2025 Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Case Law

Justia Opinion Summary: A cheesesteak restaurant owner, Nicholas Lucidonio, was involved in a payroll tax fraud scheme at Tony Luke’s, where he avoided employment taxes by issuing paychecks for “on-the-books” wages, requiring employees to sign…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) and Delaware BSA, LLC, which filed for bankruptcy in 2020 due to numerous sexual abuse claims. The bankruptcy plan, confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court, includes the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Micayla Augustyn, a student at Wall High School, received special education services under an individualized education plan (IEP). As she neared the end of her fourth year, a dispute arose between her mother and the Wall…

Justia Opinion Summary: B-R Penn Realty defaulted on a $46 million loan backed by a mortgage on its Philadelphia apartment building. U.S. Bank, the lender, sued to foreclose in federal court, invoking diversity jurisdiction. After a bench…

Justia Opinion Summary: AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP and AstraZeneca AB challenged the Drug Price Negotiation Program created by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which directs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Patrick Barkers-Woode and Nana Mensah were involved in a conspiracy to defraud Sprint Corporation by exploiting a sales promotion that offered smartphones to new customers at no upfront cost. Conspirators in Ghana…

Justia Opinion Summary: Chenault-Vaughan Family Partnership ("Chenault"), a royalty interest holder in a Texas mineral estate, sued Centennial Resources Operating, LLC ("Centennial"), the site operator, for wrongly withholding royalties. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Libby Hilsenrath sued the Board of Education of the School District of the Chathams, claiming that the inclusion of instructional videos about Islam in her son's seventh-grade World Cultures and Geography class violated…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, who are probationers, sued several Pennsylvania judges, probation officers, and the county warden, alleging they were detained without a finding that such detention was necessary to prevent flight or further…

Justia Opinion Summary: David Payo pled guilty to two bank robberies in 2017. The District Court applied a career-offender enhancement to his sentence based on three prior robbery convictions: a 2001 federal conviction, a 2008 Pennsylvania…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) requested records from the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA). PILF sought documents related to a "glitch"…

Justia Opinion Summary: The appellants, Robin and Louie Joseph Aquilino, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in April 2020 and retained the law firm Spector Gadon Rosen & Vinci P.C. (Spector Gadon) as their counsel. They agreed to pay a flat fee of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Randal Wise was convicted of possessing child pornography, attempting to entice a minor, and attempting to transfer obscene matter to a minor. Wise used the Grindr app to contact undercover police officers posing as…

Justia Opinion Summary: Ronald Vines and his two adult sons attempted to rob a bank at gunpoint. They gathered weapons and other equipment, set up a tarp outside the bank, and waited for the tellers to arrive. One of Vines's sons, wearing a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mesabi Metallics Company LLC (Mesabi) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016 and emerged successfully in 2017. During the bankruptcy proceedings, Mesabi initiated an adversary proceeding against Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Charles and Grant Adler, through their business entity CM Adler LLC, distributed tortillas and other food products of Defendant Gruma Corporation to grocery stores in central New Jersey under a "Store Door…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mesabi Metallics Company LLC (Mesabi) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2016 and emerged successfully in 2017. During the bankruptcy proceedings, Mesabi initiated an adversary proceeding against Cleveland-Cliffs, Inc.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs alleged that an automobile manufacturer designed, manufactured, and sold defective vehicles, specifically Dodge "muscle" cars with defective rear differentials. They filed a complaint asserting state and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Jathursan Thankarasa, a Tamil citizen of Sri Lanka, participated in a protest supporting Tamil rights and was subsequently arrested, beaten, and interrogated by the police. After his release, he faced continued…

Justia Opinion Summary: Michele Cornelius sued CVS Pharmacy Inc., New Jersey CVS Pharmacy, L.L.C., and her former supervisor, Shardul Patel, alleging a hostile work environment. Cornelius claimed that Patel targeted her with negative treatment…

Justia Opinion Summary: Anthony Brookins was found guilty by a jury in May 2009 of a firearm offense and a drug trafficking charge. He was sentenced to 120 months and 240 months, respectively, to be served concurrently, along with three- and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Veterans Guardian VA Claim Consulting LLC, along with John F. Rudman and Andre Jesus Soto, challenged a New Jersey law that restricts charging for advice on claiming veterans benefits. Veterans Guardian, a consulting…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves the Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund (the "Fund") seeking to collect withdrawal liability payments from several companies (the "Related Employers") that were commonly…

Justia Opinion Summary: Carolyn Jackson and John Jackson were convicted of severe child abuse after a thirty-nine-day jury trial. They were charged with conspiracy and multiple counts of endangering the welfare of a child. The jury found John…

Justia Opinion Summary: John Adams was involved in a case where he picked up two runaway girls, aged 15 and 16, and brought them to his home in Philadelphia. He coerced them into having sex with him and engaging in commercial sex acts,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Jeffrey Herrera filed a pro se complaint alleging that he was detained for several months beyond his maximum release date, which he claimed violated the Eighth Amendment. Herrera was arrested in September 2012, sentenced…

Justia Opinion Summary: Richard Hightower, a pretrial detainee, was attacked by his cellmate, Anthony Tyler, in a Philadelphia jail, resulting in Hightower's paralysis. Hightower was classified as a low-security risk, while Tyler was classified…

Justia Opinion Summary: Promise Healthcare Group, LLC and its affiliates operated various hospital and nursing facilities. During their Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, Patrick Wassmann filed a $10 million medical malpractice claim based on…

Justia Opinion Summary: A New York wine retailer, Jean Paul Weg LLC, and its owner, Lars Neubohn, challenged New Jersey's regulations that require wine retailers to have a physical presence in the state and to purchase their products from New…

Justia Opinion Summary: Rodney Ashe was pulled over by police on October 3, 2022, for failing to maintain his lane. During the stop, officers observed a handgun in his sweatshirt pocket, leading to his arrest and the impoundment of his car. Six…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the early morning of December 15, 1987, Richard Laird and Frank Chester brutally murdered Anthony Milano in a wooded area in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Milano, a 26-year-old homosexual man, was beaten and had his neck and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Joseph Cammarata and his associates, Eric Cohen and David Punturieri, created Alpha Plus Recovery, LLC, a claims aggregator that submitted fraudulent claims to securities class action settlement funds. They falsely…

Justia Opinion Summary: Malik Moss was convicted of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and heroin. The District Court held an evidentiary hearing to determine the quantity and purity of the methamphetamine attributable to Moss for…

Justia Opinion Summary: George Pitsilides, a successful restaurateur and professional poker player, was convicted in 1998 in Pennsylvania for criminal conspiracy to commit pool selling and bookmaking, and two counts of pool selling and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Michael Milchin pleaded guilty to healthcare fraud, conspiracy to commit healthcare fraud, conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, and possession of oxycodone with intent to distribute. He was sentenced to 168 months of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Corrigan Clay, an American citizen, pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his minor adopted daughter while living in Haiti, violating 18 U.S.C. § 2423(c). Clay argued that Congress lacked the power to enact § 2423(c), which…

Justia Opinion Summary: Prestige Home Care Agency, operated by Nursing Home Care Management Inc., did not compensate its employees for travel time between clients' homes. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) sued Prestige for this and other…

Justia Opinion Summary: Krishna Kishore Geda and Chaya Durga Sruthi Keerthi Nunna, married Indian nationals residing in the U.S. on employment-based nonimmigrant visas, filed I-485 applications for adjustment of status to lawful permanent…

Justia Opinion Summary: Aqudre Quailes and Ayinda Harper were separately charged with being felons in possession of a firearm in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1). Harper was on Pennsylvania state probation and parole when his probation…

Justia Opinion Summary: Dwayne Sherman was indicted for several offenses related to drug trafficking in Central Pennsylvania, including six counts of money laundering, one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or…

Justia Opinion Summary: A Kenyan national, lawfully admitted to the United States, was convicted in 2014 and 2019 of felony vehicular fleeing or attempting to elude a pursuing police officer under Pennsylvania law. The Department of Homeland…

Justia Opinion Summary: Coinbase Global, Inc., a trading platform for digital assets, petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to create rules clarifying the application of federal securities laws to digital assets like…

Justia Opinion Summary: A woman sued her father, alleging childhood sexual abuse, and supported her claims with expert testimony on the accuracy of "recovered" memories. The abuse allegedly began when she was three years old and stopped in…