Recent headline-grabbing blunders with the February California bar exam represent a stumbling block in a yearslong effort to reshape the exam, with an eye toward equity and accessibility for the more than 10,000 applicants who sit for the exam each year.
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SATURDAY, JUNE 21, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

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California Bar Exam Woes Latest Chapter In Ongoing Scrutiny

By Emily Sawicki

Recent headline-grabbing blunders with the February California bar exam represent a stumbling block in a yearslong effort to reshape the exam, with an eye toward equity and accessibility for the more than 10,000 applicants who sit for the exam each year.

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Ex-Yankee Scores $222K Jury Award In Moldy Mansion Trial

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut federal jury on Wednesday awarded retired New York Yankees third baseman Joshua Donaldson more than $222,000 in a dispute with a former landlord he blamed for the presence of mold in a Greenwich mansion, and a judge is expected to double a substantial portion of that amount.

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FTC, Amazon Trade Blows Over Attempts To End Prime Case

By Rachel Riley

The Federal Trade Commission and Amazon have slammed one another in federal court filings over their competing bids to win regulators' case targeting Prime subscription enrollment practices, continuing to spar over the applicability of a consumer protection law shielding online shoppers.

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New PGA Tour CEO Arrives From NFL With LIV Deal Unsettled

By David Steele

The PGA Tour made its change in leadership structure and leader official by hiring longtime National Football League executive Brian Rolapp as its chief executive officer, with Commissioner Jay Monahan ceding day-to-day operations but staying with the tour through the end of 2026.

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Cleo AI Wants Service Member's Predatory-Lending Suit Nixed

By Emilie Ruscoe

Online lender Cleo AI Inc. is seeking the dismissal of claims that it targeted military members with predatory lending practices, arguing that under relevant law, its "non-recourse advances" don't count as credit — and that, anyway, its users all agreed to arbitrate any disputes when they signed up to use its services.

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ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL

Judge Says A Ruling Unfreezing Wind Projects May Be Pyrrhic

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge said on Wednesday he will allow key claims to move forward in a suit challenging the Trump administration's halt of wind farm project reviews, yet he suggested even if the plaintiffs ultimately prevail, the administration could still simply deny requests for permits and leases.

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INSURANCE

Wash. Panel Sides With Insurer In Café Fire Damage Suit

By Ganesh Setty

A couple's commercial property insurer has no duty to cover damage from a kitchen fire at their café, a Washington state appeals court affirmed, finding the couple lacked certain protective safeguards that were required as part of their fire suppression system.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Fed. Circ. Blocks ITC Sanctions Appeal Without Import Tie

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit does not have jurisdiction to review whether the U.S. International Trade Commission properly denied Realtek's request for sanctions based on a third-party licensing agreement, as it has no bearing on the question of illegal imports, the court concluded Wednesday.

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SPORTS & BETTING

Defamation Brawl Over Braves Auction Booted To Georgia

By Alex Lawson

A Texas federal judge shipped auctioneer Heritage Vintage Sports' defamation suit against the Atlanta Braves over auctions of the team's merchandise to Georgia federal court, finding that the dispute did not carry specific ties to the Lone Star State.

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MLB's Rays Discussing Sale To Fla. Real Estate Developer

By David Steele

The Tampa Bay Rays confirmed on Wednesday the Major League Baseball franchise is in "exclusive discussions" to be sold to a group led by real estate developer Patrick O. Zalupski, three months after the team pulled out of an agreement to build a new stadium in St. Petersburg.

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EMPLOYMENT

9th Circ. Tosses NLRB Order On Union Jurisdiction Dispute

By Beverly Banks

The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday axed a National Labor Relations Board order barring a longshore union from going after maintenance work in the Port of Seattle that was awarded to the Machinists, with one judge inviting en banc review of appeals court precedent about work preservation defenses.

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Nurse Staffing Exec Can't Nix Conviction, Sanctions Floated

By Matthew Perlman

A Nevada federal court has refused a nurse staffing executive's bid to undo his conviction on wage-fixing and wire fraud charges, and threatened his attorneys with sanctions for allegedly making repeated misrepresentations to the court.

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COMPETITION

Tenn. School Sues Vet Group Over Accreditation Rules

By Matthew Perlman

Lincoln Memorial University filed a lawsuit in Tennessee federal court on Wednesday accusing a trade association for veterinarians of restricting competition for veterinary schools and vet services with burdensome accreditation requirements.

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INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION

Seychelles Co. Brings $22M Guinea Award To DC Circ.

By Ali Sullivan

A consulting company is asking the D.C. Circuit to revive its bid to enforce a $22 million arbitration award against the Republic of Guinea, contending that the lower court was wrong to toss the case on jurisdictional grounds.

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Hungarian Chem Co. Seeks $2.6M Award Enforcement In Wyo.

By Joyce Hanson

Two Eastern European companies have asked a Wyoming federal court to enforce a €2.26 million ($2.6 million) award of arbitration legal fees and costs against a Laramie-based engineering firm following a dispute stemming from a deal to develop a chemical fertilizer.

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PEOPLE

Dorsey & Whitney Adds Patent Partner From Perkins Coie

By Christine DeRosa

Dorsey & Whitney LLP has grown its intellectual property offerings in Washington state with the addition of an experienced patent attorney from Perkins Coie LLP.

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Squire Patton Adds Polsinelli Trio To New Private Credit Group

By Tracey Read

Squire Patton Boggs has added a three-lawyer team from Polsinelli PC to its private credit and direct lending practice group.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Teaching Yourself Legal Tech

New graduates often enter practice unfamiliar with even basic professional software, but budding lawyers can use on-the-job opportunities to both catch up on technological skills and explore the advanced legal and artificial intelligence tools that will open doors, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

'Absolutely Disgusting': Litigant's Stashed Gum Irks Judge

By Hailey Konnath

A Florida federal judge admonished a plaintiff for sticking her chewed gum to a courtroom table, leading to a federal prosecutor getting the gum stuck to her skirt later, calling it "absolutely disgusting" and saying he "never dreamed" he would have to "write an order like this."

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9th Circ. Backs 'Legitimate' Bar Membership Admission Rules

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit on Friday tossed a challenge to local rules in district courts in the circuit requiring lawyers to be bar members in the state where the court is located in order to seek general admission, saying admission rules aren't unconstitutional and there are several "legitimate reasons" for the rule.

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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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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton and Andrea Keckley

WilmerHale leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Federal Circuit vacated a $300 million patent infringement jury verdict against Apple, based on instructions by a Texas federal judge that the appellate court panel determined to be erroneous.

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Feature

Current And Former GCs Urge Law Grads To 'Rise Up'

By Michele Gorman

From sharing details about being part of the first class of female graduates at Washington and Lee University School of Law to explaining how a middle-school teaching job led to obtaining a law degree, five commencement speakers — all current or former general counsel — recently shared their wisdom for the next generation of attorneys.

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Trump Taps Atty Dropped By Biden For Eastern Ky. Fed. Court

By Ali Sullivan

President Donald Trump has announced plans to nominate former Kentucky Solicitor General Chad Meredith to serve as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.

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NJ Court Greenlights Beasley Allen Attys In Talc Litigation

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state judge will allow two Beasley Allen Law Firm attorneys to represent a California couple in their suit accusing Johnson & Johnson of selling carcinogenic talc-based baby powder and appear pro hac vice despite the company's vehement opposition.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

A new report showed a dip in the average size of corporate legal teams over the last year, and an attorney focused on special purpose acquisition companies is predicting the Trump administration's friendly stance on cryptocurrency will spawn a wave of new cryptocurrency-related ventures going public in the coming months. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Attys Face Sanctions For 'Sweeping' Copying Of Firm's Motion

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has ordered The Neil Jones Food Co.'s defense counsel to explain why she shouldn't sanction them for filing a dismissal motion that appears to plagiarize a losing motion filed by another firm in another case in the district, slamming the "sweeping copy and paste" conduct as "patently unacceptable."

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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 Pogust Goodhead face legal action from mining giant BHP Group, Trainline bring a procurement claim against the Department for Transport, Sworders auction house sue Conservative peer Patricia Rawlings, and Nokia hit with a patents claim by Hisense. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Addleshaw Goddard

Akin Gump

Anderson Kill

ArentFox Schiff

Arias Sanguinetti

Arias Sanguinetti Wang & Team, LLP

Baker & Hostetler

Ballard Spahr

Barnard Iglitzin

Barnes & Thornburg

Beasley Allen

Beveridge & Diamond

Bingham McCutchen

Bird & Bird

Blackstone Chambers

Burns Figa

Candey Ltd.

Carney Bates

Clark Hill

Cleary Gottlieb

Clyde & Co

Coleman & Horowitt

Cooley LLP

Covington & Burling

Cozen O'Connor

DMH Stallard

DWF LLP

Davis Wright Tremaine

Dean Omar

Denlea & Carton

Dentons

Dorsey & Whitney

Ellenoff Grossman

Faegre Drinker

Fieldfisher

Fridman Fels

Fried Frank

Gibson Dunn

Gordons LLP

Gowling WLG

GrayRobinson

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Hart

Holland & Knight

Hueston Hennigan

Hughes Hubbard

Jacobson Phillips PLLC

Jones Day

K&L Gates

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Law Offices of Armen R. Vartian

Law Offices of Philip Russell

Levy Firestone

Lewis Brisbois

Liddle Sheets

Mayer Brown

Maynard Nexsen

McDermott Will & Emery

McGuireWoods

Milbank LLP

Mishcon de Reya

Moore Hill & Westmoreland

Morgan Lewis

Nelson Boyd PLLC

Paul Hastings

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Pillsbury Winthrop

Pogust Goodhead

Polsinelli PC

Prince Lobel

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Reynolds Porter

Ropes & Gray

Ross Aronstam

Russ August

Seladore Legal

Sheppard Mullin

Sidley Austin

Simon Paschal

Skadden Arps

Slaughter and May

Squire Patton

Stewarts Law LLP

TLT LLP

Taylor Wessing

Troutman

Wachtell Lipton

Wathen Leid

Weinberg Roger

White & Case

Wiggin LLP

Willkie Farr

WilmerHale

Young Conaway

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bar Association

American Veterinary Medical Association

Apple Inc.

Assicurazioni Generali

Associated Press

Association of Corporate Counsel

Astellas Pharma Inc.

Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.

Atlanta Braves

Atlanta Falcons Football Club LLC

BHP Group PLC

Baltimore Orioles

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA

Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corp.

Brooklyn Law School

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.

Cantor Fitzgerald LP

Chevron Corp.

Cleveland Indians

Council for Innovation Promotion

Duke University

ExamSoft Worldwide Inc.

Exxon Mobil Corp.

Ferring Pharmaceuticals

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.

Getty Images Holdings Inc.

Gilead Sciences Inc.

Google LLC

Hisense Co. Ltd.

Intech

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

International Longshore & Warehouse Union

John Wayne Airport

Johnson & Johnson

Kinder Morgan Inc.

LinkedIn Corp.

London Stock Exchange Group PLC

Major League Baseball Inc.

Major Lindsey & Africa LLC

MediaTek Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Milwaukee Brewers

Minnesota Twins

NFL Enterprises LLC

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

Nav Technologies Inc.

Neil Jones Food Co.

New York Yankees

Nokia Corp.

Northeastern University

Oakland Athletics

PGA TOUR Inc.

Pacific Maritime Association

PepsiCo Inc.

Point Mortgage Corp.

Purdue Pharma LP

Red Bull GmbH

Seattle University

Shenandoah Life Insurance Company Inc.

State Bar of California

TC Energy Corp.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Carlyle Group Inc.

The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights

The PNC Financial Services Group Inc.

TikTok Inc.

Toronto Blue Jays

Trainline

TransCanada Corporation

Union Home Mortgage Corp.

University of Virginia

Washington & Lee University

Yale University

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Supreme Court

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Trade Commission

House of Lords of the United Kingdom

International Chamber of Commerce

International Trade Commission

National Institutes of Health

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Court

New Jersey State Ethics Commission

North Carolina Department of Justice

Port of Seattle

U.S. Army

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

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

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

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

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

United States District Court for the District of Nevada

United States District Court for the District of Wyoming