Top Stories

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  Cravath Makes Historic Group Hire In Weil M&A Addition

  By Aebra Coe

  In what appears to be its largest-ever group hire, Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP announced Friday the firm is bring...(read more)

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  DC Circ. Nixes Energy Dept.'s Order To Keep Coal Plant Open

  By Keith Goldberg

  The D.C. Circuit on Friday wiped out a U.S. Department of Energy order to keep open a Michigan coal-fired power ...(read more)

• 11th Circ. Ruling Won't Prevent Qui Tam Constitutional Tests

  By Madeline Lyskawa

  The Eleventh Circuit's holding that the False Claims Act's provisions letting private individuals sue on the federal government's behalf pass muster under the U.S. Constitution may do little to halt the growing wave of challenges seeking to knock down those provisions.

• 5th Circ. Says Enviro Groups Timely In Prairie-Chicken Fight

  By Elaine Briseño

  The Fifth Circuit on Friday allowed two environmental groups to join a lawsuit over the endangered designation of the lesser prairie-chicken, saying their second request to intervene was timely filed after the Trump administration made it clear it would stop defending the designation.

• 9th Circ. Leaves VA On Hook For Homeless Vet Housing

  By Tom Lotshaw

  The full Ninth Circuit Friday refused to revisit a ruling requiring the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to build supportive housing for homeless disabled veterans, sparking dissents that accused judges of swapping their robes for hard hats and "bulldozing" established disability law.

• Meta 'Voiceprint' Privacy Suit Turns On Use Terms, Judge Says

  By Bonnie Eslinger

  A California federal judge mulling Meta's motion to dismiss a proposed class action claiming the tech giant secretly and unlawfully captures Facebook users' "voiceprints" and related biometric information said he'd review the social media platform's privacy and use terms, which he said would be "controlling."

• DC Circ. Probes DOT Authority To Withhold Calif. Funds

  By Jared Foretek

  A panel of D.C. Circuit judges grilled a Trump administration attorney Friday over the U.S. Department of Transportation's move to slash California's federal highway funding because of the state's commercial driver's licensing rules for nondomiciled drivers, wondering whether the agency had any authority to take the drastic measure.

• Prediction Markets' High Court Clash Looks More Imminent

  By Alex Lawson

  The widespread clash over whether the regulation of prediction markets falls under federal or state jurisdiction was bound to land in the U.S. Supreme Court, and a new circuit split and urgent policy questions may force the justices' hands to take up the issue.

• Split Fed. Circ. Backs Amazon's Win Over Network Patent Suit

  By Theresa Schliep

  A split Federal Circuit panel Friday upheld Amazon's escape from an infringement case over an AlterWAN Inc. network patent, with the dissenting judge saying the panel needlessly went "down the rabbit hole" and arrived at a "flat wrong" claim construction.

• Fed. Circ. Agrees Globus Didn't Infringe Spinal Surgery IP

  By Ryan Davis

  The Federal Circuit on Friday upheld a Pennsylvania federal judge's decisions clearing Globus Medical Inc. of infringing Moskowitz Family LLC spinal surgery tool patents, agreeing that language used in the patents' opening statement, or preamble, limited their scope.

• 3 Firms Guide Firstborn Top Capital's $1.1B SPAC Merger

  By Al Barbarino

  ARC Group Acquisition I Corp., a Nasdaq-listed special purpose acquisition company, has agreed to acquire Malaysian private financing company Firstborn Top Capital in a deal that values the business at an implied enterprise value of nearly $1.1 billion.

• Trial Errors 'Crippled Goldstein's Defense,' 4th Circ. Hears

  By Jeff Overley

  Appellate luminary Tom Goldstein unveiled a sweeping and forceful critique aimed at erasing his felony fraud convictions, telling the Fourth Circuit that prosecutors were hell-bent on convicting him "no matter the facts or law," disregarded a star witness's "incompetence" and benefited from a trial judge's "inexplicable" rulings.

• Wilson Sonsini, Davis Polk Steer $1.9B Vehicle Auction Deal

  By Al Barbarino

  Copart Inc. has agreed to acquire ACV Auctions Inc. for about $1.9 billion, expanding the online vehicle auction operator into dealer-to-dealer wholesale remarketing, with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC advising Copart and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP representing ACV. 

• SThree Rejects Circle8 Offer To Create Nearly $3B Recruiter

  By Al Barbarino

  British specialist recruitment company SThree rejected an unsolicited takeover proposal from U.S.-based Circle8 Group on Friday, saying it significantly undervalued the business, although Circle8 can still make a firm offer for the company under U.K. takeover rules.