Prosecutors are urging North Carolina's highest court to uphold a drug conviction thrown out on appeal, saying an appellate court deemed a key forensic expert's trial testimony unconstitutional using a flawed interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision in Smith v. Arizona.
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Row Over Forensic Expert Testimony Hits NC High Court

By Brandon Lowrey

Prosecutors are urging North Carolina's highest court to uphold a drug conviction thrown out on appeal, saying an appellate court deemed a key forensic expert's trial testimony unconstitutional using a flawed interpretation of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2024 decision in Smith v. Arizona.

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NY Court Orders Ineffective-Counsel Hearing In Murder Case

By Parker Quinlan

A New York appeals court ordered a lower court to hold a hearing for a man convicted of murder to present his case that he was given ineffective assistance of counsel when his trial attorney refused to request a lesser included offense in his case.

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Affairs, Spending Come Out In Goldstein Cross-Examination

By Jared Foretek

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein was confronted Thursday with allegations of extramarital affairs, lavish spending and lies on asset disclosures, all in front of the jury in his ongoing tax fraud trial.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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ACCESS TO JUSTICE

Judge Halts Supermax Transfer For Death Row Prisoners

By MJ Koo

A D.C. federal judge has barred the Trump administration from transferring a group of prisoners whose death sentences were commuted to life in prison to the federal system's most restrictive prison, finding they are likely to succeed on their claim that the redesignations violate due process.

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IMMIGRATION

NYC Politician Lander Gets Trial Date Over ICE Scuffle

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge set a May trial date Thursday for former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander to adjudicate a ticket he received for allegedly obstructing Immigration and Customs Enforcement as he monitored proceedings at a building where immigrants have been detained.

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Mass. US Atty Calls ICE Criticism 'Hyperbole,' Praises Agents

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley said Thursday that criticism of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by state and local officials and a lack of cooperation with federal agents is to blame for "chaos in the streets," as she forcefully defended the Trump administration's policies.

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STATE APPELLATE COURTS

Pa. Panel Says Parolee Can't Have Probation Term Revoked

By Parker Quinlan

A Pennsylvania appeals court vacated a sentence of a man sent back to prison for a probation violation, holding that because he was still serving a parole term when he failed to appear in court, he did not violate the terms of his probation.

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INVESTIGATIONS & ENFORCEMENT

Texas AG To Investigate Conduent, BCBS For Data Breach

By Spencer Brewer

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Thursday that he's investigating Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas and Conduent Business Services LLC over a sprawling data breach that left sensitive data for upward of four million Texans exposed.

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'Texit' Crypto Offering Halted By Texas Securities Regulator

By Emilie Ruscoe

Texas' state securities regulator has filed an emergency cease-and-desist order against an enterprise selling mining interests for a cryptocurrency invoking the Texas secession movement, alleging the scheme constitutes a fraudulent and unregistered offering and sale of securities.

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WHITE COLLAR

Feds Charge 2 Foreign Nationals Over $10M Healthcare Fraud

By Lauraann Wood

Federal officials in Chicago announced healthcare fraud charges Thursday against two natives of Pakistan who allegedly made $10 million by using fake medical companies to submit Medicare and other health benefit claims for items and services they never provided.

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Coal Exec Used 'Mr. Yen' To Talk Kickbacks, FBI Testifies

By Matthew Santoni

A former Corsa Coal Corp. executive exchanged messages with a sales agent in Egypt that appeared to reference splits of sales commissions among officials at the Al Nasr Co. for Coal and Coke, and used coded phrases like "meet Mr. Yen" to discuss sending money as kickbacks, an FBI agent told a Pittsburgh federal jury Thursday.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Takeaways From 1st DOJ Antitrust Whistleblower Payout

The U.S. Justice Department's recent $1 million antitrust whistleblower reward accelerates the race to report by signaling that the Antitrust Division's program can result in substantial financial awards and reinforcing the need for corporate compliance programs that reach beyond core components, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

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Series

Trail Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Navigating the muddy, root-filled path of trail marathons and ultramarathons provides fertile training ground for my high-stakes fractional general counsel work, teaching me to slow down my mind when the terrain shifts, sharpen my focus and trust my training, says Eric Proos at Next Era Legal.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

6th Circ. Says Ch. 13 Motion Came 84 Minutes Too Late

By Vince Sullivan

A 2-1 split panel of the Sixth Circuit affirmed two lower court rulings from Michigan federal judges denying a Chapter 13 debtor's motion to dismiss his bankruptcy case because the request came 84 minutes after a bankruptcy court converted the case to a Chapter 7.

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Louisiana Atty Takes Responsibility For AI Usage Snafu

By Christine DeRosa

After facing the threat of sanctions alongside three of his co-counsel, a Louisiana attorney told a federal judge that he was solely responsible for an error-riddled brief written with the assistance of artificial intelligence. 

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Brief

Indiana AG Declines To Intervene In Posner Wage Suit

By Emily Sawicki

Indiana's attorney general has declined to intervene in a pro se plaintiff's suit seeking to revive $170,000 in wage claims against retired Seventh Circuit Judge Richard A. Posner, finding the case did not pose a "substantial" constitutional challenge to a state statute mandating that delayed contracts must be written and signed to be enforced.

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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 a former U.S. defense contractor convicted of tax evasion face legal action, French football club Olympique Lyonnais sued following a $97 million ruling against its owner John Textor, consulting giant Kroll targeted by a South African airline, and H&M hit with a claim alleging it copied protected sunglasses designs. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Taking heat from Republican senators over not notifying members of Congress about subpoenas for their phone records, Verizon's general counsel has pledged that in the future, the company will fight gag orders requiring it to keep silent. And taking heat from shareholders and colleagues over her ties to Jeffrey Epstein, Goldman Sachs' chief legal officer has agreed to leave the firm in June.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

WilmerHale and Gillam & Smith LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Texas federal jury cleared Apple of infringement claims over patents covering 4G wireless technology, in a case that previously led to jury verdicts of $506 million and $300 million.

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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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Promo that reads 2025 Practice Groups of the Year

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Addleshaw Goddard

ArentFox Schiff

Baker Donelson

Baker McKenzie

Barclay Damon

Beasley Allen

Ben Crump Law

Brockstedt Mandalas

CMS Cameron McKenna

Clyde & Co

Conyers Dill

Covington & Burling

DAC Beachcroft

DLA Piper

Dean Omar

Dentons

DiCello Levitt

Eichhorn & Eichhorn

Faegre Drinker

Fenchurch Law

Gibbs Mura

Gibson Dunn

Gillam Smith

Gowling WLG

Greenberg Traurig

HJV Car Accident Personal Injury Lawyers

Hacker Stephens

Harrison Goddard Foote

Hecker Fink

Hogan Lovells

Homburger AG

Howes Percival

Jones Fussell

Keoghs LLP

Kessler Topaz

Kirkland & Ellis

LK Law Pty Ltd

Lacy Price

Latham & Watkins

Law office of Stephen N. Preziosi

Leach & Walker

Lenz & Staehelin

Levin Sedran

Lieff Cabraser

Liskow & Lewis

Mayer Brown

MoloLamken

Morgan Lewis

Motley Rice

Munger Tolles

Nabarro LLP

Napoli Shkolnik

Osborne Clarke

Penningtons Manches

Perkins Coie

Pillsbury Winthrop

Quinn Emanuel

Reynolds Porter

Riess LeMieux

Robbins Geller

Seeger Weiss

Sharp Law LLP

Sher Tremonte

Sherin & Lodgen

Skadden Arps

Sullivan & Cromwell

Taylor Rose

Thompsons Solicitors

Trethowans LLP

Trowers & Hamlins

Tycko & Zavareei

Vincents Solicitors

Wagstaff & Cartmell

Walker Morris LLP

Ward Hadaway

White & Case

WilmerHale

Yetter Coleman

gunnercooke LLP

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Airlines Group Inc.

American Bar Association

American Civil Liberties Union

American International Group Inc.

Apple Inc.

Association of Corporate Counsel

Audemars Piguet Holding SA

Aux

Barclays PLC

Binance Holdings Ltd.

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association

BlueCross BlueShield of Texas

British Broadcasting Corp.

ByteDance Ltd.

Center for Constitutional Rights

Conduent Inc.

Defender Association of Philadelphia

Google LLC

H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB

Instagram Inc.

International Business Machines Corp.

Investments Ltd.

J Sainsbury PLC

Johnson & Johnson

Kyndryl Holdings Inc.

Laing O'Rourke

Leidos Holdings Inc.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Group

LinkedIn Corp.

Lloyd's America Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Monsanto Co.

Nasdaq Inc.

Navy Federal Credit Union

PPG Industries Inc.

Sling TV LLC

Snap Inc.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The Hershey Co.

The Home Depot Inc.

The Western Union Co.

TikTok Inc.

Transocean Ltd.

Valaris

Verizon Communications Inc.

Vodafone Group PLC

W.R. Berkley Corp.

W.R. Grace & Co.

Waldorf Astoria Hotels and Resorts

Walmart Inc.

YouTube Inc.

Zimmer Biomet Holdings Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Delaware Court of Chancery

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Financial Conduct Authority

Indiana Attorney General's Office

Internal Revenue Service

National Labor Relations Board

North Carolina Department of Justice

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Texas Attorney General's Office

Texas State Securities Board

U.S. Attorney's Office

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

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

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

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

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Michigan

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. General Services Administration

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Postal Service

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court