A June 26, 2026 filing in the Ninth Circuit puts a threshold issue front and center: whether this case should remain in the court of appeals at all. Respondent Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has filed a motion to dismiss in No. 25-8059, asking the court to terminate the proceeding before the merits are reached.

Although the docket entry provides only the motion’s caption-level detail, the filing itself is notable because motions to dismiss at the appellate level often turn on core gatekeeping doctrines that can decide a case without any substantive ruling on the challenged agency action.

A June 17, 2026 filing in the Fourth Circuit puts a familiar but strategically significant appellate issue front and center: whether an appeal should be dismissed before the merits briefing even begins. In No. 25, appellees Debra Campbell, the City of Asheville, and Esther Elizabeth Manheimer moved to dismiss the appeal in Case No. 26-1014, asking the court to terminate the proceeding at the outset rather than allow it to move forward on a full briefing schedule.

Although the short docket entry does not itself spell out every ground raised, motions like this typically target threshold defects that go to the appellate court’s power to hear the case at all.

A June 17 filing in the Fourth Circuit could stop appeal No. 26-1014 before merits briefing ever begins. In No. 25 MOTION, Debra Campbell, the City of Asheville, and Esther Elizabeth Manheimer ask the court to dismiss the appeal outright—a reminder that appellees do not always need to wait for full briefing to challenge whether an appeal belongs in federal appellate court at all.

Although the docket entry provides only the motion’s caption-level description, the filing appears to be a classic threshold attack on the appeal itself.

A new filing in View full case on Docket Alarm puts a familiar but often decisive appellate issue front and center: whether the appeal should be dismissed before merits briefing proceeds. On June 10, 2026, appellee The Legal Aid Society filed Motion No. 14 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, seeking dismissal of the appeal in docket 26-1232.

Although the docket entry itself is concise, motions to dismiss at the appellate level typically target threshold defects that can end a case without reaching the substantive issues.

In a May 11, 2026 filing in Michigan Western District Court, the State of Michigan submitted a brief supporting its motion to dismiss the amended complaint in case no. 1:26-cv-00246. At this stage, the State is asking the court to end some or all of the plaintiff’s claims before discovery proceeds, arguing that the amended pleading still does not state a legally viable case.

A motion like this typically tests the sufficiency of the complaint under Rule 12(b)(6), and when the defendant is a state, it often also raises threshold defenses that can dispose of a case early—most notably sovereign immunity, jurisdictional defects, or the plaintiff’s failure to plead around statutory or constitutional limits on suit.

A newly filed motion in the Southern District of Florida puts a threshold issue front and center: whether the federal court has power to hear the case at all. In Defendant's MOTION to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction 136 Amended Complaint/Amended Notice of R ..., filed April 27, 2026, the defendant challenges the operative amended pleading on jurisdictional grounds, asking the court to dismiss before the case proceeds further on the merits.

At a high level, this kind of motion seeks dismissal under the court’s limited jurisdictional authority, arguing that the amended complaint—or related amended notice—fails to establish a proper basis for federal adjudication.

Analog Devices, Inc. has filed a motion to dismiss in 1:25-cv-12314 in the District of Massachusetts, signaling an early effort to narrow or end the case before discovery begins in earnest. A Rule 12 motion like this typically argues that, even accepting the complaint’s factual allegations as true, the plaintiff has not stated a legally viable claim. For defendants, that makes dismissal practice one of the most important pressure points in federal litigation.

Although the docket entry itself does not spell out the specific grounds asserted, motions to dismiss in this posture often focus on several familiar themes: failure to plead sufficient facts under the Twombly/Iqbal plausibility standard, lack of a cognizable legal theory, preemption, timeliness, or defects tied to standing or jurisdiction.