A Ninth Circuit panel threw out the conviction of a man who pled guilty to recording himself raping his 7-year-old daughter in Washington, saying Friday that officers discovered the videos on his computer after going beyond the bounds of an unrelated search warrant.
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TOP NEWS

9th Circ. Tosses Child Sex Abuse Conviction Over Bad Search

By Brandon Lowrey

A Ninth Circuit panel threw out the conviction of a man who pled guilty to recording himself raping his 7-year-old daughter in Washington, saying Friday that officers discovered the videos on his computer after going beyond the bounds of an unrelated search warrant.

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Mass. Court Tosses Evidence After Bodycams Show Coercion

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' highest court on Friday said a gun and drugs found in a car after police repeatedly searched and pressured the driver for the key must be thrown out as evidence in a case that one of the justices, in a concurrence, says highlights the value of police-worn body cameras.

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Public Defenders Go On Strike In New York City

By Andrea Keckley

Hundreds of public defenders and social workers in Brooklyn and Queens have gone on strike, with the possibility of more walkouts to come as legal aid providers continue to negotiate with their unions.

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ACCESS TO JUSTICE

OVERTURNED CONVICTIONS

SENTENCING

Fla. Justices Uphold ISIS-Radicalized Teen's Sentences

By Parker Quinlan

The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that a double life without parole sentence handed down to a juvenile convicted of murder who was radicalized by ISIS propaganda on the internet does not violate state law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent forbidding mandatory life sentences for young people.

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PUBLIC INTEGRITY

SEARCH & SEIZURE

6th Circ. Says Cops Had Reason To Search Felon's Home

By Mike Curley

A Sixth Circuit panel has rejected a convicted felon's appeal seeking to suppress evidence from a search that found three firearms and contraband in his house, saying police had a reasonable suspicion that he was hiding criminal activities at the house.

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IMMIGRATION

JUDICIAL ELECTIONS

Feature

Wash. Gov.'s High Court Pick Aims To Hold Off 3 Challengers

By Ben Adlin

In one of the most hotly contested races in this year's Washington Supreme Court, Justice Theo Angelis — who took the high court bench in April after being appointed by Gov. Bob Ferguson — will attempt to defend his Position 5 seat from three challengers, each with a different pitch to voters.

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SPORTS & BETTING

Roundup

Skill Games, Grinch Bots: A Midyear Pa. Legislation Review

By Matthew Santoni

Two major rulings from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have left it up to the Legislature to address "skill games" and second-degree murder sentences, while other pending bills would tackle a long-standing challenge in administering elections, and make it harder for scalpers to snatch up high-demand tickets or products online.

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FORENSICS

FIREARMS

Ruger Asked To Pay $90M To Settle Mass Shooting Claims

By Hailey Konnath

The families of the victims of a 2021 mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, have proposed that gunmaker Sturm Ruger & Co. Inc. pay $90 million to resolve a pair of suits, according to a global offer of compromise filed in Connecticut state court.

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FORFEITURE

NATIVE AMERICAN

CIRCUIT COURTS

DC Circ. Vacates Benghazi Attack Leader's 'Lenient' Sentence

By Madeline Lyskawa

A D.C. Circuit panel vacated a lower court's 28-year sentence of a Libyan national accused of orchestrating the deadly 2012 attacks against a U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, agreeing with the government that his sentence is "unreasonably lenient."

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STATE APPELLATE COURTS

TRIAL COURTS

WHITE COLLAR

Ex-Hospital Exec Can't Cite Tainted Jury To Ditch Fraud Case

By Lauraann Wood

A former Chicago hospital executive who is fighting extradition to face federal prosecutors' $239 million COVID-19 testing fraud charges cannot seek the same grand jury misconduct-based dismissal his former co-defendants received until he submits himself to the Northern District of Illinois' jurisdiction, a federal judge has ruled.

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Feds Say NYC Duo Laundered $43M In 'Pig-Butchering' Funds

By Stewart Bishop

New York federal prosecutors have announced charges against two Chinese nationals who are alleged to be top members of a sophisticated money laundering network in New York and China that used numerous shell companies and bank accounts to conceal at least $43 million in illicit proceeds from "pig-butchering" scams.

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Wash. Owner Of Sites Gets 20 Months For $4.8M Tax Evasion

By Gina Kim

A commercial real estate owner who was convicted of tax evasion for concealing roughly $4.8 million in income from the IRS was sentenced to nearly two years in prison by a Washington federal judge.

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PEOPLE

EXPERT ANALYSIS

How Justices Stayed Off The Geofence In Location Data Case

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Chatrie v. United States decision reaffirms Fourth Amendment protections for location data but avoids more complicated questions about geofence warrants, say attorneys at Adams Duerk.

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Decoding Arbitral Disputes: Post-Award Noncompliance

Grainful Holdings v. Mineev, a recent Commercial Court decision that resulted in a sentence for contempt following post-award enforcement proceedings, illustrates the point at which proceedings, having moved beyond recognition of an arbitral obligation, engage the court's own coercive jurisdiction, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

How Competitive Is Your Compensation? Take Our Survey

Is your compensation keeping pace with the rate of inflation? Do you know what your colleagues made last year? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's Law Firm Compensation Survey.

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Trump Admin Wants Susman Godfrey DQ In ABA's EO Suit

By Adrian Cruz

Over a year into a suit by the American Bar Association challenging 2025 executive orders targeting law firms, the Trump administration is looking to have Susman Godfrey LLP disqualified as plaintiffs' counsel, alleging the firm can't act as counsel in a case where it's also a key witness.

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Simpson Thacher Points To Audit Issues In Malpractice Trial

By Cara Salvatore

A corporate founder seeking more than $100 million in a malpractice case against Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP endured a withering cross-examination in Florida state court Monday over his companies' money flows and an auditor's refusal to certify their financial statements two years after the fundraising transaction he believes the firm botched.

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Jackson Walker, US Trustee Denied Delay In Romance Dispute

By Emma Cueto

Jackson Walker LLP and the U.S. Trustee's Office, grappling with the aftermath of a romantic relationship between one of the firm's former partners and a then-bankruptcy judge, will not be able to delay pretrial proceedings to continue negotiating a possible settlement, a judge ruled Monday.

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AGs Say DOJ Suit Would 'Upend' Atty Discipline System

By Phillip Bantz

Attorneys general in 20 states have raised alarms over the U.S. Department of Justice's "unprecedented effort" to halt a disciplinary case in D.C. against former federal prosecutor Jeffrey Clark, warning the Trump administration is trying to "upend a centuries-old system of attorney discipline" and put federal government lawyers beyond the reach of local disciplinary authorities.

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Tennessee Lawyer Disbarred For Doxxing Judge, Hiding Client

By Rachel Rippetoe

The Supreme Court of Tennessee on Monday upheld a decision to permanently disbar a family law attorney for harassing a juvenile court judge online and illegally hiding a client and their child from police officers in her home.

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Trump Demands Review Of Judges' Science Manual

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump has escalated a recent controversy over a scientific manual for federal judges that has been around for over three decades. 

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Another NYC Public Defense Union Sets Strike Deadline

By Andrea Keckley

The Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem union became the latest New York City-area legal aid union to set a strike deadline this week, announcing Monday that its over 230 members will walk off the job if they don't reach a deal with their managers by Friday at 8 a.m.

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Atty Says Firm Used Info From Merger Talks Against Him

By Christine DeRosa

A Florida-based attorney and accountant has accused DeWitt LLP of retaliating against him after he declined to merge his estate practice with the firm by representing a woman he sued for defamation in a separate case after he had shared confidential information with DeWitt.

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NYC Judiciary Advisory Committee Executive Steps Down

By Andrea Keckley

The executive director of New York City's Mayor's Advisory Committee on the Judiciary has resigned, a City Hall spokesperson confirmed Monday, as the committee's near-total vacancy continues.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week tackled disputes involving intellectual property, corporate control, fiduciary duties, artificial intelligence, trust administration and cryptocurrency litigation.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

4 5 Gray's Inn Square

Adams Duerk

Arnold & Porter

Burns Charest

Carney Badley

Claggett & Sykes

Claggett Sykes

Conrad & Scherer

Cooley LLP

DeWitt LLP

Hochman Salkin

Jackson Walker LLP

K&L Gates

Meritz Reddy

Norton Rose

Richards Layton

Robert Chicoine Law

Rusty Hardin

Ryan Ryan Deluca

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett

Stearns Weaver

Susman Godfrey

Swanson Martin

Williams & Connolly

Willkie Farr

Winston Taylor

Zeman & Womble

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Bar Association

Apple Inc.

BDO LLP

Brooklyn Defender Services

Center for Family Representation Inc.

Center for Justice

Fifth Third Bancorp

General Mills Inc.

Getty Images Holdings Inc.

Google LLC

Grindr LLC

Instagram Inc.

King Soopers

London Court of International Arbitration

Mercedes-Benz USA LLC

Meta Platforms Inc.

National Academy of Sciences

Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem

Nintendo Co. Ltd.

Patriot National Inc.

Rivian Automotive LLC

Seattle University

Skydance Media LLC

Snap Inc.

Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc.

The Bronx Defenders

The District of Columbia Bar

Uber Technologies Inc.

United Auto Workers

WK Kellogg Co

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Delaware Court of Chancery

Executive Office of the President

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Judicial Center

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Florida Attorney General's Office

Florida Supreme Court

Internal Revenue Service

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

New York State Unified Court System

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

U.S. Army

U.S. Attorney's Office

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

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Michigan

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington

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

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

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 Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

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

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

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

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

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

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

West Virginia Attorney General's Office