2nd Circ. Rules Inmates Not Entitled To Specific Gender Care

By Brian Steele

A Second Circuit panel has overturned a transgender inmate's partial win in a lawsuit against prison officials in Connecticut over allegedly inadequate gender dysphoria treatment, holding that the defendants are entitled to qualified immunity and that "inmates have no clearly established right to be treated by gender-dysphoria specialists" or receive specific treatments for the condition.

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Feature

4 Oral Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In Oct.

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Second Circuit will hear from Teamsters looking to revive a proposed class action alleging mismanagement of a multiemployer pension plan, while Alcoa will ask the Seventh Circuit to overturn a ruling requiring the aluminum maker to cover union retirees' healthcare for life. Here, Law360 looks at four arguments that benefits attorneys should have on their radar this month.

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SEC's Atkins Wants To 'Future-Proof' Deregulatory Agenda

By Jessica Corso

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins said Tuesday that he hopes that moving quickly to adopt new rules deregulating the public and private markets will "future-proof" his agenda against potential tampering by succeeding presidential administrations.

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AGs Rip DOJ Bid To Pause Planned Parenthood Funding Suit

By Brian Steele

The U.S. Department of Justice wants to use the ongoing government shutdown as a "shield" to stop a group of states from seeking an injunction against a halt to Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, the states told a Massachusetts federal judge in opposing a possible pause on their lawsuit.

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DC, 18 States Back Campaign Spending Caps At High Court

By Carolyn Muyskens

The District of Columbia and 18 states urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday not to lift caps on the amount political parties may spend in coordination with candidates for federal office, saying state-level campaign finance regulations could be destabilized.

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Sunbeam Ovens Burn Users, Suit Says

By Emily Field

Sunbeam Products Inc. and its parent company, Newell Brands Inc., were hit Tuesday with a proposed class action in federal court over a recalled countertop oven by a New Yorker claiming the appliance burned her and that the company failed to warn about the risks of injury.

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Chanel, The RealReal Fail To Reach Settlement In TM Feud

By Elliot Weld

Fashion house Chanel and used-items retailer The RealReal Inc. have told a Manhattan federal judge they haven't been able to reach a settlement on Chanel's claims of trademark infringement despite, as The RealReal's attorneys put it, significant efforts being expended to try to reach a compromise.

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Chobani Says Coffee Rival Can't Claim 'Bright & Mellow' TM

By Hailey Konnath

Chobani on Monday urged a New York federal court to throw out rival Danone's unregistered trademark infringement suit over use of the phrase "Bright & Mellow" to market ready-to-drink coffee, arguing that Danone contends "it alone" may use those "ordinary adjectives."

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United Can't Sanction Ex-Flight Attendant Over Pay Suit

By Irene Spezzamonte

A former United Airlines flight attendant will avoid sanctions in his now-ended suit seeking unpaid wages, a New York federal judge ruled, saying he didn't abuse the judicial process even if his evidence that state law applied to his claims was weak.

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Ex-Sprinter Gets 18 Mos. For Doping Scheme, COVID-19 Fraud

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge sentenced a former Olympic-level sprinter to 18 months in prison Tuesday, after he admitted to scheming to provide track stars with doping substances, and also to applying for fraudulent COVID-19 era business loans.

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Wine Co. Exec Cops To Wire Fraud Conspiracy In $99M Scam

By Gina Kim

A United Kingdom wine company executive pled guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in New York federal court Tuesday in a criminal case accusing him of scamming investors out of $99 million after persuading them to make loans using wine collections as collateral.

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Feds Seek 6 Years For Ex-Frank Exec's 'Brazen' $175M Con

By Craig Clough

Prosecutors asked a New York federal judge Monday to sentence a former executive at financial aid startup Frank to six years in prison for helping its founder Charlie Javice trick JPMorgan Chase & Co. into buying the company for $175 million, saying he deserves no leniency for the "brazen" fraud.

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Gov't, Gun Defendant Urge Justices Not To 'Double-Punish'

By Phillip Bantz

The government and a New York man convicted in a fatal robbery both asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to rule that subjecting defendants to separate sentences stemming from a single deadly federal firearm offense is a double-jeopardy violation.

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Fla. Lawyer Accused Of Scamming Clients Suspended

By Phillip Bantz

A Florida lawyer accused of abandoning dozens of clients after charging them legal fees has been suspended from practicing law in the state on an emergency basis.

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Zillow Can See Anywhere Deal Docs In Compass Antitrust Suit

By Isaac Monterose

A New York federal judge partially approved real estate listings company Zillow Inc.'s discovery motion in brokerage Compass Inc.'s antitrust suit over Zillow's listings policy, ruling that Compass must provide Zillow with specific documents related to its $1.6 billion all-stock acquisition of Anywhere Real Estate Inc.

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5 Evolving Marketing Risks That Finance Cos. Should Watch

Financial services providers should beware several areas where consumer protection regulators are broadening their scrutiny of modern marketing practices, such as the use of influencer testimonials or advertisements touting artificial intelligence-powered products, so they can better adapt to changing expectations for compliance, say attorneys at Hinshaw.

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Williams & Connolly Says It Was Targeted By Foreign Hackers

By Lauren Berg

Williams & Connolly LLP recently discovered that hackers had wormed their way into a few attorney email accounts but that there is no evidence the threat is ongoing, the firm told Law360 Tuesday, amid other attacks on the legal and technology sectors by hackers with suspected ties to the Chinese government.

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Musk Atty Alex Spiro Faces DQ Bid Ahead Of Twitter Deal Trial

By Dorothy Atkins

A certified class of former Twitter investors accusing Elon Musk of tanking the social media platform's stock during acquisition negotiations has urged a California federal judge to disqualify Musk's proposed lead trial counsel Alex Spiro before a January trial, arguing he's a "critical first-hand witness" and may testify, according to documents unsealed Monday.

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Judge Concerned As Feds Keep Immigration Atty's Phone Data

By Julie Manganis

A federal prosecutor told a Massachusetts judge on Tuesday that the government has returned a phone it seized from an immigration lawyer but does not intend to delete data it pulled from the device, prompting the court to raise concerns that the information could be used to identify and arrest immigrants.

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Goldstein's $968K Border Cash Claim To Be Admitted At Trial

By Jared Foretek

A Maryland federal jury will hear claims from prosecutors that SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein told Dulles International Airport border guards that the $968,000 in cash he brought into the country in 2018 had been gambling winnings, after a judge shot down his efforts to suppress his alleged statements Tuesday.

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Fed. Circ. Talks Judge Denzel Washington, AI Susan Sarandon

By Dani Kass

More than half of the Federal Circuit's judges were in Boston on Tuesday conducting out-of-town oral arguments, and afterward they discussed the most concerning and most promising elements of artificial intelligence, how to write a good brief, why en banc hearings are rare and which celebrities they'd love to see on a panel.

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Bondi Declines To Discuss James Comey Indictment

By Courtney Bublé

Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi deflected when questioned on the recent indictment of former FBI Director James Comey and other controversies involving the U.S. Department of Justice. 

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Fitch Even's $1.2M Fee Fight Appears Headed To Arbitration

By Lauraann Wood

Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery LLP's $1.2 million fee dispute with a former client and a litigation funder's CEO may be paused and sent to arbitration before the firm can convince an Illinois federal judge to halt any alleged use or transfer of the money at issue.

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Ex-Reed Smith Atty Says NJ Pay Bias Law Goes Back 6 Years

By Jake Maher

A former Reed Smith LLP attorney suing the firm for gender discrimination told a New Jersey appeals court Tuesday that a 2018 equal pay law was intended by the Legislature to be a "game changer" and be applied retroactively, expanding the scope of her claims.

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NJ Justices Won't Disturb Locke Lord Win In Oil Co.'s Suit

By Jake Maher

The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to review a lower appellate court decision handing a victory to Locke Lord LLP over malpractice claims from an oil processing company on the grounds that the firm does not have a significant connection to New Jersey and cannot be sued in the state's courts.

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Senate Confirms Boyden Gray Atty As Trump's Labor Solicitor

By Max Kutner

The Senate confirmed on Tuesday a Boyden Gray PLLC managing partner as President Donald Trump's nominee for labor solicitor, the third-highest-ranking position at the U.S. Department of Labor.

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Senate Confirms 2 DOJ Nominees, 16 US Attys

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate voted 51-47 Tuesday, along party lines, to confirm a slew of nominees for the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Attys Urge Mass. Courts To Protect Immigrants' Court Access

By Rae Ann Varona

Civil rights lawyers urged the Massachusetts trial court system to better protect migrants' due process rights amid increasing arrests by federal immigration officers inside and outside courthouses, saying Tuesday the court is "well within its right" to do so.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Kaplan On Suit Against The Gov't

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Elaine Kaplan's docket doesn't always garner attention in the same way trial court cases do, but that may change as the executive branch makes sweeping budget and policy changes that could lend more political significance to monetary claims against the government.

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