2 Ex-Clifford Chance Attys Say Firm Wants To Claw Back $6M

By Jake Maher

Two former practice group leaders at Clifford Chance LLP have sued in New York federal court alleging the firm is trying to claw back nearly $6 million in total from the pair after they moved to Sidley Austin LLP early this year.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lively Says Baldoni 'Holy War' Cost Her $8M In Legal Fees

By Hailey Konnath

Actress Blake Lively says she racked up more than $8 million in legal fees and expenses in her battle with her "It Ends With Us" costar Justin Baldoni, litigation she characterized as a "holy war" waged by Baldoni and his studio's financier, whom she accused of "scorched-earth" tactics designed to drain her resources.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

McCarter Atty Says He Didn't Know NY Law Before $20M Deals

By Brian Steele

A onetime McCarter & English LLP partner in Hartford testified Tuesday that he did not research New York's municipal contracting laws before helping two insurers enter into doomed $20 million loan repayment agreements with a Long Island town, but contended that he was under no obligation to do so.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Morgan & Morgan Wins Bid To Arbitrate Ga. Malpractice Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A Georgia appellate panel on Tuesday sent to arbitration a legal malpractice case accusing Morgan & Morgan of inducing a former auto collision client to accept a $750,000 settlement when the case was purportedly worth more, saying a broad arbitration clause in the representation agreement was valid and enforceable.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

SAG-AFTRA Wants House Panel To Advance AI Deepfakes Bill

By Elliot Weld

The president of actors union SAG-AFTRA spoke to a congressional subcommittee Tuesday to press the need for a bill to allow for the removal of deepfakes from the internet, framing the advent of digital replicas of people as a fundamental alteration in the methods of human interaction that cannot be ignored by lawmakers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Costco Says Chubb Unit Owes Defense For Warehouse Injury

By Jennifer Mandato

Costco accused a Chubb unit of wrongfully refusing to defend the big-box retailer in an underlying bodily injury lawsuit, arguing that the carrier owes the retailer a full defense because it was listed as an additional insured vendor under a home decor brand's policy.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Broker Dropped From Fatal Fla. Turnpike U-Turn Crash Suit

By Linda Chiem

The estate of one of three people killed in a Florida Turnpike collision last year has dropped C.H. Robinson from its negligence lawsuit after the freight broker said it didn't even arrange the shipment and wasn't connected to the trucking company or driver involved in the accident.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Texas Court Sends 4 Asbestos Suits Out Of MDL Court

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appeals court on Tuesday found that multiple families of people who died following diagnoses of asbestos-related malignancies can remand their cases back to the courts they initially filed in, saying the multidistrict litigation rules do not apply to their cases.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Defends Live Nation Deal As Boosting Competition Sooner

By Bryan Koenig

The Justice Department offered its formal defense of the controversial midtrial settlement that allowed Live Nation to keep its Ticketmaster subsidiary, telling a New York federal judge the deal frees up artists and venues much faster than any remedy state attorneys general could achieve through their jury win.

Statement attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Plumbing Co. ESOP Trial Averted By Settlement Deal

By Kellie Mejdrich

A California federal judge stayed deadlines Tuesday in a federal benefits class action against a plumbing company and the caretakers of its defunct employee stock ownership plan that was set for trial in September, after the parties said they'd settled their dispute Monday following mediation.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ICE Scraps Plan For NJ Immigrant Detention Center

By Isaac Monterose

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have decided to cancel plans to convert a New Jersey warehouse into a 1,500-bed immigrant detention center, according to a joint status report filed in federal court, saying the property will instead be sold.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Cannabis Investors Want Arbitration Award Fast-Tracked

By Jarek Rutz

A group of cannabis investment funds has asked the Delaware Chancery Court to fast-track their bid to confirm a favorable arbitration award and immediately prevent entrepreneur John David Engel and several of his affiliated entities from taking actions that could undermine the award while confirmation proceedings are pending.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Buchalter Real Estate Partner Joins Holland & Knight In LA

By Adrian Cruz

Holland & Knight LLP announced that an experienced real estate finance attorney who most recently practiced at Buchalter PC has joined the firm's Los Angeles office as a partner.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Defamation Carveout Hinges On Causation, Not Labels

A New York federal court's decisions in two cases involving tortious interference claims, and the recent Second Circuit ruling in Satanic Temple v. Newsweek Digital, highlight that the dispositive question for alleged defamation is whether injury flows through reputation or through direct interference with a relationship, says attorney Andrea Natale.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Goldstein Calls Gov't's Attack On Text Messages 'Hypocrisy'

By Jared Foretek

Lawyers for convicted SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein have rejected prosecutors' claims that the famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer may have deleted messages between himself and his poker backers, calling the government "hypocritical" after it had previously argued that Goldstein could authenticate the messages if he took the stand at trial.

Response attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judiciary Dems Seek DOJ Replies Before Blanche Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

Ahead of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing for the permanent position, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding he provide answers to their outstanding oversight inquiries.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Texas Federal Judge Requires Confirmation Of AI Checks

By Emily Sawicki

Attorneys and self-represented parties appearing before U.S. District Judge Ernest Gonzalez of the Western District of Texas are now required to certify that they have independently verified the contents of any filings created or edited using artificial intelligence.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

'Do Your Part,' Mass. Judge Chides Read Case Attys Post-Leak

By Cara Salvatore

A Massachusetts judge on Wednesday lectured counsel in the high-profile civil case against Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman acquitted of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend, to honor their ethical obligations after sensitive information leaked on social media.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

U Of Ky. Appoints Controversial Dean Pick For Law School

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove of the Eastern District of Kentucky will retire from the bench later this month to become dean of the University of Kentucky's J. David Rosenberg College of Law, a move that sparked controversy in the state.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wash. Atty Loses Bid For Jury In Dispute Over Bar Sanctions

By Emily Sawicki

A Washington lawyer sanctioned and disciplined for bringing a "frivolous" election suit in 2021 against then-Gov. Jay Inslee has lost her bid to have her ethics charges heard by a jury, with a state appeals panel finding no error in a trial court's ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to take on the disciplinary matter.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

High Court's Guardrails Won't Ease Fight Over Trans Athletes

By Alex Lawson

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision permitting states to ban transgender athletes from girls' sports was written in simple terms, but attorneys tracking the issue see the ruling as a flashpoint for further litigation.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Plea Deals Get Scrutiny In 'Hunter,' But Justices Stay Cautious

By Brandon Lowrey

The shock for Mary Fan came almost immediately after she began her career as a federal prosecutor in Southern California in the mid-2000s.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

5 NYC Legal Service Provider Union Contracts Have Expired

By Andrea Keckley

The collective bargaining agreements for five New York City-based indigent defense and civil legal aid providers expired at the end of the day Tuesday as multiple unions reported outstanding points of contention in their negotiations.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Watchdog Says DOL Needs Better Info Sharing Controls

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor's lack of controls over information sharing between subagencies and nongovernmental entities, including law firms and legal advocacy organizations, may have unfairly advantaged those parties with privileged investigative information, an agency watchdog reported, though use of the practice has dropped off. 

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of June

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Bayer, Harley-Davidson and PBS. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from June.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »