Analysis

Using FCA To Go After DEI Poses Legal Hurdles For DOJ

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Trump administration's use of the False Claims Act to go after DEI policies diverges from past administrations' use of the civil fraud statute to tackle policy initiatives in key ways that may pose legal challenges to enforcement.

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Whistleblower Says Fluor Trafficked DOD Contract Labor  

By Bonnie Eslinger

An ex-federal prosecutor-turned-whistleblower has bolstered his claims accusing defense contractor Fluor Corp. of trafficking tens of thousands of workers from India and Nepal into "involuntary or indentured servitude" for a lucrative U.S. Army logistics contract in Afghanistan.

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Ex-US Diplomat Who Spied For Cuba Faces Denaturalization

By Carolina Bolado

The federal government is seeking to revoke the citizenship of a former U.S. diplomat currently serving 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to secretly acting as an agent of the Cuban government for decades, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

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Prior ASG Loss Bars Fight Over Terminated Deal, Judge Says

By Tom Lotshaw

A San Diego company that lost a task order termination fight with the U.S. Navy had its day in court and couldn't support a second challenge with claims about an allegedly fraudulent memo, a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge ruled.

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V2X Cites Lack Of Conn. Ties In Contract Suit Dismissal Bid

By Ganesh Setty

Defense company V2X Inc. told a Connecticut state court it shouldn't face a consulting firm's third-party lawsuit alleging that V2X conspired with RTX Corp. and the firm's subcontractor to remove it from an information technology contract, saying there is no connection to Connecticut.

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Venezuela Oil Co. Seeks Redo On Rig Seizure Claims

By Caroline Simson

Venezuela's state-owned oil company is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit a D.C. Circuit opinion ordering the company to face long-pending allegations of unlawfully seizing an Oklahoma-based oil drilling company's rigs, arguing the ruling upends decades of precedent on the act of state doctrine.

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Montana PFAS Defendants Seek 'Forum Shopping' Sanctions

By Brian Steele

The city of Stamford, Connecticut, and a local fire district spent two years litigating a PFAS suit against 3M Co. and others before suddenly transferring their claims more than 2,000 miles away in a clear effort at forum shopping, the corporate defendants said in seeking sanctions.

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Boeing Can Appeal Class Cert. In 737 Max Investor Suit

By Hailey Konnath

The Seventh Circuit is permitting Boeing to immediately challenge an Illinois federal judge's certification of a class of investors accusing it of misrepresenting the 737 Max 8 jets' safety after a pair of deadly crashes, according to an order filed Thursday.

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Brief

Coast Guard Awards $400M Deal For Training Center Upgrade

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Coast Guard awarded a contract worth up to $400 million for upgrades to its training center in Cape May, New Jersey, and said the deal is the largest shore-based construction award in its history.

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Rightsizing Regulation To Usher In Next-Generation Nuclear

Next-generation nuclear seems to be having its moment as a recent flurry of Nuclear Regulatory Commission rulemaking aims to fast-track the licensing and deployment of such technologies, says Hilary Jacobs at Beveridge & Diamond.

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Expect Trade Enforcers' Cartel Crackdown To Continue

Since agencies’ coordinated enforcement efforts targeting cartel-related activity have not slowed, U.S. companies in Latin America should assess new business lines for designated-cartel ties, scrutinize highest-risk third parties, and enhance training and internal investigation practices, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

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The Ethics And Practicalities Of Representing AI Agents

With autonomous artificial intelligence agents now able to take action without explicit instructions from — or the awareness of — their human owners, the bar must confront whether existing frameworks like informed consent and client privilege will be sufficient on the day an AI agent calls seeking counsel, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

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Ex-Wachtell Lipton Atty Tied To Stolen BigLaw Info Trades

By Chris Villani

A former Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz attorney who later worked for investment bank LionTree LLC is an unindicted co-conspirator in a sweeping alleged insider trading scheme that involved stolen information from several prominent law firms, according to a review of publicly available information.

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Legal Industry Bounces Back, Gaining 2,400 Jobs In April

By Tracey Read

The legal sector is once again on a positive trajectory, gaining 2,400 jobs last month, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Top Atty In DOJ Appeal Over Law Firm Exec Orders To Depart

By Jake Maher

The lead federal prosecutor on the Trump administration's appeal to reinstate executive orders targeting four law firms is stepping down from his government role at the end of May, he publicly announced this week.

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DLA Piper Accused Of 'Frivolous' Suit To Please Chipotle GC

By Gina Kim

DLA Piper aggressively litigated a "frivolous" computer fraud lawsuit against a nonprofit volunteer in order to appease the then-general counsel of Chipotle, a client, who referred the case to the firm, according to a malicious-prosecution complaint filed Thursday in California state court. 

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Prosecutor Faces Probe Into Withheld Immigration Case Info

By Bonnie Eslinger

The lead assistant federal prosecutor for Rhode Island's civil division is under investigation for allegedly withholding information in an immigration case, according to an order from the Ocean State's top federal judge.

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Prosecutors Oppose Move To Put Off Goldstein Sentencing

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors are claiming that SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein may have violated his pretrial release conditions when he racked up over $1.7 million in gambling income last year, telling a federal judge not to delay sentencing for the famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer.

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Tort Report: Tesla's Legal Exposure Seen As High As $14.5B

By Y. Peter Kang

A new report stating that Tesla faces billions in legal liabilities and a $140 million football brain injury verdict against the NCAA lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Morrisons sued by a former logistics partner, EDF and Cripps LLP face a claim brought by a family estate near Hinkley Point C and a former BBC broadcaster file a defamation claim against a Welsh news site over articles linking her to Russian state media and conspiracy theories. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The head of the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits section said agency investigations will focus on benefit plan managers' loyalty conflicts, including pursuit of socially conscious goals. Meanwhile, Dell became the latest company to consider Texas as its new legal home. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The National Immigrant Justice Center and the American Civil Liberties Union lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a split Seventh Circuit panel rejected the Trump administration's argument that immigrants unlawfully in the United States have no due process rights.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

By Adam LoBelia

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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