High Court To Issue Big Decisions In Term's Final Days

By Katie Buehler

As the U.S. Supreme Court enters the final days of its term, the justices still have several major decisions to issue, including some concerning birthright citizenship, the president's power to remove independent agency officials, transgender athletes and election rules. 

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En Banc 4th Circ. Splits Over Stay Of DOD HIV Enlistment Ban

By Ganesh Setty

The Fourth Circuit voted en banc Thursday to grant the federal government's bid to pause a lower court's permanent injunction blocking its policies excluding HIV-positive individuals from enlisting in the military, with a dissenting appellate judge writing that "the government is playing games!"

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Legal Groups Back DOL's H-2A Fine Power At High Court

By MJ Koo

A coalition of worker advocacy and legal aid organizations urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to uphold the Department of Labor's authority to collect monetary penalties from agricultural employers through its in-house adjudication system, arguing that H-2A visa program enforcement actions involve public rights that Congress may assign to the executive branch.

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At Angola Farm Line Trial, An Enduring Debate Over Slavery

By Marco Poggio

A yearslong federal case over forced agricultural labor at Louisiana's Angola prison raised questions about prison labor and its ties to slavery, but ended earlier this year with a judge's refusal to halt the practice despite finding workers remained exposed to dangerous heat. Advocates say that was a mistake.

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PACER Fees Will Rise To Fund Cyber Defense Upgrades

By Bonnie Eslinger

The federal judiciary announced Friday it will temporarily increase the fees for electronic access to court records to pay for a potential $800 million upgrade that will modernize and strengthen court records systems PACER and CM/ECF, an upgrade it previously said is needed to respond to escalating cyberattacks.

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Roundup

Employment Authority: Amazon Row May Spark Cemex Test

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage on how an ongoing bargaining dispute between Amazon and the Teamsters may have created a path to review a Biden-era bargaining order standard, the unanswered questions arising from a New York Court of Appeals decision on age limits for state judges, and how the Ninth Circuit is currently considering whether an employee can consent to arbitrate a dispute if they don't open emails with arbitration opt-out instructions.

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Reed Smith Wants Pause In Ex-Atty's Bias Suit Amid Appeal

By Jake Maher

Reed Smith LLP asked a New Jersey court on Thursday to stay a former attorney's gender discrimination suit against it while the attorney's appeal of the scope of the damages in the suit plays out.

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Hispanic Agents Say Liberty Mutual Unit Stereotyped Clients

By Hayley Fowler

Three Hispanic insurance agents in North Carolina said in a new complaint that they were singled out for investigation and ultimately fired after the Liberty Mutual unit that employed them stereotyped their predominantly Hispanic customer base.

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Judge Won't Halt Nonparty Outreach In $14M Wage Deal

By Benjamin Morse

A Colorado federal judge on Friday refused to block a plaintiff in a related state court case from contacting nurses in a $14 million wage and hour settlement, finding the health system and workers had not shown the court could step in and restrict a nonparty's conduct.

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Worker Sues DHL Express Over Seattle Wage Violations

By MJ Koo

DHL Express failed to provide legally required meal and rest breaks and denied workers compensation for missed break time in violation of state and local wage laws, a worker alleged in Washington state court.

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Mich. Crane Rental Co. Owes Union Funds $43K, Judge Says

By Emily Brill

A Michigan crane rental company must pay about $43,000 to a group of union benefit funds, a Michigan federal judge has ruled, agreeing with the funds that the company didn't uphold the contribution obligations outlined in its collective bargaining agreement and a 2018 memorandum of understanding.

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Pot Shop Says NY Can't Use 'Unclean Hands' In Labor Row

By Katherine Smith

A cannabis dispensary is seeking an early win in its challenge to a New York state requirement compelling cannabis operators to sign labor peace agreements with unions to secure a license, telling a federal court Friday that the state's argument alleging the company has "unclean hands" is meritless.

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Bricklayers Funds Bring ERISA Suits Against Masonry Cos.

By Melanie Dorsey

Two Michigan masonry contractors and their owners have been hit with federal lawsuits accusing them of failing to pay required union fringe benefit contributions, with one company allegedly owing more than $194,000 after an audit.

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Endoscopy Device Maker's Trade Secret Suit Trimmed In Ohio

By Adam Lidgett

An Ohio federal judge has kept alive most of medical equipment supplier Steris' lawsuit claim that a former research and development director stole its intellectual property to form a competitor, but agreed to trim some claims in the case.

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Homebuilder Says Colo. Atty Took Its Info To Adversary Firm

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado lawyer who represented a homebuilding company for more than a decade stole tens of thousands of the company's files when he went to work for a law firm that is a regular adversary to the homebuilder, the company alleged in Colorado state court. 

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NC Judge Won't Block Ex-Sales Team's Rival Venture, For Now

By Hayley Fowler

An office technology provider can't block a group of former sales representatives from running a rival business, which it claims they're doing by violating their noncompete agreements and using its trade secrets, after a federal judge said he'd wait until both sides can weigh in.

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Pfizer Beats Ex-Worker's Whistleblower Retaliation Suit

By Craig Clough

Pfizer defeated a former employee's whistleblower retaliation suit Friday after a California federal judge ruled the "uncontroverted material facts" show the company would have fired him for "legitimate, independent reasons" even if he did engage in protected whistleblowing.

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Contractor Not Liable For 'Obvious Danger': Texas Justices

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Supreme Court did away with an injured roofer's $4.6 million verdict against a general contractor, saying Friday that an independent contractor like the roofer cannot recover in the case of an "open and obvious danger."

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Taft Adds Fennemore Craig Duo Amid Post-Merger Growth

By Andrea Keckley

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP said on Thursday that it has added a pair of Fennemore Craig PC litigators to its Phoenix office, which has grown by 200% since the firm's merger with Sherman & Howard LLC at the start of last year.

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Constructing AI Compliance Plans As State Laws Diverge

With Colorado, Connecticut and the federal government recently announcing wildly different approaches to artificial intelligence regulation, creating a workable compliance program means addressing overlapping obligations using shared systems rather than separate silos, say attorneys at Ogletree.

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3rd Circ. Decision Sheds Light On BIPA Bank Exemption

The Third Circuit's recent decision in McGoveran v. Amazon illuminates how courts are extending the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act's financial institution carveout beyond banks and insurers to technology vendors and other businesses handling biometric data, a defendant-friendly shift that still casts uncertainty around BIPA's enforcement, say attorneys at Dorsey & Whitney.

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Justices' Montgomery Ruling Doesn't Expand Shipper Liability

Whether negligent hiring liability claims against shippers will increase after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II is anyone's guess, but the ruling itself will have no impact on shippers' actual liability in personal injury claims relating to trucking accidents, says Ronald Leibman at McCarter & English.

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Opinion

State Courts Must Be Gatekeepers Of Expert Testimony

Based on my experience in the state judiciary, emulating federal courts' role as gatekeepers of expert witness testimony would help state court judges maintain the appearance of impartiality and assist juries, thus enhancing the overall confidence people have in their justice system, says Lorie Gildea at Greenberg Traurig.

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Justices Strike Down Humphrey's Presidential Firing Limits

By Katie Buehler

The president has unlimited authority to fire members of independent agencies, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday in a major win for President Donald Trump's campaign against officials at the Federal Trade Commission and beyond.

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Insurer Says Firm, Atty Not Covered For Malpractice Claim

By Hope Patti

A Georgia law firm and attorney are not entitled to coverage for a legal malpractice claim brought by a former client who said their handling of an underlying lawsuit resulted in a nearly $600,000 default judgment against him, the firm's professional liability insurer told a federal court.

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Harris Beach Murtha To Combine With Peabody & Arnold

By Christine DeRosa

Harris Beach Murtha Cullina PLLC is set to expand its footprint in the Northeast through a combination with Boston firm Peabody & Arnold LLP.

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Greenberg Traurig Hires Nuclear Commission Veteran In DC

By Jack Rodgers

Greenberg Traurig LLP has hired a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission leader, who spent 18 years there, most recently as deputy assistant general counsel for materials, fuel cycle and waste programs, the firm announced Monday.

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Ex-Pa. AG, Trump Defense Firm Want Malpractice Claims Axed

By James Boyle

An elections nonprofit is seeking to keep alive its malpractice claim against the former acting attorney general of Pennsylvania and his firm, van der Veen Hartshorn & Levin, filing a quick response over the weekend to a motion to dismiss its amended complaint in Pennsylvania federal court.

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Justice Jackson Tops High Court Book Earnings In 2025

By Ryan Boysen

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson made nearly $1.2 million in book royalties last year, bringing her total to $4.14 million and making her the most highly compensated author on the high court, according to financial disclosure forms released Monday.

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Brief

NC 'Faithful Slaves' Monument Suit To End In Settlement

By Abigail Harrison

North Carolina residents are nearing a settlement in their lawsuit against a county alleging a monument that commemorates "faithful slaves" considered loyal to the South during the Civil War is unconstitutional, according to a notice filed in North Carolina federal court.

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Analysis

The End Of An 'Independent' FTC

By Bryan Koenig

Federal Trade Commission members, responsible for merger review, antitrust enforcement, consumer protection safeguards and rulemaking, and industry analysis, no longer serve at a remove from presidential authority, thanks to Monday's U.S. Supreme Court ruling that could dramatically remake the FTC and other independent agencies.

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Judge Limits Vegas Trip For BigLaw Insider Trading Defendant

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal magistrate judge said Monday a defendant described by prosecutors as a "lynchpin" in the BigLaw insider trading case must limit a planned visit to Las Vegas next month to just two nights, saying she also has "concerns about the validity" of a financial statement he provided to obtain a federal defender.

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Calif. Firm Can't Arbitrate Ex-Clients' Sex-Abuse Deal Claims

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California appellate court Monday said McGrath Kavinoky LLP can't arbitrate allegations it "bullied" two women into accepting a $374 million settlement for hundreds of clients claiming sexual abuse by a UCLA Health gynecologist, saying the firm's failure to obtain consent to the foreseeable conflicts made its engagement agreements unenforceable.

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