A Washington federal judge on Tuesday criticized the U.S. State Department for canceling resettlement contracts a day after he blocked President Donald Trump's sudden shutdown of the refugee entry program, saying he had concerns it was done to deliberately circumvent his court's ruling.
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TOP NEWS

'Remarkable Coincidence': Judge Blasts Refugee Cuts Timing

By Greg Lamm

A Washington federal judge on Tuesday criticized the U.S. State Department for canceling resettlement contracts a day after he blocked President Donald Trump's sudden shutdown of the refugee entry program, saying he had concerns it was done to deliberately circumvent his court's ruling.

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Court Can't Review Nix Of Venezuela Protected Status, DHS Says

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security told a California federal court it lacks authority to review a recent decision to scrap existing deportation protections for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans, and urged the court to reject a push to have it put on hold.

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Agencies Have 'Ultimate' Authority Over Firings, OPM Says

By Hailey Konnath

The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday issued a revised version of its January memo directing agency heads to identify all probationary employees, adding a disclaimer that OPM "is not directing agencies to take any specific performance-based actions" and that agencies "have ultimate decision-making authority."

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POLICY & REGULATION

Brief

USCIS Plans To Ask Noncitizens For Social Media Handles

By Britain Eakin

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced Tuesday that it plans to examine social media accounts of anyone trying to enter the country, as well as noncitizens applying for immigration benefits.

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LITIGATION

FEMA's Ex-CFO Sues Over Firing Tied To Migrant Housing

By Rae Ann Varona

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's former chief financial officer alleged Tuesday in D.C. federal court that the agency unlawfully fired her, citing a U.S. Department of Homeland Security press release she said falsely and deliberately suggested that she engaged in criminal actions.

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ADMINISTRATIVE DISPUTES

Judge Says Flooring Co. Failed To Justify H-2B Worker Need

By Tom Lotshaw

A U.S. Department of Labor appeals board judge affirmed the denial of a Florida-based flooring company's application for 10 foreign workers to help with installations, ruling that it failed to establish a temporary employment need or a need for that number of workers.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

How Law Firms Can Counteract The Loneliness Epidemic

The legal industry is facing an urgent epidemic of loneliness, affecting lawyer well-being, productivity, retention and profitability, and law firm leaders should take concrete steps to encourage the development of genuine workplace connections, says Michelle Gomez at Littler and Gwen Mellor Romans at Herald Talent.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

DOJ's Absence Felt At ABA Conference On White Collar Crime

By Carolina Bolado

Officials from the U.S. Department of Justice were conspicuously absent Wednesday from the American Bar Association's annual white collar crime conference, leaving organizers scrambling to fill empty panel seats and practitioners guessing as to what the Trump administration's enforcement priorities will be.

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Wilson Sonsini Latest Firm To Announce Beijing Closure

By Tracey Read

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC confirmed Wednesday that it will reduce its presence in Greater China by shutting down its Beijing office.

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Atty Who Repped Trump And Bannon Joins Brownstein Hyatt

By Jack Rodgers

Evan Corcoran, who represented President Donald Trump in his classified documents case and Steve Bannon in his contempt of Congress trial, has joined Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP's Washington, D.C., office.

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Ex-DOJ Official Jeffrey Clark Returns To Trump Administration

By Alison Knezevich

Jeffrey Clark, a former U.S. Department of Justice official who is facing criminal charges in Georgia and fighting to save his law license over claims that he helped President Donald Trump try to overturn the results of the 2020 election, has returned to the federal government.

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Atty's Vanity Plate Gets Spotlight In Fatal Shooting Trial

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut prosecutor has zeroed in on the vanity license plate that was on Cramer & Anderson LLP partner Robert L. Fisher Jr.'s car when he fatally shot an attacker in June 2021, asking the defendant's character witnesses Wednesday if they knew about it, and if so, what they thought of it.

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Jury Mulling Judge's Murder Trial Hears More Arguments

By Gina Kim

With jury deliberations in the murder trial of a California judge who fatally shot his wife stretching into their sixth day Wednesday, the presiding judge allowed the prosecution and defense to make additional arguments addressing the jury's question about the willfulness requirement for second-degree murder.

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Del. Corporate Law Bill Poses 'Grave Risk,' Plaintiffs' Firms Say

By Jeff Montgomery

Five of Delaware's most active corporate litigation plaintiffs' firms have branded pending legislation aimed at curbing stockholder suits as a "dangerous and radical" measure that attacks the state's courts and will put Delaware's nationally known incorporation franchise "at grave risk."

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ABA Says Attys Victimized By Clients May Share Certain Info

By Emily Sawicki

An attorney who is a victim of a crime perpetrated by a client or prospective client may disclose client information "to the extent reasonably necessary to report a crime," the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility has found in its latest ethics opinion, released Wednesday.

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Senate Confirms Todd Blanche To Be Trump's Deputy AG

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 52-46 on Wednesday to confirm Todd Blanche, one of President Donald Trump's former criminal attorneys, to be deputy attorney general.

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High Court Allows Release Of Frozen USAID Foreign Aid

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that a D.C. federal judge can require the Trump administration to release up to $2 billion in frozen foreign aid funding, but told the judge he must clarify the scope of the government's responsibility and ensure it has enough time to comply with any deadline. 

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Revived Bill To Add Judges Teed Up For Another House Vote

By Courtney Bublé

The House Judiciary Committee voted out of committee three bills on Wednesday along party lines, including legislation to add more federal judgeships that the federal judiciary says are needed desperately but has become subject to partisan fighting.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arnold & Porter

Bernstein Litowitz

Brownstein Hyatt

Cadwalader Wickersham

Cleary Gottlieb

Conti Levy

Cramer & Anderson

Dentons

Eversheds Sutherland

Foley & Lardner

Friedlander & Gorris

Grant & Eisenhofer

Labaton Keller

Littler Mendelson

Mark S. Zaid PC

Milbank LLP

Morris James

Paul Hastings

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Richards Layton

Rosen Hagood

Scott&Scott

Silverman Thompson

Steptoe LLP

Wiley Rein

WilmerHale

Wilson Sonsini

Zuckerman Spaeder

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Bar Association

American Civil Liberties Union

American Federation of Government Employees

Audi AG

Church World Service Inc.

Coinbase Global Inc.

Fortress Investment Group LLC

Gallup Inc.

International Refugee Assistance Project

LinkedIn Corp.

National Rifle Association of America

Pfizer Inc.

Public Citizen Inc.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

Tesla Inc.

The Boston Consulting Group Inc.

The New York Times Co.

UCLA School of Law

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Executive Office of the President

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Fish and Wildlife Service

National Park Service

U.S. Agency for International Development

U.S. Army

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Department of State

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Office of Personnel Management

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

US Office of Management and Budget

United Nations