Michigan OKs Anti-Bias Rule For Judges, Delays Atty Version

By Carolyn Muyskens

Michigan's top court adopted a rule Wednesday prohibiting judges from acting with bias or prejudice but held back a companion rule for lawyers for more deliberation.

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Toshiba Seeks Trial Time Limits In $500M Hydro Plant Case

By Danielle Ferguson

Toshiba Corp. urged a Michigan federal judge on Wednesday to set time limits for a trial over claims that one of its units botched a $500 million upgrade to a power plant owned by DTE Electric Co. and Consumers Energy, saying the complicated case is one that "cries out" for such constraints.

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Mich. Judge Says State Must Face Edenville Dam Trial

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Michigan claims court judge has cleared the way for a January trial on Michigan's liability for the collapse of a privately owned dam that unleashed widespread flooding, denying the state's bid to end the litigation.

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Flagstar Customers Want OK On $31M Data Breach Deal

By Danielle Ferguson

A proposed class alleging Flagstar Bank didn't protect customer and employee information from two data breaches asked a Michigan federal judge Wednesday to give the initial approval for a $31.5 million settlement to resolve the case.

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Mich. Panel Says Probationer's Text Barrage Wasn't Stalking

By Parker Quinlan

A Michigan appeals panel has ordered the acquittal of a man who was convicted of stalking for incessantly texting his probation officer's work cell phone at all hours of the day and night about probation-related matters, saying "rambling" messages are not a crime.

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Mass. Court Denies States' Bid To Block ACA Subsidy Cuts

By Carla Baranauckas

A Massachusetts federal court has rejected a bid by a coalition of 21 states to stay implementation of a rule that will cut Affordable Care Act subsidies and enforce enrollment restrictions, saying the states hadn't shown imminent or irreparable harm from the policy's costs or possible coverage losses.

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Apple IP Suit Stayed As Appeal In Samsung Case Plays Out

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge on Thursday stayed litigation claiming certain Apple touchscreen products infringe a Michigan company's patent, while the same company appeals a separate case against Samsung, but the judge tipped his hand by saying the Samsung judge's opinion tossing that dispute "made perfect sense to me."

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Tenn. 'Gag Order' Ruling Against Atty Axed After Rule Change

By Emily Sawicki

The Sixth Circuit has vacated a decision that a Nashville attorney lacked standing to challenge a since-rescinded Middle District of Tennessee rule restricting lawyers' so-called extrajudicial statements.

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HNI Gives Enforcers More Time On $2.2B Steelcase Deal

By Matthew Perlman

Workplace furnishing and residential building product manufacturer HNI Corp. has given antitrust enforcers additional time to review its planned $2.2 billion purchase of office, home and learning environment solutions maker Steelcase for potential competition concerns.

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How AI Can Find Environmental Risks Before Regulators Do

By using artificial intelligence to analyze public information that regulators collect but find incredibly challenging to connect across agencies and databases, legal teams can identify risks before widespread health impacts occur, rather than waiting for harm to surface — potentially transforming environmental litigation, says Paul Napoli at Napoli Shkolnik.

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Series

Judging Figure Skating Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Judging figure skating competitions helps me hone the focus, decisiveness and ability to process complex real-time information I need in court, but more importantly, it makes me reengage with a community and my identity outside of law, which, paradoxically, always brings me back to work feeling restored, says Megan Raymond at Groombridge Wu.

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Baker McKenzie Brings New Suit Against Ex-Associate In DC

By Alison Knezevich

A former Baker McKenzie tax attorney who publicly accused the firm's Washington, D.C., managing partner of sexual assault was previously in a relationship with the managing partner's son, the firm has said in a revised defamation complaint.

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Analysis

Comey's 1st Task: Decoding A Cryptic Indictment

By Phillip Bantz

The criminal indictment of James B. Comey is unusually sparse for such a high-profile matter, leaving open questions for the ex-FBI director to probe that could shed more light on how the government intends to prove its case and create potential lines of attack for the defense, experts say.

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Dentons, Boies Schiller Escape $300M Fraud Suit

By Caroline Simson

A New York federal judge has dismissed with prejudice a $300 million fraud and racketeering lawsuit brought against Dentons and Boies Schiller Flexner LLP, in which the BigLaw firms were accused of misleading a former client with respect to a deal, and later arbitration, involving Senegal's state-owned energy company.

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Jackson Walker Can't Duck Judge Romance Suit, Court Told

By Hailey Konnath

A group of bondholders Thursday urged a Texas federal judge not to throw out its suit over a former Jackson Walker LLP partner's secret romance with a bankruptcy judge, arguing that the firm "has a problem with telling the truth" and it's "back at it again."

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Legal Aid Attys End Suit Over Palestine Resolution Discipline

By Emily Brill

Three legal aid attorneys have settled a labor lawsuit against their union, wrapping litigation in New York federal court that accused the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys of violating the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act by moving to discipline the members for suing to block a pro-Palestine resolution.

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Gov't Shutdown Halts Fed. Circ. Response In Newman Case

By Emily Sawicki

The Federal Circuit has asked the D.C. Circuit for permission to extend a deadline to respond to U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's petition for an en banc rehearing to reconsider her suspension, citing the ongoing government shutdown.

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NC Court Rejects McGuireWoods' Immunity In Defamation Suit

By Gina Kim

A North Carolina appellate court dismissed an interlocutory appeal by McGuireWoods and a former partner in a defamation case over statements about an investigation into the onetime CEO of a managed care organization during a press conference, reiterating its opinion that the statements were "too far afield" to be considered part of a judicial proceeding.

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Analysis

Justices To Hear Clash Over State Med Mal Laws In Fed. Court

By Y. Peter Kang

The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments Monday on whether a Delaware medical malpractice statute can be applied in federal court, in a case that is expected to offer legal guidelines for similar laws in 28 other states.

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Alito Pauses 5th Circ. Order On Child's Return To Venezuela

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday temporarily paused a split Fifth Circuit decision that said a Texas asylum seeker's 7-year-old daughter can be returned to Venezuela, which was set to take effect Friday.

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