Feds Admit Role In DC Air Crash; Judge Reiterates Gag Order

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. government admitted partial liability in court for the deadly midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane, and subsequent comments to the media from one of the victims' attorneys prompted a sanctions threat from the judge.

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Dems Urge Scrutiny Of AT&T, SpaceX Spectrum Deals

By Courtney Bublé

Congressional Democrats are pushing Trump administration officials to further scrutinize AT&T and SpaceX's plans to obtain wireless spectrum licenses from the telecommunications company EchoStar.

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UC Researchers Near Reinstating $7B In DOE Grants

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge said Thursday she's inclined to grant a preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to reinstate $7 billion in Department of Energy grants awarded to researchers, saying they were canceled with form letters similar to those she's previously found to violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

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NY Jury In FARA Trial Over China Ties Says It's Deadlocked

By Stewart Bishop

The Brooklyn federal jury weighing the fate of a former top New York gubernatorial aide accused of secretly acting as a foreign agent for China said Thursday that it cannot reach a unanimous verdict, after five days of deliberations.

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NC Construction Exec Admits To $6M Bid-Rigging Scheme

By Abigail Harrison

A North Carolina construction company executive pled guilty to a conspiracy to rig bids for maintenance and repair on U.S. military installations, according to a Wednesday press release from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs.

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DC Circ. Told Transferred Ethics Suit Bolsters Newman's Case

By Adam Lidgett

Suspended Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman is contending that a decision in which an ethics complaint against a Fourth Circuit judge was transferred out of his home court bolsters her argument that her fellow circuit judges shouldn't have investigated her fitness to remain on the bench.

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Bad River Band Sues Army Corps Over Pipeline Reroute

By Crystal Owens

A Wisconsin tribe is seeking to void a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for the construction of a new 41-mile section of Enbridge Inc.'s Line 5 oil pipeline that will encircle its reservation, alleging that the agency failed to conduct required environmental reviews.

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Analysis

Top Trade Secrets Decisions Of 2025

By Ivan Moreno

The Ninth Circuit clarified the rules of engagement in trade secrets disputes with guidance on when confidential information must be precisely detailed during litigation, and jurors delivered a $200 million verdict against Walmart over product freshness technology. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trade secrets decisions of 2025.

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GAO Says Navy Understaffing, Lax Penalties Increase Fire Risks

By Elaine Briseño

A report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the U.S. Navy's staffing shortages and failure to hold ship maintenance contractors accountable for violating safety protocols have contributed to an increased risk of fires.

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Deals Rumor Mill

Apollo Could Fetch $12B For Atlas Air, And More Rumors

By Al Barbarino

The past week saw no lack of chatter about potential sales, backdoor discussions, fundraises, initial public offerings and activist investor power moves.

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Series

Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

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

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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Health, Legal Employers Face Unique Online Speech Hurdles

Employers in the legal and healthcare industries must consider distinctive ethical obligations and professional requirements when disciplining employees for social media posts, while anticipating an area of the law in flux as courts seek to balance speech rights and the workplace function, say attorneys at FordHarrison.

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Roundup

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen the designer of an 88-facet diamond bring a copyright claim against a luxury watch retailer, collapsed firm Axiom Ince bring legal action against the solicitors' watchdog, and the Post Office hit with compensation claims from two former branch managers over their wrongful convictions during the Horizon information technology scandal.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Five firms lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the D.C. Circuit reinstated an order that blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from freezing grants for climate change projects.

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Florida Supreme Court Approves Limits For Non-Lawyer Roles

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court has signed off on a rule change to spell out that nonlawyers at a law firm cannot supervise the work of attorneys or perform policymaking duties that affect the practice of law.

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Sidley Adds Williams & Connolly Mass Torts Trial Atty In DC

By Alison Knezevich

A trial attorney who spent more than two decades at Williams & Connolly LLP has moved to Sidley Austin LLP to help lead its product liability and mass torts practice.

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Yale Law School Appoints Deputy Dean To Top Spot

By Brian Steele

The deputy dean of Yale Law School, a career academic and public servant who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, will take over the top deanship position next year, the school announced Friday.

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Federal Courts Not Subject To FOIA, DC Judge Rules

By Jake Maher

The conservative litigation group America First Legal Foundation cannot demand documents from the federal Judicial Conference of the U.S. and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Freedom of Information Act because they are not executive agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.

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Analysis

More Pardon Seekers Going 'Straight To The White House'

By Phillip Bantz

A nonprofit's unusual plan to make a mass pardon request directly to the Trump administration highlights burgeoning optimism among white collar defendants about their chances of securing relief, and a recognition that the clearest path to clemency no longer runs through the traditional channels.

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Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader's Divergent Paths Led To Deal

By Aebra Coe

The blockbuster combination between Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP announced this past week involves two law firms that have charted very different paths in recent years. Here, a look at what events led up to the firms joining together at the deal table.

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DC Firm Hiring From Government Skyrocketed In 2025

By Alison Knezevich

As federal lawyers left in droves this year amid President Donald Trump's return to the White House, the number of attorneys who moved from government jobs to BigLaw firms in Washington, D.C., doubled in 2025 compared to the last post-presidential election year.

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Keesal Young Drops Part Of Stradley Ronon Poaching Suit

By Madison Arnold

Keesal Young & Logan wants to drop part of its California state court lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP unlawfully recruited 10 of its attorneys.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

In one of the stories in corporate legal news from the past week, almost half of the in-house legal professionals in a recent survey said they were either actively or passively seeking new jobs, citing stress, a struggle to build multidisciplinary teams and anxiety around artificial intelligence.

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Gambling Tech Co. Loses Sanction Bid In NJ Defamation Case

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state judge rejected a gambling technology company's bid for sanctions in its defamation suit against investigative firm Black Cube and law firm Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP on Thursday, ruling that Black Cube did not willfully disobey a court discovery order.

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Colo. Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart Retires

By Zach Dupont

After an extended leave of absence this year, Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart announced her retirement from the state's high court Friday.

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Justices Let Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit Continue

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration has failed to show it will be irreparably harmed by a Fourth Circuit decision that revived immigration judges' lawsuit challenging restrictions on their ability to speak publicly.

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