Justices Pass On La. Regulators' Tesla Sales Ban

By Catherine Marfin

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Fifth Circuit decision that revived Tesla's lawsuit accusing Louisiana car dealers and regulators of illegally excluding the direct-sale automaker from the state, following a notification from the parties of their intent to reach a settlement.

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Justices To Review Liability For Forcing Prisoner's Haircut

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a former Louisiana prisoner's case for damages after guards forcibly shaved his head, removing the dreadlocks he maintained as part of his Rastafarian religion.

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Texas Authorizes Tax Break For Border Safety Infrastructure

By Zak Kostro

Texas authorized a property tax exemption for real property used to install border security infrastructure in counties that border Mexico, pending voter approval of a proposed amendment to the state constitution, under a bill signed by Gov. Greg Abbott.

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Texas Gov. Abbott Signs Bitcoin Reserve Bill Into Law

By Sarah Jarvis

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law a bill to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve aimed at helping the Lone Star State's financial resilience, following the Trump administration's own creation of a bitcoin reserve earlier this year.

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Texas Governor Vetoes Ban On Hemp-Derived THC Products

By Sam Reisman

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has vetoed a bill that would have banned hemp-derived THC products, rebuking one of his lieutenant governor's policy priorities and delivering a win to the Lone Star State's hemp industry.

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Texas Justices Find No Sign Of Negligence In Truck Crash

By Mike Curley

The Texas Supreme Court has thrown out a trucker's suit alleging that another trucker's negligence caused a collision after a tire blowout, saying the plaintiff failed to show any evidence that the crash was the result of anything other than an unavoidable accident.

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Paxton, Airline Co. Ask To Take Biz Doc Case Out Of 5th Circ.

By Catherine Marfin

The Texas attorney general's office and an airline parts manufacturer have agreed to remove a dispute over a state law allowing the office to examine business records from the Fifth Circuit back to district court.

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CBS Says Trump's $20B Suit Doesn't Belong In Texas

By Spencer Brewer

Paramount Global and CBS Broadcasting told a Texas federal judge President Donald Trump's $20 billion lawsuit accusing the network of deceptively doctoring a "60 Minutes" interview with Kamala Harris belongs outside the Lone Star State, saying in a Monday brief the interview took place "nearly two thousand miles from this courthouse."

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Texas Law Cutting Municipal Fees Not Gift, Comcast Says

By Spencer Brewer

Comcast and a state trade association told the Texas Supreme Court that laws curbing the fees municipalities can charge telecom companies for rights-of-way usage passes constitutional muster, asking the court to flip a lower court's findings that the laws violate the Texas Constitution's gift clauses.

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High Court's Ruling Against Texas Could Tank FCC Wi-Fi Case

By Christopher Cole

As the Federal Communications Commission faces a Fifth Circuit challenge to its plan to fund school bus Wi-Fi, the appeals court is weighing how a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week against Texas in a nuclear waste case impacts its jurisdiction.

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Crypto Exec Seeks 5th Circ. Redo Over IRS Summonses

By Anna Scott Farrell

A cryptocurrency executive asked the Fifth Circuit to reconsider his request to quash IRS summonses for his bank records, saying its decision that he was prematurely trying to appeal a lower court's ruling ignored his claims that the agency's documents were incomplete and lacked legal power.

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Exela Gets OK For $1.25B Debt-Swap Ch. 11 Plan

By Rick Archer

A Texas bankruptcy judge on Monday approved a $1.25 billion Chapter 11 restructuring for units of business automation group Exela Technologies, saying the plan had creditor support and the creditor claim releases were voluntary.

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Colo. Attack Suspect's Family Calls Out Detention Conditions

By Rae Ann Varona

Attorneys representing the wife and children of an Egyptian man accused of attacking demonstrators demanding the release of Israeli hostages pressed for his family's release from a Texas detention center, pointing to court documents laying out what they called "heartbreaking" conditions at the facility.

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How New Texas Law Revamps Electric Grid To Meet Demand

A new Texas law enacted in response to the burdens that data centers, crypto mining and other large-scale users are placing on the state's electric grid means that stakeholders must review updated requirements around grid interconnection, disclosure of development plans and operational flexibility during tight conditions, say attorneys at Jackson Walker.

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DOJ May Rethink Banning Firearms For Marijuana Users

In light of various federal circuit court decisions and an executive order from President Donald Trump, U.S. Department of Justice enforcement policy now may be on the verge of changing decidedly in favor of marijuana users' gun rights, and could foreshadow additional marijuana-friendly reforms, says Jacob Raver at Dentons.

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9th Circ. Has Muddied Waters Of Article III Pleading Standard

District courts in the Ninth Circuit continue to apply a defunct and especially forgiving pleading standard to questions of Article III standing, and the circuit court itself has only perpetuated this confusion — making it an attractive forum for disputes that have no rightful place in federal court, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

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Kasowitz Rebrands Amid Shift To Streamlined Firm Names

By Andrea Keckley

Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP announced Tuesday that it is rebranding to Kasowitz LLP, becoming the latest firm to shorten its name.

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3rd Circ. Pick Told DOJ To Defy Courts, Whistleblower Says

By Courtney Bublé

A top career official at the U.S. Department of Justice who was fired has come forward with a whistleblower complaint alleging Third Circuit judicial nominee Emil Bove, who was acting deputy attorney general at the beginning of the year, sought to defy court orders.

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Judiciary Warns Congress Of Cyber Risks To PACER

By Courtney Bublé

PACER, the online public repository of federal court documents, is vulnerable to cyberthreats, a top judiciary official told members of Congress on Tuesday.

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Former DOJ Antitrust Official Joins Latham

By Bryan Koenig

Latham & Watkins LLP on Wednesday announced the addition of a new D.C.-based antitrust partner with the hiring of Andrew Forman, a former deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division who is rejoining private practice after three years of helping lead civil competition enforcement.

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Winston & Strawn Sues Hunter Biden For 'Unpaid Legal Fees'

By Alison Knezevich

Winston & Strawn LLP is suing Hunter Biden in Washington, D.C., alleging he owes the BigLaw firm more than $50,000 for legal work related to his federal criminal case in Delaware and other matters.

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Another Musk Case, Another Judge Recusal

By Bryan Koenig

A California federal magistrate judge on Tuesday became the latest federal judge to recuse from a case involving Elon Musk, this time stepping down from handling his lawsuit challenging OpenAI's now-abandoned transition to a for-profit enterprise.

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ABA Announces New Research Into Attorney Mental Health

By Emma Cueto

The American Bar Association announced Tuesday it is launching a national research project on attorney mental health, which will provide an updated benchmark of the issue nearly a decade after its 2016 study.

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Trump Hones Immunity Argument In 2nd Circ. Carroll Appeal

By Pete Brush

Counsel for President Donald Trump told the Second Circuit on Tuesday that he did not "unequivocally and explicitly" waive presidential immunity before a jury awarded writer E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million in their defamation battle, refining the theory that he cannot be held liable.

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Analysis

Anthropic Copyright Ruling May Spur More AI Licensing Deals

By Ivan Moreno

The first federal court decision on the fairness of taking copyrighted material to train generative artificial intelligence is a mixed outcome for tech companies and content creators that could prompt both parties to seek coexistence, according to attorneys, with the judge concluding that while the technology is "spectacularly" transformative, using pirated material is inexcusable.

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