Business of Law

May 15, 2024
DocuSign Investors Near Cert. In Post-COVID Prospects Fight

A California federal judge told counsel Wednesday he's inclined to certify a class of investors who allege DocuSign and its top brass misled investors about the e-signature company's post-pandemic growth prospects, saying DocuSign's challenges to the class-wide damages model seem premature, and the investors easily meet other class certification requirements.
May 15, 2024
Del. Justices Ask: Do Attys Get Thinner Slice Of $1B Dell Pie?

A near record-breaking $266.7 million fee for stockholder attorneys who settled a Chancery Court class action against Dell Technologies Inc. for $1 billion had Delaware's Supreme Court raising questions Wednesday about how the state traditionally calculates attorney fee awards in large class action settlements.
May 15, 2024
House Dems Launch Task Force To Address High Court 'Crisis'

A group of House Democrats on Wednesday launched a task force seeking to bring more transparency and accountability to the U.S. Supreme Court.
May 15, 2024
NY Magistrate Judge, SD Law Partner OK'd For District Courts

The Senate voted 51-42 on Wednesday to confirm Magistrate Judge Sanket Jayshukh Bulsara to the Eastern District of New York and 61-33 to confirm Eric C. Schulte, partner at Davenport Evans Hurwitz & Smith LLP, to the District of South Dakota.
May 15, 2024
Womble Bond Names 'Fearless Leader' As Chair, CEO-Elect

Womble Bond Dickinson announced Wednesday that global finance partner Merrick Benn has been elected U.S. chair and CEO, for a three-year term effective Jan. 1.
May 15, 2024
Tesla Fires Back At Claims It Bullied Retired Law Professor

Tesla has pushed back against allegations that it tried to bully a retired law professor out of weighing in on an investor suit over CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion compensation plan, according to new filings in Delaware.
May 15, 2024
Fees Sought For Missed Depo During Atty's Solar Eclipse Trip

In following up on a Florida federal judge's sanctioning of a lawyer whose client missed a deposition while the attorney was solar eclipse viewing, AAA is asking the court to award it more than $7,800 in fees and costs as it fights a gender discrimination lawsuit.
May 15, 2024
Paul Weiss Establishes Center To Combat Hate

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP announced Wednesday that it has launched the Center to Combat Hate, an organization that will partner with civil rights groups and educational institutions to use litigation in tackling violence and intimidation driven by hate.
May 15, 2024
'Where's Bob?' Nowhere Near Wife's Gold Bars, Jury Hears

Sen. Robert Menendez and his future wife weren't living together when an alleged bribery scheme took root six years ago and continued residing mostly apart after they married, he in Washington, D.C., and she in her New Jersey home that had a closet filled with gold bars and cash, jurors heard Wednesday.
May 15, 2024
Senators Release 'Road Map' For Crafting Federal AI Policy

A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday laid out a "road map" for artificial intelligence policy that calls for increased AI innovation funding, testing of potential harms posed by AI and consideration of the technology's workforce implications.
May 15, 2024
US Attorney For Colorado Resigns From Post

U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Cole Finegan announced Wednesday that he will step down at the end of May to return to the private sector, after serving for more than two years in the role.
May 15, 2024
In Hush Money Case, Jury May Choose To Keep Silent, Too

Though Donald Trump's gag order violations have earned him a threat of jail time, First Amendment experts say jurors in the New York case will likely be free to speak their mind afterward if they want to — a dynamic that in rare instances has led to posttrial controversy.
May 14, 2024
Gunster Data Breach Affected 9K Clients' Data, Suit Says

A former client of Gunster Yoakley & Stewart PA has filed a proposed class action in Florida federal court, alleging the law firm's weak cybersecurity systems allowed outsiders to access clients' personal and sensitive health information and that the firm waited over a year to inform those affected.
May 14, 2024
Venable Opens Colo. Office With 8 Sherman & Howard Attys

Venable LLP is growing its presence by opening its first office in Colorado, with eight commercial and employment attorneys from Sherman & Howard LLP opening its Denver location, which will be headed by partner-in-charge James "Jim" Sawtelle, the firm announced Tuesday.
May 14, 2024
Cohen Says Trump Directed Crimes From The White House

Michael Cohen on Tuesday told a Manhattan jury that he met with Donald Trump at the White House in the early days of the former president's administration to confirm the final component of what prosecutors say was a scheme to bury a sex story in order to swing the 2016 election.
May 14, 2024
Ga. DA Asks Justices To Dismiss Open Records Suit

A Georgia district attorney on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court of Georgia to overturn a trial court's denial of her motion to dismiss a lawsuit accusing her of illegally withholding records and destroying others in an effort to avoid disclosure, arguing district attorneys are exempt from Georgia's Open Records Act.
May 14, 2024
Magnets Co. Can't Trim Suit Despite Feds' PACER Accident

The federal government's accidental posting of an unredacted expert report containing sensitive technical data doesn't warrant trimming the government's lawsuit accusing a magnetics manufacturer of sharing that same data with China, a Kentucky federal judge ruled Tuesday.
May 14, 2024
Calif. Bar To Weigh New Virtual Bar Exam To Cut Costs

The State Bar of California's board of trustees is expected to consider replacing the National Conference of Bar Examiners' exam and new licensing test with its own state bar exam that could be taken remotely in order to cut up to $4.2 million in costs annually, according to a memo posted online in advance of this week's board meeting.
May 14, 2024
Seattle Public Defender's $7M Employment Win Wiped Out

The Washington Court of Appeals on Tuesday ruled a former King County public defender could not bring a hostile work environment claim over a client's harassing behavior that persisted after she stopped representing him, erasing her $7 million jury win.
May 14, 2024
5th Circ. Expresses Doubt On Nasdaq Board Diversity Rules

Lawyers for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Nasdaq Stock Market LLC faced a barrage of questions from the full Fifth Circuit on Tuesday, with judges wondering whether rules requiring corporations to disclose board diversity information would open the door to investor questions on religious practices, political beliefs or Taylor Swift fandom.
May 14, 2024
Colo. Atty Disbarred For Ghosting Client In Jet Purchase Suit

A Colorado disciplinary judge has disbarred a lawyer who abandoned his client in a lawsuit alleging the client was sold an $800,000 used business jet that was not airworthy, finding the attorney showed a lack of remorse for his misconduct.
May 14, 2024
Trial Averted In Boston Health Agency Harassment Case

A former Boston health department employee on Tuesday reported that she had settled her claims against the city and a former boss who she says sexually harassed her, scuttling a trial that would have featured several high-profile witnesses, including a federal judge.
May 14, 2024
Law Firm Must Face Ex-HR Manager's Pregnancy Bias Suit

A Florida federal judge refused Tuesday to allow a law firm to escape a former human resources manager's pregnancy discrimination suit, saying a jury should decide the dispute given the "peculiar" timing of her firing.
May 14, 2024
Trump Can't Overturn Gag Order In NY Criminal Trial

A New York state appeals court on Tuesday denied Donald Trump's bid to overturn a gag order intended to stop him from criticizing witnesses and others involved in his ongoing criminal fraud trial.
May 14, 2024
White House Continues To Back Adeel Mangi For 3rd Circ.

The White House is standing by Adeel Mangi's nomination for the Third Circuit despite the path to confirmation being unclear and the vast opposition he's been facing.

Expert Analysis

What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.
Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
Legal Practice In The AI Era: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

Guest columnists explored the possibilities and challenges for the legal profession amid the rise of generative artificial intelligence, including privilege complications, demands for new types of legal skills, and the ethics of a ChatGPT-authored motion.
AI In Employment Law: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

This year, the most popular employment law topics related to artificial intelligence in Law360's Expert Analysis section included ChatGPT, new AI legislation, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
AI In Health Law: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

As the use of artificial intelligence accelerated this year, Expert Analysis writers examined AI's significant impact on the healthcare sector, ranging from key compliance considerations for companies utilizing AI tools to regulators' efforts to keep up with rapidly evolving technologies.
AI In IP Law: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

Keeping up with generative artificial intelligence was the name of the game for intellectual property lawyers in 2023 as the government worked to determine whether AI-generated output is protectable under the law and guest writers assessed the technology's risks and rewards.
The Most-Read Securities Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

Securities guest article topics that piqued reader interest this year include how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission utilized seldom-used rules to go after bad actors, and how Delaware courts increased scrutiny on boards of directors — sometimes in surprising ways.
The Most-Read Employment Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

This year, some of the most popular employment topics in articles written for Law360's Expert Analysis section focused on workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, new unionization rules from the National Labor Relations Board, and proposed regulations for implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Managing AI Risks: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

Amid the rapidly developing legal landscape around artificial intelligence, Law360 Expert Analysis writers tackled a range of compliance and litigation challenges, providing insights on privacy in the age of AI, the role of class actions in AI risk mitigation, and the creation of corporate AI policies.
The Most-Read Law360 UK Guest Articles Of 2023

Benefits of the new EU Unified Patent Court, artificial intelligence regulation and M&A trends amid rising inflation were among the hot topics U.K. Expert Analysis articles explored this year.
The Most-Read IP Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office incentives and restrictions, Federal Circuit decisions on exact meaning, and lessons from the comedic whodunit “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” were among popular intellectual property topics guest authors tackled this year.
The Most-Read Trials Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

Law360 guest columnists provided a number of tips and insights for trial attorneys this year, including pitfalls to avoid in witness preparation, color psychology pointers that can enhance trial graphics, and strategies for excluding expert testimony.
The Most-Read Access To Justice Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

In their commentary on emerging access to justice issues this year, Law360 guest experts covered the importance of tiered legal assistance in eviction cases, the evolution of financial bail conditions, and the role of public defenders in addressing the root drivers of crime.
The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.