$10B Verdict Hinges On Witness Order, Katyal Tells Panel

By Craig Clough

Milbank's Neal Katyal urged a California state appellate panel to grant a new trial to a man who lost an estimated $10 billion verdict when a jury found he violated an oral agreement with his brothers over a real estate empire, saying the witness order violated a civil procedure rule.

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Analysis

Top Trade Secrets Decisions Of 2025

By Ivan Moreno

The Ninth Circuit clarified the rules of engagement in trade secrets disputes with guidance on when confidential information must be precisely detailed during litigation, and jurors delivered a $200 million verdict against Walmart over product freshness technology. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trade secrets decisions of 2025.

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Settlement Admin, Bank Conspiracy Suits Consolidated In DC

By Jared Foretek

A group of putative class actions alleging a wide-ranging kickback scheme between three of the largest settlement administration companies in the country and banks that was designed to juice administration fees while diminishing class action payouts has been consolidated in D.C. federal court.

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Ex-NFL Player Can't Keep $1.9M Atty Fees, 5th Circ. Rules

By David Steele

Former NFL player Michael Cloud was not owed attorney fees by the NFL's retirement plan from his attempt to attain disability benefits, the Fifth Circuit said Thursday, dealing Cloud another defeat after a previous court victory was reversed.

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NY Appeals Court Lets $62M PDVSA Bond Feud Proceed

By Caroline Simson

A New York appeals court on Thursday rejected a bid by Venezuela's state-owned oil company to find that service of a lawsuit over a roughly $62 million defaulted bond was insufficient under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, ruling that the company had waived its right to be served in compliance with the act.

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Boies Schiller Must Face Fla. Fee Suit, Court Told

By Lynn LaRowe

In pushing back on a bid to toss a Florida state court lawsuit against Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and related defendants, a pharmaceutical mass tort law firm and other parties said the lawsuit outlines a clear breach of a nondisclosure agreement and interference with existing business relationships, making the complaint legally sufficient under Sunshine State law.

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Wash. Justices Say Open Gov't Law Covers Seattle Contractor

By Rachel Riley

The Washington State Supreme Court has reinstated a citizen suit seeking information related to downtown Seattle's Metropolitan Improvement District, recognizing in a Thursday opinion that the district's private nonprofit management entity DBIA Services is analogous to a government agency and thus subject to the state's public records law.  

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LinkedIn Data Access Settlement Rejected In Antitrust Case

By Matthew Perlman

A California federal court refused to approve a settlement requiring LinkedIn to stop conditioning access to its data interface on rivals agreeing not to use the data for a competing professional social network, a deal that included no damages but up to $4 million in attorney fees.

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Vegas Sun Wants Justices To Revive Protective Pact

By Bryan Koenig

The Las Vegas Sun wants the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a Ninth Circuit decision that nixed an agreement protecting it from the Las Vegas Review-Journal's alleged plan to drive it out of business, arguing that the old pact with the more conservative paper was valid even without express government approval.

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Agita Over Piglets At Party Got Pharma Exec Axed, Suit Says

By Hayley Fowler

The U.S. arm of a Danish pharmaceutical company pushed out a director after he expressed concerns about using baby pigs for a photo op at the company's anniversary party knowing the animals would be euthanized after, a new federal lawsuit alleges.

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Coffee Contractual Dispute Will Be Arbitrated, NY Judge Says

By Caroline Simson

A New York federal judge ordered the parent company of a Colombian coffee supplier to arbitrate a dispute over its soured relationship with the U.S. arm of a Swiss coffee merchant despite not signing an underlying arbitration agreement, ruling that the pact could be enforced based on an agency theory.

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Monarch Overhyped 'Driver-Optional' Tractors, Ex-Dealer Says

By Ben Adlin

A Washington farm supply store sued California-based Monarch Tractor — which bills itself as the maker of "the world's first autonomous tractor" — in Seattle federal court Thursday, claiming the company's MK-V vehicles "did not perform as represented and were unable to operate in the autonomous manner represented."

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Series

Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

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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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Health, Legal Employers Face Unique Online Speech Hurdles

Employers in the legal and healthcare industries must consider distinctive ethical obligations and professional requirements when disciplining employees for social media posts, while anticipating an area of the law in flux as courts seek to balance speech rights and the workplace function, say attorneys at FordHarrison.

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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 the designer of an 88-facet diamond bring a copyright claim against a luxury watch retailer, collapsed firm Axiom Ince bring legal action against the solicitors' watchdog, and the Post Office hit with compensation claims from two former branch managers over their wrongful convictions during the Horizon information technology scandal.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Five firms lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the D.C. Circuit reinstated an order that blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from freezing grants for climate change projects.

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Florida Supreme Court Approves Limits For Non-Lawyer Roles

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court has signed off on a rule change to spell out that nonlawyers at a law firm cannot supervise the work of attorneys or perform policymaking duties that affect the practice of law.

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Sidley Adds Williams & Connolly Mass Torts Trial Atty In DC

By Alison Knezevich

A trial attorney who spent more than two decades at Williams & Connolly LLP has moved to Sidley Austin LLP to help lead its product liability and mass torts practice.

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Yale Law School Appoints Deputy Dean To Top Spot

By Brian Steele

The deputy dean of Yale Law School, a career academic and public servant who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, will take over the top deanship position next year, the school announced Friday.

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Federal Courts Not Subject To FOIA, DC Judge Rules

By Jake Maher

The conservative litigation group America First Legal Foundation cannot demand documents from the federal Judicial Conference of the U.S. and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Freedom of Information Act because they are not executive agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.

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Analysis

More Pardon Seekers Going 'Straight To The White House'

By Phillip Bantz

A nonprofit's unusual plan to make a mass pardon request directly to the Trump administration highlights burgeoning optimism among white collar defendants about their chances of securing relief, and a recognition that the clearest path to clemency no longer runs through the traditional channels.

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Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader's Divergent Paths Led To Deal

By Aebra Coe

The blockbuster combination between Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP announced this past week involves two law firms that have charted very different paths in recent years. Here, a look at what events led up to the firms joining together at the deal table.

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DC Firm Hiring From Government Skyrocketed In 2025

By Alison Knezevich

As federal lawyers left in droves this year amid President Donald Trump's return to the White House, the number of attorneys who moved from government jobs to BigLaw firms in Washington, D.C., doubled in 2025 compared to the last post-presidential election year.

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Keesal Young Drops Part Of Stradley Ronon Poaching Suit

By Madison Arnold

Keesal Young & Logan wants to drop part of its California state court lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP unlawfully recruited 10 of its attorneys.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

In one of the stories in corporate legal news from the past week, almost half of the in-house legal professionals in a recent survey said they were either actively or passively seeking new jobs, citing stress, a struggle to build multidisciplinary teams and anxiety around artificial intelligence.

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Gambling Tech Co. Loses Sanction Bid In NJ Defamation Case

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state judge rejected a gambling technology company's bid for sanctions in its defamation suit against investigative firm Black Cube and law firm Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP on Thursday, ruling that Black Cube did not willfully disobey a court discovery order.

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Colo. Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart Retires

By Zach Dupont

After an extended leave of absence this year, Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart announced her retirement from the state's high court Friday.

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Justices Let Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit Continue

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration has failed to show it will be irreparably harmed by a Fourth Circuit decision that revived immigration judges' lawsuit challenging restrictions on their ability to speak publicly.

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