Business of Law

  • February 12, 2024

    USPTO Says AI-Assisted Invention Patents Hinge On Humans

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Monday issued guidance on how it will determine whether inventions developed with the assistance of artificial intelligence can be patented, explaining that a human must have made a "significant contribution."

  • February 12, 2024

    Newman Cleared To Fight Law In DC, But Not Suspension

    U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman may challenge the law she has been suspended under, but she cannot get an injunction that would allow her to hear cases on the Federal Circuit again, nor fight how the law has been directly applied to her, a D.C. federal judge said Monday.

  • February 12, 2024

    Paul Hastings Adds Corporate Trio From Akin Gump In Texas

    Paul Hastings LLP announced Monday that it has brought on a three-member team of corporate lawyers in Houston from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP who boast more than 70 combined years of mergers and acquisitions and securities experience between them.

  • February 09, 2024

    In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

    For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

  • February 09, 2024

    No More Shady Trading For Ex-FBI Trainee After BigLaw Theft

    The former FBI trainee who secretly traded nonpublic information that he stole from his BigLaw associate ex-girlfriend has agreed to a civil judgment against him permanently barring him from violating securities laws, a judgment entered just months after he pled guilty to insider trading.

  • February 09, 2024

    NJ Won't Restrict Ch. 11 Cases To Certain Judges, Group Told

    A creditors advocacy group concerned about "judge-shopping" in major bankruptcy cases has said the chief judge of New Jersey's increasingly popular bankruptcy court has assured the group he will not limit such cases to particular jurists.

  • February 09, 2024

    Labaton, Rolnick Clash Over Legal Fees In Materials Co. Deal

    Law-firm battling has sharpened over multimillion-dollar legal fee claims linked to a proposed $19 million Delaware Court of Chancery settlement for a stockholder suit challenging a $3.1 billion materials company sale in 2019, court records show.

  • February 09, 2024

    FCRA Immunity Waiver Ruling Tees Up Compliance Frenzy

    A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Fair Credit Reporting Act waives federal agencies' immunity from lawsuits will not only open the door to more litigation against government lenders but may also trigger housecleaning to ensure that debts are correctly reported, experts told Law360.

  • February 09, 2024

    Thompson Coe Atty Is Starting His Own Plaintiffs Firm

    Houston trial lawyer Will Moye, who has defended clients such as the Houston Astros, Chevron and Ford Motor Co. against personal injury and product liability claims, announced he's switching sides and will launch his own firm representing injured plaintiffs.

  • February 09, 2024

    NC Committee Open To More Transparent Discipline Process

    A North Carolina legislative committee tasked with taking a closer look at the State Bar's grievance process seemed open on Friday to giving attorneys facing discipline greater access to information while they're under investigation, a process that's currently cloaked in confidence.

  • February 09, 2024

    Buchalter, Parker Milliken Accused In $19M Theft From Trusts

    Attorneys from law firms Buchalter APC and Parker Milliken Clark O'Hara & Samuelian have been accused by members of a Los Angeles-based group of trusts of conspiring to help their client bilk nearly $20 million from the trusts in a Ponzi scheme.

  • February 09, 2024

    Pa. Atty Aims To Escape Litigation Funding Scheme Suit

    A Pennsylvania lawyer has called on a federal court to toss a former client's claims that an attorney from the lawyer's firm improperly used his workplace injury case as collateral to secure litigation funding and then transferred the high-interest-rate loans to his legal fees.

  • February 09, 2024

    'Not Walmart': Ex-McElroy Deutsch CFO Must Face Theft Suit

    A New Jersey state judge on Friday declined to remove McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP's former chief financial officer from a suit accusing him and his wife of stealing more than $3 million, noting that the heightened ethical duty imposed on law firms justifies keeping the claims alive. 

  • February 09, 2024

    Conn. Justices Asked To Rule On McCarter Damages Dispute

    A Connecticut federal judge has granted McCarter & English LLP more than $680,000 in prejudgment interest after the firm's victory on claims a former client refused to pay legal fees in an underlying suit.

  • February 09, 2024

    Burford Can't Sub For Sysco In Pork, Beef Price-Fixing Suits

    Legal investment firm Burford Capital cannot substitute for Sysco in sprawling price-fixing lawsuits against pork and beef producers because doing so would extend the litigation just so Burford can maximize its return on investment, a Minnesota federal judge ruled Friday.

  • February 09, 2024

    NY Panel Rejects NYCLU Demand For Memos To State Judges

    A New York state appellate court said the state's court system is not bound to comply with a request by the New York Civil Liberties Union to disclose internal documents interpreting federal and state law that were sent to judges over the course of more than a decade.

  • February 09, 2024

    GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

    Big Tech general counsel are among those who have launched a legal community aimed at accelerating the adoption of generative artificial intelligence in the corporate space, and a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of a UBS whistleblower solidified protections across a wide range of industries. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

  • February 09, 2024

    Willkie Opens Munich Office, 20 Frankfurt Attys To Join

    Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP announced Thursday the expansion of its footprint in Germany with the launch of an office in Munich.

  • February 09, 2024

    Workday Bias Case Should Stay In Calif., Md.-Based Atty Says

    A Black senior counsel at Workday urged a California federal court to keep alive his race and disability discrimination suit against the human resources services company and a deputy general counsel, saying his claims under California law are valid despite his living in Maryland.

  • February 09, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen a Saudi Arabian property investor file legal action against RLS Solicitors, Aspire Pharma and Bayer Intellectual Property tackle a patent dispute, the owners of soccer club West Ham United FC raise a red card against E20 Stadium LLP with a commercial fraud action, and accountants BDO file another commercial claim against the managing directors of KGJ Insurance Services. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • February 08, 2024

    Dechert Pushes To Deep-Six Hacking Cover-Up Suit

    Dechert LLP, its former white collar practice leader and others on Thursday urged a New York federal judge to find that alleged concealment of a hacking campaign to discredit a critic of a firm client isn't enough to support a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act case.

  • February 08, 2024

    DOJ Won't Prosecute Biden For Keeping Classified Docs

    President Joe Biden "willfully retained" documents related to foreign policy in Afghanistan and other classified materials following his vice presidency, but there is not enough evidence to pursue criminal charges against him, according to a lengthy U.S. Department of Justice report released Thursday.

  • February 08, 2024

    Ex-Trump Aide Peter Navarro Can't Stay Free During Appeal

    A District of Columbia federal judge on Thursday refused to allow former White House adviser Peter Navarro to remain outside of prison while he appeals his sentence for refusing to comply with congressional subpoenas, rejecting Navarro's argument that his appeal raises a "substantial question of law" warranting his release.

  • February 08, 2024

    5 Key Takeaways From Justices' Trump DQ Arguments

    A special U.S. Supreme Court session Thursday examining Colorado's removal of former President Donald Trump from its primary ballot was dominated by debate over a state's authority to do so, but the justices also found time to examine Reconstruction-era language choices and weigh the benefits of relying on ancient case law — while mostly avoiding the question of Trump's participation in an insurrection.

  • February 08, 2024

    Baltimore Judge To Face Hearing Over Claims He Groped Atty

    A Baltimore city district court judge is set to face a judicial ethics hearing in May over allegations that he repeatedly touched a lawyer without her consent following a bar association event, while he apologized for making the woman uncomfortable and said he genuinely thought she had been flirting with him.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    ABA Stance On Role Of Nonlawyers Is Too Black And White

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    The American Bar Association's recent resolution affirming its long-standing opposition to nonlawyers owning law practices or receiving shares of legal fees overstates the ethical, professional and regulatory challenges — and ignores the potential benefits — of allowing nonlawyers greater participation in the legal industry, say Peter Jarvis and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight.

  • Harnessing The Power Of Big Data In Litigation

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    The growth in the volume, scope and utility of available data — with vendors tracking and selling data, and government releasing large data sets — requires consideration of new data analysis approaches and technological tools that can help provide objective insights in litigation matters, answer key liability and damages questions, and support critical discovery efforts, say analysts at Bates White.

  • How Law Firm Operations Can Adjust To New COVID Realities

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    Given that COVID-19 may be here to stay, law firms must once again rethink their office policies and culture to adapt to new trends and the permanent lifestyle changes that many attorneys and employees have made, say Kami Quinn and Adam Farra at Gilbert.

  • Law Of The Case Is More Nuanced Than You May Think

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    The recent Seventh Circuit decision in Flynn v. FCA highlights how frequent misconceptions about the law of the case doctrine are, and suggests that litigants should take a hard look at the key qualifications — and quirks — of this narrow and discretionary doctrine before relying on it as a silver bullet, says Michael Soyfer at Quinn Emanuel.

  • Engage Associates At Orientation With Thoughtful Activities

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    The pandemic has driven home the dangers of taking associate talent for granted, and law firms should consider five types of orientation activities that give new employees a greater sense of belonging, set the tone at the outset for a long career and influence attitudes toward the firm, says Joseph Gerstel at GetSomeClass.

  • The Cruciality Of Building Client Intimacy Ahead Of Recession

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    Attorneys are likely already feeling the pressure that a recession brings to control costs and at least hold the line on top-line growth — but strengthening client relationships through increased communication will ensure continued progress under such conditions, says Dave Southern, a business development and marketing professional.

  • A Cautionary Tale On Diversity Jurisdiction From The 6th Circ.

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    The Sixth Circuit’s recent opinion in Akno 1010 Market St. v. Pourtaghi highlights the importance of properly establishing citizenship of all parties before filing a federal lawsuit under diversity jurisdiction rules, and shows how overlooking jurisdiction issues could undo years of litigation, say Lauren Snyder and Charles Loeser at Harris Wiltshire.

  • What Litigators Can Really Learn From Rambo

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    A Rambo litigator is a consistently overaggressive and dishonest attorney, but the John Rambo of "First Blood," which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, has several excellent qualities worth emulating in the legal profession, including professional competence, mental resilience and improvisational ability, says Christopher Van de Kieft at Gitlin Horn.

  • Attorneys Should Note Judges' Financial Conflicts Of Interest

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    The Federal Circuit's recent ruling vacating a $2.75 billion judgment in Centripetal Networks v. Cisco should be a wake-up call for lawyers that they and their clients could pay a heavy price if a judge with financial ties to a litigant fails to take appropriate action, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • A Law Firm's Guide To Avoiding Client Conflicts

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    With the pace of law firm mergers accelerating, Mark Hinderks at Stinson reviews the conflict of interest rules that may derail a deal or cause a firm to lose a new or existing client, and how courts have filled in perceived gaps in the rules.

  • Understanding DC Circ.'s Agency Rule Withdrawal Debate

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    The D.C. Circuit's recent ruling that an agency must provide notice and an opportunity for comment when withdrawing a rule that has been filed for public inspection but not yet published in the Federal Register features a vigorous debate on the "point of no return" issue that has significant practical consequences whenever there is a change in administration, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • Considerations For Associates As Lateral Hiring Cools Down

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    Law firms are offering fewer signing bonuses and moving back to slower, more deliberate interview processes — a cue for associates to follow suit and consider the long-term advantages of a move instead of short-term financial gain, says Leeron Molloy at VOYlegal.

  • Justices' EPA Ruling Didn't Move Needle On Chevron Doctrine

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    Though some suggest the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in West Virginia v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency marked the end of a doctrine requiring judicial deference to federal regulators, the ruling merely articulated well-developed precedent on the limits of agency authority, say Dan Wolff and Eryn Howington at Crowell & Moring.

  • Ethics Lessons From The Alex Jones Discovery Debacle

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    The botched production of a cache of texts and emails prior to Alex Jones' defamation trial, and a failure to take corrective actions, should remind attorneys of the potential pitfalls of discovery, their professional responsibilities throughout the process, and the possibility of severe sanctions, say attorneys at Harris Wiltshire.

  • Combating Implicit Bias In Alternative Dispute Resolution

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    Alternative dispute resolution requires a high degree of trust and belief that proceedings will be fair, so confronting implicit associations among neutrals through systemic and personal efforts is even more important in the ADR world, say arbitrators and mediators at JAMS.

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