Business of Law

June 20, 2025
9th Circ. Backs 'Legitimate' Bar Membership Admission Rules

The Ninth Circuit on Friday tossed a challenge to local rules in district courts in the circuit requiring lawyers to be bar members in the state where the court is located in order to seek general admission, saying admission rules aren't unconstitutional and there are several "legitimate reasons" for the rule.
June 20, 2025
737 Max Families Push For Special Prosecutor In Boeing Case

Families of victims of the 737 Max 8 crashes have asked a Texas federal judge to appoint a special prosecutor in Boeing's criminal conspiracy case, saying the U.S. Department of Justice's latest nonprosecution agreement with the American aerospace giant sets a dangerous precedent for corporate defendants to evade accountability.
June 20, 2025
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen Pogust Goodhead face legal action from mining giant BHP Group, Trainline bring a procurement claim against the Department for Transport, Sworders auction house sue Conservative peer Patricia Rawlings, and Nokia hit with a patents claim by Hisense. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
June 20, 2025
Attys Face Sanctions For 'Sweeping' Copying Of Firm's Motion

A California federal judge has ordered The Neil Jones Food Co.'s defense counsel to explain why she shouldn't sanction them for filing a dismissal motion that appears to plagiarize a losing motion filed by another firm in another case in the district, slamming the "sweeping copy and paste" conduct as "patently unacceptable."
June 20, 2025
GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

A new report showed a dip in the average size of corporate legal teams over the last year, and an attorney focused on special purpose acquisition companies is predicting the Trump administration's friendly stance on cryptocurrency will spawn a wave of new cryptocurrency-related ventures going public in the coming months. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.
June 20, 2025
NJ Court Greenlights Beasley Allen Attys In Talc Litigation

A New Jersey state judge will allow two Beasley Allen Law Firm attorneys to represent a California couple in their suit accusing Johnson & Johnson of selling carcinogenic talc-based baby powder and appear pro hac vice despite the company's vehement opposition.
June 20, 2025
Trump Taps Atty Dropped By Biden For Eastern Ky. Fed. Court

President Donald Trump has announced plans to nominate former Kentucky Solicitor General Chad Meredith to serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
June 20, 2025
Boies Schiller Fights DQ Bid In Law Firms' Fee Dispute

Boies Schiller Flexner LLP pushed back on a bid to disqualify the firm in a Florida state court case between pharmaceutical mass tort firms and their former counsel, in which Boies Schiller is both representing itself as a defendant and its co-defendants, arguing there is no conflict because all their defenses are the same.
June 20, 2025
Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

WilmerHale leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Federal Circuit vacated a $300 million patent infringement jury verdict against Apple, based on instructions by a Texas federal judge that the appellate court panel determined to be erroneous.
June 18, 2025
6th Circ. Vacates Removal, Judge Slams High Court's Ruling

The Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday that U.S. Supreme Court precedent required it to vacate a Mexican native's removal order after his U.S. citizenship was revoked for not disclosing a criminal charge, although one circuit judge said it was time justices reconsidered the precedent.
June 18, 2025
High Court Concurrences Signal Hard Battle For Trans Rights

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court's two most conservative members Wednesday to suggest laws that differentiate based on transgender status should be subject to the lowest level of judicial review, providing guidance to lower courts that will likely make it harder for litigants to vindicate trans rights.
June 18, 2025
Pa. Injury Atty With 'No Idea Who He Is Suing' Faces Discipline

A Pennsylvania federal judge reprimanded Simon & Simon attorneys Tuesday for letting paralegals file a "cookie-cutter" slip-and-fall lawsuit against Walmart without a presuit investigation and adding store managers as a ploy to beat federal jurisdiction, criticizing counsel for racing through courts "wearing blinders" with "no idea who he is suing."
June 18, 2025
Trump's Attack On Fed. Worker Unions Meets Skeptical Judge

A California federal judge Wednesday appeared open to temporarily blocking President Donald Trump's executive order reclassifying hundreds of thousands of federal workers to bar them from collective bargaining, calling the order "dramatic" and "unprecedented," and asking about the downsides of keeping the status quo until trial.
June 18, 2025
Atty Told To Fix AI 'Train Wreck' In Multiple Fla. Courts

A Florida federal judge expressed outrage toward an attorney's reliance on artificial intelligence to draft filings with fake legal citations, ordering counsel in a fight over a $5 million Canadian judgment to submit supplemental briefs in order to fix a "train wreck" that spans several cases in multiple courts.
June 18, 2025
California Bar Exam Woes Latest Chapter In Ongoing Scrutiny

Recent headline-grabbing blunders with the February California bar exam represent a stumbling block in a yearslong effort to reshape the exam, with an eye toward equity and accessibility for the more than 10,000 applicants who sit for the exam each year.
June 18, 2025
Jeanine Pirro Faring Better Than Earlier Pick For DC US Atty

President Donald Trump's second pick for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, former judge and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, seems to be having an easier time than the previous contender, Ed Martin.
June 18, 2025
Trump Organization Taps DLA Piper Atty As Ethics Adviser

President Donald Trump's family business said Wednesday that it has named a leader of DLA Piper's government affairs and public policy practice as its outside ethics adviser.
June 18, 2025
Paralegal Says Firm Fired Her For Cancer Recurrence

A paralegal alleged in North Carolina federal court that The Driscoll Firm PC fired her one day after she informed her superiors about the recurrence of her ovarian cancer, violating federal disability and state wage laws.
June 18, 2025
Ex-Public Defender Says Bogus Bias Reports Got Her Fired

The former chief public defender for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, said Wednesday in a lawsuit that she was wrongfully accused of racial bias and unilaterally fired by the county manager, rather than by the county executive who had appointed her.
June 18, 2025
DOL Noms Vow To Confront Child Labor, Back Davis-Bacon

President Donald Trump's nominees for key U.S. Department of Labor roles told a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday they will go after unlawful child labor and enforce prevailing wages under the Davis-Bacon Act, painting a picture of what the agency could look like as its leadership team rounds out.
June 17, 2025
9th Circ. Skeptical Of Blocking National Guard Deployment

A Ninth Circuit panel appeared open Tuesday to striking down a temporary restraining order — currently paused — that would block President Donald Trump from sending the National Guard into Los Angeles, with two judges repeatedly citing case law suggesting the president has broad discretion to mobilize the Guard.
June 17, 2025
Jeanine Pirro Formally Nominated For DC US Atty

Former judge and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro has been nominated for the full-time U.S. attorney role for the District of Columbia after having been tapped previously for the position on an interim basis.
June 17, 2025
CFPB's Vought Seeks To Limit Use Of Civil Penalty Fund

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau acting Director Russell Vought is proposing to restrict the agency's ability to tap its civil penalty fund for consumer education and financial literacy initiatives as part of a trio of draft regulatory changes posted online Tuesday.
June 17, 2025
Senate Bill Could Hike Taxes On Litigation Funding Profits

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, released the committee's budget reconciliation proposal Monday evening, which includes proposed reforms to third-party litigation funding.
June 17, 2025
Fla. AG Held In Contempt Over Defying Migrant Law Order

A Florida federal judge on Tuesday issued an order holding state Attorney General James Uthmeier in civil contempt for violating a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of a state law criminalizing the entry of unauthorized immigrants.

Expert Analysis

This Year's Insights On Attorney Well-Being

With the legal industry increasingly grappling with attorney burnout, depression, anxiety, stress and substance use disorders, Law360 guest experts proposed solutions this year ranging from mental health first aid training to exercises that build flexible optimism.
New Strategies For Enhancing Firm Culture

How can law firms work toward retaining legal talent and meeting business goals? This year, Law360 guest commentary dove into tips like embracing cognitive diversity and conducting so-called stay interviews.
The Latest Legal Writing Tips

In 2024, Law360 guest experts provided advice for improving many kinds of legal writing — explaining how attorneys can use syllogistic reasoning, emulate master chefs, and clean up drafts produced by generative artificial intelligence tools.
2024 Pointers On Persuading Jurors

In a year where nuclear verdicts continued to proliferate, Law360 guest commentary focused on how trial attorneys can better select and connect with jurors, offering strategies for identifying anti-corporate sentiments and tactics to land one’s closing argument.
Associate Issues In The 2024 Spotlight

Law360 guest writers provided insights on a range of issues affecting associates this year, from the challenges of training new lawyers in the era of artificial intelligence, to nonfinancial factors that junior attorneys should consider before accepting a job offer.
AI Questions: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

As the legal discourse surrounding artificial intelligence shifted from theoretical to concrete this year, guest commentary focused on the proliferation of new AI-related litigation, enforcement actions and best practices, while tracking the judiciary’s experimentation with generative AI.
ESG And DEI: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

In their commentary on ESG and DEI topics this year, Law360 guest authors discussed Project 2025’s potential impact, the rise of greenwashing litigation, strategies for fostering employee retention amid a shaky regulatory landscape, and more.
Election Impact: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

Donald Trump's election win initiated a deluge of predictions for the incoming administration, with Law360 guest writers covering key policy areas such as immigration, tax, energy, labor and competition, plus potential congressional themes and investigations.
Cybersecurity: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

From the CrowdStrike failure to the plethora of new and sometimes tricky regulatory requirements, to early decisions interpreting cyberinsurance coverage, guest authors broke down the implications of the biggest cybersecurity developments this year.
Noncompetes: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

Employee noncompete issues took center stage this year, as Law360 guest writers covered everything from state-level enforceability trends and alternative methods for protecting business interests, to a National Labor Relations Board ruling and the Federal Trade Commission’s attempted ban.
The Most-Read IP Law360 Guest Articles Of 2024

Double-patenting was one of the top intellectual property topics tackled in Law360’s Expert Analysis section this year, along with the intersection of copyright law and artificial intelligence, case distribution in the Western District of Texas, and more.
The Most-Read Employment Law360 Guest Articles Of 2024

Readers were drawn to employment law commentary on a range of 2024 developments, including the U.S. Supreme Court's Title VII ruling, impactful activity from the National Labor Relations Board, and state legislation targeting employee noncompete agreements.
The Most-Read Securities Law360 Guest Articles Of 2024

This year, popular securities guest article topics included controversial Delaware court decisions and their legislative aftermath, as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s focus on emerging industries amid struggles to implement its rulemaking agenda.
The Most-Read Access To Justice Guest Articles Of 2024

Law360 guest commentary addressed several emerging access to justice issues this year, including growing case backlogs, a dearth of legal services in rural communities and amendments to long-standing sentencing policies.
The Most-Read Law360 UK Guest Articles Of 2024

The start of a generational shift in U.K. employment law under Labour, a ruling on artificial intelligence-driven credit scores and strategic law firm expansion were among the hot topics U.K. Expert Analysis articles explored this year.