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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Bondi Out As Attorney General After Contentious Time At DOJ

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday Attorney General Pam Bondi will be leaving her post. 

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Goldstein Allowed To Move Out After Marriage Falls Apart

By Jared Foretek

A Maryland federal judge on Thursday allowed SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein to relocate for the duration of his home confinement, after Goldstein's attorneys said his marriage had fallen apart and it no longer "makes sense" for Goldstein and his wife to share a residence.

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Raskin Blasts DOJ Bid To Shield Attys From State Bar Probes

By Courtney Bublé

Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, said Thursday the U.S. Department of Justice's endeavor to preempt state bar investigations of department attorneys is a "get out of jail free" card.

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DLA Piper, Vax Refuser Reach Deal To End Religious Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

DLA Piper has struck a deal to wrap up a Christian former employee's lawsuit claiming he was fired for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine because of his religious beliefs, an Illinois federal judge said Thursday.

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Feds Say Habeas Ruling Could Spur More 'Illegal Orders'

By Jared Foretek

The Trump administration has asked the Fourth Circuit to reverse a district ruling that upheld a standing order from Maryland federal judges barring immediate removal or transfer of immigrant detainees, arguing the ruling sets a dangerous precedent for district court standing orders.

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Schneider Wallace Fights Uphill For Bigger Cut Of $75M Fees

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal magistrate judge appeared skeptical Thursday about 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 seems fair.

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Puerto Rico Bankruptcy Stymies Paul Weiss, ACLU Fee Bids

By Carolyn Muyskens

American Civil Liberties Union and Paul Weiss attorneys who successfully eased restrictions on voting by mail in Puerto Rico during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot collect fees for their work because they were discharged in Puerto Rico's bankruptcy proceeding, the First Circuit has ruled.

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Process Server ABC Legal Inks $2.5M Deal Over Cyber Breach

By Ben Adlin

Seattle-based ABC Legal Services LLC, which bills itself as the nation's largest network of legal process servers, would pay $2.5 million under a tentative deal to settle workers' putative class action claiming a 2024 cyberattack exposed their personal information, the plaintiffs told a Washington federal court Wednesday.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen data giant Sportrader face action from software company Altenar over alleged market abuse, Mexican billionaire Ricardo Pliego sue a man who allegedly defrauded him out of $415 million, and Warner Bros. bring a copyright claim against a YouTuber who leaked set footage of the upcoming Harry Potter series. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K. 

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