Alaska Foster Kids Win Class Status In Child Welfare Suit

By Joyce Hanson

An Alaskan federal judge has ruled that foster children as a class can sue the director of the state's Department of Family and Community Services in her official capacity, finding merit in their claims that statewide practices put all kids in custody at serious risk of harm.

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EPA Illegally Ended Environmental Justice Grants, Groups Say

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

Environmental groups, a Native American village and other local governments have alleged in a proposed class action in D.C. federal court that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unlawfully stopped a $3 billion climate grant program created by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

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Conn. Pushes For Emergency Halt To Tribal Land Trust Plan

By Crystal Owens

Connecticut is looking to halt the U.S. Interior Department's transfer of 80 acres into trust for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, arguing that without intervention, the federal government will interfere with the state's sovereign right to control its territory and its ability to enforce its laws.

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NY School Gets Bias Suit Narrowed But Must Face Pay Claims

By Patrick Hoff

Hilbert College can escape a former associate professor's gender discrimination and retaliation claims but must face her claims that she was paid less than male colleagues, a New York federal judge ruled, saying a jury should evaluate the school's explanation that other factors could account for the pay disparities.

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Opinion

Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System

The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.

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Series

Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.

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McDermott, Schulte Roth Vote To Approve $2.8B Merger

By Kevin Penton

Partners at Schulte Roth & Zabel and McDermott Will & Emery have voted in favor of merging to create the combined firm of McDermott Will & Schulte, the firms announced Thursday.

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Audio

10 Years Later: Obergefell Attorneys, In Their Own Words

By Steven Trader

Marking the decade anniversary of the Obergefell opinion, Law360 asked the attorneys who argued the case at the Supreme Court what it was like being at the center of such a monumental case, how a ruling favoring same-sex marriage changed the legal landscape over the past decade, and the remaining legal appetite to overturn it.

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Kirkland Stops Repping Novartis After Regeneron Sought DQ

By Bryan Koenig

A New York federal judge accepted the withdrawal Thursday of the entire Kirkland & Ellis LLP team that recently joined Novartis Pharma's legal team battling antitrust allegations over the eye medication Eylea, just a week after plaintiff Regeneron Pharmaceuticals sought their disqualification over an "unthinkable" conflict of interest by the lawyers, whose firm previously represented Regeneron.

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Justices Say SC Medicaid Patient Can't Sue To Pick Provider

By Dan McKay and Mark Payne

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a patient can't challenge South Carolina's decision to kick Planned Parenthood from the state Medicaid program because it includes abortions among its services.

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Justices Allow Texas Death Row Inmate's DNA Suit

By Marco Poggio

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday said a Texas death row inmate can sue state officials in federal court to try to obtain post-conviction DNA testing, a decision that could open the door to broader challenges to how Texas provides access to forensic evidence after conviction.

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Trump 2.0's First Group Of Judicial Noms Goes To Full Senate

By Courtney Bublé

The first batch of judicial nominations from President Donald Trump's second term were sent to the Senate floor on Thursday, as they were voted out of committee along party lines.

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Justices Say DHS Orders Final In Withholding-Removal Cases

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Supreme Court held Thursday that the 30-day statutory deadline for challenging deportation orders in withholding of removal cases starts when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issues a final administrative review order, not when Board of Immigration Appeals proceedings conclude.

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Ex-Trump Atty Chesebro Disbarred In NY For Fake Elector Plot

By Gina Kim

President Donald Trump's former attorney Kenneth Chesebro, the so-called "architect" in the plot to use fake electors to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results, has been disbarred from practicing law in the state of New York, according to a unanimous decision issued on Thursday. 

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Fla. Lawyers Suspended For Online Criticism Of Judge

By David Minsky

Florida's high court on Thursday approved a one-month suspension for a father-daughter team of attorneys for their online comments criticizing a judge who reversed a $2.75 million jury verdict in favor of a doctor who sued for discrimination, finding that there were also mitigating factors in the attorneys' cases.

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Judge Known For Financial Education Advocacy To Retire

By Madison Arnold

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Laurel M. Isicoff, who has spent her career promoting financial literacy as a way to avoid financial insolvency, will retire next May after 20 years on the bench in the Southern District of Florida, the Eleventh Circuit confirmed Thursday.

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Brief

New FCC Republican Names Key Legal Staff

By Christopher Cole

Commissioner Olivia Trusty, who was sworn in this week as the newest member of the Federal Communications Commission, announced the hiring of several top aides Thursday.

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