DOJ Playing 'Dirty Pool' With Hospital In Trans Care Subpoena

By Mark Payne

A Rhode Island federal judge indicated Tuesday she's likely to quash a subpoena from the U.S. Department of Justice seeking to obtain gender-affirming care medical records from Rhode Island Hospital, saying the DOJ was playing "dirty pool" by filing a motion to enforce the subpoena in another jurisdiction.

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'I Believe I'm Trustworthy,' OpenAI CEO Testifies In Musk Trial

By Dorothy Atkins

OpenAI Inc. CEO Sam Altman took the stand Tuesday in the California federal jury trial over Elon Musk's challenge to OpenAI's for-profit conversion, acknowledging that colleagues have accused him of being deceptive while testifying that "I believe I'm a trustworthy person."

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Epstein Accusers Urge Changes To Laws At Fla. Hearing

By David Minsky

Jeffrey Epstein accusers urged lawmakers to pass laws giving more rights to sex trafficking victims, testifying Tuesday during a congressional hearing in Florida that they were never consulted prior to a federal non-prosecution agreement for the late financier nearly 20 years ago. 

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Conn. Justices Order New Look At $17M Rate Dispute

By Elaine Briseño

The Connecticut Supreme Court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit by Eversource Energy against the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority over $17 million in infrastructure improvements, saying the parties must resolve ambiguities in the settlement agreement before proceeding.

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How They Won It

Attys For Tufts Profs Didn't Blink In A Tenure Standoff

By Julie Manganis

When Jennifer Henricks and Kevin Peters first learned what was happening to tenured professors at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston a few years ago, they knew that what was at stake involved more than just a dispute over the terms of a contract.

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Mass. AG OKs Auditor Lawsuit, Ending Constitutional Spat

By Chris Villani

The Massachusetts attorney general said on Tuesday she will allow litigation to proceed over whether the state legislature can be audited and will appoint special counsel to represent the state auditor, ending a high-profile showdown between two high-ranking elected officials.

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Michigan Dems Noncommittal On Trump's Judicial Pick

By Courtney Bublé

Michigan's two Democratic senators played it coy on Tuesday when asked if they would support the district court nominee for their state that the president announced the night before.

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Head Of First Liberty Ponzi Scheme Pleads Guilty To Fraud

By Chart Riggall

The leader of what Georgia and federal securities regulators have called a $140 million Ponzi scheme pled guilty to a federal wire charge Tuesday over allegations that he preyed on seniors and funneled money to right-wing politicians.

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Senate Puts Warsh On Track To Replace Powell As Fed Chair

By Jon Hill

The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Trump nominee Kevin Warsh to a board seat at the Federal Reserve, moving him one step closer to taking over from Jerome Powell as chairman of the central bank.

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Senate Crypto Bill Moves Toward Markup Sans Ethics Rules

By Aislinn Keely

Senate banking committee Republicans released the latest version of a bill to regulate crypto markets that will serve as the base text for a Thursday markup, which could be complicated by Democrats' calls for ethics provisions and banks' opposition to language around stablecoin rewards.

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Brief

Trump Admin Will Take CFPB Funding Fight To 9th Circ.

By Jon Hill

The Trump administration will challenge a California federal court decision that ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to continue drawing funding from the Federal Reserve, setting the stage for renewed litigation over the agency's access to cash.

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Feds Tell 9th Circ. They Have Last Word On Pipeline Restart

By Tom Lotshaw

A federal pipeline regulator told the Ninth Circuit on Monday it reasonably asserted jurisdiction over an oil pipeline system near Santa Barbara, California, and approved a Texas company's restart plan, saying challenges brought by California and environmental groups are unfounded.

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Southern Utes Secure First Tribal Energy Resource Agreement

By Crystal Owens

The Southern Ute Indian Tribe has signed the first ever tribal energy resource agreement with the U.S. Department of the Interior that will allow the Indigenous nation to manage and develop energy resources on its own lands without having to obtain federal approval for each endeavor.

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DOE Accused Of Stretching Emergency Power For Pa. Plant

By Elaine Briseño

A group of consumer and environmental advocates has told the D.C. Circuit that the U.S. Department of Energy illegally substituted long-term electricity planning reserved for states with its own emergency authority to keep open a Pennsylvania power plant.

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Hefty 'Recycling' Bags Are Trash, Connecticut Court Told

By Brian Steele

Workers at material recovery facilities in Connecticut would throw out plastic bags that Reynolds Consumer Products marketed as "recycling" bags because they could get tangled in machinery, an environmental analyst testified Tuesday as a trial in the state's unfair trade practices lawsuit got underway.

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Brief

DC Circ. Asked To Review EPA Incinerator Standards

By Gautama Mehta

Environmental groups and a waste industry trade association asked the D.C. Circuit to review the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's March update to 20-year-old emissions standards for municipal waste incinerators.

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FDA Leaders Outline How AI Is Shaping The Agency's Work

By Dan McKay

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is using generative artificial intelligence to help redact records before public release, summarize documents and evaluate scientific literature, federal officials said in a recent conference.

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Pa. Panel Struggles With Oversight Of $2.2B Opioid Fund

By Matthew Santoni

A Pennsylvania appellate court on Tuesday questioned the system for distributing opioid companies' settlement money, after three counties and the city of Philadelphia said a review board unfairly disapproved their projects after the money was spent.

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Fla. Lab-Grown Meat Ban Lacks Legal Basis, Producer Says

By David Minsky

A California producer of lab-grown chicken has asked a Florida federal judge to rule that the state's regulation against its product is unlawful, arguing a total ban on cultivated meat has no basis in public health and amounts to "economic protectionism" in violation of the U.S. Constitution's dormant commerce clause. 

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Makary Out As FDA Commissioner, Trump Says

By Mark Payne

U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary is departing the agency, President Donald Trump confirmed on Tuesday, bringing to an end a tumultuous, one-year run as one of the nation's top health officials.

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Viewing Seed Genetic Material Not Patent Infringement: DOJ

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division waded into a private patent infringement lawsuit Monday, telling a Delaware federal court that just "reading" a patent, or viewing and sequencing the genetic material that must be submitted for the seed patents at issue, can't on its own count as infringement.

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USPTO Touts Fraud Crackdown In Patent, TM Applications

By Elliot Weld

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Tuesday the agency is taking steps to combat fraudulent representations and invalid filings in trademark and patent applications, saying it had purged thousands of applications in the last fiscal year.

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Copyright Chief Says Cox Ruling Merits Congressional Action

By Ivan Moreno

The leader of the U.S. Copyright Office, Shira Perlmutter, told senators Tuesday they may need to respond to the U.S. Supreme Court's March decision that narrowed contributory liability for internet service providers, saying the ruling "left a bit of a hole in the law."

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Gray, Dish Settle FCC Complaint After Retransmission Deal

By Christopher Cole

Gray Television has settled with Dish Network over a complaint to the Federal Communications Commission alleging that the satellite TV provider was airing Gray's content without permission, after the companies ended a retransmission consent dispute this month.

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Sports Broadcasting Protections Need Overhaul, Groups Say

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

State broadcasting groups have called on Congress to update the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961 to protect fan access to programming amid the growing number of streaming paywalls.

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Ship Managers Indicted Over Baltimore Bridge Disaster

By Linda Chiem

Federal prosecutors accused the management company and a supervisor of the container ship that slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in March 2024 of recklessly operating the ship, forging inspection documents and misleading safety investigators, according to a Maryland federal grand jury's criminal indictment unsealed Tuesday.

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Colo. Justices Weigh Discovery Rights In Condemnation Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

The Colorado Supreme Court seemed poised Tuesday to send back to a lower court a landowner's challenge of a quasimunicipal corporation's use of eminent domain, appearing to agree with the landowner that the trial court had discretion to grant discovery.

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Online Betting Co. Kalshi Must Face Wis. Tribe's IGRA Claim

By Joyce Hanson

A Wisconsin federal judge has ruled that the Ho-Chunk Nation can sue prediction market platform Kalshi under the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, but he stripped racketeering and false advertising allegations from the tribe's gambling lawsuit targeting the company's sports event contracts.

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New Precedent Revives $6.6M IRS Penalty Fight, Broker Says

By Kat Lucero

An insurance broker asked a Pennsylvania federal court to consider new constitutionality arguments against the IRS penalty prepayment requirement to revive its challenge to $6.6 million in captive insurance tax penalties, arguing those claims rely on new legal precedent.

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7th Circ. Urged To Revive Hartford $4M Wire Fraud Fight

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois agency that administers financially distressed insurers' estates Tuesday urged the Seventh Circuit to revive its lawsuit seeking insurance coverage for a cyberattack during which its financial chief provided confidential login information to hackers, who used his email account to instruct employees to wire them nearly $7 million.

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PayPal Settles Gov't DEI Probe With Small Biz Program

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of Justice announced Tuesday that it has reached a settlement with PayPal Inc. to end an investigation into what the department said was a discriminatory investment program for Black- and minority-owned businesses.

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5th Circ. Judge Hints PWFA Fight May Be Headed For Justices

By Vin Gurrieri

The full Fifth Circuit grappled Tuesday with whether lawmakers had to be physically present to have validly enacted the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, in a case one judge said will head to the U.S. Supreme Court if a lower court ruling barring PWFA enforcement against Texas stands.

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Brief

Ga. Lets Gig Workers Tap Into Benefits Without Status Shift

By Kelcey Caulder

Georgia gig workers can access benefits like health insurance and retirement savings plans without giving up independent contractor status under legislation recently signed by Gov. Brian Kemp. 

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Cintas Gives FTC More Time To Review $5.5B UniFirst Deal

By Matthew Perlman

Cintas Corp. is giving the Federal Trade Commission additional time to review its planned $5.5 billion acquisition of fellow uniform and facility services supplier UniFirst Corp. for its effect on competition.

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Colo. Legislators Approve AI Bias Law Replacement

By Patrick Hoff

The Colorado Senate passed a bill Tuesday that would revamp the state's landmark law regulating the use of artificial intelligence technologies in employment, education and other significant decisions, sending the legislation to Gov. Jared Polis for his signature.

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House Dem Probes Retailers' Use Of Surveillance Pricing

By Allison Grande

The top Democrat on an influential U.S. House committee has begun to scrutinize corporate "surveillance pricing" practices, pushing Target, Walmart, Costco, Family Dollar, Whole Foods and 20 others Tuesday to explain whether and how they're using consumers' personal data to set individualized prices for certain products and services.

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FCC OKs EchoStar $40B Spectrum Sales To AT&T, SpaceX

By Ganesh Setty

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr announced on Tuesday that FCC staff has approved EchoStar's sale of "underused" spectrum to AT&T and SpaceX, in deals collectively totaling roughly $40 billion.

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Comcast, Power Co. In FCC Tug Of War Over Pole Upgrades

By Christopher Cole

Comcast claims it's still having problems getting Appalachian Power Co. to cover the cost of utility pole fixes for broadband upgrades, but it's not clear whether the Federal Communications Commission is ready to spring into action to resolve the dispute.

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Low-Power TV Group Asks FCC To Allow 5G Broadcast Standard

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Low-Power TV Broadcasters Association asked the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday to allow it to use the 5G broadcast standard to deliver content to smartphones.

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6th Circ. Says Jailers Entitled To Immunity In Detainee Death

By Parker Quinlan

The Sixth Circuit has ruled that a group of jail officials in Michigan should be given qualified immunity from a lawsuit alleging they ignored the medical needs of a man who was incarcerated in their facility and later died from cardiac arrest.

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Grandmother Disputes Abuse Claims In $5M Infant Death Suit

By Aaron Keller

The grandmother of a murdered 7-month-old testified in a civil trial Tuesday that the baby's death "wasn't intentional," even though the Connecticut Supreme Court upheld her son's murder conviction for dropping the infant from a 90-foot-high bridge into the Connecticut River.

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Over 8 Million Imports In Line For Over $35B In Tariff Refunds

By Dylan Moroses

Over 8.3 million imports are pending tariff refunds after clearing the final system processes developed by Customs and Border Protection, accounting for almost $35.5 billion in duty refunds with interest, according to the latest declaration filed Tuesday by an agency official in the U.S. Court of International Trade.

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Fed. Circ. Pauses Trade Court Ruling Blocking Trump Tariffs

By Dylan Moroses

The Federal Circuit halted a permanent injunction issued by the U.S. Court of International Trade that was scheduled to take effect on Tuesday, which would have stopped the collection of duties under President Donald Trump's temporary global tariff from two businesses and the state of Washington.

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Commerce Details Path To Discount For 100% Pharma Tariff

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce released guidance for pharmaceutical companies looking to show they have made sufficient onshoring commitments to qualify for a discount on the 100% tariff on certain imported drugs coming this summer.

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Florida Court Won't Stay Everglades Site Atty Access Order

By Ganesh Setty

A Florida federal judge has rejected Gov. Ron DeSantis' bid to stay her preliminary injunction requiring noncitizens detained at the South Florida Detention Facility to have outgoing phone access to legal counsel, finding that his motion merely repeated prior arguments.

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Judge Says DOJ Misled 4th Circ. In Ábrego García Appeal

By Jared Foretek

A Maryland federal judge once again blasted the Trump administration attorneys looking to deport Kilmar Ábrego García to Liberia, saying they misled the Fourth Circuit in their interlocutory appeal and questioned how his removal would be imminent without her injunction barring it when he is still facing an indictment in Tennessee.

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NJ, ICE Pause Fight Over Planned Immigrant Detention Center

By Carla Baranauckas

The state of New Jersey and one of its municipalities on Tuesday temporarily paused their bid to block a planned immigration detention center after reaching an agreement with federal officials that halts most work at the site pending further environmental review.

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ACLU, Other Groups Want To Back Mich. In ICE Facility Fight

By Susan Smiley

The American Civil Liberties Union was joined by several civil rights and immigrant advocacy groups in asking a Michigan federal court on Monday for permission to weigh in support of a suit filed by the state of Michigan and city of Romulus seeking to stop an immigration detention center from taking over a former warehouse site.

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Stacey Abrams Subpoenaed In Ga. Campaign Finance Probe

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia state Senate committee has issued subpoenas to former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and two allies, calling on them to testify at the state Capitol on Friday about violations of campaign finance law during the 2018 election cycle.

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NYC China Police Station Case Is Overblown, Jury Hears

By Stewart Bishop

Counsel for a Chinese American man accused of running a secret police station in New York City for China's government told a Brooklyn federal jury Tuesday that his client is being railroaded for helping out his community.

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Brief

Trump Gets Time For Justices To Review $83M Carroll Verdict

By Gina Kim

President Donald Trump can delay enforcement of the $83.3 million verdict for defaming writer E. Jean Carroll while he appeals the Second Circuit's en banc refusal to rehear his appeal, as long as he puts up $7.5 million in interest that may accrue during Supreme Court proceedings, the panel said Monday. 

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Judge Blocks Montana Law Limiting Election Day Registration

By Crystal Owens

A Montana district court judge has temporarily blocked a state law that cut off federal Election Day voter registration at noon, saying it will prevent otherwise eligible voters from casting ballots and disproportionately affects Native American and young voters.

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Squire Patton Adds Terrorism Financing Leader From Treasury

By Jack Rodgers

Squire Patton Boggs LLP announced Tuesday it has hired the U.S. Department of the Treasury's former acting assistant secretary for terrorist financing, who focused her work at the agency on economic statecraft initiatives, as well as addressing geopolitical threats to the U.S. and global financial systems.

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Assessing Material Adverse Event Clauses Amid Iran Conflict

As deals signed before the current Middle East conflict come under pressure, determinations over material adverse effect clauses are arising in real time, and whether an MAE has been wrongfully invoked may be as consequential as whether it was validly established in the first place, say Amran Nawaz and Ralph Stobwasser at Secretariat.

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4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

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Where The Preemption Fight Over Prediction Markets Stands

While the Third Circuit's recent ruling in Kalshi v. Flaherty remains a significant win for the federal government in its quest to regulate prediction markets, the Fourth, Sixth and Ninth Circuits appear more skeptical, indicating that this fight is likely headed for the Supreme Court, says Johnny ElHachem at Holland & Knight.

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Operational AI Washing: A New Securities Class Action

In rising claims of operational AI washing — plaintiffs alleging that artificial intelligence was invoked to explain corporate business decisions in ways that may obscure underlying financial distress — earnings calls, restructuring disclosures and board-level communications will serve as key defense evidence, say attorneys at Akerman.

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CFPB Rule Recalibrates Fair Lending Compliance

A close reading of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new final rule on fair lending enforcement reveals a thoughtful and disciplined effort to realign enforcement with statutory text, evidentiary rigor and practical compliance realities, says Alan Kaplinsky at Ballard Spahr.

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Mass. Draft Regs Signal Nationwide Scrutiny Of Junk Fees

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell's new draft regulations for assisted living facilities is only her latest move in the war on junk fees — and part of a national reordering of consumer protection enforcement in which states are aggressively and creatively asserting authority, says Steve Provazza at Arnall Golden.

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DOJ's FCA Data-Miner Focus Raises Compliance Stakes

A new U.S. Department of Justice initiative aims to help its Civil Division better vet False Claims Act suits brought by data-mining whistleblowers, signaling that data-driven qui tam enforcement is a priority and making it increasingly important for attorneys and companies to bolster compliance, documentation and internal data monitoring, say attorneys at Wiley.

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Opinion

USPTO Must Address The Right Question In Sanofi Case

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Appeals Review Panel's questions in Ex parte Baurin indicate recognition of broader doctrinal issues, but rather than approaching from separate angles, the panel should concentrate on a single fundamental question about obviousness-type double patenting, says Jeremy Lowe at Spencer Fane.

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Palestinian Ex-Associate Slaps DLA Piper With Bias Claim

By Lynn LaRowe

DLA Piper has been hit with a federal civil rights lawsuit in Illinois from a former summer associate alleging discrimination, a hostile work environment and retaliation based on her identity as a Palestinian, Gazan, Arab and Muslim woman.

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Fired Immigration Judge Says Trump Can't Skirt Bias Laws

By Grace Elletson

A former immigration judge urged a D.C. federal court not to throw out her bias suit challenging her firing, arguing the U.S. Department of Justice was pushing the "breathtaking proposition" that the president was empowered to commit unlawful discrimination.

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Law Student Can't Get School To Nix Kirk Comment Discipline

By Mike Curley

A Texas federal judge on Tuesday said the court cannot force Texas Tech University's leaders to rescind a reprimand against a law student who allegedly celebrated following the death of Charlie Kirk, as the university has sovereign immunity.

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