A bid by former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to unearth notes and communications from a therapist working with her lover's ex-wife should be summarily denied, as the ex-wife, Heather Ammel, told a North Carolina federal court Thursday that the request is a clear overreach.
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TOP NEWS

Lover's Ex-Wife Fights Sinema's Request For Therapy Notes

By Abigail Harrison

A bid by former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona to unearth notes and communications from a therapist working with her lover's ex-wife should be summarily denied, as the ex-wife, Heather Ammel, told a North Carolina federal court Thursday that the request is a clear overreach.

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NC Healthcare Workers Get Final Nod On $1.5M Wage Deal

By Hayley Fowler

A federal judge has given final approval to a $1.56 million settlement with the owners of several North Carolina hospitals and healthcare facilities accused of manipulating workers' time sheets to skirt overtime requirements.

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United Rentals, Ex-Worker Strike Deal In Noncompete Suit

By Aaron Keller

United Rentals Inc. on Thursday asked a Connecticut federal judge to approve a permanent injunction blocking a former North Carolina salesperson from working for a competitor within 100 miles of United's Raleigh branch office through mid-January 2027, ending a 4-month-old noncompete suit.

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POLICY & REGULATION

NC Republicans Want Fetal Personhood Question On '26 Ballot

By Abigail Harrison

Two Republicans in the North Carolina House who have a history of advancing so-called fetal personhood bills have made another attempt to put a constitutional amendment to voters in November to decide if life begins at fertilization.

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FOURTH CIRCUIT

4th Circ. Says Tribe Can Reclaim Boarding School Remains

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Army must repatriate the remains of two Indigenous children from a former Indian boarding school cemetery in Pennsylvania, a split Fourth Circuit panel determined Thursday, saying the site qualifies as a holding or collection under a federal law designed to protect Native American burial sites.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Nexstar Offers A Cautionary Tale On State-Level Deal Scrutiny

State-enforcement challenges to the $6.2 billion Nexstar-Tegna merger remind legal practitioners that federal approval isn't always sufficient to deliver certainty on closing, integration and timetable assumptions, says Brett Story at Britehorn Securities.

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Series

Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

ABA Section Votes To Scrap Law School DEI Standards

By Emma Cueto

The American Bar Association's legal education section on Friday voted to eliminate its requirements that law schools show a commitment to diversity in their student body in order to remain accredited, a policy that has been under fire since a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action in higher education.

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Fed. Circ. Drops A Theme Song, Talks Guest Judges

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit's full lineup came together Friday to provide practitioners with insight about their experience sitting on other courts, in a conference where the chief judge dropped the court's first (and only) single.

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Alston & Bird, Banks Sued Again Over $328M Goliath Scam

By Jack Karp

Another proposed class of investors sued Alston & Bird LLP and a trio of financial institutions Friday over their alleged roles in a $328 million cryptocurrency scam orchestrated by Goliath Ventures Inc.

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Fed. Circ. Urges Justices To Reject Newman Suspension Case

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit has urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear Judge Pauline Newman's appeal targeting a suspension imposed on her by the court's other judges, arguing that a lower court correctly held that her challenges to the order are not subject to judicial review.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and Haynes Boone lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts that have sent disputes to arbitration have jurisdiction to confirm or vacate subsequent awards.

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Brief

Colorado Passes Bill Banning Fee Sharing With Nonlawyers

By Emily Sawicki

The Colorado Legislature has approved a bill to bar attorneys and law firms operating in the state from sharing fees and revenue with non-attorney-owned firms, known as alternative business structure firms, making Colorado the latest state to tamp down the practice.

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Girardi Trial Judge Josephine Staton To Take Senior Status

By Ryan Boysen

The California federal judge who sentenced disgraced trial attorney Tom Girardi to prison for wire fraud last year has announced that she'll be taking senior status in the fall, allowing President Donald Trump to appoint her successor.

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Roundup

Balancing The Scales: Justices To Revisit Sentencing Rules

By Orlando Lorenzo

The U.S. Supreme Court will take a closer look at a circuit split over the deference that should be allotted to U.S. Sentencing Commission commentary, and a man convicted in the killing of an infant has been released after 27 years served over evidence that points to pneumonia as the likely cause of death.

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Atty Tied To Trump Pardon Headed For August Extortion Trial

By Stewart Bishop

A New York federal judge on Friday set an August trial date for a South Carolina attorney and lobbyist on extortion charges tied to his work as a purported go-between for people with serious legal troubles seeking clemency from President Donald Trump.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen singer Rita Ora be sued by her management company, the billionaire Gertner brothers file a part 8 claim and Stephenson Harwood lodge a debt claim against a member of the Bulgari jewelry dynasty. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

PayPal settled with the DOJ to end a probe into what the government agency said was a discriminatory investment program for Black- and minority-owned businesses. Meanwhile, Meta's global head of legal operations during a panel discussion predicted that the billable hour will be the exception — not the rule — in five years. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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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.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Alston & Bird

ArentFox Schiff

Ashfords LLP

BPE Solicitors

Baker McKenzie

Big Fire Law

Brabners LLP

Brown & Crouppen

Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey LLP

Clement & Murphy

Clyde & Co

Covington & Burling

Cripps LLP

Cultural Heritage Partners

DLA Piper

DWF LLP

Davis Polk

Edwin Coe

Foot Anstey

Freshfields

Gibson Dunn

Girard Sharp

Goodwin Procter

Greenberg Traurig

Harrison Goddard Foote

Haynes Boone

Hill Dickinson

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Joseph Hage

Kennedys Law LLP

King & Spalding

Kingsley Napley

Kirkland & Ellis

Klafter Lesser

Kline & Specter

Latham & Watkins

Lee Segui

Leigh Day

Levine Kellogg

Meister Seelig & Schuster

Mishcon de Reya

MoloLamken

Morgan Lewis

Morrison & Foerster

Morrison Cohen

Paul Weiss

Penningtons Manches

Pillsbury Winthrop

Power Rogers

Poyner Spruill

Quarles & Brady

Quinn Emanuel

Reynolds Porter

Roberts & Stevens

Roche Pia

Ropes & Gray

Setfords Solicitors

Shoosmiths LLP

Sidley Austin

Skadden Arps

Stephenson Harwood

Umhofer Mitchell

Van Camp Meacham

Venable LLP

Wachtell Lipton

Walker Morris LLP

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AB Electrolux

AXA SA

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bar Association

American Civil Liberties Union

Apple Inc.

BMS Group

BSH Hausgeräte GmbH

Bank of America Corp.

Boston Scientific Corp.

Britehorn Securities LLC

British American Tobacco PLC

British Broadcasting Corp.

Britvic PLC

Bulgari SpA

C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc.

Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V.

Coinbase Global Inc.

Consumer Federation of America

Corporate Legal Operations Consortium

Debenhams PLC

Earthjustice

Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise

Google LLC

HCA Healthcare Inc.

HSBC Holdings PLC

InCloud LLC

Integer Holdings Corp.

Investments Ltd.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.

LinkedIn Corp.

LionTree LLC

Managed Funds Association

Marubeni

MasterCard Inc.

Mediterranean Shipping Co. SA

Medtronic PLC

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

Native American Rights Fund Inc.

New Civil Liberties Alliance

Nexstar Media Group Inc.

Nippon Life Insurance Company of America

OpenAI OpCo LLC

PG&E Corp.

Paypal Holdings Inc.

Pilgrim's Pride Corp.

Pindrop Security Inc.

ROC Nation LLC

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

South Carolina Bar

Southeastern University

Suncor Energy Inc.

Tegna Inc.

The DIRECTV Group Inc.

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.

Thryv Inc.

Tokio Marine & Nichido Fire Insurance Co. Ltd.

United Rentals Inc.

Visa Europe

Wells Fargo & Co.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Colorado Supreme Court

Companies House

Competition Appeal Tribunal

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Federal Communications Commission

Financial Conduct Authority

Georgia Supreme Court

International Trade Commission

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

National Labor Relations Board

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Small Business Administration

U.S. Army

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

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

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

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

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Sentencing Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO)

US Office of Management and Budget

United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia

Winnebago Tribe

Yurok Tribe