of Law Never Made in the First Place.

The bar exam, so the saying goes, is like fording a river that is a mile wide but only an inch deep.  Cliché though it may be, the analogy serves as a useful reminder that the exam tests candidates largely on settled, black-letter law rather than novel questions typical of law school exams.  Most readers, … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Defers to Real-World Umpires in Dismissal of Kentucky Derby Case

This post arrives (along with many more) thanks to Zach Young, a Cincinnati native and rising 2L at Stanford Law School, where he studies as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. The Kentucky Derby is known as the fastest two minutes in sports. But—in federal court at least—the 2019 contest galloped on until last week. Last Friday (8 days … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit re-affirms substantive due process claims may go forward in Flint water cases. Then they settle.

In another of the many strands of the Flint water cases, a Sixth Circuit panel (Moore, White, JJ., Sutton, J. concurring) on August 5 reaffirmed its May 2020 decision in Waid vs. Snynder that plaintiffs plausibly alleged the City of Flint and City and State officials (including former Governor Rick Snyder) violated plaintiffs’ substantive due … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Urges Broader Understanding of “Education” Under Title IX

This post arrives (along with many more) thanks to Zach Young, a Cincinnati native and rising 2L at Stanford Law School, where he studies as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. He will be contributing to the Sixth Circuit Appellate Blog regularly this summer. The American humorist and writer Mark Twain once counseled: “Never let schooling interfere with your … Continue Reading

The Learned Sixth: New Paper Reexamines Judge Florence Allen, Sixth Circuit Trailblazer

This post arrives (along with many more) thanks to Zach Young, a Cincinnati native and rising 2L at Stanford Law School, where he studies as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. He will be contributing to the Sixth Circuit Appellate Blog regularly this summer. An old clerk’s tale refers to the arrival of Florence Allen (1884-1996) to her … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit declines to stay injunction in Michigan ballot-access case

Note — This post arrives (along with many more) thanks to Zach Young, a Cincinnati native and rising 2L at Stanford Law School, where he studies as a Knight-Hennessy Scholar. He will be contributing to the Sixth Circuit Appellate Blog regularly this summer. Election and pandemic—2020’s strange bedfellows—continue to keep judicial chambers busy. Another virus-adjacent … Continue Reading
LexBlog