• Trenton Threatened Skies, Inc. v. Fed. Aviation Admin.

    Publication Date: 2024-01-15
    Practice Area: Transportation
    Industry: Aerospace | Federal Government | Non-Profit | State and Local Government
    Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
    Judge: Judge Smith
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Steven M. Taber, Leech Tishman Fuscaldo & Lampl, Pasadena, CA for petitioners.
    for defendant: Justin Heminger, United States Department of Justice Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC; Rebecca Jaffe, United States Department of Justice Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC; Peter J. Kirsch, W. Eric Pilsk, Washington, DC for respondents.

    Case Number: 22-1965

    Court affirmed Federal Aviation Administration approval of new airport terminal construction where the record supported the FAA's determination that the project would not independently cause an adverse environmental impact and where the project had independent utility due to the complete inadequacy of the existing terminal.

  • United States v. Junius

    Publication Date: 2023-12-04
    Practice Area: Criminal Law
    Industry:
    Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
    Judge: Judge Smith
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Joanne M. Heisey, Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Capital Habeas Unit, West Philadelphia, PA; Brett G. Sweitzer, Federal Community Defender Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA for appellants.
    for defendant: Bernadette A. McKeon, Robert A. Zauzmer, Office of United States Attorney, Philadelphia, PA for appellee.

    Case Number: 22-2208

    Defendants were ineligible for sentencing reductions under the First Step Act where the Fair Sentencing Act only reduced mandatory minimum sentencing thresholds for certain drug possession offenses, but did not affect sentencing for drug-related murder convictions even though such convictions required a predicate drug offense.

  • Wolff v. Aetna Life Ins. Co.

    Publication Date: 2023-08-28
    Practice Area: Class Actions
    Industry: Insurance
    Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
    Judge: Judge Smith
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: John P. Elliott, Kyle M. Elliott, Stewart J. Greenleaf, Jr., Mark J. Schwemler, Elliott Greenleaf, Blue Bell, PA for petitioner.
    for defendant: Charles Kannebecker, Milford, PA for respondent.

    Case Number: 22-8056

    The issue before the court was when the timeframe for filing an interlocutory appeal of a class certification order could be extended under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(f), which authorizes interlocutory review of orders "granting or denying class-action certification" of petitions filed within 14 days of the order. Here, petitioner filed a Rule 23(f) petition 14 days after the district court had revised its class certification order but months after the original order certifying the class. Respondent, who had received disabilit

  • Port Hamilton Refining & Transp., LLLP v. U.S. Envt'l Prot. Agency

    Publication Date: 2023-08-14
    Practice Area: Environmental Law
    Industry: Energy | Federal Government
    Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
    Judge: Judge Smith
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Andrew C. Simpson, Andrew C. Simpson Law Offices, Christiansted, VI for petitioner.
    for defendant: Todd S. Kim, Heather E. Gange, United States Department of Justice Environment & Natural Resources Division, Washington, DC for respondent.

    Case Number: 23-1094

    EPA's "reactivation" policy deeming a shut-down facility as "new" upon resumption of operations improperly extended scope of Prevention of Significant Deterioration program under the Clean Air Act, which expressly applied only to new and modified facilities.

  • Erie Ins. Exch. v. Erie Indem. Co.

    Publication Date: 2023-07-10
    Practice Area: Insurance Law
    Industry: Insurance
    Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
    Judge: Judge Smith
    Attorneys: For plaintiff: Neal R. Devlin, Aurora L. Hardin, Knox McLaughlin Gornall & Sennett, Erie, PA; Steven B. Feirson, Michael H. McGinley, Dechert, Philadelphia, PA for appellant.
    for defendant: Edwin J. Kilpela, Jr., James LaMarca, Elizabeth Pollock-Avery, Lynch Carpenter, Pittsburgh, PA for appellee.

    Case Number: 23-1053

    Court could not exercise jurisdiction under the Class Action Fairness Act where action was filed in state court under procedural rules dissimilar from Rule 23 and where it could not qualify as a continuation of a prior action since that action was voluntarily dismissed.