7th Circ. Skeptical Of Bid To Block Ill. 'Captive Audience' Ban

By Celeste Bott

Two interest groups asking the Seventh Circuit to revive their challenge to an Illinois law banning captive audience meetings by employers faced pointed questions Friday about whether the law has injured them at all, with one judge saying their suit is based on a "series of ifs."

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Reed Smith Defends Docs Production In Ex-Atty's Bias Suit

By Jake Maher

Reed Smith LLP urged a New Jersey court on Thursday to reject an "impulsive" motion from a former attorney suing it for gender discrimination seeking to strike its answer and affirmative defenses.

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Split 7th Circ. Rejects NLRB's Bid To Reinstate Union

By Dorothy Atkins

A split Seventh Circuit panel on Friday upheld a decision denying the National Labor Relations Board's bid to reinstate a truck-seller's union, with the majority finding that the union hasn't shown irreparable harm justifying such "extraordinary relief," while a dissenting judge criticized the majority for making harm nearly impossible to show.

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9th Circ. Asks Wash. Justices About Indirect Employer Claims

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel has asked the Washington State Supreme Court to clarify whether the state's law permits common law wrongful firing claims against indirect employers and certain individuals, saying the answers are key to assessing a former solar company CFO's claim he was unjustly ousted by a private equity backer.

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Wayne State Beats Doctor's Race Bias Suit Over Chair Job

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge tossed a Black physician's discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Wayne State University and several officials over his unsuccessful bid to become permanent chair of the medical school's obstetrics and gynecology department, finding that he never formally applied for the job.

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CIA Officers Urge 4th Circ. To Reject DEI Firings Rehearing

By Jared Foretek

Career intelligence officers fighting their terminations following the Trump administration's anti-DEI executive orders told the Fourth Circuit Thursday that there's no point in granting an en banc rehearing of a panel's order allowing them to internally appeal the firings, arguing the panel's ruling has limited application beyond their own case.

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Dems Seek Probe Of Suspect Comments On DOL Proposal

By Patrick Hoff

A trio of Democratic lawmakers urged the federal government to open a probe into reports that a U.S. Department of Labor proposal to expand retirement plans' access to alternative investments was flooded with fake comments, asserting the allegations raise questions about whether the public comment process has been corrupted.

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Roundup

Employment Authority: Blizzard Inks Labor Deal With Union

By Katherine Smith

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage on the potential impact Blizzard Entertainment's new labor contract with a union could have in the video game industry, mass arbitration demands filed in wage and hour disputes and recent legislative developments in state discrimination laws.

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11th Circ. Won't Revive Bias Suit Against Lockheed Martin

By Kelcey Caulder

The Eleventh Circuit on Friday refused to revive a former employee's discrimination suit against Lockheed Martin, saying a lower court rightly tossed the case after the worker failed to comply with discovery obligations and multiple court orders.

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Mass. Court Upholds Troopers' Firings Under Vax Order

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' intermediate appellate court on Friday affirmed the firings of 13 state police troopers who failed to get COVID-19 vaccinations in 2021, finding that disciplinary decisions were not subject to an arbitration clause in their union contract.

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Construction Co. Settles EEOC Suit Over Sex Contract

By Patrick Hoff

A home improvement company has settled a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging it unlawfully fired an office manager after she refused to sign a "dominant/submissive contract" given to her by an executive, according to a filing in North Carolina federal court.

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Conn. Town Beats Firefighter's Appeal In Pot-Use Firing Suit

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut appellate panel declined Friday to reverse a firefighter's loss in a lawsuit he brought against the town of Waterbury after he was fired for using medical marijuana, holding that his challenge to a state court's posttrial dismissal was inadequately briefed.

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Court Rules Doctor's Burnout Not Disability Under ADA

By MJ Koo

A Colorado federal court dismissed a radiation oncologist's disability discrimination suit against a Catholic health system, finding his burnout did not qualify as a disability under federal law and that he failed to show the hospital's stated reasons for withdrawing his job offer were pretextual.

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Swift Seeks To Narrow Truckers' OT Class Over Rest Time

By MJ Koo

A trucking company has asked a Washington federal court to clarify that truck drivers certified to pursue overtime claims cannot also pursue a separate theory that rest and sleeper berth time is compensable, arguing the theory was never included in the lawsuit or addressed when the court certified the class.

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Excavation Co. Off The Hook For Fund Payment, Judge Says

By Emily Brill

A Chicago-area excavation company has dodged an obligation to pay about $182,000 to an International Union of Operating Engineers local's scholarship fund, with an Illinois federal judge ruling Friday that a 2023 arbitration award can't be enforced against the company.

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Apple Says Ex-Worker Took 33 Files, Wiped Mac For OpenAI

By Ivan Moreno

Apple has told a California federal judge that a former engineer now at OpenAI downloaded at least 33 confidential files from Apple's Box repository after his departure, wiped an Apple-owned computer before returning it, and later told another former Apple employee who had joined OpenAI to erase her device.

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JPMorgan Likely Can't Void Arbitration Loss Over Food Platter

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge has said he is unlikely to vacate an arbitration panel's decision awarding a wealth manager $4.25 million from a JPMorgan Chase & Co. subsidiary, saying that although he finds the panel's award "exceptionally questionable," it doesn't meet the standard for the court to undo the decision.

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9th Circ. Ruling Raises Bar For Arbitration Pacts Via Email

The Ninth Circuit's recent holding in Rickes v. Thermo Fisher that the mere delivery of an email doesn't establish an employee's assent to the arbitration agreement underscores that rollout processes should both give employees notice of the agreement and create evidence of their assent, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

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Resetting For Success After Corporate Litigation Loses Focus

Corporate litigation that has lost strategic coherence may barrel disastrously ahead if counsel’s understanding of the matter drifts from the client’s goals, but cases can be wrenched back on track by diagnosing how facts have evolved, determining where resources are justified and deploying practical strategies for restoring discipline, says Jonathan Morris at Gordon Rees.

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How Bifurcation And Verdict Forms Can Sway Jury Outcomes

The bifurcated trial structure used in a Nevada personal injury case — where the jury recently awarded the plaintiff more than $56 million — highlights a strategic option that litigators often overlook and raises considerations about the potential advantage of carefully assembled verdict forms, says litigation consultant Clint Townson.

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Senior Lawyers Survey: Tell Us About Your Career

How are senior lawyers adapting to evolving career paths and emerging technologies? Share your perspective in this five-minute survey.

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The 2026 Regional Powerhouses

By Cara Bayles

From major deals to high-profile litigation, the firms named to Law360's 2026 Regional Powerhouses list are leading the way across 14 states. They deliver deep regional expertise and make a lasting impact at the state and local level.

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Analysis

Attys 'Itching' To Join Congressional Probes Of Trump Admin

By Phillip Bantz

Efforts to recruit high-powered lawyers to Capitol Hill to potentially lead congressional committee probes into the various dealings of President Donald Trump's administration are gaining momentum as Democrats push to retake control of Congress in the quickly approaching midterm elections.

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Ex-DOJ Chief Lambastes 'Abuses Of Power' In Goldstein Case

By Jeff Overley

The U.S. Department of Justice constantly made false statements in its criminal case against famed appellate advocate Tom Goldstein, and his convictions must be erased because "prosecutorial misconduct pervaded every stage of the proceedings," a former DOJ prosecutor told the Fourth Circuit.

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Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Latham, Sullivan

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, a group backed by Michael Dell's family office and Sequence Holdings acquires a majority interest in The Baldwin Group, May Mobility merges with a blank check company, and Infineon Technologies sells its memory chip business to Winbond Electronics.

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Ex-Wis. Judge Keeps License Amid ICE Conviction Appeal

By Ryan Boysen

The ex-Wisconsin judge convicted of obstructing an ICE arrest will remain an attorney in good standing while she appeals, after the Supreme Court of Wisconsin declined to suspend her law license.

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Richards Layton Litigator Selected For Chancery Seat In Del.

By Rose Krebs

A Richards Layton & Finger PA attorney has been nominated by Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer to serve on the bench of the nationally important Chancery Court, a venue that adjudicates some of the biggest corporate law cases.

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Judge Questions Whether 'Lawfare' Fund Fight Is Really Moot

By Jared Foretek

A Virginia federal judge seemed unlikely to toss a challenge to the Trump administration's nixed "Anti-Weaponization Fund" and tax audit immunity for the Trump family Friday, saying she worries the fund could be revived in a different form down the road.

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Chief US District Judge In SC To Take Senior Status Oct. 1

By Courtney Bublé

Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy Cain of the District of South Carolina has informed the president that he will be taking semiretired status on Oct. 1, according to an update posted Friday by the federal judiciary.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Starbucks settled a high-profile discrimination suit with Florida over its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, agreeing not to use race- or sex-based goals in hiring and promoting. And the SEC floated changing how publicly traded companies seek shareholder input, including promising to end one pathway for shareholders to place their proposals on corporate ballots. 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

Schemery Zicolello leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Third Circuit panel ruled that police cannot conduct warrantless strip searches outside of jails or prisons absent consent or an emergency.

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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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