Analysis

DOJ Settlements Perceived As Flouting Litigation Norms

By Britain Eakin

A trend of settlements between the Trump administration and friendly parties in fast-track lawsuits to pursue policy changes has legal experts concerned about the endurance of a longstanding norm that federal courts can only hear genuine disputes between opposing parties.

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Analysis

Trump Pick Sets Stage For More Fights Over FCC's Power

By Christopher Cole

A move by the White House to fill the third Republican vacancy on the Federal Communications Commission — but leave a long-empty minority seat on the five-member board unfilled — sets up what will likely be more pitched battles over not only the FCC's powers, but its future composition.

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Trump, DOJ Say Firing Seattle US Atty Was Within Their Rights

By Emily Sawicki

The White House and the U.S. Department of Justice are fighting a demand for immediate reinstatement brought by Seattle's former top federal prosecutor, who was fired within an hour of a court appointing him to the role, arguing his due process rights were not violated.

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Trump Tells 11th Circ. Sanctions In IRS Case Must Be Paused

By Asha Glover

President Donald Trump urged the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday to halt sanctions imposed by a lower court over an immunity deal that would have given him broad protections from federal tax audits and investigations, arguing he and the government have distinct interests.

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Trent McCotter Follows Blanche As DOJ's 2nd-In-Command

By Courtney Bublé

Following confirmation of Todd Blanche as attorney general, U.S. Department of Justice official Trent McCotter is taking his former post as deputy attorney general on a temporary basis.

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NJ Justices See No Mental State Tie To Daniel's Law Damages

By George Woolston

The New Jersey Supreme Court held Wednesday that there is no mental state required for damages to be established under the state's judicial privacy law, answering a question that the Third Circuit said could help the federal appeals court determine the law's constitutionality.

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Feds Granted More Time To Defend College Data Ask

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts federal judge granted the Trump administration an opportunity to explain its rationale for fast-tracking a demand for detailed admissions data from U.S. colleges and universities.

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Trump Repeats Call To Remove Stay On Mail-In Ballot Order

By Katie Buehler

The Trump administration prodded the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to "promptly" lift a Massachusetts judge's order prohibiting the enforcement of new restrictions on mail-in ballots in 23 states and the District of Columbia in this year's midterm elections. 

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Miami Judge Says Rival's Trump Library Attack Defamed Her

By David Minsky

A Miami-Dade County Circuit Court judge has accused an attorney vying for her seat on the bench of defamation, telling a Florida state court the attorney conspired to unlawfully influence the upcoming non-partisan judicial race with a smear campaign claiming she tried to block the Donald Trump Presidential Library.

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In 'Close' Call, 7th Circ. Backs FDIC In-House Enforcement

By Lauren Berg

In what the court called a "close and challenging call," the Seventh Circuit on Wednesday ruled the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. could use in-house proceedings to adjudicate claims of unsound banking practices, rejecting a former Illinois community bank chairman's contention that such proceedings violate his right to trial by jury.

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Lender Groups 'Wrong' On Interest Opt-Out Law, Ore. Says

By Jon Hill

Oregon is pushing back against financial industry groups' request to halt the state's new law aimed at capping interest rates on loans from out-of-state banks, arguing the lender trade groups suing in federal court over this so-called opt-out law are trying to impose limits on it that Congress never intended.

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11th Circ. Backs EPA, Fertilizer Co. In 'Radioactive' Road Case

By Ganesh Setty

The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday rejected an environmental group's challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision allowing the construction of a private road with a radioactive byproduct from fertilizer production, finding EPA regulations don't categorically bar such use.

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Army Corps OKs Enbridge Tunnel Amid Line 5 Permit Fight

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a permit Wednesday allowing Enbridge Energy LP to tunnel beneath four miles of the Straits of Mackinac for its Line 5 oil pipeline, and environmental and tribal groups fighting the project say a recent Michigan Supreme Court decision bars the construction.

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UMich Law Professor's Pro Bono Work Not FOIA Fodder

By Nadia Dreid

The University of Michigan doesn't have to turn over the emails a law professor sent as part of her environmental pro bono work in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, after Michigan state court ruled that the emails don't count as public records under the law.

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Full 5th Circ. Rejects Planned Parenthood's Immunity Appeal

By Hailey Konnath

The full Fifth Circuit Wednesday tossed an appeal over whether Planned Parenthood is entitled to attorney immunity in a whistleblower suit accusing the organization of improper Medicaid billing, reversing a panel's decision that went in favor of Planned Parenthood.

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CMS Ends Medicaid Funds For Youth Transgender Care

By Mark Payne

Medicaid will no longer cover the cost of some gender-affirming care for minors, including gender reassignment surgery and hormone treatments, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced after issuing a final rule set to take effect this year. 

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Squires Tells Fed. Circ. PTAB Made Error In Corteva Decision

By Adam Lidgett

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has asked the Federal Circuit to intervene in Inari Agriculture's appeal of a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision upholding a Corteva patent on insect-repellent corn, saying part of the board's decision was wrong.

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Trump Sued Over 'Corrupt' $100K Early Truth Social Access

By Craig Clough

Online news outlet The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation sued President Donald Trump Wednesday in New York federal court, accusing him of violating the Constitution with an "extraordinary, corrupt, and unconstitutional" scheme by allowing paying customers to receive advance access to official presidential announcements through Truth Social.

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Apple Gets Brief Pause In App Store Case From High Court

By Matthew Perlman and Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a brief stay Wednesday in a case from Epic Games targeting Apple's App Store policies, after the district court refused to put the case on hold while the justices review a contempt order against Apple.

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Raskin Asks Ellison To Speak To Congress About Merger

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., has asked Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison to appear for a transcribed interview to explain the Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery merger.

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Wheelchair Isn't A 'Vehicle' For DUI Test Consent In PA

By Parker Quinlan

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Wednesday rolled out its finding that a man's wheelchair does not constitute a vehicle and that his use of the device to leave the scene of a car crash did not imply consent for a blood test as part of a DUI investigation.

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NYC Probes Polymarket, Kalshi Over Ads Targeting Minors

By Sarah Jarvis

The New York City Council announced Wednesday that it is investigating Kalshi, Polymarket, Coinbase and Gemini Titan for potentially false, deceptive or abusive advertising tactics for their prediction market platforms, expressing concerns about marketing directed toward young people.

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Novig Loses Bid To Halt NY Action Over Prediction Market

By Sydney Price

A New York federal judge has refused to grant a temporary restraining order that would block the state from taking action against prediction market Novig, stating she was following the lead of another judge in her district who issued a similar ruling against Kalshi.

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Full 5th Circ. Invalidates Part Of No Surprises Act Rules

By Kellie Mejdrich

The full Fifth Circuit partially unraveled federal regulations that implemented an arbitration system between insurers and out-of-network providers that Congress established in a 2020 law called the No Surprises Act, holding aspects of how the rules calculated payment amounts for disputed claims were unlawful.

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Trump Says Fla. Library Land Gift Isn't Emoluments Breach

By David Minsky

President Donald Trump urged a Florida federal court to toss a lawsuit challenging Florida's donation of a local college's property in downtown Miami to build his presidential library, saying land gift to a private foundation doesn't violate the U.S. Constitution. 

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DOL Backs Off Job Corps Shutdowns To End Students' Suit

By MJ Koo

The U.S. Department of Labor has agreed to rescind its decision to shutter 99 contractor-operated Job Corps centers nationwide to settle a suit brought by students who challenged the closures in D.C. federal court.

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Labor Groups Sue Ed. Dept. Over Student Loan Access Cuts

By Katherine Smith

The AFL-CIO and several unions have filed a complaint in D.C. federal court challenging new federal student loan caps in a U.S. Department of Education rule that narrows the definition for "professional student," claiming that the rule arbitrarily restricts access to federal student loans.

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Brief

DOL Association Health Plan Regs Near Finish Line

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Department of Labor is a step closer to expanding the definition of "employer" under federal benefits law and allowing businesses to band together to offer health plans that skirt certain Affordable Care Act requirements, after proposed regulations were sent to the White House for review.

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'Core' Generics Leader Must Face Most AG Price-Fix Claims

By Bryan Koenig

A Connecticut federal judge ruled Wednesday that G&W Laboratories Inc. must face most price-fixing claims from dozens of state attorneys general targeting generic-drug makers, teeing the shuttered company up for trial as one of four companies deemed the "core group of leaders most responsible" for the conspiracy.

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Colleges Say Wealth Bias Evidence Would Prejudice Jury

By Jared Foretek

Top-flight universities, preparing to fight class action antitrust claims at trial later this year that they illegally colluded on financial aid formulas, on Wednesday accused the student plaintiffs of trying to "dirty" the universities with allegations that they admit underqualified applicants because of their family wealth.

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10th Circ. Upholds Phone Search In Child Porn Case

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Tenth Circuit upheld an Oklahoma man's child pornography convictions Wednesday, rejecting his arguments that police unlawfully prolonged a traffic stop and obtained an overly broad warrant to search his cellphone.

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9th Circ. Backs Extradition For Al Qaeda In Iraq-Linked Killings

By Rachel Riley

The Ninth Circuit said Wednesday that a U.S. citizen can't escape his extradition to Iraq to be tried for the murders of two Iraqi police officers because the killings constitute international terrorism, meaning he is not protected by a political-offense exception to the relevant extradition treaty.

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6th Circ. Rejects Prison Worker's Excessive Force Claim

By Melanie Dorsey

The Sixth Circuit has rejected a Michigan prison employee's excessive force claim stemming from injuries she suffered during a hostage training exercise, ruling that she was not "seized" under the Fourth Amendment because the officers were practicing a rescue rather than carrying out an actual law enforcement operation. 

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Ill. Panel Keeps Toxic Tort Jurisdiction Law Intact

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois appellate panel on Tuesday refused to revive a Republican-led challenge to a sweeping state law expanding the state's jurisdictional reach in toxic tort cases, saying it was barred from reviewing the Legislature's compliance with its own internal procedures but renewing concerns about being required to "turn a blind eye" to lawmakers' potential constitutional violations.

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Texas Medical Board Says AG Can't Get In On Malpractice Suit

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Medical Board told a state court judge that the Texas Office of the Attorney General could not represent a doctor who tried to treat a COVID-19 patient with ivermectin, saying the office flouted ethics rules by first representing the board and then representing the doctor.

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Colo. Gun Group Asks Court To Block Semiauto Law

By Rachel Konieczny

Colorado's official branch of the National Rifle Association urged a Colorado federal judge to block the enforcement of a new state law restricting ownership of certain semiautomatic firearms, writing the law "all but eliminates" law-abiding citizens' right to purchase the firearms.

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Wis. Hits Vape Co. With $630K Fine For Banned Products

By Jonathan Capriel

The Minnesota-based company behind the Loon vape brand is challenging in federal court a $630,000 fine that Wisconsin imposed after state regulators discovered banned e-cigarettes at two smoke shops, with the company arguing the penalty is unfair because it did not distribute the vapes to these retailers.

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Lawmakers Probe Rare Earths Co. Over $620M DOD Loan

By Tom Lotshaw

Democratic lawmakers have asked the CEO of Vulcan Elements to address reports that a senior White House adviser pressed defense officials to loan the rare earths startup $620 million after a firm affiliated with Donald Trump Jr. invested in it.

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Missouri Seeks To Block Minority Contracting Program

By Madeline Lyskawa

Missouri Attorney General Catherin L. Hanaway pressed a district court judge to block Kansas City's contracting program for minority- and women-owned businesses, saying it violates the equal protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

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Steel Tariff Exemption Denial Lacks Backing, Trade Court Says

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce wrongly relied on "vague statements" from an objector to reject requests to exempt certain products from a 25% tariff on steel, the U.S. Court of International Trade said Wednesday, ordering reconsiderations.

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Senate Passes Bill Letting Feds Share Counterfeit Import Data

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Senate has passed a bipartisan bill aiming to combat counterfeit and pirated imports by allowing customs agents to share suspected counterfeit packaging and shipping information with intellectual property holders, e-commerce companies and goods transporters.

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Nations Want AI Covered In UN Tax Pact's Services Protocol

By Kevin Pinner

Nations want artificial intelligence covered in a protocol on cross-border services under the proposed United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, according to negotiations.

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White House Drops Appeal Over Fast-Track Immigration Rule

By Jared Foretek

The Trump administration is dropping its D.C. Circuit appeal of a lower court's order blocking sweeping Executive Office for Immigrant Review rule changes that would have fast-tracked the review of deportation orders nationwide.

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4th Circ. Allows Review Of Immigrant's Untimely Petition

By Ganesh Setty

The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday vacated a Board of Immigration Appeals ruling denying a Salvadoran man's bids to avoid removal back to El Salvador after fleeing from MS-13, using its equitable relief powers to toll a statutory 30-day petition filing deadline.

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DOJ Charges 11 For 1,000+ 'Sham Marriages'

By Frank G. Runyeon

Manhattan federal prosecutors have charged 11 people with running a decade-long scheme that allegedly took in tens of millions of dollars to facilitate over 1,000 "sham marriages to fraudulently obtain immigration status," primarily for Chinese nationals.

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DHS Can't Shake Suit Over Suspicionless Stops, Atty Access

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge has allowed a lawsuit accusing federal immigration agents of stopping people without reasonable suspicion and preventing immigration detainees from speaking with attorneys to proceed.

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ICE Says Noncitizens Are Targeting 'Unwritten' Philly Policy

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Trump administration asked a federal judge Wednesday to toss proposed class claims against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement seeking the reinstatement of a Philadelphia policy that the three noncitizens who filed suit say limits the agency's ability to rearrest nondangerous immigrants without justification. 

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Army Loses Bid For 4th Circ. Burial Remains Rehearing

By Crystal Owens

The Fourth Circuit won't rethink its decision that the U.S. Army must return the remains of two Indigenous children to the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska who have been buried at a former Indian boarding school cemetery in Pennsylvania for more than a century.

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Wash. County Wants Out Of Burial Site Development Suit

By Corey Rothauser

Whatcom County, Washington, has asked a federal court to dismiss the sole claim against it in a lawsuit from the Lummi Nation over broadband construction that allegedly disturbed ancestral remains, arguing that the county cannot be held liable for how it reviewed permits for the projects.

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SpaceX On Hunt For More Spectrum

By Nadia Dreid

SpaceX is hungry for more spectrum, telling the Federal Communications Commission it ought to set "aggressive, technology-agnostic" buildout milestones in order to get new wireless satellite services to market just as the company unveils plans to build its own terrestrial network.

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Texas Judge Keeps Hemp THC Curbs In Place During Suit

By Sam Reisman

A Texas federal judge has declined to halt new state-led restrictions redesignating intoxicating hemp products as Schedule I substances while a lawsuit challenging them plays out.

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DEA Tells 4th Circ. Hemp Co. Can't Seek Review Of HHC Rule

By Mike Curley

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is urging the Fourth Circuit to throw out a hemp company's challenge to a recent rule allegedly designating a psychoactive hemp-derived compound as a Schedule I substance, saying the rule is a minor administrative change that cannot be challenged through a petition for review.

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Mich. Panel Keeps Judicial Hopeful Off Hamtramck Ballot

By Susan Smiley

A disqualified Michigan judicial candidate lost his reinstatement bid after an appellate court panel upheld a state Court of Claims decision saying he is ineligible to run because he failed to satisfy a requirement that he live in the city for a minimum of 30 days prior to the filing deadline.

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How New Counter-Drone Rule Will Reshape Event Security

A new interim final rule on counter-unmanned aircraft systems creates one of the most structured regulatory frameworks yet adopted for mitigating unauthorized drone activity, with implications for law enforcement, airport and stadium operators, drone companies, and public event organizers, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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What 'Good Faith' Means In Calif.'s 1st Climate Reporting Year

Initial submissions to California's corporate greenhouse gas emissions reporting program are due this month — and for regulated businesses, the first-year issue is not whether CARB has answered every implementation question, but how a company can make its good faith compliance efforts provable later, says Thierry Montoya at FBT Gibbons.

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How Axing SEC Trade-Through Rule Could Reshape Markets

The proposed elimination of a Securities and Exchange Commission rule that mandates a price benchmark for equity securities trades could allow blockchain-based trades to compete with legacy frameworks in registered markets, potentially serving as a test case for updated regulatory models, say Alex Zozos at Superstate, and Lewis Rinaudo Cohen and Edward Leaf at Cahill Gordon.

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Student Loan Revamp Leaves Bankruptcy Untouched

Recent changes to the Graduate PLUS student loan program may moderate borrowing and simplify repayment, but they may also shift financial distress into a bankruptcy system whose treatment of educational debt remains largely unchanged, say Jaclynn McDonnell at Stevens & Lee.

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What Regulatory 'Reputation Risk' Purge Means For Banks

Banks should expect closer scrutiny of account closures and service denials after federal regulators recently stripped "reputation risk" from supervisory guidance, and should tie customer decisions to documented, objective legal and financial criteria to protect against debanking-related enforcement, say attorneys at Troutman.

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How Data Broker Laws Are Reaching Consumer-Facing Cos.

As states, most recently New Jersey, expand the scope of data broker laws to cover some customer data sharing, consumer-facing companies should reassess advertising, vendor and partner arrangements to determine whether they trigger registration, contracting and governance obligations, says Sam Castic at Hintze Law.

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Are your summer associates prepared for a legal career?

How does your firm shape the summer associate experience and mentor new talent? Invite your summer associates to share their perspectives in this year’s Law360 Pulse Summer Associates Survey.

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Trial Firm Reid Collins To Award 3rd Set Of Associate Bonuses

By Jake Maher

Texas-based trial boutique Reid Collins & Tsai LLP is planning to dole out a third round of bonuses for the year to associates, raising their total bonus pay to between $130,000 and $170,000 on the year so far, with another round expected later in 2026.

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Aperture Expands Litigation Finance Platform To $1B

By Ryan Boysen

Alternative asset manager Aperture Investors is expanding its litigation finance platform to $1 billion in total investment capacity, mostly deployed as direct loans to plaintiffs firms.

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Deal Reached In Class Action Over Botched Calif. Bar Exam

By Emily Sawicki

A settlement has been reached in a proposed nationwide class action brought by bar applicants against the proctor of the botched February 2025 California bar exam, one month after the California State Bar settled its claims against the proctor.

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Law Grad Says Hofstra Ignored Heart Attack Mid-Bar Exam

By Andrea Keckley

A Fordham University School of Law graduate accused Hofstra University in New York state court of failing to intervene in time when she had a heart attack in the middle of the July 2025 Bar Exam, refusing to stop the test and discouraging her peers from rendering aid.

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$190K Or $1.9M? Goldstein, DOJ 'At Impasse' Over Forfeiture

By Jeff Overley

Tom Goldstein and the U.S. Department of Justice aired dramatically divergent views Wednesday of a looming financial penalty for his fraud convictions, with the famed appellate advocate voicing constitutional objections to the DOJ's request for almost $2 million and revealing that prosecutors spurned a far smaller offer.

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BakerHostetler Faces Possible RICO Claim From Ex-Client

By Emily Johnson

A trustee who has accused BakerHostetler and an Atlanta-based attorney of legal malpractice has asked a Georgia federal court to allow him to accuse the former de facto general counsel and business adviser of a nonprofit of violating the Georgia RICO Act.

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Q&A

She Has A Point: Shutts & Bowen's Jodi-Ann Tillman

By Dani Kass

Jodi-Ann Tillman of Shutts & Bowen LLP was brought into patent infringement litigation over drum technology just months before trial, and her performance earned high praise from opposing counsel, Foley & Lardner LLP partner Laura Ganoza.

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