Banning Of Courtroom Snoozer Prompts New NY Murder Trial

By Elizabeth Daley

A man convicted of murder in Queens will get a new trial, a New York appeals court has ruled, finding that because his friend was permanently barred from watching the proceedings after falling asleep in court, the defendant was denied his Constitutional right to a public trial.

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2nd Circ. Overturns Ex-HSBC Exec's 2017 Fraud Conviction

By Sarah Jarvis

The Second Circuit on Thursday overturned the conviction of a former HSBC executive accused of defrauding a Scottish oil and gas company in a $3.5 billion currency exchange deal, finding his jury was improperly instructed on a now-invalid "right-to-control" theory of fraud.

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21 States Fight ACA Rule They Say Guts Health Coverage

By Carla Baranauckas

A 21-state coalition led by the attorneys general of California, Massachusetts and New Jersey sued the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Thursday, challenging a new Trump administration rule they say unlawfully undermines access to healthcare under the Affordable Care Act.

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Circle's Bank Plans Include Regulatory Vets At Helm

By Jon Hill

Stablecoin giant Circle has tapped Heath Tarbert, its president and former top derivatives regulator, as well as a former Office of the Comptroller of the Currency chief counsel to help oversee its proposed national trust bank, according to application materials made public Thursday.

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Suit Fights USCIS End Of Immigrant Youth Protections

By Tom Lotshaw

Immigrant youths and service providers hit the Trump administration with a proposed class action Thursday alleging it unlawfully reversed course on a policy that protected thousands of special status juveniles who fled parental mistreatment in their home countries.

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SEC Fraud Suit Against Ex-Online Pharmacy Execs Advances

By Katryna Perera

A New York federal judge has declined to dismiss a majority of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's claims against former executives of a now-defunct online pharmacy called Medly, finding the agency adequately pleaded that the executives made false statements or acted recklessly, among other misconduct.

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Accolade Faces $4.8M Suit Over Pre-Merger Profit Claims

By Sydney Price

Personalized healthcare solutions company Accolade Inc. was hit with an investor suit Thursday accusing it and its CEO of making false statements about its profitability to prop up share prices before announcing its plan to go private via a merger with healthcare company Transcarent Inc.

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Bitcoin Treasury Firm To Go Public Via $1.5B SPAC Deal

By Katryna Perera

Bitcoin investment company BSTR Holdings Inc. announced on Thursday that special purpose acquisition company Cantor Equity Partners I Inc. will provide it with up to $1.5 billion in financing in a go-public deal, guided by Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP.

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JPMorgan Chase Can't Force Arbitration In Client Racism Suit

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge has rejected a bid by JPMorgan Chase Bank NA to send a customer's racial discrimination suit to arbitration, concluding the bank did not show the arbitration clause in its deposit account agreement is valid and enforceable against the plaintiff family.

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Israel Criticism Isn't Antisemitism, Judge Tells DOJ Lawyers

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge overseeing a free speech trial over deportation actions targeting pro-Palestinian students and faculty said Thursday that "criticism of the state of Israel is not antisemitism," and that even the most "vile" statements, absent threats or violence, are protected by the First Amendment.

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Real Estate Finance Pro Returns To ArentFox Schiff In NY

By Aebra Coe

ArentFox Schiff LLP has added a real estate finance partner in New York from Greenspoon Marder LLP who returns to the firm after seven years away, the firm announced this week.

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Feds' Shift On Reputational Risk Raises Questions For Banks

While banking regulators' recent retreat from reputational risk narrows the scope of federal oversight in some respects, it also raises practical questions about consistency, reputational management and the evolving political landscape surrounding financial services, say attorneys at Smith Anderson.

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Series

Playing Mah-Jongg Makes Me A Better Mediator

Mah-jongg rewards patience, pattern recognition, adaptability and keen observation, all skills that are invaluable to my role as a mediator, and to all mediating parties, says Marina Corodemus.

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5 Things To Know As California Courts Decide On AI Rule

By Emily Sawicki

Fourteen months after California Supreme Court Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero first convened a task force to study potential benefits and risks of using artificial intelligence in the court system, the Judicial Council of California is poised Friday to consider the proposed rules and standards the task force developed.

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Watchdog Raises Concerns On 9th Circ. Nominee's Crypto Work

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's nominee for the Ninth Circuit has a long record of representing cryptocurrency companies, which a watchdog group fears could aid what it calls the president's "self-enrichment" with digital currency.

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Dems Walk Out On Vote Of Emil Bove For 3rd Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee walked out of the vote on Emil Bove's Third Circuit nomination on Thursday morning after Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., accused committee chair Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, of subverting committee rules by not acknowledging his request to speak and rushing through the nomination.

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US Trustee Says Constitution Bars Jackson Walker Jury Trial

By Adrian Cruz

The federal government's bankruptcy watchdog told a Texas federal judge that under the Seventh Amendment, Jackson Walker LLP isn't entitled to a jury trial in its fee dispute stemming from a former bankruptcy judge's secret relationship with a onetime partner.

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CFTC Restructures Enforcement Division Amid Layoffs

By Jessica Corso

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission plans to lay off around two dozen staff members and has restructured its enforcement division by eliminating some management positions, a person familiar with the matter told Law360 Thursday.

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Wis. Senators Send List Of Bipartisan 7th Circ. Picks To Trump

By Courtney Bublé

The senators from Wisconsin, one Republican and one Democrat, have sent President Donald Trump a list of five candidates for the seat of the Seventh Circuit that is slated to open in October.

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J&J Loses Bid To DQ Beasley Allen From Talc MDL Committee

By George Woolston

A New Jersey federal judge on Thursday denied Johnson & Johnson's bid to remove the Beasley Allen Law Firm from the plaintiffs steering committee in the multidistrict talc litigation but said that changes would be made to the committee's structure.

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Former Microsoft GC Remembered As Rule Of Law Champion

By Andrea Keckley

Former American Bar Association President William H. "Bill" Neukom, the first head lawyer for Microsoft and a longtime partner at a predecessor firm to K&L Gates LLP, has died at age 83, the bar said Wednesday.

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Wisconsin Bar Settles Atty's Legal Challenge Over DEI Efforts

By Madison Arnold

The State Bar of Wisconsin has settled a lawsuit from a lawyer challenging its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, with the agency agreeing to apply a tweaked definition of diversity to two leadership programs.

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Fla. Law Firm Zumpano Patricios Hit With Data Breach Suit

By Sarah Martinson

Miami-headquartered national law firm Zumpano Patricios is facing a proposed class action in Florida federal court accusing the firm of failing to protect sensitive information, including dates of birth and healthcare payments, that was compromised in a May data breach.

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LA Ex-Judge Admonished For 'Discourteous,' 'Demeaning' Talk

By Hailey Konnath

California's Commission on Judicial Performance has publicly admonished a retired Los Angeles state judge for a pattern of "discourteous, undignified and impatient" behavior that also involved "demeaning" remarks toward women, findings that the judge said don't reflect "the full complexity of the circumstances."

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SEC Atty Exits After Hiding Revoked License, OIG Says

By Jessica Corso

A longstanding employee of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission resigned after it was discovered that they had falsely reported being in good standing with a state bar association, according to the regulator's inspector general.

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Analysis

6 Cases For Patent Attys To Watch In The Second Half Of 2025

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit is considering major questions about when delays in prosecuting patents become bad faith and whether the acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director is legally allowed to apply new rules retroactively. Here's what you need to know about these cases and others that attorneys are keeping an eye on for the rest of the year.

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