Trade Court Certifies Broad IEEPA Tariff Refund Class

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Court of International Trade granted a broad class certification for importers subjected to President Donald Trump's now-invalidated global tariff regime Thursday in a move the judge said he hopes will ensure all such tariffs are refunded.

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Amex Fined $350M Over Anti-Money Laundering Lapses

By Jon Hill

American Express has been fined $350 million over findings of systemic deficiencies in its banking unit's anti-money laundering program, including for alleged failures to properly detect and report $13 billion in potentially illicit activity over roughly a decade, federal regulators said Thursday.

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FTC's Meador Urges EU To Adopt Case-By-Case Enforcement

By Bryan Koenig

Federal Trade Commission member Mark Meador on Thursday argued digital market rules in the U.K. and the European Union undermine international cooperation with U.S. antitrust and consumer protection enforcers, in the latest Trump administration admonishment of the policies.

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Global Trade More Resilient Than Expected In 2026, WTO Says

By Jack McLoone

The global market has largely weathered conflicts in the Middle East and other disruptions better than expected so far in 2026 thanks to the growth of artificial intelligence, the World Trade Organization said Thursday, revising upward some of its global trade growth projections.

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Brief

EU Lawmakers Call For Stronger Trade Ties To African Nations

By Dylan Moroses

The European Parliament approved a resolution Thursday that calls for stronger trade relations with African countries.

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Maduro's Wife Loses Bail Bid As US Levels Torture Charges

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge declined Thursday to grant bail to the wife of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, after prosecutors unveiled new narco-terrorism charges accusing the couple of a 25-year course of torture, including against Americans.

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Ex-Coal Exec's Bribe Sentencing Paused Amid Witness Claims

By Phillip Bantz

A Pennsylvania federal judge agreed Wednesday to reschedule an upcoming sentencing hearing for a former coal executive convicted of authorizing bribes to an arm of the Egyptian government, after his attorneys flagged new allegations against a star witness for the prosecution.

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Kratom Cos. Say Baltimore Overreached With Marketing Suit

By Mike Curley

Three kratom sellers and distributors are asking a Maryland federal court to throw out a suit from the city of Baltimore alleging they misled consumers about the addictive nature of kratom, and saying the city is trying to step into enforcement shoes that are meant to be filled by state actors.

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Coastal County Tells Texas Justices It's Free To Tax Stored Oil

By Michael Nunes

A Texas county's property tax on stored oil that companies said was bound for export doesn't violate the import-export clause of the U.S. Constitution, the county told the state's high court Thursday, saying a significant amount of oil remained in the state.

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CIT Unconvinced By Commerce's Landing Gear Scope Finding

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce's finding that certain imported landing gear subassemblies are in the scope of duty orders on Chinese chassis doesn't mesh with the plain language of the orders, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled.

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Trade Court Remands Commerce's Freight Coupler Duties

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. Department of Commerce failed to sufficiently explain how attached freight couplers are within the scope of countervailing and antidumping duties placed on freight rail couplers imported from China, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Thursday, remanding the matter back to Commerce for further explanation.

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DLA Piper Taps 2 O'Melveny Lawyers For Leadership Roles

By Jack Rodgers

DLA Piper has hired two O'Melveny & Myers LLP lawyers as the new leaders in two D.C.-based intellectual property groups, one of whom was the leader of his prior firm's International Trade Commission litigation group.

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Series

Mentalism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Convincing strangers I can read their minds may seem like an unusual second career for a legal practitioner, but both disciplines share several important requirements, including trust and preparation, says Warren Biro at Manatt.

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Sheppard Mullin Hit With Class Action Over Data Breach

By Jake Maher

A former Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP paralegal launched a proposed class action against the firm in California federal court on Wednesday over a cyberattack it had in August, in which she says at least 1,000 people's names and Social Security numbers were stolen.

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IP Rights Group Urges Against Litigation Funding Disclosure

By Elliot Weld

An inventor rights advocacy group has told a federal courts rules committee that requiring the disclosure of who is funding civil litigation would put independent inventors at a disadvantage when trying to enforce patents against a larger company.

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Analysis

New Fraud Division Flexes Might In Latest Enforcement Policy

By Phillip Bantz

The National Fraud Enforcement Division's new corporate enforcement policy emphasizes the quick pursuit of certain types of fraud through data analysis and staff resources, expands the target list beyond traditional healthcare providers and highlights the division's growing dominance within the U.S. Department of Justice, experts say.

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Cornell Defendant Seeks To Nix James As Special Prosecutor

By Andrea Keckley

One of the seven men accused of drugging and raping a fellow Cornell University student at a fraternity home has asked a New York state court to void Gov. Kathy Hochul's appointment of New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the case.

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Gov't Attys Could Face Sanctions Over AI Use Omissions

By Madeline Lyskawa

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge has ordered four government attorneys to explain why they shouldn't be sanctioned for making factual misrepresentations about the U.S. Army's use of artificial intelligence to evaluate contract proposals.

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Split Congress Could Spur Competing Probes, Cleary Finds

By Courtney Bublé

If the new year brings an era of divided Congress, then "dueling investigations" into the same topics should be expected, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP said in a report it released Thursday.

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Fla. Judge Says Oct. 7 Attack Was 'Inflection Point' For U.S.

By David Minsky

U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman addressed a small group of attorneys in a Florida law office to speak on his book about the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, saying public debate over facts surrounding the event and underlying feud has reached an "inflection point" in America.

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Buzbee Faces $970K Fee Bid In Dismissed Conspiracy Cases

By Lynn LaRowe

A Mississippi lawyer is asking a Texas state court to award her more than $970,000 in fees after defeating claims that she and her law firm conspired with rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP to retaliate against prominent Houston plaintiffs attorney Tony Buzbee and two of his former clients.

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Dems Says GOP Broke Senate Rules In Jack Smith Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have accused Republicans of violating committee rules during a hearing last week with former special counsel Jack Smith.

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