Business of Law

  • June 11, 2025

    Ex-Copyright Leader Says Firing Risks 'Inoperable' Agency

    The fired leader of the U.S. Copyright Office has asked a D.C. federal judge to block the Trump administration's action while she challenges her termination, arguing that significant functions of the government agency could be rendered "inoperable" without judicial intervention.

  • June 10, 2025

    Judiciary Panel Advances New Rules On Amici, AI, Subpoenas

    The federal judiciary's top policy panel Tuesday propelled revamped rules regarding numerous hot legal topics, including artificial intelligence, "dark money" groups bankrolling amicus briefs and the subpoena powers of courts and defense counsel.

  • June 10, 2025

    NJ Rep. LaMonica McIver Indicted Over ICE Facility Incident

    U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver has been charged with forcibly impeding and interfering with federal officers during her inspection of a Newark, New Jersey, immigration detention facility last month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

  • June 10, 2025

    Feds Reboot FCPA Agenda With Narrower Enforcement Focus

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday released new and tightened guidelines for enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after a four-month pause on such prosecutions, centering prospective investigations on situations that affect U.S. competitiveness and national security as well as transnational cartels.

  • June 10, 2025

    ABA 'Surprised And Disappointed' By DOJ Shunning

    The American Bar Association on Tuesday defended its long-standing process for reviewing judicial nominees and said Attorney General Pam Bondi was wrong to call the group an "activist organization."

  • June 10, 2025

    Key Insights On Looming Fair Use Rulings In AI Cases

    Two California federal judges have indicated they are inclined to find that using copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence systems is transformative, which usually means that copying a work is fair, but that may not let Meta Platforms and Anthropic off the hook in separate lawsuits.

  • June 10, 2025

    State Chief Justices Blast Plans To Cut Legal Services Corp.

    A coalition of 37 state Supreme Court chief justices have asked federal lawmakers to reject President Donald Trump's plans to eliminate the Legal Services Corp., arguing that the "justice system is hobbled when citizens are deprived of legal counsel."

  • June 10, 2025

    House Conservatives Push Senate To 'Rein In' Judges

    House conservatives are imploring their Senate counterparts to do more to "rein in" federal judges with the budget reconciliation package.

  • June 10, 2025

    Top CFPB Enforcer Quits Over 'Devastating' Agency Pullback

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's top enforcement official resigned Tuesday, saying she can no longer effectively do her job under leadership that "has no intention to enforce the law in any meaningful way."

  • June 10, 2025

    Mass. Court-Appointed Attys Hit 'Boiling Point' Over Low Pay

    Hundreds of private attorneys in Massachusetts who are paid by the state to represent indigent defendants and others have stopped accepting new court-appointed cases over complaints about low pay, putting the system on what one veteran advocate called "the verge of imploding."

  • June 10, 2025

    SEC's Investment Management Chief Greiner To Leave Agency

    U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission veteran Natasha Vij Greiner is stepping down as the director of the agency's investment management division, ending a nearly 24-year career serving the SEC in multiple roles, regulators announced Tuesday.

  • June 10, 2025

    Wis. Judge Can't Wield Immunity For Obstructing ICE, DOJ Says

    The U.S. Department of Justice has urged a Wisconsin federal judge to reject a state court judge's argument that judicial immunity blocks her prosecution for allegedly obstructing an ICE arrest at a Milwaukee courthouse, saying that while judges may be immune from civil liability for official acts, they are not shielded from prosecution for supposedly criminal conduct.

  • June 10, 2025

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Delaware's Court of Chancery showed new resistance to suits alleging corporate weaponizing of advance notice bylaws, and a new report highlighted the high fees that attorneys are cashing in on in Delaware courts compared to the federal court system. Several new suits were also filed concerning allegedly under- or overvalued sales and acquisitions being pushed through.

  • June 09, 2025

    2nd Circ. Affirms Dechert's Victory Over Hacking Suit

    The Second Circuit on Monday refused to revive a North Carolina trade executive's lawsuit alleging hacking by a private investigator on Dechert LLP's behalf, ruling in a nonprecedential opinion that a district judge's failure to review disputed portions of a magistrate judge's recommendation to dismiss the suit was ultimately harmless.

  • June 09, 2025

    Senate Confirms Brett Shumate To Head DOJ Civil Division

    The Senate voted 51-41 along party lines on Monday evening to confirm Brett Shumate to be assistant attorney general for the Civil Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • June 09, 2025

    Judge Denies Obstructing ICE As Disciplinary Hearing Begins

    An attorney for a Massachusetts state judge, who was accused of plotting to let a man wanted by immigration agents escape out of a back door of a courthouse in 2018, said at the start of a disciplinary inquiry Monday that the judge did not know about the plan, pointing the finger at the wanted man's lawyer.

  • June 09, 2025

    Speaker Johnson Defends AI Moratorium In Reconciliation Bill

    House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., gave a full-throated defense on Monday of the AI moratorium included in the House's version of the budget reconciliation bill, which has drawn bipartisan criticism.

  • June 09, 2025

    Justices Urged To Keep Pause On 'Breakneck' Gov't Overhaul

    The U.S. Supreme Court should leave in place a California federal judge's order barring implementation of layoffs and reorganizations at various federal departments and agencies, several unions and nonprofits argued Monday, claiming a decision allowing the changes would irreversibly harm the federal government and render Congress and the judiciary powerless.

  • June 09, 2025

    Vice Chancellor Wants Clarity On Del. Corporate Law Change

    Citing "an important and urgent" need, a Delaware vice chancellor has asked the state supreme court to rule on the constitutionality of recent corporate law amendments providing conflicted directors or controlling investors expanded "safe harbor" liability shields for contested actions.

  • June 09, 2025

    Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Hagens Berman's Steve W. Berman

    Steve Berman turned 70 recently, and his long career as one of the nation's foremost plaintiffs attorneys is now littered with society-changing milestones and multibillion-dollar courtroom victories. Even so, he hasn't slowed down a wink.

  • June 09, 2025

    WilmerHale Seeks Full Fed Compliance On Struck-Down Order

    WilmerHale is asking a D.C. federal judge to make clear that a ruling invalidating an executive order against the firm applies to all federal agencies subject to President Donald Trump's directives.

  • June 09, 2025

    Boies Schiller Faces DQ Bid In Law Firms' Battle In Florida

    Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and its attorney Sashi C. Bach are facing a disqualification bid in a Florida state court case between pharmaceutical mass tort firms and their former counsel, with the suing firms arguing that Boies Schiller cannot represent its co-defendants because of a conflict.

  • June 09, 2025

    Pro Bono Civil Counsel Not A Guarantee, 7th Circ. Rules

    In a precedential ruling, the Seventh Circuit has found that a federal court in Peoria, Illinois, did not err when it ended the search for a pro bono attorney to represent a prisoner in a civil rights suit over medical care provided behind bars because it could not find willing counsel.

  • June 09, 2025

    Fla. Bar Rejects Ethics Probe Of Bondi While She's In Office

    The Florida Bar has told a group of lawyers, law professors and former judges that it will not open an ethics investigation into Pam Bondi's actions as attorney general, saying in a letter that it doesn't "investigate or prosecute sitting officers appointed under the U.S. Constitution while they are in office."

  • June 09, 2025

    Simpson Thacher Mourns Chair, Pioneering Dealmaker Beattie

    Richard "Dick" Beattie, the senior chairman of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP whose pioneering deal work helped cement private equity's place in mergers and acquisitions, died on Friday at 86, the firm announced.

Expert Analysis

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Series

    After Chevron: The Future Of OSHA Enforcement Litigation

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion in Loper Bright provides a blueprint for overruling the judicial obligation to defer to an agency's interpretation of its own regulations established by Auer, an outcome that would profoundly change the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s litigation and rulemaking landscape, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • Series

    Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.

  • Opinion

    Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

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    With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.

  • How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

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    During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

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