The federal government must deposit $629 million earned from settled bank fraud and sanctions violation charges against a tobacco company into a fund supporting victims of state-sponsored terror, the D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday, favoring two victims of terror attacks in Lebanon.
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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

DC Circ. Says Feds' $629M Settlement Belongs In Terror Fund

By Ganesh Setty

The federal government must deposit $629 million earned from settled bank fraud and sanctions violation charges against a tobacco company into a fund supporting victims of state-sponsored terror, the D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday, favoring two victims of terror attacks in Lebanon.

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Gov't Defeats IP Case By Invoking State Secrets Privilege

By Adam Lidgett

The federal government has escaped a lawsuit accusing it of infringing a patent and copyrighted material covering an object-based identification software, after it invoked a privilege related to national security.

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NC Biz Liable For Unfair Trade Practices In Veterans' Fee Fight

By Hayley Fowler

A consulting company flouted North Carolina's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act by charging veterans fees to file disability claims even while it lacked federal accreditation, a federal judge ruled in handing a partial pretrial victory to veterans.

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POLICY & REGULATION

Brief

Mexico, Japan Eye Trade Cooperation On Energy, AI

By Dylan Moroses

Mexico and Japan are looking to heighten their coordination on trade matters in fields including energy and technology, the two governments said after a meeting of officials.

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Brief

ITC Tees Up Duties On Norwegian, Australian Silicon Metals

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. International Trade Commission affirmed U.S. businesses have been harmed by imported silicon metals arriving from Norway and Australia that are being sold at unfair prices, setting up duties orders from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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Brief

Tech Cos. Say FCC Must Keep Unlicensed Device Framework

By Nadia Dreid

The FCC plans to vote later this week to open up 200 megahertz of unlicensed spectrum for satellite use, but Broadcom Inc., Intel Corp. and Cisco Systems Inc. think there are a few ways the agency could better "emphasize" its point that the current spectrum framework shouldn't be undermined.

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LITIGATION

Corps, Enbridge Seek Win In Tribe's Line 5 Reroute Permit Suit

By Crystal Owens

The federal government and Enbridge Energy are looking to dismiss a challenge to a permit that allows 41 miles of pipeline to be rerouted around a Wisconsin tribe's lands, arguing that any attempts to find flaws in an environmental analysis for the plan are hasty and lack merit.

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Navigation Product Co. Says $12.7M Feud Must Be Litigated

By Corey Rothauser

Emcore LLC has urged a New Jersey federal court to reject a Turkish electronics company's bid to arbitrate claims seeking at least $12.7 million, arguing the sales representative agreement underlying those claims contains no arbitration clause.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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Exclusive

Tyson & Mendes In Talks For Possible PE-Backed MSO Deal

By Emma Cueto

Insurance litigation defense firm Tyson & Mendes LLP confirmed to Law360 Pulse Tuesday that it is in "preliminary discussions" about taking private equity investment via a managed service organization.

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Fla. AG Requests Impeachment Probe Into 11th Circ. Judge

By Carolina Bolado

Florida's Attorney General said Monday he is asking Congress to open an impeachment inquiry into U.S. Circuit Judge Nancy Abudu because of work she did before ascending to the Eleventh Circuit bench for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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Analysis

These Firms Are Landing The Most Patent Litigation Work

By Dani Kass

Rabicoff Law and Ramey LLP have maintained their roles as top patent suit filers, while Fish & Richardson PC and Gillam & Smith LP have remained leaders on defense teams, according to Lex Machina's annual patent litigation report.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Rakoff Doesn't Hide His Views

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

During his decades on the bench, U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff has witnessed a slew of changes, particularly as technology has brought a rise in cybercrimes, as well as novel questions like whether AI-generated legal advice is privileged. But perhaps the biggest shift was in Rakoff's own views.

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ABA Gives Symbolic Support For Law School DEI Standards

By Emily Sawicki

In a split vote, American Bar Association House of Delegates members on Tuesday elected to uphold a rule requiring law schools to demonstrate DEI standards, but then followed up with a vote allowing another path to removing the standards, in an effort to avoid the Trump administration's threat to strip the ABA of accreditation authority.

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Simpson Thacher Highlights PIPE Client's Financial Troubles

By Madison Arnold

The founder of Patriot National Inc. was likely short millions of dollars when it finalized a private investment in public equity transaction at the center of his malpractice case against Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, according to defense testimony on Tuesday at a Florida state trial.

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ABA Seeks Bar Exam Reform Following Tech Failures

By Emily Sawicki

Over the course of its two-day annual meeting, the American Bar Association's policymaking body, the House of Delegates, approved measures to urge further bar exam oversight and backed measures to support law schools at accredited historically Black colleges and universities.

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Blanche Advances After GOP Sens. Win Written Assurances

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination for the permanent position Tuesday, after Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, said they would support him.

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Ford Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Lemon Law Fake-Billing Suit

By Linda Chiem

Ford Motor Co. has asked the Ninth Circuit to revive its racketeering lawsuit accusing three attorneys affiliated with Knight Law Group LLP of orchestrating a massive fraudulent billing scheme, saying First Amendment protections don't immunize the attorneys' underlying conduct in California lemon law litigation against the automaker.

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Day Pitney Dropped From Suit Over Ex-Justice's Involvement

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut state court judge allowed Day Pitney LLP to withdraw from a $1.3 million corporate windup feud after the involvement of one of its partners, a former chief justice on the state Supreme Court, came to light, negating the defendants' call for an evidentiary hearing on a motion to disqualify the firm.

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Fried Frank Data Breach Class Action Voluntarily Dismissed

By Matt Perez

A proposed class action data security suit against Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP was voluntarily dismissed on Thursday following a joint motion to stay the case in April to undergo mediation.

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Ashurst Perkins, Nail Co. Lose Doc Bids In Malpractice Suit

By Rachel Riley

Ashurst Perkins Coie won't have to turn over documents related to its predecessor firm's work for an Omani screw and nail manufacturer in international trade proceedings that are now the subject of a legal malpractice case, a Washington court has ruled, while also denying a discovery request from the firm. 

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Analysis

New Patent Suits Surge As PTAB Challenges Get Tougher

By Ryan Davis

More patent suits were filed in 2025 than in any year in the past decade, according to a new report, an increase attorneys said is likely tied to new U.S. Patent and Trademark Office policies that have made it harder to challenge patents.

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NC Judge Who Upheld Voter ID Law To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

Judge Thomas Schroeder of the Middle District of North Carolina has informed the president he will take semi-retired status at a date later in the future.

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Bronx Union Says Striking Atty Faced 'Impossible' Choice

By Andrea Keckley

An attorney with the Bronx Defenders felt she had no other choice but to cross the picket line on Tuesday after an immigration judge ordered her to appear in court and the organization's managers did not commit to covering the proceedings without her, a union representative has told Law360.

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Neighborhood Defender Service Of Harlem Union Ends Strike

By Andrea Keckley

The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem union announced it was returning to work with a tentative deal after more than a week on the picket line.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

APC

American Bar Association

Apple Inc.

British American Tobacco PLC

Broadcom Inc.

Brooklyn Defender Services

Cisco Systems Inc.

Earthjustice

Enbridge Energy Partners LP

Ennis Inc.

Ford Motor Co.

Fort Point Capital

Grant Thornton LLP

Instagram Inc.

Intel Corp.

Lex Machina Inc.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Line 5 LLC

Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem

Patriot National Inc.

RELX PLC

Southern Poverty Law Center Inc.

Spectrum Management Holding Co.

Spotify Technology SA

The Bronx Defenders

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

United Auto Workers

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Ahmad Zavitsanos

Akin Gump

Ashurst LLP

Ashurst Perkins

Axinn

Baker Botts

Berger Montague

Bricker Graydon

Burns Charest

Cole Schotz

Conrad & Scherer

Crowell & Moring

Curtis Mallet-Prevost

DNL Zito

Dacus Law Firm

Dann Law Firm

Day Pitney

Debevoise & Plimpton

Duane Morris

Fish & Richardson

Foley & Lardner

Fried Frank

Garteiser Honea

Gillam Smith

Hogan Lovells

Hunton Andrews

Kilpatrick Townsend

Knight Law Group

Kopelowitz Ostrow

Law Offices of Garrett S. Flynn

Marshall Dennehey

McDermott Will & Schulte

McNaul Ebel

Milbank LLP

Miller Fair

Morgan & Morgan PA

Morris Nichols

Neal Gerber

Paul Weiss

Pillsbury Winthrop

Quinn Emanuel

Rabicoff Law

Ramey LLP

Rebar Kelly

Rimon PC

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Stearns Weaver

Steptoe LLP

Tyson & Mendes

Varnell & Warwick

Webber & Thies

Williams & Connolly

Williams Mullen

Wirtz Law APC

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Tribe

Bay Mills Indian Community

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Communications Commission

Internal Revenue Service

International Chamber of Commerce

International Trade Commission

Michigan Supreme Court

National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

U.S. Army

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court