Justices To Review Ex-Spouse Military Pay Suit

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to review a woman's attempt to enforce a divorce settlement under which she said she was entitled to a share of her ex-husband's military retirement pay, even if he waived it to receive disability benefits.

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Pentagon Calls Stars And Stripes Its Own Government Speech

By Jared Foretek

Military newspaper Stars and Stripes qualifies as government speech and can therefore be controlled without violating the First Amendment, according to the new brief from the U.S. Department of Defense and top Pentagon brass in their bid for a summary judgment win over members of the paper's board.

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Fed. Circ. Won't Rethink Vacating Contractor's $12.7M Award

By Ganesh Setty

The Federal Circuit said Thursday it won't disturb a unanimous three-judge panel's decision vacating a roughly $12.7 million award a software developer won against the federal government over unauthorized software copies, denying a panel rehearing and rehearing en banc.

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Analysis

4 Questions About EU And Canada's Vow To Strengthen Ties

By Dylan Moroses

The European Union's invitation for Canada to become an associate member of the bloc raises questions about the potential practical and political ramifications of such an effort. From technical details on what that membership might look like to political obstacles and how the U.S. fits in, here are four questions facing the endeavor.

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Ex-DOJ, Commerce Dept. Leaders Open Export Controls Shop

By Jack Rodgers

Two former federal prosecutors who have spent years at the Justice Department and Commerce Department focusing on export controls, national security, sanctions and related matters are launching a new law firm in Washington, D.C., according to a Thursday announcement.

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DOJ Outlines New Corporate Fraud Enforcement Priorities

By Phillip Bantz

Federal prosecutors "must place great weight" on a new list of factors when considering potential charges in corporate fraud cases, including whether the matters involve government programs, threats to national security or immigration offenses, according to a memo released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice.

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SEC Says Adviser Took $1.2M From Pre-IPO Investment Funds

By Sydney Price

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused a New York-based private fund adviser and its CEO of misappropriating over $1.2 million of client funds intended for investments in shares of businesses that had not yet undertaken initial public offerings, including technology companies like OpenAI and now-public SpaceX.

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Army Beats $8.5M Claim Over Unexercised Contract Options

By Elaine Briseño

The Court of Federal Claims has dismissed an $8.49 million breach of contract suit, finding a payment addendum that could have obligated the U.S. Army to exercise the two remaining option years of the agreement was not included in the final contract.

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Aerospace Co. Jettisons Suit Over 401(k) Management

By Patrick Hoff

An aerospace technology subsidiary of Honeywell escaped a lawsuit claiming it unlawfully concealed investment policy documents from former plan participants who claimed the company's retirement plan was mismanaged, with a California federal judge concluding the participants weren't harmed by the lack of disclosure.

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Deals Rumor Mill

Walgreens Closes In On $9B Boots Sale, Plus More Rumors

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Walgreens is nearing a $9 billion sale of its British pharmacy chain Boots, private equity shop TPG closed a $10 billion climate-focused fund, and Saudi Arabia-owned oil and gas company Aramco has retained an investment bank to lead it on a restructuring plan.

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What Anthropic Security Ruling Means For Gov't Contractors

In light of the D.C. Circuit ruling backing the U.S. Department of Defense's decision to remove Anthropic's Claude artificial intelligence models from its supply chain, there are a few steps contractors can take in response, including assessing whether to eliminate use of Anthropic products entirely, say attorneys at Blank Rome.

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Testing AI's Promise For Large-Scale Document Review

Our document-review comparison of attorneys' responsiveness and issue coding decisions versus predictions generated by artificial intelligence across 1,600 documents suggests that these tools can offer a reasonable and reliable basis for improved discovery workflows, provided lawyers understand where guardrails are needed, say attorneys at Redgrave.

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UCLA Law Is Latest DOJ Target Over Race Bias In Admissions

By Dorothy Atkins

The U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division accused the UCLA School of Law of discriminating against white and Asian students in its admissions process in a letter sent to the school's counsel Thursday, following multiple other similar letters that the DOJ sent to other higher-education institutions.

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Trump Announces Judicial Noms For 5th Circ., NC

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that he's nominating Todd Butler, a managing partner at Phelps Dunbar LLP, to serve as a judge on the Fifth Circuit. 

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Blackburn Holds Up White House's Tenn. Judge Pick

By Courtney Bublé

The White House is standing by its nominee for a federal judgeship in the Eastern District of Tennessee amid a holdup from Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., a White House official confirmed to Law360 on Thursday.

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Richards Layton Atty Confirmed To Join Del. Chancery Bench

By Rose Krebs

Delaware's Senate on Thursday confirmed a Richards Layton & Finger PA director to a 12-year term as a vice chancellor on the Chancery Court.

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FBT Gibbons Beats DQ Bid In Suit Over Cigna Payments

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state court judge has rejected a plastic surgery practice's bid to disqualify FBT Gibbons LLP from representing Cigna and a group of employer-sponsored health plans in its suit over the insurer's alleged underpayments, finding the bid appears more of an effort to gain an advantage rather than one to protect the interests of any client.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of September

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at MSG Sports, Nestle and the Associated Press. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from September.

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Judge Reinstates Rogoff As Seattle US Atty After Trump Firing

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge issued an order from the bench on Thursday reinstating Roger Rogoff as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, finding that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority when he fired him in July.

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Trump Says Copyright Chief Can't Stay In Office Amid Appeal

By Adam Lidgett

The Trump administration is urging the D.C. Circuit to let it remove U.S. Copyright Office leader Shira Perlmutter, arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court's decision protecting Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook for now does not entitle Perlmutter to remain in office while her firing challenge proceeds.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

State enforcers settled their case challenging Paramount Skydance's planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, while the U.S. Department of Justice probes Fox's planned $22 billion deal for Roku and regulators review massive deals in the energy and railroad sectors.

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