After nearly two hours of argument in which counsel for the founding partner of a trusts and estates law firm argued that the firm should have to notice his departure to thousands of clients, a North Carolina Business Court judge seemed a bit perplexed Wednesday as to why the parties didn't resolve the client list spat with a North Carolina State Bar ethics opinion.
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THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Ex-Partner Seeks 2,000 Client Notices In NC Estate Firm Fight

By Abigail Harrison

After nearly two hours of argument in which counsel for the founding partner of a trusts and estates law firm argued that the firm should have to notice his departure to thousands of clients, a North Carolina Business Court judge seemed a bit perplexed Wednesday as to why the parties didn't resolve the client list spat with a North Carolina State Bar ethics opinion.

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Foreign Aides' RICO Labor Suit Against PruittHealth Hits NC

By Abigail Harrison

A Tennessee federal judge has agreed to transfer to North Carolina a year-old class action in which foreign workers say a healthcare system and recruiter trapped them in punitive contracts and buried them in grueling labor, after a judge said the action could have been filed in the Tar Heel State in the first place.

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Co.'s Dual Citizenship Doesn't Kill Jurisdiction, 4th Circ. Told

By Hayley Fowler

A medical supply company urged the Fourth Circuit on Wednesday to revive its suit against a U.K. company over COVID-19 test kits, arguing the Chinese citizenship of one of its members doesn't destroy a North Carolina federal judge's ability to hear the case.

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Uber Has Duty Of Safety Under NC Law, Passenger Claims

By Jonathan Capriel

Uber is "obviously" a transportation company providing rides to the public and therefore can be held liable when its drivers sexually assault customers, a passenger told the California federal court overseeing the sprawling multidistrict litigation, urging the court not to fall for the company's "misdirection."

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LITIGATION

Oak View Exec Tells Jury Of Deal To Hype Ticketmaster

By Stewart Bishop

The CEO of Oak View Group told a Manhattan federal jury Wednesday that his company didn't inform other venue owners that it was being paid to "advocate" for them to use Ticketmaster as a vendor for ticketing services, but said he still would recommend the Live Nation subsidiary anyway since it's the best in the business.

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FOURTH CIRCUIT

4th Circ. Says Md. Justices, Gov. Not To Blame For Debt Writs

By Tom Lotshaw

A split Fourth Circuit panel has ruled that three military families cannot blame Maryland's supreme court justices or governor after state court clerks recognized allegedly defective out-of-state judgments and issued garnishment writs freezing their bank accounts.

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FINRA Constitutionality Case Belongs In 4th Circ., Judge Says

By Jessica Corso

A North Carolina federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's in-house disciplinary process, saying the case belongs before the Fourth Circuit.

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Md. Tells 4th Circ. Not To Revive Pot Licensing Suit

By Mike Curley

Maryland cannabis regulators are urging the Fourth Circuit to leave dismissed a California entrepreneur's suit alleging that its social equity licensing program discriminates against out-of-state operators, saying her complaint fails to establish any real harm.

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POLICY & REGULATION

PTAB Was Never '100% Discretionary,' Rep. Issa Tells Squires

By Dani Kass

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires is exceeding the authority Congress intended to grant him in the America Invents Act for discretionarily denying patent challenges, the U.S. House of Representatives' intellectual property leader said Wednesday.

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Lawmakers Aim To Advance Bills Bolstering Patent Rights

By Ryan Davis

A bipartisan pair of lawmakers said at a conference Wednesday that they plan to make a push to pass legislation aimed at establishing stronger patent rights in the coming year, including bills limiting patent challenges and setting rules on which inventions are eligible for patents.

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DEALS

Nexstar Says No Harm On The Horizon From $6.2B Tegna Deal

By Nadia Dreid

Nexstar and Tegna have come out swinging against a "last-minute, unfounded" attempt by eight states to block the companies from continuing to co-mingle their businesses following their $6.2 billion television station merger after receiving the go-ahead from the Federal Communications Commission.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Law Firm Ransomware Attacks On Rise, Report Says

By Allison Grande

Cyberattacks targeting law firms jumped in 2025, according to a new BakerHostetler report, which also highlighted recent spikes across a wide range of sectors in ransomware payments and class action lawsuits stemming from these incidents. 

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Warren Grills Fed's Ex-BigLaw Supervision Chief On Conflicts

By Lauren Berg

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., on Wednesday asked former Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP veteran Randall Guynn, a recent addition to the Federal Reserve, to explain how he is dealing with potential conflicts of interest stemming from his previous role chairing the BigLaw firm's financial institutions group.

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Winston & Strawn Wants Hunter Biden To Respond In Fee Row

By Lynn LaRowe

Winston & Strawn LLP has asked the D.C. Superior Court to force Hunter Biden to fully respond to interrogatories in its lawsuit against the former president's son over unpaid legal bills, after Biden conducted an incomplete "hand search" of documents at issue.

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MyPillow CEO's Attys Face New Sanctions Over Latest Errors

By Lauren Berg

Two attorneys for MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and his media company are in hot water once again as a Colorado federal judge on Wednesday ordered them to explain why they shouldn't be sanctioned for citation errors, after she previously sanctioned them for errors produced by generative artificial intelligence.

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Fla. Appeals Panel Turns Poetic In Warning About AI Misuse

By Madison Arnold

A Florida state appeals court on Wednesday admonished a pro se litigant for using AI-hallucinated case citations in his ultimately unsuccessful appeal of a lower court ruling enforcing a settlement agreement with an investment company, with the panel citing an AI-generated limerick to get its point across.

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Ramey, EscapeX Ask Justices To Review Sanctions Challenge

By Adam Lidgett

EscapeX IP and its attorney William Ramey III want the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit's decision backing $255,000 in fees and sanctions for what a California federal judge found to be a frivolous patent suit against Google.

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Analysis

ICE Builds Out Detention Centers, And The Suits Pile Up

By Grace Dixon

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's surging need for detention space — fueled by increased funding and a rapid escalation in enforcement activity — has sparked litigation from local lawmakers and advocacy groups concerned by the agency's full-throttle approach and perceived disregard for surrounding communities.

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Trade Court Nom Regrets Past Tweets Critical Of GOP Sens.

By Courtney Bublé

Kara Westercamp, associate counsel to the president, who was nominated for the U.S. Court of International Trade, said Wednesday she regretted her past social media posts critical of Republican senators.

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Official Says DOJ Watching Essential Patent Antitrust Cases

By Ryan Davis

A U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division official said Wednesday the agency is closely monitoring antitrust disputes over standard essential patents, aiming to ensure that proper analyses of market power are undertaken and that most patent suits are exempted from causing antitrust liability.

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DOJ Agrees To Settle Flynn's Fla. Suit Over False Prosecution

By David Minsky

Retired Army general Michael Flynn reached a financial settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday in his Florida federal lawsuit claiming he was wrongly prosecuted for allegedly lying to the FBI during its investigation into whether Donald Trump coordinated with Russia during the 2016 election.

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Promo that reads 2025 Practice Groups of the Year

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arnold & Porter

Baker & Hostetler

Bartko Pavia

Binnall Law Group

Brady Cobin

Cain & Skarnulis

Chaffin Luhana LLP

Coburn & Greenbaum

Cravath Swaine

Davis Polk

Gibson Dunn

Girard Sharp

Hall & Taylor Law

Holland & Knight

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Littler Mendelson

Maynard Nexsen

McGuireWoods

Milberg PLLC

Morrison & Foerster

Nelson Mullins

Noble Law Firm

O'Melveny & Myers

Oak City Law

Peiffer Wolf

Perkins Coie

Ramey LLP

Robinson Bradshaw

Schwed Kahle

Troutman

Winston & Strawn

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Civil Liberties Union

Apple Inc.

Axon Enterprise Inc.

Bank of America Corp.

Block Inc.

Center for Biological Diversity Inc.

Center for Strategic and International Studies

Citigroup Inc.

Earthjustice

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.

George Washington University

Google LLC

InterDigital Inc.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

LinkedIn Corp.

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.

Marriott International Inc.

Morgan Stanley

Netlist Inc.

Nexstar Media Group Inc.

North Carolina State Bar

Pacific Legal Foundation

PruittHealth

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Sirius XM Radio Inc.

State Bar of Wisconsin

Tegna Inc.

The Bank of New York Mellon Corp.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Twitter Inc.

Uber Technologies Inc.

Virginia State Bar

Walmart Inc.

Wells Fargo & Co.

YouTube Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Defense Intelligence Agency

European Union

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Reserve System

Federal Trade Commission

International Trade Commission

Maryland Attorney General's Office

National Security Agency

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

State of Maryland

State of Michigan

U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

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

U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon

U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

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

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

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

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

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

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the District of Montana

United States District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands