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Name EmailTopicQuestion and SplitCaseDue Date
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Larry Lawyerlarry.lawyer@emory.eduSplit on the question of whether Pepsi and Coke are really just the same thingPepsi v. Coca-Cola, 123 U.S. 456 (2024);
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Nicole Shakednicole.shaked@emory.eduAdministrative LawWhether agency interpretations retain persuasive weight under Skidmore after Loper Bright v. Raimondo, or whether courts must instead conduct fully independent statutory interpretation without reliance on agency expertise. The Fourth and Ninth Circuits continue to treat agency reasoning as persuasive authority, while the Fifth Circuit has questioned whether Skidmore survives at all, creating an emerging post-Chevron methodological split over how courts exercise independent judgment.Nicoletti v. Bayless (4th Cir. 2024); Lopez v. Garland (9th Cir. 2024); Mayfield v. U.S. Dep’t of Labor (5th Cir. 2024)2/27
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IzJanae Solerizjanae.soler@emory.eduTitle IX Can allegations of an erroneous conclusion and a flawed procedure alone be enough to establish a Title IX claim? The Second Circuit says no, but the Ninth says yes.Roe v. St. John's University, 91 F.4th 643 (2d Cir. 2024)4/3
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Annamaria Croneannamaria.crone@emory.eduTitle IX Does a policy requiring students to use bathrooms based on their biological sex, or birth assigned sex, violate the Equal Protection Clause and constitute discrimination of the basis of sex in violation of Title IX? The 11th Circuit says no but the 4th Circuit says yesGrimm v. Glouster County School Board, 972 F.3d 586 (4th Cir. 2020)4/3
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Sai Mamidalasai.mamidala@emory.eduCopyright/AISplit on whether using copyrighted works to train AI models constitutes fair use under 17 U.S.C. § 107, with the District of Delaware finding no fair use and two Northern District of California courts finding fair use — question now on interlocutory appealThomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GmbH v. ROSS Intelligence, Inc., No. 25-2153 (3d Cir.); 4/10/26
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Eric MartinEric.martin@emory.eduSecurities +
Trade Secret		Must the SEC prove investor harm to obtain disgorgement?
Must trade secrets be identified with particularity at the pleading stage under the DTSA?
SEC v. Sripetch, 154 F.4th 980 (9th Cir. 2025); Sripetch v. SEC, No. 25-466 (U.S., oral argument set for Apr. 20, 2026)
Sysco Machinery Corp. v. DCS USA Corp., 143 F.4th 222 (4th Cir. 2025)
4/10/26
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POTENTIAL TOPICS
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Amelia Powellamelia.powell@emory.eduSecuritiesWhether life insurance settlements are subject to federal securities law.
The Ninth, Eleventh, and Fifth circuits have ruled that life settlements are securities, but the D.C. Circuit said in 1996 that they aren’t.		SEC v. Barry, 146 F.4th 1242 (9th Cir. 2025);
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Civil ProcedureWhat is the proper test to prove whether a plaintiff has standing to represent a class?
The Fifth Circuit joins the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth circuits, adopting the class certification approach, which looks at whether the named plaintiff demonstrated individual standing. The standing approach, which looks at whether the named plaintiff’s harms are sufficiently analogous to those of the rest of the class, is used by the Second and Eleventh circuits.		Wilson v. Centene Mgmt. Co., L.L.C., 144 F.4th 780 (5th Cir. 2025)
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Data Privacy Law, Internet Consumers[Potentially higher difficulty, multiple questions are raised in the split]
Whether a person who trades their personal information in return for access to a newsletter is a “subscriber” protected by the Video Privacy Protection Act from their information being shared with a third party without their permission.
The Sixth Circuit says that they aren’t, but the Second and Seventh circuits say that they are.		Salazar v. NBA, 118 F.4th 533 (2d Cir. 2024)
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Maahi Sethimaahi.sethi@emory.eduImmigration LawCan the US Supreme Court’s holding in United States v. Palomar-Santiago be read to foreclose the option for an immigrant to excuse their failure to exhaust their administrative remedies under 8 U.S.C. §1326(d) in all cases?
The Fourth Circuit says no but the Sixth Circuit says yes.		United States v. Castro-Aleman, 141 F.4th 576 (4th Cir. 2025)4/4
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