Civil Law

Tuesday Tips: New and Noteworthy on SSRN

Neil Duxbury

The General Law Renaissance and the Common Law

Abstract

Of late, there has emerged an important body of legal scholarship sympathetically reassessing the concept of “general law” – unwritten legal norms discoverable by courts. This article shows that these reassessments run up against a problem when the general law in question is common law. The problem arises from a question: what makes common law valid as law in the first place? In England, the answer is that common-law … Read the rest

Civil Law

CA5: Property Owner Properly Asked For Jury Trial, So He Gets One

Check out the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s opinion in Ramirez v. City of Texas City, No. 25-40475 (Sep. 3, 2026), in which the court concluded that a property owner raising a procedural due process claim properly invoked his right to have that claim tried by a jury.

[Disclosure: this is from our shop.]

After a fire caused extensive but repairable damage to Ramirez’s home, the city labeled the home “substandard” and demanded he do something. … Read the rest

Civil Law

The One-Carbon Mistake That Cost A Patent Its Priority Date

Nobody likes the grammar police. Patent lawyers, unfortunately, may be the exception.

In Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Pfizer Inc. No. 2025-1427 (Fed. Cir. June 23, 2026), one character did a lot of damage. The difference between C2 and C1 cost Enanta the priority date of its provisional application—and led the Federal Circuit to affirm that the challenged claims were anticipated.

Turns out proofreading really can be worth millions.

But the case raises a more interesting question: Even if Enanta had … Read the rest

Civil Law

The Air We Share – Why Indoor Air Is Becoming a Real Estate Risk

The Air We Breathe – Indoor Air Quality Is Becoming a Real Estate Issue

The most dangerous environmental threat is the one we breathe every day. Air pollution is the world’s largest environmental health risk, responsible for roughly 7 million premature deaths each year, according to the World Health Organization.

For real estate owners, however, the more surprising issue may be what happens inside the building.

A now widely quoted WHO assessment released this summer found that indoor … Read the rest

Civil Law

Quitting Cold Turkey: Federal Agencies Suspend Enforcement of Back-Pay Requirement for Employee Wellness Incentives, Including Tobacco Cessation Programs (US)

For many employees, the benefits of maintaining a healthy lifestyle aren’t just physical; they are financial. Through health-contingent wellness programs, employers can offer monetary rewards or reduced health insurance costs to employees who achieve specified health-related goals. These programs may focus on nutrition, weight loss, tobacco cessation, fitness, substance abuse assistance, stress management, or general health education.

However, determining what rewards employees are eligible for, and when those rewards must be provided, has long presented a compliance challenge for employers. … Read the rest

Civil Law

DOJ Fraud Division Priorities Memo and Strike Force Expansion: Key Developments in Healthcare Fraud Enforcement

Two announcements in the span of nine days reflect a significant expansion of federal healthcare fraud enforcement resources. On August 4, DOJ announced expansion of its Northeast Health Care Fraud Strike Force to Philadelphia, marking the fourth geographic expansion in less than a year. Nine days later, on August 13, Assistant Attorney General Colin M. McDonald issued a priorities memorandum for the National Fraud Enforcement Division (the Fraud Division), a new DOJ division announced by President Trump in January 2026 … Read the rest