Analysis

The End Of An 'Independent' FTC

By Bryan Koenig

Federal Trade Commission members, responsible for merger review, antitrust enforcement, consumer protection safeguards and rulemaking, and industry analysis, no longer serve at a remove from presidential authority, thanks to Monday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could dramatically remake the FTC and other independent agencies.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Volatility May Follow As Justices Make Agency Firings Easier​​​​​​​

By Sarah Jarvis

The policies and enforcement priorities of federal agencies may fluctuate more rapidly based on who is president, as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's Monday decision finding that presidents have unlimited authority to fire members of independent agencies, experts told Law360.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justices Strike Down Humphrey's Presidential Firing Limits

By Katie Buehler

The president has unlimited authority to fire members of independent agencies, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in a major win for President Donald Trump's campaign against officials at the Federal Trade Commission and beyond.

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

PBMs Drop Fight To Pause Insulin Case Amid Deal Talks

By Matthew Perlman

Optum, Caremark and Express Scripts on Monday dropped their appeal in a case challenging the constitutionality of the Federal Trade Commission's in-house administrative process, and the pharmacy benefit managers are working to settle the commission's remaining insulin-pricing claims.

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

3 Firms Build $752M Sale Of Cardinal Natural Gas Businesses

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP-led independent midstream energy company Cardinal Midstream Partners LLC on Monday revealed that it has agreed to sell its Cardinal Delaware Basin LLC and Cardinal New Mexico LLC to San Mateo Midstream LLC, led by Baker Botts LLP and O'Melveny & Myers LLP, in a $752 million deal.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Blur Drummer Fails To Revive £200M Royalties Class Action

By Sophia Dourou

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree failed Monday to revive his collective action over the distribution of £200 million ($265.2 million) in royalties, as the Court of Appeal held he had failed to establish that the royalties "belong" to any particular individual.

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

Insulin Makers Can't Nix 340B Antitrust Claims On Remand

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New York federal judge trimmed proposed class action claims by providers alleging Sanofi-Aventis and other drugmakers colluded to deny them discounts on insulin products under the 340B program, allowing most of their state-law antitrust claims to survive but dismissing their unjust enrichment claims.

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

8th Circ. Backs Tossing Ark. Worker's Pharmacy Network Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Eighth Circuit on Monday turned down an employee health plan participant's bid to revive a proposed class action alleging CVS Caremark unjustly enriched itself by failing to comply with Arkansas laws on pharmacy network adequacy, holding a lower court didn't err in tossing the dispute.

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

Wayne-Sanderson Says Wage Claims Blocked By $70M Deal

By Matthew Perlman

Wayne-Sanderson urged a Maryland federal court to enforce nearly $70 million in settlements the poultry processor reached with workers and to block dozens of individuals who are suing or threatening to sue in Alabama state court alleging wage suppression.

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

Visa Beats Securities Class Action, For Good

By Lauren Berg

A California federal judge Monday again dismissed a securities fraud suit accusing Visa Inc. of concealing anticompetitive debt practices that are the subject of a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice, saying the plaintiffs still haven't shown that Visa's alleged omissions caused investor losses.

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

3rd Circ. Preview: DuPont Pensions, Detainees' Court Access

By Carla Baranauckas

An appeal testing the limits of ERISA fiduciary liability goes before the Third Circuit in July when DuPont and Corteva seek to overturn a district court ruling that a corporate spinoff damaged employees' retirement benefits. The court will also hear argument on whether heavy equipment giant Caterpillar forced a competitor out of business by pressuring a vendor. Here are some highlights from the court's July calendar.

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

Brief

Australian, Norwegian Silicon Metal Face Final Duty Rates

By Jack McLoone

Australian and Norwegian silicon metal imported into the U.S. could be hit with countervailing and antidumping duties following U.S. Department of Commerce final determinations Monday.

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

Google Antitrust Case Puts Spotlight On De Facto Exclusivity

Mozilla's recent amicus filing in U.S. v. Google arguing that its agreement to make Google the default search engine did not amount to de facto exclusivity highlights the growing debate over traditional indicators of exclusivity, with implications for any business that uses rebates, preferred contracts or volume incentives, says Chris Gowen at WilmU Farnan School of Law.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justice Jackson Tops High Court Book Earnings In 2025

By Ryan Boysen

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made nearly $1.2 million in book royalties last year, bringing her total to $4.14 million and making her the most highly compensated author on the high court, according to financial disclosure forms released Monday.

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

Judge Limits Vegas Trip For BigLaw Insider Trading Defendant

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal magistrate judge said Monday a defendant described by prosecutors as a "lynchpin" in the BigLaw insider trading case must limit a planned visit to Las Vegas next month to just two nights, saying she also has "concerns about the validity" of a financial statement he provided to obtain a federal defender.

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

Harris Beach Murtha To Combine With Peabody & Arnold

By Christine DeRosa

Harris Beach Murtha Cullina PLLC is set to expand its footprint in the Northeast through a combination with Boston firm Peabody & Arnold LLP.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Texas Supreme Court Weighs New Rules To Tackle AI Misuse

By Lynn LaRowe

The Texas Supreme Court has proposed rule changes intended to address the misuse of artificial intelligence, including outlining possible sanctions and requiring signatories to attest to a filing's accuracy, just as a recent state bar survey showed AI use among Lone Star State lawyers more than doubling since 2024.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

High Court Gives Fed Independence A 'Fragile' Reprieve

By Jon Hill

The U.S. Supreme Court has thrown its weight behind Federal Reserve independence by rejecting President Donald Trump's bid to immediately oust Fed Gov. Lisa Cook, but experts say the fight over central bank control may not be finished — just moving to a new phase.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DC Ethics Counsel Conflicted In Ethics Case, DOJ Atty Says

By Emily Sawicki

A former interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., is urging the D.C. federal court to disqualify the District of Columbia ethics counsel from pursuing an ethics case against him, arguing that the attorney and another lawyer from his office are conflicted and that their impartiality is in question.

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

McCarter & English Missed Key Docs In $20M Loans, Court Told

By Brian Steele

A McCarter & English LLP attorney botched two multimillion-dollar loan deals by failing to secure an ironclad repayment obligation from a New York town or include mandatory documents in the closing packages, a Connecticut state court heard Monday as a long-awaited malpractice trial got underway.

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

Sotomayor Says 7th Circ. 'Clearly Wrong' In Immunity Ruling

By Parker Quinlan

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to take up a case over whether qualified immunity was correctly granted to two Wisconsin prison guards who left a naked man in an often freezing cold cell for 23 hours, drawing a dissent from Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

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

Analysis

Justices Look To Shed Light On Jury Role In Pepsi TM Battle

By Ivan Moreno

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to hear a trademark fight over PepsiCo's "Mtn Dew Rise Energy" drink gives the justices a chance to clarify when juries, rather than judges, should decide whether a mark is inherently strong — a narrow question that attorneys say could affect how often infringement cases survive summary judgment.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Pa. AG, Trump Defense Firm Want Malpractice Claims Axed

By James Boyle

An elections nonprofit is seeking to keep alive its malpractice claim against the former acting attorney general of Pennsylvania and his firm, van der Veen Hartshorn & Levin, filing a quick response over the weekend to a motion to dismiss its amended complaint in Pennsylvania federal court.

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

Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled disputes involving controlling stockholders, executive compensation, take-private transactions, books and records demands and board governance, while the Delaware Supreme Court issued decisions in two corporate records cases previously decided in the Chancery.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »