Insights & News

One of the most frequent questions lawyers receive in litigation is why a seemingly erroneous mid-case ruling by the district court are not appealable until the entire action concludes. The exception is interlocutory appeals; however, these are exceedingly rare.    The cornerstone of federal appellate jurisdiction is the final judgment rule, codified in 28 U.S.C. § 1291. Congress long ago decided that appeals should generally await a complete resolution on the merits to avoid the inefficiency, expense, and potential for harassment that would accompany frequent piecemeal review. As the Supreme Court has reiterated, the policy against interlocutory appeals prevents “the obstruction […]

If you’re paid on commission and your employer is withholding what you’ve earned, you may have legal recourse—but a recent landmark ruling from the Supreme Court of Virginia changes the game. In Groundworks Operations, LLC f/k/a JES Operations, LLC, et al. v. Joseph Campbell, et al. (Record No. 241092, decided December 30, 2025), the Court addressed whether Virginia’s wage theft statute (Code § 40.1-29) protects commissions like it does wages and salaries. Case Summary: Five former employees of JES Construction, LLC (a foundation repair and waterproofing company) sued under the wage theft law, claiming their employer withheld thousands in earned […]

Rules under the NFA allow NFA items to be owned by, and tax stamps issued to trusts rather than individual people. 27 C.F.R. § 479.11. This mitigates the second of the two significant limitations placed on NFA items because the NFA items owned by the trust may be passed around freely among the parties named in the trust. For example, assume a man owns a short-barreled rifle that his wife wants to shoot on a trip without her husband. If the husband and wife are not on an NFA trust that owns the short-barreled rifle, the husband would have to […]

Jared J. Roberts In defamation cases involving public figures, one phrase looms larger than any other: actual malice. It’s the legal standard that often decides whether a plaintiff can win a libel case. Under the rule set by New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), a public figure has to show that the defendant made a false statement knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth. In other words, the question isn’t just was it wrong? — it’s did they know or seriously doubt it was wrong? While this is a high bar, over the years, courts […]