Analysis

Presidents v. Courts: Lincoln, Trump & Judicial Power Limits

By Jeff Overley

Amid fears of President Donald Trump disobeying judges with impunity, debate has focused on famous instances of officials defying the U.S. Supreme Court. But some of the clearest insights into America's handling of White House disregard for courts exist in relatively obscure cases from the Civil War era, when unprecedented presidential actions provoked extraordinary responses from the judiciary — and underscored the limits of its powers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Up Next At High Court: Gun Violence Liability & Nuclear Waste

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday to consider Mexico's attempt to hold gun manufacturers and distributors liable for cartel-related gun violence and a nuclear waste site dispute that could determine who can challenge future agency actions.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

WH Appeals After Watchdog Chief Is Permanently Reinstalled

By Ali Sullivan

A D.C. federal judge ruled Saturday that President Donald Trump's firing of the head of the Office of Special Counsel was illegal, finding that the federal employment watchdog can only be ousted for cause.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

5 Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch In March

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Ninth Circuit will mull Express Scripts and OptumRx's bid to force a public nuisance suit brought by the state of California into federal court, and the Second Circuit will hear from pensioners who say that IBM's use of outdated mortality tables shrank their benefits payouts. Here, Law360 looks at these and other appellate arguments happening in March that should be on benefits lawyers' radar.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

4th Circ. Won't Undo National Block Of Trump Birthright Order

By Madeline Lyskawa

A split Fourth Circuit panel on Friday rejected the federal government's effort to tailor an injunction blocking the enforcement of President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, saying the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DA Eyes Type Of Weinstein Evidence That Sank 1st Verdict

By Cara Salvatore

Manhattan prosecutors preparing to retry Harvey Weinstein want a jury to hear about alleged sexual assaults by the jailed Hollywood mogul that are not part of his indictment — the same kind of testimony that doomed his original conviction on appeal.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fla. Justices Say Atty Broke Rules With Nonviable Engle Suits

By Mike Curley

The Florida Supreme Court has found an attorney guilty of violating court rules by filing baseless Engle progeny suits and failing to properly communicate with his clients, and told a referee to determine the appropriate sanction.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GOP Rep. Reintroduces The JUDGES Act

By Courtney Bublé

The chair of the House Judiciary Committee's courts panel has reintroduced a bill to create 66 new and temporary federal judgeships, which former President Joe Biden vetoed at the end of last year.

Bill attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

La. Regulators Ask Justices To Review Tesla Sales Ban Case

By Matthew Perlman

Louisiana regulators have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review Tesla's case over the state's ban on direct sales by automakers, saying the presence of car dealership owners on a regulatory board does not violate the electric-car company's due process rights.

Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justices Asked To Review IRS Crypto Doc Seizure Case

By Anna Scott Farrell

A cryptocurrency investor who lost his challenge to the Internal Revenue Service's seizure of his account records has asked the U.S. Supreme Court for review, saying the 1976 legal doctrine that sank his case is outdated and fails to meet digital realities, including decentralized banking.

Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FERC Says PJM Watchdog Can't Fight Meeting Roadblock

By Keith Goldberg

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Friday told the D.C. Circuit that PJM Interconnection's electricity market watchdog isn't harmed by being prevented from attending certain meetings held by the regional grid operator and urged the appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the decision.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Russia's $34M Award Suit Appeal Must Be Nixed, Cos. Say

By Caroline Simson

Ukrainian gas companies that won a $34 million arbitral award against Russia urged the D.C. Circuit on Thursday to summarily affirm a ruling rejecting the country's sovereign immunity defense, saying Moscow is just trying to prolong the proceeding with overtly unmeritorious claims.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Feds Say Tribes Can't Block New Oregon Casino

By Ali Sullivan

The federal government and an Oregon Native American tribe are pushing back on a bid from three other tribes to block the operation of a new casino in Oregon, telling the D.C. Circuit that the tribes filed their emergency motion improperly and are likely to lose on the merits of their case.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fed. Circ. Orders Interest Recalculation In Hardware IP Row

By Andrew Karpan

Halo Electronics' nearly two-decades-old dispute with a rival completed its fifth trip to the Federal Circuit, with the appeals court on Friday ordering a Nevada federal court to recalculate the amount of interest Halo could collect on a jury verdict.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Cheyenne Sioux Tribe Says US Must Pay For Building Repairs

By Crystal Owens

A Wyoming tribe is asking the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn an order that determined the federal government is not responsible for paying for a deteriorating building on its reservation, arguing that the contract over the structure is rooted in a treaty-based, nation-to-nation relationship.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dartmouth Wants Fed. Circ. To Ax Fees After Vitamin IP Loss

By Andrew Karpan

Dartmouth College is appealing a Delaware federal court's $9.1 million fee award after losing a fight over milk vitamins patented by a biochemist at the school, telling the Federal Circuit that there is no reason it should have presumed that the patents it asserted were "worthless."

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2nd Circ. Revives Electrical Worker's Union Pension Fight

By Emily Brill

An electrical worker can try again to argue that two trustees of his union pension fund violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by paying themselves over $1 million in compensation from the fund's assets, with the Second Circuit ruling Friday that the worker has standing to sue.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Out-Of-State Wine Sale Limits Are Justified, 3rd. Circ. Says

By Jared Foretek

The Third Circuit on Friday upheld a New Jersey law barring out-of-state sellers to directly ship wine to in-state consumers, saying that to grant a New York retailer's challenge would "shake the foundations" of New Jersey's three-tiered system for regulating alcohol.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

7th Circ. Says It's Too Early To Mull Fired ISU Coach's Suit

By Celeste Bott

A Seventh Circuit panel says it lacks the jurisdiction to consider if a lower court rightly denied dismissal of a lawsuit brought by an ex-Illinois State University football coach who claims he was unlawfully fired for posting an "All Lives Matter" sign on his office door, because the district judge postponed a decision on the school officials' qualified immunity argument.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

8th Circ. Backs Auto Co. Exec's Win In $5M Benefits Suit

By Emmy Freedman

The Eighth Circuit declined Friday to overturn a former chief operating officer's win in his lawsuit accusing an automotive company of reneging on the terms of his deferred compensation plan when he left the firm, saying the company can't rely on nonexistent documents to deny his claim to the funds.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Backs Developer's Conviction For Bribing LA Pol

By Gina Kim

The Ninth Circuit upheld a developer's conviction for bribing former Los Angeles City Councilor Jose Huizar to foil a challenge to a downtown project, ruling Thursday the district court didn't have to instruct jurors that the government had to prove the developer bribed Huizar to take a specific, official act.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Keeps Mass Starz Privacy Arbitration Consolidated

By Allison Grande

The Ninth Circuit on Friday refused to allow a consumer whose video privacy arbitration claims against Starz Entertainment LLC have been merged with more than 7,000 similar allegations to break off from the pack, finding that the television network couldn't be blamed for the current "procedural stalemate" in the consolidated arbitration proceedings. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Says Risk Justified Firing Vax-Refusing Actor

By Grace Elletson

A split Ninth Circuit panel declined Friday to revive an actor's suit claiming she was illegally removed from a Starz Network show because she rejected its COVID-19 vaccine mandate on religious grounds, ruling her immunization status posed too much of a risk to the production.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

11th Circ. Asked To Revive Defect Claims In Tesla Crash Suit

By Carolina Bolado

The father of a teenager killed in a Tesla crash asked the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to revive his battery defect claims against the electric car maker, arguing that the lower court should have allowed them to go to a jury.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-UBS Financial Adviser Must Pay $2M Back, 11th Circ. Told

By David Minsky

UBS urged the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to undo rulings in a bankruptcy adversary case precluding a former financial adviser from paying back the proceeds of a $2 million loan deposited in a joint account with his wife, saying the funds shouldn't be immune to creditors.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Justices Revive Yacht Club Worker's Injury Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

The California Supreme Court has revived a suit brought by a yacht club maintenance worker seeking to hold his employer liable for his workplace injuries under federal maritime law, saying the law preempts California's workers' compensation statute.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Texas Appeals Court Finds City Can't Take Oncor Streetlights

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appeals court found Killeen, Texas, can't claim sovereign immunity to evade a suit seeking to stop the city from taking possession of streetlights owned by a utility company, finding Friday the utility company had presented a viable constitutional claim.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NC Judge's Ballot Battle Will Sideline Voters, Court Told

By Corey Rothauser

A North Carolina Supreme Court candidate's continuing bid to throw out more than 60,000 ballots threatens to sideline thousands of legitimate voters, state election officials and his campaign rival told an appeals court on the same day they got an outpouring of amicus support.

6 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ga. Can Cap Wrongful Death Damages, US Chamber Says

By Chart Riggall

The U.S. and Georgia chambers of Commerce have urged the Supreme Court of Georgia to find that its 2010 decision striking down a $350,000 cap on noneconomic medical malpractice damages as unconstitutional should not prevent the court from allowing a similar cap in wrongful death claims.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Michigan Justices Spurn Live Nation Campers' Death Case

By Carolyn Muyskens

Concert promoter Live Nation cemented its escape from allegations that lax oversight of a music festival campground led to three festival attendees dying of carbon monoxide poisoning, as Michigan's highest court rejected the families' appeal Friday.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mich. Justices Reject Credit Suisse's NOL Carryforward Bid

By Paul Williams

The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday denied Credit Suisse's bid to appeal a lower court's decision that barred the bank from straying from the federal method of determining taxable income to carry forward $21.3 million in losses on its state returns.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wash. Judge Picks Apart Parents' Hospital Data Privacy Suit

By Rachel Riley

A Washington appellate judge on Friday grilled parents seeking to revive their proposed privacy class action against a Seattle hospital, expressing frustration with their argument that state wiretapping law could apply to an individual's queries to a public-facing website.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Minn. Justices Send Golf Course Dispute Back To Tax Court

By Jaqueline McCool

The Minnesota Supreme Court booted a county's property tax fight with the former owner of a golf course back to the state's tax court, saying the lower court's decision to keep the case alive was not a final order subject to review by the justices.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Drug Kickback Ruling Will Make FCA Liability Harder To Prove

The First Circuit's ruling in U.S. v. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, requiring the government to prove but-for causation to establish False Claims Act liability based on violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute, raises the bar for FCA enforcement and deepens a circuit split that the U.S. Supreme Court may need to resolve, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Notable Q4 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

In a continuation of trends in property and casualty insurance class actions, last quarter insurers struggled with defending the merits and class certification of sales tax and fee suits, and labor depreciation cases, but succeeded in dismissing privacy class actions at the pleading stages, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NYC Bar Slams Trump's Order On Covington Attys

By Emily Sawicki

The New York City Bar Association has joined the chorus of legal groups decrying President Donald Trump's order suspending security clearances held by Covington & Burling LLP attorneys representing former special counsel Jack Smith, calling it an "improper use of government power."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Commerce Official To Chair Gibson Dunn Sanctions Group

By James Mills

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP is creating a new sanctions and export enforcement practice group and bringing in a former U.S. Commerce Department official as a partner in its Washington, D.C. office to lead it.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-White House Cyber Pro Joins Sidley As DC Privacy Partner

By Tracey Read

The former chief of staff at the White House Office of the National Cyber Director has returned to the private sector as a Sidley Austin LLP privacy and cybersecurity practice partner in Washington, the firm said Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dems Claim DOJ Atty's 'Quid Pro Quo' Violated Ethics Rules

By Dorothy Atkins

Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee senior members lodged ethics complaints against acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, accusing the recently appointed Bove of violating ethics rules by allegedly pushing prosecutors to drop criminal bribery charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a "quid pro quo" deal with President Donald Trump.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Group Blasts Judge's Call For Women In Contraception MDL

By Carolina Bolado

A judicial organization dedicated to fighting "leftist lawfare" filed a complaint Thursday against the Florida federal judge overseeing multidistrict litigation over the hormonal contraceptive drug Depo-Provera, claiming that her comments about women needing to be represented in the MDL leadership show an impermissible bias.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roc Nation Aims To Get Out Of Buzbee Conspiracy Suit

By Ryan Boysen

Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's company Roc Nation has asked a Texas federal court to let it exit a lawsuit that claims Roc Nation conspired to "finance" malpractice suits against attorney Tony Buzbee in retaliation for an abortive lawsuit Buzbee filed accusing the rap star of rape.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

While many companies are removing diversity language from their public websites, a new survey shows that about half of its respondents do not plan on changing their DEI programs. And the general counsel for the new Tiger Woods/Rory McIlroy golf league talked about his love of the sport and the legal work involved in the new venture.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen the billionaire Zakay brothers, founders of Topland Group, become embroiled in a legal dispute with each other, Unilever sue three major perfume companies over alleged illegal price-fixing, and the publisher of Vogue magazine file an intellectual property suit against Cornucopia Events. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Holwell Shuster & Goldberg LLP and Kontnik Cohen LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court held that cases dismissed voluntarily can later be eligible for special judicial relief and reopening, even if a statute of limitations would typically block the lawsuit.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »