Cosel v. Wendt, Case No. 25-1575 (1st Cir. 2026).
A divorce decree awarding one spouse sole ownership of property held as tenants by the entirety extinguishes the other spouse's interest and, with it, the ability of that spouse's creditors to enforce a judgment lien against the property.
Prospect Capital Management L.P. v. Stratera Holdings, Case No. 24-3291 (3d Cir. 2026).
An arbitration panel's revised interim award clarifying the scope of shares included in a fee calculation fell within the ambiguity exception to the functus officio doctrine and did not exceed the arbitrators' powers under 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(4).
S.A.S.B. Corp. v. Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc., Case No. 25-2302 (3d Cir. 2026).
A fax promoting a patient-assistance program that helps consumers afford a branded prescription drug plausibly constitutes an "unsolicited advertisement" under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act because a reasonable factfinder could determine that the fax promotes the drug's commercial availability with profit as its aim.
Bayramov v. American Credit Acceptance, Case No. 25-1490 (4th Cir. 2026).
Members of a bankrupt LLC who allege only derivative harm to the value of their equity interests (rather than a direct, personal injury independent of the entity's injury) lack standing under the claim-ownership principle to bring tort and contract claims in their personal capacities against third parties that dealt with the LLC.
PSEG Renewable Transmission LLC v. Arentz Family, LP, Case No. 25-1730 (4th Cir. 2026).
A prospective federal public utility that has received federal approval and been directed by a state agency to conduct field surveys required for a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity likely possesses the power of eminent domain sufficient to invoke Maryland Real Property Article § 12-111(a)'s right of access to private land, and requiring a certificate before granting such access would render the statutory scheme unworkable.
TitleMax of South Carolina, Inc. v. Spicher, Case No. 25-2027 (4th Cir. 2026).
A federal court must abstain under Younger v. Harris from enjoining an ongoing state administrative enforcement proceeding alleging usury violations, and a challenge to a second investigative subpoena is not ripe where the plaintiff has not alleged a present injury from the subpoena itself.
Bodin v. New Orleans City, Case No. 25-30524 (5th Cir. 2026).
A municipal ordinance limiting short-term rental licenses to one per residential block does not effect a per se or regulatory taking under the Fifth Amendment because the per se taking test protects only against physical appropriation or interference with the right to exclude, not interference with a generalized right to lease or include guests.
Adler v. Energy Debt Holdings L.L.C., Case No. 25-20475 (5th Cir. 2026).
An adversary proceeding challenging the priority of a creditor's note is barred when filed after the deadline set in a Final Cash Collateral Order that expressly prohibited later challenges to the validity, perfection, or priority of that creditor's obligations, and a Confirmation Order independently confirms the challenged note's first-priority status.
MAPP, L.L.C. v. Floor and Decor Outlets of America, Inc., Case No. 25-30536 (5th Cir. 2026).
A non-mutual arbitration clause granting only the owner sole discretion to compel arbitration is adhesionary and unenforceable under Louisiana law, where the lack of mutuality and the contractor's inferior bargaining position demonstrate that the non-drafting party did not truly consent to the arbitration provision.
Sinclair v. Meisner, Case No. 26-1061 (6th Cir. 2026).
A district court abuses its discretion in awarding attorney fees under 42 U.S.C. § 1988 when it fails to categorically exclude hours spent on failed class-certification motions that were nearly certain to be denied under binding precedent, hours billed for litigation against non-parties, and hours claimed by counsel whose work left no discernible trace in the record, and when it fails to adequately address a co-defendant's argument for a reduced blended hourly rate supported by a companion case involving the same counsel.
Sullivan v. Miller, Case No. 25-1773 (6th Cir. 2026).
A debtor's pre-bankruptcy transfer of real property to a family member in exchange for a release from debt obligations constitutes a constructively fraudulent transfer under 11 U.S.C. § 548(a)(1)(B)(i) where the value of the transferred properties exceeds the debt forgiven, and the bankruptcy court retains discretion under § 550 to require return of the property rather than its monetary value.
CSX Transportation, Inc. v. Zayo Group, LLC, Case No. 25-1670 (7th Cir. 2026).
A railroad holding only an easement over land lacks standing under Indiana law to assert trespass and rent claims against a utility that installs fiber optic cables above or below the railroad tracks where the easement language does not expressly grant exclusive possessory rights to the subsurface or airspace, and subterranean installations that do not disrupt railroad operations do not constitute continuing trespasses that toll the statute of limitations.
Shenzhen Zehuijin Investment Center v. Yingkui, Case No. 24-6215 (9th Cir. 2026).
The Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment does not condition presence-based personal jurisdiction on service of process on the defendant's person; rather, general jurisdiction exists over a defendant who is voluntarily and physically present in the forum state when served by alternative means reasonably calculated to provide actual notice.
VIP Products, LLC v. Jack Daniel's Properties, Inc., Case No. 25-2027 (9th Cir. 2026).
A trademark owner alleging dilution by tarnishment under the Federal Trademark Dilution Act must prove that the allegedly diluting mark facially tarnishes the famous mark or is portrayed in an unwholesome or unsavory context likely to damage the famous mark's reputation, and a humorous dog toy parodying a whiskey brand does not meet that burden where neither the product name nor trade dress creates an association likely to harm the famous mark's reputation.
Federal Trade Commission v. Hoskins, Case No. 24-5747 (9th Cir. 2026).
The Federal Debt Collection Procedure Act preempts state statutes of limitations for enforcement of money judgments payable to the FTC, and the FTC may levy under the FDCPA on property in which judgment debtors hold a substantial nonexempt interest as trustees and beneficiaries of a trust without first establishing that the trust is the debtor's alter ego under state law.
Deltona Transformer Corp. v. NOCO Co., Case No. 24-13590 (11th Cir. 2026).
Federal registration of a trademark clothes it with presumptive validity, and a mark is not rendered generic merely because a competitor's employees internally or externally refer to it as a generic term when the mark otherwise retains secondary meaning in the relevant market.
Dish Network L.L.C. v. Fraifer, Case No. 24-10223 (11th Cir. 2026).
A certificate of copyright registration issued within five years of a foreign work's first publication entitles the registrant to a statutory presumption of ownership, and a defendant's operation of encoders and content delivery networks to retransmit copyrighted broadcast content to United States subscribers without authorization constitutes direct copyright infringement.
