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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NASA Can Pick Disputed Small Biz For $282M Tech Deal

By Daniel Wilson

A Court of Federal Claims judge has rejected a protest over a $282.2 million NASA space technology development contract, saying the winning bidder was reasonably determined to be an eligible small business and that NASA fairly evaluated bids for the deal.

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Texas Offers Up Land To Help Trump's Mass Deportation Plan

By Britain Eakin

The Texas General Land Office is offering up 1,400 acres of ranch land near the U.S.-Mexico border to the incoming Trump administration to construct deportation facilities to support the president-elect's plan for mass removals.

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MVP: Wiley's Scott M. McCaleb

By Alyssa Aquino

Wiley Rein LLP's Scott McCaleb led a military shipbuilder's successful defense against workers' antitrust claims and advanced The Boeing Co.'s $1 million fight against a Defense Contract Management Agency contract costs adjustment, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Government Contracts MVPs.

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NJ Power Broker, Attys Demand Wiretap Docs In RICO Case

By Jake Maher

George E. Norcross III, a politically influential insurance executive in New Jersey, and others accused alongside him of a massive racketeering scheme demanded Wednesday that state prosecutors turn over complete wiretap application information dating back to 2016, arguing that those details form the core of the state's case against them.

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Brief

'Fat Leonard' To Appeal 15-Year Sentence Over Navy Bribery

By Rae Ann Varona

A Malaysian defense contractor and ex-fugitive who pled guilty nearly 10 years ago to a bribery scheme that authorities said cost the U.S. Navy over $20 million has indicated in California federal court that he will appeal his 15-year sentence to the Ninth Circuit.

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Prison Phone Cos. Say FCC Reg Fight Belongs In 5th Circ.

By Nadia Dreid

There should have been no lottery to decide where to place an appeal challenging the Federal Communications Commission's new caps on rates charged for prison phone calls — the matter belongs in the Fifth Circuit, a pair of prison phone service providers told the First Circuit.

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Flint School Atty Can't Get Immunity In Defamation Case

By Carolyn Muyskens

Outside counsel for Flint Community Schools who accused her predecessor of overcharging the public school district is not entitled to a form of immunity that shields government officials from liability for statements made during official proceedings, a state appellate court panel ruled on Tuesday.

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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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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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