Business of Law

April 30, 2025
Susman Godfrey Urges Court To Reject Trump's Dismissal Bid

Susman Godfrey LLP has pressed a D.C. federal court not to kill the firm's suit challenging President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm, arguing that the government's "meritless" dismissal motion "goes to great lengths to distract from the indisputable truth" that the order is "blatantly unconstitutional."
April 30, 2025
Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

Spring has sprung for appellate arguments over the White House's pruning and shearing of agencies, part of a bountiful circuit calendar in May, when appeals courts will also tend to defamation drama involving a pro golfer, antitrust suits against drugmakers and hotels, and a nine-figure patent verdict against Apple Inc.
April 30, 2025
Calif. Bar Seeks Credits, Lower Pass Score After Exam Fiasco

The California Bar has asked the state's supreme court to help it account for rampant technical difficulties on the February 2025 bar exam by approving a lower passing score and allowing the bar to give test-takers credit for some questions they left blank.
April 30, 2025
Exec Says MyPillow Attys Can't Use AI Mistakes To Delay Trial

A former Dominion Voting executive said MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell shouldn't be allowed to delay a June defamation trial because his attorneys face potential sanctions for a brief that used artificial intelligence, arguing recent executive orders against law firms suggest the defamation claim would face "extreme prejudice" from a delay.
April 30, 2025
FTC Transfer Stripped From House Judiciary Reconciliation

A provision to transfer the Federal Trade Commission's antitrust functions to the U.S. Department of Justice was stripped out of the House Judiciary Committee's budget reconciliation bill on Wednesday.
April 30, 2025
Akin Atty Returns To FCC To Lead Wireline Bureau

After three years in private practice, the Federal Communications Commission has welcomed an Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorney back to the agency as the newest head of the commission's Wireline Competition Bureau.
April 30, 2025
Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

Enforcers opened high stakes court proceedings against Meta Platforms and Google for monopolization claims that could force the tech giants to sell pieces of the companies, while also moving ahead with several challenges and reviews of pending deals in other industries. Here, Law360 looks at the major merger review developments from April.
April 30, 2025
Marshals Service Pick Vows To Protect Judges Amid Tensions

President Donald Trump's nominee for director of the U.S. Marshals Service, Gadyaces Serralta, stressed to Democrats on Wednesday that the agency's mission to protect judges and enforce court orders would not change under his leadership despite increasing criticism of the bench from the president and other policymakers.
April 30, 2025
Philly Judge Under Fire For Promoting Wife's Cheesesteak Biz

Pennsylvania's judicial ethics board has accused a Philadelphia judge of using his position on the bench to promote a cheesesteak restaurant opened by his wife and named in honor of his late parents.
April 30, 2025
Wis. Justices Suspend Judge Charged With Blocking ICE

The Wisconsin state judge who was arrested and charged for allegedly helping an unauthorized migrant evade arrest by federal immigration officers has been temporarily suspended by the state's highest court.
April 30, 2025
Dem Reps. Urge Court To Block IRS-ICE Info-Sharing Pact

House Democrats and two organizations that help immigrants prepare tax returns urged a D.C. federal court to block the Internal Revenue Service from sharing with immigration enforcement agencies the names and addresses of people suspected of being in the country illegally.
April 29, 2025
California Judge Loses Pay After Conviction For Murdering Wife

The California Commission on Judicial Performance formally suspended a California judge without pay after a state jury found him guilty of second-degree murder last week for shooting his wife to death in their Anaheim Hills home on Aug. 3, 2023, following a heated argument.
April 29, 2025
GOP Plan To Shutter Audit Watchdog Could Strain SEC

Congressional Republicans are renewing the push to get rid of a financial regulator that conservatives have complained is costly and lacks proper oversight, but some former staffers at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board wonder whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has the manpower or expertise to take over the board's duties.
April 29, 2025
Feds Have Strong Hand On Judge Charged With Blocking ICE

A Wisconsin state judge faces an uphill battle in defending against federal criminal allegations that she helped a man evade immigration officials at a Wisconsin courthouse, but she may be able to stake out a defense in arguing the government can't prove intent, experts told Law360.
April 29, 2025
'The Court Is Not A Cartoon': Judge Rips Dragon Watermark

A Michigan federal magistrate judge Monday ordered an East Lansing, Michigan, firm called Dragon Lawyers PC to stop plastering its pleadings with a large, suit-clad purple cartoon dragon watermark on each page, saying it's not only "distracting, it's juvenile and impertinent."
April 29, 2025
Justices Scoff At Feds' Defenses In Mistaken FBI Raid Case

Supreme Court justices Tuesday appeared flummoxed by the government's "ridiculous" arguments it should be immune to a Georgia resident's lawsuit over a mistaken FBI raid on her house, but seemed unlikely to issue a blanket ruling on when an officer's discretion trumps their liability for injuries caused by their actions.
April 29, 2025
Alex Jones Wants High Court Look At $1.3B Sandy Hook Case

Bankrupt Infowars host Alex Jones will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate a mammoth libel judgment that families of Sandy Hook shooting victims secured against him and his company over his conspiratorial broadcasts calling the massacre a hoax, he told a Connecticut appellate court in seeking to extend a pause on the payout.
April 29, 2025
Sullivan M&A Chief Sees Opportunities Amid Tariff Turmoil

After a rocky start to 2025, the mergers and acquisitions landscape is grappling with economic volatility, shifting trade policies and a complex regulatory environment. But even in a "choppy" market, there are always deals to be made, says Melissa Sawyer, global head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's M&A group and co-head of its corporate governance practice.
April 29, 2025
Breyer To Talk Pragmatism At NJ Bar Association Convention

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will bring his pragmatic legal philosophy to center stage when he appears at the New Jersey State Bar Association Convention on May 16 in Atlantic City.
April 29, 2025
$10M Brown Rudnick Deal With Guo Trustee Gets Judge's OK

A Connecticut bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved a $10 million deal between Miles Guo's Chapter 11 trustee and the Chinese exile's onetime attorneys at Brown Rudnick LLP, and greenlighted 10 lesser settlements with other firms and luxury retailer Versace.
April 29, 2025
Federal Defenders Of NY Staff Announce Union Drive

Staff members at the Federal Defenders of New York have announced their plans to join their attorney colleagues as members of the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys.
April 29, 2025
NJ Judge Apologizes Through Waylon Jennings Lyrics

Clark Township, New Jersey, Municipal Judge Antonio Inacio said Tuesday that he isn't proud of all the things that led him to appear before a Garden State judiciary disciplinary committee, but he can say that he never intentionally hurt anyone by his conduct.
April 29, 2025
The 2025 Lawyer Satisfaction Survey

Law firms and the legal profession are facing new uncertainties, shifting the stress levels, economic pressures, and overall contentment of lawyers in private practice, according to the 2025 Law360 Pulse Lawyer Satisfaction Survey.
April 28, 2025
Ed Martin Turns In 100-Plus Pages Of Responses To Sens.

Ed Martin, nominee for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, has turned in his response to hundreds of questions from the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and he largely sidestepped inquiries about currently serving in the role in an interim capacity.
April 28, 2025
'Withdraw Your Accusation': Attys, Justices Clash In ADA Case

U.S. Supreme Court arguments over the standard of proof students must meet to pursue Americans with Disabilities Act claims of discrimination in public schooling turned combative Monday when one veteran litigator accused another of lying to the justices, eliciting sharp rebukes from several members of the bench.

Expert Analysis

AI Questions: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

As the legal discourse surrounding artificial intelligence shifted from theoretical to concrete this year, guest commentary focused on the proliferation of new AI-related litigation, enforcement actions and best practices, while tracking the judiciary’s experimentation with generative AI.
ESG And DEI: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

In their commentary on ESG and DEI topics this year, Law360 guest authors discussed Project 2025’s potential impact, the rise of greenwashing litigation, strategies for fostering employee retention amid a shaky regulatory landscape, and more.
Noncompetes: The Top Guest Articles Of 2024

Employee noncompete issues took center stage this year, as Law360 guest writers covered everything from state-level enforceability trends and alternative methods for protecting business interests, to a National Labor Relations Board ruling and the Federal Trade Commission’s attempted ban.
The Most-Read Employment Law360 Guest Articles Of 2024

Readers were drawn to employment law commentary on a range of 2024 developments, including the U.S. Supreme Court's Title VII ruling, impactful activity from the National Labor Relations Board, and state legislation targeting employee noncompete agreements.
The Most-Read IP Law360 Guest Articles Of 2024

Double-patenting was one of the top intellectual property topics tackled in Law360’s Expert Analysis section this year, along with the intersection of copyright law and artificial intelligence, case distribution in the Western District of Texas, and more.
The Most-Read Access To Justice Guest Articles Of 2024

Law360 guest commentary addressed several emerging access to justice issues this year, including growing case backlogs, a dearth of legal services in rural communities and amendments to long-standing sentencing policies.
The Most-Read Securities Law360 Guest Articles Of 2024

This year, popular securities guest article topics included controversial Delaware court decisions and their legislative aftermath, as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s focus on emerging industries amid struggles to implement its rulemaking agenda.
The Most-Read Law360 UK Guest Articles Of 2024

The start of a generational shift in U.K. employment law under Labour, a ruling on artificial intelligence-driven credit scores and strategic law firm expansion were among the hot topics U.K. Expert Analysis articles explored this year.
Reviewing 2024's Crucial Patent Law Developments

As 2024 draws to a close, significant rulings and policies aimed at modernizing long-standing legal practices or addressing emerging challenges have reached patent law, says Michael Ellenberger at Rothwell Figg.
Series

Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.
2024's Most Notable FTC Actions Against Dark Patterns And AI

In 2024 the Federal Trade Commission ramped up enforcement actions related to dark patterns, loudly signaling its concern that advertisers will use AI to manipulate consumer habits and its intention to curb businesses' use and marketing of AI to prevent alleged consumer deception, say attorneys at Goodwin.
Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.
When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.
What 2024 Trends In Marketing, Comms Hiring Mean For 2025

The state of hiring in legal industry marketing, business development and communications over the past 12 months was marked by a number of trends — from changes in the C-suite to lateral move challenges — providing clues for what’s to come in the year ahead, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
Series

Group Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

The combination of physical fitness and community connection derived from running with a group of business leaders has, among other things, helped me to stay grounded, improve my communication skills, and develop a deeper empathy for clients and colleagues, says Jessica Shpall Rosen at Greenwald Doherty.