Over the years, I have written about many unusual and fractured voting splits on the en banc Fifth Circuit. An en banc case decided last week made me think of another en banc case from last year.
Ethridge v. Samsung SDI
Let's start with Ethridge v. Samsung SDI, a personal injury case about exploding batteries. In May 2025, a divided three-judge panel (Jones, Oldham, King) ruled that the district court had personal jurisdiction over the defendant. Judge Oldham wrote the panel opinion, joined by Judge King. Judge Jones dissented, finding the district court lacked personal jurisdiction. The Defendant filed petitions for panel rehearing and en banc rehearing. In December 2025, the Fifth Circuit issued a very unusual order with two components.
