How They Won It

How 2 Execs Won 'Extraordinarily Rare' Navy Bribery Acquittal

By Phillip Bantz

Attorneys for two consulting company executives accused of bribing a top U.S. Navy admiral shifted and narrowed their core defense strategies in the wake of a mistrial last year, a risky move that paid off earlier this month when a federal jury in D.C. found the pair not guilty on all counts.

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9th Circ. Backs Reinstating DEI Grants Nixed By Trump

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday partially upheld a lower court's preliminary injunction and class certification orders in litigation from University of California researchers against President Donald Trump, backing the reinstatement of grants terminated due to presidential orders against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives while reversing the injunction for those grants that were rescinded without explanation.

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Justices Won't Review Mining Co.'s Federal Indemnity Bid

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to tackle a uranium mining company's lawsuit seeking $15 million in legal costs from the federal government related to nuclear contamination liabilities.

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Air Force Urges Justices To Unravel Guam Munitions Ruling

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Air Force has told the U.S. Supreme Court that the Ninth Circuit erred in holding that the military branch was required to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act before seeking to renew a permit to dispose of hazardous waste at Tarague Beach on Guam. 

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Analysis

Squires' Institution Flips Are Increasing Uncertainty At PTAB

By Dani Kass

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has created a record low institution rate at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and attorneys say it's becoming increasingly clear that even an initial approval from the director may not last.

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Trump Admin Wants Federal Workers To Sign NDAs, Citing Leaks

By Bonnie Eslinger

President Donald Trump's administration ​on Tuesday announced that it wishes to require federal employees with access to sensitive government information to sign a nondisclosure agreement, citing recent leaks related to immigration enforcement operations and the release of personal information belonging to approximately 4,500 Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees.

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FCC Clears Drone Counter System To Deploy At World Cup

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission told an Israeli company the agency's rules do not prohibit law enforcement authorities from using the firm's drone-countering system during the World Cup, but said waivers might be needed for deployment at other events.

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5th Circ. Won't Rehear DOJ's Dropped Boeing Criminal Case

By Mike Curley

The Fifth Circuit won't rehear appeals from the families of the victims of two fatal Boeing 737 crashes seeking to reverse the U.S. Department of Justice's dismissal of its criminal fraud case against the company, saying it has no jurisdiction to review the dismissal.

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Brief

Justices To Consider Taking Judge Newman Case On June 11

By Emily Sawicki

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide whether to take up U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's petition seeking to overturn her suspension from the Federal Circuit on June 11, according to a notice posted Tuesday.

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GAO Says Air Force Task Order Terms Weren't Ambiguous

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said the U.S. Air Force reasonably rejected an Arizona company's task order proposal for "essential non-flying duties" after the company failed to explain the basis for its subcontractors' direct and indirect labor rates.

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Kirkland, Davis Polk Lead Defense Contractor's $634M IPO

By Elaine Briseño

Government contractor Applied Aerospace & Defense unveiled a targeted $634 million initial public offering steered by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, with 32.5 million shares priced between $18 and $21, according to a Tuesday statement.

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Wiley Hit With Proposed Class Action Over Data Breach

By Christine DeRosa

Wiley Rein LLP has been hit with a proposed class action accusing the Washington, D.C., firm of negligence after the firm said a group that may be affiliated with the Chinese government accessed emails of firm personnel.

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Quinn Emanuel Sues To Collect $1.5M From Binance's Zhao

By Caroline Simson

Quinn Emanuel has filed suit in Washington, D.C., against former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump last fall, asking the court to enforce an arbitral award of nearly $1.5 million in unpaid attorney fees and other costs.

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SPLC Says DOJ Indictment Is Baseless 'Retributive Campaign'

By Hailey Konnath

The Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday asked an Alabama federal court to throw out the Trump administration's indictment claiming it paid extremist group informants to "stoke racial hatred," arguing that it's a "top-down, retributive campaign" that constitutes vindictive prosecution.

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3rd Circ. Disapproves Of Judge's Quips In Fatal Crash Case

By Y. Peter Kang

The Third Circuit on Tuesday scolded a Pennsylvania federal judge for his "inappropriate attempted witticisms" while presiding over a lawsuit in which a parent blamed transportation companies for the deaths of his two children in a highway collision, saying the judge's "ill-conceived attempts at levity" in a fatal injury case could be misinterpreted by the public.

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Justices Order Redo In Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed a Fourth Circuit order that had revived the immigration judges union's challenge to restrictions on their ability to speak publicly, finding the lower court abused its discretion by relying on arguments not raised by either party, and ordered further proceedings.

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Comey Case Delayed Due To 'Gravity' Of Charges, Discovery

By Phillip Bantz

A North Carolina federal judge on Tuesday granted former FBI Director James Comey's unopposed request to postpone his arraignment and trial on charges he threatened President Donald Trump with a social media post of seashells, finding that ongoing discovery and the "gravity of the charges" favor an extension and "outweigh" any interests in having a speedy trial.

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Copyright Suits Against Jan. 6 Attys Won't Be Tossed

By Jared Foretek

Attorneys who represented Jan. 6 defendants will have to face a consultant's claims that they copied her jury-attitude report without permission after a D.C. federal judge rejected their arguments that their conduct fell under fair use and the public's right to access court records.

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Pirro, Blanche Fight DQ Bid In Attempted Assassination Case

By Christine DeRosa

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche are fighting a bid from the California man accused of an attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner to disqualify them from handling the case.

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Beasley Allen Fails To Overturn J&J Talc Disqualification

By Adrian Cruz

A New Jersey federal judge affirmed the Beasley Allen Law Firm's disqualification from multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder on Tuesday, determining that the firm has failed to provide a valid reason to back its attempt at a stay and temporary reinstatement into the matter.

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DHS Pauses ICE Home Entries Under Administrative Warrants

By Courtney Bublé

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told a Democratic senator earlier this month he's paused immigration agents' use of administrative warrants to enter private property, but has not officially revoked the controversial policy issued last year.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled a broad mix of cross-border corporate control disputes, merger settlements, startup equity fights, advancement claims and board oversight litigation, while also weighing fallout from high-profile deals involving Microsoft Corp., The Boeing Co. and Nikola Corp.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Cohen Milstein's Brent Johnson

By Matthew Perlman

Brent W. Johnson is helping to pioneer the use of antitrust law to tackle collusion in low-wage labor markets with work that includes representing workers from poultry- and meat-processing plants in a pair of cases that led to more than $600 million in settlements last year.

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