The U.S. Department of Transportation said Wednesday that California will lose out on nearly $160 million in federal highway funds for failing to revoke thousands of commercial driver's licenses that were issued to ineligible foreign drivers, as the Trump administration cracks down on immigrant truck drivers.
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Feds Cut $160M From Calif. Over Truck Driver Licenses

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Department of Transportation said Wednesday that California will lose out on nearly $160 million in federal highway funds for failing to revoke thousands of commercial driver's licenses that were issued to ineligible foreign drivers, as the Trump administration cracks down on immigrant truck drivers.

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Next Boeing 737 Max Ethiopian Air Trial Kicks Off Monday

By Celeste Bott

The latest wrongful death case against Boeing over the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 crash of 2019 is teed up for trial in Chicago on Monday, where jurors will determine damages for a man who lost multiple family members.

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Law Firms Step Up To Navigate Biz Opportunities In Venezuela

By Lynn LaRowe and Adrian Cruz

Law firms are gearing up to assist clients exploring potential business opportunities in Venezuela following President Donald Trump's announcement that the U.S. would "run" the country for the time being after the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on narco-conspiracy charges.

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Ford Drops Firms From Beefed-Up RICO Suit Against 3 Attys

By Dorothy Atkins

Ford Motor Co. has dropped racketeering allegations against Knight Law Group LLP and other law firms and lawyers in its latest amended complaint over allegations of a massive fraudulent legal billing scheme, while adding new obstruction of justice allegations against the three remaining attorney defendants.

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AVIATION

United Workers' Revamped Vax Suit Can Proceed, Judge Says

By Jonathan Capriel

Workers suing United Airlines over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which they allege violated federal discrimination law, are allowed to amend their more than 700-page lawsuit, a Texas federal court has ruled, despite the airline decrying the move as a delay tactic.

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AUTOMOTIVE

First Brands' Ex-Execs Can Tap Only Some D&O Coverage

By Alex Wittenberg

A Texas bankruptcy judge Wednesday allowed former First Brands executives to access about half of the company's directors and officers insurance to help pay for their legal fees as they face misconduct claims, ruling that the remainder of the proceeds are property of the car parts maker's bankruptcy estate.

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Tricolor Ex-CEO Must Take Questions At Creditor Meeting

By Rick Archer

A Texas bankruptcy judge on Wednesday said the former chief executive of bankrupt subprime car loan lender Tricolor Holdings will have to appear at a creditor meeting despite his argument that he won't be able to answer questions without incriminating himself in his fraud trial.

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VW Joins The Fed. Circ. Fray Over Patent Review Discretion

By Theresa Schliep

Volkswagen is the latest company to contest policy changes at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that make it harder to pursue patent challenges, telling the Federal Circuit that the agency's "unfettered discretion" to deny such challenges violates the U.S. Constitution.

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RAIL

STB Eyes Easier Shipper Access Mandates Across Railways

By Bryan Koenig

Showing "anticompetitive conduct" would no longer be a requirement for shippers seeking to force rail carriers to work together to ferry their goods, under a proposed rulemaking Wednesday that the Surface Transportation Board said would shift such petitions back to consideration on a case-by-case basis.

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LOGISTICS

Fed. Circ. Faults Lower Court In Parking Patent Case

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit said a new trial is needed to determine if a parking lot management patent is invalid under a rule prohibiting patents for technologies that were used or were on sale for more than a year before a patent application is filed.

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Injunction Protecting TSA Labor Contract Is Moot, Feds Says

By Ben Adlin

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security should be allowed to proceed with plans to terminate a labor contract covering Transportation Security Administration workers, the Trump administration told a Seattle federal judge, claiming that a preliminary injunction issued by the court in June no longer applies.

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INSURANCE

Nationwide Says Other Insurer Must Cover Train Crash Suits

By Hope Patti

A Canadian insurer must provide primary coverage to Union Pacific for underlying claims over a train collision with a rail car mover, a Nationwide unit told a Missouri federal court Wednesday, saying its commercial general liability and umbrella policies are excess over the other policy.

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PEOPLE

Ford Promotes Deputy GC To Compliance Chief

By Sarah Jarvis

Ford Motor Co.'s corporate secretary and former deputy general counsel, who previously co-chaired Latham & Watkins LLP's sustainability practice, has announced she is the automaker's new chief compliance officer.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Intentional Career-Building

A successful legal career is built through intention: understanding expectations, assessing strengths honestly and proactively seeking opportunities to grow and cultivating relationships that support your development, say Erika Drous and Hillary Mann at Morrison Foerster.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

McGlinchey Stafford To Close After 51 Years

By Emma Cueto

New Orleans-based firm McGlinchey Stafford PLLC announced Tuesday that it has decided to wind down operations after over half a century, citing difficult market conditions and unspecified "internal circumstances."

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Cruz Tells House Speaker To Move On Judicial Impeachments

By Courtney Bublé

Ahead of a hearing on impeachment of "rogue judges" on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, increased pressure on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to advance impeachment proceedings against federal judges in D.C. and Maryland.

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Bulk Of SDNY Attys Are Tasked With Reviewing Epstein Docs

By Hailey Konnath

Over half of the more than 220 assistant U.S. attorneys at the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York have been tasked with sifting through documents related to the investigation of the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a Justice Department disclosure filed in federal court.

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Feds Want To Use Goldstein's Comments To NYT At Trial

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors preparing to try SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein for tax crimes next week are looking to use his comments in a New York Times Magazine article against him, claiming that admissions and details from the article "directly prove" certain charges the government has brought.

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DOJ Nominee Says He'll Work Within Blue-Slip 'Parameters'

By Courtney Bublé

A nominee for a top U.S. Department of Justice position that handles judicial nominees appeared to give a nod to the Senate's blue-slip process, despite President Donald Trump's vocal opposition to the tradition.

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Jurisdiction Questioned In NY Fried Frank Data Breach Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A New York federal judge is threatening to toss a proposed class action data security suit against Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP over a data breach involving private equity funds maintained by firm client Goldman Sachs, unless plaintiffs properly plead that the Manhattan court has jurisdiction.

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Objector To PACER Overcharge Settlement Faces Uphill Battle

By Emily Sawicki

An objector to a $125 million settlement to end class claims alleging the federal government overcharged nonprofits and other lawyers to access court documents faced a skeptical Federal Circuit panel Wednesday, with judges indicating they had not found legal errors in the district court's approval of the deal.

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DOJ To Appeal Reinstatement Of Clearance For Mark Zaid

By Jared Foretek

The Trump administration told a D.C. federal judge on Wednesday that it will obey his injunction to reinstate attorney Mark Zaid's security clearance as it appeals the ruling in the D.C. Circuit, but left open the possibility that government intelligence agencies could try to revoke it again for new reasons.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AT&T Inc.

American Chemistry Council Inc.

American Federation of Government Employees

American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations

American International Group Inc.

Association of American Railroads

Association of Flight Attendants-CWA

Berkshire Hathaway Energy GT&S

Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise

First Brands Group

Ford Motor Co.

Fort Point Capital

LinkedIn Corp.

National Veterans Legal Services Program

Norfolk Southern Corp.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The New York Times Co.

Union Pacific Corp.

United Airlines Holdings Inc.

Volkswagen AG

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Baker Botts

Baker McKenzie

Barnard Iglitzin

Boies Schiller

Bracewell LLP

Bredhoff & Kaiser

Brown Rudnick

Clifford Law Offices

Cole Schotz

Cotchett Pitre

Cravath Swaine

Dann Law Firm

Davis & Santos

Debevoise & Plimpton

Feldesman LLP

Finnegan

Flannery Georgalis

Foley & Lardner

Fried Frank

Gibson Dunn

Goodwin Procter

Gupta Wessler

Hecker Fink

Hinshaw & Culbertson

Holland & Knight

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

Kasowitz LLP

Kelly Hart

Kline & Specter

Klinedinst PC

Knight Law Group

Kobre & Kim

Kohn Swift

Koskoff Koskoff

Kreindler & Kreindler

Lankford & Reed

Latham & Watkins

Lippes Mathias

Lowell & Associates

McDermott Will & Schulte

McGlinchey Stafford

Milbank LLP

Morrison & Foerster

Morvillo Abramowitz

Motley Rice

Munger Tolles

Okin Adams

Perkins Coie

Pillsbury Winthrop

Podhurst Orseck

Quinn Emanuel

Schwartz White

Sills Cummis

Susman Godfrey

Vinson & Elkins

Watters Wolf

Weil Gotshal

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

Winston & Strawn

Wirtz Law APC

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Executive Office of the President

Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Surface Transportation Board

Transportation Security Administration

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Supreme Court

United Nations

United States District Court for the District of Colorado