Up Next At High Court: Pipeline Takings & H-2A Fines

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will wrap up its November sitting by hearing disputes over whether federal or state law should control how much compensation landowners receive for private condemnations under the Natural Gas Act and if the U.S. Department of Labor can use in-house courts to issue civil penalties for violations of its temporary agricultural worker program. 

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Analysis

Dem Takeover Points To Reset On College Sports Legislation

By Alex Lawson

The looming Democratic takeover of both congressional chambers signals doom for quick action on college sports oversight, with a crowded calendar and the new majority's wishes to reshape the legislation emerging as roadblocks to a Senate-approved bill.

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Southern District Of Fla. US Atty Resigns After Midterms

By Carolina Bolado

Jason Reding Quiñones, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, has stepped down, Attorney General Todd Blanche announced on Friday.

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Defeated Texas Justice Being Considered For Federal Bench

By Courtney Bublé

With the clock ticking on Republicans' control of the Senate, President Donald Trump is considering putting a Texas Supreme Court justice who just lost reelection on the federal bench.

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Top Blanche Adviser Among Latest To Exit DOJ

By Jared Foretek

A top legal adviser to U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced his departure from the U.S. Department of Justice Friday, becoming the latest in a slew of high-profile resignations from the department since Republicans' midterm election defeat Tuesday night.

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3rd Circ. Preview: UPenn Staff Rifts, FTC $3M Fee Fight

By George Woolston

The Third Circuit began its November session by examining Tree of Life synagogue shooter Robert Bowers' appeal of his death sentence and is set to hear a number of other matters ranging from a state's bid to restore millions of dollars in food aid, to the federal government fighting a $3 million counsel fee award, to reviewing the third-party harassment test.

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FinCEN Scraps Unpopular Cross-Border Recordkeeping Plan

By Aislinn Keely

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network said Friday it has withdrawn a controversial six-year-old proposal that planned to significantly lower the threshold for collecting and transmitting identifying information for financial transactions across U.S. borders and apply the requirements to cryptocurrency.

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Morgan Stanley Says Deal Near In VRDO Rate-Rigging Suit

By Jon Hill

Morgan Stanley has informed investors that a tentative settlement has been reached in a New York federal court class action accusing major banks of rigging interest rates on municipal debt securities known as variable rate demand obligations.

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Judge's Oregon Water Reservoir Ruling Faces 9th Circ. Appeal

By Joyce Hanson

A city and county in Oregon have appealed to the Ninth Circuit a federal judge's decision refusing to block a water reservoir drawdown plan by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designed to protect endangered salmon in the Willamette Valley System.

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Michigan Utilities Sue Over New Political Donation Ban

By Susan Smiley

Michigan utility companies Consumers, DTE and CMS have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to block a new campaign finance law restricting political contributions from utilities and their affiliates that was approved by over 80% of voters, alleging the new law violates their free speech rights.

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FCC Denies It's Foot-Dragging Review Of Philly TV License

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Communications Commission has asked the D.C. Circuit to reject an advocacy group's request to force the agency to review a challenge to Fox TV's Philadelphia broadcast license.

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Sen. Blumenthal Demands FCC Response To Inquiries

By Christopher Cole

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., has told the Federal Communications Commission it must fully respond to several inquiries he sent earlier this year probing the FCC's investigations into broadcasters that he says have chilled free speech.

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Calif. Picks Atty With Overhaul Plans For New Insurance Chief

By Jennifer Mandato and Lauren Berg

California voters elected as their new insurance commissioner a former San Francisco supervisor who wants to overhaul the state's insurance system by establishing a state-run universal disaster insurance program that would guarantee coverage for wildfires and floods.

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Wood 'Farm' Not Agricultural For Zoning, Mass. Court Says

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts wood processing business that imports the majority of its timber from other sites cannot escape zoning regulations under agricultural or "right to farm" exceptions, the state's intermediate-level appeals court said Friday.

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Midcycle Valuations OK'd For Md. Homes Under Construction

By Sanjay Talwani

Two single-family Maryland dwellings under construction were correctly subject to a midcycle assessment because the properties were substantially complete, the state tax court said, upholding the valuations.

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Md. Court Rejects Plea To Cut $2.4M Property Valuation

By Maria Koklanaris

A Maryland office building should remain valued at $2.37 million even though its anchor tenant did not renew a lease, the state tax court said.

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UMich Protest Plaintiff Seeks Dismissal Amid Criminal Case

By Parker Quinlan

A former University of Michigan employee who alleges she was fired for participating in a pro-Palestine protest has asked to be temporarily dropped from her employment retaliation lawsuit against the university, arguing that continuing with the case may jeopardize her defense in a parallel federal criminal case.

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Harvard Says EEOC Charge Is Retaliation For Defying Trump

By Julie Manganis

Harvard University on Friday urged a Massachusetts federal judge to reject the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's request for hiring data on thousands of applicants and employees, calling it the "latest escalation" of a "persistent, all-out campaign to punish Harvard for refusing to acquiesce" to the Trump administration's efforts to exert control over the school.

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Colo. Asks For Early Win In Ex-Official's Race Bias Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

Colorado and its officials urged a federal judge Friday to grant them an early win in a race discrimination lawsuit brought by a former state agency head, contending the ex-employee's claims fall short because the state terminated her for performance issues and insubordination.

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Glenmark's $30M Drug Price-Fixing Deal Gets Final OK

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Connecticut federal judge has granted final approval to a $29.6 million settlement between dozens of states and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals that resolves claims accusing the company of conspiring with competitors to drive up drug prices.

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DOJ Says Current Magnet School Grants Are Unconstitutional

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday that the U.S. Department of Education's implementation of a magnet school grant program runs afoul of the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause, finding it "largely functions as a racial-balancing initiative."

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Cities, Counties Fight Revival Of FEMA Election Conditions

By Tom Lotshaw

Cities and counties in Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, along with two dozen state allies, urged the D.C. Circuit to reject the Trump administration's push to revive a vacated Federal Emergency Management Agency rule that conditioned counterterrorism grant funding on election policy changes.

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Bessent, Greer Warn China Over Trade Truce Commitments

By Dylan Moroses

Top U.S. officials warned China on Friday over what they viewed as potential shortfalls in commitments made last year as part of the trade truce reached between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, according to readouts published Friday by the U.S. Treasury Department and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

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Sea Bass Fishing Isn't Banned In S. Atlantic, 11th Circ. Told

By David Minsky

A seafood company asked the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reverse the government's denial of a permit to import frozen sea bass caught in a region of the South Atlantic, arguing a federal agency embargoed the fish after wrongly concluding there was a total prohibition on commercial fishing there.

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Brief

EU Opens Safeguard Probe Into Imported Resin Chemicals

By Dylan Moroses

The European Commission will examine whether safeguard trade measures are necessary to protect the European Union's industry from a surge of imported curable resin chemicals, it said Friday.

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Brief

China Opens Antidumping Probes Of EU, Japanese Materials

By Dylan Moroses

The Chinese government said Friday that it will investigate whether certain chemical compounds used in rubber manufacturing from the European Union and Japan and a type of filament from the EU are being dumped into China.

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Brief

Commerce Orders India, Indonesia, Laos Solar Cell Duties

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce on Friday ordered antidumping and countervailing duties on solar cell products imported into the U.S. from India, Indonesia and Laos, some of which stretch into triple digits.

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Colo. Boosts High-Earner Tax Rates With Graduated System

By Sanjay Talwani

Colorado will replace its flat income tax rate with a graduated system, cutting taxes for nearly all residents and boosting rates for high earners to provide more than $2 billion in new annual revenue, under a ballot measure narrowly approved by voters, according to election results posted Friday.

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Charitable Tax Break Denied For Vacant Md. Property

By Sanjay Talwani

A property tax break for a vacant Maryland property whose nonprofit owner intended to develop it as an assisted living and adult daycare facility was denied by the state tax court, which found that the property was not being used for a charitable purpose.

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UFCW Wins Order Blocking DOJ's Wash. Ballot Demands

By Benjamin Morse

A Washington federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from demanding that state election officials set aside ballots from hundreds of suspected noncitizens, concluding that federal prosecutors likely overstepped their authority by threatening officials with criminal charges if they refused.

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NJ Pushes Judge To Scrap DOJ's Immigrant Tuition Challenge

By Tom Lotshaw

New Jersey has asked a federal judge to toss a Trump administration suit challenging a law making certain unauthorized immigrants eligible for in-state college tuition, arguing the administration "seeks to exercise powers it does not possess to find a conflict where none exists."

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Philly Doesn't Have To Comply With ICE Detainer Requests

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday held that the city of Philadelphia does not have to honor Immigration and Customs Enforcement's request to detain undocumented immigrants in the city's jails, ruling that Philadelphia's "ICE Out" legislation did not obstruct federal law enforcement in that regard.

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DHS Final Rule Imposing Fines Violated Order, Court Told

By Julie Manganis

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security violated a September court order by issuing a final rule and a notice that purport to ratify billions of dollars in fines imposed on immigrants accused of remaining in the country following removal orders, plaintiffs in a class action challenging the policy said in a pair of emergency motions Friday.

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DC Circ. Mulls Whether Gov't Can Drag Feet On Afghan Visas

By Nadia Dreid

The D.C. Circuit didn't seem so sure Friday morning that thousands of Afghan and Iraqi citizens who helped U.S. forces overseas should be stripped of their class status as they sue the government for making them wait more than five years for their special visa applications to be processed.

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Brief

Schedule Clashes May Keep Chicago DOJ Testimony In Place

By Lauraann Wood

Another Chicago prosecutor ordered to testify about the circumstances surrounding a since-dropped push to prosecute six "Operation Midway Blitz" protesters says the hearing may be approaching too quickly, but a federal judge says she won't reschedule it unless all parties involved agree on the next date.

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Creek Freedmen Say Chief Can't Defy Citizenship Ruling

By Kia Fatahi

Two descendants of Black people once enslaved by an Indigenous tribe implored an Oklahoma federal court to keep alive their challenge to an effort to deny them citizenship in the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, saying the tribe's principal chief has for more than a year defied a tribal Supreme Court ruling that gave them the right and is wrongly trying to use an immunity claim to avoid a federal treaty that guarantees them citizenship.

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FCC Told It Can't Preempt Local Wireline Permit Decisions

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Local government officials have warned the Federal Communications Commission that it lacks the legal authority and expertise to preempt local wireline deployment decisions.

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FCC To Allow Cable Biz's Router Hardware Upgrades

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission's staff has granted a one-year waiver to a major cable industry group, so its members can make certain hardware changes to previously approved routers that now fall under a national security restriction.

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Hemp Interests Say Illinois Law Impedes Interstate Commerce

By Sam Reisman

A coalition of hemp industry interests have filed a new lawsuit in Illinois federal court challenging a new state hemp policy that they allege is unconstitutional.

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What To Know About Colo. AG-Elect Jena Griswold

By Zach Dupont

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold won the Colorado attorney general race Tuesday, and many are wondering what to expect from the incoming top legal officer for the state.

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Orrick Hires Fenwick Partner To Expand TM Practice In NY

By Ivan Moreno

Trademark attorney Mark Jansen has joined ​Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as a partner in New York after 15 years at Fenwick & West LLP, Orrick has announced.

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WilmerHale Rehires Treasury Official, Former Counsel In DC

By Jack Rodgers

A former Treasury Department official who worked as the agency's undersecretary for domestic finance has rejoined WilmerHale's financial institutions group as a partner, the firm announced Friday.

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DOE Energy Efficiency Rollbacks Portend Clashes With States

With the U.S. Department of Energy proposing rollbacks of energy efficiency regulations for numerous appliance types, backstop provisions in many states could come into play to preserve existing standards — but disputes over antibacksliding provisions in federal law and the limits of preemption mean court battles are likely, say attorneys at HWG.

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NYC Power Act May Spur Algorithmic Pricing And Other Suits

New York City’s proposed Power Act would create a private right of action for unfair, deceptive, abusive and unlawful practices, broadening litigation exposure for businesses using algorithmic and other types of pricing technology, though its path to enactment still remains uncertain, say attorneys at Skadden.

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State Of Insurance: Q3 Notes From Illinois

In the past quarter, two Seventh Circuit rulings and an Illinois appellate decision applied state insurance law to issues ranging from the illusory coverage doctrine and an insured's right to independent counsel, to the time to commence uninsured motorist arbitration, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

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NLRB Ruling Redraws Arbitration Confidentiality Limits

The National Labor Relations Board's recent decision in Ralphs Grocery adds to a growing body of board precedent that offers takeaways for how employers can maximize the enforceability of confidentiality restrictions and discovery procedures in arbitration agreements, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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What To Watch As Florida Stablecoin Framework Takes Shape

As Florida's new payment stablecoin licensing framework enters its second month, requiring issuers to map applicable state and federal obligations and account for certification and rulemaking uncertainty, businesses should build core controls while keeping launch plans and contracts flexible, says Rob Brighton at Becker.

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How Feds' Shifting Guidance Hits Bank-Fintech Partnerships

A slew of recent Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency reforms will ultimately give banks and fintechs more flexibility in third-party oversight and supervisory information sharing, but institutions still must document risk-based decisions and engage proactively with regulators, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

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Opinion

Judges Must Turn To Merits Earlier To Fix Civil Justice System

The U.S. justice system is long overdue for a cultural shift that encourages judges to engage with the merits of a case from the outset, which would help to cut through procedural complexities and deliver high-quality justice efficiently and at lower cost, says Steven Kayman at Rottenberg Lipman.

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Are You Happy With Your In-House Role? Take Our Survey

Is your company giving you everything you need to succeed? What are some misconceptions about working in-house? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Satisfaction Survey.

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Squire Patton, Baker McKenzie Hit With Data Breach Suits

By Rae Ann Varona

Squire Patton Boggs LLP and Baker McKenzie failed to protect private personal information stored in the law firms' systems from separate cyberattacks and delayed notifying affected individuals for roughly two months, two proposed class actions filed in Ohio and Illinois federal courts have alleged.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Susman Godfrey LLP, Langer Grogan & Diver PC, Hausfeld LLP and MoloLamken LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Ninth Circuit ruled that a former federal judge erred by scrapping a $4.7 billion jury verdict against the National Football League in a class action over the price of its Sunday Ticket broadcast package.

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Judge Kewalramani Warns Against Taking Sanctions Lightly

By Dani Kass

Retired U.S. Magistrate Judge Shashi Kewalramani on Friday cautioned patent attorneys to be extremely discerning when filing sanctions motions, comparing it to crying "fire" in a crowded room.

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Brief

US Legal Sector Jobs Reached Record High In October

By Tracey Read

The legal industry's hot streak continued last month, adding 2,400 more jobs in October to reach a record high, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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US Charges 3 Over $129M AI Scam Using Fake UK Lawyers

By Laura Stewart Liberty

U.S. prosecutors said Thursday they have charged three men, including one facing extradition from London, for allegedly defrauding companies of $129 million through a scheme that used AI to impersonate executives and U.K. lawyers.

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Attys Can Curb AI Error Fallout With Candor, Accountability

By Andrea Keckley

Nearly four years since ChatGPT launched and the legal industry began experimenting at scale with generative artificial intelligence, not a month goes by without another attorney finding a hallucination error in a court filing.

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Ice Miller Sued Over $729K Award After Losing Federal Forum

By Andrea Keckley

A couple who hired Ice Miller LLP to defend their organization against a breach of contract suit have accused the firm in Indiana federal court of exposing them to additional litigation with a settlement that failed to preserve federal jurisdiction over future disputes.

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Law Firm Sues Sierra Leone Over $361K Legal Bill

By Jared Foretek

Law firm Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC claims in a complaint filed in D.C. federal court that Sierra Leone's government stiffed it on more than $300,000 in legal fees and costs after the firm defended it against earlier claims of unpaid fees by Jenner & Block.

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Mich. Supreme Court Chief Next To Lead Chief Justice Group

By Melanie Dorsey

The Michigan Supreme Court's chief justice has been named president-elect of the Conference of Chief Justices, a national organization representing the highest-ranking state judicial officers, and she plans to focus on expanding access to legal services, reforming attorney licensing and strengthening courthouse security.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The U.S. Department of Justice's new cash rewards program for tips on criminal fraud could backfire in some cases, experts say. Elsewhere, attorneys are weighing new strategies in the wake of Texas' historic blue shift during the midterm elections. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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