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 three classes of veterans.

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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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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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Brown Rudnick Adds 34 Attys, Will Open Silicon Valley Office

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Brown Rudnick LLP announced on Wednesday that it had lured a 34-attorney intellectual property litigation group from Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP and would be opening a Silicon Valley office with many of those lawyers.

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Law Grad Employment Remains High As BigLaw Drives Hires

By Aebra Coe

Class of 2025 law school graduates posted near-record high employment rates, with large law firms hiring more graduates than any other industry category as federal government hiring experienced a significant decline, according to new data released Wednesday.

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Analysis

These Firms Are Picking Up The Most PTAB Work

By Theresa Schliep

Intellectual property heavyweight Fish & Richardson PC remains the busiest firm in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, as it again secured the top spot on a list of firms with the most PTAB trials over the past three years.

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Murdaugh Loses Jury Tampering Suit Against Ex-Court Clerk

By Jake Maher

A South Carolina federal judge on Wednesday dismissed disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh's jury tampering suit against a former court clerk who was found to have interfered in his murder trial, ruling there was no connection between his alleged damages and the ex-clerk's misconduct.

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New Mexico Joins States With Alternative Atty License Paths

By Jack Karp

Law school graduates will soon be able to earn their license to practice in New Mexico by working under an attorney's supervision and demonstrating their legal skills rather than by taking the bar exam, the state's Supreme Court chief justice told Law360 Pulse on Wednesday.

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New Mexico Says Blanche, DOJ Blocked Epstein Ranch Probe

By Lauren Berg

The state of New Mexico asked a Washington, D.C., federal court Wednesday to force the U.S. Department of Justice to hand over unredacted Jeffrey Epstein investigative files, saying it needs the materials for its own investigation of alleged crimes at the late sex offender's Santa Fe County ranch.

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Texas Firm Lands $150M HHS Services Deal For Migrant Kids

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it has entered into a $150 million contract with a small Texas law firm to provide legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children, raising concerns from former subcontractors about the firm's experience with immigration matters.

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Simpson Thacher Witness Takes Aim At PIPE Stocks Claim

By Madison Arnold

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP wrapped up its defense Wednesday to a Florida state malpractice suit from the founder of Patriot National Inc. over the firm's handling of a private investment in public equity transaction, with a stock market expert testifying that short selling stock allowed under the deal didn't lead to the insurance services company's downfall.

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Conn. Atty To Fork Over $3,500 For AI Errors In Taco TM Beef

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut federal judge imposed a $3,500 fine on a defense attorney who submitted two motions riddled with AI-generated mistakes in a taco restaurant's trademark battle, finding that although the lawyer expressed remorse and promised to make changes to his verification process, he still showed "subjective bad faith."

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Sierra Leone Isn't Responding To Its Own Attys, Judge Told

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A second law firm now says it is being iced out by the government of Sierra Leone in a yearslong legal battle that began over the country's dispute with a U.K.-based mining company.

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NY Legal Aid Union Averts Strike After 4 Months Of Talks

By Andrea Keckley

Another New York legal aid union has reached a deal with its organization's management, averting the possibility of a strike after its contract and those of four other unions expired at the end of June.

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CREXi Wants 9th Circ. To Undo Quinn Emanuel CoStar Row DQ

By Bryan Koenig

Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc. doesn't want to replace Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP after a California federal judge disqualified the firm from defending a copyright infringement suit by CoStar, seeking Ninth Circuit intervention and a pause on the district court case.

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