Analysis

How Plaintiffs Won A $604M Verdict Against CH Robinson

By Spencer Brewer

Roland Christensen of Arnold & Itkin LLP said that for the life of him, he couldn't understand why C.H. Robinson didn't cut a deal offered by the families of victims who burned to death following an 18-wheeler crash.

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Trump Admin Can't Deport Asylum Seekers Over Unpaid Fees

By Rae Ann Varona

A Massachusetts federal judge Wednesday temporarily barred the Trump administration from imposing consequences on asylum seekers who fail to timely pay an annual asylum fee, but refused to halt a one-year work authorization cap for those with temporary protected status.

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NYC's Food Apps Data Law Goes Too Far, 2nd Circ. Says

By Lauren Berg

A New York City law that would require DoorDash, GrubHub and other delivery apps to share customer data with the restaurants fulfilling food orders violates the First Amendment, the Second Circuit ruled Wednesday.

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Senate Dems Grill Trump's Judge Picks For 5th Circ., Alabama

By Nadia Dreid

Senate Democrats on Wednesday dug into two judges nominated by the president to serve in Alabama district court and on the Fifth Circuit over their careful answers about who won the 2020 election and one's history of advocating against a ban on forced arbitration for workplace sexual harassment and assault claims.

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CFPB Sends Open-Banking Rule Redo To White House

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has finished a proposal to overhaul its Biden-era open-banking rule and has submitted it for White House clearance, a move that signals the agency is nearing publication of the highly anticipated draft changes.

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Wyoming Judge Says Congress Nixed Coal Lease Fight

By Tom Lotshaw

A Wyoming federal judge dismissed a series of cases challenging resource management plans that ended new coal leasing on federal lands in the Powder River Basin, agreeing that the dispute ended when Congress repealed the plans.

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9th Circ. Urged To Revisit Klamath Project ESA Ruling

By Crystal Owens

A water association is asking the Ninth Circuit to rethink a ruling that held the Endangered Species Act applies to the operation and management of an Oregon irrigation project, arguing that the appellate court left "an unworkable" framework to determine a threshold question over nondiscretionary federal agency actions.

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Trade Group Seeks Injunction Over Colo. Recycling Law

By Zach Dupont

A trade group made up of about 35,000 wholesale distribution companies asked a Colorado federal judge Wednesday to issue an injunction preventing the state from enforcing a new recycling law, arguing that the law is unconstitutional.

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Kansas Judge Permanently Blocks Abortion Care Restrictions

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Kansas state court has permanently enjoined a slew of restrictions on abortion care, including requirements that providers disclose patients' reasons for seeking an abortion to the state and inform patients about abortion pill "reversal" treatments the court said were "unlikely to be biologically plausible."

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Interview

Stewart Says Patent System 'Crisis' Fueled USPTO Changes

By Ryan Davis

Coke Morgan Stewart, the deputy director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office who left the agency last week, said in an interview with Law360 this week that new limits on patent challenges and other policy changes she helped lead were driven by a sense that the patent system was in "a pretty significant crisis."

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Analysis

PTAB Filings Crashed After Squires And Stewart's Shake-Ups

By Theresa Schliep

The number of America Invents Act filings with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board cratered at the end of 2025 after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office enacted policies that made the petitions a disfavored route for challenging patents, according to a new report.

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Analysis

These Firms Are Picking Up The Most PTAB Work

By Theresa Schliep

Intellectual property heavyweight Fish & Richardson PC remains the busiest firm in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, as it again secured the top spot on a list of firms with the most PTAB trials over the past three years.

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Fed. Circ. Told Injunction Against Samsung Is Warranted

By Adam Lidgett

Collision Communications Inc. wants the Federal Circuit to undo a Texas federal judge's decision denying its bid to block Samsung from selling products a jury found were infringing, saying the judge "went inexplicably astray" following the $445 million verdict.

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Senate Version Of Kids' Online Safety Legislation Clears Panel

By Allison Grande

A key U.S. Senate committee Wednesday advanced four legislative proposals designed to shield children from online harms presented by addictive design features and artificial intelligence-powered chatbots, setting up a clash with a package of digital safety bills that has already passed the House but that several senators have blasted as "toothless."

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Utah Can Enforce Gambling Laws Against Kalshi, Judge Says

By Alex Lawson

A Utah federal judge has allowed the state's gambling regulators to crack down on Kalshi's sports event contracts, rejecting the prediction market giant's argument that it should be shielded by federal law.

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High Court's Trans Athlete Ruling Roils Volleyball Dispute

By Alex Lawson

A legal fight over San Jose State University's decision to roster a transgender player on its women's volleyball team has intensified as the litigants feverishly debate the impact of recent U.S. Supreme Court case law.

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Soldier Wants To Fight DOJ, CFTC Maduro Bet Cases At Once

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Army soldier accused of reaping prediction market profits with his knowledge of the January operation to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro wants to fight parallel actions from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the U.S. Justice Department at once, and contends the government can't use his case as an "experiment" for how to police trading on platforms like Polymarket.

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Wash. Landlords' COVID-19 Eviction Moratorium Suit Tossed

By Rachel Riley

A Seattle federal judge has thrown out a group of landlords' proposed class action challenging COVID-19-era eviction bans imposed by Washington cities and the state, saying Wednesday that appellate courts have recognized that landlord-tenant regulations generally do not qualify as physical takings of private property.

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Mich. Wineries Fight 'Secret Evidence' In Intervention Bid

By Susan Smiley

A group of northern Michigan wineries on Tuesday urged a federal judge to block a local advocacy group's attempt to introduce "secret evidence" into an ongoing lawsuit between the wineries and Peninsula Township, which they claim is undermining their business in the popular tourist locale. 

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NJ Justices Nix Extra COVID Pay For School Custodians

By MJ Koo

The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a state law passed during the COVID-19 pandemic properly barred school custodians from claiming extra emergency pay under their collective bargaining agreement, finding that the law required employees to be treated as if schools had stayed open.

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Senate Panel Presses DOJ Antitrust Pick On Independence

By Matthew Perlman

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, Adam Candeub, faced tough questions Wednesday during a U.S. Senate confirmation hearing, where several Democrats challenged his independence.

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Texas Governor Calls For Data Center Audit

By Isaac Monterose

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to audit any data centers that are going through ERCOT's electric grid interconnection process, saying that an audit is needed because the demand from data centers seeking to connect to Texas' electric grid could overwhelm it.

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New Mexico Says Blanche, DOJ Blocked Epstein Ranch Probe

By Lauren Berg

The state of New Mexico asked a Washington, D.C., federal court Wednesday to force the U.S. Department of Justice to hand over unredacted Jeffrey Epstein investigative files, saying it needs the materials for its own investigation of alleged crimes at the late sex offender's Santa Fe County ranch.

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DC Gun Ban Suit Paused For High Court Look At Ill. Case

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge has stayed the Trump administration's challenge to the city's prohibition on silencers and AR-15s, ordering the case to remain on ice until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a similar challenge to semiautomatic bans in Illinois and Connecticut.

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Kalshi To Block Wash. Betting But Said Pause Is Overbroad

By Ben Adlin

Kalshi agreed to implement geofencing restrictions by Aug. 26 to prevent people in Washington from making bets on the platform in accordance with a state judge's preliminary injunction, but the prediction market is still at odds with state officials over the scope of the court order.

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Defense Dept. Was 'Ostrich Burying His Head', Judge Says

By Hailey Konnath

A Massachusetts federal judge Wednesday compared the U.S. Department of Defense's since struck-down reimbursement limit for grant-funded research to an "ostrich burying his head in the sand," awarding attorney fees to the academic organization that successfully challenged the policy.

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Ex-Congo President Challenges US Sanctions As Baseless

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control based its placement of the former president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on a sanctions blacklist on unsupported claims he backed armed rebel groups, he told a federal court in Washington, D.C.

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Brief

US Looking Into Aluminum, Tissue For Possible Duty Evasion

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce opened a pair of investigations Wednesday into aluminum packaging products from Indonesia and Malaysia and tissue paper imports from Vietnam to determine whether the goods are circumventing duties placed on the products imported from China.

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Court Wrongly Nixed $750K Tax Debt Collection, 6th Circ. Told

By Zak Kostro

An Ohio federal court wrongly found that the U.S. government couldn't collect on a man's federal tax liabilities of over $750,000 via a property sale, the government told the Sixth Circuit, saying while the man's mother holds legal title to the property, he is its equitable owner.

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Finance Group Urges Changes To UK Tax Reporting Rules

By Josh White

The U.K.'s Labour government should change its plans for new cross-border tax reporting rules because the draft rules are overly complex for financial firms and the timeline is unrealistic, an industry group warned.

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Judge Says Firearms Act Can't Stand After Gun Taxes Zeroed

By Asha Glover

A Texas federal court ruled Wednesday that the National Firearms Act and its enforcement of registration and transfer requirements are unconstitutional in light of the 2025 federal budget bill's elimination of taxes on certain firearms, handing a win to several gun rights advocacy groups.

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Convicted Tax-Offender Atty Rebuffed In Bid To Have Firearm

By Michael Nunes

A Connecticut attorney who served prison time for tax offenses cannot proceed with most of a suit that seeks the restoration of his right to possess a firearm, a federal judge said in a ruling Wednesday.

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DHS Wants To Hire Debt-Tracer To Track Down Deportees

By Britain Eakin

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is seeking bids for a contract to hire a private company to track down immigrants in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras who left voluntarily or were deported from the U.S. before paying off immigration-related fines.

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Feds Sued Over Man's Death After ICE Raid At Cannabis Farm

By Gina Kim

The family of a man who died following a chaotic ICE raid last summer at a cannabis farm has sued the U.S. government for negligence in California federal court, alleging that law enforcement agents used excessive force during the incident and prevented him from receiving timely treatment by medical personnel.

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Texas Cos., Others Urge Cruz, Cornyn To Block Rio Barriers

By Corey Rothauser

More than 140 river outfitters, local businesses and recreation groups have urged Texas' two U.S. senators and Gov. Greg Abbott to intervene and stop planned border barrier construction in and around Big Bend National Park, warning the project would devastate the region's recreation economy and cut off public access to the Rio Grande.

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Texas Firm Lands $150M HHS Services Deal For Migrant Kids

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it has entered into a $150 million contract with a small Texas law firm to provide legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children, raising concerns from former subcontractors about the firm's experience with immigration matters.

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Ill. Feds Fight Contempt Proceedings In ICE Protest Case

By Celeste Bott

Federal prosecutors urged an Illinois federal judge Tuesday to reject further hearings and a special prosecutor over grand jury misconduct in a dismissed case against anti-ICE activists, arguing that the dismissal of the charges, the payout of their attorney fees, "substantial" internal reforms and a pending ethics probe render criminal contempt proceedings unnecessary.

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Fed. Gov't Held In Contempt By Judge Over ICE Phone Data

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California district judge held the federal government in contempt in litigation over immigration arrest tactics for not complying with a discovery order requiring forensic imaging of phones used by agents during their operations, imposing a fine of $500 per day until the government complies with the order.

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5th Circ. Wary Again Of FCC's Control Over Subsidy Program

By Christopher Cole

A panel of Fifth Circuit judges on Wednesday raised new questions about the Federal Communications Commission's oversight of the country's $9 billion annual telecom subsidy program after a U.S. Supreme Court decision kept the fund intact last summer.

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T-Mobile Asks Judge To Reconsider Data Breach Ruling

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

T-Mobile has asked a Washington judge to address issues that the company says were overlooked in his June ruling finding that T-Mobile committed more than 722,000 violations of a state data breach notification law.

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Brief

FCC Returns $881M In Unused TV Broadcaster 'Repack' Funds

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that it has returned $881 million that went unused in the TV Broadcaster Relocation Fund.

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Mass. City Must Refund $2.4M In Cannabis 'Impact' Fees

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts state court judge has ordered a Boston suburb to refund $2.4 million in fees it collected from cannabis retailers, saying the city of Newton failed to show the fees were tethered to the costs of hosting the businesses.

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Incumbent Wash. Justices On Top In Early Primary Results

By Rachel Riley

Three incumbent Washington State Supreme Court justices — including two governor appointees — led their respective primary races Wednesday, as a state trial judge edged ahead in the race for another open seat on the high court, according to preliminary election results.

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Holland & Knight Hires Energy Finance Advisers In DC

By Jack Rodgers

Holland & Knight LLP has hired a trio of advisers from lobbying and consulting firm Boundary Stone Partners to bolster its work on energy, technology and infrastructure funding and finance in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Tuesday.

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Trump Debarment Threat Calls For Targeted Defense Plan

President Donald Trump's recent Truth Social directive ordering federal suspension and debarment officials to investigate the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine over climate science work could have existential consequences, highlighting the importance of winning the framing battle by building a clear timeline and record, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

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House Truck Weight Bill Could Raise Stakes In Crash Suits

A bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives could allow participating states to run six-axle trucks at 91,000 pounds instead of 80,000, likely resulting in more catastrophic injury claims with higher damages and further taxing an already strained insurance coverage system, says attorney Angel Reyes.

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How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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No Simpson Thacher Malpractice In PIPE Case, Jury Finds

By Madison Arnold

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP escaped a malpractice lawsuit late Thursday over its representation of Patriot National Inc. in a private investment in public equity transaction in the years before the company's downfall.

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Dems Slam Skadden's 'Nothing To See Here' Trump Deal Reply

By Hailey Konnath

Three Democratic lawmakers on Thursday criticized Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's response to their request that the firm disclose details of its pro bono arrangement with the Trump administration, saying the firm's "three sentence letter essentially saying 'nothing to see here'" is "not going to cut it."

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New ABA Chief Seeks To 'Streamline' Org., Defend Democracy

By Emily Sawicki

The American Bar Association's new president, Barbara J. Howard, will focus on twin goals of defending democracy against expected unprecedented attacks associated with this year's midterm elections, while also reorganizing the association to run more efficiently, as she kicks off her one-year term this month.

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Richards Layton Under Fire Amid Bid To Avoid AI Sanctions

By Rose Krebs

A firm has asked a Delaware vice chancellor to allow it to submit more "factual information" regarding what it says are inconsistencies in Richards Layton & Finger PA's attempt to avoid sanctions for submitting a filing with errors generated by artificial intelligence.

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Analysis

The Dramatic Moments Set To Shape Tom Goldstein's Appeal

By Jeff Overley and Jared Foretek

Prurient revelations, brash recriminations and purportedly glaring judicial errors in Tom Goldstein's criminal case have captivated the appellate bar for nearly 19 months, and many of those moments will be center stage in the star attorney's imminent appeal.

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2nd Circ. Says Pillsbury Must Surrender $3.6M Retainer

By Jessica Corso

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP was ordered on Thursday to hand over a $3.6 million retainer it was paid to defend a client against criminal and civil fraud charges, with the Second Circuit upholding a ruling that the funds were part of an asset freeze order issued in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission case.

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Ex-GC Hijacked Accounts And Posted Klan Imagery, Suit Says

By Ben Adlin

A Washington state court granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday in a school fundraising company's lawsuit accusing its former general counsel of taking control of its social media accounts and allegedly replacing its LinkedIn photo with a manipulated image of its president in a Ku Klux Klan robe.

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Ex-Girardi Atty Gets Probation For Keeping Silent On Theft

By Lauraann Wood

A former Girardi Keese attorney was sentenced to one day time-served and two years of probation Thursday for staying quiet and failing to report disgraced plaintiff's attorney Tom Girardi's theft of millions of settlement dollars owed to Lion Air Flight 620 plane crash victims.

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Wash. Justices Offer Bar Waiver After July Exam Tech Failure

By Rachel Riley

The Washington State Supreme Court said Thursday it's offering to waive the bar exam requirement for first-time applicants who were unable to take the test last week due to an abrupt cancellation driven by technical issues at the Yakima Convention Center where it was scheduled to be administered.   

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Justices' FTC Ruling Weakens Qui Tam's Constitutional Base

The U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Trump v. Slaughter, expanding presidential control over those exercising executive power, suggests that courts may be receptive to arguments challenging the constitutional foundations of the False Claims Act’s qui tam mechanism, says Daniel Passeser at Wiggin.

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