Justices Wary Of NJ's Immunity Defense In Transit Injury Suits

By Carla Baranauckas

The U.S. Supreme Court signaled skepticism Wednesday toward New Jersey's bid to cloak its public transit system in sovereign immunity, repeatedly questioning why the state chose the corporate form and rejected liability for the agency's debts but now insists the entity functions as an arm of the state.

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Justices Decline To Double-Punish Gun Defendant

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that subjecting defendants to separate sentences stemming from a single deadly federal firearm offense is a constitutional violation, settling a seven-circuit split and clarifying the scope of the Fifth Amendment's double jeopardy clause.

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High Court Says Candidate Has Standing In Ill. Ballot Case

By Celeste Bott

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday revived an Illinois congressman's suit challenging the state's policy of counting certain ballots after Election Day, finding that candidates for public office have standing to bring prospective challenges to election laws.

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DOJ Calls On 3rd Circ. To Rethink Habba DQ Ruling

By Ryan Boysen

In a request for rehearing en banc filed Wednesday, the federal government asked the Third Circuit to reconsider its decision blocking Alina Habba from serving as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, saying the issue is "of exceptional importance."

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Trump Renominates NY, Virginia US Attorneys

By Emily Sawicki

President Donald Trump is taking a second crack at securing his picks for federal prosecutors in districts where he previously failed to obtain U.S. Senate approval, including renominating Lindsey Halligan to the role of U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, weeks after a federal judge ruled she was not lawfully serving.

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House Blocks GOP Bid To Cut Funds For DC Judges, Courts

By Courtney Bublé

The House on Wednesday failed to approve a Republican-led amendment to a government funding bill that would decrease the funding for D.C. courts and take aim at two federal judges Republicans are looking to impeach.

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Graham Blocks Bill To Repeal DOJ Lawsuit Provision

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., tried and failed Wednesday to expedite the passage of a bill that would repeal a provision of the government funding package enacted in November that allows senators investigated by former special counsel Jack Smith to sue for damages.

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Jury Seated In Goldstein Trial, Arguments To Start Thursday

By Jared Foretek

A federal jury was seated in Thomas Goldstein's felony tax and mortgage fraud case Wednesday, but the government will wait until Thursday to begin making its case.

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NJ High Court Says Inmate Record Ban Violates Constitution

By Elizabeth Daley

The New Jersey Supreme Court said in a reversal Wednesday that the state's parole board cannot bar the disclosure to inmates of medical, psychiatric and psychological records used to determine their parole eligibility, finding that withholding this information from them is unconstitutional and against state law.

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Alito Denies Bid To Avoid Depos In Texas Hair Bias Suit

By Spencer Brewer

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Wednesday shot down a bid from a Texas school district seeking to stave off depositions of two district officials in a case alleging the district discriminated against Black students who wore their hair in locs.

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Split Panel Won't Block Calif.'s New Congressional Map

By Hailey Konnath

A split panel of federal judges on Wednesday refused to preliminarily block California's new, voter-approved congressional districts, ruling that the state's Republican Party and the Trump administration "failed to show that racial gerrymandering occurred."

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Judge Seems Reluctant To Block Ga. Campaign Finance Rules

By Kelcey Caulder

A federal judge indicated Wednesday she was unlikely to grant an injunction freezing enforcement of a campaign finance scheme Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says gives his rival an advantage as they campaign for governor.

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Trump, Co-Defendants Aim To Mute DA Willis On Fee Demands

By Emily Johnson

President Donald Trump and others say that the Fulton County District Attorney's Office shouldn't be allowed to weigh in on their request for millions of dollars in legal fees after the district attorney's office was disqualified from the now-dropped election interference case.

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Fla. Mapmaker Takes Stand In Gerrymandering Trial

By Carolina Bolado

The Florida House of Representatives' chief map drawer took the stand Wednesday to defend his work, pushing back on allegations that the electoral maps were racially gerrymandered and telling the court that he followed natural geographic boundaries as much as possible when drawing the maps.

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Analysis

SEC To Lean On Congress As Defense In High Court Case

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Supreme Court is once again stepping into the debate over when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can demand that alleged fraudsters give up ill-gotten gains, but this time the agency plans to argue a 2021 government spending bill should save it from further limits to its disgorgement powers.

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Senate Banking Committee Postpones Crypto Bill Markup

By Aislinn Keely

The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday night postponed a highly anticipated mark-up of a bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry, hours after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong voiced his opposition to the latest draft, saying his firm would "rather have no bill than a bad bill."

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Swedbank Says DOJ Has Closed AML Probe Without Action

By Jon Hill

Swedbank, one of the biggest banks serving Europe's Baltic region, said Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Justice has released it from a long-running anti-money-laundering-related investigation, removing another U.S. legal cloud hanging over the lender.

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NJ Court Won't Probe State's Unclaimed Property Law

By Grace Dixon

A New Jersey federal judge dismissed a Chilean citizen's suit challenging the constitutionality of New Jersey's unclaimed property law, finding that he lacks standing despite his arguments that he fears the state may again seize, sell and undercompensate him for abandoned stocks.

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Analysis

EPA's Cost Analysis U-Turn May Invite Courtroom Inquiries

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to no longer put a dollar value on health benefits when crafting certain air pollution rules could be scrutinized in lawsuits, which could force the agency to justify departing from its long-standing practice.

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Full 5th Circ. Will Revisit PWFA's Constitutionality

By Lauren Berg

The Fifth Circuit late Wednesday vacated a split panel opinion allowing enforcement of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the state of Texas, granting an en banc rehearing to consider whether the U.S. Constitution required House lawmakers' physical presence to have a quorum when the statute was approved.

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Enviro Groups Sue Feds Over Montana Fire, Grazing Plans

By Crystal Owens

Conservation groups are asking a federal district court to block a Bureau of Land Management decision that will allow vegetation management treatments that include widespread prescribed fires and target grazing on 905,000 acres in southwest Montana, arguing the federal agency authorized the project without a specified time frame.

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Duke Energy Fights To Recover Over $17M In Fuel Costs

By Abigail Harrison

In an effort to secure recovery of over $17 million in fuel costs, counsel for Duke Energy's electric utilities serving the Carolinas told a state appeals court Wednesday that lawmakers have always intended for utilities to recover or return fuel costs "dollar for dollar."

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Washington Urges DOE To Reconsider Coal Plant Restart

By Ganesh Setty

Washington state has sought a rehearing over what its attorney general says is a "clumsy" U.S. Department of Energy order to continue operations at a coal plant set to be retired, arguing the plant lacks proper staffing and produces costlier electricity.

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GOP Senators Say Patients Must See Docs For Abortion Meds

By Mark Payne

Republicans on a Senate health panel Wednesday called for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reinstate a requirement that pregnant women seeking an abortion via medication must have the drug administered in a doctor's office, not through telehealth or remotely.

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Wholesaler Admits To $2.5M Opioid Diversion Scheme

By Mike Curley

A Miami-based pharmaceutical wholesaler has signed on to a two-year deferred prosecution agreement with federal prosecutors over a charge that it knowingly diverted opioids to "pill mill" pharmacies, bringing in more than $2.5 million.

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USPTO Tells Fed. Circ. To Reject Assignor Estoppel Case

By Ryan Davis

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has urged the Federal Circuit to reject a mandamus petition by Tessell Inc. that claimed the office flouted precedent by using assignor estoppel to reject patent challenges, saying the decisions were based on discretion, not that legal doctrine.

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Vox Media Sues Google, Adding To Ad Tech Antitrust Suits

By Rae Ann Varona

Google was hit Wednesday with yet another antitrust lawsuit over its ad tech, this time by Vox Media, which alleged in Manhattan federal court that the tech giant is unlawfully monopolizing the publisher ad server and ad exchange markets.

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Trump Admin Drops Appeal In Transportation Funds Suit

By Julie Manganis

The Trump administration has dropped its First Circuit appeal of an order blocking it from tying billions of dollars in federal transportation funding to states' cooperation with its immigration crackdown.

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Freight Broker Tells Justices Negligence Claims Preempted

By Linda Chiem

Broker and logistics giant C.H. Robinson told the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday that federal law unequivocally shields freight brokers from state-based negligence and personal injury claims, saying the plaintiffs bar is pushing for patchwork liability standards that would upend interstate commerce and the supply chain.

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NY High Court Upholds Manhattan Artist Loft Conversion Fee

By Nate Beck

New York's highest court has decided to keep in place a fee that New York City charges for converting designated artists' lofts in Lower Manhattan into regular residential units, rejecting arguments from a neighborhood group that the charge amounts to an unconstitutional uncompensated taking.

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Uber, DoorDash Drivers Lost $550M In Tips, NYC Says

By Irene Spezzamonte

UberEats and DoorDash rolled out design tricks after New York City implemented a minimum pay standard for food delivery workers that has led to workers losing $550 million in tips, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection said.

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Office Depot Spars Over Class Cert. In Wash. Pay Scale Suit

By Ben Adlin

Office Depot LLC and a plaintiff accusing the company of violating a Washington state pay-transparency law clashed over class certification in separate motions in Seattle federal court, with the office supply giant attacking the proposed class as "unidentifiable and uncertifiable."

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Alternative Asset 401(k) Investing Rule Sent To OMB

By Kellie Mejdrich

The White House Office of Management and Budget is reviewing a proposed rule from the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm related to fiduciary duties involved with alternative asset investing in 401(k)s, marking the last hurdle before the regulations' release for public comment. 

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Calif. AG Probes 'Avalanche' Of Grok-Created Sexual Deepfakes

By Lauren Berg

California is looking into the "avalanche" of nonconsensual sexually explicit materials, including "deepfake" images used to harass women online, that are reportedly being produced by Grok, the chatbot developed by Elon Musk's company xAI Inc., the state's attorney general announced Wednesday.

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Calif. Again Asks 9th Circ. To Unleash Kids' Privacy Law

By Dorothy Atkins

California's attorney general was back before the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday, urging the court to vacate a new preliminary injunction blocking a landmark law requiring tech giants to bolster privacy protections for children, and arguing the lower court wrongly found the entire statute likely implicates the First Amendment.

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Tort Report: Los Angeles Tops Annual 'Judicial Hellhole' List

By Y. Peter Kang

Los Angeles' designation by a tort reform group as a top "judicial hellhole," and the latest in a suit over a Kentucky judge shot to death in his own chambers lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Burns & McDonnell Sued By Ex-Partner Firm Over Seattle Deal

By Rachel Riley

California-based Certus Cybersecurity launched a lawsuit in Washington state court accusing consulting firm Burns & McDonnell of falling short on business promises and exploiting the city of Seattle's diversity criteria for contractors to score a government deal worth up to $60 million.  

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Trump Imposes 25% Tariff On Select Semiconductor Imports

By Dylan Moroses

President Donald Trump signed executive orders Wednesday taking action on semiconductor and mineral imports, choosing to impose a 25% tariff beginning Thursday on a narrow set of chips and their derivative products while emphasizing dealmaking to secure key minerals.

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US Lawmakers Push Bill To Curb China's Mineral Control

By Tom Lotshaw

A pair of lawmakers from California on Tuesday introduced bipartisan legislation seeking to boost the production and supply of critical minerals needed for military, renewable energy and communications technologies, and to reduce reliance on China.

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IRS Clarifies 1st-Year 100% Depreciation Deduction Eligibility

By Kat Lucero

The IRS unveiled guidance Wednesday governing the eligibility for and calculation of a retooled tax deduction for the additional first year of depreciation of an asset-producing property, including sound recording production machines, reflecting changes enacted in the July budget reconciliation law.

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NJ Legislature OKs Entertainment Renovation Tax Credit

By Jaqueline McCool

New Jersey would allow certain sports and entertainment renovation projects to claim an income tax credit under an economic development program if a bill passes in the state Legislature. 

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Wash. Gov. Backs Plan For Tax On Millionaires

By Maria Koklanaris

Washington state residents earning more than $1 million in a single year would be subject to a nearly 10% tax on that income under a plan backed by the state's governor.

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Labour Party Won't Block Scottish Budget With Mansion Tax

By Josh White

The Labour Party will not block plans to implement what is commonly known as a mansion tax in Scotland at a threshold lower than the rest of the U.K. and to raise income tax thresholds to cut taxes for low earners, the party's Scottish leader said Wednesday.

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State Dept. Pauses Immigrant Visas For 75 Countries

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Department of State said Wednesday that it is indefinitely pausing immigrant visas for people from 75 countries who the agency said are likely to rely on government support and stress the public purse.

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DHS Cutting 1-Year Exit Requirement For Religious Workers

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday it's scrapping a regulation that has required foreign religious workers with R-1 visas to leave the U.S. for at least one year before returning after a five-year maximum stay.

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DHS Can Axe '11th Hour' Venezuelan Protections, 9th Circ. Told

By Dorothy Atkins

The Trump administration urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to vacate its summary judgment loss so that the government can continue to unwind temporary protected status for 600,000 Venezuelans, arguing that U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem had the authority to terminate the Biden administration's "eleventh hour" protections.

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Groups Seek Records On ICE 'Ankle Monitoring For All' Policy

By Britain Eakin

Two immigrant legal groups have sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in North Carolina federal court Wednesday to pry loose records about the agency's purported blanket use of ankle monitors in its Alternatives to Detention program, which they said is intended to induce self-deportation.

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Fla. Tribe Urges 11th Circ. To Uphold Detention Center Block

By Joyce Hanson

A federally recognized Florida tribe has asked the 11th Circuit to uphold a lower court's preliminary injunction halting operations of an immigrant detention center in the Everglades, arguing that environmental safeguards are at stake rather than immigration policy.

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Idaho Tribes Urge 9th Circ. To Uphold Land Swap Ruling

By Crystal Owens

The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are asking the Ninth Circuit to deny a bid by a global agribusiness and the federal government for an en banc panel rehearing on its decision to invalidate an Idaho land transfer, saying the petition doesn't raise any exceptional questions and ignores long-standing Supreme Court precedent.

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FCC Still Weighing 39% Broadcast Cap, Carr Tells Lawmakers

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission hasn't decided whether the law gives it wiggle room to lift the 39% cap on national audience share controlled by a single broadcast chain, a move that would let Nexstar merge with Tegna, the FCC's chief told lawmakers Wednesday.

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Brief

SG Asks High Court To Reshuffle Sides In AT&T Fine Case

By Christopher Cole

U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to realign the parties' designations in a combined case over the Federal Communications Commission's penalty powers after the justices recently granted review.

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Brief

Senate Bill Would Give FCC One Year For Satellite Licensing

By Christopher Cole

A bipartisan U.S. Senate bill unveiled Wednesday would speed up satellite applications by limiting their review at the Federal Communications Commission to one year.

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Texas Justices Seem Open To Judicial Review Of Hemp Rule

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Supreme Court seemed skeptical of the Texas Department of State Health Services' argument that the judiciary lacks authority to review a decision to make delta-8 THC a controlled substance, asking Wednesday why the court should not have authority to enforce an existing law.

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Fla. Atty Witness In Charity Probe Picked For Appellate Seat

By Carolina Bolado

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday nominated John Guard, senior counselor to the attorney general of Florida, to an appellate court seat, after his nomination for a federal judgeship fizzled once he came under scrutiny in a criminal probe regarding a charity connected to the governor.

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How 2025 Executive Orders Are Reshaping Consumer Finance

In 2025, President Donald Trump used executive orders to initiate a reversal of policies on fair lending, urge agencies to use enforcement and supervisory tools to police debanking, and reduce consumer financial regulation — and the resulting flurry of deregulatory activity will likely continue in 2026, says Elizabeth Tucci at Goodwin.

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Calif. AI Law Will Have Ripple Effect On Emerging Cos.

California's Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act is the first comprehensive state-level AI safety framework with mandated public disclosures in the U.S., and although it may not affect emerging companies directly, companies that embed governance and transparency into their operations will differentiate themselves in highly competitive markets, say attorneys at Mintz.

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Opinion

US Cybersecurity Strategy Must Include Immigration Reform

Cyberthreats are escalating while the cybersecurity workforce remains constrained due to a lack of clear standards for national-interest determinations, processing backlogs affecting professionals who protect critical public systems and visa allocations that do not reflect real-world demands, says Rusten Hurd at Colombo & Hurd.

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A Look At EEOC Actions In 2025 And What's Next

President Donald Trump issued several executive orders last year that reshaped policy at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and with the administration now controlling a majority of the commission, the EEOC may align itself fully with orders addressing disparate impact and transgender issues, say attorneys at Jones Day.

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Forming Measurable Ties

Relationship-building should begin as early as possible in a law firm merger, as intentional pathways to bringing people together drive collaboration, positive client response, engagements and growth, says Amie Colby at Troutman.

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As Goldstein Trial Begins, Gov't Points To 'Lavish' Lifestyle

By Jared Foretek

An accountant for billionaire investor Alec Gores said that Thomas Goldstein had suggested he open a foreign account for Gores' poker-related transactions or even classify him as a professional player for tax purposes, although Gores was just getting started in the high-stakes poker world.

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Simpson Thacher Offers Stipend To Lure Summer Associates

By Tracey Read

In an effort for Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP to attract top students who want to pursue public interest work, the firm said it will pay a stipend of $42,500 for the 2026-2027 cycle for those who opt to spend their 1L summer in a qualifying public service, government, academic, in-house legal or nonprofit role.

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Calif. Justices Order Prosecutors To Explain Alleged AI Errors

By Dorothy Atkins

The California Supreme Court has ordered Nevada County prosecutors to explain to a lower court why they shouldn't be sanctioned for "apparent serial submission" of artificial intelligence-generated briefs with nonexistent legal citations in multiple criminal proceedings.

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Judiciary AI Rule Draws Fire As Judges Get Deepfakes Survey

By Jeff Overley

Federal judiciary policymakers heard extensive concerns Thursday regarding high-profile plans to formally screen evidence generated with artificial intelligence, and they set the stage for more feedback by preparing an AI survey for every federal trial judge.

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ICE Detention Facilities Nearly Doubled Last Year, Report Says

By Tom Lotshaw

An American Immigration Council report said the Trump administration detained record numbers of noncitizens last year, most without criminal records, and held them in a rapidly expanding network of facilities that could soon rival the federal criminal prison system.

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Fla. High Court Opens Door To Non-ABA Accrediting Entities

By Carolina Bolado

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday changed the bar exam admission requirements to allow graduates of law schools accredited by entities other than the American Bar Association to sit for the Florida bar exam.

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5th Circ. Revives Allstate's Fraud Suit Over Car Crash Billing

By Gina Kim

The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived Allstate's racketeering suit alleging doctors and personal injury lawyers unleashed a barrage of unnecessary treatments for car accident patients and caused Allstate to pay $4.7 million in claims, finding the insurer sufficiently pled details about the conspiracy and specifics surrounding each allegedly fake medical billing.

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Sens. Advance Indiana Judge Nominee Grilled Over Sermons

By Courtney Bublé

A federal judicial nominee for Indiana who came under scrutiny by a Republican senator for his past sermons as an ordained elder was voted out of committee Thursday alongside five other judicial nominees.

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Trump US Atty Pick In NM Bumped To First Assistant

By Emily Sawicki

A New Mexico federal judge has ruled the Trump-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for New Mexico is not validly serving in the role but declined to disqualify the prosecutor from a slate of cases pending in the district, instead determining the lawyer may continue to work in the federal prosecutor's office as first assistant.

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Wash. Judges To Pick US Atty As Floyd's Term Set To Expire

By Gina Kim

The chief judge for the Western District of Washington on Wednesday announced the court's intent to select a U.S. attorney to serve on a temporary basis if President Donald Trump's pick, Charles Neil Floyd, who has been serving on an interim basis, isn't confirmed by the Senate by next month. 

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