Law On Indian Country Jurisdiction Still Unsettled, Tulsa Says

By Crystal Owens

Officials of Tulsa, Oklahoma, have asked a federal district court to deny an intervention bid by the United States in a tribal challenge over criminal jurisdiction, saying that as an alternative, the lawsuit should be paused pending the outcome of a state case in which the governor's brother is fighting a speeding ticket.

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Nonprofits Renew Bid To Enter Red States' Border Wall Suit

By Alyssa Aquino

Two nonprofits urged a Texas federal court to add them to a challenge to the Biden administration's plans to use border wall appropriations for remediation projects, saying they were shocked by the administration's acceptance of an order suspending the plan.

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Local Governments Seek Sanctions For PBMs In Opioid MDL

By Mike Curley

Four municipalities are asking an Ohio federal court overseeing the national opioid litigation to sanction pharmacy benefit managers Express Scripts Inc. and OptumRX Inc., saying they've willfully defied the court's order to provide complete responses to discovery requests.

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Brief

Wyo. Tribe Secures $9.2M For Wastewater Infrastructure

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Northern Arapaho Business Council has been awarded a nearly $9.2 million federal grant aimed at improving a wastewater system known as the Beaver Creek Lagoon that serves the Beaver Creek housing development and Wind River Hotel & Casino.

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Family Sues Feds For Fatal Shooting On Reservation

By Crystal Owens

The family of a Tohono O'odham Nation man who was shot and killed by U.S. Border Patrol agents is suing the federal government and the agents involved for wrongful death, alleging that his calm demeanor was greeted with a hail of gunfire.

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McKinsey Can't Nix Pregnant Women's Claims In Opioid MDL

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has cut some claims from multidistrict litigation seeking to hold McKinsey & Co. Inc. liable for infant neonatal abstinence syndrome caused by pregnant women's use of opioids, trimming fraud and nuisance-based claims, but allowing conspiracy and aiding-and-abetting claims to proceed against the consulting firm.

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Pa. Federal District Judge Gene Pratter Dead At 75

By James Boyle

U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter, who joined the bench in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2004 and presided over several landmark cases, died Friday at the age of 75, according to a statement from the court.

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Baker McKenzie Ends FOIA Suit Over IRS Partnership Audits

By Ali Sullivan

A Baker McKenzie attorney has dropped a public records lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service that sought to compel the agency to turn over documents pertaining to its scrutiny of large partnerships.

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ABA's Education Section Endorses Alternative Atty Licensing

By Matt Perez

The American Bar Association's national accrediting arm for law degree programs announced during a council meeting Friday the adoption of a report that effectively recognizes alternative methods of attorney licensing outside the bar exam.

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Senate Confirms 1st Circ. Judicial Nomination

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 49-40 on Monday evening to confirm Assistant U.S. Attorney Seth Aframe to the First Circuit, making every judge on the appellate court's full bench a Democratic presidential pick.

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Judge Assails Trump Witness After Manhattan DA Rests Case

By Stewart Bishop & Frank G. Runyeon

The Manhattan district attorney's office on Monday rested its case in the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records, while a Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP attorney and witness found himself on the wrong side of New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

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Menendez Texts With Wife A Legislative Promise, Judge Says

By Pete Brush

Emoji-laden texts between Sen. Robert Menendez and his wife about an arms sale constitute a legislative promise, a Manhattan federal judge reiterated Monday, as the government seeks to prove the power couple had a corrupt agreement with a New Jersey businessman.

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Investor Group Wants Slowdown On Del. Corporation Law Bill

By Jeff Montgomery

Critics of a fast-tracked proposal to amend Delaware's General Corporation Law to give controlling stockholders wider influence or vetoes over some board decisions are urging the state's bar association to tap the brakes, following a Chancery Court decision striking down a Moelis & Co. stockholder agreement as flouting existing law.

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Texas' Naive Witness 'Unacceptable' In Google Ad Tech Suit

By Catherine Marfin

A judge overseeing a Texas-led lawsuit accusing Google of anti-competitive conduct in the display advertising market has ordered the attorneys general bringing the litigation to provide an adequate witness who can speak to certain facts about the investigation, calling their failure to do so "puzzling and unacceptable."

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Girardi Wants To Probe Jurors' 'Real Housewives' Exposure

By Brandon Lowrey

Public defenders for Tom Girardi want to ask prospective jurors in his upcoming fraud trial whether they have seen his wife's reality television show and news reporting about his law firm's massive scandal, according to a recent motion in Los Angeles federal court.

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UTA Atty Sued Over 'Pathological Liar' Remark Nears Win

By Craig Clough

Counsel for MediaLink's founder on Monday urged a Los Angeles judge not to toss his $125 million defamation suit against United Talent Agency's attorney for publicly calling him a "pathological liar," saying the tentative ruling protecting the attorney's speech would immunize lawyers to say "whatever they want" about opposing parties.

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McElroy Deutsch Says Ex-Exec's Guilt Boosts Home Claim

By Emily Sawicki

McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP doubled down on its attempt to seize the home of two former firm executives following a guilty plea on criminal embezzlement charges earlier this month by one of them, the firm's former chief financial officer.

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Trial In Blackmail Case Over Judge's Photos Delayed

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida state judge agreed Monday to push back the trial in a Palm Beach County judge's suit accusing an attorney of trying to blackmail her with nude photographs, after the defendant cited discovery delays and an ongoing bellwether trial in multidistrict litigation against Chiquita that is tying up the schedule of two key witnesses.

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Dorothy Beasley, Ga.'s 1st Woman Chief Appellate Judge, Dies

By Madison Arnold

The first woman both appointed and elected to the Court of Appeals of Georgia, Judge Dorothy Toth Beasley, is remembered by her colleagues for the glass ceilings she shattered as well as for two important words she had inscribed in the courtroom.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Leslie A. Pappas

Delaware was full of drama last week, as proposed changes to the state's corporate law statutes raised eyebrows and a professor's friend-of-the-court brief sparked a very unfriendly public exchange. Delaware's court of equity banged the gavel on pipeline and social media disputes, and shareholders filed new suits alleging insider trading, vote bungling, unfair stock buybacks and merger shenanigans. In case you missed any of it, here's the recap of all the top news last week from Delaware's Chancery Court.

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