Muscogee Chief Says Court Can't Grant Freedmen Citizenship

By Crystal Owens

Muscogee (Creek) Nation Principal Chief David Hill is asking an Oklahoma federal court to dismiss a challenge that looks to block the tribe from denying citizenship to descendants of people once enslaved by the Indigenous nation, arguing that it can be achieved only through a constitutional amendment and legislative process.

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10th Circ. Shifts Indian Status Burden In Sex Abuse Cases

By Parker Quinlan

Reversing its own long-term precedent, the Tenth Circuit has ruled that defendants seeking to claim Native American status under federal criminal law must prove their status themselves, a decision that rewrites decades of circuit precedent dealing with how crimes on Native lands are prosecuted by the federal government.

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Nonprofits Sue Over NC Budget Gutting Civil Legal Aid Grants

By Hayley Fowler

Three nonprofits are mounting a legal challenge to a provision of the North Carolina state budget that strips funding for civil legal aid services historically provided by the state's Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts program, saying the maneuver flouts directives by the Tar Heel state's top court and violates the First Amendment.

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FERC Makes Further Moves To Speed Up Gas Project Reviews

By Keith Goldberg

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday issued a pair of proposals aimed at speeding up its approval of gas infrastructure projects by narrowing the scope of the agency's environmental reviews.

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TTAB Tribal Immunity Ruling Alters TM Strategy Risks

Following the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's recent holding in Philip Morris v. IP Services International that tribal sovereign immunity does not bar trademark cancellation proceedings, tribes involved in trademark licensing, partnerships or acquisitions should weigh federal registration protections against exposure to full TTAB scrutiny, says Chante Westmoreland at Sheppard.

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Cyber Incident Halts Bankruptcy Court Noticing Nationwide

By Hilary Russ

The nationwide system for providing notice to creditors in bankruptcy cases has been disrupted by a cybersecurity incident, and it is not currently known when the outage will end.

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Analysis

Missouri AG Alumni Make Their Mark In Trump 2.0

By Courtney Bublé

Missouri is hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C., but the legal community of the Show-Me State has taken a significant hold in the second Trump administration.

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Norton Rose Beats $100M Suit Over Withdrawn Patent App

By Celeste Bott

Norton Rose Fulbright has defeated a former client's malpractice suit over a missed patent fee payment, after an Illinois state judge ruled that the deadline to sue began before the firm allegedly acknowledged its mistake and dismissed the company's $100 million lawsuit against the firm with prejudice.

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Murdaugh Tells 4th Circ. To Revive Jury Tampering Civil Suit

By Cara Salvatore

Disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh asked the Fourth Circuit on Thursday to revive his suit accusing a court clerk of interfering in his murder trial, arguing he has standing because the alleged tampering "destroyed the value" of his $600,000 defense.

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Judge Who Called For Philly DA Probe Rejects Recusal Bid

By Matthew Santoni

A federal judge who called for an investigation of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office will not reconsider or recuse himself from the underlying habeas corpus case, calling DA Larry Krasner's bid to undo his rulings "frivolous" and "intemperate."

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Crowell Faces DQ Bid Over AI Tool At Heart Of Client's IP Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

DeviantArt urged a California federal judge Wednesday to disqualify Crowell & Moring LLP from representing Evox Productions in litigation alleging multiple AI companies used Evox's copyrighted car photos to train artificial-intelligence image generators, arguing the firm "unquestionably" represented DeviantArt and has "sued its own client on behalf of another client."

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Gov't Urges Justices To Reject Google, Intel Fight Over Fintiv

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Intel Corp. and Google LLC's challenge to a precedent allowing Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions to be denied based on related litigation.

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Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Slams Feds' Skewed Facts

By Lauren Berg

A woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh told the Fourth Circuit that federal prosecutors have presented a "wildly inaccurate description" of a Maryland federal judge's sentencing decision, rejecting their argument that she got off too easy because of her gender identity.

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NYC Sanctuary Policies Survive Trump Admin. Lawsuit

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge on Thursday tossed the Trump administration's lawsuit challenging New York City policies that the administration alleged unconstitutionally obstruct federal immigration enforcement, saying federal law the administration leaned on does not preempt the sanctuary provisions.

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