Russia has asked the D.C. Circuit to overturn a decision ordering it to face litigation by a Ukrainian utility to enforce a nearly $219 million arbitral award the company won after its Crimean assets were seized, saying it never agreed to arbitrate with the company.
Law360
International Arbitration
FRIDAY, AUGUST 8, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Russia Says It Never Agreed To Arbitrate With Ukrainian Utility

By Joyce Hanson

Russia has asked the D.C. Circuit to overturn a decision ordering it to face litigation by a Ukrainian utility to enforce a nearly $219 million arbitral award the company won after its Crimean assets were seized, saying it never agreed to arbitrate with the company.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Reed Smith Faces DQ Bid In Venezuelan Airline Dispute

By Carolina Bolado

A group of shareholders who say they own half of Venezuela's Avior Airlines have asked a Florida federal court to disqualify Reed Smith LLP from representing the airline and a feuding shareholder, claiming that the engagement of the law firm was not approved by a majority of the shareholders as required by the company's bylaws.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

U.S. Power Co. Seeks OK Of $824M Argentina Award

By Joyce Hanson

AES Corp. has asked a D.C. federal court to enforce its $824 million arbitral award against Argentina, which the U.S. utility company won earlier this year after the country purportedly interfered with electricity generation assets owned by its local affiliates.

Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Valve Won't Pay $21M Arb. Fee In Antitrust Fight, Gamers Say

By Gina Kim

About 15,000 users of Steam, one of the largest online sellers of video games, have accused the platform's operator, Valve, in a new proposed class action in Washington federal court of refusing to pay its nearly $21 million share in arbitration fees stemming from a series of individual antitrust disputes, in which consumers alleged the company inflated the price it charged for games.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

6th Circ. Orders Redo Of Pension Fund Withdrawal Liability

By Hailey Konnath

The Sixth Circuit on Wednesday said a pension fund's actuary must redo his estimate of a Michigan-based paving company's withdrawal liability, likening the actuary to an oddsmaker giving a bad estimate of how many points a college basketball team will give up in a game because he is "just rude."

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

RISING STARS

Rising Star: Latham's Samuel Pape

By Caroline Simson

Samuel Pape helped lead a Latham & Watkins LLP team that secured victory for the Republic of Colombia in three separate investment treaty arbitrations initiated by Canadian mining companies that were collectively seeking more than $1 billion, earning him a spot among the international arbitration attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

PEOPLE

Womble Bond Adds Hill Dickinson Atty As Disputes Partner

By Joyce Hanson

Womble Bond Dickinson has appointed a new London-based partner for its commercial disputes team, saying he will help strengthen the law firm's international arbitration practice following his move from Hill Dickinson LLP.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

LEGAL INDUSTRY

Bonus Spotlight

Milbank Offers Summer Bonuses Of Up To $25K To Associates

By Anna Sanders

Milbank LLP has become the first BigLaw firm to announce summer bonuses this year, offering up to $25,000 for associates and counsel after smaller shops also unveiled midyear payouts.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

'Breakdown In Civility' Gets Boies Schiller Sanctioned

By Grace Elletson

A California federal judge slapped Boies Schiller Flexner LLP with a $15,000 sanction Thursday in a former worker's suit claiming Levi Strauss & Co. declined to promote her out of sex bias, faulting the firm for a "uniquely eye-opening breakdown in civility and professionalism."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Federal Courts Disclose New Cyberattacks On PACER System

By Lauren Berg

The federal judiciary on Thursday disclosed there have been escalating cyberattacks on its case management system, putting sealed and sensitive case documents at risk, and that it is taking steps to strengthen its security.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fox Rothschild Must Face Litigation Funding Suit, Court Told

By Rose Krebs

A married couple is urging a New Jersey state judge to reject Fox Rothschild LLP's bid to exit a malpractice suit alleging that they were unlawfully steered to cover medical expenses with high-interest loans from the firm's litigation funder client, saying they've "amply" pleaded claims of misconduct.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Boston Heart CEO Defends Jenner & Block Fee Bid

By Rose Krebs

Boston Heart's former CEO is urging the Delaware Chancery Court to order the medical testing company to advance her legal fees to pay Jenner & Block LLP for its defense of her in criminal and civil cases, disputing Boston Heart's claims that the law firm's rates are "grossly inflated."

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ's Boasberg Complaint Violates Judicial Privacy, Sen. Says

By Jake Maher

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., has accused the U.S. Department of Justice of misusing private comments from a meeting of the Judicial Conference of the United States to pursue ethics charges against a federal judge who found probable cause to hold President Donald Trump's administration in contempt of court.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2nd Circ. Says Trial Atty With Brain Disease Not 'Ineffective'

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Second Circuit on Thursday affirmed the convictions of a former New York City law enforcement union president along with its ex-financial adviser for defrauding members out of $500,000, rejecting among contentions that one defense lawyer's abilities were impaired at trial by a fast-moving neurodegenerative disease.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Ethics Panel Clarifies Judge DQs In Racial Justice Cases

By Madison Arnold

A California judicial ethics committee has issued a formal opinion advising a judge who is a former prosecutor that a pending case involving a discovery motion under the state's Racial Justice Act does not require the judge's recusal.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

California Anti-Deepfake Law Struck Down By Judge

By Jared Foretek

A California federal judge has agreed to block a California anti-deepfake law as constitutionally and legally invalid, siding with conservative media companies and content creators who argued that the law infringes platforms' First Amendment rights to moderate content on their own and pressures them to censor speech.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Democracy Forward Launches Appellate Practice

By Lynn LaRowe

The Democracy Forward Foundation has formed an appellate practice on the heels of a hiring spree that has doubled the nonprofit's legal staff since November with former BigLaw and government attorneys, as some private firms have pulled back from taking on cases that challenge the current White House.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump Admin Asks Justices To Halt ICE Arrest Limits In LA

By Hailey Konnath

The Trump administration on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to pause a California federal court's order temporarily blocking the government from conducting immigration arrests in the Los Angeles area without probable cause, arguing that it threatens officials' ability to enforce immigration laws.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sentencing Commission Plans To Reassess Fraud Guidelines

By Stewart Bishop

The U.S. Sentencing Commission on Wednesday said it will consider potential reforms to the federal sentencing guidelines for fraud offenses, including the outsized role of loss calculation in sentencing, one of several priorities the agency has marked for closer examination.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump Taps Economic Adviser Miran For Fed Board Vacancy

By Sarah Jarvis

President Donald Trump said Thursday that he has chosen Stephen Miran, the chairman of his Council of Economic Advisers, to fill a vacancy on the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors until early 2026 while continuing to search for a permanent replacement.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Promo that reads 2025 Rising Stars Promo that reads Meet Law360’s Newest Section: Criminal Practice with a photo of a bronze Lady Justice statue in the foreground and gavel in the background

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Asher Kelly

Ballard Spahr

Bell Nunnally

Binder & Schwartz

Boies Schiller

Cahill Gordon

Chaffetz Lindsey

Corr Cronin

CourtLaw

Covington & Burling

Curtis Mallet-Prevost

Downey Brand

Fox Rothschild

Frank Freed

Freshfields

Hamilton Lincoln

Heyman Enerio

Hill Dickinson

Holwell Shuster

Jenner & Block

Latham & Watkins

Mayer Brown

Milbank LLP

Montgomery McCracken

Morvillo Abramowitz

Neal & Harwell

Otterbourg PC

Paul Hastings

Potomac Law Group

Reed Smith

Richards Layton

Skadden Arps

Sullivan & Leavitt

Vartabedian Hester

Wilentz Goldman

Wilkinson Stekloff

WilmerHale

Womble Bond

Wordstone Dispute Resolution

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Aires

Alliance Defending Freedom

Amazon.com Inc.

American Arbitration Association

American Civil Liberties Union

Boston Heart Diagnostics Corp.

Campaign Legal Center

Democracy Forward Foundation

Electronic Privacy Information Center

Google LLC

Harvard University

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

Kohl's Corp.

Law Enforcement Employees Benevolent Association

Levi Strauss & Co.

London Court of International Arbitration

Louisville Cardinals

Public Counsel

Samsung C&T

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

The AES Corp.

The Home Depot Inc.

Uber Technologies Inc.

United Farm Workers

Valve Corp.

X Corp.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Attorney General's Office

California Supreme Court

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Delaware Court of Chancery

Federal Reserve System

Internal Revenue Service

International Chamber of Commerce

Judicial Conference of the United States

Kansas Judicial Branch

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

Permanent Court of Arbitration

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

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 Eastern District of California

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

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

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

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Sentencing Commission

U.S. Supreme Court