Analysis

Bondi's Contempt Defenses Are Strong, But Not Without Risk

By Phillip Bantz

Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi currently has some potentially powerful defenses against Congress' relatively limited abilities to force her to comply with a subpoena to be deposed under oath about the Epstein files, but her exposure to being held in criminal contempt could shift with the political winds, experts said.

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5th Circ. Axes Southwest Customers' 737 Max Overcharge Suit

By Linda Chiem

The Fifth Circuit on Thursday shut down proposed class claims alleging Southwest Airlines overcharged consumers for riskier flights on Boeing 737 Max 8 jets, saying the consumers' alleged economic injury theory was implausible and that they lacked standing to sue.

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Feds Can't Stay Trans Healthcare Orders During Appeal

By Mark Payne

The Trump administration won't be able to enforce two executive orders that ban federal funding for gender-affirming care for patients under the age of 19 while the federal government appeals a nationwide injunction blocking the orders, the Fourth Circuit ruled Thursday. 

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1st Circ. Nixes Cop Assault Count Over Hearsay Testimony

By Elizabeth Daley

A Puerto Rico police officer who joined three other officers in brutalizing a teenager cannot escape most of his convictions, however, the First Circuit also ruled that since his pistol whipping charge relied on recounted statements from the absent victim, the decision on that count had to be reversed.

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Judiciary Panel Loves Paralegal's Idea To Modernize Briefs

By Jeff Overley

An Arizona paralegal's unsolicited idea for overhauling a procedural rule governing the format of briefs found a surprisingly enthusiastic audience Thursday at a federal judiciary meeting, where prominent officials and attorneys voiced strong interest and agreed to explore the concept in earnest.

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Russia Pushes Justices To Hear $242M Crimea Award Fight

By Joyce Hanson

The Russian Federation has continued to press the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve what it says is a circuit split on foreign sovereign immunity as it looks to avoid paying more than $242 million in arbitral awards owed to Ukrainian power and gas companies.

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DC Circ. Ponders If FERC Mistakenly Rejected PJM Deal

By Nadia Dreid

PJM transmission owners faced a skeptical D.C. Circuit Thursday, as aside from saying their arguments were properly preserved in an appeal of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejecting a plan they worked out with regional grid operator PJM Interconnection, they also had to defend the arguments themselves.

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Fed. Circ. Says Judge Wrongly Axed Teva's $177M Eli Lilly Win

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit ruled Thursday that a Massachusetts federal judge was wrong to overturn a $177 million jury verdict that Teva won against Eli Lilly & Co. on headache drug patents, finding that contrary to the judge's finding, the patents are not invalid.

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Fed. Circ. Snubs Early Appeal In Camera Tech Patent Feud

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Thursday denied U.S. Navy contractor FullView Inc.'s request to appeal a California federal judge's invalidation of claims in its camera technology patent for not meeting eligibility requirements and the exclusion of a damages expert's testimony in litigation against HP unit Polycom.

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2nd Circ. Weighs Fox News' Liability In Sex Assault Suit

By Anne Cullen

A Second Circuit panel on Thursday closely examined a former Fox News associate producer's claim that the network can be held liable for alleged sexual harassment and rape by a former show anchor, questioning if one novel legal theory being raised was forfeited at the trial level. 

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2nd Circ. Says Animal Groups Can't Challenge Swine Rule

By Hailey Konnath

The Second Circuit on Thursday held that a trio of animal welfare groups don't have the standing to fight the U.S. Department of Agriculture's revised practices for inspecting pigs at slaughterhouses, ruling that none of the groups have shown they are likely to be harmed by the rule.

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Brief

4th Circ. Seeks Genworth's Take On 401(k) Suit Rehearing Bid

By Patrick Hoff

The Fourth Circuit on Thursday sought Genworth Financial Inc.'s response to employee 401(k) participants who asked the court to rethink nixing class certification in their lawsuit alleging their retirement savings were bogged down by underperforming BlackRock Inc. target date funds.

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5th Circ. To Hear Amazon Challenge To Warehouse Union Vote

By Katherine Smith

Amazon and a Teamsters affiliate must present to the Fifth Circuit their competing challenges to a National Labor Relations Board decision requiring the e-commerce giant to bargain with the union, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ruled.

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6th Circ. Backs Nearly 18-Year Prison Term For Gun Conviction

By Susan Smiley

A felon who signed a plea agreement admitting to illegal possession of a firearm and three prior convictions for violent crimes and drug offenses will have to serve his nearly 18-year prison sentence, a Sixth Circuit panel said, citing the subject's admission to the crimes and his expressed understanding that he would face at least 15 years in prison.

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Brief

6th Circ. Asks Retirees To Answer Mortality Data Suit Redo Bid

By Patrick Hoff

The Sixth Circuit on Thursday asked participants in Kellogg and FedEx pension plans to respond to the companies' bids for reconsideration of the court's decision to revive their lawsuits alleging benefits were miscalculated because the plans used outdated mortality data.

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7th Circ. Wary Of Burford Entities' Late Opt-Out Of $32M Deal

By Celeste Bott

A Seventh Circuit panel appeared skeptical Thursday of two Burford Capital entities' argument that a lower court wrongly denied their day-late request to opt out of a $32 million price-fixing settlement between Cargill Inc. and a class of direct turkey purchasers, with one judge probing how hard a court needs to work "to save a sophisticated party from its own mistakes."

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8th Circ. Weighs Link Between Cannabis Use And Danger

By Sam Reisman

An Eighth Circuit panel weighing a man's conviction for owning a firearm as an unlawful marijuana user appeared inclined Thursday to reject his Second Amendment challenge and rule that his violent actions warranted the charge as it was applied to him.

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9th Circ. Judge Rips 'Sophistry' By Online Prediction Markets

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit judge appeared skeptical Thursday of requests by KalshiEX LLC, Crypto.com and Robinhood to block Nevada from enforcing state gambling laws against sports and election-related contracts, telling Robinhood's counsel "I don't buy" the companies' regulatory interpretation and slamming a Crypto.com argument as "sophistry to the nth degree."

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9th Circ. Says Security Officer's Firing OK For Court Review

By Grace Elletson

The Ninth Circuit found Thursday that it was fair game for a jury to consider whether a nuclear facility manager illegally fired a security officer due to his prescription opioid use, ruling the revocation of his fitness-for-duty certification didn't amount to a security clearance decision blocked from judicial review.

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Brita Filter Labels Don't Dupe Consumers, 9th Circ. Affirms

By Rae Ann Varona

A reasonable consumer would not expect a low-cost Brita filter to remove or reduce all common tap water contaminants to below lab detectable limits, the Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday, affirming the dismissal of a consumer's proposed false advertising class action against the manufacturer.

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Ex-ByteDance Exec Fights Perjury Sanction At 9th Circ.

By Bonnie Eslinger

A former ByteDance executive urged the Ninth Circuit Thursday to revive a suit he filed against the TikTok owner after he was fired, saying the case should've been heard in state court and a federal judge had no jurisdiction to order terminating sanctions after finding he perjured himself.

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Universal Wants $7.25M 'Harry Potter' Ride Verdict Nixed

By Mike Curley

Universal City Studios LLC and a woman injured while exiting a "Harry Potter" themed ride are asking a California federal court to vacate the $7.25 million verdict in her favor as part of a confidential settlement to the case.

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US, Okla. Tribes Fight DAs' Stay Bid In Jurisdiction Row

By Crystal Owens

Three tribal nations and the federal government are asking a district court to reject a request by two Oklahoma district attorneys to stay a jurisdictional challenge until another dispute with a Tulsa County prosecutor is resolved by the Tenth Circuit, arguing that the appeal is not likely to prevail.

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11th Circ. Says Co. Owes $80M In I-4 Joint Venture Row

By Carolina Bolado

The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday affirmed an $80 million judgment against The Lane Construction Corp. after finding its joint venture partner, Skanska USA Civil Southeast Inc., acted in the best interests of the venture when it refused Lane's calls to back out of a $2.3 billion central Florida highway project.

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High Seas Drug Enforcement Constitutional, 11th Circ. Says

By Carolina Bolado

The Eleventh Circuit on Thursday rejected a constitutional challenge to the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act by three drug traffickers who were picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard off the coast of the Dominican Republic, citing binding precedent that the felonies clause of the U.S. Constitution authorizes their prosecution.

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NY Appeals Court Orders Competency Check In Gun Case

By Elizabeth Daley

A man convicted of possessing an untraceable gun should have been reexamined for competency and potentially prevented from representing himself after repeatedly making nonsensical legal statements that sounded like what an attorney might say but did not relate at all to the case, a New York state appeals court found.

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Calif. Mall Can't Have Property Value Reduced Due To COVID

By Jaqueline McCool

A California mall should not have its property value reduced despite hardships faced due to the coronavirus pandemic, because the mandated closures did not physically affect the property, a state appellate court affirmed. 

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Coin Seller Can't Get Out Of $2M Fraud Suit, Texas Panel Says

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court has found that a company accused of charging a collector wildly overvalued prices for coins cannot use the state's anti-SLAPP law to have a complaint brought by the man's family dismissed, saying the company's speech was commercial in nature and therefore not covered by the statute.

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Expert Needed To Gauge Fault For Cyberattack, Panel Told

By Brian Steele

Connecticut law firm Mancini Provenzano & Futtner LLC told a state appellate panel Thursday that a lower court should not have awarded a former client more than $90,000 on a negligence claim arising from a cyberattack without hearing first from an expert on the firm's legal duties.

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Conn. Justices Nix Asbestos Widow's 'Double Recovery' Bid

By Aaron Keller

A town and a state agency are entitled to a lien on private asbestos litigation settlements in cases of combined work and home exposures, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled Thursday, blocking a widow from obtaining through lawsuits and worker compensation claims what one justice dubbed a possible "double recovery."

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Fla. Panel Upholds Ex-Worker's Postclaim Arbitration Deal

By David Minsky

A Florida state appellate panel on Wednesday barred a woman from pursuing sexual discrimination allegations against her former employer in court, saying she agreed to arbitrate her claims in a settlement that followed her initial U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge. 

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Florida's Supreme Court Will Soon Have A New Chief Justice

By Rose Krebs

Florida's Supreme Court announced Thursday that a justice who was appointed to the bench in 2020 by Gov. Ron DeSantis will become the Sunshine State's 58th chief justice on July 1.

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Pa. Justices Eye New Approach For 'De Facto' Juvenile Lifers

By Matthew Santoni

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court seemed open Thursday to subjecting "de facto life sentences" for juvenile offenders to additional scrutiny, though several justices hypothesized that heinous crimes could still carry long prison terms if a court weighed all the necessary factors.

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NJ Justices To Weigh Municipal Counsel Conflict Of Interest

By Carla Baranauckas

The New Jersey Supreme Court has agreed to review a state ethics opinion that bars attorneys from simultaneously serving as corporation counsel to a municipality and general counsel to a regional fire and rescue agency that the municipality helps fund, setting an expedited briefing schedule.

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NJ Justices Limit Cell Tower Data Testimony To Experts

By George Woolston

The New Jersey Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously held that an expert witness is required to testify about the location of cell towers that cellphones connect to, backing a lower appeals court's reversal of a murder conviction.

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Ga. Appeals Court Weighs Safety Duty In Lineman's Burn Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

A power lineman told a Georgia appeals court Thursday that an engineering company he says caused him injury by failing to ensure a worksite feeder line was de-energized should face his lawsuit alleging the company had an obligation to keep him safe.

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Judge Says Ga. Workers' Comp Precedent Is 'Ridiculous'

By Chart Riggall

The Georgia Court of Appeals appeared open Thursday to revising the intersections of tort law and the state's workers' compensation claims process, and in the process potentially reviving a wrongful death suit from the spouse of a Six Flags worker who was killed on the job.

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Carpet Co. Seeks Fast Appeal Of Ruling Sustaining PFAS Suit

By Chart Riggall

Carpet manufacturer Shaw Industries has asked a Georgia state court judge for permission to immediately appeal his refusal to dismiss a suit accusing it of forever-chemicals pollution before the suit goes any further.

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Georgia Insists Criminal Rules Should Cover Trump Fee Battle

By Kelcey Caulder

Georgia is urging a Fulton County judge to rethink his ruling that President Donald Trump and others' motions seeking more than $16 million in legal fees in the state's election interference case were covered by civil, not criminal, procedures, saying the designation would have "far-reaching implications."

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Seattle's COVID-Era Tenant Protections Face Appellate Skeptic

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state appellate judge pushed back Thursday on Seattle's defense of COVID-19-era tenant rights ordinances, observing that the plaintiff landlord may have a stronger Fifth Amendment takings claim than usual because of the "unique" situation of "six regulations passed within a short time period."

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Colo. Panel Clarifies Pleading Rules For Dropping Claims

By Rachel Konieczny

The Colorado Court of Appeals determined for the first time which rule applies when a party seeks to amend their pleading by dismissing some of their claims, holding Thursday that a woman should have been allowed to amend her pleadings in an estate dispute.

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Wis. Supreme Court Upholds Pabst Asbestos Verdict

By Emily Field

The Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a verdict in favor of the estate of a steamfitter exposed to asbestos through his work at a Pabst Brewing Co. brewery, saying Wednesday that the company still owed a duty of care to employees of independent contractors, but capped punitive damages to about $4.65 million.

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Opinion

BNP Paribas Case Could Upend Global Banking Norms

If upheld on appeal, a New York federal jury's multimillion-dollar verdict against BNP Paribas would create an unpredictable liability landscape for global financial institutions in which fully lawful services in foreign countries can give rise to civil liability in U.S. courts, in a manner contrary to federal law, say attorneys at White & Case.

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Series

Isshin-Ryu Karate Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My involvement in martial arts, specifically Isshin-ryu, which has principles rooted in the eight codes of karate, has been one of the most foundational in the development of my personality, and particularly my approach to challenges — including in my practice of law, says Kaitlyn Stone at Barnes & Thornburg.

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Another Record-Breaking Year For NY Lobbying: Watchdog

By Andrea Keckley

The amount of money spent on lobbying in New York state reached a new high — again — in 2025 despite lower dollar amounts from that year's top spenders, a state ethics and lobbying watchdog said Thursday.

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Roundup

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Aston Martin file an appeal in a row with Chinese carmaker Geely over its winged logo for London black cabs, Ineos sue Ben Ainslie's America's Cup team for a £180 million ($244 million) boat, White & Case face a claim from two energy storage companies, and a golf tour company bring a claim against Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund after the fund invested in its rival.

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Alaska-Hawaiian Merger Judge Mulls DQ Over O'Melveny Ties

By Craig Clough

The parties in a consumer lawsuit challenging Alaska Airlines' 2024 acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines have been notified that the federal judge recently assigned to the case intends to disqualify himself unless they sign a waiver over one of his retirement accounts being tied to O'Melveny & Myers LLP, which is representing Alaska Airlines.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

New data found that some companies are being wary during the 2026 proxy season by negotiating deals behind closed doors rather than allowing shareholders to vote on issues. In the meantime, a report showed that the higher annual rate growth for outside counsel fees that began in 2022 has become the new normal. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Winston & Strawn LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a New York federal jury found that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary harmed competition in the live entertainment sector by willfully monopolizing ticketing services.

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Roundup

Balancing The Scales: Juror Bias, First For Revenge Porn Law

By Orlando Lorenzo

The California Supreme Court tossed the conviction and death sentence in a double slaying over the trial court's failures to investigate claims of juror bias, and an Ohio man is believed to be the first person in the nation convicted under a federal law intended to battle revenge porn.

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