Judges Decline Invites To Senate Hearing On Impeachment

By Courtney Bublé

Two federal judges, both of whom Republicans are looking to impeach, declined to testify before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing next week on the impeachment of "rogue" judges, a source familiar with the situation told Law360 on Tuesday.

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MSG Seeks To Boot Atty From Ex-Exec's Bias, Retaliation Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A Reavis Page Jump LLP attorney representing a former Madison Square Garden security executive in a discrimination suit is too enmeshed in the facts of the case, MSG said, urging a New York federal court to kick the lawyer and firm off the suit if it's not outright dismissed.

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Goldstein Asks 4th Circ. To Undo Pretrial Rulings

By Jared Foretek

SCOTUSblog co-founder Tom Goldstein is appealing a series of rulings from a Maryland federal judge denying his bid to toss five of the 22 federal tax charges he's slated to stand trial for next year.

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DOJ Official Sues Over Firing For Epstein Talk On Hinge 'Date'

By Alison Knezevich

A longtime official at the U.S. Department of Justice who was fired after he was secretly recorded discussing the Epstein files has sued the agency and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi in D.C. federal court.

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Democrats Seek Documents On Emil Bove's DOJ Tenure

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Democrats are turning to public records requests to learn more about the controversial tenure of U.S. Circuit Judge Emil Bove while he served at the U.S. Department of Justice, claiming that they're being "stonewalled" by the department.

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Trial Over Judge's Alleged ICE Interference Gets Ground Rules

By Lauren Berg

A Wisconsin federal judge on Tuesday set some ground rules for an anticipated December trial over criminal charges alleging a state judge attempted to hinder a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest this spring, including the types of arguments and evidence that can be presented to the jury.

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Calif. Justices Asked To Review Prosecutors' Alleged AI Errors

By Dorothy Atkins

Nearly two dozen law professors have urged the California Supreme Court to help determine whether county prosecutors should be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings, arguing the alleged misconduct could have "grave consequences for the rule of law."

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Husch Blackwell Blasts Ex-Firm Atty's ERISA Suit

By James Boyle

A former Husch Blackwell LLP partner's claim that the firm violated federal law by withholding monthly retirement account contributions misidentified the funds in question as participant contributions, when they were, in fact, contributions from the firm's year-end profit-sharing program.

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Ex-Bank GC Faces Garnishments After $7M Restitution Order

By Aaron Keller

Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC has told the Connecticut federal court it blocked a former Webster Bank general counsel from drawing money from five accounts totaling close to $178,000 in response to recent garnishment actions, presumably filed by prosecutors to satisfy part of a $7.4 million fraud restitution order.

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$255K In Fees To Google For 'Frivolous' Ramey Case Upheld

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a California judge's decision that a client of embattled intellectual property firm Ramey LLP must pay nearly $255,000 in fees and sanctions for bringing a "frivolous" patent suit against Google, finding the award to be "entirely proper."

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'Gross Abuse Of Power': Rep. Swalwell Sues Housing Official

By Hailey Konnath

U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell on Tuesday sued Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, claiming Pulte abused his position by accessing private mortgage records to target the political opponents of President Donald Trump, including Swalwell, calling it "a gross abuse of power that violated the law."

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Order Blocking Redistricting 'Too Late In The Day,' Texas Says

By Spencer Brewer

Texas told the nation's high court that an order blocking the state's redistricting efforts came "too late in the day," telling the court Tuesday that the legal principle barring courts from meddling with election rules too close to election day bars the order at hand.

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Atty Error Led To $400K Death Settlement, Insurer Tells Court

By Hope Patti

An insurer for several companies managing a South Carolina apartment complex was forced to settle a wrongful death suit after an attorney failed to meet filing deadlines and defaulted, it told a federal court, saying the attorney is on the hook for the $400,000 settlement and legal fees.

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Holtec Can Pursue Suit Over Alleged Scheme Involving Ex-GC

By Jake Maher

Holtec International prevailed over motions to dismiss its lawsuit in New Jersey state court accusing its former general counsel and others of running an embezzlement scheme that cost the company over $700,000.

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Ex-Admin Of Norfolk Southern Deal Denies Disobeying Court

By Matthew Santoni

The former administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million settlement over the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, said it had been following a federal court's plan of distribution, not defying it, when it paid personal injury claimants based on a starting amount of $25,000 each.

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9th Circ. Slams 'Unimpressive Excuses' In L'Oréal Rival's Suit

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive a trade secrets case against L'Oréal USA Inc., saying the plaintiff company's "unimpressive excuses" for fabricating evidence and other misconduct do not override the district court's conclusion that the proper sanction was to dismiss the case.

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How Marsy's Law Has Been Applied In Unexpected Ways

Since Marsy’s Law was first passed in California 17 years ago, 12 states have passed similar laws to protect crime victims’ rights, but recent developments show that it’s being applied in ways that its original proponents may never have anticipated — with implications for all legal practitioners, says Tom Jones at Berk Brettler.

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Considerations When Invoking The Common-Interest Privilege

To successfully leverage the common-interest doctrine in a multiparty transaction or complex litigation, practitioners should be able to demonstrate that the parties intended for it to apply, that an underlying privilege like attorney-client has attached, and guard against disclosures that could waive privilege and defeat its purpose, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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Bonus Spotlight

Magic Circle Firms Enchant Associates With Top-Tier Bonuses

By Tracey Read

U.S. associates at Linklaters LLP and Clifford Chance LLP have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, as the Magic Circle firms Wednesday became the latest to match the BigLaw standard for this year's associate bonuses.

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Analysis

After Big Win For 2 Trump Foes, A Third Faces 'Tougher Job'

By Phillip Bantz

The recent dismissal of federal criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey does little to help President Donald Trump's ex-national security adviser John Bolton, whose defense in a classified-materials case presents a thornier set of legal and factual issues, experts say.

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Roundup

Up Next At High Court: ISP Liability & State Subpoena Suits

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for the first week of its December oral argument session, during which the justices will consider whether internet service providers can be held liable for contributing to their customers' infringing activity online and whether the subjects of state subpoenas are required to first challenge them in state court. 

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Interview

For Covington's Adrian Perry, Music Is A Family Affair

By Theresa Schliep

Despite having a famous rock star dad, Covington & Burling LLP partner Adrian J. Perry wasn't all that interested in being a musician as a young child, but he knew as early as 6 years old that he wanted to be a lawyer.

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Analysis

Calif. Privacy Agency Gaining Steam Ahead Of 5th Anniversary

By Allison Grande

California's data privacy regulator has taken several notable steps in recent months, including handing down its first penalty upward of $1 million dollars and finalizing long-awaited rules on topics such as cybersecurity audits and technologies that use artificial intelligence, and the groundbreaking agency shows no signs of slowing down as its fifth anniversary approaches. 

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Split 6th Circ. Shields Baker Donelson, Not City Councilman

By Matt Perez

In a published opinion, the Sixth Circuit has found that Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC is shielded by qualified immunity as outside counsel for the city of Nashville in litigation over the law firm's firing of a city election commission chair and member of the firm.

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Foley & Lardner Hit With Malpractice Suit Over Chancery Loss

By Rose Krebs

Foley & Lardner LLP has been sued in Delaware Superior Court by three officers of a now-defunct food recycling company who say the firm was negligent when representing them in a Chancery Court case that led to a $1.6 million judgment against them and another officer.

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DOJ Asks Court If It Can Release Epstein Files Under New Law

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a New York federal court's permission to publicly release the files related to the investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, clarifying Wednesday that it wants to release search warrant results, travel and financial records, police reports, and other materials.

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Keesal Young Poaching Suit Against Stradley Ronon Trimmed

By Madison Arnold

A California state judge cleared Keesal Young & Logan to pursue most of its lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young crossed the line when it recruited 10 former Keesal Young attorneys, finding that claims such as inducing breach of contract could move forward, in part, because of conversations among the attorneys.

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DOJ Says Ex-Employees Can't Challenge Firings In Fed. Court

By Rose Krebs

The government says a D.C. federal court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate a lawsuit filed by a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and two other ex-Department of Justice employees, alleging they were unlawfully fired.

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Hub Hires: Todd & Weld, Freshfields, Shipman

By Julie Manganis

It was a busy November in Boston's legal community as another firm expanded into the market, and a longtime judge traded his gavel for the ability to address his growing concerns about the Trump administration.

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