Welcome News! The Supreme Court Proposes to Ditch the Amicus Brief Consent Requirement

The Supreme Court recently proposed to eliminate the requirement to obtain the parties’ consent, or the Court’s permission, to file an amicus brief. I have written a short insight piece for DRI’s new online publication, The Brief Case, about this important development. My article raises a fundamental point about amicus briefs: Since the purpose of […]

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Amicus Brief Urges Supreme Court To Avoid “Takings” Issues When Interpreting Scope Of Clean Water Act

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impose onerous Clean Water Act permitting requirements in connection with discharge of dredged or fill material on private property that those agencies deem wetlands encompassed by “the waters of the United States”—the vague phrase that Congress chose to define “navigable waters” subject

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Amicus Brief Webinar for King County (Washington) Bar Association

I am delighted that the King County (Washington) Bar Association invited me to present to its members a 60-minute webinar on drafting effective amicus briefs and using them strategically. The webinar, presented live on March 14, 2022, was moderated by Rory Cosgrove of Carney Badley Spellman in Seattle. Rory is a former chair the bar

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Webinar on Supreme Court Practice

On March 4, 2022, I was pleased to participate in a 90-minute continuing legal education webinar titled “Procedures, Practice Pointers, & Winning Strategies When Your Case is Headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.” The webinar, sponsored by the DuPage County (Illinois) Bar Association, emphasized written Supreme Court advocacy at the certiorari-petition stage, which is where

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Amicus Brief Urges Supreme Court To Keep “Junk Science” Away From Juries

3M Company v. Amador The Atlantic Legal Foundation (ALF), joined by Washington Legal Foundation and DRI-The Voice of the Defense Bar, has filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to hear an appeal that challenges the Eighth Circuit’s lax interpretation and application of Federal Rule of Evidence 702 (Testimony by Expert Witnesses). Rule 702 was amended more than 20 years

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Amicus Brief Webinar for Beverly Hills Bar Association

On January 14, 2022 I had the privilege of presenting a live webinar for the Beverly Hills Bar Association titled Friendly Persuasion: Drafting Effective Amicus Briefs & Using Them Strategically. BHBA President-Elect, Malcolm McNeil,  and a member of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Legal Foundation, engaged me in a 60-minute conversation that covered

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Amicus Brief Urges Supreme Court To Explicitly Overrule Century-Old Decision That Gave States All-Purpose Jurisdiction Over Nonresident Corporations

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. v. McCall, No. 21-926 Question Presented Whether an out-of-state corporate defendant’s registration to do business in a State  should be deemed consent to that State’s general jurisdiction. Case Background Imposing limits on the ability of state and federal courts to assert jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants is fundamental to due process—what

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Amicus Brief Argues That Covid-19 Negligence Suits Belong—If Anywhere—In Federal Court

The Covid-19 pandemic has spawned numerous wrongful death and personal injury suits. These suits belong—if anywhere—in federal courts. But vast majority of these suits, which allege negligence and malpractice on the part of hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, and other healthcare professionals, especially during the early months of the pandemic, have been filed in state courts.

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Thought-Provoking Federalist Society Lawyers Convention

I was delighted to attend The Federalist Society’s National Lawyers Convention in Washington, DC on November 11-13, 2021 at the Mayflower Hotel. This year’s theme—“Public and Private Power: Preserving Freedom or Preventing Harm?”—covered  many current issues expertly addressed from both legal and policy perspectives by prominent federal appellate judges, law professors, and advocacy organizations. The

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Hispanic-Americans May Be the Real Victims of the Flanax Litigation

The following commentary was originally published by Jurist on November 5, 2021. My client, Jamie Belcastro, a registered pharmacist, started Belmora LLC, a small, Virginia-based company that sells nonprescription Flanax pain relief products, about 20 years ago. For much of this time Bayer AG, the multinational pharmaceutical corporation headquartered in Germany—whose gross revenues approach $

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