It has been announced that the Third Circuit is planning its next Bench-Bar Judicial Conference for a still-to-be-decided date in the spring of 2020.  The Conference will take place in Philadelphia. In recent years, the Bench-Bar Judicial Conference occurred every other year.  Previously, however, that Conference occurred every third year.  At least for now, the Third Circuit is returning to that practice, since the most recent Conference occurred in 2017. The Third Circuit Bench-Bar Conference is always an interesting event, often featuring the Justice of the Supreme Court of the United...

Robinson v. First State Community Action Agency, ___ F.3d ___ (3d Cir. 2019).  This opinion by Judge Fuentes today affirms a plaintiff’s verdict in a jury trial under the Americans With Disabilities Act (“ADA”).  Plaintiff and defendant, who is plaintiff’s former employer, “proceeded under the [same] case theory throughout litigation, trial, and post-trial briefing.”  Only on appeal did defendant try to “unring the bell,” as Judge Fuentes put it.  The panel rebuffed that effort, holding that defendant had “waived this argument because of...

Yesterday, the Senate voted 54-43 to confirm Paul Matey to a seat on the Third Circuit.  The vote largely followed party lines, with Senator Joe Manchin (D- WV) the only Democrat to vote in favor of the nomination.  The Senate deviated (and not for the first time under the current Administration) from what had been its normal practice of proceeding only with the consent of the nominee’s home state Senators.  Both New Jersey Senators Menendez and Booker opposed the nomination. A graduate of the University of Scranton and the Seton Hall School of Law, Matey has been a partner at...