In Gibson v. City of Portland, No. 24-1663 (9th Cir. Jan. 29, 2025), a split panel addresses when it may be appropriate for a district court to strike what it calls a “shotgun pleading,” i.e., one that fails to specify claims against each named defendant, but instead indiscriminately incorporates allegations from one count to theContinue reading “Split Ninth Circuit Panel Issues Caution on So-Called “Shotgun Pleadings””
Monthly Archives: January 2026
Seventh Circuit Lets Pro Se Litigant Off with a Warning About AI Hallucinations in His Brief
In Jones v Kankakee Cnty. Sheriff’s Dep’t, No 25-1251 (7th Cir. Jan. 21, 2026), the Seventh Circuit issues a timely reminder that, however useful generative AI may be, it is still not an automatic brief-writing machine. “Jones filed a sprawling lawsuit in November 2023, invoking 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and alleging that several municipal andContinue reading “Seventh Circuit Lets Pro Se Litigant Off with a Warning About AI Hallucinations in His Brief”
District Court Abused Discretion by Failing to Assess $366,461.96 in Expert Witness Fees Against Indigent Named Plaintiffs in Civil Rights Class Action, Holds Eighth Circuit
In Karsjens v. Gandhi, No. 24-2876 (8th Cir. Jan. 7, 2026), the Eighth Circuit holds that the district court abused its discretion by entirely excusing a group of indigent class representatives from contributing to the witness fees for four court-appointed experts. A prevailing party in federal civil litigation is entitled to tax certain costs toContinue reading “District Court Abused Discretion by Failing to Assess $366,461.96 in Expert Witness Fees Against Indigent Named Plaintiffs in Civil Rights Class Action, Holds Eighth Circuit”
On Third Go-Around in Fifth Circuit, Court Holds That Plaintiffs Forfeited a Law-of-the-Case Argument by Not Seeking Rehearing of the Second Panel Decision
In Pool v. City of Houston, No. 24-20138 (5th Cir. Jan. 2, 2026), the Fifth Circuit affirms a post-judgment vacatur of attorney’s fees after the original judgment in plaintiff’s favor was vacated by the Fifth Circuit for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. While the plaintiffs may have had a valid law-of-the-case argument to otherwise sustain theContinue reading “On Third Go-Around in Fifth Circuit, Court Holds That Plaintiffs Forfeited a Law-of-the-Case Argument by Not Seeking Rehearing of the Second Panel Decision”
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