Wash. Adopts New Labor Standards For Domestic Workers

By Rachel Riley

Nannies, housekeepers and other domestic workers in Washington state will soon have many of the same labor protections as employees in traditional workplace settings thanks to a bill that Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed into law on Monday.

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Wash. To Set Its Own Vaccine Schedule Under New State Law

By Dan McKay

Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson has signed legislation that requires health plans to cover vaccines and other preventive care recommended by the state rather than the federal government, joining a movement toward states setting their own recommendations.

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Wash. Senate Passes Bill Banning Masked Law Enforcement

By Elizabeth Daley

A bill to prohibit law enforcement officers, including federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, from concealing their faces while interacting with the public has received final approval from the Washington state Senate, making the state one of many to consider such legislation.

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Wash. Justices Seem Open To Palestinian's Racial Bias Claim

By Rachel Riley

The Washington State Supreme Court appeared somewhat receptive on Tuesday to a Palestinian patient's argument that an unfavorable jury verdict in her medical malpractice trial was tainted by racism, with several justices concerned that the defense had described the accused doctor as "from this part of the world" during openings.

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Judge Fumes As Live Nation Antitrust Trial Remains In Limbo

By Stewart Bishop

The status of Live Nation Entertainment's antitrust trial and proposed settlement over federal and state government claims of anticompetitive conduct remained up in the air Tuesday amid pushback by several states, while the Manhattan federal judge overseeing the case upbraided the parties for keeping him out of the loop about negotiations.

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Feds Urge End To IRS Wind, Solar Safe Harbor Fight

By Keith Goldberg

The Trump administration has told a D.C. federal judge there's no basis to sustain a lawsuit challenging an IRS notice eliminating a safe harbor test that wind and solar projects could use to qualify for clean energy tax credits.

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Judge Won't Block Millions In Salmon Hatchery Tribal Awards

By Crystal Owens

A Washington federal judge won't block millions in Pacific salmon hatchery grants or set aside $22 million for two Indigenous nations that allege they were unfairly deemed ineligible for the funding, saying the tribes don't meet the standard for relief and are unlikely to succeed on the merits.

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Panel Blocks Pension Atty Fee Deduction By Wash. Agency

By Ben Adlin

Washington's Department of Retirement Systems can't pay down a $12.6 million legal bill related to a $32 million class settlement over pensions by deducting from a class member's withdrawal of their state retirement contributions, a three-judge state appellate panel ruled Tuesday, partially affirming a trial court's ruling in the worker's favor.

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Law Firm, Ex-Client At Odds Over $7.2M Fee Dispute

By Ben Adlin

Law firm Lee & Hayes PC urged a Washington federal judge to reject a former client's effort to escape more than $7 million in legal fees that the firm says it's owed, claiming that Continuous Composites misled its legal team as the company negotiated a $25 million intellectual property settlement with a rival.

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$1.3B Award Set-Aside Decision Captures 9th Circ.'s Attention

By Caroline Simson

A lawyer representing satellite communications company shareholders looking to enforce a $1.3 billion arbitral award found himself in the hot seat during a Ninth Circuit hearing Tuesday, as U.S. Circuit Judge Lucy Koh sharply questioned him about the effect of an Indian court ruling setting aside the award.

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Morgan Lewis Adds 2 Data Center Pros From Perkins Coie

By Madison Arnold

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP announced Tuesday that it added two new partners to its national real estate platform from Perkins Coie LLP.

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Military Attys In DOJ 'Erodes Democratic Norms,' Ex-JAGs Say

By Lauren Berg

Nearly a dozen former military lawyers raised the alarm about the Trump administration appointing judge advocate officers to U.S. attorneys' offices, urging a Minnesota federal judge Tuesday to bar an Army lawyer from prosecuting a case that accuses a civilian of assaulting federal immigration enforcement agents.

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DOJ Official Faces Ethics Case Over Georgetown DEI Letters

By Alison Knezevich

U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin has been hit with disciplinary charges in the nation's capital over threatening letters he sent to Georgetown University Law Center last year while he was interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.

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Dems Confront Roberts At Wide-Ranging Judiciary Gathering

By Jeff Overley

The federal judiciary's top administrator voiced "serious and urgent concerns" Tuesday regarding threats of retribution against judges, a warning that coincided with a judicial gathering where Democrats discussed security fears and controversial U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

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Prosecutor Resigns, Judge Shows Slide Deck On AI Errors

By Abigail Harrison

A federal prosecutor told a North Carolina federal court Tuesday that he was separating from the office after admitting in open court to using artificial intelligence to help draft a response brief, which he called "the worst decision I've ever made in my 30-year career."

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Calif. Atty Gets Over 11 Years For Solar $1B Ponzi Scheme

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has sentenced a corporate attorney to 11 years and five months behind bars after he pled guilty to nearly two dozen charges for his role in DC Solar's $912 million Ponzi scheme, which duped major investors including Berkshire Hathaway, Progressive and SunTrust Equipment Finance & Leasing.

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Ex-Moses & Singer Partner Admits Tax Crimes, Will Pay $2.8M

By Aaron Keller

A former Moses & Singer LLP partner admitted to practice in New York and North Carolina courts has pled guilty to three counts of failing to file personal income tax returns and will pay $2.8 million in restitution, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut announced Monday.

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Judiciary Approves Supreme Court Public Defender Office

By Katie Buehler

The federal judiciary approved a new office Tuesday aimed at improving the quality of representation for indigent defendants with cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

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DOJ Unveils Superseding Policy For Corporate Criminal Cases

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday released its first-ever, department-wide, corporate enforcement policy for criminal matters, outlining how it will decline to prosecute companies that voluntarily disclose misconduct, cooperate with investigators and remediate wrongdoing.

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DLA Piper Can't Rep Itself At Bias Trial, Fired Atty Says

By Pete Brush

DLA Piper should not be permitted to represent itself at trial in a pregnancy discrimination case brought by a senior associate who was fired in 2022, lawyers for the plaintiff told a Manhattan federal judge.

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Judge Nixed Over MAGA Op-Ed Seeks Reinstatement

By Emily Sawicki

A retired Illinois state trial court judge pursuing First Amendment claims against the state Supreme Court after his right-wing opinion column resulted in his removal from a temporary judgeship has moved for immediate reinstatement to the Cook County Circuit Court.

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Wisconsin Judges Decline To Extend Interim US Atty's Term

By Courtney Bublé

A majority of judges in the Eastern District of Wisconsin have declined to extend the tenure of interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel, according to an announcement Tuesday.

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J&J Opposes Beasley Allen Reinstatement Bid In NJ Talc Fight

By Emily Sawicki

Johnson & Johnson is urging the New Jersey Supreme Court to not take the "extraordinary step" of intervening in an appellate panel ruling that disqualified Beasley Allen from representing hundreds of women in product liability litigation against the pharmaceutical giant after the Georgia-based firm "knowingly collaborated" with a former Johnson & Johnson outside counsel.

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