11th Circ. Backs Navy Win In Worker's Retaliation Case

By David Aaro

The Eleventh Circuit declined to reinstate a lawsuit brought by a former Navy employee alleging she was terminated for reporting a breach of a settlement agreement, saying the Navy's key decision makers were unaware of her complaints and that she had committed "numerous acts of alleged insubordination" during that time.

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UFCW Wins Order Blocking DOJ's Wash. Ballot Demands

By Benjamin Morse

A Washington federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from demanding that state election officials set aside ballots from hundreds of suspected noncitizens, concluding that federal prosecutors likely overstepped their authority by threatening officials with criminal charges if they refused.

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Analysis

Dem Takeover Points To Reset On College Sports Legislation

By Alex Lawson

The looming Democratic takeover of both congressional chambers signals doom for quick action on college sports oversight, with a crowded calendar and the new majority's wishes to reshape the legislation emerging as roadblocks to a Senate-approved bill.

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UMich Protest Plaintiff Seeks Dismissal Amid Criminal Case

By Parker Quinlan

A former University of Michigan employee who alleges she was fired for participating in a pro-Palestine protest has asked to be temporarily dropped from her employment retaliation lawsuit against the university, arguing that continuing with the case may jeopardize her defense in a parallel federal criminal case.

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Roundup

Employment Authority: Labor Sees Gains After Dems Win

By MJ Koo

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage on what Democrats' midterm takeover of Congress could mean for labor's legislative agenda, how the party's gains in state governments could spur new paid leave laws and a Missouri constitutional amendment that could make it harder for lawmakers to overturn wage ballot measures.

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Colo. Asks For Early Win In Ex-Official's Race Bias Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

Colorado and its officials urged a federal judge Friday to grant them an early win in a race discrimination lawsuit brought by a former state agency head, contending the ex-employee's claims fall short because the state terminated her for performance issues and insubordination.

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Harvard Says EEOC Charge Is Retaliation For Defying Trump

By Julie Manganis

Harvard University on Friday urged a Massachusetts federal judge to reject the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's request for hiring data on thousands of applicants and employees, calling it the "latest escalation" of a "persistent, all-out campaign to punish Harvard for refusing to acquiesce" to the Trump administration's efforts to exert control over the school.

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Software Co. Says Lack Of US Tie Dooms Revenge Porn Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

Georgia-based software firm Ebix asked a federal court to toss its ex-CEO's suit alleging the company's owner obtained intimate images of him and his wife without consent and threatened to release them to pressure him into dropping a separate case, arguing the law doesn't cover acts allegedly committed in India.

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SoCal Glass Installer Shortchanged Apprentice, Suit Says

By Emily Brill

A Southern California glass installation company didn't pay an apprentice for his first two months of work, then paid him a "flat, declining weekly amount that was not tied to the number of hours he actually worked," he said in a wage suit filed in California state court.

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Worker Says Savers Value Denied Full Wages, Breaks

By Benjamin Morse

Thrift-store operator Savers Value Village Inc. rounded workers' hours in the company's favor, denied breaks and improperly calculated overtime and sick pay, according to a proposed class action filed in state court.

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10th Circ. Lifts Block On New NCAA Eligibility Rule

By Elaine Briseño

The Tenth Circuit on Friday reversed a lower court's preliminary decision that would have granted another year of eligibility to thousands of NCAA athletes, finding that the trial judge erred by defining the relevant market for antitrust review as all Division I athletics in the United States.

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College Hoops Star's Return Blocked Despite Win In Court

By Chris Villani

A Missouri judge granted a fifth year of eligibility to basketball star Robbie Avila, a bespectacled forward for Saint Louis University who briefly suited up for the Los Angeles Lakers' Summer League squad, but his return to the Billikens was blocked Friday by the College Sports Commission. 

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Carpenters Union Says Detroit Co. Owes Benefit Funds $288K

By Emily Brill

A Detroit woodworking and millworking company owes a group of union benefit funds about $287,500, the union and the funds' trustees allege in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Michigan federal court, asking the court to compel the company to pay up.

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3rd Circ. OKs Konica Minolta Appeal Of Severance Suit Class

By Patrick Hoff

The Third Circuit said it will consider Konica Minolta's bid to unwind class status in an ongoing lawsuit alleging the business services provider used an office relocation as cover for conducting a mass layoff without having to pay severance.

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Quant Trader Denies Using Stolen Recipe At Code Theft Trial

By Pete Brush

A California quant trader accused of stealing billion-dollar code from his former employer argued to a New York federal jury that he did not use any secret recipe at a new venture, denying trade secrets theft charges.

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Ex-Cruise Line Server Says Reporting Assaults Got Her Fired

By Kelcey Caulder

American Cruise Lines fired a server after she reported being repeatedly sexually assaulted by the vessel's executive sous chef, and the company ignored warning signs about him beforehand, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Georgia federal court.

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NLRB Ruling Redraws Arbitration Confidentiality Limits

The National Labor Relations Board's recent decision in Ralphs Grocery adds to a growing body of board precedent that offers takeaways for how employers can maximize the enforceability of confidentiality restrictions and discovery procedures in arbitration agreements, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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Opinion

Judges Must Turn To Merits Earlier To Fix Civil Justice System

The U.S. justice system is long overdue for a cultural shift that encourages judges to engage with the merits of a case from the outset, which would help to cut through procedural complexities and deliver high-quality justice efficiently and at lower cost, says Steven Kayman at Rottenberg Lipman.

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Are You Happy With Your In-House Role? Take Our Survey

Is your company giving you everything you need to succeed? What are some misconceptions about working in-house? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Satisfaction Survey.

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Squire Patton, Baker McKenzie Hit With Data Breach Suits

By Rae Ann Varona

Squire Patton Boggs LLP and Baker McKenzie failed to protect private personal information stored in the law firms' systems from separate cyberattacks and delayed notifying affected individuals for roughly two months, two proposed class actions filed in Ohio and Illinois federal courts have alleged.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Susman Godfrey LLP, Langer Grogan & Diver PC, Hausfeld LLP and MoloLamken LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Ninth Circuit ruled that a former federal judge erred by scrapping a $4.7 billion jury verdict against the National Football League in a class action over the price of its Sunday Ticket broadcast package.

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Judge Kewalramani Warns Against Taking Sanctions Lightly

By Dani Kass

Retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Shashi Kewalramani on Friday cautioned patent attorneys to be extremely discerning when filing sanctions motions, comparing it to crying "fire" in a crowded room.

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Brief

US Legal Sector Jobs Reached Record High In October

By Tracey Read

The legal industry's hot streak continued last month, adding 2,400 more jobs in October to reach a record high, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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US Charges 3 Over $129M AI Scam Using Fake UK Lawyers

By Laura Stewart Liberty

U.S. prosecutors said Thursday they have charged three men, including one facing extradition from London, for allegedly defrauding companies of $129 million through a scheme that used AI to impersonate executives and U.K. lawyers.

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Defeated Texas Justice Being Considered For Federal Bench

By Courtney Bublé

With the clock ticking on Republicans' control of the Senate, President Donald Trump is considering putting a Texas Supreme Court justice who just lost reelection on the federal bench.

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Attys Can Curb AI Error Fallout With Candor, Accountability

By Andrea Keckley

Nearly four years since ChatGPT launched and the legal industry began experimenting at scale with generative artificial intelligence, not a month goes by without another attorney finding a hallucination error in a court filing.

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Top Blanche Adviser Among Latest To Exit DOJ

By Jared Foretek

A top legal adviser to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced his departure from the U.S. Department of Justice Friday, becoming the latest in a slew of high-profile resignations from the department since Republicans' midterm election defeat Tuesday night.

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Ice Miller Sued Over $729K Award After Losing Federal Forum

By Andrea Keckley

A couple who hired Ice Miller LLP to defend their organization against a breach of contract suit have accused the firm in Indiana federal court of exposing them to additional litigation with a settlement that failed to preserve federal jurisdiction over future disputes.

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Law Firm Sues Sierra Leone Over $361K Legal Bill

By Jared Foretek

Law firm Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC claims in a complaint filed in D.C. federal court that Sierra Leone's government stiffed it on more than $300,000 in legal fees and costs after the firm defended it against earlier claims of unpaid fees by Jenner & Block.

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Mich. Supreme Court Chief Next To Lead Chief Justice Group

By Melanie Dorsey

The Michigan Supreme Court's chief justice has been named president-elect of the Conference of Chief Justices, a national organization representing the highest-ranking state judicial officers, and she plans to focus on expanding access to legal services, reforming attorney licensing and strengthening courthouse security.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The U.S. Department of Justice's new cash rewards program for tips on criminal fraud could backfire in some cases, experts say. Elsewhere, attorneys are weighing new strategies in the wake of Texas' historic blue shift during the midterm elections. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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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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