Ex-City Council Member's Daughter Admits To COVID Fraud

By Hayley Fowler

The daughter of a former city council member in Charlotte, North Carolina, has copped to filing bogus small-business loan applications for COVID-19 relief funds with her mother and sister, making her the second in the family to reach a plea deal with prosecutors.

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IT Worker Fights Early Exit Bid In Pantsless Mayor Video Suit

By Hayley Fowler

A former town IT worker has urged a North Carolina federal judge not to throw out his suit claiming he was fired for reporting security footage of the mayor pantsless in town hall, arguing the complaint sufficiently connects the town's top officials to the decision to terminate him.

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Trade Group Backs Insurers In Tanger's COVID Coverage Row

By Abigail Harrison

The trade organization American Property Casualty Insurance Association is urging North Carolina's justices to reverse an order adverse to a pair of insurers in a $50 million COVID-19 coverage fight, arguing in an amicus brief that the order permits the "absurd" result of one of the state's statutes and its case law applying nationwide.

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NC County Accused Of Withholding Landfill PFAS Records

By Abigail Harrison

A North Carolina county was accused in state court of violating public records law by either not producing — or producing in an inadequate manner — records related to the presence of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) pollution in and around the county landfill.

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'Most Wanted' Whistleblower Says DOJ Can't Nix FCA Suit

By Craig Clough

A man incarcerated for defrauding the U.S. Department of Defense who was also once featured on "America's Most Wanted" urged the Fourth Circuit on Friday to revive his whistleblower complaint accusing major defense contractors of price gouging, saying the government cannot drop the suit just because it intervened as a plaintiff.

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Forest Service Beats Suit Over Timber Targets

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge on Monday ruled against environmental groups challenging the U.S. Forest Service's timber harvesting program, holding that annual timber targets aren't discrete agency actions for purposes of judicial review, and that the government sufficiently assessed the environmental impact of logging projects.

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Army Contractor Tells 4th Circ. Linguists' FCA Suit Rightly Cut

By Madeline Lyskawa

Linguists' suit accusing Global Linguist Solutions of violating the False Claims Act by performing work under U.S. Army contracts meant for small business subcontractors consists of recycled allegations that have been public for years, the joint venture told the Fourth Circuit.

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Charlotte, NC, Prosecutor Fires Paralegal After Deadly Crash

By Parker Quinlan

A paralegal with the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office in Charlotte has been fired over criminal charges including felony death by vehicle following a Saturday collision, according to the office.

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HPE Seeks Fix After States Expose Confidential Bidding Info

By Ben Adlin

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. urged a California federal judge to order a dozen states and Washington, D.C., to take corrective measures after they publicly filed thousands of pages of confidential documents related to the company's planned $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks Inc.

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Considering The Risks That Arise When IP Outlives Its Owner

Federal and state court decisions show that the statutory regime for each category of intellectual property promises continuity after the owner's death, but the law does not provide a succession framework for how those rights are to be exercised, says Erin Daly at Daly Law & Strategy.

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Opinion

AI Presents A Make-Or-Break Moment For Outside Counsel

The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence by corporate legal departments is forcing a long-overdue reset of the relationship between inside and outside counsel, and introducing a significant opportunity to shed frustrating inefficiencies and strengthen collaboration for firms willing to embrace the shift, says Intel Chief Legal Officer April Miller Boise.

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Getting The Most Out Of Learning And Development Programs

Junior associates can better develop the legal, business and interpersonal skills they need for long-term success by approaching their firms’ learning and development programs armed with five tips for getting the most out of these resources, says Lauren Hakala at Reed Smith.

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Lack Of Harm Dooms Ex-Estate Firm Partner's Bid For Notices

By Abigail Harrison

The founding partner of a trusts and estates law firm lost his bid to have the North Carolina Business Court order the firm to notify thousands of clients of his departure and hand over their contact information, with the judge ruling the lawyer failed to show he suffered irreparable harm.

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