Judge Asks If Execs 'Blindsided' Truist With Mass Exodus

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina business judge on Wednesday repeatedly returned to whether three former executives who led Truist's real estate finance arm ever revealed to the bank that they were in "secret" talks to join a competitor and bring dozens of their colleagues with them, signaling he'd let a jury decide if the mass exodus is to blame for the business's alleged losses.

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Duke Energy Fights To Recover Over $17M In Fuel Costs

By Abigail Harrison

In an effort to secure recovery of over $17 million in fuel costs, counsel for Duke Energy's electric utilities serving the Carolinas told a state appeals court Wednesday that lawmakers have always intended for utilities to recover or return fuel costs "dollar for dollar."

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Sinema Sued Under Rare Law By Her Former Guard's Ex-Wife

By Abigail Harrison

Former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, now a Hogan Lovells attorney in Washington, D.C., destroyed a 14-year marriage by sustaining an affair with a former member of her security detail and U.S. Senate staff, according to a lawsuit that hit North Carolina federal court Wednesday.

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Groups Seek Records On ICE 'Ankle Monitoring For All' Policy

By Britain Eakin

Two immigrant legal groups have sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in North Carolina federal court Wednesday to pry loose records about the agency's purported blanket use of ankle monitors in its Alternatives to Detention program, which they said is intended to induce self-deportation.

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United Rentals Says NC Sales Rep Diverted Biz To Competitor

By Aaron Keller

A former United Rentals Inc. sales representative drafted a resignation letter based on a competitor's offer letter, revealed sales leads and followed his new employer's advice on how to download data from his company devices for future use, a new lawsuit alleges.

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NC Manager Gets 6 Years For Healthcare, Tax Scheme

By Anna Scott Farrell

The manager of a substance abuse treatment company who paid patients in gift cards was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay more than $15 million in restitution to North Carolina Medicaid and the IRS, the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.

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4th Circ. Keeps Butterball's Win In Wage Dispute

By Irene Spezzamonte

A Butterball turkey catcher cannot revive his wage and hour claims because he was a piece-rate employee, the Fourth Circuit has ruled, agreeing with a North Carolina federal court that his state and federal law claims couldn't stand.

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Door Maker Says Birthright Ruling Doesn't Impact Divestiture

By Matthew Perlman

Steves & Sons Inc. told the Fourth Circuit that the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling dealing with the reach of nationwide injunctions has no bearing on the door manufacturer's landmark win in a private merger challenge.

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Forming Measurable Ties

Relationship-building should begin as early as possible in a law firm merger, as intentional pathways to bringing people together drive collaboration, positive client response, engagements and growth, says Amie Colby at Troutman.

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As Goldstein Trial Begins, Gov't Points To 'Lavish' Lifestyle

By Jared Foretek

An accountant for billionaire investor Alec Gores said that Thomas Goldstein had suggested he open a foreign account for Gores' poker-related transactions or even classify him as a professional player for tax purposes, although Gores was just getting started in the high-stakes poker world.

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Simpson Thacher Offers Stipend To Lure Summer Associates

By Tracey Read

In an effort for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to attract top students who want to pursue public interest work, the firm said it will pay a stipend of $42,500 for the 2026-2027 cycle for those who opt to spend their 1L summer in a qualifying public service, government, academic, in-house legal or nonprofit role.

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Calif. Justices Order Prosecutors To Explain Alleged AI Errors

By Dorothy Atkins

The California Supreme Court has ordered Nevada County prosecutors to explain to a lower court why they shouldn't be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings.

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Judiciary AI Rule Draws Fire As Judges Get Deepfakes Survey

By Jeff Overley

Federal judiciary policymakers heard extensive concerns Thursday regarding high-profile plans to formally screen evidence generated with artificial intelligence, and they set the stage for more feedback by preparing an AI survey for every federal trial judge.

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ICE Detention Facilities Nearly Doubled Last Year, Report Says

By Tom Lotshaw

An American Immigration Council report said the Trump administration detained record numbers of noncitizens last year, most without criminal records, and held them in a rapidly expanding network of facilities that could soon rival the federal criminal prison system.

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Fla. High Court Opens Door To Non-ABA Accrediting Entities

By Carolina Bolado

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday changed the bar exam admission requirements to allow graduates of law schools accredited by entities other than the American Bar Association to sit for the Florida bar exam.

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5th Circ. Revives Allstate's Fraud Suit Over Car Crash Billing

By Gina Kim

The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived Allstate's racketeering suit alleging doctors and personal injury lawyers unleashed a barrage of unnecessary treatments for car accident patients and caused Allstate to pay $4.7 million in claims, finding the insurer sufficiently pled details about the conspiracy and specifics surrounding each allegedly fake medical billing.

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Sens. Advance Indiana Judge Nominee Grilled Over Sermons

By Courtney Bublé

A federal judicial nominee for Indiana who came under scrutiny by a Republican senator for his past sermons as an ordained elder was voted out of committee Thursday alongside five other judicial nominees.

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Trump US Atty Pick In NM Bumped To First Assistant

By Emily Sawicki

A New Mexico federal judge has ruled the Trump-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for New Mexico is not validly serving in the role but declined to disqualify the prosecutor from a slate of cases pending in the district, instead determining the lawyer may continue to work in the federal prosecutor's office as first assistant.

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Wash. Judges To Pick US Atty As Floyd's Term Set To Expire

By Gina Kim

The chief judge for the Western District of Washington on Wednesday announced the court's intent to select a U.S. attorney to serve on a temporary basis if President Donald Trump's pick, Charles Neil Floyd, who has been serving on an interim basis, isn't confirmed by the Senate by next month. 

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