Analysis

After Big Win For 2 Trump Foes, A Third Faces 'Tougher Job'

By Phillip Bantz

The recent dismissal of federal criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey does little to help President Donald Trump's ex-national security adviser John Bolton, whose defense in a classified-materials case presents a thornier set of legal and factual issues, experts say.

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Analysis

High Court's $1B ISP Case May Define Digital Liability Norms

By Ivan Moreno

Monday's U.S. Supreme Court arguments in a $1 billion copyright case filed by music companies against Cox Communications offer justices the first chance in decades to define business liability for customer piracy online.

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Roundup

Up Next At High Court: ISP Liability & State Subpoena Suits

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for the first week of its December oral argument session, during which the justices will consider whether internet service providers can be held liable for contributing to their customers' infringing activity online and whether the subjects of state subpoenas are required to first challenge them in state court. 

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DOJ Asks Court If It Can Release Epstein Files Under New Law

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a New York federal court's permission to publicly release the files related to the investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, clarifying Wednesday that it wants to release search warrant results, travel and financial records, police reports, and other materials.

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Split 6th Circ. Shields Baker Donelson, Not City Councilman

By Matt Perez

In a published opinion, the Sixth Circuit has found that Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC is shielded by qualified immunity as outside counsel for the city of Nashville in litigation over the law firm's firing of a city election commission chair and member of the firm.

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21 AGs Sue USDA Over SNAP Rollbacks For Permanent Residents

By Ben Adlin

Twenty states and the District of Columbia sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday over new agency guidance barring certain categories of permanent residents from receiving federal food assistance benefits.

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Brief

Hegseth Wants Navy Brief On Kelly Probe By Dec. 10

By Madeline Lyskawa

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth asked the U.S. Navy to brief him on the outcome of its investigation into Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., a retired Navy captain, for telling members of the military to not follow illegal orders, by Dec. 10.

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Ga. Prosecutor Drops Election Case Against Trump, Allies

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia prosecutor on Wednesday officially dropped the racketeering case against President Donald Trump and others accused of attempting to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election results.

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Voting Group Fights DOJ's Demand For Michigan Voter Data

By Carolyn Muyskens

The U.S. Department of Justice has not sufficiently justified its demands for Michigan voters' personal information, so a lawsuit seeking the data should be dismissed, the League of Women Voters of Michigan has told a federal judge.

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11th Circ. Won't Revive Ga. Utility Commission Suit It Killed

By Chart Riggall

The Eleventh Circuit said Tuesday that it won't give Georgia residents a chance to recast their claims challenging how the state's utility commission members are elected, after the court already killed the suit once.

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Switzerland Delays Crypto Info Swaps With Tax Authorities

By Kevin Pinner

Switzerland will not automatically exchange information on cryptocurrency accounts with foreign tax authorities until at least 2027, although rules governing the exchanges are being adopted into law, the country's executive branch said Wednesday.

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NJ County Wants Out Of State's $400M PFAS Deal With 3M

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

A New Jersey county is asking a federal court to exclude it from 3M Co.'s $400 million forever chemical pollution settlement with the state, saying it would rather go after the company on its own for more money.

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Forest Council Backs Feds In Mont. Logging Project Dispute

By Crystal Owens

The American Forest Resource Council is asking a Montana federal court to allow it to intervene in a challenge by a group of environmental nonprofits over a plan to clear-cut 12,331 acres in the Flathead National Forest, saying its members have economic and protective interests at stake.

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Developer Tells 9th Circ. SF Island Wrongly Labeled Wetlands

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The former owner of an island in the San Francisco Bay is asking the Ninth Circuit to reverse a lower court ruling that he illegally destroyed "critical" wetlands without first receiving a Clean Water Act permit.

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Squires Says AI Gets No Special Treatment In Patent Process

By Dani Kass

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday replaced Biden-administration guidance on the role of artificial intelligence in inventorship with its own, but attorneys say very little changed.

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USPTO, DOJ Tell ITC To Limit Exceptions In Netlist Case

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has joined the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division to urge the U.S. International Trade Commission to keep exceptions to its exclusion orders narrow, making the statement in Netlist's case accusing Google and Samsung of infringing its computer memory technology patents.

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Brief

Justices Delay Copyright Chief Case Until FTC Firing Decision

By Ivan Moreno

The U.S. Supreme Court said it will defer ruling on whether the Trump administration's firing of the U.S. Copyright Office leader was legal until the justices resolve cases involving the terminations of a Democratic Federal Trade Commission member and Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook.

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Anti-Disinformation Nonprofit Claims FTC Retaliation In Suit

By Jared Foretek

An anti-disinformation nonprofit is suing the Federal Trade Commission over a civil investigation demand it claims was sent in retribution for the group's 2022 media market review that listed conservative outlets like The Daily Wire and The Federalist among its top disinformation-risk sites.

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NetChoice Fights Georgia Law On Parental Consent, Ads

By Kelcey Caulder

Internet trade group NetChoice is urging the Eleventh Circuit to continue blocking the enforcement of a Georgia law that would block social media platforms from allowing minors under 16 from creating accounts without parental permission.

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Kalshi Challenges Nev. Order Nixing Sports Contract Shield

By Aislinn Keely

Kalshi has asked the Ninth Circuit to weigh in on a Nevada federal judge's decision to vacate an earlier order shielding the trading platform's sports event contracts from the state's gaming regulators.

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RealPage Sues Over NY Rental Pricing Software Law

By Matthew Perlman

Property management software company RealPage sued New York's attorney general in federal court, alleging a recently passed state law to prevent building owners from using software to collude on residential rental rates is unnecessary and violates the First Amendment.

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Fair Housing Org. Fights NY Renovation Program Changes

By Isaac Monterose

A fair housing organization alleged in federal court that the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal's retroactive enforcement of changes to a renovation program needs to be blocked or participating New York City building owners won't benefit from "hundreds of millions of dollars of investment."

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Amazon Gets NY's NLRB Fill-In Law Blocked For Now

By Hailey Konnath

A New York federal judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking a law allowing the Empire State's labor board to adjudicate private sector unionization matters and labor-management disputes, ruling that Amazon is likely to prevail in its challenge of the measure.

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Justices Urged To Mull 9th Circ. OK Of NLRB Order On Macy's

By Braden Campbell

The Ninth Circuit defied U.S. Supreme Court precedent and opened a circuit split when it upheld a National Labor Relations Board order making Macy's rehire striking workers and dole out novel remedies covering workers' losses, the company argued in a bid for the high court's review.

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DOJ Says Ex-Employees Can't Challenge Firings In Fed. Court

By Rose Krebs

The government says a D.C. federal court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate a lawsuit filed by a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and two other ex-Department of Justice employees, alleging they were unlawfully fired.

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Catholic School Wants To Block Mich. Civil Rights Law

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Catholic school has asked a Michigan federal judge to rule that the state's anti-discrimination law is unconstitutional because it prevents the school from hiring teachers and instructing students in accordance with the church's views on gender and sexuality. 

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Analysis

Calif. Privacy Agency Gaining Steam Ahead Of 5th Anniversary

By Allison Grande

California's data privacy regulator has taken several notable steps in recent months, including handing down its first penalty upward of $1 million and finalizing long-awaited rules on topics such as cybersecurity audits and technologies that use artificial intelligence, and the groundbreaking agency shows no signs of slowing down as its fifth anniversary approaches. 

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AGs Urge Congress To Reject Trump's Ban On State AI Laws

By Rachel Riley

Attorneys general from 32 states are urging Congress to preserve their ability to pass laws regulating artificial intelligence, contending that the Trump administration's renewed proposal to insert a moratorium into a federal spending bill would leave states powerless in the face of AI-powered scams, harmful chatbot hallucinations and other emerging dangers.

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Cyber Co. Says Mich. Atty's Recusal Bid Based On Speculation

By Emilie Ruscoe

A Michigan attorney's attempt to have a judge recuse from a payment dispute launched by a cybersecurity firm "is a waste of the court's time," the company has said, because her bid is based on speculation over the judge's work in a federal prosecutor's office.

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FCC Aims To Compel All Providers To Act Against Robocalls

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission is launching another volley in the ongoing battle against robocalls, this time with an order that would mandate that all voice service providers, not just newly authorized ones, follow anti-robocall regulations.

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Apple Accused Of Cloaking Conflict Minerals From Customers

By Lauren Berg

Apple tricks consumers into believing that it responsibly sources the key minerals used in its phones, computers and other tech products, when in reality it sources cobalt and coltan from companies that commit human and labor rights abuses, International Rights Advocates alleges in a lawsuit filed in Washington, D.C.

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Detroit Says It Can't Be Sued Over $8M Exoneration Deal

By Parker Quinlan

The city of Detroit has asked a Michigan federal judge to toss a lawsuit asking the court to force its City Council to approve an $8 million settlement with a man who was wrongfully accused of double murder in the 1990s.

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NJ AG, Comptroller Blast Bill To Strip Agency's Probe Powers

By George Woolston

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin is set to go before lawmakers on Dec. 1 to speak out against a proposed bill aimed removing investigatory powers from the Office of the State Comptroller after calling the proposal "outrageous" on social media.

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Brief

Trade Court Slashes 371% Duty On Quartz Importer

By Dylan Moroses

A quartz countertop importer will avoid a 371% enforcement tariff on merchandise after U.S. Customs and Border Patrol failed to follow legal procedures in a duty evasion investigation, according to an opinion issued by the U.S. Court of International Trade Wednesday.

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Colo. Judge Won't Toss ICE Subpoena Case Against Governor

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado state judge rejected Gov. Jared Polis' bid to toss a complaint alleging his office attempted to force labor department employees to comply with a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement subpoena in violation of state law earlier this year.

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Feds Fight Bid For Warrantless Immigration Arrest Oversight

By Tom Lotshaw

The Trump administration told a D.C. federal judge Tuesday that a requested injunction related to warrantless civil immigration arrests in the nation's capital would thrust the court into micromanaging disputes over arrests and their documentation.

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Ex-Conn. Lawmaker Pleads Guilty In Audit Bribery Case

By Aaron Keller

Former Connecticut state lawmaker and currently suspended attorney Christopher Ziogas pled guilty during a hearing Wednesday to paying bribes to onetime state budget official Konstantinos Diamantis in an effort to shut down a state Medicaid audit of Ziogas' fiancee's optometry practice.

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Navajo Court Halts Council's Bid To Oust President Nygren

By Crystal Owens

A Navajo Nation district court has temporarily blocked legislation that would remove President Buu Nygren and Vice President Richelle Montoya from office after the first-in-command argued that allegations within the bill are unproven and equate to a possible unlawful power grab.

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FCC Releases Details Of LPTV Reg Makeover

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission has unveiled the plans it will be voting on next month to shake up the regulatory regime for low power TV broadcasters, including setting up a formal method for the stations to specify their community of license.

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USCellular Urges Justices To Uphold FCA Suit's Dismissal

By Christopher Cole

USCellular pressed the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to uphold a D.C. Circuit decision tossing two whistleblowers' claims alleging spectrum auction fraud, calling their arguments for review of the lower court's decision "misleading."

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NTIA Can't Block BEAD's Nondeployment Funds, Dems Say

By Christopher Cole

U.S. House Democrats say a Trump administration policy to withhold funds that states haven't used directly for broadband deployment projects runs afoul of the law creating a $42.5 billion plan to end the digital divide.

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Fla. Pot Legalization Campaign Will Not Appeal Court Order

By Jonathan Capriel

The sponsor of a proposed ballot initiative seeking to legalize recreational marijuana in Florida said it would not challenge a Tallahassee judge's decision allowing the secretary of state to invalidate roughly 200,000 petition signatures, saying it had collected more than enough to get its initiative before voters.

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Calif. Cannabis Workers Settle Suit Over Quotas, Lack Of Pay

By Jonathan Capriel

Hourly agricultural laborers who accused California cannabis company Glass House Brands Inc. and some of its subsidiaries of bilking them out of sick pay, minimum wage and lunch breaks while enforcing quotas have agreed to settle what is left of their state court labor violation lawsuit for $305,000.

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Gov.-Elect Sherrill Taps Dozens Of Attys For Transition Teams

By Jake Maher

New Jersey Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill's recently announced transition teams feature a number of legal professionals from within New Jersey and outside the state working in a variety of roles as she prepares for her term to begin. 

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Democracy Forward Adds High-Profile Former DOJ Atty

By Jack Rodgers

A former top attorney in the Justice Department's Office of Immigration Litigation, who was fired in April after telling a court the deportation of Kilmar Ábrego García was made in error, has joined Democracy Forward as a senior counsel, the group announced Tuesday.

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Ending All-In Airfare Pricing Could Pose Ad Dilemma For Cos.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's plan to scrap its requirement that airfare ads include all fees and taxes in price listings means that airlines, travel agents and other affected businesses must balance competitive pricing against the risk of alienating consumers, say Kimberly Graber at Steptoe and Serena Viswanathan, formerly at the FTC's Division of Advertising Practices.

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Bonus Spotlight

Magic Circle Firms Enchant Associates With Top-Tier Bonuses

By Tracey Read

U.S. associates at Linklaters LLP and Clifford Chance LLP have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, as the Magic Circle firms Wednesday became the latest to match the BigLaw standard for this year's associate bonuses.

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Interview

For Covington's Adrian Perry, Music Is A Family Affair

By Theresa Schliep

Despite having a famous rock star dad, Covington & Burling LLP partner Adrian J. Perry wasn't all that interested in being a musician as a young child, but he knew as early as 6 years old that he wanted to be a lawyer.

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Foley & Lardner Hit With Malpractice Suit Over Chancery Loss

By Rose Krebs

Foley & Lardner LLP has been sued in Delaware Superior Court by three officers of a now-defunct food recycling company who say the firm was negligent when representing them in a Chancery Court case that led to a $1.6 million judgment against them and another officer.

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Keesal Young Poaching Suit Against Stradley Ronon Trimmed

By Madison Arnold

A California state judge cleared Keesal Young & Logan to pursue most of its lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young crossed the line when it recruited 10 former Keesal Young attorneys, finding that claims such as inducing breach of contract could move forward, in part, because of conversations among the attorneys.

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Hub Hires: Todd & Weld, Freshfields, Shipman

By Julie Manganis

It was a busy November in Boston's legal community as another firm expanded into the market, and a longtime judge traded his gavel for the ability to address his growing concerns about the Trump administration.

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