A Washington state appeals panel won't let the former CEO of boating company Harley Marine Services Inc. reinstate a $75 million defamation verdict against his former business partners, finding that the comments that formed the basis for the verdict are covered under the state's "absolute" litigation privilege.
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TOP NEWS

Ex-Tugboat CEO Can't Reinstate $75M Defamation Verdict

By Mike Curley

A Washington state appeals panel won't let the former CEO of boating company Harley Marine Services Inc. reinstate a $75 million defamation verdict against his former business partners, finding that the comments that formed the basis for the verdict are covered under the state's "absolute" litigation privilege.

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Judge Forged Note For Parking Discount, Watchdog Says

By Greg Lamm

A Washington state judicial conduct board has accused a part-time district court judge of forging a note embossed with a court seal and using another judge's signature stamp to get a reduced parking rate offered to government employees.

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Starbucks Can't End Investor Suit Over Union-Busting Stance

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state judge won't toss a shareholder suit accusing Starbucks' corporate leadership of diminishing stock values by allowing store managers to quash baristas' organizing efforts.

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Amazon Says Zulily Lacks Standing To Bring Antitrust Claims

By Hailey Konnath

Amazon is asking a Washington federal court to throw out now-defunct online retailer Zulily's lawsuit accusing it of using its monopoly power to shut out competition from other online retailers, arguing that Zulily merely "parrots" allegations made by regulators and has singled out "plainly procompetitive practice."

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POLICY & REGULATION

85 Lawmakers Join Chorus Opposing Space Force Transfers

By Chart Riggall

A bipartisan group of 85 federal lawmakers on Tuesday joined all 50 state governors in opposing a proposal to allow Air National Guard units to be transferred to the U.S. Space Force without gubernatorial approval, arguing the measure would undermine "the integrity and longstanding mission of the National Guard."

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LITIGATION

Judge Limits Valve's Arguments In Controller Patent Fight

By Adam Lidgett

A federal judge in Seattle has partly granted a bid from Ironburg Inventions Ltd. to block Valve Corp. from raising certain arguments when challenging a video game controller patent at district court based on estoppel rules from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

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New IPad Buyers And Complaint OK'd In Amazon-Apple Suit

By Bryan Koenig

Two new iPad buyers filed an amended antitrust complaint Tuesday over the Amazon-Apple pact restricting iPhone and iPad sales to approved vendors after a Washington federal judge overrode defense arguments that the named plaintiff swap is too late and replaces an unsuitable class representative.

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Amazon, Epson Unite To Go After Printer Ink Counterfeiters

By Gina Kim

Amazon and Seiko Epson have teamed up to go after several bad actors in Turkey and the United Kingdom that are allegedly hawking knockoff Epson printer ink bottles and cartridges on Amazon's platform, according to a trademark infringement action filed in the Western District of Washington.  

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Policy Dispute Should Be Heard In Wash., Colo. Judge Says

By Hope Patti

A Colorado federal court has tossed an insurer's suit seeking a declaration that it doesn't owe $4 million in coverage to a climbing equipment manufacturer and its primary insurer, finding that a related case in Washington state court provides a better opportunity to resolve the parties' dispute.

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Amazon Blasts Writer's Ownership Claim Over New 'Road House'

By Ivan Moreno

Amazon Studios and others involved in the 2024 remake of 1989's "Road House" movie told a California federal court that the writer behind the original film who is suing for copyright infringement does not own the rights to the script for the original.

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Colo. Judge Iffy On DOJ's Missive In Kroger Merger Challenge

By Thy Vo

A Colorado state judge said he was unsure Tuesday about how to handle the Department of Justice's recent filing defending the state's authority to challenge Kroger's $24 billion merger with Albertsons, as Kroger claimed federal regulators were flip-flopping their antitrust stance.

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NINTH CIRCUIT

9th Circ. Asks Idaho To Define 'Recruit' In Abortion Travel Ban

By Theresa Schliep

A Ninth Circuit panel grappled Tuesday with an Idaho law that makes it a criminal offense to help minors travel out of state to receive abortions without parental permission, with one judge struggling to understand what it means to "recruit" a pregnant teen to get an abortion under the law.

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9th Circ. Revives Removal Fight Over Justices' Notice Ruling

By Rae Ann Varona

A Honduran woman who received a notice to appear in immigration court without a time specified can resume fighting her deportation after the Ninth Circuit leaned on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling requiring all court hearing information to be on a single document.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Analysis

In Story Of Sex And Lies, Can Cohen Write Final Chapter?

By Phillip Bantz

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has told a story of scandal and scheming to the jury in Donald Trump's criminal hush money trial, setting the stage for the prosecution's star witness to take the stand and wrap up the narrative.

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Ex-McElroy Deutsch CFO Cops To $1.5M Theft From Firm

By George Woolston

McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP's former chief financial officer admitted Wednesday to embezzling more than $1.5 million from the firm and failing to pay income tax, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced.

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Lewis Brisbois Atty Fatally Shot In McDonald's Altercation

By Ryan Boysen

A Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP attorney was fatally shot at a McDonald's in Houston after reportedly stepping in as a good Samaritan and attempting to calm down an irate customer who'd been arguing with staff at the fast food restaurant.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Lieff Cabraser's Kelly Dermody

By Irene Spezzamonte

A semester off from Harvard University in the late 1980s meant for reflection instead turned into a pivotal moment in Kelly Dermody's life, settling the roots for her successful career during which she has become a lighthouse for employment and discrimination cases.

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ABA Will Study Rape Questions' Necessity For Bar Applicants

By Cara Bayles

An American Bar Association commission will issue a report and recommendations by August on the practice of requiring would-be lawyers to disclose and discuss their experiences of sexual violence during the attorney licensure process.

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ABA Directs Attys To Avoid Sharing Client Info On Listservs

By Emily Sawicki

It is in the best interest of clients for their legal counsel to avoid sharing information related to representation while seeking advice in an online listserv forum, if the comments or questions could be connected to a client's identity, according to American Bar Association guidance published Wednesday.

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Ga. Appeals Court Will Review Trump DQ Bid In Election Case

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Court of Appeals on Wednesday agreed to review a judge's ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis to continue prosecuting the election interference case she brought against former President Donald Trump.

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Fani Willis Is Outraising Primary Challenger More Than 5 To 1

By Chart Riggall

Less than two weeks from the first hurdle in her bid for reelection, Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis is boasting a​​ campaign war chest more than five times heftier than her Democratic challenger's, according to campaign finance disclosures filed this week.

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Biden Picks US Magistrate Judge In Fla. For 11th Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

President Joe Biden announced Wednesday his intent to nominate U.S. Magistrate Judge Embry J. Kidd to the Eleventh Circuit.

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Robins Kaplan File Flub Bad Look For Both Sides, Panel Says

By Rachel Scharf

A Manhattan appeals panel expressed concern Wednesday that Robins Kaplan LLP had poked through an opposing party's Dropbox database that was accidentally shared in investor litigation, while also criticizing the other side for failing to catch the error.

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NJ Justices Approve Measures For Helping Atty Well-Being

By Emily Johnson

The New Jersey Supreme Court has accepted several recommendations from its committee focused on attorney well-being, paving the way for the committee to examine how attorneys can briefly postpone court dates or possibly receive an extension to meet deadlines so they can handle pressing wellness needs.

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Legal Access Program Being Set Up For Separated Families

By Alyssa Aquino

The Biden administration has tapped the Acacia Center for Justice to manage a court-ordered legal access program to help migrant families stay in the U.S. after they were separated under a Trump-era policy to prosecute anybody caught entering the country unlawfully.

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Colo. Judges Urge Attys To Take On More Pro Se Cases

By Thy Vo

A group of Colorado federal judges tried Wednesday to recruit more lawyers to help pro se litigants, who file about a third of the district's cases each year, with the judges recounting tactical mistakes and case delays that attorneys could have prevented.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Aidala Bertuna

Arete Law Group

Arnett Litigation

Arnold & Porter

Bona Law PC

Bradley Arant

Buchalter APC

Caldwell Carlson

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dechert LLP

Dorsey & Whitney

Ford O'Brien

Frey Buck

Gibbons PC

Griffin Durham

Hagens Berman

Hamberger & Weiss

Holland & Hart

Jenner & Block

Law Office of Timothy F. McGoughran

Levin Sitcoff

Lewis Baach

Lewis Brisbois

Lieff Cabraser

Marino Tortorella

McElroy Deutsch

McNaul Ebel

Morgan Lewis

Nelson Mullins

Orrick Herrington

Outten & Golden

Perkins Coie

Pierson Law LLC

Pillsbury Winthrop

Robbins LLP

Robins Kaplan

Ruggeri Parks

Scott&Scott

Sheppard Mullin

Shook Hardy

Sidley Austin

Stoel Rives

Sullivan & Cromwell

Toberoff & Associates

Tousley Brain

Weil Gotshal

Wheeler Trigg

Williams & Connolly

Wilson Sonsini

Zuckerman Spaeder

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AlixPartners LLP

Amazon Studios LLC

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bar Association

Apple Inc.

C&S Wholesale Grocers

Center for Justice

Getty Images Inc.

HMS Holdings Corp.

Harley Marine Services Inc.

Harvard University

King Soopers

L'Oreal SA

LinkedIn Corp.

Los Angeles Rams

McDonald's Corp.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.

New Jersey State Bar Association

New York University

Nintendo Co. Ltd.

Salvatore Ferragamo Italia SpA

Seiko Epson Corp.

Starbucks Corp.

T-Mobile US Inc.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The Kroger Co.

The Leadership Conference on Civil & Human Rights

The Procter & Gamble Co.

The State University of New York

Trump Organization Inc.

Valve Corp.

Walmart Inc.

Zulily Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Executive Office of the President

Federal Trade Commission

Georgia Supreme Court

Idaho Attorney General's Office

Manhattan District Attorney's Office

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Supreme Court

U.S. Copyright Office

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

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

U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York

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

U.S. Postal Service

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado