An Israeli spyware company isn't going to be held in contempt on allegations it violated a court order restricting its use of WhatsApp because the order wasn't so specific that it banned the company from using accounts it already had, only restricted it from making new ones, a judge has ruled.
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TOP NEWS

NSO Avoids Contempt As WhatsApp Says It's Still Hacking

By Nadia Dreid

An Israeli spyware company isn't going to be held in contempt on allegations it violated a court order restricting its use of WhatsApp because the order wasn't so specific that it banned the company from using accounts it already had, only restricted it from making new ones, a judge has ruled.

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Justices Reject 9/11 Plea Deals

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to tackle two cases challenging former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin's decision to yank back plea deals that had already been inked with three 9/11 co-conspirators.

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Calif. Appeals Court Revives Claims In Northrop Wage Row

By Katherine Smith

A California appeals court has partially reopened a former employee's suit alleging that Northrop Grumman illegally issued multiple wage statements per pay period to some of its workers, ruling that a trial court must decide if the company's actions were in good faith before it can award damages.

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High Court Denies Review Of Navy Contract Termination Suit

By David Minsky

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a federal contractor's dispute over the Navy's early termination of a fixed-price agreement due to staffing failures, after an appellate panel determined that the government had a right to cancel the contract for default.

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POLICY & REGULATION

Intel Seeks FCC Waiver For Vehicles Used In Chip Plants

By Christopher Cole

Intel Corp. has asked the Federal Communications Commission to exempt certain automated vehicles used in its chip-making process from an FCC restriction on foreign-made robotic devices.

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ENFORCEMENT

Ex-OpenAI Engineer Must Stay In Custody In Recording Case

By Hailey Konnath

The former OpenAI product team engineer accused of hiding a secret recording device in an executive conference room has been ordered to stay behind bars after prosecutors argued he has "considerable resources and ties to Saudi Arabia," according to news reports and the government's motion for detention.

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LITIGATION

Feds Say FBI Agents Can't Block Probe Of Mar-A-Lago Case

By David Minsky

The U.S. Department of Justice urged a Florida federal court to reject FBI agents' second request to clarify a prohibition on releasing information in a report on President Donald Trump allegedly storing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, arguing it's an attempt to block a grand jury probe over mishandling the investigation.

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Air Force Must Redo Price Analysis In Construction Contract

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims ordered the U.S. Air Force to conduct a new price reasonability analysis for a worldwide construction services procurement, finding "a greater than an insubstantial chance" that the protester could become an awardee.

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BofA Pushes To Dodge Renewed Military Interest Claims

By Tom Lotshaw

Bank of America urged a North Carolina federal judge to reject military service members' attempt to revive dismissed claims asserting that its credit card practices violated lending protections, arguing that they misinterpret the law.

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DEALS & CONTRACTS

Army Corps Must Pay For Unauthorized Home Security Work

By Elaine Briseño

The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals has found the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers responsible for damages at a rental house in West Africa, determining the lease did not authorize the government to make major security alterations to the property.

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Board Says Navy's 161-Day Extension Changed Its Deal

By Tom Lotshaw

The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals has found the Navy improperly required a contractor to provide an extra 161 days of pier support for the USS Chosin, and ordered the Navy and the company to hash out appropriate compensation.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Where DOJ's Fraud Directive May Actually Affect Enforcement

The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent directive outlining corporate fraud enforcement priorities is mostly a management document instead of a policy, but one part may actually undermine the directive's goals by leading to worse outcomes for organizational defendants and less corporate self-disclosure, says Zachary Warren at Williams & Connolly.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

DOJ Or Trump: Judge Asks Who Is Deciding Golf Course Plan

By Jared Foretek

Trump administration lawyers continued to insist at a hearing Monday there is no final plan to remake East Potomac Golf Course, and they changed their tune about whether one would require environmental review, despite new social media posts from the president announcing that work on the overhaul would begin "immediately."

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Wood Smith, Charlesbank Capital Ink Pioneering MSO Deal

By Emma Cueto

Insurance defense firm Wood Smith Henning & Berman has inked a deal to take investment from middle market investment firm Charlesbank Capital Partners via a managed services organization, according to an announcement Monday, the largest U.S. firm to announce such a move.

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Brief

Arizona Court Approves State's First Non-ABA Law School

By Emma Cueto

The Arizona Supreme Court has approved the state's first law school not accredited by the American Bar Association, citing the need to increase the number of lawyers per capita in the state and provide more affordable options for legal education.

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Court Denies Gov't Bid To DQ Susman Godfrey In ABA's Suit

By Andrea Keckley

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., has denied the U.S. Department of Justice's bid to disqualify Susman Godfrey LLP from representing the American Bar Association in its lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's executive orders against multiple major law firms. 

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Trump Taps DOJ Official, Federal Prosecutor For Judgeships

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Monday nominated a senior U.S. Department of Justice attorney for a Nebraska federal judgeship and an assistant U.S. attorney for a seat on the Northern District of Indiana bench.

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Rogoff Tells 9th Circ. His Firing Furthers Trump's 'Evil' Plan

By Ben Adlin

Roger Rogoff urged the Ninth Circuit to affirm a lower judge's order reinstating him as Seattle's top federal prosecutor, asserting in a filing Friday that he's entitled to keep the court-appointed U.S. attorney position until President Donald Trump fills the role with a Senate-confirmed nominee.

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Proskauer Says It Didn't Drop Reddit To Defend Perplexity

By Lauren Berg

Proskauer Rose LLP and Perplexity AI are urging a New York federal judge to allow the law firm to represent the artificial intelligence company in Reddit's suit over alleged data scraping, balking at the social media platform's argument that its one-time law firm can't represent its current opponent.

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What The Justices Won't Hear: A Roundup Of Cert Denials

By Taylor Bowie

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up cases from Google, a U.S. Navy contractor, and other appellate hopefuls on Monday, according to an order list.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week blocked Cloudflare Inc. from completing a restructuring meant to preserve its founders' voting control, while Tower Semiconductor Ltd. accused Intel Corp. of backing out of a semiconductor manufacturing agreement and social media company Triller Group Inc. challenged its removal from Nasdaq.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

APC

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bar Association

American Civil Liberties Union

American Systems

Bank of America Corp.

Cable News Network Inc.

Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V.

Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC

Cloudflare Inc.

Democracy Forward Foundation

EpicentRx Inc.

Gleason Corp.

Google LLC

Honeywell International Inc.

Intel Corp.

International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers

Jenzabar Inc.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Meta Platforms Inc.

Nasdaq Inc.

Northrop Grumman Corp.

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Pegasus

Reddit Inc.

Spectrum Management Holding Co.

Stanford University

The New York Times Co.

TikTok Inc.

Tower Semiconductor Ltd.

University of Virginia

Walmart Inc.

Whatsapp Inc.

YouTube Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Ashurst Perkins

Bartlit Beck

Bayard PA

Burr & Forman

Davis Polk

Diversity Law Group APC

Duffie Law PLLC

Finch Thornton

Gibson Dunn

Holland & Knight

Jackson Holcomb

Jenner & Block

Joseph Cohen & Del Vecchio

King & Spalding

Koskoff Koskoff

Lowell & Associates

Mark S. Zaid PC

McGuireWoods

Morris Nichols

Munger Tolles

Polaris Law Group LLP

Proskauer Rose

Raj Ferber

Smith & Lowney

Solomon Ward

Susman Godfrey

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

Wollmuth Maher

Wood Smith

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arizona Supreme Court

Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals

California Supreme Court

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Delaware Court of Chancery

Executive Office of the President

Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Communications Commission

Internal Revenue Service

National Archives and Records Administration

National Labor Relations Board

National Park Service

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

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

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

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

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

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

U.S. Marine Corps

U.S. Navy

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court