Parler Ex-CEO Wins $11M Over Ouster From Social Media Site

By Cara Salvatore

A jury in Nevada found Friday that Parler co-founder John Matze is owed nearly $11.1 million, including $250,000 in punitive damages, for the stake he was stripped of after billionaire business partner Rebekah Mercer and others allegedly changed the social media company's constitution to get rid of him.

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Nurse Can't Get 9th Circ. To Reopen COVID-19 Vax Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A split Ninth Circuit panel refused Friday to reinstate a lawsuit alleging an Oregon healthcare system violated the First Amendment when it refused to excuse a nurse from its COVID-19 vaccination mandate, concluding the hospital had demonstrated it would've been too difficult to let her skip the jab.

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Northwestern Beats Ex-Gender Center Chief's Retaliation Suit

By Celeste Bott

A Cook County jury sided with Northwestern University on Friday on claims by its former gender and sexuality center director that he was unlawfully fired and banned from campus in retaliation for criticizing its decision to remove resources from the center's website, soon after President Donald Trump's administration began cracking down on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

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Starbucks Can't Exit Fight Over Union Trademarks

By Elliot Weld

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday denied Starbucks Corp.'s bid to escape a lawsuit from a union representing over 12,000 Starbucks workers seeking a declaration the union can continue using Starbucks' logo and name, saying the union had done enough to show an actual controversy exists to be litigated.

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Advisory Co. Says Ex-Worker Stole Client Data Via AI Notes

By Zach Dupont

A former employee of a compensation, benefits and business risk advisory firm used an unapproved artificial intelligence note-taking app to record confidential client meetings before leaving for a competitor and taking company trade secrets with her, the company said in a complaint filed in Colorado federal court.

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5 Supreme Court Cases To Watch This Fall

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will convene Monday to begin its 2026 October term, which includes several cases that could determine the future of climate change tort litigation, expand religious freedoms and parental rights, and grant states authority to require proof of citizenship when individuals register for presidential elections using state forms. 

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Roberts Wants Less Talk. Supreme Court Attorneys Disagree.

By Katie Buehler

Near the end of last term, Chief Justice John Roberts voiced his frustration with the U.S. Supreme Court's lengthening oral argument sessions and suggested the justices might tweak their format over the summer. But as the new term begins Monday, the court has yet to announce any changes, and advocates see little need for improvement.

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Up First At High Court: Climate Torts & Munitions Disposal

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will begin its new term on Monday, when the justices consider whether state courts have the authority to hear climate change lawsuits that seek to hold fossil fuel companies liable for local damages caused by greenhouse-gas emissions and whether federal courts can hear constitutional challenges to veterans benefits laws.

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Nurse Says Emory Offered Laundry Work After Light Duty Bid

By David Aaro

A registered nurse hit Emory Healthcare with a disability bias suit in Georgia federal court, claiming the hospital operator eventually fired her after it tried to banish her to the laundry room following her accommodation request for light duty.

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Ex-New Jersey Judge's Yearslong Back-Pay Suit Tossed

By Rose Krebs

A New Jersey federal judge has again dismissed a suit filed by a former state judge accusing former state treasurers of illegally withholding her pay while she was suspended amid a since-dismissed criminal case, this time because proceedings have been inactive.

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Ex-Legg Mason Worker Keeps 401(k), Leave Claims Alive

By Benjamin Morse

A former Legg Mason product marketing employee can move forward with claims that she was wrongly denied 401(k), stock purchase, paid time off and vacation benefits despite being labeled a temporary worker, a New York federal judge ruled, while tossing her claim for severance benefits.

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UFC Wants To Know Who's Backing Fighters' Wage Case

By Alex Lawson

The Ultimate Fighting Championship is pressing a Nevada federal judge to pull back the curtain on the funding of a proposed wage-fixing class action that has been snaking through federal court for years.

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Nike Fights Bid For Class Pay Records In Wage Suit

By MJ Koo

Nike opposed a Washington retail worker's request for classwide pay and scheduling records in federal court, arguing the demands would require more than 1,400 hours of manual retrieval from computer systems and that he has not shown why 2,000 employees' records are needed for class certification.

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Hertz Hit With PAGA Suit Over Off-Clock Work

By Benjamin Morse

Hertz stiffed workers on their full pay by rounding their time, making them wait off the clock to use a timekeeping terminal and requiring them to respond to work messages during breaks and after shifts, according to a Private Attorneys General Act suit.

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Rivian Accused Of Denying Wash. Workers Breaks, OT Pay

By Ben Adlin

Electric vehicle maker Rivian broke multiple employment laws in Washington state and Seattle by failing to provide mandated meal and rest breaks, shorting workers on pay and failing to reimburse business expenses, according to a former employee's proposed class action filed Tuesday.

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Dollar Tree Accused Of Shorting Colo. Workers

By Benjamin Morse

Dollar Tree failed to fully pay its workers for off-the-clock duties, missed breaks and business expenses, according to a proposed class action filed in Colorado state court.

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Pa. Hospital Workers Sue Over Biased Time Rounding

By MJ Koo

A patient registration worker sued the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in federal court Friday, alleging the hospital system's timekeeping software rounds time in the company's favor, while requiring patient services staff to work off the clock before and after their shifts and during meal breaks without compensation.

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Feds Can't Ax Unions' Suit Over AI Monitoring Of Noncitizens

By Craig Clough

A New York federal judge has declined to toss a lawsuit by unions accusing federal immigration agencies of using artificial intelligence to surveil noncitizens' online activity, finding that immigration law does not bar the suit because it does not challenge the removal proceedings of any individual.

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NY-Presbyterian Can't Nix Union Funds' Antitrust Suit

By Taylor Bowie

A New York federal judge ruled three union benefit funds can pursue an antitrust suit against New York Presbyterian Hospital without first proving it holds a large market share in the city, rejecting the hospital's motion to toss the suit on Friday.

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NJ Township Accused Of Discriminatory Paving Contract

By Katherine Smith

An apprenticeship and training fund has sued a New Jersey township in state court over a project labor agreement in its 2026 paving project, claiming the agreement prevents the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union from placing apprentices on the project.

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Chemical Co. Secures $1.25M In Fees In Trade Secrets Case

By Elliot Weld

A chemical distributor was awarded nearly $1.25 million in attorney fees by a Seattle federal judge but was denied exemplary damages after winning $1.9 million in a trial against former employees accused of lifting trade secrets as they left the company.

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Mich. School Head Says Board Used Sham Probe To Oust Him

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan school district failed to renew a superintendent's 2026 contract following a phony investigation because he refused to violate district procedure at a board member's behest, according to a lawsuit filed in Michigan federal court. 

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Fisher Phillips Launches Miami Shop With Zumpano Castro

By Madison Arnold

Labor and employment law firm Fisher Phillips has launched a new Miami office with help from boutique firm Zumpano Castro.

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Religious Accommodation Lessons From Recent EEOC Focus

With several recent U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforcement actions focusing on religious accommodations, employers should identify the actual burden an accommodation imposes, distinguish operational hardship from co-workers' objections, and pay attention to how the accommodation is implemented, says Crystal Banse at Spencer West.

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Visa Ruling Exposes APA Risks For DHS Grace Period Repeal

Four defects described in a September district court decision halting the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's new restrictions on student visas as arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act can also be seen in the agency's recent proposal to eliminate a long-standing grace period for laid-off skilled foreign workers, says Jun Li at Reid & Wise.

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Opinion

Clancy Trial Shows Need For Juror Anonymity Reforms

Doxing of the holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder mistrial in Massachusetts illustrates the increasing need to provide jurors with greater protection once service ends in high-profile cases, balancing concerns about transparency and independence, says Daniel Schneider at Offit Kurman.

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Justice Alito Says He's Weighing The Best Time To Retire

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito has confirmed that he considered retiring at the end of the high court's latest term, and that he will continue to weigh that decision "every term." 

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Munger Tolles Announces Clerkship Bonus Increases

By Matt Perez

Munger Tolles & Olson LLP announced Thursday that it is increasing its clerkship bonuses to $180,000 for one qualifying clerkship and $200,000 for two or more qualifying clerkships.

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Analysis

DOJ Envisions 'Full-Fledged Law Firm' To Combat Gov't Fraud

By Phillip Bantz

The National Fraud Enforcement Division was created less than six months ago, but it is rapidly reshaping the U.S. Department of Justice and spurring an uptick in internal corporate investigations, white collar experts say.

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Legal Sector Adds 2K Jobs, For 6th Straight Month Of Growth

By Tracey Read

While the overall U.S. economy's unemployment rate ticked up to 4.2% last month, the legal industry was in the midst of a six-month hot streak.

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Judge Clevenger Retires After 36 Years On Fed. Circ.

By Dani Kass

U.S. Circuit Judge Raymond C. Clevenger III has retired from the Federal Circuit, 20 years after taking senior status, the court said Friday.

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Jackson Walker May Face New Sanctions Over Old Romance

By Rick Archer

A Texas bankruptcy judge Friday threatened Jackson Walker LLP with sanctions over yet another bankruptcy case where the firm's retention was approved by a judge in a relationship with a former attorney at the firm.

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Keesal Young Owes Duty To Safeguard 316K People's Data

By Matt Perez

A California federal judge has kept negligence and consumer privacy claims intact against law firm Keesal Young & Logan over a 2024 data breach that exposed the personal information of more than 316,000 people, finding the plaintiffs have standing because their data apparently landed on the dark web.

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Trump Asks 9th Circ. To Pause Seattle US Atty Reinstatement

By Rachel Riley

The Trump administration called on the Ninth Circuit Friday to suspend a federal judge's Thursday order reinstating Roger Rogoff as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Washington, seeking to keep Charles Neil Floyd as acting head of the Seattle office pending the government's appeal.

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Thomson Reuters Hit With Antitrust Case Over 'Killer' AI Deal

By Matthew Perlman

A California law firm has accused Thomson Reuters of violating antitrust law when it purchased artificial intelligence research tool Casetext for $650 million and then shuttered the platform to extinguish a rising competitor to its Westlaw service.

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Amazon Seeks Records Around Lawyer's USPTO Suspension

By Ben Adlin

An attorney Amazon has accused of furthering a scheme to fraudulently register thousands of trademarks and use them to report infringement by rival Amazon merchants must hand over documents related to her discipline in California and Washington, the retail giant argued in a Washington federal court filing Thursday.

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Tenn. High Court Keeps ABA As Law School Accreditor

By Emma Cueto

The Tennessee Supreme Court on Friday declined to follow other conservative states in dropping the American Bar Association as the state's law school accreditor, though it indicated it is open to approving other accreditors in addition to or instead of the ABA in the future.

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Analysis

3rd Circ. AI Ruling May Reach Beyond Westlaw Content Fight

By Ivan Moreno

The Third Circuit went out of its way to say its ruling against a defunct legal research startup was not a generative artificial intelligence case, but copyright lawyers expect the reach of its reasoning to be tested almost immediately in pending AI litigation.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The Department of Justice has unveiled new corporate fraud enforcement priorities, and a report found that more than four out of five legal departments have adopted artificial intelligence. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions after a California federal jury said Apple owes $5.7 billion to headphone-maker Taction for infringing two vibration technology patents, issuing the largest patent verdict in U.S. history.

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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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