AbbVie Loses Miss. Discount Drug Law Challenge For Good

By Hailey Konnath

A Mississippi federal judge on Wednesday threw out a suit brought by AbbVie and other pharmaceutical manufacturers that participate in Medicaid challenging a law barring their interference with the distribution of discounted prescriptions to pharmacies serving low-income patients.

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DHS' Mullin Tells Sens. Ábrego García Can Go To Costa Rica

By Jared Foretek

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told U.S. senators on Tuesday that his agency would "be happy to send" Kilmar Ábrego García to Costa Rica, and attorneys for the once-wrongfully deported Salvadoran national are now using the comment in court.

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Silencer Registration Rules Are Constitutional, 9th Circ. Says

By Ben Adlin

The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a Brazilian man's convictions in Washington state for having multiple guns, ammunition and an unregistered silencer, rejecting his argument that silencers are protected "arms" under the Second Amendment.

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Graham Pushes Federal Tort Path After DOJ Drops $1.8B Fund

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Department of Justice seemed, at least briefly, to support a Republican senator's alternative solution to the "anti-weaponization" $1.8 billion fund that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday the department is abandoning.

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Mass. Judge Says DOJ Trans Care Memo Suit Can Proceed

By Chris Villani

A challenge to a Trump administration directive calling for providers of gender-affirming care to be investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice will proceed after a Massachusetts federal judge said Wednesday that the states that filed suit have already demonstrated harm from the federal government's actions.

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UK Requiring Google To Let Publishers Opt Out Of AI

By Matthew Perlman

Google is giving publishers tools to prevent their content from being used to power the artificial intelligence features shown in search results, after Britain's competition enforcer imposed new requirements Wednesday.

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4th Circ. Scraps Order Blocking Chemours PFAS Dumping

By Hayley Fowler

The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday wiped out an injunction blocking the Chemours Co. FC LLC from discharging forever chemicals into the Ohio River, finding the environmental group spearheading a Clean Water Act suit against the company failed to show irreparable harm.

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Ga. High Court Ends COVID Execution Pause Agreement

By Parker Quinlan

Georgia can move forward with the executions of a number of incarcerated people on death row, with the state's highest court finding it made good on an agreement to pause the practice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Mich. Panel Rejects Candidate Filing Challenges

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan appeals panel upheld the dismissal of lawsuits challenging Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's rules for candidate filing affidavits, ruling that the state had the authority to set deadlines and procedures for handling challenges to those filings.

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Bank Tries Again To Decertify Inmate Class In Debit Fee Suit

By Elaine Briseño

Central Bank of Kansas City has renewed its attempt to decertify a class of inmates who alleged they received prepaid debit cards with excessive fees upon their release, arguing the court must first determine whether the prisoners received the cards without permission.

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NJ Says Most Of $3B PFAS Deal Objector Issues Are Resolved

By George Woolston

New Jersey told a federal court this week it has reached agreements with all but two of the parties that objected to proposed deals worth a combined $3 billion with 3M Co. and various DuPont entities to resolve claims over contamination caused by forever chemicals, saying the agreements further support the court's approval of the settlements.

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Colo. Energy Co. Loses Fight Over ND Oil Lease Cancellation

By Rachel Konieczny

A North Dakota federal judge granted the government an early win in a Colorado energy company's bid for the court to vacate a series of Bureau of Indian Affairs decisions that found it didn't own interest in an oil lease, upholding the agency's decision that the company lacked standing.

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HHS Says Bronx Facility $31M Payback Suit Filed Prematurely

By Elaine Briseño

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says a nursing center in New York City should have pursued administrative remedies before fighting the collection of $31 million in Medicare overpayments with a lawsuit.

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Trans Youth Sue NYU Langone, DOJ To Bar Records Release

By Gianna Ferrarin

A group of transgender minors and young adults who received gender dysphoria care at NYU Langone urged a New York federal court to bar the U.S. Department of Justice from accessing their sensitive health records through a criminal subpoena.

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Squires Institutes 3 Patent Reviews, Denies 3 Others

By Ryan Davis

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires on Tuesday granted three requests for review of patents under the America Invents Act, while turning down three other petitions.

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Hegseth Strips Military Paper's Independence, Suit Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

The U.S. Department of Defense is exerting "unprecedented control" of the military newspaper Stars and Stripes and stripped it of its editorial independence, claims a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Washington, D.C., federal court by two Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalists who serve on the publication's advisory board.

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Texas Judge Remands Broker Liability Suit After Montgomery

By Linda Chiem

A Texas federal judge said Tuesday that, following the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Montgomery ruling, a lawsuit alleging freight broker and logistics giant C.H. Robinson is vicariously liable for a fatal 2022 accident involving an "unlawfully double-brokered" truck load belongs back in state court.

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San Diego Ballot Measure For Empty Homes Tax Trailing

By Sanjay Talwani

A ballot measure in San Diego to tax vacant homes was failing Wednesday to win the majority of votes required for passage, according to unofficial preliminary results with most votes still uncounted.

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Judge Questions Terms Of Student Loan Forgiveness Change

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge considering whether to block a new Trump administration rule that could kick millions of public sector and nonprofit employees out of a student loan forgiveness program repeatedly pressed a government lawyer Wednesday on the precise criteria the U.S. Department of Education would use to decide who is no longer eligible.

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Trump Signs Order Stripping 'Policy' Employee Protections

By Braden Campbell

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order stripping certain federal employees of their job protections in the culmination of a project he began in his first term.

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NC Corrections Dept. Loses Bid For Immediate Pay Appeal

By MJ Koo

North Carolina's corrections department cannot skip ahead to an appellate court to challenge a ruling that found correctional officers must be paid for all time spent inside prison facilities, a federal judge found, saying the yearslong case is nearly ready for a final resolution.

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Musk's SpaceX, Tesla Emails Fair Game For Apple, OpenAI

By Bryan Koenig

A Texas federal judge said X Corp. must produce Elon Musk's SpaceX and Tesla emails as part of its lawsuit accusing Apple Inc. and OpenAI of anticompetitively edging out rival artificial intelligence chatbots through a deal integrating ChatGPT into iPhones.

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Tech Industry Groups Back Apple High Court Bid In Epic Case

By Matthew Perlman

Several technology industry groups threw their support behind Apple Inc. on Wednesday, telling the U.S. Supreme Court an injunction issued in a case brought by Epic Games Inc. tries to alter the service Apple provides to millions of developers based on complaints from a single company.

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AGs Defend $10M Fee Bid In Kroger-Albertsons Merger Case

By Celeste Bott

Attorneys general from Illinois, California, the District of Columbia and six other states have pushed back on Kroger and Albertsons' challenge to them receiving nearly $10 million in attorney fees for a "minimal role" in blocking the grocery giants' proposed $24.6 billion merger, arguing that while the states may have worked in the background, they achieved "a tremendous result."

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House Panel Spars Over Who Benefits From Draft Privacy Bill

By Allison Grande

The backers of a Republican-led proposal to establish a long-elusive federal data privacy standard lauded the effort during a U.S. House of Representatives hearing Wednesday for being a commonsense extension of the nearly two dozen state laws already in place, while its opponents argued that the measure would establish a weak framework that favored companies over consumers.

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CFPB Says Bilt Will Repay Fees After 'Collaborative' Outreach

By Jon Hill

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said late Tuesday that Bilt will reimburse hundreds of customers for penalty fees tied to snags in the relaunch of its rent-payment rewards cards, touting the move as a case study in the benefits of "collaboration" over punitive enforcement.

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Hagens Berman Sues CFPB For Records On Veteran Lender

By Rachel Riley

Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP launched a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in Washington federal court on Tuesday claiming the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau wrongfully withheld information about possible consumer protection law violations by Veterans United, a mortgage lender targeted in a proposed class action led by the law firm.

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NC Man Gets OK For $10M Wrongful Murder Conviction Deal

By Abigail Harrison

A North Carolina federal judge has approved a $10 million compromise settlement that ends a North Carolina man's civil rights lawsuit alleging he was coerced as a teen into falsely confessing to the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl.

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Wiggin Partner Is Asked For Input In Conn. 'Ghost Gun' Suit

By Emily Field

A Connecticut state judge on Tuesday asked a Wiggin and Dana LLP attorney and treatise author for advice on how to handle the state attorney general's $7.7 million unfair trade practices claims against a Florida-based supplier of "ghost guns," seeking input on whether the company engaged in commerce in the state by online sales.

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USTR Floats Double-Digit Tariffs On Basis Of Forced Labor

By Jack McLoone

Sixty economies are facing added tariffs of either 10% or 12.5% on their exports to the U.S. following investigations by the U.S. Trade Representative's Office into countries' protections against the importing of goods produced with forced labor.

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Brief

USTR Seeks Input On China Preferential Trade Mechanism

By Jack McLoone

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced what it is calling a government-to-government mechanism that will manage bilateral trade between the U.S. and China, including by considering tariff cuts, and asked for public comments on the program's development.

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Trump Moves To Bolster Customs Crackdown On Imports

By Dylan Moroses

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Wednesday to strengthen Customs and Border Protection's enforcement within its existing authority by bolstering requirements for the importer of record.

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Okla. Gov. Vetoes Solar Power Property Tax Break Exclusion

By Zak Kostro

Oklahoma's governor pocket vetoed a bill that would have excluded solar power companies and battery energy storage systems from a property tax exemption for manufacturing facilities.

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Iowa Creates Sales Tax Break For Nuclear Energy Facilities

By Jaqueline McCool

Iowa nuclear energy facilities that are beginning or restarting operation are eligible for a sales tax exemption on purchases of materials under a law signed by the governor.

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BIA Panel Says Special Status Doesn't Permit Release On Bond

By Ganesh Setty

A Salvadoran national previously designated as an unaccompanied alien child upon arriving in the U.S. without authorization and who later obtained special immigrant juvenile status is still subject to mandatory detention during removal proceedings, the Board of Immigration Appeals has ruled.

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Denver Man Says Anti-ICE Projection Led To Illegal Citation

By Zach Dupont

A man detained at a Denver protest for displaying anti-U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement messages on the Colorado Supreme Court building said law enforcement violated his rights by citing him under an unrelated "commercial-advertising regulation," according to a complaint filed in Colorado state court Monday.

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Okla. DAs' Tribal Jurisdiction Fight Paused Amid Appeal

By Crystal Owens

A federal district court judge has stayed a jurisdictional challenge against two Oklahoma district attorneys by the federal government and three tribal nations until another dispute with a Tulsa County prosecutor is resolved in the Tenth Circuit, saying both parties' arguments weighed strongly in favor of the pause.

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Tribes Renew $23.3B Boarding School Claims Against Feds

By Crystal Owens

A group of Indigenous nations has amended allegations against the federal government that seek an accounting of how much of Native American tribes' money was used in connection with federal Indian boarding school programs, telling the court that $23.3 billion barely scratches the surface of their losses.

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FCC Eyes Broadband Permit Reform, Cybersecurity Efforts

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission is putting permit reform front and center again this month, with a proposal to shed rules that it views as unnecessarily burdensome for broadband deployment.

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FCC To Consider New Children's Safety Policies For E-Rate

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission is set to consider policy changes to a school and library subsidy to reduce screen time and protect children from harmful online content.

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NextNav GPS Backup Called 'Destructive' To Public Safety

By Nadia Dreid

A U.S. House subcommittee is set to hear proposals Thursday to deploy new Earth-based systems to back up GPS, but one public advocacy group is sounding the alarm ahead of time about the dangers of a spectrum-based alternative proffered by NextNav.

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Broadband Group Wants Same FCC Router Waiver As AT&T

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission should grant NCTA — The Internet & Television Association members a waiver allowing them to make changes to foreign-made routers since getting replacements has become difficult due to supply chain shortages and the agency has banned routers made outside the country.

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Ky. Gov. Broadens Medical Cannabis Eligibility Via Order

By Sam Reisman

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear on Tuesday issued an executive order clarifying that the state's relatively new medical marijuana program is open to a larger population of patients than was previously supposed.

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CFTC Trading Rule Can't Police Prediction Markets Yet

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s recent efforts to police insider trading in prediction markets through a post-Dodd-Frank anti-fraud rule exposes doctrinal gaps around misappropriation theory, leaving platforms to fill the void with win-rate-based surveillance, says attorney Tamara de Silva.

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5 Things Associates Must Ask About Their Firm's Merger Plan

The associates who navigate law firm mergers best ask the right questions early, such as inquiring about partners' plans, to assess how the merger could affect their workflow and career path, says Jackie Bokser-LeFebvre at Major Lindsey.

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BigLaw Insider Trading Defendants Have Big-Name Legal Help

By Chris Villani

An insider trading case involving nonpublic information prosecutors say was stolen from some of the largest law firms in the U.S. has ensnared more than two dozen defendants, many of whom have turned to lawyers with notable clients including Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein and Luigi Mangione.

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Hueston Hennigan Follows Milbank's Lead In Associate Pay

By Tracey Read

The race to match Milbank LLP's attorney pay hikes is officially on, with trial firm Hueston Hennigan the latest to announce it will increase associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually.

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Analysis

The Plaintiffs Atty Now 5-0 At High Court With No Dissents

By Jeff Overley

It's true that Jennifer Bennett is undefeated at the U.S. Supreme Court, but it's also an understatement. Bennett's five wins, including two recent ones, were all unanimous decisions. They showed that the plaintiffs bar can still persuade a conservative supermajority. And they turned the tide after a spree of decisions keeping workers and consumers out of court.

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Goldstein Cites Addiction To Avoid Time, DOJ Seeks 8 Years

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors recommended a 97-month prison sentence for convicted SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein, telling a Maryland federal court he has bilked the government out of more than $9.5 million in unpaid taxes. Goldstein, meanwhile, asked for a suspended sentence and supervised release, citing a "severe and longstanding gambling addiction."

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Rocade Capital Buys LFG To Create Combined $2B Lit Funder

By Ryan Boysen

Rocade Capital LLC has acquired fellow litigation funder Law Finance Group LLC, creating a combined platform that has deployed more than $2.3 billion and specializes in $10 million to $50 million deals, including post-judgment financing, portfolio deals and lending to plaintiff's firms.

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Court Reporter Shortage A 'Crisis,' Calif. Supreme Court Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

Two legal nonprofits urged the California Supreme Court to issue an order entitling low-income civil litigants to electronic recording if a live court reporter is not available, saying at a hearing Wednesday that a court reporter shortage in the Golden State has created a "crisis."

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9th Circ. Suspends 2 Attys For 6 Months Over AI Hallucinations

By Rae Ann Varona

The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday temporarily suspended two California immigration attorneys from practicing before the appellate court for filing briefs in a deportation relief case containing artificial intelligence-generated hallucinations, finding no excuse for their "extraordinary confession" of not vetting citations used by unlicensed brief writers.

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Tenn. Firm Gets AI Sanctions In Suit Against Baker Donelson

By Emily Sawicki

A Tennessee federal judge has sanctioned a Memphis, Tennessee, law firm over its misuse of artificial intelligence amid a malpractice suit against Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, ordering the regional firm to reimburse costs associated with the matter and report the misconduct to the state's disciplinary counsel.

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Feature

'Read The Cases': Conn. Judge Offers AI Advice To Attys

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut federal judge told a gathering of attorneys Tuesday that his law clerks are not allowed to use generative artificial intelligence for any purpose involving legal research, his interns are barred from using it at all, and lawyers must be careful when relying on the material that the tools produce.

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Atty Can't Shake $120M Verdict In RICO, Defamation Dispute

By Carolina Bolado

An Alabama federal judge refused to disturb a $120 million verdict against a former Conrad & Scherer LLP managing partner, ruling there was enough evidence at trial for a jury to find the attorney liable on Drummond Co.'s racketeering and defamation claims.

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DOJ Sets New Healthcare Fraud Convictions Record

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced that its Health Care Fraud Unit secured six jury trial convictions across the country in less than three weeks, with the cases involving more than $1.1 billion in fraud losses.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Dardarian Ho's Linda Dardarian

By Lynn LaRowe

Despite being on the other side of a disability rights case that will cost his municipality at least $150 million, Kevin McLaughlin, city attorney for Oakland, California, believes that if more lawyers were like Linda Dardarian, there would be far less lamenting about civility in the legal profession.

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