Fla. Judge Can't Get Free Speech Ruling In Ethics Case

By Madison Arnold

A hearing panel chair for the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission on Wednesday denied a state judge's attempt to prevent authorities from presenting evidence or argument that her "philosophical beliefs" violated judicial ethics guidelines because she improperly used a particular kind of motion.

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US Chamber Backs Fla. City In ADA Retirement Benefits Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce urged the U.S. Supreme Court to back the Eleventh Circuit's determination that federal disability law doesn't protect former employees from post-employment bias, arguing a former Florida firefighter is trying to stretch the statute beyond what Congress intended.

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Fla. Judges May Create Nonprofits To Improve Legal System

By Emily Sawicki

Sunshine State judges may form nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations with a focus on improving the legal system, the state's judicial ethics watchdog has found, also clearing the way for judges to serve as board members of these nonprofit groups.

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Fla. Couple Ask To Revive Suit Over Unclaimed Property

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida couple asked the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday to revive their proposed class suit against the state's chief financial officer over a law that allows officials to hold unclaimed money indefinitely, arguing that it is a taking without just compensation because the state never pays interest on the amount held.

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11th Circ. Says No Coverage For Holding Co. In $11.7M Row

By Elizabeth Daley

The Eleventh Circuit unanimously affirmed Wednesday that an insurer doesn't have to cover underlying litigation against a holding company by investors who wanted to revoke an $11.7 million buy-in, because claims were made before the policy was active.

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11th Circ. Told Everglades Project Will Reduce Water Supplies

By David Minsky

Several Florida sugar growers urged the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday to reverse a decision allowing an Everglades flood control project to proceed, saying a lower court wrongly accepted a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers impact analysis that will result in water supply loss to the surrounding area.

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5 Charged For 'Scattered Spider' Phishing Hacks, Crypto Theft

By Rachel Scharf

California federal prosecutors unveiled a criminal case Wednesday accusing five alleged members of the "Scattered Spider" cybercrime group of using a phishing scheme to access the confidential data of media and technology companies and steal $11 million worth of cryptocurrency from digital wallets.

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Fla. Tax Preparer Gets 4 Years For Tax Fraud Scheme

By Asha Glover

A barred Florida tax preparer was sentenced to four years in prison for falsifying returns to trigger inflated refunds for participants in a three-year tax fraud scheme called the "note program," the U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday.

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Insurance Mogul Seeks Transfer To Fla. Halfway House

By Hayley Fowler

A billionaire businessman embroiled in a host of criminal and civil suits centered on his crumbling insurance empire wants to relocate to a halfway house in Florida as he awaits sentencing on federal bribery charges, saying restrictions at the county jail have hamstrung his ability to talk to his defense attorneys.

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NC Judge Trims Suit Against Investor Over Fla. Restaurant

By David Minsky

A North Carolina state court judge has trimmed a lawsuit that a restaurateur brought against an investor over funding of a restaurant in the heart of Miami Beach, dismissing claims of breach of settlement agreement, fraudulent inducement and deceptive trade practices but declining to toss the complaint altogether.

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Ex-Fla. Official Says Litigation Privilege Bars Defamation Suit

By Carolina Bolado

A former Florida banking regulator fired because of sexual harassment allegations told the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday that a lawyer's defamation claims against him were barred by the litigation privilege because they are based entirely on claims made in a lawsuit.

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BigLaw Begins Matching Milbank On Associate Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

Following the news Tuesday that Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP will pay associates year-end and special bonuses in line with those handed out by Milbank LLP this year, the firms' peers have begun to respond, with swift matches Wednesday by Paul Hastings LLP and McDermott Will & Emery LLP.

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DOJ Settles With Atty Who Reported Judge's Sexual Misconduct

By Lauren Berg

A former Alaska federal prosecutor who made allegations of sexual misconduct against then-U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred has reached an undisclosed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice resolving claims she suffered retaliation for speaking up, the U.S. Office of Special Counsel said Wednesday.

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Foley Shouldn't Face Data Breach Claims, Calif. Panel Says

By Dorothy Atkins

A California appellate panel affirmed the dismissal of Accellion Inc.'s cross-complaint against law firm Foley & Lardner LLP in an insurance company's lawsuit claiming the software-maker should be held liable for a $1 million ransomware attack that targeted the law firm, finding that Accellion's cross-claims are untimely.

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Weil Litigation Leaders Jump To Paul Weiss In NY

By Tracey Read

The co-chair of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's global litigation department and the co-head of Weil's patent litigation practice will soon be joining Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP in New York, the latter firm announced Wednesday.

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Akerman Opens In Charlotte With 2 Moore & Van Allen Hires

By Xiumei Dong

Akerman LLP announced Wednesday the firm opened its second North Carolina office in Charlotte and brought on two new partners from Moore & Van Allen PLLC, including the former head of its renewable energy project finance team and a tax law expert.

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Judiciary Touts Reforms In Handling Workplace Complaints

By Ryan Boysen

The federal judiciary is successfully reforming the controversial process that aims to protect its 30,000 employees from sexual harassment in the workplace, according to a new internal report released Wednesday, even as lawmakers have called for scrapping that process altogether and replacing it with a new one.

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Trump Wants 'Immediate Dismissal' Of NY Hush Money Case

By Frank G. Runyeon

President-elect Donald Trump's legal team told the New York judge who presided over his hush money trial that his conviction should be thrown out due to his "overwhelming victory" at the polls, according to a filing released Wednesday.

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Musk, Ramaswamy Say High Court Rulings OK Federal Cuts

By Lauren Berg

Billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, President-elect Donald Trump's picks to lead a newly created "Department of Government Efficiency," on Wednesday said two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings will give them the authority to cut off power to regulatory agencies and conduct massive federal layoffs.

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House Dem Proposes Vote Forcing Release Of Gaetz Report

By Hailey Konnath

U.S. Rep. Sean Casten on Wednesday introduced a resolution that would require the House of Representatives to vote on whether the House Ethics Committee must release its report on the allegations against former U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, a proposal unveiled the same day the ethics committee failed to reach a consensus.

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Fed. Judges Still Seek New Bench Seats Amid Dems' Loss

By Courtney Bublé

The Federal Judges Association is urging the House to pass the bipartisan bill that would expand the federal courts in order to meet rising caseloads, even as the Biden administration appears to be cooling on the idea it once supported.

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Calif. Judicial Nominee Asked About Race, Parenting Writings

By Courtney Bublé

A California judicial nominee's previous writing about the murder of George Floyd in 2020, which sparked a national reckoning on race, was the subject of debate during a Senate nomination hearing on Wednesday.

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Washington State, DC District Court Picks Secure Seats

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate on Wednesday voted 50-48 to confirm Washington Court of Appeals Judge Rebecca L. Pennell to the Eastern District of Washington and 50-49 to confirm Amir Ali, former president and executive director of the MacArthur Justice Center and co-director of the Criminal Justice Appellate Clinic at Harvard Law School, to the District of Columbia.

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Girardi Pushes For New Trial Over Competency Claims

By Cara Salvatore

Counsel for Tom Girardi told a federal judge the disbarred attorney is plainly mentally incompetent and deserves a new trial over charges he defrauded clients of $15 million worth of settlement money.

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