Analysis

Why Ethics Complaints Against Halligan Face 'Very High Bar'

By Phillip Bantz

Interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan for the Eastern District of Virginia could face bar disciplinary action or court sanctions if the prosecutions she's pursuing at President Donald Trump's behest are found to be politically motivated or baseless, although proving ethics allegations will be an uphill battle, experts say.

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Analysis

Kirk-Related Visa Revocations May Rub Against Court Rulings

By Britain Eakin

The Trump administration's revocation of visas from individuals who criticized Charlie Kirk after his death raises First Amendment concerns that could run up against a recent federal court ruling holding that noncitizens have the same free speech rights as U.S. citizens.

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Analysis

China's Crackdown On Rare Earth Minerals Spooks Importers

By Dylan Moroses

In the latest trade salvo between the U.S. and China, stricter Chinese export controls on critical earth minerals that many U.S. manufacturers rely on are causing concern for businesses, which may have difficulty diversifying supply chains for the rare materials.

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Justices Told Presidential Firing Limits Rely On 'Soured' Logic

By Katie Buehler

President Donald Trump and a cadre of supporters have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to wipe out what remains of a 90-year-old ruling that empowers Congress to prohibit the president from firing certain agency officials at will, arguing the decision was flawed when originally issued and is now well past its prime. 

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Many NY Trial Judges Elevated In Secret, Report Finds

By Frank G. Runyeon

Hundreds of New York state judges are permanently elevated to top trial courts via a secretive appointment process, according to a report released Thursday.

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Ex-Trump Aide Bolton Indicted Over Classified Info Handling

By Lauren Berg

John Bolton, the former national security adviser to President Donald Trump, was indicted Thursday by a Maryland federal grand jury on charges related to the handling of classified information.

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Trump Unveils IVF Drug Pricing Deal: 'We Want More Babies'

By Hannah Albarazi

President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled two initiatives he said were designed to enhance the accessibility and affordability of in vitro fertilization.

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4th Circ. Says No Recourse For Men Imprisoned Extra Year

By Elizabeth Daley

The Fourth Circuit said there could be no recourse in federal court for two inmates who spent an extra year in prison because of Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares' incorrect interpretation of a state law that granted the men enough credits for good behavior to be released in 2022.

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Brief

US Attorney Nominations For Missouri And Indiana Advance

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve, along party lines, two U.S. attorney nominees for Missouri and Indiana on Thursday.

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FEMA Ordered To Restore $34M NY Anti-Terror Funds

By Lauren Berg

A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday ordered the Trump administration to restore nearly $34 million in slashed funds to protect New York's massive transit system from terrorism, saying the White House unlawfully tied the state's grant to immigration policy.

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Fed's Barr Calls For Rules To Plug 'Gaps' In Stablecoin Bill

By Aislinn Keely

Federal Reserve Board Governor Michael Barr said Thursday that the success of the recently passed legislative framework for stablecoins is dependent on federal banking agencies and state regulators coordinating to "fill in important gaps" that could threaten consumer protection and the stability of the banking system.

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'Good Riddance': Feds Ax Big-Bank Climate Risk Guidance

By Jon Hill

Federal regulators Thursday moved to scrap a set of Biden-era "principles" that sought to ensure large banks can manage potential balance-sheet risks from climate change, an ending that one Federal Reserve official greeted with a sharp send-off.

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OCC Inks Deal With Fla. Bank Over BSA, AML Controls

By Sarah Jarvis

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released an agreement Thursday with a Florida community bank for alleged law violations involving suspicious activity reporting and due diligence programs for foreign financial institutions' accounts.

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Kalshi Tells 4th Circ. Md. Is Stepping On CFTC Oversight

By Nadia Dreid

Maryland federal judge was wrong to reject sports betting company Kalshi's argument that its so-called prediction market, which allows users to wager on the outcome of real-world events, counts as a federal derivative exchange, the company said to the Fourth Circuit.

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Trump Taps V&E's Swett As New FERC Chair

By Keith Goldberg

President Donald Trump will appoint Vinson & Elkins LLP energy regulatory counsel Laura Swett as chair of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the White House confirmed to Law360 Thursday.

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Texas Business Court Says Winter Storm Stalled Gas Delivery

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas business court found that Marathon Oil Co. had no obligation to buy natural gas to make up for delivery shortfalls to a commodity trading company created during Winter Storm Uri, saying the winter storm counted as an unforeseen event.

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Farmers Urge Wash. Justices To Void Fuel Exemption Regs

By Rachel Riley

A Washington Supreme Court justice suggested Thursday that the state's framework for an exemption under its greenhouse gas "cap-and-invest" program has fallen short of lawmakers' express goal of ensuring farmers have access to surcharge-free fuel for agricultural purposes.

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States Battle Trump Admin To Recover Solar Program Funds

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

Attorneys general from across the country are suing the Trump administration for allegedly violating the Constitution and federal law by canceling a $7 billion program providing solar equipment to low-income households.

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Texas Panel Blocks Hospital Subpoenas In Trans Care Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

A Texas appellate court on Thursday directed a trial court to withdraw an order requiring two Dallas hospitals to turn over documents concerning alleged gender affirming care, saying the lower court abused its discretion since nonparty patients had motions for protection pending in another court.

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Calif. Hospitals Sue Over New Healthcare Cost Increase Caps

By Bonnie Eslinger

The California Hospital Association hit the state's Office of Health Care Affordability and others with a lawsuit Wednesday, claiming they violated state law with new rules that aim to limit increases in consumer health care costs by curbing hospital spending.

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Analysis

Proposed New Rules Would Cut Off Many PTAB Challenges

By Ryan Davis

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office proposed rules Thursday that would prevent inter partes reviews challenging patents from being instituted in many scenarios, and attorneys said implementing the plan would significantly reduce challenges and make them far less appealing to accused infringers.

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USPTO Says Fed. Circ. Should Skip 'Settled Expectations' Case

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wants the Federal Circuit to reject a challenge to the way the agency has denied review of patents based on the owner's "settled expectations," saying Thursday it has full discretion on whether to review patents or not.

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NetChoice Fights Colo. 'Cigarette-Style' Social Media Law

By Rachel Konieczny

A lawyer for an internet trade association urged a federal judge Thursday to block a Colorado law set to take effect next year, comparing its requirement for social media platforms to display warnings for minors to the mandated warning labels on tobacco products.

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Tech Group Aims To Ax Texas' App Store Age Verification Law

By Allison Grande

A new Texas law that requires app store owners to verify users' ages and block minors from downloading apps or making in-app purchases without parental consent unconstitutionally imposes a "broad censorship regime" on the entire mobile app ecosystem, a tech industry trade group argued in a lawsuit Thursday seeking to strike down the measure.

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High Court's FCC Broadcast Rulings Criticized As 'Outdated'

By Christopher Cole

A think tank called for overturning two U.S. Supreme Court rulings from decades ago that gave the Federal Communications Commission authority to regulate broadcast speech, saying the decisions don't match the realities of today's economy.

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Fla. Asks Justices To Halt Calif., Wash. Truck Licensing Lapses

By Linda Chiem

Florida has taken steps to sue California and Washington in the U.S. Supreme Court, alleging the Democratic-led states have flouted federal law by allowing unauthorized immigrants to obtain commercial drivers licenses to haul big rigs cross-country, endangering motorists and causing "mayhem" on roadways.

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MTA Wants Truckers' Congestion Pricing Suit Tossed

By Linda Chiem

New York officials have told a Manhattan federal judge that an amended lawsuit alleging congestion pricing tolls wrongfully discriminate against commercial truckers still doesn't offer any new facts suggesting the tolls are unreasonable or violate federal law, so the lawsuit should be tossed for good.

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Mass. Seasonal Community Leaders Plug Real Estate Tax Bills

By Sanjay Talwani

Massachusetts locations designated as seasonal communities would have new revenue options, including a local-option real estate transfer tax, to fund affordable housing efforts under legislation pitched by local leaders to a legislative panel.

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Mass. Board Reduces Condo Value For Its Street Proximity

By Sanjay Talwani

A Massachusetts condominium unit with a desirable view was overvalued by a local assessor, a state panel said, agreeing with the owner that its location close to a street was a detriment to its value.

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Mass. Tax Board Reduces Condo's Fair Cash Value

By Jaqueline McCool

A Massachusetts condominium's value should be lowered because the trust that owns the property proved that the property was less updated and smaller compared with similar properties, the state tax board ruled. 

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NLRB Says Fed. Law Preempts Calif.'s Labor Board Fill-In Law

By Emily Brill

The National Labor Relations Board claimed that newly enacted legislation to expand California's state labor board's powers was preempted by the National Labor Relations Act, in a complaint filed in California federal court. 

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Judge Rejects Bid To DQ Wash. Atty In Her County Bias Suit

By Rachel Riley

A Seattle federal judge won't bar an attorney from representing herself in a racial discrimination lawsuit accusing a Washington county of sidelining her from hearing certain cases during her tenure as a part-time judge, rejecting the defense's claims of a conflict of interest.  

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Lumen Wants 'Speculative' $1.4B Pension Swap Suit Tossed

By Hailey Konnath

Lumen Technologies Inc. asked a Colorado federal court to throw out a proposed class action alleging it wrongly transferred obligations for a $1.4 billion pension fund to a private equity-controlled insurance company, calling it "speculative" and arguing that retired employees can't show they've been harmed by the move.

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Ex-Paralegal Says She Was Scapegoat For NC City Atty

By Hayley Fowler

A former paralegal in a North Carolina city attorney's office said she was falsely accused of misusing city resources on her boss's behalf and was not given a fair shot to clear her name, which has allegedly damaged her reputation and made it difficult to find a new job.

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Ga. Agencies Seek Toss Of Mom's Child Support Policy Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

Three state agencies sued by a Georgia mother over an allegedly unconstitutional child support policy asked a federal judge to dismiss the suit, arguing it is barred by the Eleventh Amendment and the doctrine of sovereign immunity.

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Fed. Judge Keeps X's Suit Against Apple, OpenAI In Texas

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge told X Corp, Apple and OpenAI that they ought to move their headquarters to Fort Worth if they like litigating in Cowtown so much, opting Thursday to keep X and xAI's sweeping antitrust suit against Apple and OpenAI in the Lone Star State.

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Unions Challenge Feds' AI Surveillance Of Noncitizens' Views

By Rae Ann Varona

Three labor unions sued the Trump administration in New York federal court Thursday to stop a surveillance program they allege scours online activity for viewpoints the administration doesn't like and leverages the threat of immigration enforcement to coerce silence.

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USDA Can't Curb SNAP Benefits As States Fight Data Demand

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge on Wednesday preliminarily blocked the U.S. Department of Agriculture from withholding potentially billions of dollars in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefit funds from states that refuse to turn over highly sensitive personal information on millions of SNAP food assistance benefit recipients.

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Justices Urged To Hear Mich. Tax Foreclosure Case

By Danielle Ferguson

A property owner has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on her case alleging a Michigan county improperly kept the excess proceeds of her tax-foreclosed home sale, arguing the justices should settle a conflict among circuits and calling the state's process to claim such proceeds too restrictive.

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Firm's Case Against GILTI Regs Can Proceed, DC Judge Says

By Natalie Olivo

An Israeli law firm's suit alleging that U.S. Department of the Treasury regulations regarding overseas income create disproportionate burdens for small entities may continue, a D.C. federal judge said, though dismissing a parallel claim brought by an individual attorney.

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Judge Shields Migrants From ICE After Courthouse Arrests

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge on Thursday barred U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from detaining two asylum-seeking mothers without notice and a hearing, ruling the agency's courthouse arrest tactics likely violate due process.

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US Chamber Sues To Block Trump's $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued the Trump administration on Thursday to block a planned increase in the cost of highly coveted H-1B visas, saying the proposed $100,000 fee would have a "devastating effect" on American businesses, particularly those in the tech, healthcare, higher education and manufacturing sectors.

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Venezuelans Seek Path To Contest Alien Enemies Act Labels

By Jared Foretek

Attorneys for Venezuelans flown on U.S. government flights to El Salvador and then transferred from the CECOT prison there to Venezuela have renewed their motion for a preliminary injunction that would order the government to provide them with an avenue to challenge their Alien Enemies Act designations.

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Afghans Fight US State Dept. Policy Denying Visa Eligibility

By Tom Lotshaw

Three Afghan nationals told a D.C. federal judge they were unlawfully denied eligibility to apply for a special immigrant visa and left at risk of persecution by the Taliban after years of providing security for U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

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Smartmatic Faces FCPA Indictment In Philippine Bribery Case

By Hailey Konnath

A Florida federal grand jury on Thursday returned a superseding indictment that adds charges against Smartmatic, which wasn't previously a party to prosecutors' case accusing former executives at the voting machine company of bribing an elections official in the Philippines to secure contracts.

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Ill. Judge Tosses Law Firm's $36M Pandemic Loan Fraud Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

An Illinois federal judge dismissed a Michigan law firm's $36 million whistleblower suit against dozens of automotive dealerships, ruling that the information underpinning its claims of pandemic loan fraud was already publicly available.

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Ex-Conn. Budget Official Testifies $70K Payments Were Legit

By Aaron Keller

Connecticut school construction director Kosta Diamantis believed state ethics statutes and a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court case allowed him to pocket roughly $70,000 in return for introducing his former brother-in-law's masonry company to a prominent general contractor, a federal jury heard Thursday.

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Fed. Circ. Affirms Dismissal Of Nev. Tribe's $208M Breach Suit

By Crystal Owens

The Federal Circuit on Thursday said it won't overturn a Court of Federal Claims' decision to dismiss the Winnemucca Indian Colony's $208 million breach of trust allegations against the Bureau of Indian Affairs, saying the Nevada tribe failed to identify a substantive source of law that requires compensation.

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NY Counties Want Court To Toss Rest Of 911 Tribal Bias Suit

By Nadia Dreid

Two New York counties have asked a federal judge to rethink her dismissal of only part of a lawsuit brought by the Cayuga Nation that accuses the counties of refusing to forward 911 calls made from the tribe's land to the tribal police unless the nation pays to connect the force to the counties' 911 system.

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FCC Republican Calls Upper C-Band Rework Critical To 6G

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission is wasting no time gearing up for a potential spectrum overhaul in the upper C-Band, with the approach of 6G wireless being a big motivator, according to an agency Republican.

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Closed Pot Shops Can't Stop Future Enforcement, DC Argues

By Jonathan Capriel

A lawsuit seeking to halt the District of Columbia from penalizing and closing any more recreational marijuana shops should be dismissed, the city has told a federal court, arguing the retailers can't sue because they are either already closed or have failed to show they will be targeted.

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Ex-Va. Federal Prosecutor Joins NY AG James' Defense Team

By Lauren Berg

The former deputy criminal chief for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Norfolk, Virginia, Thursday joined the team defending New York Attorney General Letitia James in the government's case accusing her of mortgage-related fraud, filed after the president encouraged prosecutors to take action against his "guilty as hell" political opponents.

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FTC's Consumer Finance Pivot Brings Industry Pros And Cons

An active Federal Trade Commission against the backdrop of a leashed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be welcomed by most in the consumer finance industry, but the incremental expansion of the FTC's authority via enforcement actions remains a risk, say attorneys at Hudson Cook.

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Md. Ruling Spotlights Source-Of-Income Discrimination

In Hare v. David S. Brown Enterprises, the Maryland Supreme Court recently ruled that landlords cannot impose income requirements that disqualify tenants relying on housing vouchers, raising questions about applying the disparate impact doctrine in source-of-income discrimination cases, says Yvette Pappoe at the University of the District of Columbia.

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How A New BIS Rule Greatly Expands Export Restrictions

The newly effective affiliates rule from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security restricts exports to foreign companies that are 50% or more owned by entities listed on the BIS entity list and the military end-user list — a major shift in U.S. export control enforcement, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

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Series

Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

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USPTO Panel's Reversal Signals A Shift On AI Patents

A recent patent ruling from a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office panel shows that artificial intelligence technologies remain patent-eligible when properly framed as technical solutions, and provides valuable drafting lessons for counsel, say attorneys at Butzel Long.

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How Gov't Reversals Are Flummoxing Renewable Developers

The Trump administration has reversed numerous environmental and energy policies, some of which have then been reinstated by the courts, making it difficult for renewable energy project developers to navigate the current regulatory environment, says John Watson at Spencer Fane.

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How Financial Cos. Can Prep As NYDFS Cyber Changes Loom

Financial institutions supervised by the New York State Department of Financial Services can prepare for two critical cybersecurity requirements relating to multifactor authentication and asset inventories, effective Nov. 1, by conducting gap analyses and allocating resources to high-risk assets, among other steps, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

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Loan Forgiveness Overhaul May Chill Legal Aid Work

By Alison Knezevich

Civil legal services groups and public defenders say the Trump administration's proposed change to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program would politicize the initiative and make it harder to recruit attorneys to jobs that pay less than the private sector.

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Atty Quits Ga. Bar's 'Facade' Committee On Client Solicitation

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia attorney resigned Friday as head of the state bar's committee on attorney-client solicitation, accusing the bar of not even "reaching for a garden hose" while unlawful solicitation of accident victims has spread "like wildfire" across the Peach State.

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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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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen Johnson & Johnson hit with a £1 billion ($1.34 billion) claim for allegedly selling contaminated baby powder, Carter-Ruck bring a claim against the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and Hewlett Packard file a probate claim against the estate of Mike Lynch.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Exxon was hit with a proposed class action alleging its new program to enable automated proxy voting for retail investors is intended to stifle shareholder dissent. Meanwhile, a new survey found that nearly two-thirds of in-house legal departments think they will rely less on outside legal service providers because of generative artificial intelligence. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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NY Court Orders Hearing On Counsel Conflict In Drug Case

By Elizabeth Daley

A man who pled guilty to gun and drug charges and was sentenced to 12 years in prison can argue for a new trial due to ineffective counsel after a similarly culpable co-defendant got a light sentence allegedly due to cooperation between their attorneys, a New York state appeals court said in a reversal.

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Utah Fires Motley Rice From Opioid Case

By Jack Karp

The state of Utah has fired Motley Rice LLC from representing it in long-running litigation over the opioid crisis, a spokesperson for the Utah attorney general's office confirmed to Law360 Pulse on Friday.

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Ga. Judge Resigns After DUI Arrest Outside Fla. Strip Club

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia Superior Court jurist who led the state's Council of Superior Court Judges stepped down from the bench Thursday after his driving under the influence arrest last week outside a Jacksonville, Florida, strip club.

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UC Law School Can Drop Hastings Name, Appeals Court Says

By Andrea Keckley

California is allowed to drop Serranus Clinton Hastings' name from the University of California's San Francisco-based law school, a state appeals court has ruled, backing a trial judge's decision to toss a lawsuit filed by the former chief state Supreme Court justice's descendants and various school alumni.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Caldwell Cassady & Curry PC and Miller Fair Henry PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California federal jury found Samsung must pay nearly $445.5 million for infringing four wireless communication patents.

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Liberty Mutual Attys Face Sanctions Bid Over Citation Errors

By Emily Sawicki

A St. Louis federal court is weighing whether to sanction Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance Company's lawyers after they submitted a motion containing citation errors and then, after a warning, "somehow" submitted a second motion with the same types of mistakes.

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Federal Courts To Scale Back Operations Amid Shutdown

By Ryan Boysen

The federal court system has run out of money and will scale back operations beginning Monday as a result of the ongoing government shutdown, possibly leading to case delays.

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Robbins Geller To Steer REIT Investors' Suit Over $787M Deal

By Sydney Price

Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP will lead a proposed class of investors in real estate investment trust Broadmark Realty Capital Inc. who claim they were misled by executives from the REIT ahead of a $787 million merger with Ready Capital Corp. in 2023.

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