Justices Remove Bar On Venezuelan Removals

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled the Trump administration can move forward with its removal of alleged Venezuelan gang members from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act, vacating a D.C. federal judge's order that had temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's invocation of the 1798 wartime law.

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Full DC Circ. Lifts Pause On NLRB, MSPB Reinstatements

By Tim Ryan

The full D.C. Circuit on Monday lifted a March panel decision pausing the reinstatement of National Labor Relations Board and Merit Systems Protection Board members that President Donald Trump fired, saying U.S. Supreme Court precedent blessing limitations on the president's ability to fire agency officials still stands.

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Justice Roberts Pauses Return Order In Deportation Case

By Katie Buehler

Chief Justice John Roberts hit pause Monday on a federal judge's order requiring the Trump administration to quickly bring back a Maryland man who was mistakingly deported to El Salvador and imprisoned there, freeing the administration from a late night compliance deadline.

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Justices Enter Fray Over Criminal Restitution As Punishment

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Monday to wade into what counsel for a convicted Georgia bank robber called a "deeply entrenched" circuit split over the constitutionality of a federal law that requires criminals to continue paying restitution with compounding interest for decades after conviction.

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Top Court To Weigh Limits On Atty-Client Talks During Recess

By Cara Salvatore

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will take up the Sixth Amendment case of a man convicted of murder who was not allowed to consult with his lawyer about his testimony during a 24-hour break that came in the middle of his time on the stand.

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Analysis

Meta May Not Scroll Past 'Clever' Instagram Addiction Suit

By Chris Villani

Meta Platforms Inc. may struggle to convince Massachusetts' top court to dismiss a suit claiming it illegally hooks kids on Instagram, according to experts, who credit the state's attorney general for a creative legal strategy to thwart web platforms' usual defenses.

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Justices Won't Hear Lion Air Family's Boeing Jury Trial Bid

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge to a more than century-old law governing fatal accidents on the high seas, curtailing an effort from the estate of a 737 Max crash victim to get Boeing to face a jury trial over the 2018 Lion Air incident.

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Supreme Court Declines Review Of NY Concealed Carry Law

By Jonathan Capriel

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it won't review a New York state law requiring "good moral character" as a prerequisite to obtaining a gun permit, passing on an opportunity to resolve what firearm rights advocates called a circuit split on how the high court's decision in Bruen is interpreted.

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High Court Won't Hear Case On Employee Status Of Inmates

By Daniela Porat

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a Fourth Circuit opinion finding that inmates working at a Baltimore County, Maryland, recycling facility might be covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act and entitled to minimum wages.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission sued to block GTCR BC's planned purchase of a medical device coatings company, the Justice Department's antitrust case against Live Nation survived a dismissal bid and a New York state court found a ski mountain deal hurt competition. Here, Law360 looks at the major merger review developments from March.

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Fed. Circ. Stumbles Over The Word 'Unit' In Cross-Patent Fight

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Circuit spent a chunk of its morning Monday grappling with whether a limitation in a patent specification describes a specific unit or a type of unit as it heard cross-appeals from Mondis Technology and LG Electronics in a patent fight they have been battling out for over a decade.

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Judges Probe Greek Air Force Contract Dispute's Timeliness

By Daniel Wilson

Skeptical Federal Circuit judges pushed Greece's Air Force on Monday to explain why its $21.75 million suit over faulty reconnaissance cameras wasn't untimely, saying it seemed to be aware of related issues years before suing the U.S. government.

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Analysis

Ruling Adds To Risk Of Patent Format Tied To Improvements

By Ryan Davis

A Federal Circuit decision from last month has created pitfalls for entities using a type of patent claim that describes an improvement on previous technology, making the so-called Jepson format, which is already uncommon, even less appealing for applicants, attorneys said.

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USAA Wants Full Fed. Circ. To Hear PNC's Patent Board Wins

By Andrew Karpan

A San Antonio-based bank that lost two of its patents covering technology used to deposit checks through smartphones — including one tied to a $218 million jury verdict against PNC Bank — is arguing that a Federal Circuit panel has allowed the patent board "to escape its obligation to explain itself."

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VLSI Argues Fintiv Memo Withdrawal Enhances PTAB Appeal

By Dani Kass

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent decision to withdraw guidance on its discretionary denial policy means the Federal Circuit should revive a VLSI Technology chip patent reviewed explicitly based on that policy, the patent owner said Friday.

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1st Circ. Won't Pause Block Of Unrelated Country Deportation

By Lauren Berg

The First Circuit on Monday declined to stay a Massachusetts federal judge's order blocking the Trump administration from removing immigrants to countries where they have no prior ties without first providing them with notice of where they are being sent and a "meaningful" opportunity to raise any safety concerns.

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Policy Group Tells 4th Circ. Drug Discount Law Needs Reform

By Hayley Fowler

The Fourth Circuit on Monday allowed a Boston-based think tank to file an amicus brief supporting a district court's injunction against a West Virginia law that pharmaceutical companies and lobbyists claim unconstitutionally expands a federal drug discount program.

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Split 5th Circ. Undoes Injunction On Texas Strip Club Fee Law

By Rae Ann Varona

The Fifth Circuit on Monday reversed an injunction barring the Texas comptroller from enforcing a state law imposing fees on strip clubs that allow on-site alcohol consumption, saying in a split unpublished opinion that a Houston club challenging the law was bound by a 2011 decision that upheld the law.

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6th Circ. Says Job Performance Dooms Ex-Exec's Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Sixth Circuit backed security company Idemia's defeat of a former executive's lawsuit claiming he was forced out because he was over 50 and undergoing prostate cancer treatment, finding Monday he couldn't overcome the explanation that his boss had lost confidence in his leadership abilities.

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11 States Tell 6th Circ. To Ax Mich. Conversion Therapy Ban

By Carolyn Muyskens

Eleven U.S. states led by Iowa and South Carolina urged the Sixth Circuit to strike down Michigan's ban on conversion therapy for minors, saying the law censors therapists' speech.

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9th Circ. Says Teamsters Didn't Taint UPS Election

By Emily Brill

Teamsters representatives didn't taint the results of a UPS union representation election by chatting with workers in a warehouse parking lot while the vote went on inside, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled Monday, saying the representatives' "brief conversations with three voters … did not constitute objectionable electioneering or voter intimidation."

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9th Circ. Partially Reverses LA Port Co.'s Coverage Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Ninth Circuit on Monday held that United National Insurance Company was obligated to defend a Los Angeles Port operator against pollution claims brought by the city, but said a district judge deprived the insurer of a jury trial on the operator's claimed defense costs due to the breach of contract.

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Roundup

Pa. Supreme Court Snapshot: Electric Bills, Jock Tax

By Matthew Santoni

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will open its three-day session in Pittsburgh Tuesday with arguments over how to weigh when a coworker or co-owner shares in an employer's immunity from lawsuits under the state's workers' compensation law, and if electricity providers can get additional services put on the utility bills drawn up by power distributors.

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NJ Panel Upholds Nix Of Police Unions' Retroactive Pay Suit

By Beverly Banks

Two New Jersey police unions couldn't convince a state appeals court that Atlantic City and the state owed retroactive raises to officers, an appellate panel ruled Monday, finding a law focused on assisting municipalities with financial troubles supplants agreements about wage increases and promotions.

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Conn. Healthcare Facility Seeks To Flip $13.4M Death Verdict

By Aaron Keller

An assisted living facility has asked the Connecticut Appellate Court to throw out a $13.4 million jury verdict surrounding a patient's death, arguing his estate improperly added a time-barred Patient Bill of Rights claim months before trial and didn't adequately prove a breathing apparatus failed.

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Roundup

Conn. High Court Snapshot: Atty's 'Double' ID Theft Damages

By Brian Steele

When it convenes for its next term, Connecticut's highest court will weigh whether an attorney whose identity was stolen can skirt a panel's ruling that he is not entitled to a "double recovery" of damages, and it will consider an insurance agent's responsibilities when a policyholder's coverage is canceled.

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Ga. Appeals Court Rips Judge For Denying Recusal Bid

By Brandon Lowrey

A Georgia Court of Appeals panel on Monday stripped a child custody case from a Fulton County judge after finding he improperly denied a mother's recusal motion instead of referring it to another jurist.

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Mass. High Court Ponders 'Reasonable' Wear In Lease Dispute

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts justices on Monday grappled with defining "reasonable" wear and tear on a rental property as they considered whether a property owner can require tenants to have their apartments professionally cleaned when moving out.

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Mass. Firm Prevails Over Ex-Attys In Stolen Client Files Saga

By Emily Sawicki

A Massachusetts appeals panel has found that a law firm may recoup damages from its former attorneys who are accused of smuggling out client files to start a new shop while still employed, the latest ruling in a yearslong legal battle that has played out across the state's trial, appellate and supreme courts.

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GOP Judge's Ballot Challenge Returns To NC High Court

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina State Board of Elections and state Supreme Court Justice Allison Riggs have asked her colleagues on the high court bench to take up her Republican opponent's election protests following his victory in the intermediate appeals court.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Be An Indispensable Associate

While law school teaches you to research, write and think critically, it often overlooks the professional skills you will need to make yourself an essential team player when transitioning from a summer to full-time associate, say attorneys at Stinson.

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Litigation Firms Back Perkins Coie In Suit Over Trump Order

By Jake Maher

A slew of midsize and small litigation firms took up Perkins Coie LLP's cause in its legal battle against an executive order from President Donald Trump targeting the BigLaw firm, arguing Monday in an amicus brief that the order is "anathema" to the justice system.

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Congressional Dems Probe Trump's Actions Against BigLaw

By Courtney Bublé

A pair of top congressional Democrats wrote to the White House and six major law firms over the weekend seeking more information about deals that multiple BigLaw firms have reached with the Trump administration and the possible fallout.

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Brown Rudnick Inks $8M Deal With Guo Ch. 11 Trustee

By Alex Wittenberg

Brown Rudnick LLP has agreed to pay nearly $8 million in a deal with the trustee overseeing Chinese exile Miles Guo's Chapter 11 case in Connecticut to settle potential claims tied to the law firm's onetime work for the convicted fraudster.

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Holland & Knight Lands 8-Atty Seward & Kissel Maritime Team

By Rose Krebs

Holland & Knight LLP announced Monday that it has added an eight-person team from Seward & Kissel LLP to bolster its asset finance group and enhance its efforts to steer clients through key shipping financing and maritime issues.

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Judge Who Shot Wife Warned Against Retrial 'Press Tour'

By Gina Kim

The California judge presiding over the murder trial of an Orange County jurist who fatally shot his wife admonished him Monday for embarking on a recent "press tour," warning that he could be violating the state judicial ethics code by commenting on a pending case. 

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Littler Wants Out Of Fired Tech Exec's Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

Littler Mendelson has asked to be cut loose from a former tech company executive's suit claiming the firm and the business worked together to retaliate against her for complaining that her boss made bigoted comments, arguing to a New York federal court that it can't be held liable for the legal advice it provided.

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