The New York State Education Department said it won't rescind a ban on the use of Indigenous mascots and names in public schools despite a threat from the Trump administration to pull its federal funding, telling the U.S. Department of Education instead that it's willing to broaden the regulation's reach.
Law360
Native American
MONDAY, JUNE 9, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

New York Says It Won't Rescind Native American Mascot Ban

By Crystal Owens

The New York State Education Department said it won't rescind a ban on the use of Indigenous mascots and names in public schools despite a threat from the Trump administration to pull its federal funding, telling the U.S. Department of Education instead that it's willing to broaden the regulation's reach.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOGE Can Access Social Security Data For Now, Justices Say

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Friday that the Department of Government Efficiency could obtain unlimited access to Social Security Administration data on millions of Americans while a legal dispute over privacy concerns plays out.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

4th Circ. Stays Ruling Restoring Frozen Federal Grant Funding

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

A split Fourth Circuit panel has blocked a South Carolina federal judge's order directing the federal government to restore 32 congressionally funded grants that were frozen by the Trump administration, while casting doubt on nonprofits' and cities' legal challenge.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Tribe Urges Supreme Court To Overturn Eel Fishing Ruling

By Crystal Owens

A Long Island tribe is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to undo a Second Circuit ruling that rejected its challenge to New York's regulations on eel fishing harvests, arguing that if the decision is held, it would set a precedent allowing district courts to give up their gatekeeping roles on expert testimony.

Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

POLICY & REGULATION

Brief

Bipartisan Bill Would Let Tribes Prosecute Drug Traffickers

By Joyce Hanson

Congressional lawmakers have introduced a bipartisan bill that would give tribal nations expanded authority to prosecute non-Native drug traffickers and combat the opioid crisis on their reservations.

Bill attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Feds Want Comments On Altering ESA Conservation Rule

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on Friday said it's considering altering a Biden-era rule intended to increase participation in voluntary conservation programs, and asked the public for input.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EXPERT ANALYSIS

How Attorneys Can Become Change Agents For Racial Equity

As the administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and law firms consider pulling back from their programs, lawyers who care about racial equity and justice can employ four strategies to create microspaces of justice, which can then be parlayed into drivers of transformational change, says Susan Sturm at Columbia Law School.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

LEGAL INDUSTRY

Legal Sector Jobs Ticked Up In May Amid Uncertain Economy

By Alison Knezevich

The U.S. legal industry added 1,100 jobs in May, holding steady in the midst of economic uncertainty, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

High Court Says Software Glitch Led To Early Order List Drop

By Hailey Konnath

An "apparent software malfunction" caused the U.S. Supreme Court's order list to be issued early Friday, orders in which the justices granted certiorari in four cases and refused to take up a long list of other ones, including cases centered on Pennsylvania's election system and the Obama Presidential Center.

Order List attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-SDNY Prosecutor Exits Paul Weiss For Jenner & Block

By Alison Knezevich

Just months after rejoining Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York is leaving the firm to join Jenner & Block LLP.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Split DC Circ. Reinstates AP's White House Press Pool Ban

By Dorothy Atkins

A split D.C. Circuit panel reinstated the White House's decision to ban the Associated Press from the press pool covering the Oval Office, Air Force One and Mar-a-Lago on Friday, while a dissenting judge criticized her colleagues' rationale as being nonsensical and upending longstanding First Amendment precedent and generations of tradition.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Gets Prison For Conn. Law Firm Parking Lot Shooting

By Aaron Keller

A onetime Cramer & Anderson LLP partner was sentenced Friday to a seven-year prison term after being convicted of first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting an attacker in the parking lot of his rural Litchfield, Connecticut, law firm, although his incarceration will be suspended after 2½ years.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Fox Rothschild Settles Suit Over $3M Real Estate Deal

By Ryan Harroff

Fox Rothschild LLP has settled a Colorado real estate investor's legal malpractice lawsuit over a $3 million development deal that went wrong, according to a new order filed in state court directing the parties to file for dismissal within a month.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Bar Hires Investigator To Review Exam Snafu

By Emily Sawicki

The State Bar of California's board of trustees voted to approve a $185,000 contract with a nonprofit to review "exam scoring irregularities and testing accommodations" from its fraught February 2025 bar exam.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Flaws Remain In Bar Fitness Queries, Summit Panelists Say

By Aebra Coe

Many current state bar character and fitness tests fail to identify bad actors, and at the same time, certain aspects of the queries can hurt efforts to increase diversity in the profession, according to panelists at the American Bar Association's 2025 Virtual Equity Summit on Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Seeger Weiss Aims To Protect Bench With Duke Law Donation

By Madison Arnold

New Jersey-based Seeger Weiss LLP is seeking to help protect judges with a $500,000 donation to an institute at Duke Law School that is named in honor of the murdered son of a federal judge in the Garden State.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

In corporate legal news from the past week,​ in-house lawyers' use of alternative legal service providers remains low, and the top Justice Department merger official said that the Trump administration welcomes "fix-it-first proposals," where merging companies arrange to sell off overlapping business lines.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The University of Virginia School of Law Supreme Court Litigation Clinic and attorney Edward Gilbert lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Sixth Circuit's ruling that plaintiffs claiming anti-heterosexual workplace discrimination need to provide extra "background circumstances" evidence.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Lieff Cabraser's Michael Sobol

By Kevin Penton

Michael Sobol has won significant settlements recently, including a $115 million deal over Oracle's allegedly unlawful sale of internet users' electronic profiles and a $62 million deal with Google over allegations it illegally stored and tracked the private location information of smartphone users, earning him a place among Law360's 2025 Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Promo that reads Law360 Pulse Summer Associates Survey Promo that reads Law360 Pulse Lawyer Satisfaction Survey

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Baker & Hostetler

Ballard Spahr

Campbell Conroy

Complex Appellate Litigation Group

Conti Levy

Cramer & Anderson

Cravath Swaine

Day Pitney

Dechert LLP

Fox Rothschild

Gibson Dunn

Greenberg Traurig

Gupta Wessler

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Law Offices of James F. Simermeyer

Lieff Cabraser

Litchfield Cavo

McConnell Van Pelt

McDermott Will & Emery

McFarlin LLP

Morgan Lewis

Morrison Mahoney

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Pisciotti Lallis

Quinn Emanuel

Renzulli Law Firm

Seeger Weiss

Simon Paschal

Skadden Arps

Smith Duggan

Squire Patton

Sullivan & Cromwell

Swanson Martin

Troutman

Tucker Ellis

Vinson & Elkins

Viorst Law Offices

Webb Daniel Friedlander

WilmerHale

Winston & Strawn

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Bar Association

American Economic Liberties Project

American Federation of State County & Municipal Employees

American Federation of Teachers

Associated Press

Audi AG

BLOM Bank SAL

Chart Industries, Inc.

Democracy Forward Foundation

Flowserve Corp.

George Washington University

Google LLC

Hatch Henderson Fivel LLC

Practising Law Institute Inc.

Princeton University

Smith & Wesson Brands Inc.

Southern Environmental Law Center

State Bar of California

Sturm, Ruger & Co. Inc.

The Intergroup Corporation

Twitter Inc.

University of Miami

University of Virginia

Webster Financial Corp.

Witmer Public Safety Group Inc.

Wolters Kluwer

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes

Executive Office of the President

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Fish and Wildlife Service

Georgia Court of Appeals

Montana Department of Revenue

New York Attorney General's Office

New York State Department of Education

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Social Security Administration

U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

US Office of Management and Budget