VA Rescinds Veteran Disability Rating Rule After Pushback

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday moved to rescind a controversial rule that would have required evaluators to account for the effects of medication in assigning veterans' disability ratings, after facing strong opposition from veterans and lawmakers.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

A&O Shearman-Led UAE Aviation Biz To Buy $7B Leasing Co.

By Dawood Fakhir

Dubai Aerospace said Thursday that it has agreed to acquire international aircraft leasing company Macquarie AirFinance Ltd. for approximately $7 billion in a bid to become "one of the world's most preeminent aircraft leasing companies."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Backs L3Harris In Fired Worker's PTSD Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Ninth Circuit backed defense contractor L3Harris' win in a suit claiming it unlawfully fired a painter because of his post-traumatic stress disorder, finding he admitted in an application for disability benefits that he wasn't able to work by the time he was terminated.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ, Apple Clash Over Discovery For Monopolization Case

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Department of Justice pushed back against a plan Apple pitched for discovery disputes in a monopolization suit against the company, arguing the company has sought sensitive information and asked a federal judge to fix an "'emergency' of its own making."

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EEOC Backs Bathroom Exclusion For Trans Federal Worker

By Vin Gurrieri

Federal employers can lawfully block transgender workers from using bathrooms and changing facilities that align with their gender identity, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled Thursday in an administrative appeal involving a civilian Army employee.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ITC To Probe China's Trade Status, Biotech Practices

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. International Trade Commission announced the start of two investigations Thursday related to China that were ordered by Congress, including examining state support and pricing practices for Chinese biotechnology firms and exploring the idea of ending normal trade relations with the country.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Tech. Co. Says DHS Infringed Its Surveillance Tech Patents

By Britain Eakin

A Florida-based tech company has accused the Department of Homeland Security of infringing five of its patents on surveillance analytics, saying the agency failed to get licenses to use the technology for immigration enforcement and surveillance programs inside the U.S.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

11th Circ. Axes ATM Co.'s Latest Bid To Revive Patent Dispute

By Carolina Bolado

The Eleventh Circuit ended an ATM technology company's attempt to relitigate a patent infringement suit against a competitor, ruling Thursday that the claims are barred because they could have been brought up in a previous suit.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Constellis Hit With $36.5M Suit Over Weapons In Afghanistan

By Elaine Briseño

The owner of a storage and lodging camp in Afghanistan sued Constellis LLC and its subsidiaries for $36.52 million, accusing the Virginia-based government contractor of abandoning a cache of allegedly illegal weapons that led to a "violent" seizure of his property by the Taliban.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Hegseth Appeals Block On Sen. Kelly's Rank Reduction

By Madeline Lyskawa

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has appealed a district court order blocking him from reducing the U.S. Navy rank of Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., after the lawmaker told members of the military they don't have to follow unlawful orders. 

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

What's Next After NLRB Dismissal Of SpaceX Suit

Though the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision to dismiss its long-running unfair labor practice complaint against SpaceX on jurisdictional grounds temporarily resolves a circuit split over injunctions, constitutional and employee-classification questions remain, say attorneys at Proskauer.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Bid Protest Spotlight: Timeliness Is Of The Essence

Three January decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, illustrating that timeliness failures arise in different ways but always result in dismissal, show it is essential that contractors understand which events trigger the filing clock, calendar their deadlines immediately and file protests early, says Markus Speidel at MoFo.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Playing Piano Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing piano and practicing law share many parallels relating to managing complexity: Just as hearing an entire musical passage in my head allows me to reliably deliver the message, thinking about the audience's impression helps me create a legal narrative that keeps the reader engaged, says Michael Shepherd at Fish & Richardson.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

How Epstein Referred Clients To BigLaw Partners In His Orbit

By Aebra Coe

Billionaire and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein always had top lawyers in his orbit. He also had extensive and lasting relationships with several partners at BigLaw firms, files newly released by the Department of Justice show.

58 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Goldstein Placed Under Home Confinement Until Sentencing

By Jared Foretek

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein was placed under home confinement by a Maryland federal judge until his sentencing, but will likely be able to keep his $3 million D.C. home after the jury that convicted him separately found there wasn't a clear nexus between the property and his mortgage fraud conviction.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

'One Way Or Another, ICE Will Comply,' Minn. Judge Vows

By Lauren Berg

The Minnesota federal court's chief judge who admonished U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for violating nearly 100 court orders concerning the Trump administration's immigration operations in the state vowed Thursday "to do whatever is required to protect the rule of law," including holding government officials in criminal contempt.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

IRS Broke Law 42K Times By Giving Info To ICE, Judge Says

By Anna Scott Farrell

The federal judge who stopped the Internal Revenue Service from sharing taxpayer addresses with immigration authorities said Thursday that a recent admission by the agency showed that it broke the law more than 42,000 times last summer when it disclosed addresses by relying on a computerized matching system.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Atty Agrees To Discipline From State Bar Over AI Errors

By Hailey Konnath

A Los Angeles attorney has agreed to be disciplined for filing appellate briefs rife with artificial intelligence-hallucinated case law quotations, according to a stipulation approved Wednesday by the California State Bar Court, which found that he "recklessly and with gross negligence failed to perform legal services with competence."

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Reed Smith Says Atty Can't Expand Pay Bias Damages Period

By Grace Elletson

Reed Smith LLP is urging a New Jersey state court to rule that an attorney who claimed the firm unlawfully underpaid her cannot expand the time window for which she's seeking damages, arguing a legal doctrine used to revive continuing claims can't be used to collect back pay.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Feds Seek To Toss DOJ Official's Suit Over Epstein-Talk Firing

By Lynn LaRowe

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a D.C. federal court to ax a wrongful termination lawsuit brought by a former DOJ official who was fired after he was surreptitiously filmed talking about Jeffrey Epstein on what he thought was a date, saying district courts don't have jurisdiction and the matter belongs in front of the Merit Systems Protection Board.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Owns 'Sloppy' Incorrect Citations Before Texas Justices

By José Luis Martínez

A Houston attorney told a Texas appellate panel Thursday that incorrect case citations in his brief were "sloppy" and "embarrassing," taking responsibility for errors that included nonexistent cases and inaccurate quotations.

5 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Senate Judiciary Advances Illinois US Atty

By Nadia Dreid

The Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the nomination of Gregory Gilmore to be U.S. attorney for the Central District of Illinois in a quick vote that passed without comment.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »