Business of Law

June 10, 2024
Live Urgent Care In-House Atty Axed For Pregnancy, Suit Says

A former in-house attorney and compliance officer for Live Urgent Care LLC alleged in New Jersey state court on Friday that she was fired in retaliation for asking to take maternity leave and demanding a bonus she claims was never paid.
June 10, 2024
NY State May Allow People With Past Felonies To Sit On Juries

A New York state bill to remove a prohibition on people convicted of felonies sitting on juries following their release from prison has advanced to the governor's office, moving forward legislation that its authors say is designed to increase the racial diversity of jury pools and help former prison inmates reintegrate into society.
June 10, 2024
Order Trims Cuomo Suit Over Harassment Probe Documents

A New York state judge has partially dismissed a petition brought by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo seeking dozens of unredacted transcripts of witness interviews as part of the state attorney general's sexual harassment investigation that led to his 2021 resignation.
June 10, 2024
New 'Access DOJ' Aims To Nix Barriers, Boost Accessibility

The U.S. Department of Justice has announced the launch of an initiative to improve access to its programs and services, including an upcoming project to make it easier to report tips about crime or other violations of law.
June 10, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

Big players and big moves dominated much of the past week in Delaware's Court of Chancery, as Tesla in particular and big corporations in general showed their pique over rulings that went toward stockholders or against conventional expectations.
June 10, 2024
Senate Judiciary Panel Urged To Investigate High Court Ethics

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights sent a letter on Monday urging the "full power" of the Senate Judiciary Committee be used to investigate the latest "ethics crisis" at the U.S. Supreme Court.
June 07, 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.
June 07, 2024
Motley Rice Allocated Biggest Share Of $2B Opioid Fees

A panel directed with allocating $2.13 billion in attorney fees stemming from opioid settlements has recommended awarding the largest shares of the pot to Motley Rice LLC, Simmons Hanly Conroy LLC and Napoli Shkolnik PLLC, according to a report filed Friday in Ohio federal court.
June 07, 2024
Ozempic MDL Gets New Judge After Judge Pratter's Death

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Thursday reassigned sprawling litigation over Ozempic and similar drugs in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania following the sudden death of U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter, who'd been overseeing the MDL.
June 07, 2024
'Why Are You Even Here?' Judge Prods Big Tobacco

A Washington state appellate panel on Friday criticized Philip Morris USA Inc. and other tobacco companies for attempting to pay the state less under a 1998 master settlement agreement, with one judge asking a Big Tobacco attorney why they were in court in the first place.
June 07, 2024
Tesla Rips 'Unprecedented' $5.6B Fee Bid In Musk Pay Fight

Tesla urged Delaware's Chancery Court on Friday to reject a $5.6 billion stock-based fee request by counsel representing investors who blocked Elon Musk's record Tesla pay package, arguing the "unprecedented" fee bid is unreasonable, unwarranted and 17 times larger than any fee award in Delaware history.
June 07, 2024
Justices Report Old Trips, Beyoncé Tickets And Royalties

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed Friday two trips he took in 2019 paid for by a Republican billionaire donor that were the subject of bombshell reporting last year, while his colleagues divulged more than $1.5 million in book-related income and several gifts, including Beyoncé tickets, in their annual financial reports.
June 07, 2024
Calif. Atty Faces Hacking Charge In Utility Billing Scandal

A San Fernando Valley attorney accused of scheming with lawyers representing the city of Los Angeles to settle a customer billing class action favorably for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power also plotted to access the email and phone accounts of the judge overseeing the litigation, the State Bar of California asserted in an additional disciplinary charge filed Thursday.
June 07, 2024
Southwest Attys Get Pause On 'Punitive' Religious Training

In finding Friday that an order for several in-house Southwest Airlines attorneys to undergo "religious liberty training" should be permanently placed on hold while an appeal of a flight attendant's Title VII trial win is pending, the Fifth Circuit said the district court had likely exceeded "the scope of the court's civil-contempt authority."
June 07, 2024
Legal Job Market Keeps Momentum With May Gains

Following April's increases, the U.S. legal sector saw marginal job growth in May, with an increase of 400 jobs compared to the previous month, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
June 07, 2024
GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

A panel of women in the general counsel role gathered at the New York City Bar Association on Wednesday to share the challenges and opportunities they encounter in the in-house legal landscape, and a new survey identified the top three privacy risks for companies and their compliance professionals this year. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.
June 07, 2024
Crowell & Moring Partner Named DC Bar President-Elect

D.C. Bar members have selected a Crowell & Moring LLP employment law partner as their president-elect, the association announced Friday.
June 07, 2024
Thompson Hine Launches Team To Be On Top Of AI

Thompson Hine LLP, a full-service business law firm with about 400 lawyers in eight offices, has launched a multidisciplinary team dedicated to artificial intelligence and its related issues.
June 07, 2024
Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

Sonosky Chambers Sachse Endreson & Perry LLP, Jenner & Block LLP, Sidley Austin LLP and Hobbs Straus Dean & Walker LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court held that the federal government is required to reimburse two Native American tribes millions of dollars in administrative healthcare costs.
June 06, 2024
NY Prosecutor Says DOJ Self-Disclosure Policies Are Working

The proliferation of policies across the U.S. Department of Justice crediting firms and individuals for voluntarily self-disclosing misconduct indicates the approach is effective, even though instances of such disclosures aren't overwhelming, a senior federal prosecutor in New York told a gathering of compliance officers on Thursday.
June 06, 2024
'Any Judge' Should Have DQ'd In Romance Case, Attys Told

A Texas federal judge was adamant Thursday that a former bankruptcy judge should have recused himself from an engineering company's Chapter 11 proceeding because of his relationship with a then-Jackson Walker LLP partner, but seemed torn over whether a lawsuit from a former shareholder over the secret relationship had a leg to stand on.
June 06, 2024
Hallie Biden Tells Jury She 'Panicked' Finding Hunter's Gun

Hunter Biden's former sister-in-law and ex-girlfriend told a Delaware federal jury Thursday that she "panicked" when she found a gun and a box of bullets in his truck and threw the gun in a grocery store trash can because she was afraid he might hurt himself.
June 06, 2024
In 13-Year Trademark Fight, Chicago Judge Says No More

A Chicago federal judge brought to a close a trademark fight between two vaping companies surrounding the phrase "21st Century Smoking" that has stretched on for over a decade and led to millions of dollars in sanctions over thousands of deleted emails and long-hidden documents.
June 06, 2024
Fla. Justices Won't Undo DeSantis' Suspension Of Prosecutor

State prosecutor Monique Worrell lost her bid to be reinstated to her post in the Ninth Judicial Circuit after a split Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Gov. Ron DeSantis' executive order suspending her passed muster.
June 06, 2024
Judge Who Took Israel Trip Recuses Self From Gaza Case

A Ninth Circuit judge on Thursday recused himself from a case over the Biden administration's support for Israel's military efforts in Gaza, suggesting he disagreed with Palestinian rights activists' claim that a sponsored trip to Israel disqualified him but nevertheless would step aside "out of an abundance of caution."

Expert Analysis

4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.
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.