Insights

Washington – July 15, 2024: Crowell & Moring secured a victory on behalf of the National Mining Association in a longstanding dispute over a regulation governing mining on federal land.

Washington – April 30, 2024: Crowell & Moring’s Litigation Group recently filed two amicus briefs in the United States Court of Appeals for the 8thCircuit in opposition to an Iowa law that bans school officials from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation with students (its “Don’t Say Gay” provision) and requires the removal of certain books from Iowa public school libraries (its “Book Ban” provision).

On January 24, 2025, the United States Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that could resolve whether putative Rule 23(b)(3) classes may be certified in the federal courts when some of the class members are uninjured. Or, as the Supreme Court put the certified question in the case, Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings, dba Labcorp, v. Luke Davis, et al., No. 22-55873:

On June 6, 2024, the United States Supreme Court, in Truck Insurance Exchange v. Kaiser Gypsum Co., Inc., No. 22-1079, unanimously held that an insurer with financial responsibility for bankruptcy claims is a “party in interest” in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Court held the “insurance neutrality doctrine” applied by the courts below was too limited to determine insurer standing. While “insurance neutrality” – preserving insurer rights and defenses under insurance contracts – is important, the doctrine overlooks the myriad ways bankruptcy proceedings and reorganization plans can alter and impair insurer interests.

On June 29, 2023, the Supreme Court, in Students for Fair Admissions (“SFFA”) v. Presidents and Fellows of Harvard College and SFFA v. University of North Carolina, held that race-based admissions programs violate the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause (which applies to public institutions such as UNC), as well as Title VI (which applies to private institutions like Harvard).

In class action lawsuits, much of the focus is on pretrial motions—and often, the appeal of lower court rulings on those motions. But for defendants, two trends could make it more difficult to win on those appeals.