Ex-FBI agents and analysts who investigated President Donald Trump's retention of classified documents sued FBI Director Kash Patel in D.C. federal court Thursday, alleging Patel unconstitutionally fired them after a video of him drinking went viral to get back in Trump's good graces and "to satisfy the president's personal vendetta."
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TOP NEWS

Ex-FBI Agents Claim Trump's Vendetta Led To Firings

By Dorothy Atkins

Ex-FBI agents and analysts who investigated President Donald Trump's retention of classified documents sued FBI Director Kash Patel in D.C. federal court Thursday, alleging Patel unconstitutionally fired them after a video of him drinking went viral to get back in Trump's good graces and "to satisfy the president's personal vendetta."

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Norfolk Southern On The Hook For $1.6M In Age Bias Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

An Alabama federal judge entered final judgment Thursday in favor of a former longtime Norfolk Southern worker who claimed the Atlanta-based company and two subsidiaries violated federal age discrimination law by forcing him out of his job, cementing a jury's $1.6 million verdict for the worker.

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Warehouse Workers Win $1.55M Settlement In Wage Suit

By MJ Koo

Thousands of California warehouse workers have reached a $1.55 million settlement with a staffing company over allegations that they were denied proper meal and rest breaks and were not fully paid for their work, according to a court filing.

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11th Circ. Backs Allegiant Win Over Race Bias, Retaliation Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Eleventh Circuit refused to reopen a Black former Allegiant Airlines employee's suit alleging she was fired for complaining to the CEO that white colleagues were harassing her and making racist jokes, finding she only contacted the executive after she was caught lying about an altercation with a co-worker.

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Wash. Justices Doubt Prosecutor Immunity In Judge DQ Case

By Rachel Riley

Washington Supreme Court justices pushed back Thursday on assertions by a county prosecutor's office that it's immune from claims that it improperly used disqualification affidavits to remove a former judge from its cases, with one justice noting that a line-level prosecutor acknowledged an officewide policy to seek disqualification of the judge.

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DISCRIMINATION

Ex-Microsoft Manager Says Her Bias Complaints Led To Firing

By Ben Adlin

A former Microsoft Corp. engineering manager sued the tech giant in Washington state court Wednesday over claims the company eliminated her role after she raised concerns about race and gender discrimination against women of color.

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WAGE & HOUR

Fighters Resist Funding Inquiry In UFC Wage Antitrust Case

By Alex Lawson

A group of MMA fighters suing the UFC over alleged wage-fixing are resisting the organization's attempt to obtain information about the fighters' litigation funding, casting the effort as a distraction from their lawsuit.

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Dog Hotel Accused Of Denying Pay For Off-Clock Work

By Benjamin Morse

A dog hotel chain failed to pay workers for time spent waiting to clock in, assisting customers and working through meal breaks, according to a proposed class action in California state court.

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LABOR

Union Can't Arbitrate Quarrel Over Kraft Retiree Benefits

By Grace Elletson

A Delaware federal judge blocked a Teamsters union from arbitrating claims that the Kraft Heinz Company improperly withheld health benefits from retirees, ruling the parties' collective bargaining agreement makes clear that the dispute must be resolved through different means.

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Union Illegally Rejected Member's Resignation, Ruling Says

By MJ Koo

A Michigan electrical workers union has unlawfully refused to accept a member's resignation and fined him more than $6,000 for starting his own contracting business, a National Labor Relations Board judge has ruled.

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TRADE SECRETS

No Sanctions Over Lost Evidence In Tax Software Dispute

By Jack McLoone

A Pennsylvania federal court won't sanction tax software company Avalara Inc. for destroying evidence in an employee poaching suit brought by a rival, as the judge adopted a special master's findings that the rival couldn't show the missing evidence harmed its case.

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Ex-Racing Director Says Deleted Texts Don't Merit Sanctions

By Hayley Fowler

The former competition director for NASCAR superteam Joe Gibbs Racing LLC said his "candor" should save him from sanctions after he admitted to deleting text messages with the owner of a rival team before his old employer sued him for trade secrets theft.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Clippers Salary Cap Probe Offers Investigation Tips For Cos.

The NBA's recent investigation into whether the Los Angeles Clippers circumvented salary cap rules offers an unusually detailed look at how a significant organizational probe was conducted and how its findings were presented, offering practical lessons for companies conducting their own investigations, say attorneys at Wiley.

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Parsing The Latest Signals On FTC Section 5 Enforcement

Federal Trade Commission cases brought over the last several years and Commissioner Mark Meador’s recent call for stand-alone Section 5 enforcement suggest businesses should prepare for continued scrutiny of conduct beyond traditional antitrust violations, particularly in essential goods, technology and labor markets, say attorneys at Axinn.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Mayer Brown Lands 2 Sheppard FDA Partners

By Tracey Read

Mayer Brown LLP has bolstered its life sciences capabilities with two former Sheppard partners, including that firm's former U.S. Food and Drug Administration practice leader.

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Greenberg Traurig Hires Sidley Private Funds Atty In Chicago

By Jack Rodgers

Greenberg Traurig LLP has hired a former Sidley Austin LLP counsel, who spent nearly a decade before her last law firm position working with Balyasny Asset Management in a range of related legal roles, the firm recently announced.

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Analysis

Expect These Post-Midterm Probes If The Hill Changes Hands

By Phillip Bantz

The top investigative priorities of a potentially Democratic-controlled Congress are coming into sharper focus with the midterms weeks away and could impact an array of companies and individuals in technology, finance and energy, experts say.

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White & Case Taps 47 Partners In Largest US Class Since 2022

By Ashish Sareen

White & Case LLP has elevated 47 lawyers to its partnership, its largest promotion round since a record 59 lawyers became partners at the start of 2022.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Schlichter Bogard LLC leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the full Eleventh Circuit overturned decades-old precedent that took a strict view of when federal benefits law claims could be brought in court.

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Dems Press Kirkland Again For Details Of $125M Trump Deal

By Courtney Bublé

A trio of congressional Democrats once again accused Kirkland & Ellis LLP of subverting their oversight requests into the $125 million deal the firm cut with the Trump administration last year.

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Ex-Legal Tech Co. Exec Says Pregnancy Got Her Fired

By George Woolston

A legal technology company abruptly fired its director of partnerships after it learned she was pregnant, and has since withheld a nearly $40,000 bonus, according to a lawsuit lodged in New Jersey state court.

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Google Users' $85M Fee Ask Stalls Over 'Utterly Lacking' Bill

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge on Thursday rejected an $85 million attorney fee request following a $700 million settlement in a consumer-led case against Google, ruling that counsel's submitted billing records are "utterly lacking in information demonstrating what work was done and for what purpose," while granting leave to amend the request.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The top investigative priorities of a potentially Democratic-controlled Congress are coming into sharper focus with the midterms just weeks away and could impact companies in various sectors. In the meantime, one BigLaw firm formed a board to oversee the use of artificial intelligence and evaluate proposals from its practice groups and sectors. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Monopoly Allegations Test ABA's Role In Legal Education

By Emma Cueto

The American Bar Association is facing mounting claims that the council responsible for law school accreditation acts as a monopoly, an accusation levied amid a broader, politicized battle over the future of legal education.

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Brief

Cooley Reportedly Matches Milbank Pay Scale Starting In '27

By Matt Perez

Cooley LLP will reportedly increase U.S. associate base compensation in line with the pay scale set by Milbank LLP in June beginning on Jan. 1.

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Could A Criminal Sentencing Case Upend Loper Bright?

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is concerned that a ruling instructing trial courts to defer to the U.S. Sentencing Commission's interpretation of federal sentencing guidelines could blow a "pretty big hole" in the court's recent rejection of deference doctrines. His colleagues, however, don't appear as perturbed.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Abato Rubenstein

Axinn

Bartlit Beck

Berger Montague

Blank Rome

Brach Eichler

Burge & Burge

Campbell & Williams

Claggett & Sykes

Cleary Gottlieb

Cohen Milstein

Cooley LLP

D.Law Inc

Dann Law Firm

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dunn Isaacson Rhee

Foley & Lardner

FordHarrison

Freshfields

Friedland Cianfrani

Friedman Kaplan

Gordon Rees

Gordon Tilden

Greenberg Traurig

Hogan Lovells

Jones Day

Joseph Saveri Law Firm

Kaplan Fox

Kellogg Hansen

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Kline & Specter

Koskoff Koskoff

Latham & Watkins

Levenfeld Pearlstein

Lockridge Grindal

Locks Law Firm

Loeb & Loeb

Lowell & Associates

Mayer Brown

Meltzer Lippe

Milbank LLP

Miller Cohen

Miller Cohen Peterson Young

Morgan Lewis

Munger Tolles

Nelson Mullins

O'Donoghue & O'Donoghue

Parker Poe

Paul Hastings

Paul Weiss

Pillsbury Winthrop

Pollard PLLC

Porzio Bromberg

Quinn Emanuel

Reese Marketos

Robbins LLP

Robinson Bradshaw

Schlichter Bogard

Setareh Law Group

Seyfarth Shaw

Sidley Austin

Smith Katzenstein

Steptoe LLP

Susman Godfrey

Terrell Marshall

Troutman

Venable LLP

Wachtell Lipton

Waters Kraus

White & Case

Wiggins Childs

Wiley Rein

Zimmerman Law Offices PC

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AMG Cos.

AT&T Inc.

Above the Law

Adani Enterprises Ltd.

Amazon.com Inc.

Ameriben Solutions Inc.

American Bar Association

Apple Inc.

Association of Corporate Counsel

Avalara Inc.

Balyasny Asset Management LP

Binance Holdings Ltd.

Boingo Wireless Inc.

Boise Cascade Co.

CVS Health Corp.

Candela Corp.

Cantor Fitzgerald LP

Chevron Corp.

Comcast Corp.

Daktronics Inc.

Dell Technologies Inc.

DuPont de Nemours Inc.

Epic Games Inc.

Express Scripts Holding Co.

Exxon Mobil Corp.

George Washington University

Google LLC

GrubHub Inc.

Instagram Inc.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

International Brotherhood of Teamsters

Linqto Inc.

Los Angeles Clippers

Match Group LLC

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Mitsui & Co. Ltd.

NASCAR Digital Media LLC

New Civil Liberties Alliance

Norfolk Southern Corp.

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Optimum

Otsuka Holdings Co. Ltd.

Penske Automotive Group Inc.

PepsiCo Inc.

Porzio Life Sciences LLC

Rambus Inc.

Randstad NV

Skydance Media LLC

Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Syngenta AG

The Kraft Heinz Co.

The Walt Disney Co.

Trump Organization Inc.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

USA Rare Earth Inc.

Ultimate Fighting Championship Ltd.

Vertex Inc.

Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.

XPO Logistics

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

House Committee on Natural Resources

Internal Revenue Service

Los Angeles Superior Court

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Court

Texas Attorney General's Office

Texas Supreme Court

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Justice

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 Delaware

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

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

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

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Office of Government Ethics

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Sentencing Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Nevada

United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama