Civil Law

Fifth Circuit Finds Evidence That One of Defendants Attorneys Slept During His Capital Murder Trial Insufficient to Prove Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

It’s often said that the ineffective assistance of counsel test is so tough to satisfy that even evidence that a defendant’s attorney slept during trial is insufficient to satisfy the standard. The latest example is Alvarez v. Guerrero, 2025 WL 3719047 (5th Cir. 2025).

In Alvarez, “Juan Carlos Alvarez was sentenced to death for the murders of Michael Aguirre and Jose Varela.” He later appealed, claiming that one of his two trial counsel slept during trial.

A majority … Read the rest

Consumer

FTC Adds Defendants in Case Against Growth Cave Scam

The Federal Trade Commission has filed an amended complaint in its case against the Growth Cave business opportunity and credit repair scam. The amendment adds two defendants based on information the FTC learned after the original filing.

The amended complaint names LLT Research as a new defendant in the case, alleging that the company served as the corporate structure behind the operation’s PassiveApps product, which defendant Lucas Lee-Tyson started selling in 2024. The amended complaint also adds as a relief … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Using expert testimony to prove a criminal defendant’s knowledge of drug trafficking

Using expert testimony to prove a criminal defendant’s knowledge of drug trafficking

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The Relist Watch column examines cert petitions that the Supreme Court has “relisted” for its upcoming conference. A short explanation of relists is available here.

A lot has happened since our last installment. The Supreme Court granted review of one-time relists Garland v. Cargill, involving whether bump stocks are “machineguns” and thus generally prohibited, and Coinbase, Inc. v. Suski, involving whether a court or an arbitrator should decide whether an arbitration agreement that generally delegates the … Read the rest

Supreme Court

Justices debate propriety of litigation in trial courts while defendants are on appeal seeking arbitration

Justices debate propriety of litigation in trial courts while defendants are on appeal seeking arbitration

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If anything is clear after Tuesday’s argument in Coinbase v. Bielski, it is that the justices are not going to agree on the answer. The case asks what a trial court should do if it denies a defendant’s motion for arbitration. The Federal Arbitration Act gives the defendant the right to an immediate (“interlocutory”) appeal, but it says nothing about a stay of litigation in the district court. So in these cases (proposed class actions against Coinbase, a … Read the rest