Sullivan & Cromwell-Led Merck To Buy SpringWorks For $3.9B

By Tom Fish

Merck KGaA said Monday it has agreed to acquire U.S. biotech company SpringWorks Therapeutics for $3.9 billion, as the German science and technology group aims to grow its cancer drug business and its global presence.

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Chinese Cos. Lose Immunity Fight In 9th Circ. IP Case

By Adam Lidgett

The Ninth Circuit on Monday shot down arguments from related Chinese steel companies that they shouldn't have to face espionage charges that they stole DuPont trade secrets for creating titanium dioxide, saying they aren't protected by foreign sovereign immunity.

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Sanofi Challenges Jurisdiction In Conn. Zantac Lawsuits

By Aaron Keller

Sanofi-Aventis U.S. LLC on Monday sought to exit nine combined Connecticut lawsuits claiming the heartburn drug ranitidine degraded into a compound that causes cancer, saying it is beyond the state's long-arm statute and that due process guarantees prevent it from being sued in Connecticut.

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Gov't Reverses Position On Surgery For Trans Prisoners

By Gianna Ferrarin

The Trump administration is rejecting the federal government's previous stance that prison officials are constitutionally required to provide gender confirmation surgery to incarcerated people with gender dysphoria who request the treatment, noting the shift in recent statements to a Georgia federal court.

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Walgreens Opposes Merging 'Non-Drowsy' Labeling Suits

By Celeste Bott

Walgreens is pushing back on a bid to consolidate two Illinois federal lawsuits alleging the "non-drowsy" label on some of the retailer's cough suppressant medications is misleading, saying the two cases involve different allegations and are at different stages, and arguing that consolidation would cause a delay in the litigation.

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Ziploc 'Microwave Safe' Bags Shed Microplastics, Buyer Says

By Lauren Berg

S.C. Johnson & Son Inc. falsely markets Ziploc bags and containers as "microwave safe" and suitable for use in freezers despite knowing they are made from materials that shed microplastics into food when the products are used as directed, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.

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Brief

Ala. Medical Pot Commission Sued Over Patient Registry

By Elliot Weld

A group of Alabama medical cannabis patients sued the state's Medical Cannabis Commission over the lack of a patient registry despite what they said were numerous laws obligating it to create one.

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Brief

Veolia Settles Flint Water Crisis Claims For $53M

By Madeline Lyskawa

A Michigan federal judge entered final judgment Monday in litigation brought by the state of Michigan and about 26,000 individuals against Veolia North America alleging it prolonged the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, after a $53 million settlement was approved earlier this month.

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The 2025 Lawyer Satisfaction Survey

Law firms and the legal profession are facing new uncertainties, shifting the stress levels, economic pressures, and overall contentment of lawyers in private practice, according to the 2025 Law360 Pulse Lawyer Satisfaction Survey.

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'The Court Is Not A Cartoon': Judge Rips Dragon Watermark

By Hailey Konnath

A Michigan federal magistrate judge Monday ordered an East Lansing, Michigan, firm called Dragon Lawyers PC to stop plastering its pleadings with a large, suit-clad purple cartoon dragon watermark on each page, saying it's not only "distracting, it's juvenile and impertinent."

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Analysis

Feds Have Strong Hand On Judge Charged With Blocking ICE

By Danielle Ferguson and Carolyn Muyskens

A Wisconsin state judge faces an uphill battle in defending against federal criminal allegations that she helped a man evade immigration officials at a Wisconsin courthouse, but she may be able to stake out a defense in arguing the government can't prove intent, experts told Law360. 

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California Judge Loses Pay After Conviction For Murdering Wife

By Gina Kim

The California Commission on Judicial Performance formally suspended a California judge without pay after a state jury found him guilty of second-degree murder last week for shooting his wife to death in their Anaheim Hills home on Aug. 3, 2023, following a heated argument. 

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Q&A

Sullivan M&A Chief Sees Opportunities Amid Tariff Turmoil

By Al Barbarino

After a rocky start to 2025, the mergers and acquisitions landscape is grappling with economic volatility, shifting trade policies and a complex regulatory environment. But even in a "choppy" market, there are always deals to be made, says Melissa Sawyer, global head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's M&A group and co-head of its corporate governance practice.

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NJ Judge Apologizes Through Waylon Jennings Lyrics

By George Woolston

Clark Township, New Jersey, Municipal Judge Antonio Inacio said Tuesday that he isn't proud of all the things that led him to appear before a Garden State judiciary disciplinary committee, but he can say that he never intentionally hurt anyone by his conduct.

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$10M Brown Rudnick Deal With Guo Trustee Gets Judge's OK

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved a $10 million deal between Miles Guo's Chapter 11 trustee and the Chinese exile's onetime attorneys at Brown Rudnick LLP, and greenlighted 10 lesser settlements with other firms and luxury retailer Versace.

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Analysis

GOP Plan To Shutter Audit Watchdog Could Strain SEC

By Jessica Corso

Congressional Republicans are renewing the push to get rid of a financial regulator that conservatives have complained is costly and lacks proper oversight, but some former staffers at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board wonder whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has the manpower or expertise to take over the board's duties.

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Federal Defenders Of NY Staff Announce Union Drive

By Andrea Keckley

Staff members at the Federal Defenders of New York have announced their plans to join their attorney colleagues as members of the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys.

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Justices Scoff At Feds' Defenses In Mistaken FBI Raid Case

By Chart Riggall

Supreme Court justices Tuesday appeared flummoxed by the government's "ridiculous" arguments it should be immune to a Georgia resident's lawsuit over a mistaken FBI raid on her house, but seemed unlikely to issue a blanket ruling on when an officer's discretion trumps their liability for injuries caused by their actions.

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Alex Jones Wants High Court Look At $1.3B Sandy Hook Case

By Brian Steele

Bankrupt Infowars host Alex Jones will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate a mammoth libel judgment that families of Sandy Hook shooting victims secured against him and his company over his conspiratorial broadcasts calling the massacre a hoax, he told a Connecticut appellate court in seeking to extend a pause on the payout.

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Breyer To Talk Pragmatism At NJ Bar Association Convention

By Carla Baranauckas

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will bring his pragmatic legal philosophy to center stage when he appears at the New Jersey State Bar Association Convention on May 16 in Atlantic City.

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