Analysis

Justices Fret Any Climate Tort Ruling Will Open Pandora's Box

By Jeff Overley

U.S. Supreme Court justices Monday pondered the risks of far-reaching fallout whether they allow or restrict burgeoning lawsuits targeting oil companies, acknowledging fears of near-limitless litigation but also struggling to distinguish climate torts from famous legal battles involving tobacco and opioids.

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Justices Seek Trump Admin's Views In Escrow-Interest Fight

By Jon Hill

The U.S. Supreme Court asked Monday for the Trump administration to weigh in as the justices consider taking up a set of cases challenging whether federally chartered banks are exempt from state laws requiring lenders to pay interest on homeowners' mortgage escrow accounts.

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Justices Decline To Hear Post-Mallory Forum-Shopping Fight

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider whether state business-registration laws like Pennsylvania's asserting jurisdiction over out-of-state companies for out-of-state conduct alleged by out-of-state plaintiffs are unconstitutional under the dormant commerce clause.

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9th Circ. Pauses Rogoff's Return As Seattle US Atty

By Jack Karp

The Ninth Circuit has put on hold a Washington federal judge's decision to reinstate Roger Rogoff as Seattle's top federal prosecutor, a post Rogoff held for less than an hour before he was fired by President Donald Trump.

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Judges Step Aside In Blackburn Phone Records Suit

By Courtney Bublé

All judges in the Middle District of Tennessee have recused themselves from Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.'s case against former special counsel Jack Smith for obtaining her phone records.

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Justices Won't Review Pa. Judge's Removal For Political Posts

By Matthew Santoni

The U.S. Supreme Court won't consider Pennsylvania's suspension of a former Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas judge over his partisan Facebook posts, the justices announced Monday.

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Groups Sue For Cook County, Ill., Judge Assignment Records

By Andrea Keckley

Two public interest groups and a legal news outlet sued the chief judge of Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois, the circuit clerk and the state's court administration director, alleging they withheld records showing when judges were authorized to handle other judges' cases, potentially concealing unauthorized rulings.

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Justices Won't Hear Corporate Transparency Act Challenges

By Kevin Pinner

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear two cases challenging the Corporate Transparency Act, a law designed to establish a national beneficial ownership registry for law enforcement agencies investigating shell companies that was severely curtailed by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

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FinCEN Nixes Plans For Crypto Mixer, Wallet Reporting Rules

By Jon Hill

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network is moving to scrap two long-dormant proposals aimed at increasing anti-money laundering oversight of transactions involving self-hosted crypto wallets and anonymizing crypto "mixers," measures that had faced stiff industry resistance.  

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CFTC Floats Framework For Crypto Cos. Offering Leverage

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday unveiled plans for a framework governing leveraged crypto transactions, seeking feedback on a proposal that attempts to use the agency's existing authority to regulate a section of crypto markets in the absence of legislation.

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Novel Strategy Prompted ETF Guidance, Treasury Atty Says

By Kat Lucero

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's recent revenue ruling and notice cracking down on improper arrangements using legitimate exchange-traded fund conversions was a response to a marketed transaction that was not squarely addressed by existing rules targeting abusive practices, a department official said Monday.

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Brief

OKX Files For Tokenized Stock Trading Under SEC Exemption

By Aislinn Keely

OKX has notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of its plans to offer tokenized stock trading, becoming one of the first crypto exchanges to take advantage of the agency's closely watched innovation exemption.

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High Court Won't Take Up Maine Lobster Boat Tracking Suit

By Allison Grande

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a constitutional challenge to Maine's tracking of vessels that hold federal lobster permits, a policy several lobster fishermen claimed violated their privacy rights.

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Commercial Fishers Sue Over Red Snapper Catch Expansion

By Jared Foretek

A group of commercial fishing companies is challenging a new round of federal permits that allow Florida, Georgia and South Carolina to expand this year's recreational red snapper catch in D.C. federal court, claiming Monday that the permits would shrink the commercial share of the South Atlantic fishery in violation of federal law.

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Feds, SpaceX Say Groups Lack Standing To Block Land Swap

By Ganesh Setty

SpaceX and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are urging a Texas federal court to toss a lawsuit challenging their South Texas land swap deal, each noting the wildlife refuge land at issue is already generally closed to the public.

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Tribe, Enviros Say Utility Flouted Nebraska Power Line Block

By Crystal Owens

Conservation groups and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe are asking a district court to decide a Nebraska utility's motion to lift a partial block on the approval of its 226-mile, 345-kilovolt electricity transmission line before construction starts, arguing that the federal government again ignored important aspects of the problem.

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Hunting Groups Say Colo. Illegally Imposed 2-Animal Limit

By Benjamin Morse

Two advocacy groups sued the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission, alleging it unlawfully imposed a much lower daily hunting limit than either of the proposals it had presented to the public and gave no chance to comment on the change.

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5th Circ. Hints CMS Medicare Advantage Rule May Violate APA

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel seemed hesitant to buy an argument that a rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services dealing with Medicare Advantage plan overpayments went through proper rulemaking steps, asking Monday if the agency's argument that it can change its rationale "upends" rulemaking procedures.

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Feds Aim To Improve Health Cost Clarity With Final Reg

By Grace Elletson

The federal government unveiled a final rule Monday intended to make it easier to understand healthcare pricing information that President Donald Trump's first administration required private-sector healthcare plans to disclose, a move that agencies said was needed because previous regulations triggered a deluge of data.

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Justices Won't Block Paramount's $110B WB Deal

By Dorothy Atkins

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday quickly rejected a request by consumers to immediately block Paramount Skydance's $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery, which is expected to close Tuesday, while a lower court adjudicates their antitrust claims challenging the merger.

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High Court Won't Review DirecTV Standing In Nexstar Fee Suit

By Christopher Cole

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review whether DirecTV has standing to sue broadcast chain Nexstar for allegedly working with two other station owners to fix retransmission fees for broadcast programs.

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Media Advocacy Groups Can't Join ABC Suit Against FCC

By Christopher Cole

A D.C. federal judge Monday denied two outside groups' bid to intervene in ABC's free speech suit against the Federal Communications Commission, saying they have not shown the network cannot adequately represent viewers' interests on its own.

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High Court Skips 'Let's Go Brandon' Sweatshirt Case

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a student speech case in which Michigan school officials required two brothers to remove their "Let's Go Brandon" sweatshirts during the school day.

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Illinois' Curbs On Kalshi Sports Contracts Blocked For Now

By Elaine Briseño

An Illinois federal judge temporarily blocked the state from enforcing its gambling license requirements against Kalshi and Coinbase on Friday, saying that the companies' core sports betting contracts are likely federally regulated swaps.

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Groups Say Fla. City Bent Rules For Related Ross Hotel Tower

By Nate Beck

Two West Palm Beach neighborhood groups are arguing to a Florida state appeals court that city officials advanced an 18-story Related Ross convention center and hotel project while ignoring concerns that the project's valet operations could pose a risk to pedestrians, among other issues in the approval process.

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Analysis

Intel Case May Clarify Dismissal Standard For 401(k) Suits

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Tuesday from former Intel Corp. workers looking to revive a suit claiming their retirement savings suffered because of shoddy investments, a case that could shed light on what it takes to keep challenges to allegedly subpar 401(k) offerings alive.

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9th Circ. Says PREP Act Bars Pasadena COVID Policy Suit

By Hailey Konnath

The Ninth Circuit on Monday refused to revive a Pasadena employee's suit challenging the city's COVID-19 safety policy for unvaccinated city employees, ruling that the city is immune from his claims under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act.

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Justices Mull Courts' Authority To Hear Vets' Benefits Suit

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared split on whether the Veterans' Judicial Review Act bars federal district courts from presiding over constitutional challenges to statutes affecting veterans' benefits, with justices questioning both sides' interpretation of the law's no-review clause.   

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High Court Won't Hear Chicago Workers' Vaccine Appeal

By Celeste Bott

The U.S. Supreme Court again refused Monday to weigh in on a challenge to COVID-19 vaccine and testing requirements for Chicago city workers, declining to take up the case after the Seventh Circuit refused to revive their lawsuit in December.

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Justices Turn Away Case Over NLRB Remedies And Review

By Braden Campbell

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away an appeal of a Third Circuit ruling involving a number of labor issues, including the National Labor Relations Board's heightened remedies and the level of deference courts owe the agency.

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Boston Health Worker Says Firing Followed Fraud Concerns

By Carolyn Muyskens

A former program director in Boston's health department says he was fired after refusing to enroll new clients until his concerns about fraud in a home visiting program were addressed, according to a lawsuit filed in Massachusetts state court.

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Casinos Lose Bid For 3rd Circ. Redo In Room-Pricing Suit

By Matthew Santoni

Atlantic City casino-hotels could not get the Third Circuit to go back on reviving a proposed class action accusing them of a price-fixing scheme for hotel rooms, according to a court order.

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Renters Seek Class Cert. For RealPage Antitrust Suit

By Isaac Monterose

A proposed class of renters asked a Tennessee federal court to certify it for its antitrust claims, saying property management software company RealPage Inc. allowed multifamily landlords to use its revenue management products for rent price-fixing.

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DOJ, Google Differ On Ad Tech Fix Timing, Oversight

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice and Google offered disagreement Friday largely on relatively discreet points for the mandates meant to open up Google's advertising placement technology dominance, in a Virginia federal court filing where disputes centered heavily on how long the tech company has to implement changes and who'll monitor its compliance.

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DOJ, Google Want DC Circ. 'Priority' For Search Appeal

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice and Google jointly asked the D.C. Circuit to prioritize their cross-appeals in the search monopolization case in order to schedule oral arguments as soon as Dec. 9.

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Brief

Justices Won't Review SC Beach Gear Rental Antitrust Case

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Supreme Court refused a petition Monday from a beach equipment rental company seeking to revive its antitrust case accusing a South Carolina city of using its municipal ordinances to monopolize the market.

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5th Circ. Wonders If Flock Cameras Align With 4th Amendment

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel on Monday pressed the federal government to explain how law enforcement's use of Flock cameras to track criminal suspects without obtaining a search warrant doesn't run afoul of the Fourth Amendment, questioning prosecutors' assertion that publicly observable movements enjoy no protections.

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9th Circ. Invited To Take A Crack At Feds' Calif. Egg Law Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge refused Friday to toss the federal government's challenge to a Golden State law banning the sale of eggs laid by hens raised in "cruel" conditions, but allowed California to file an interlocutory appeal, finding "there is substantial ground for difference of opinion" on the government's standing.

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Justices Pass On Fatal Drunk-Driving Qualified Immunity Case

By Marco Poggio

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a ruling granting qualified immunity to an Alabama sheriff's deputy who was accused of killing a passenger in a crash while driving drunk and off duty, then fleeing the scene.

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Justices Won't Review Pregnancy Center Vandalism Case

By Gianna Ferrarin

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it will not review the conviction of a Florida woman for conspiring to violate a federal statute that prohibits intimidation and obstruction of people trying to access reproductive health facilities.

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1st Circ. Doubts Harvard Grant Fight Belongs In Claims Court

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit Monday appeared skeptical that a lower court erred in backing Harvard University in a suit over the Trump administration's bid to freeze more than $2 billion in grant funding, suggesting that the case had been decided in the proper venue.

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Catholic Org. Funding Cut Wasn't About Faith, Mich. Says

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Catholic charity is improperly attempting to insert a prior religious liberty case over Michigan's foster care policies into current litigation challenging the charity's de-designation as a provider of treatment for substance use disorder, state officials have argued in a brief seeking dismissal.

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No Consensus On Forced Labor Statement At G20 Meeting

By Jack McLoone

The Group of 20 nations failed to reach a consensus on a statement highlighting the need to eliminate imports of goods created with forced labor, with solely the U.S., Argentina and Mexico backing a document calling forced labor both a human rights and economic threat.

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Minn. Court Wrong To OK Childcare Tax Break, County Says

By Sanjay Talwani

A Minnesota childcare center missed a statutory filing deadline for a property tax break and thus should not be allowed the deduction, the state's largest county told the state Supreme Court, urging it to reverse a state tax court decision.

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Analysis

Afghan Allies Fear For Lives While Stuck In Immigration Limbo

By Britain Eakin

Under the Trump administration's travel and visa restrictions, Afghans who helped U.S. efforts against the Taliban and were promised a pathway to America face uncertainty about their survival and their chances of being reunited with family members. Nearly a year into the imposition of those restrictions, Law360 looks at how Afghans are coping.

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Justices Vacate 9th Circ. Ruling On Noem's TPS Authority

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday granted the Trump administration's request to wipe out a Ninth Circuit decision that found former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem lacked the authority to vacate a temporary protected status extension for Venezuela.

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DOL Given Until Year End To Fix H-2A Farmworker Wage Rule

By MJ Koo

A California federal court has ordered the U.S. Department of Labor to issue a replacement wage rule for temporary agricultural workers by year-end, rejecting the agency's request for up to six months and setting the existing unlawful rule to expire by the same deadline.

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Deported Mass. Student May Be Beyond 1st Circ.'s Reach

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit on Monday hinted that it may not have the ability to revive a Massachusetts college student's immigration case because she chose to remain abroad after being deported, meaning she is no longer in federal custody.

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4th Circ. Upholds Order For US To Admit Afghan Families

By Jared Foretek

A Fourth Circuit panel has declined to stay a federal district judge's order clearing the way for the families of seven Afghans who fought for and alongside the U.S. military to enter the country, rejecting the State Department's argument that the families' visa petitions fall within the consular nonreviewability doctrine.

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Mass. Justices Weigh Duties Of DAs, Judges After ICE Arrests

By Julie Manganis

Justices on Massachusetts' highest court Monday appeared willing to endorse a requirement that prosecutors and judges make formal efforts to get federal immigration officials to bring defendants in their custody to court for pending criminal cases before issuing a default warrant or dismissing a case.

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Trump's Green Card Policy Shift Must Be Blocked, Groups Say

By Hailey Konnath

A slew of families, workers, unions and immigrant rights groups asked a Massachusetts federal judge to block the Trump administration's new policies requiring green card applicants to leave the country, claiming Monday it's an unlawful departure from longstanding practice that unnecessarily disrupts applicants' lives.

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Detroit Nonprofit Can Pursue Claims Over $40M Theft

By Susan Smiley

Family members and associates of a former Detroit Riverfront Conservancy executive who was convicted of embezzling more than $40 million lost their bid on Monday to escape the nonprofit's Michigan state court suit seeking to claw back the ill-gotten gains.

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Justices Won't Hear Minn. Indian Child Welfare Act Case

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear two foster parents' challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act after the Minnesota Supreme Court determined they don't have standing to take on the bedrock law on claims of constitutional equal protection rights.

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High Court Won't Hear Tribe's $208M Breach Of Trust Dispute

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a Nevada tribe's bid to revive $208 million in breach of trust claims against the federal government, leaving intact a Federal Circuit ruling the tribe said will reduce their homelands to "useless sand without water."

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Justices Seek Solicitor General's Views On Tribal River Claims

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday sought the solicitor general's views on whether Washington tribes can pursue damages against a Canadian mining company for alleged pollution to the Columbia River.

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FCC Evading Courts With 'Gamesmanship,' DC Circ. Told

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission is pursuing a road map for evading judicial review of major rulings, an advocacy group warned the D.C. Circuit in a case challenging Fox TV's Philadelphia license.

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FCC Boots Call Provider From US Networks Over Robocalls

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission has officially blocked a Denver-based voice call provider from operating in the United States because it never assuaged the agency's concerns about what it's going to do to stop illegal robocalls from being transmitted on its network.

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Brief

US Pushes For Reelection Of Int'l Radio Board Chief

By Christopher Cole

U.S. telecom regulators are urging their foreign counterparts to reelect the leader of a key global treaty-making body and have nominated another U.S. candidate for a top post in the organization ahead of a meeting next month in Qatar.

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Mass. Governor Urges Voters To Reject Marijuana Repeal

By Sam Reisman

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey said Sunday that she opposes a ballot measure to roll back the legalization of retail marijuana in the Bay State.

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Groups Ask DC Circ. To Revive CMS Hemp Program Case

By Sam Reisman

A coalition of interests challenging a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services program to provide patients access to federally legal hemp products told the D.C. Circuit on Monday that a lower court was wrong to dismiss their petition.

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DOJ-Agri Stats Settlement Offers Key Benchmarking Lessons

A Minnesota federal court's recent approval of the Agri Stats settlement marks a significant milestone as it's the most granular U.S. Justice Department guidance on permissible competitor benchmarking since the 2023 withdrawal of the safety zone, lending predictability for companies in data-pooling arrangements, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

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Abbott FCA Deal Shows Enforcement Adequacy Quandaries

Abbott Laboratories’ recent False Claims Act resolution illustrates several tricky questions that both prosecutors and defense counsel must address when weighing whether a civil enforcement action alone adequately addresses allegedly wrongful conduct, says James Koukios at MoFo.

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3 Illinois Updates That Bolster Mortgage Lender Enforcement

Illinois lenders can use clarifications from recent legislative and judicial developments — a law defining the limitations period for home equity loans and two rulings on quiet title actions and lien expirations during foreclosures — to sharpen their enforcement tools and better protect their mortgage rights, says Stephanie Mulcahy at Hinshaw.

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Analysis

Judge Clevenger's Intellect Defined His Time On Fed. Circ.

By Dani Kass

Newly retired Federal Circuit Judge Raymond Clevenger has an "exceptionally keen intellect" that allowed him to spot holes or new paths in cases that the parties or fellow panel members hadn't explored, his former colleagues told Law360.

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Sotomayor Warns Judges: Don't Scare Your Jurors

By Brandon Lowrey

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Monday criticized an Alabama trial court judge who frightened a pool of prospective jurors by ordering the arrest of a latecomer to jury selection, saying in a statement accompanying a denial of certiorari in the case that fear can undermine a defendant's right to an impartial jury.

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Quinn Emanuel Seeks $750K After Defeating Buzbee Suits

By Lynn LaRowe

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP is seeking nearly $750,000 in attorney fees after defeating claims in Texas state court that it conspired with rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter to retaliate against prominent Houston plaintiffs attorney Tony Buzbee and two of his former clients.

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Jackson Walker Deal Stalled By Standing Issue, Trustee Says

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Trustee's Office told a Texas federal judge that its settlement with Jackson Walker LLP to disgorge fees from cases touched by scandal is on ice while a bankruptcy judge examines the watchdog's standing to seek such relief.

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Eckert Seamans Says Data Breach Harm Is Only Speculative

By James Boyle

Pittsburgh-based law firm Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC told a Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday a pair of proposed class actions claiming damages from a data breach at the firm have not made specific complaints of actual harm caused by the breach and should be dismissed.

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