Prosecutor Resigns, Judge Shows Slide Deck On AI Errors

By Abigail Harrison

A federal prosecutor told a North Carolina federal court Tuesday that he was separating from the office after admitting in open court to using artificial intelligence to help draft a response brief, which he called "the worst decision I've ever made in my 30-year career."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ballot Selfie Ban Doesn't Flout Free Speech, NC Judge Rules

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina federal judge has upheld the state's ban on ballot selfies, rejecting a First Amendment challenge by a former Libertarian state senate candidate and voter who accused state and local election officials of trampling her free speech rights by enforcing the ban.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Chinese Vape Maker The Focus In Exploding Battery Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

A man who alleged he suffered second- and third-degree burns after a battery for his vape exploded while in his pocket has agreed to drop his claims against the vape's domestic distributor, but will pursue his claims against the Chinese manufacturer of the e-cigarette, according to a notice filed in North Carolina federal court.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NC Judge Rebuffs Perdue's DOL Whistleblower Challenge

By Hayley Fowler

Perdue Farms Inc. lost its case challenging the constitutionality of the U.S. Department of Labor's administrative proceedings for whistleblower complaints after a North Carolina federal judge found such proceedings don't flout Perdue's Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Fumes As Live Nation Antitrust Trial Remains In Limbo

By Stewart Bishop

The status of Live Nation Entertainment's antitrust trial and proposed settlement over federal and state government claims of anticompetitive conduct remained up in the air Tuesday amid pushback by several states, while the Manhattan federal judge overseeing the case upbraided the parties for keeping him out of the loop about negotiations.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

4th Circ. Backs W.Va.'s Trans Care Coverage Exclusion

By Grace Elletson

The Fourth Circuit said Tuesday that West Virginia's Medicaid coverage exclusion for gender-affirming care passes constitutional muster and does not discriminate based on sex, basing its conclusion on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Genworth Unravels 401(k) Fund Suit Class Cert. At 4th Circ.

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday reversed class certification for Genworth Financial Inc. employee 401(k) participants who alleged that their retirement savings were dragged down by underperforming BlackRock Inc. target date funds, holding that individual plan participants' investment performance was too varied for the court to sign off on their claims as a group.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Military Attys In DOJ 'Erodes Democratic Norms,' Ex-JAGs Say

By Lauren Berg

Nearly a dozen former military lawyers raised the alarm about the Trump administration appointing judge advocate officers to U.S. attorneys' offices, urging a Minnesota federal judge Tuesday to bar an Army lawyer from prosecuting a case that accuses a civilian of assaulting federal immigration enforcement agents.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Official Faces Ethics Case Over Georgetown DEI Letters

By Alison Knezevich

U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin has been hit with disciplinary charges in the nation's capital over threatening letters he sent to Georgetown University Law Center last year while he was interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dems Confront Roberts At Wide-Ranging Judiciary Gathering

By Jeff Overley

The federal judiciary's top administrator voiced "serious and urgent concerns" Tuesday regarding threats of retribution against judges, a warning that coincided with a judicial gathering where Democrats discussed security fears and controversial U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Atty Gets Over 11 Years For Solar $1B Ponzi Scheme

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has sentenced a corporate attorney to 11 years and five months behind bars after he pled guilty to nearly two dozen charges for his role in DC Solar's $912 million Ponzi scheme, which duped major investors including Berkshire Hathaway, Progressive and SunTrust Equipment Finance & Leasing.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Moses & Singer Partner Admits Tax Crimes, Will Pay $2.8M

By Aaron Keller

A former Moses & Singer LLP partner admitted to practice in New York and North Carolina courts has pled guilty to three counts of failing to file personal income tax returns and will pay $2.8 million in restitution, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut announced Monday.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judiciary Approves Supreme Court Public Defender Office

By Katie Buehler

The federal judiciary approved a new office Tuesday aimed at improving the quality of representation for indigent defendants with cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Unveils Superseding Policy For Corporate Criminal Cases

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday released its first-ever, department-wide, corporate enforcement policy for criminal matters, outlining how it will decline to prosecute companies that voluntarily disclose misconduct, cooperate with investigators and remediate wrongdoing.

Policy attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DLA Piper Can't Rep Itself At Bias Trial, Fired Atty Says

By Pete Brush

DLA Piper should not be permitted to represent itself at trial in a pregnancy discrimination case brought by a senior associate who was fired in 2022, lawyers for the plaintiff told a Manhattan federal judge.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Nixed Over MAGA Op-Ed Seeks Reinstatement

By Emily Sawicki

A retired Illinois state trial court judge pursuing First Amendment claims against the state Supreme Court after his right-wing opinion column resulted in his removal from a temporary judgeship has moved for immediate reinstatement to the Cook County Circuit Court.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wisconsin Judges Decline To Extend Interim US Atty's Term

By Courtney Bublé

A majority of judges in the Eastern District of Wisconsin have declined to extend the tenure of interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel, according to an announcement Tuesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

J&J Opposes Beasley Allen Reinstatement Bid In NJ Talc Fight

By Emily Sawicki

Johnson & Johnson is urging the New Jersey Supreme Court to not take the "extraordinary step" of intervening in an appellate panel ruling that disqualified Beasley Allen from representing hundreds of women in product liability litigation against the pharmaceutical giant after the Georgia-based firm "knowingly collaborated" with a former Johnson & Johnson outside counsel.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »