EU Says Trump's Russia Sanctions Waiver Weakens Pressure

By Dylan Moroses

The European Commission said President Donald Trump's executive action waiving tariffs and economic sanctions against Russia last week was "regrettable" and would impede international pressures to end the country's war with Ukraine.

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Forced Labor Tariff Lacks Justification, Biz Group Tells Court

By Dylan Moroses

Near-worldwide tariffs deployed by the U.S. government to address imports produced with forced labor should be considered unlawful given that the underlying report for those measures fails to meet statutory requirements, a coalition of small businesses told the U.S. Court of International Trade.

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Crypto Broker Gets 13 Years For Laundering Drug Money

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge hit a Colombian cryptocurrency broker with over 13 years in prison Wednesday after he copped, along with a businessman with ties to the Cartier family, to laundering $14.5 million worth of Tether that facilitated narcotics transactions.

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Iran Money Trail Takes Center Stage At Huawei's RICO Trial

By Stewart Bishop

The federal jury in Brooklyn weighing Huawei's fate for days heard testimony about the money trail, or lack thereof, from the company's purported Iranian unit and the Chinese telecommunications giant's U.S. payroll, as one of its defenses in the sanctions and trade secret theft trial began to take shape.

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App Can't Get Apple Antitrust Case Sent To DOJ Case's Judge

By Matthew Perlman

A New Jersey federal judge has refused to reassign communal video streaming app Rave's antitrust case against Apple to the same judge overseeing a monopolization case against Apple from the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Trade Court Blesses Retroactive Korean Steel Duty Findings

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Court of International Trade adopted a Federal Circuit reversal directing the court to allow the U.S. Department of Commerce to adjust its countervailable duty rate for a South Korean steel manufacturer by reconsidering earlier determinations.

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CIT OKs Chinese Flooring Benchmark But Still Has Questions

By Jack McLoone

While the U.S. Department of Commerce has now adequately explained its pricing calculation in a review of a Chinese flooring duty, the U.S. Court of International Trade still took issue with its continued use of adverse inferences in another portion of its findings.

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Industry On The Rocks: 5 Options For Distressed Alcohol Cos.

As the U.S. alcohol industry, long regarded as recession-resistant and reliably profitable, confronts an unprecedented convergence of headwinds, producers, distributors and retailers must assess their financial position and explore the range of available options, including out-of-court restructuring, bankruptcy protection and strategic transactions, say attorneys at Adams & Reese.

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New Weil-Willkie Domains Add To Merger Speculation

By Marialuisa Taddia

Two domain names that combine the names of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP have been registered, fueling speculation about a potential merger between the two prominent Wall Street law firms.

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JPMorgan, Ex-Frank Execs Clash Over $2.1M In Legal Fees

By Jarek Rutz

JPMorgan Chase & Co. faced renewed demands in the Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday to pay about $2.1 million in withheld legal fees for convicted Frank founder Charlie Javice and former executive Olivier Amar, as their lawyers accused the bank of using repeated billing objections to delay funding for their criminal defenses.

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Bonus Spotlight

Hueston Hennigan Bumps Clerkship Bonus To $205K

By Lynn LaRowe

Trial boutique Hueston Hennigan is offering a $205,000 bonus to lawyers who have completed one or more federal clerkships, the firm confirmed Thursday.

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Jackson Walker Hits Back At Fee Clawback Sanction Move

By Vince Sullivan

Law firm Jackson Walker said Wednesday that it should not be sanctioned for failing to bring to a Texas federal judge's attention additional cases involving an undisclosed romantic relationship between a bankruptcy judge and one of its attorneys because the U.S. Trustee already investigated those cases and didn't take action.

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Texas Judge Probe Shows Lack Of Mental Impairment Process

By Jack Karp

Fifth Circuit officials have done a reasonable job of handling a rare situation involving a Texas federal judge who appears to be undergoing a mental health crisis, but the episode highlights that a more standardized way of dealing with federal judges experiencing mental impairment needs to be established, experts and scholars say.

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GOP Reps. Seek Probe Of Fla. Judge's Sanctions Order

By Courtney Bublé

Top Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee asked the Judicial Conference Thursday to investigate a Florida federal judge for potential misconduct with an order she issued in the case involving the leak of President Donald Trump's tax returns.

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