EU Carves Out Free Trade Partners In Revised Steel Duties

By Jack McLoone

The European Union's new tariff-free steel import quotas will take effect Wednesday, with half of the 18.3 million metric tons in annual duty-free steel imports being allocated to countries with free-trade agreements with the EU, the European Commission said Tuesday.

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Customs Change Isn't Singling Out China, EU Official Says

By Eleanor Butler

The abolition of a de minimis customs exemption and a new duty on low-value parcels entering the European Union, set to apply starting Wednesday, do not specifically target China, a senior European Commission official said.

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ITC Funding Disclosure Rule Mostly Draws Support

By Dani Kass

The U.S. International Trade Commission's proposal to require litigation funding disclosures in intellectual property investigations received near-universal approval from those who provided feedback, receiving pushback only from an organization representing litigation funders and a nonpracticing entity.

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Analysis

FERC Future Fuzzy After High Court's Agency Firings Ruling

By Keith Goldberg

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission faces an uncertain future following the U.S. Supreme Court's blockbuster ruling that presidents have unlimited authority to fire members of independent agencies, which creates new risks for an energy industry that's used to regulatory continuity at FERC.

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ITC's Longest-Serving Judge Plans To Depart

By Ryan Davis

MaryJoan McNamara, the U.S. International Trade Commission's longest-tenured administrative law judge, plans to step down from her post, according to people familiar with the decision.

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Brief

Canada, Germany Pledge Closer Cooperation On Chips

By Dylan Moroses

Canadian and German officials signed a joint declaration committing to work together on policy matters involving semiconductor supply chains, according to a Tuesday news release by the Canadian government.

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Income Taxes Drive Slight Boost In Asia-Pacific Tax Ratio

By Jack McLoone

Increases in income tax collection in the Asia-Pacific region helped drive a modest increase in the region's average ratio of tax to gross domestic product in 2024, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Tuesday, though it still sits well below the OECD average.

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Brief

ITC Opens Patent Probe Into Chinese Protein Testing Co.

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. International Trade Commission said it has opened an investigation into a U.S. biotechnology company's claim that a Chinese company is importing and selling kits and other technology in the U.S. that infringe patents related to testing the proteins in genomes.

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Eletson Ex-Owners Ordered To Pay $296K In Fraud-Tainted Feud

By Emlyn Cameron

A New York federal judge has told the former majority owners of Eletson Gas to pay nearly $300,000 in sanctions after he vacated an underlying $102 million arbitration award over alleged fraud.

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Perfectus Deal Raises Trade Missteps To Enterprise Risk Level

Former inspector general Parisa Salehi at Parker Poe discusses what the U.S. Department of Justice's recently settled False Claims Act case against Perfectus Aluminum can teach companies about satisfying trade reporting obligations as agencies increasingly coordinate enforcement.

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Series

Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

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Goldstein Calls Gov't's Attack On Text Messages 'Hypocrisy'

By Jared Foretek

Lawyers for convicted SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein have rejected prosecutors' claims that the famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer may have deleted messages between himself and his poker backers, calling the government "hypocritical" after it had previously argued that Goldstein could authenticate the messages if he took the stand at trial.

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Judiciary Dems Seek DOJ Replies Before Blanche Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

Ahead of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing for the permanent position, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding he provide answers to their outstanding oversight inquiries.

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Brief

Texas Federal Judge Requires Confirmation Of AI Checks

By Emily Sawicki

Attorneys and self-represented parties appearing before U.S. District Judge Ernest Gonzalez of the Western District of Texas are now required to certify that they have independently verified the contents of any filings created or edited using artificial intelligence.

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'Do Your Part,' Mass. Judge Chides Read Case Attys Post-Leak

By Cara Salvatore

A Massachusetts judge on Wednesday lectured counsel in the high-profile civil case against Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman acquitted of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend, to honor their ethical obligations after sensitive information leaked on social media.

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U Of Ky. Appoints Controversial Dean Pick For Law School

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove of the Eastern District of Kentucky will retire from the bench later this month to become dean of the University of Kentucky's J. David Rosenberg College of Law, a move that sparked controversy in the state.

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Wash. Atty Loses Bid For Jury In Dispute Over Bar Sanctions

By Emily Sawicki

A Washington lawyer sanctioned and disciplined for bringing a "frivolous" election suit in 2021 against then-Gov. Jay Inslee has lost her bid to have her ethics charges heard by a jury, with a state appeals panel finding no error in a trial court's ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to take on the disciplinary matter.

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Analysis

High Court's Guardrails Won't Ease Fight Over Trans Athletes

By Alex Lawson

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision permitting states to ban transgender athletes from girls' sports was written in simple terms, but attorneys tracking the issue see the ruling as a flashpoint for further litigation.

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Analysis

Plea Deals Get Scrutiny In 'Hunter,' But Justices Stay Cautious

By Brandon Lowrey

The shock for Mary Fan came almost immediately after she began her career as a federal prosecutor in Southern California in the mid-2000s.

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5 NYC Legal Service Provider Union Contracts Have Expired

By Andrea Keckley

The collective bargaining agreements for five New York City-based indigent defense and civil legal aid providers expired at the end of the day Tuesday as multiple unions reported outstanding points of contention in their negotiations.

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Watchdog Says DOL Needs Better Info Sharing Controls

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor's lack of controls over information sharing between subagencies and nongovernmental entities, including law firms and legal advocacy organizations, may have unfairly advantaged those parties with privileged investigative information, an agency watchdog reported, though use of the practice has dropped off. 

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of June

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Bayer, Harley-Davidson and PBS. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from June.

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