Expert Brother-in-Law Offers Peek Into When Judges Sit Cases Out

A rehearing petition arguing Federal Circuit Judge Kara F. Stoll shouldn’t have heard a case in which her brother-in-law served as an expert witness offers a window on decisions about judicial recusal at the court when potential conflicts of interests aren’t clear-cut.

DuBose Strapping Inc. wants the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to reconsider its case, in which a three-judge panel including Stoll summarily affirmed a $1.8 million patent infringement verdict in favor of Western Plastics Inc.

Western argues that the judge wasn’t obligated to recuse herself because her brother-in-law, Faegre Drinker partner Robert Stoll, isn’t ...