Business of Law

October 16, 2025
IRS Agents Lose Defamation Suit Against Hunter Biden's Atty

An attorney who defended Hunter Biden against criminal tax charges was only expressing his legal opinion when he accused Internal Revenue Service agents of illegally disclosing his client's private tax information, a D.C. federal judge ruled in dismissing the agents' complaint for defamation.
October 16, 2025
Ex-Trump Aide Bolton Indicted Over Classified Info Handling

John Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, was indicted Thursday by a Maryland federal grand jury on charges related to the handling of classified information.
October 16, 2025
Many NY Trial Judges Elevated In Secret, Report Finds

Hundreds of New York state judges are permanently elevated to top trial courts via a secretive appointment process, according to a report released Thursday.
October 16, 2025
5th Circ. Calls For Narrow Sanctions In Southwest Bias Fight

The Fifth Circuit stood by its decision to scuttle a contempt order mandating religious bias training for attorneys representing Southwest Airlines in a flight attendant's discrimination suit, but tweaked a May panel ruling to instruct a trial court to impose "narrowly tailored" sanctions.
October 16, 2025
Saul Ewing Asks For End To Ex-Conrail CEO's Legal Mal Suit

Following a federal court decision upholding an $11 million arbitration award against former Conrail CEO David LeVan that stemmed from a failed Gettysburg casino project, Saul Ewing has urged a Philadelphia judge to find that LeVan is time-barred from bringing his malpractice case against the firm, in which he accused it of poorly advising him during the fallout of the collapsed deal.
October 16, 2025
US Attorney Nominations For Missouri And Indiana Advance

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve, along party lines, two U.S. attorney nominees for Missouri and Indiana on Thursday.
October 16, 2025
ABA Says Attys Must Be Clear About Neutrality In Mediations

Attorneys who agree to work as neutral, third-party mediators must make it explicitly clear that they are not advising or holding privilege with participants, the American Bar Association has warned in its latest ethics opinion.
October 15, 2025
Jack Smith And Other Ex-DOJ Staffers Slam Trump Purge

Former U.S. Department of Justice employees, including former special counsel Jack Smith, spoke out Wednesday in support of colleagues fired or forced to resign by the Trump administration, issuing a warning about the "existential crisis" born from efforts to use the agency to punish the president's political opponents.
October 15, 2025
Vought Aims To Close CFPB Within '2 Or 3 Months'

White House budget chief Russell Vought said Wednesday that he wants to shutter the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and expects to succeed in the next few months, despite the Trump administration's claims in court that the agency is just being downsized.
October 15, 2025
Goldstein Can't Dismiss 2016 Tax Charges As Time-Barred

A Maryland federal judge denied SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein's motion to dismiss four of the 22 federal tax charges brought against him in January, ruling that his defense that the counts stemming from the 2016 tax year should be time-barred will have to be raised at trial.
October 15, 2025
High Court Leans Toward Limiting Voting Rights Act Suits

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative supermajority seemed ready Wednesday to further limit the use of the Voting Rights Act in challenging alleged racial discrimination in legislative redistricting, but appeared divided over how to accomplish that.
October 15, 2025
Chief Judge Bars Civil Arrests In Cook County Courts

Cook County's top judge issued an order Wednesday prohibiting the warrantless civil arrest of individuals attending court proceedings in Chicago-area state courthouses, as the federal government has ramped up immigration enforcement and arrests in the area.
October 15, 2025
NY Court Tosses Most Of Ex-Lil Wayne Atty's Contract Claims

A New York state judge has dismissed most counterclaims a former attorney for Lil Wayne pursued in a fee dispute with his ex-client, but the lawyer may still attempt to collect some funds he claims to be owed by the rap star.
October 15, 2025
Ex-WH Ethics Attys Slam 'Vindictive' Comey, James Charges

Three former White House ethics attorneys have filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice over what they call the "vindictive and meritless" criminal prosecutions of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
October 15, 2025
Some Federal Workers Win Quick Block On Shutdown Layoffs

A California federal judge on Wednesday granted a request from two unions representing thousands of federal workers to immediately block the Trump administration from laying them off during the government shutdown, saying she believes the plaintiffs will show that "what's being done here is both illegal and is in excess of authority."
October 15, 2025
DHS Says Seizure Of Atty's Phone Tied To Employment Probe

The government is pushing back on a Massachusetts immigration attorney's allegations that his work phone was seized in retaliation for his criticism of the Trump administration and advocacy for noncitizens, saying it's looking into whether he violated federal employment verification laws.
October 14, 2025
NJ, Del. Judges Stress Value Of Local Counsel For IP Attys

Six judges with significant experience overseeing pharmaceutical patent litigation in the districts of New Jersey and Delaware urged litigators on Tuesday to rely on the expertise of local counsel if they're hoping to impress the court.
October 14, 2025
Skinny Labels, Orange Book Take Center Stage In IP Talks

Patent litigators focused on pharmaceuticals and biotechnology met Tuesday to work through the biggest issues in their industries, including possible reform to skinny label law, frustration with position-switching in litigation, concerns about when to list patents in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book and data on the relatively low impact of new policies at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
October 14, 2025
California Bans Fee Sharing With 'Alternative' Law Firms

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill into law that blocks Golden State lawyers and firms from sharing contingency fees with out-of-state firms owned by non-lawyers.
October 14, 2025
As Shutdown Drags On, Judiciary To Face Belt-Tightening

With no end in sight to the government shutdown, the situation for the federal judiciary will get worse after Friday.
October 14, 2025
Ex-Fujitec Atty May Sue Over Defamation But Not Race Bias

A Cincinnati federal judge has ended racial discrimination claims brought by the former top lawyer for Fujitec America against the elevator company, while leaving intact a defamation claim the attorney is pursuing against a colleague who he said made bogus allegations leading to his firing.
October 14, 2025
Wash. To Launch Portal For Entities Applying To Practice Law

Applications for businesses and nonprofits to provide legal services in Washington state will go live next week, the Washington State Bar Association announced Tuesday, a major milestone in a state Supreme Court-approved plan to expand who can practice law.
October 14, 2025
Judge Denies Gov't's 'Overbroad' Comey Discovery Proposal

A Virginia federal judge has shot down prosecutors' recommendations for a protective order covering discovery material such as law enforcement documents and private communications in its case against ex-FBI Director James Comey, calling the proposal "overbroad" as it would have kept Comey's attorneys from leaving discovery material with Comey himself.
October 14, 2025
Voting Rights Case Could Further Chief's 'Central Project'

As a 20-something special assistant in President Ronald Reagan's Department of Justice, John G. Roberts Jr. argued a test focused on the discriminatory effects of legislative redistricting on minority voters would be unconstitutional. Now, four decades later and as chief justice of the United States, he has a chance to make that view the law of the land.
October 14, 2025
Has The 9th Circ.'s Rightward Shift Ended Bids To Split It?

Republican lawmakers have long dreamed of breaking up the nation's largest appellate court. But that fervor has diminished as the Ninth Circuit's balance of Democratic and Republican appointees has evened out in recent years, upending the circuit's status as a culture war lightning rod.

Expert Analysis

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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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 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.
Reviewing 2024's Crucial Patent Law Developments

As 2024 draws to a close, significant rulings and policies aimed at modernizing long-standing legal practices or addressing emerging challenges have reached patent law, says Michael Ellenberger at Rothwell Figg.