1st Circ. Backs Bribe Sentences For Brothers Turned 'Crooks'

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit has upheld two-year prison terms and nearly $17 million in forfeiture for a former Massachusetts police officer and his brother after they admitted to bribing employees of a utility ratepayer-funded energy savings program administrator to steer $36 million in contracts their way.

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Trump Orders 100% Pharma Tariff, Modifies Metals Duties

By Dylan Moroses

Later this year, the U.S. will impose 100% tariffs on imported pharmaceuticals, but drug companies could qualify for reduced tariff rates as low as zero if they agree to invest domestically and enter most-favored-nation drug-pricing agreements with the government, according to an executive order President Donald Trump signed Thursday.

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Feds Say Clean Air Act Nullifies Calif. Truck Emissions Regs

By Linda Chiem

The federal government and heavy-duty truck manufacturers have asked a California federal court to stop the state's "brazen defiance of federal law" and its efforts to strong-arm manufacturers into complying with stringent emissions standards, lest they be shut out from the market and face stiff penalties.

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Groups Say Feds' Gulf Species Exemption Flouted Process

By Ganesh Setty

Environmental conservation groups have sued a committee of top federal officials that waived Endangered Species Act requirements for oil and gas activities in the Gulf of Mexico, alleging the so-called "God Squad" violated key procedural safeguards.

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Property Co. Not Liable To Investors In $40M Fraud Suit

By Sydney Price

A group of investors were told by a Tennessee federal judge that they cannot claim that a property holding company is liable for debts to investors under state statute in a suit accusing a purported green energy outfit and its executives of using promises of extravagant returns to induce investments.

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Brief

ITC Says Chinese Anodes Aren't Harming US Producers

By Jack McLoone

Subsidized Chinese anodes sold into the U.S. at unfair prices aren't harming domestic industry, the U.S. International Trade Commission said Thursday, blocking the U.S. Department of Commerce from issuing duty orders.

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Ownership Limbo Spurs Stay Bid In $380M PetroSaudi Fight

By Joyce Hanson

A PetroSaudi unit has urged a California federal court to continue its stay in litigation by the U.S. government over a $380 million arbitral award purportedly tied to funds embezzled from Malaysia, saying company control remains in limbo in the Cayman Islands and Barbados.

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Power Co. Claims Ex-Worker At Rival Copied More Than 1,100 Files

By José Luis Martínez

A mobile power generation company sued one of its former managers in Texas federal court, saying he copied more than 1,100 files from his work computer and later accessed some of them while working at a competitor.

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TotalEnergies, Masdar Launch $2.2B Asia Renewables Venture

By Al Barbarino

TotalEnergies and the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. said Thursday that they have agreed to establish a $2.2 billion 50/50 joint venture that will merge their onshore renewable energy activities in nine countries across Asia.

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California Agency Wants SunPower Tax Issue Out Of Ch. 11

By Alex Wittenberg

California's Department of Tax and Fee Administration has asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to abstain from hearing a tax audit dispute in solar panel company SunPower's Chapter 11 case, saying the matter should be handled in a state administrative forum.

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Amazon Mulls $9B Globalstar Buy, Plus More Rumors

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Amazon is considering an acquisition of satellite company Globalstar in a $9 billion deal, cosmetics giant Estee Lauder is in talks to merge with Spanish beauty firm Puig in a deal that would create a $40 billion beauty giant, and private equity behemoth Apollo is in discussions to acquire Atlantic Aviation from KKR in a $10 billion deal.

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Unused Nuke Licenses Offer Shortcut For New Reactor Builds

While much has been done to accelerate the deployment of new nuclear generation, a number of still-valid licenses issued by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for reactors that have not yet been built represent an unutilized resource for project developers looking to start construction quickly, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

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Series

Ultramarathons Make Me A Better Lawyer

Completing a 100-mile ultramarathon was tougher, more humbling and more rewarding than I ever imagined, and the experience highlighted how long-distance running has sharpened my ability to adapt to the evolving nature of antitrust law and strengthened my resolve to handle demanding, unforeseen challenges, says Dan Oakes at Axinn.

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ABA, Ex-Judges And Many More Back BigLaw In EO Appeal

By Dorothy Atkins

Numerous bar associations, 239 former judges, 21 states, lawmakers and dozens of other amici curiae have thrown their weight behind BigLaw firms in the Trump administration's consolidated D.C. Circuit appeal seeking to revive executive orders targeting the firms, broadly arguing that the orders are an affront to foundational constitutional rights.

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Legal Sector Lost 700 Jobs In March, Ending Hiring Streak

By Tracey Read

The legal sector began to slow down in March after a year and a half straight of gains, with 700 fewer people employed in lawyer, paralegal and other law-related professional roles last month than in February, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Progressive Org. Rolls Out $3M Anti-Trump High Court Push

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump does not have any vacancies on the U.S. Supreme Court, but a progressive court advocacy organization is not waiting for a justice's departure to launch a multimillion-dollar campaign opposing a possible Trump pick.

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Brief

Justice Alito Treated For Dehydration After Federalist Event

By Courtney Buble

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito felt ill during a Federalist Society event last month and was seen by a doctor "out of an abundance of caution," the high court announced on Friday.

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6th Circ. Axes Atty For 'Inexcusable' AI 'Transgressions'

By Rae Ann Varona

An attorney committed "inexcusable transgressions" by relying on Westlaw's internal CoCounsel artificial intelligence platform for appellate filings and by failing to catch erroneous AI-generated content, the Sixth Circuit said Friday and removed the lawyer from further representing a man who pled guilty to drug trafficking charges.

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Analysis

'Political' Deals Pit DOJ Against State AGs, And Not Just Dems

By Bryan Koenig

Controversial U.S. Department of Justice settlements with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Live Nation, along with the approval of Nexstar's purchase of Tegna, are increasingly inspiring state attorneys general to strike out on their own as antitrust enforcers, often in direct challenge to a federal government that Democrats have cast as "corrupt."

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Florida Gov., AG Face Criticism For Judge Impeachment Push

By Rose Krebs

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier faced pushback this week from some in the state's legal community for calling for the impeachment of a judge for releasing a man who went on to allegedly kill his five-year-old stepdaughter, with critics blasting those calls as being politically motivated and "unethical."

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DOJ's New Corporate Enforcement Policy May Eclipse SDNY's

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of Justice has put to use for the first time its new corporate enforcement policy of declining prosecutions when companies self-report potential criminal violations, but experts say the new, department-wide initiative has rendered a more business-friendly approach by the Southern District of New York moot.

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Ex-DOJ Official Wants Epstein-Talk Suit Kept In District Court

By Emily Sawicki

A former U.S. Department of Justice acting deputy chief who was fired last year after a hidden-camera video of him discussing the Epstein files was posted online has told a D.C. federal judge his due process case must survive in district court because the Trump administration now controls federal oversight agencies.

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Trump Seeks 13% Boost In DOJ Funding

By Courtney Bublé

The White House budget request for fiscal 2027, released on Friday, seeks $40.8 billion in discretionary funds for the U.S. Department of Justice, a 13% increase from the current year level.

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Judge Stands By Block Of DOJ Subpoenas In Powell Probe

By Jon Hill

A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Friday rejected a U.S. Department of Justice attempt to revive subpoenas from its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, saying the government hadn't "come close" to giving him a reason to rethink blocking them.

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Schneider Wallace Loses Bid For Bigger Piece Of $75M Fee

By Lauren Berg

A California federal magistrate judge on Friday rejected Schneider Wallace Cottrell Kim LLP's bid to increase its cut of a $75.4 million fee award for representing plaintiffs in a $228.5 million Sutter Health antitrust deal, saying lead counsel Constantine Cannon LLP's allocation of $1.4 million to Schneider Wallace was fair.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

PayPal was hit with a proposed investor class action that claims the payments giant hid slowing growth for its critical branded checkout business. In the meantime, a Shopify lawyer encouraged his peers during a webinar to make sure their outside counsel have "met the moment" by leveraging artificial intelligence in smart ways. These are some of 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

Alliance Defending Freedom, Pearman Law Firm PC and attorney Barry Arrington lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Colorado ban on therapy intended to change a minor's sexual orientation or gender identity amounts to viewpoint discrimination against a Christian therapist.

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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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