DOJ Adds Sweeping Tax Audit Relief To Trump-IRS Settlement

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday released an addendum to the settlement of President Donald Trump's suit against the IRS over the leak of his tax return information that bars the agency from investigating any pending matters against Trump.

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$1.8B IRS Deal Fund 'Not Slush Fund,' Blanche Tells Senators

By Courtney Bublé

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued before a Senate committee on Tuesday that the nearly $1.8 billion settlement fund announced on Monday as part of the president's settlement with the Internal Revenue Service over his leaked tax documents "is not a slush fund."

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Anthropic Says Defense Dept. Smeared It Over AI Red Lines

By Jared Foretek

Potential splits emerged Tuesday between D.C. Circuit judges questioning the legality of the U.S. Department of Defense's move to bar Anthropic from government contracting, with the AI company claiming it had been targeted and smeared as a national security threat for nothing more than a contract dispute.

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Nelson Mullins Partner Confirmed To SC Federal Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 52-38 on Tuesday to confirm Sheria Clarke, a partner at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP, as a judge for the District of South Carolina.

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Aspiring Georgia Justices Take Ethics Case To High Court

By Kelcey Caulder

A pair of plaintiffs attorneys running to unseat Republican-appointed justices on the Georgia Supreme Court asked the U.S. Supreme Court to vacate an Eleventh Circuit ruling that allowed Georgia's judicial watchdog to issue public statements about ethics violations they are accused of committing.

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Trump Admin Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Voter Data Suits

By Bonnie Eslinger

Federal prosecutors urged the Ninth Circuit Tuesday to revive lawsuits against California and Oregon claiming states are required to hand over voter registration lists that include driver's license and Social Security numbers, saying the data would be used to look for noncitizens and others not eligible to vote.

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Ga. Judge Does About-Face On Election-Night Observers

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia judge issued an order Tuesday requiring Georgia Secretary of State and gubernatorial candidate Brad Raffensperger to allow poll watchers and State Election Board observers access to the state's election-night operations center, then declared that order void.  

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New CFTC Policy Eyes Smaller Fines, More Declinations

By Sarah Jarvis

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Tuesday issued a revised policy on cooperation credit in enforcement matters, outlining how factors such as self-reporting, cooperation and remediation can help respondents secure fine reductions or potential declinations.

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Wells Fargo Asks Out Of Denver Schools Mortgage Lawsuit

By Zach Dupont

Wells Fargo asked a Colorado state court judge Friday for an early exit from a lawsuit brought by a group of Denver Public Schools parents who allege the academic system has illegally been mortgaging numerous school district-owned properties to the bank for decades, according to the bank's motion to dismiss.

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Sen. Warren Presses OCC On Crypto Trust Charter Approvals

By Aislinn Keely

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is demanding Comptroller of the Currency Jonathan Gould share documents and communications related to the approval of national trust charters for cryptocurrency firms, which Warren argues are "seemingly ineligible" since the firms' business plans appear to wade into traditional banking activities.

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Pullman & Comley Beats Malpractice Claims In $16M Loan Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A Connecticut state judge has relieved Pullman & Comley LLC of malpractice, negligence, gross negligence, recklessness and fiduciary duty claims in a lender's lawsuit surrounding an allegedly unauthorized $16.2 million loan, ruling that the lender was not the law firm's client and, therefore, did not have standing to bring the claims.

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Monsanto To Pay Mich., RI Up To $302M Over PCB Pollution

By Jonathan Capriel

Monsanto has reached multimillion-dollar deals with Michigan and Rhode Island to end claims that the company contaminated waterways and natural resources with polychlorinated biphenyls, agreeing to pay the states as much as $240 million and $62 million, respectively, with most of that money contingent on how the company recovers from separate lawsuits.

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SunZia, Feds Say Claims Can't Upend Built Ariz. Power Line

By Crystal Owens

SunZia Transmission LLC and the U.S. Department of the Interior are asking an Arizona district court to dismiss a challenge to the construction of a 520-mile power line route through the San Pedro Valley, saying the "late-breaking" litigation is one of the greatest threats to completing needed energy infrastructure.

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DC Circ. Says Solar Cos. Lack Standing Over Grid Upgrade Bill

By Ganesh Setty

The D.C. Circuit on Tuesday tossed solar development companies' claims that a regional transmission organization's flawed methodology led to an assignment of $311 million in grid upgrade costs to facilitate their grid connection requests, finding the developers lack standing.

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States Sue Over Student Loan Limits On Professional Degrees

By Abigail Harrison

A coalition of 24 attorneys general and two governors are challenging a rule recently promulgated by the U.S. Department of Education, alleging in a complaint in Maryland federal court Tuesday that it unlawfully limits access to federal student loans for those pursuing professional degree programs.

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Feds Say High Court Should Skip Religious Bias Vax Fight

By Grace Elletson

The U.S. solicitor general urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to wade into a religious bias case challenging New York's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for healthcare workers, arguing that a Second Circuit decision backing the case's dismissal did not undermine federal civil rights law.

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Brief

CDC Imposes Entry Restrictions For Ebola Outbreak

By Tom Lotshaw

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention invoked an emergency public health law Monday to impose entry restrictions for non-U.S. passport holders who have been in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, or South Sudan in the prior three weeks due to an Ebola outbreak.

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After Feds' Input, Gilstrap Denies Injunction In $445M IP Case

By Theresa Schliep

U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap on Monday rebuffed Collision Communications Inc.'s bid for an injunction blocking Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. from selling products that a jury said were infringing in a $445 million verdict in a case that the federal government used to argue for broader use of injunctions in patent suits.

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TikTok Says 'Market Exploitation' Doesn't Give NC Jurisdiction

By Mike Curley

TikTok is pushing the North Carolina Supreme Court to throw out claims by the state's attorney general alleging it deceptively marketed its platform as safe for minors, saying the "market exploitation" theory would in effect allow any business that operates on the internet to be hauled into any state court.

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Split 8th Circ. Revives Challenge To NHTSA Brake Light View

By Jonathan Capriel

A split Eighth Circuit panel revived a lawsuit Monday by two Arkansas-based distributors of pulsing brake lights, ruling the companies can challenge the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's letters declaring the products illegal and laying out plans to "threaten" customers with fines.

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4th Circ. Revives Freight Broker Suit After High Court Ruling

By Linda Chiem

The Fourth Circuit on Monday revived a South Carolina widow's lawsuit alleging that freight broker Echo Global Logistics negligently selected the trucking company involved in the 2022 accident that killed her husband, days after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling established that freight brokers can face state-based tort claims.

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Pa. Justices Debate State's Immunity In Roadway Death Suit

By Matthew Santoni

Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices seemed torn Tuesday between the idea that the state's Department of Transportation doesn't "own" everything above and below its roadways and the concept that the agency could duck liability for obvious risks like falling branches or crumbling bridges.

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CFTC Sues Minnesota Over Law Banning Prediction Markets

By David Steele

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Minnesota on Tuesday to block a newly enacted ban on prediction markets, the sixth state the CFTC has taken to federal court to assert control over regulation of the markets.

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Brief

NJ Plans To Take 3rd Circ. Kalshi Loss To US Supreme Court

By George Woolston

New Jersey plans to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of a recent Third Circuit decision that upheld an injunction on the state's attempt to ban sports prediction markets, according to a joint status report filed by the state and KalshiEx LLC in New Jersey federal court. 

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UK Eyes Property Tax Charge For Multimillion-Pound Homes

By Kevin Pinner

The U.K. government is seeking feedback on a property tax surcharge for homes worth at least £2 million ($2.67 million), according to a consultation launched Tuesday.

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NC Judge OKs DOJ, RealPage Deal In Antitrust Suit

By Grace Dixon

A North Carolina federal judge signed off on the U.S. Department of Justice's settlement with RealPage, the latest development in a suit alleging landlords coordinated to inflate rental prices via the company's algorithmic pricing software.

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Black CU Regents Board Member Says Board 'Silenced' Her

By Rachel Konieczny

University of Colorado Board of Regents members sanctioned the board's sole Black member for speaking out against a university-funded campaign that she says pushed false and racist stereotypes about Black people, the board member alleged in Colorado federal court.

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FTC Wants 5th Circ. To Pause Appeal In Merger Filing Case

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission asked the Fifth Circuit to put its appeal on hold in a case challenging the agency's effort to overhaul its premerger filing requirements, to give enforcers time to consider developing a new revision.

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DOJ Says Container Makers Fixed Prices During Pandemic

By Bryan Koenig

Four of the world's largest shipping container manufacturers and seven of their current and former executives conspired to restrict production to drive up prices, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday in criminally charging them, although most may be beyond the reach of American courts.

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Ga. Law Expands Safeguards For Chatbot Users

By Chart Riggall

Georgia became one of the latest states this year to put up new guardrails on AI-powered chatbots, implementing stricter regulations than some of its peers while shutting the door on private litigation arising from practices that violate the new statute.

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Feds Want Chance To Explain College Admissions Data Rush

By Carolyn Muyskens

The federal government on Tuesday asked a Massachusetts judge for an opportunity to rectify what the judge identified as a problematic lack of explanation for how quickly it unleashed a demand for colleges' admissions data.

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Skechers Can't Kick Wash. Antispam Class Suit, Judge Rules

By Ben Adlin

A Washington federal judge rejected Skechers USA Inc.'s effort to throw out a proposed class action accusing the footwear giant of blasting state residents with unsolicited and misleading spam emails, ruling Tuesday that Washington's antispam law is consistent with federal law.

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DC Urges Panel To Uphold National Guard Injunction

By Madeline Lyskawa

The District of Columbia said neither federal law nor the D.C. Code authorizes the president's deployment of the D.C. National Guard for law-enforcement activities in the district, urging the D.C. Circuit to uphold an injunction barring the deployment.

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Intel Says Texas Law Doesn't Support Russian Missile Claims

By Spencer Brewer

Intel and other semiconductor manufacturers asked a Texas federal judge to throw out claims that they negligently sold products the Russian government used to build missiles that killed Ukrainian civilians, saying Tuesday that the civilians' claims have no basis in Texas law.

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EU Parliament Approves Stricter Steel Duty Regime

By Dylan Moroses

The European Parliament approved a regulation to strengthen the European Union's protections from global steel overcapacity, cutting the tariff-free import quota by 47% while doubling the duty on imports beyond the quota to 50%, according to a news release Tuesday.

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States Tell CIT To Reject Gov't's Request To Stay Tariff Ruling

By Dylan Moroses

The federal government's arguments to stay a permanent injunction against the collection of President Donald Trump's temporary global duties for two small businesses and the state of Washington while it appeals the ruling are overblown, a coalition of states told the U.S. Court of International Trade on Tuesday.

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Brief

Vietnamese Plastic Boxes Face Triple-Digit Duty Rate

By Jack McLoone

Imported plastic boxes from Vietnam could be hit with a more than 130% antidumping duty rate after the U.S. Department of Commerce on Tuesday finalized its determination that the products are being sold at less than fair value.

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Trump, Niece Near Resolution Over Tax Records Leak

By Cara Salvatore

Lawyers for President Donald Trump and his niece Mary Trump told a New York court Tuesday that they may be approaching a settlement of his suit against her for sharing his tax records with The New York Times, an act she has said was protected speech.

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IRS Finalizes Changes To Partnership Interest Sales

By Kat Lucero

The IRS issued final regulations Tuesday that remove a requirement for partnerships to include information in tax returns to help partners who sold interests in businesses with noncapital assets determine their gain or loss, preserving the rules as proposed last year.

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SC Increases Manufacturing Tax Break Reimbursement Limit

By Maria Koklanaris

South Carolina increased a reimbursement cap for a manufacturing property tax exemption, mitigating potential reductions to exemptions for eligible properties, under a bill signed by the governor.

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Judge Rejects Feds' Bid To Hold Migrant Kids In Hotels

By Tom Lotshaw

A California federal judge on Monday rejected the U.S. government's contention that a prior order limiting its ability to hold migrant minors in hotels applied only to expulsions tied to a public health order put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Brief

ICE Pitches Fee Hike For In Absentia Removal Order Arrests

By Tom Lotshaw

A fee imposed on noncitizens who fail to appear before an immigration judge and are ordered removed in absentia and later arrested would jump from $5,130 to $18,000 under a new U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement proposal.

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Ex-Trump Fundraiser Dodges Prison For Straw Donor Scheme

By Stewart Bishop

A New York man who raised funds for President Donald Trump's 2020 reelection campaign avoided a prison sentence Tuesday after being found guilty at trial of charges stemming from a straw donor scheme partly intended to help Chinese nationals gain access to Trump.

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Wis. Tribe Says State Misreads 1854 Treaty In Fishing Row

By Crystal Owens

The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians says Wisconsin is misinterpreting tribal regulatory authority in its bid to block the tribe from barring nonmember fishing in 19 lakes within its reservation, telling a federal district court that the state can't prove key elements of its claims.

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9th Circ. Leans Toward FCC In Appeal Over SIM Card Beef

By Nadia Dreid

The Ninth Circuit seemed to have its doubts Tuesday that the Federal Communications Commission made the wrong call in finding it had no say over a Haitian mobile carrier's decision to deactivate SIM cards that were brought into the United States and used to evade international calling rates. 

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NY Worries Verizon Service Shift Will Impact Critical Needs

By Nadia Dreid

Verizon has sought the FCC's blessing to retire older voice and data transmission services in eight different states, but New York state officials want the agency to hold off, arguing the suspension would put "essential public services and critical community functions" at risk.

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Chinese Testing Lab Urges FCC Caution On 'Reciprocal' Rule

By Christopher Cole

A Chinese equipment testing lab says the Federal Communications Commission needs to tread carefully in crafting new rules demanding "reciprocal" agreements to test communications gear, or risk disrupting U.S. supply chains.

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6th Circ. Rejects Mich. City Dispensary Co.'s Due Process Claim

By Jonathan Capriel

A cannabis investment company can't sue a city within metro Detroit for refusing to allow it to open a dispensary, the Sixth Circuit ruled, saying a local official's alleged promise to "grandfather" the company in, despite a ban on new retailers, can't supersede a city ordinance.

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What Model Risk Guidance Update Means For Banks

Federal prudential regulators recently issued new model risk management guidance for banks that is designed to reduce prescriptive supervisory expectations and instead focus more on material financial risk, so banking organizations should reassess their model inventories, apply the new materiality framework and update their internal policies, say attorneys at Orrick.

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What New PFAS Rule Means For Tracking And Disclosure

In the wake of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's publication of its rule adding PFHxS-Na to the Toxics Release Inventory, companies should identify this substance in their facilities and supply chains, and prepare for disclosures to both regulators and the public, says Ayodeji Ayolola at Gordon Rees.

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Operational AI Washing: The Section 220 Information Strategy

Plaintiffs filing AI washing claims will likely use Section 220 of the Delaware General Corporation Law to obtain internal board records, but 2025 amendments have fundamentally changed the landscape of presuit shareholder document demands in ways that create both risk and opportunity for companies, say attorneys at Akerman.

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Recent Benchmarking Suits Highlight DOJ Enforcement Risks

The U.S. Department of Justice's recent settlements with RealPage and Agri Stats inform the level of antitrust risk surrounding the use of benchmarking services and suggest an aggressive enforcement approach, particularly with respect to granular data and nonprice data reporting, say attorneys at Axinn.

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Trump's Psychedelics EO Creates A Regulatory Collision

Sponsors pursuing U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for psychedelic drug access must tackle how to generate regulatory-grade safety and efficacy data in controlled trials when President Donald Trump's recent executive order on psychedelics mandates uncontrolled access through Right to Try, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Odette Hauke at Odette Alina.

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Becoming The Biz-Savvy GC That Portfolio Companies Need

Candidates for general counsel roles at private equity-backed portfolio companies should prioritize proving their sector-specific experience, commercial judgment and ease with uncertainty — and attorneys hoping to be candidates in five to 10 years should start working on those skills now, says Dimitri Mastrocola at Major Lindsey.

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OpenAI Says ChatGPT Misuse Is Users' Responsibility

By Emily Sawicki

OpenAI has asked a federal judge in Chicago to end an insurance company's suit alleging it practices law without a license, arguing the complaint should be directed toward individuals who misuse the company's ChatGPT bot to file faulty motions, and not the generative AI platform itself.

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2nd Circ. Pick Questioned At Hearing On Role As Trump Lawyer

By Courtney Bublé

Matthew Schwartz, a nominee for the Second Circuit, was questioned by Democratic senators Wednesday about whether his current job as the president's personal attorney while his nomination process is underway poses a conflict of interest.

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Bad AI Citation Sanction Slashed Amid 7th Circ. Guidance

By Hailey Konnath

An Indiana federal judge Wednesday rejected a magistrate judge's recommendation that an attorney be sanctioned $7,500 for including faulty, artificial intelligence-generated legal citations in a discovery brief, pointing to recent Seventh Circuit guidance and sanctioning him $2,000 instead.

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2 Fla. County Courts Requiring AI Disclosure In Court Filings

By Sarah Martinson

Two Florida circuit courts in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are requiring attorneys and self-represented litigants to disclose when they use generative text tools to prepare their court filings and to certify they checked the generated content for accuracy.

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Hagens Berman Says Apple Smear Job Can't Stop Withdrawal

By Bonnie Eslinger

Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP urged a California federal judge to allow one of its named plaintiffs to withdraw from an Apple iCloud antitrust case, saying Apple Inc.'s filed opposition is rife with "misdirection and ad hominem" attacks and not about the merits of the dispute but "smearing opposing counsel."

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Atty Withdrawals Not Limited To Fee Conflicts, ABA Says

By Emily Sawicki

Lawyers whose clients fail to hold up their end of valid engagement agreements are clear to cease their representation, so long as certain criteria are met, according to the American Bar Association's ethics committee's latest guidance, published Wednesday.

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Comey Wants Arraignment Pushed For Dismissal Bid

By Phillip Bantz

Former FBI Director James Comey asked a North Carolina federal court Wednesday to postpone his arraignment on charges alleging he threatened President Donald Trump, telling a judge that he is preparing to seek to have the case thrown out on constitutional grounds.

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Mich. Supreme Court Mulls Remote Court Access Rules

By Susan Smiley

The Michigan Supreme Court held administrative hearings on Wednesday concerning several proposed amendments to Michigan court rules, including adding more specific guidelines for remote hearings, making language services free for civil cases, and allowing law students and recent law graduates to appear on behalf of indigent people in all Michigan courts.

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