Conservative Justices Probe 'Husk' Of FTC Firing Protections

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority pushed back Monday against the 90-year-old precedent permitting the removal only for cause of Federal Trade Commission members, and perhaps those serving other independent agencies, calling those safeguards a "dried husk" and wondering where to draw the line for protected agencies.

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Habba Resigns As Acting US Atty After DQ Ruling At 3rd Circ.

By Jake Maher

Alina Habba stepped down Monday as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey following a Third Circuit ruling that she was unlawfully appointed to the position, with the U.S. Department of Justice unveiling that a trio of officials will take on her responsibilities.

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High Court Skips Christian Baker's Wedding Cake Battle

By Vin Gurrieri

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear a Christian bakery owner's challenge to a California appeals court's decision that the business's policy against selling baked goods for same-sex ceremonies amounted to unlawful discrimination.

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OCC's Gould Responds To Crypto Trust Charter Concerns

By Aislinn Keely

The head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on Monday expressed skepticism of banking industry concerns surrounding cryptocurrency trust charter applications, asserting in a speech that "innovation, competition, and fair access should always triumph over regulatory stagnation."

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Trump's 'Unlawful' Freeze Of Wind Projects Gets Blocked

By Hailey Konnath

A Massachusetts federal judge Monday blocked President Donald Trump's executive order indefinitely pausing permits for wind farm projects, ruling that the order was arbitrary and capricious and contrary to the law.

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1st Circ. Keeps Planned Parenthood Funding Ban In Place

By Dan McKay

The First Circuit on Monday issued an administrative stay that temporarily keeps in place a ban on Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood, pausing a lower court's ruling.

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Barclays Accused Of 'Vague' Account Closure Notifications

By Sydney Price

A Barclays PLC subsidiary was hit Sunday with a proposed customer class action in California federal court accusing it of illegally shutting down accounts and providing only vague explanations for the closures, allegations that echo claims of so-called debanking that have been in the national spotlight.

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Feds Ordered To Start Turning Over Climate Panel Documents

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday ordered the Trump administration to begin complying with a request by two environmental advocacy groups for records of an ad hoc panel convened by the U.S. Department of Energy, ahead of an anticipated decision to vacate a 2009 finding that greenhouse gases are endangering human health.

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Mosaic Says 'Radioactive' Road Done, Legal Challenge Moot

By Elaine Briseño

A Florida fertilizer producer asked the Eleventh Circuit to toss a lawsuit challenging a new roadway on its property using radioactive materials, arguing the court cannot provide any remediation or relief for a road it already constructed.

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EPA Asks Judge To Let Solar Energy Funding Cuts Stand

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told a Washington federal district court that its decision to freeze funding for a low-income solar energy program should stand while states pursue a lawsuit to free up the money.

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EPA Wants Suit Over Refiners' Hydrogen Fluoride Use Tossed

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked a California federal judge to throw out a suit aiming to force it to stop oil refineries from using hydrogen fluoride, saying the groups behind it rely on speculative hypotheticals to allege harm.

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11th Circ. Won't Pause Medicaid Rule Amid Fla. Hospital Audit

By David Minsky

An Eleventh Circuit panel revived Florida's lawsuit against a federal rule that reduces Medicaid funding based on agreements between hospitals, but upheld a lower court's decision to deny the state's request for an injunction after finding it wouldn't likely succeed on the merits of its complaint. 

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Justices Pass On Challenge To NJ Hospital Charity Rule

By George Woolston

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it won't review a New Jersey Supreme Court decision that a state requirement to treat patients regardless of the patient's ability to pay does not amount to an unconstitutional per se or regulatory taking.

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Analysis

What To Do When Jurors Don't 'Trust The Science'

By Chris Villani

The pandemic and initiatives from the second administration of President Donald Trump challenging decades of established scientific norms have made science more politicized, and attorneys say picking a jury and presenting scientific evidence is increasingly challenging.

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AT&T Joins SG's High Court Review Bid Despite 5th Circ. Win

By Christopher Cole

After winning a Fifth Circuit case involving fines from the Federal Communications Commission, AT&T has nonetheless agreed with the U.S. solicitor general that the U.S. Supreme Court should review the need for jury trials when the agency seeks certain penalties.

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Amazon, UL Say Chinese Cos. Lied About E-Bike Safety Tests

By Ben Adlin

Amazon and product safety organization UL are accusing a number of Chinese firms of falsely promoting their electric scooters and e-bikes as certified by UL despite never actually having their products tested by the 131-year-old safety group.

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Colo. Supreme Court Sets New Anti-SLAPP Test

By Zach Dupont

Colorado's high court issued an opinion Monday creating a two-step analysis for judges to conduct when evaluating anti-SLAPP motions to dismiss in defamation cases after issuing a ruling against a Colorado Springs-based veterinary clinic suing two women who published negative reviews about it on social media.

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8th Circ. Says Video Privacy Law Doesn't Bind Movie Theaters

By Allison Grande

The Eighth Circuit on Monday became the latest court to conclude that movie theaters don't qualify as businesses that are covered by the federal Video Privacy Protection Act, in affirming the rejection of a proposed class action accusing the regional movie chain Cinema Entertainment of illegally sharing website visitors' video viewing activities with Meta. 

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District Can't Get News Station's Docs In Principal Firing Case

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado federal judge on Monday denied Denver Public Schools' motion to compel a local news station to hand over unaired interview footage and other unpublished documents provided to the station by a former DPS principal who alleges the district fired him over a TV news interview.

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Cuts To Colo. Disability Transit Service Unlawful, Suit Says

By Benjamin Morse

A Colorado public transit agency's cuts to a program that provides disabled individuals with free fares and subsidized ride-share services runs afoul of state and federal discrimination law, a disability-rights organization and two disabled riders alleged in a lawsuit filed in federal court.

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RealPage Asks To Block NY Rental Pricing Software Law

By Matthew Perlman

Property management software company RealPage is asking for a preliminary injunction to block enforcement of a New York law that prohibits building owners from using software to set residential rental rates while its case challenging the statute plays out.

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Justices Won't Weigh Hawaii County Religious Land-Use Win

By Isaac Monterose

The U.S. Supreme Court decided Monday to not grant a nonprofit's review petition for a Ninth Circuit ruling that sided with a Hawaii county in a dispute over a special land use permit.

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Pa. Court Halts Bucks College Project Over Labor Agreement

By Matthew Santoni

Bucks County Community College in eastern Pennsylvania can't move ahead with a $2 million expansion of its HVAC training program because a potential bidder convinced a majority of the Commonwealth Court on Friday that the school's preexisting "public labor agreement" was likely discriminatory to nonunion workers and met no urgent need.

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7th Circ. Mulls Vagueness Of Ill. DOC's Use-Of-Force Rule

By Celeste Bott

A Seventh Circuit judge said Monday that it wasn't the court's job to determine if three fired prison guards violated their employer's use-of-force rule during their violent encounter with a prisoner, and that the court's review was limited to whether the Illinois Department of Corrections imposed an unconstitutionally vague policy.

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EU Clears Mars' $36B Deal For Pringles Maker After Probe

By Matthew Perlman

European competition enforcers approved snack food and candy giant Mars Inc.'s planned $35.9 billion purchase of Cheez-It and Pringles maker Kellanova, after an in-depth review found the move would not give the combined company too much leverage over retailers.

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7-Eleven To Pay $4.5M Penalty Over Fla. Gas Station Buy

By Rae Ann Varona

7-Eleven Inc. and its Japanese parent company will pay a historic $4.5 million penalty to settle the Federal Trade Commission's allegations that the convenience store giant bought a Florida gas station without first informing the FTC, in violation of a 2018 agreement, the agency announced Monday.

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CFPB's Vought Faces New Funding Suit, Hearing Demand

By Jon Hill

Consumer advocates are mounting a new attempt to force Trump budget chief Russell Vought to replenish the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's dwindling funds, while Senate Democrats are calling for what they say is an overdue hearing on his work at the agency.

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Jury Awards $600K To Ga. Man Over Jail Abuse

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia federal jury has handed a $600,000 verdict to a man who accused a former metro Atlanta sheriff of arresting and abusing him in custody after the sheriff intervened in a business dispute with one of his deputies.

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Defense Bill Aims To Boost Pentagon Contracting Competition

By Madeline Lyskawa

Lawmakers' latest version of a $900 billion defense policy and budget bill for fiscal year 2026 includes provisions aimed at boosting competition in defense contracting by expanding acceptable past performance examples in contract proposals and penalizing incumbent contractors who file frivolous bid protests.

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Pentagon Spectrum Veto Left Out Of Defense Bill

By Christopher Cole

Military leaders will not have the option of blocking the transfer of certain spectrum blocks to the private sector under the latest version of a massive defense authorization for fiscal year 2026.

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Defense Bill Includes Protections For Retired Justices

By Courtney Bublé

The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 released Sunday night extends U.S. Supreme Court police protection for retired and former justices and their immediate family members.

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NC Tribe's Fed Recognition Included In National Defense Bill

By Crystal Owens

Congressional leaders have included a bill in the proposed 2026 National Defense Authorization Act that would give federal recognition to the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.

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Brief

Senators Kelly, Slotkin Set Up Legal Defense Funds

By Courtney Bublé

After appearing in a video encouraging members of the military and intelligence community to not follow illegal orders, Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., have established legal defense funds.

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Mich. Judge Won't Block 24% Wholesale Cannabis Tax

By Carolyn Muyskens

A judge said she won't stop Michigan's excise tax on wholesale marijuana sales from going into effect Jan. 1, finding Monday that a trade association and cannabis businesses were unlikely to succeed on claims the tax was unlawfully enacted.

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Tax Court Rejects Telecom Co.'s $3M Bankruptcy Deductions

By Kat Lucero

A telecommunications company cannot deduct over $3 million as a loss tied to a subsidiary's bankruptcy proceedings, the U.S. Tax Court ruled Monday, holding that the amount must be reported as capitalized expenditures because both businesses share the same owners.

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Town Can Join New Regional School District, NJ Justices Say

By George Woolston

The New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday held that a series of public education reforms allow for a Garden State municipality to withdraw from two school districts in order to join one regional school district that would serve all of its public school students.

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Immigrant Class Certified In Guantánamo Detention Suit

By Ganesh Setty

A D.C. federal court certified a class of noncitizens challenging their detentions at Guantánamo Bay before removal, finding the Immigration and Nationality Act likely doesn't authorize the Trump administration to hold them there.

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Feds Say No Injunction Is Warranted In Protester Removals Suit

By Britain Eakin

The Trump administration urged a Massachusetts federal judge to limit relief after the court ruled in September that noncitizens targeted by the government for arrest and removal for their pro-Palestinian views have the same free speech rights as U.S. citizens.

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Tufts Student's Visa Record Must Be Restored, Judge Says

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday ordered the government to reinstate Tufts University graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk's student visa record, finding she has already suffered irreparable harm, including missed professional and academic opportunities, from her record's termination following detention by immigration officers in March.

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Conservative Group Sues For Boston Mayor's Emails On ICE

By Julie Manganis

Conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch asked a judge on Monday to order the city of Boston to turn over emails of Mayor Michelle Wu and her staff related to a request by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to prepare a plan to work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.

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App Maker Says 1st Amendment Bars AG's Removal Demand

By Ganesh Setty

The developer of an application allowing users to report sightings of immigration enforcement authorities accused U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday in D.C. federal court of violating his free speech rights by getting Apple to remove it.

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Afghan, Iraqi Allies Urge Judge To Enforce Visa Processing

By Tom Lotshaw

A certified class of Afghan and Iraqi nationals urged a D.C. federal judge to enforce a court-approved plan for the U.S. government to make headway on its extensive delays processing special immigrant visa applications from people who assisted troops overseas.

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Ex-NY Gov. Aide's Mom Says Alleged FARA Cash Wasn't Dirty

By Stewart Bishop

The mother of a former top aide to New York governors Monday told a Brooklyn federal jury large amounts of cash she held were from legitimate sources, as opposed to prosecutors' claim it was tied to her daughter's alleged scheme to secretly further the People's Republic of China's interests.

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Calif. Tribe Looks To Nix Suits Against $700M Casino Approval

By Crystal Owens

A California tribe is asking a D.C. federal court to dismiss three challenges to a U.S. Department of the Interior decision to place 160 acres into trust for its $700 million hotel and casino project, arguing that the consequences of denying its intervention in the litigation would be "grave and severe."

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Cox-Verizon Retrans Spat Shows Reform Needed, Org. Says

By Nadia Dreid

Congress needs to step in and do something about big broadcasters holding television stations "for ransom" every year in order to extract insanely high retransmission consent fees from cable and satellite companies, says a group dedicated to bringing those fees down.

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Where Things Stand At The CFPB As Funding Dries Up

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on pace to run out of funding in the new year, threatening current and future rulemaking efforts, but a rapid series of recent actions still carries significant implications for regulated entities and warrants careful monitoring in the remaining weeks of the year, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

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Terrorist Label For Maduro Poses New Risks For US Firms

The State Department's recent designation of President Nicolás Maduro, and other Venezuelan government and military officials, as members of a foreign terrorist organization drastically increases the level of caution companies must exercise when doing business in the region to mitigate potential civil, criminal and regulatory risk, say attorneys at Freshfields.

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New 'Waters' Definition Could Bring Clarity — And Confusion

Federal agencies have proposed a new regulatory definition of "waters of the United States," a key phrase in the Clean Water Act — but while the change is meant to provide clarity, it could spark new questions of interpretation, and create geographic differences in how the statute is applied, say attorneys at Bracewell.

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How Bank-Fintech Partnerships Changed In 2025

The 2025 transition to the Trump administration, augmented by the reversal of Chevron deference in 2024, has resulted in unprecedented shifts, and bank-fintech partnerships are no exception, with key changes affecting a number of areas including charters, regulatory oversight and anti-money laundering, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

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How High Court Could Upend Campaign Spending Rules

In National Republican Senatorial Committee v. Federal Election Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments about the constitutionality of coordinated party contribution spending caps, and its decision will have immediate practical effects just as the 2026 election gets underway, says Bill Powers at Spencer Fane.

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2 Early Settlement Alternatives In Federal Securities Litigation

Most class actions brought under the federal securities laws are either settled or won by the defendants following a motion to dismiss, but two alternative strategies have the potential to lower discovery costs and allow defendants to obtain judgment without the uncertainty of jury trials on complex matters, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.

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Opinion

Horizontal Stare Decisis Should Not Be Casually Discarded

Eliminating the so-called law of the circuit doctrine — as recently proposed by a Fifth Circuit judge, echoing Justice Neil Gorsuch’s concurrence in Loper Bright — would undermine public confidence in the judiciary’s independence and create costly uncertainty for litigants, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Getting The Message Across

Communications and brand strategy during a law firm merger represent a crucial thread that runs through every stage of a combination and should include clear messaging, leverage modern marketing tools and embrace the chance to evolve, says Ashley Horne at Womble Bond.

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US Lawyer Numbers Surge With Hefty 2024 Graduating Class

By Tracey Read

The number of U.S. lawyers showed marked growth for the first time since 2020, due to a 2024 graduating class that was nearly 12% larger than any other class since 2012, a study from the American Bar Association released Monday showed.

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Ex-Josh Cellars President Fights Gibson Dunn Withdrawal Bid

By Elliot Weld

The former president of the company behind the Josh Cellars wine brand disputed Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's version of events around his allegedly unpaid legal bills, saying he has questions about the reasonableness of the firm's charges, which must be arbitrated per his contract with the firm.

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Carlton Fields Steps Aside In 'Irreconcilable' Miss America Case

By Emily Johnson

A Florida federal judge allowed Carlton Fields and its attorneys on Monday to withdraw from representing the plaintiffs in a dispute over the ownership of the Miss America pageant, after the firm said "irreconcilable differences" drew it to ask to step down.

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Jury Expert Sues Atty For 'Pirating' Her Jan. 6 Venue Report

By Matt Perez

A New Hampshire defense attorney representing a defendant charged for crimes related to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been sued in D.C. federal court for allegedly stealing a copyrighted study analyzing attitudes in the jury pool of the District of Columbia.

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Litigation Funder Says Attys Hid Deal To Evade $1.5M Payout

By Christine DeRosa

A Florida-based litigation funder has sued two California attorneys and a law firm, alleging they secretly settled a client's civil dispute and steered the money so they wouldn't have to repay over $1.5 million.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court delivered a busy first week of December, featuring commercial disputes, post-closing merger and acquisition battles and renewed scrutiny of fiduciary conduct ranging from oil and gas investments to healthcare acquisitions. 

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