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Business of Law
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July 19, 2024
Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week
Blanche Law PLLC and Continental PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Florida federal judge tossed the criminal case against former President Donald Trump over his allegedly illegal retention of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
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July 19, 2024
BCLP Seeks Merger Partner As Departures Continue
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP's headcount has declined by more than 20% since the law firm's seminal combination, according to firm data, with a surge of lateral departures this spring and summer. Sources have told Law360 Pulse that firm leaders are currently seeking a merger partner.
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July 19, 2024
Draft Constitutional Amendment Would Ax Trump Immunity
Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Friday released a draft of a constitutional amendment that would ensure no one is above the law, following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that former President Donald Trump has immunity from official acts as president.
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July 19, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen a libel clash between comedian Paul Currie and the Soho Theatre Company over allegations of anti-semitism, technology giant Huawei face a patents claim by Mediatek, Westfield Europe pursue action against Clearpay Finance for contract breaches and tour operating company Carnival hit chartered airline Maleth Aero for significant flight delays. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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July 18, 2024
Hunter Biden Wants Charges Tossed After Trump Docs Ruling
Hunter Biden on Thursday asked federal judges in Delaware and California to throw out his conviction on felony gun charges and to toss other charges of tax evasion, citing a Florida federal judge's order disqualifying the special prosecutor in Donald Trump's classified documents case.
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July 18, 2024
Crypto Law Firm's SEC Challenge Met With Doubt At 9th Circ.
A Ninth Circuit panel appeared skeptical Thursday of a law firm's quest for a judgment that its use of the crypto asset ether doesn't offend securities laws, questioning whether the firm has shown it faces enough of a threat from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to keep its case against the regulator alive.
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July 18, 2024
Judge 'Not Optimistic' Houston Firm's PPP Suit Will Succeed
A Texas federal judge said Thursday he would give a Houston law firm another chance to make its case that the U.S. Small Business Administration was wrong in denying the firm's bid for loan forgiveness under a COVID-19-era relief program, but noted he was "not really optimistic" the firm would be able to succeed with its suit.
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July 18, 2024
Menendez Appeal Could Make Hay From Bribery Case Law
Sen. Robert Menendez's planned "aggressive" appeal will almost certainly include broadsides against his novel foreign-agent conviction and attempt to capitalize on the U.S. Supreme Court's proven appetite for bribery cases, experts say.
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July 18, 2024
NY Courts Limit Access To Ethics Data, Violating Own Rules
After a decade of widespread noncompliance with income and gift reporting rules, the New York court system's Ethics Commission has refused to publicly release all judges' annual financial disclosures, which safeguard against conflicts of interest, corruption and ethics lapses.
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July 18, 2024
Florida Opts To Use NextGen Bar Exam Starting In 2028
Florida will adopt a new bar exam test component, known as the NextGen Bar Exam, from the National Conference of Bar Examiners beginning July 2028, the state's board of bar examiners announced Thursday.
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July 18, 2024
Colo. Injury Firm, Insurer End Bad Faith Suit
Two months after a Colorado personal injury firm and insurer settled a dispute over coverage of litigation costs, the two sides have agreed to dismiss the firm's lawsuit against a former firm attorney accused of trying to steal its entire class action department.
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July 18, 2024
Healthcare Co. Says Fired In-House Atty Lacks Standing To Sue
Kidney care company Panoramic Health has urged a Colorado federal judge to toss a former assistant general counsel's lawsuit that claims she was fired for raising concerns about violations of federal anti-kickback statutes.
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July 18, 2024
Ex-BigLaw Atty Gets Nearly 2 Years For Election Crimes
A former BigLaw attorney was sentenced to 21 months in prison Thursday after being convicted of campaign finance violations tied to a failed run for U.S. Congress, with a Boston federal judge citing the defendant's legal acumen and experience as a law clerk as evidence he "should have known" better.
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July 17, 2024
Colo. Federal Judge Tells Attys To Focus On Fundamentals
U.S. District Judge S. Kato Crews told a room of attorneys Wednesday he's concerned by the sloppiness of veteran lawyers he's witnessed in the past year, prompting him to be more of a stickler on procedure than when he was a magistrate judge.
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July 17, 2024
UMich Ducks Black Law Prof's Bias, Retaliation Suit
A Michigan federal judge released the University of Michigan on Wednesday from a Black law professor's lawsuit accusing the school of harshly disciplining her after she complained about race discrimination, saying she failed to rebut the university's argument that she was punished because she threatened staff members.
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July 17, 2024
Colo. Firm Says Ex-Director Stole Clients While On Payroll
Colorado boutique Whitcomb Selinsky PC is accusing one of its former directors of trying to steal clients while he was still employed with the firm to take with him to his new practice.
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July 17, 2024
Ex-Fed. Judge Likely Conflicted In 23 Cases, Say Prosecutors
Disgraced District of Alaska Judge Joshua Kindred presided over at least 23 criminal cases in which attorneys appearing before him may have had inappropriate relationships with the judge, according to an email sent by federal prosecutors and obtained Wednesday by Law360.
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July 17, 2024
SeaWorld Says Dad Ousted From Bias Case Contradicts Attys
Counsel for parents and children alleging that costumed performers at SeaWorld-owned theme park Sesame Place snubbed them booted a dad from the case as a way to buy time for more preparation, contradicting his lawyers' claims that he was forced from the case for making a deliberately incorrect deposition statement, the park's corporate owner alleged in a new court filing.
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July 17, 2024
High Court Rulings Don't Nix Judge Romance Suit, Court Told
An investor suing Jackson Walker LLP over an ex-employee's secret romantic relationship with a former Texas bankruptcy judge told the court Tuesday that, despite what the firm says, recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions on standing do not change the fact that he suffered real harm from the firm.
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July 17, 2024
KPMG Australia To Shut Commercial Law Shop, Eye Alliances
KPMG Australia announced on Tuesday that it will "no longer [be] operating a separate and distinct commercial law practice," focusing instead on building alliances with firms in the nation.
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July 17, 2024
After #MeToo, Report Suggests Judiciary Workplace Reforms
A report released on Wednesday makes 34 suggested reforms for the federal judiciary to better protect its approximately 30,000 employees, including clerks, building off changes made following the #MeToo movement.
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July 17, 2024
Glaser Weil Atty Fee Arbitration Award Upheld In Calif. Appeal
A Los Angeles-area entrepreneur cannot escape a $462,000 legal fee arbitration judgment in favor of his former legal counsel, a California appellate panel determined, finding that a trial court was correct to approve the amount after he failed to appear at the arbitration, despite his claims of being bedridden due to COVID-19.
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July 17, 2024
Squire Patton Expands To Switzerland With Geneva Office
Squire Patton Boggs LLP has opened its 17th European location and its first in Switzerland with the launch of a new office in Geneva, the firm said Wednesday.
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July 17, 2024
Massachusetts Governor Taps 5 For Superior Court Vacancies
A federal prosecutor, a criminal defense lawyer and a deputy chief in the Massachusetts attorney general's office are among five nominations to the state Superior Court announced Wednesday by Gov. Maura Healey.
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July 16, 2024
Musk Says X, SpaceX Moving To Texas Over Calif. Gender Law
Elon Musk took to X Tuesday to announce he will be moving the headquarters of the social media company and his astronautics company, SpaceX, out of California to Texas, after Golden State Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill that bars policies mandating that teachers notify parents about students' gender identity.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Litigation Funding Needs Regulating To Meet Ethics Standards
Third-party litigation funding can provide litigants with access to the legal system, but, as recent cases show, the funding agreements carry the potential for exploitation and may conflict with core aspects of the attorney-client relationship, making the need for a balanced regulation self-evident, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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Document Retention Best Practices To Lower Litigation Risks
As new technologies emerge and terabytes of data can be within the purview of a single discovery request, businesses small and large should take four document management steps to effectively minimize risks of litigation and discovery sanctions long before litigation ensues, says Kimbrilee Weber at Norris McLaughlin.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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The Future Of ERISA If High Court Ends Chevron Deference
The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming decisions in two cases involving fishing company challenges to regulatory requirements could weaken or repeal Chevron deference, meaning U.S. Department of Labor regulations adopted under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act may be heavily scrutinized, modified or vacated by federal courts, say Naina Kamath and Julie Stapel at Morgan Lewis.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
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Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
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Series
Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.
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6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media
In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.
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A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise
After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.