Sitio Royalties Corp.'s $4 billion merger with Viper Energy Inc. is under fire in Colorado state court after a Sitio investor claimed that the merger will leave investors holding shares of Viper Energy that are "grossly undervalued."
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THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Investor Seeks Injunction Of 'Unfair' $4 Billion Sitio Sale

By Zach Dupont

Sitio Royalties Corp.'s $4 billion merger with Viper Energy Inc. is under fire in Colorado state court after a Sitio investor claimed that the merger will leave investors holding shares of Viper Energy that are "grossly undervalued."

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Judge Presses Both Sides On Denver Wage Ordinance Fight

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado federal judge had a slew of questions Wednesday for attorneys regarding competing motions for dismissal and summary judgment in two employment companies' case against the city and county of Denver alleging officials overstepped in their attempt to audit wage violations.

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Crocs, Rival Agree To Narrow Claims In Shoewear IP Dispute

By Gina Kim

Crocs told a Colorado federal judge Wednesday it agreed to drop trademark dilution claims against Joybees stemming from a dispute where the defendant's CEO, who was a former midlevel Crocs manager, allegedly absconded with documents to copy the design and manufacturing process for its foam clog to start a competing business.

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Trump Official Denies Shutting Down FEMA Disaster Program

By Chris Villani

The administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency told a Massachusetts federal judge that President Donald Trump's administration has not decided whether to end the agency's flagship natural disaster protection program, despite a lawsuit by 20 states claiming it had been shut down.

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POLICY & REGULATION

8th Circ. Tosses Ruling Striking Binding NEPA Regulations

By Tom Lotshaw

The Eighth Circuit has granted blue states' bid to vacate a ruling that faulted the White House Council on Environmental Quality for issuing binding regulations under the National Environmental Policy Act, following the Trump administration's decision to withdraw those regulations.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Compliance Changes On Deck For Banks Under Texas AI Law

Financial services companies, including banks and fintechs, should evaluate their artificial intelligence usage to prepare for Texas' newly passed law regulating AI governance, noting that the enforcement provisions provide for an affirmative defense to liability, say attorneys at Mitchell Sandler.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Learning From Failure

While law school often focuses on the importance of precision, correctness and perfection, mistakes are inevitable in real-world practice — but failure is not the opposite of progress, and real talent comes from the ability to recover, rethink and reshape, says Brooke Pauley at Tucker Ellis.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

McDermott Rife With Race Discrimination, Black Atty Says

By Patrick Hoff

McDermott Will & Emery LLP failed to address racist comments made during a diversity presentation, kept Black attorneys out of leadership and fired a Black associate who complained that she was repeatedly sidelined because of her race, the former employee alleged Wednesday in Illinois federal court.

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Atty Sues Leech Tishman Over Referral Amid Girardi Scandal

By Adrian Cruz

An attorney at Hunt Ortmann Palffy Nieves Darling & Mah Inc. has sued Leech Tishman Nelson Hardiman in California state court for allegedly refusing to pay her a $300,000 referral fee after she convinced her CEO father to hire the firm to represent him.

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AI, Crypto Securities Class Actions On The Rise, Report Says

By Katryna Perera

The filing of new securities class actions has remained steady during the first half of 2025, but investor suits related to artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency are on pace to increase, according to a Cornerstone Research report released Wednesday, signaling the recent rapid growth of both industries.

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Grassley 'Offended' By Trump's Blue Slip Criticism

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Wednesday he was "surprised" and "offended" by President Donald Trump's post Tuesday night urging him to get rid of so-called blue slips, which are essentially vetoes for home state senators over U.S. attorney and district court nominee picks.

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Calif. Sens. Slam Trump's US Atty 'Hijacking' To Keep LA Ally

By Lauren Berg

California Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff issued a statement Wednesday condemning the Trump administration's decision to "circumvent the law" and appoint Bill Essayli as acting U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, in a move echoing the recent appointment of Alina Habba as acting U.S. attorney in New Jersey.

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Dem Senators Press 9th Circ. Pick On Gender Role Beliefs

By Courtney Bublé

Eric Tung, a partner at Jones Day and nominee for the Ninth Circuit, faced questions from Democratic senators during his nomination hearing Wednesday about his views on gender roles, based on remarks he gave to the Yale Daily News in 2004, when he was in college.

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US Atty Swap Was 'Calculated' To Evade Senate, NJ Court Told

By Lauren Berg

The reappointment of Alina Habba from interim to acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey was an unconstitutional maneuver "calculated to bypass Senate confirmation," a defendant seeking dismissal of his drug trafficking indictment told a federal judge Wednesday, while prosecutors opposed the motion as a "dispute over titles, not authority."

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White House Crypto Report Sets Blueprint For Coming Rules

By Aislinn Keely and Jon Hill

A long-awaited report from the President's Working Group on Digital Asset Markets that was released Wednesday encouraged securities and derivatives regulators to use their existing authorities to clear the way for crypto issuance and trading in the absence of lasting legislation, while also urging banking regulators to sharpen standards for crypto engagement.

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11th Circ. Revives Ga. Atty's Race Bias Suit Against State Bar

By Kelcey Caulder

The Eleventh Circuit has revived a Georgia attorney's suit accusing the state's bar association of racial bias, finding that a district court wrongly dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.

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Brief

Walmart Hoverboard Fire, Injury Case Ends After AI Scandal

By Jonathan Capriel

A Wyoming family of five that sued Walmart after a hoverboard they bought exploded, destroying their home and causing serious burns, has agreed to permanently end litigation in a case marred by plaintiffs counsel getting caught pushing case law "hallucinated" by artificial intelligence.

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NJ Judge Accused Of Berating Truant Teens Called One 'Vile'

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey municipal court judge is accused of berating children in truancy hearings, threatening their families with deportation, and questioning their immigration status in open court — actions the state's judicial watchdog said violated multiple canons of judicial conduct.

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DC Judge Demands More Details On Atty's Fake Citations

By Emily Sawicki

In a minute order entered Wednesday, the Washington, D.C., federal judge presiding over a former executive's qui tam False Claims Act suit against a government contractor ordered plaintiff's counsel to provide more information on how nine citation errors came to be included in a motion last week, calling explanations to date "wholly inadequate."

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Judge Denies Fired Copyright Chief's Reinstatement Bid

By Ivan Moreno

A D.C. federal judge ruled Wednesday that the fired leader of the U.S. Copyright Office cannot immediately be reinstated while she challenges her termination by the Trump administration, saying she has not shown irreparable harm to herself or that the agency "will grind to a halt without her."

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Senate OKs Kirkland & Ellis Partner For Commerce Trade Role

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. Senate confirmed William Kimmitt on Tuesday to lead the U.S. International Trade Administration at the U.S. Department of Commerce.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arnold & Porter

Baron & Budd

Edelsberg Law

Executive Law Partners PLLC

Girardi & Keese

Glancy Prongay

Goody Law Group

Greenberg Traurig

Holland & Hart

Hunt Ortmann

Jones Day

Kirkland & Ellis

Kutak Rock

Leech Tishman

Levi & Korsinsky

McDermott Will & Emery

Mignott Law Group

Morgan & Morgan

Munger Tolles

Naderi Law Group

Nall & Miller

O'Toole Scrivo

Paul & Perkins

Paul Hastings

Pierce Atwood

Pomerantz LLP

Schulte Roth

Sheppard Mullin

Tucker Ellis

Wigdor LLP

Williams & Connolly

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Crocs Inc.

Democracy Forward Foundation

Diamondback Energy Inc.

Earthjustice

Getty Images Holdings Inc.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LinkedIn Corp.

Los Angeles Times

RELX PLC

SIFMA

Sitio Royalties Corp.

State Bar of Georgia

Walmart Inc.

Yale University

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Colorado Department of Labor and Employment

Colorado Supreme Court

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Council on Environmental Quality

European Union

Executive Office of the President

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Federal Reserve System

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Georgia Supreme Court

International Trade Administration

International Trade Commission

Library of Congress

National Institute of Standards and Technology

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Supreme Court

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Riverside County District Attorney's Office

Small Business Administration

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey

U.S. Copyright Office

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Treasury

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

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

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

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the District of Montana

United States District Court for the District of Wyoming