High Court To Review Trump's Birthright Order

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to review the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, after lower courts unanimously found the order to contradict the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

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Justices Take On State Court Review Doctrine Case

By Gianna Ferrarin

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider whether an appellate court correctly invoked the doctrine blocking federal courts from reviewing state court judgments in a case concerning an involuntary hospital commitment.

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High Court To Weigh Courts' Power Over Arbitration Awards

By Anne Cullen

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to consider whether federal courts have the authority to confirm or overturn arbitration awards arising out of cases they previously exercised authority over, taking up a tricky legal question stemming from a laid-off security guard's discrimination case.

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Justices Take Up Venue Dispute In Twitter Saudi Agent Case

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to consider an ex-Twitter employee's appeal of his conviction for secretly acting as an agent of the Saudi government, taking up what the petition called a deep circuit split over whether the government can bring charges for certain crimes virtually "anywhere."

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Supreme Court Halts Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Fourth Circuit decision reviving a free speech suit from an immigration judges union challenging a policy barring them from speaking publicly about immigration without approval.

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Divided DC Circ. Backs Trump's NLRB, MSPB Firings

By Braden Campbell

A split D.C. Circuit panel on Friday upheld President Donald Trump's firings of two labor agency officials in spite of their statutory job protections, saying they wield enough executive power that Congress can't restrict the president's authority to fire them.

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11th Circ. Faults Long-Standing Bias Test, Revives Cop's Suit

By Anne Cullen

The Eleventh Circuit reinstated an Iraq-born police officer's suit alleging he was fired for complaining about racist harassment, chiding a lower court Friday for leaning too heavily on a long-standing legal framework for analyzing workplace bias evidence when ruling against the cop.

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Feature

For NY Inmate, Jamaica's Violence Waits Outside Prison Walls

By Rachel Rippetoe

Jamaican-born Eric Tolliver is nearing the end of his 33-year prison sentence in New York, but what waits for him on the other side might be worse: deportation to his home country, where many want him dead.

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SG Urges Justices To Hear Hikma's 'Skinny Label' Patent Case

By Ryan Davis

The U.S. solicitor general on Friday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear Hikma Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s appeal of a decision reviving a patent suit involving its "skinny label" on a generic heart drug, saying the ruling puts the availability of lower-cost generics at risk.

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Nuclear Waste Storage Worries Too Hypothetical, Justices Told

By Ganesh Setty

A company licensed to temporarily store nuclear waste urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a challenge to a condition in its license application to contract with the U.S. Department of Energy once Congress allows it.

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IRS-ICE Data Swap Halt Irrelevant In Other Suit, DC Circ. Told

By Asha Glover

A D.C. federal court's order pausing the Internal Revenue Service's ability to share confidential taxpayer addresses with immigration enforcement officials should not impact a separate D.C. Circuit proceeding over whether the information-sharing agreement complies with taxpayer privacy protections, the U.S. government told the D.C. Circuit.

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Hikvision Asks DC Circ. To Dump FCC 'Covered List' Revision

By Christopher Cole

Device maker Hikvision has asked the D.C. Circuit to overturn a national security action by the Federal Communications Commission that made it harder for manufacturers tied to foreign adversaries to sell device equipment in the U.S. market.

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Fed. Circ. Axes P&W, DOD Overhead Cost Deal

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Federal Circuit on Friday invalidated a deal between Pratt & Whitney and the federal government concerning what can be included in the company's overhead costs for its government and commercial engine programs, while declining to rule on how those costs should be allocated.

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Fed. Circ. Questions Whether Ingevity Can Duck $85M Verdict

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Circuit spent Friday morning debating whether Ingevity Corp.'s argument that it should be immune from an $85 million antitrust verdict holds water because the chemical and carbon product maker thought it was enforcing its patent rights, even though the jury said it was illegal tying.

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Fed. Circ. Issues Mixed Bag In MemoryWeb Patent Fight

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Friday backed Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that wiped out claims across multiple MemoryWeb patents on managing digital files that were challenged by Apple and Samsung and told the board to reconsider some claims it upheld, while leaving another MemoryWeb patent intact.

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Fed. Circ. Revives Targeted Ad Patent Suit Against Meta

By Theresa Schliep

The Federal Circuit revived an online advertising company's suit accusing Meta Platforms Inc. of infringing its patent covering a targeted advertising technology, finding Friday that a lower court "implicitly construed" an important claim term without letting the plaintiff challenge the construction.

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Fed. Circ. Says Planners Can't Be Diaries For Tariff Purposes

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. Court of International Trade incorrectly determined that weekly and monthly planners should be classified as diaries for tariff purposes, the Federal Circuit said in a precedential opinion that reversed the lower trade court's ruling and remanded the case.

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Columbia, Seirus Settle Long-Running Design Patent Suit

By Adam Lidgett

Columbia Sportswear has agreed to a settlement to bring an end to its long-running infringement suit against rival Seirus Innovative Accessories Inc. over a clothing design patent, after a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office examiner upheld the patent last month.

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ITC Bans Infringing Drill Bit Imports After Fed. Circ. Remand

By Elliot Weld

The U.S. International Trade Commission has held that a group of foreign companies is violating Section 337 of the Tariff Act by shipping diamond drill bit components that infringe a U.S. company's patent and issued an order banning such imports after the case was remanded by the Federal Circuit.

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Judge Won't Lift Stay On Hopewell Drug Launch

By Adam Lidgett

A Delaware federal judge has shot down Hopewell Pharma Ventures' bid to lift a regulatory stay on approval of its planned generic version of German drugmaker Merck's blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Mavenclad.

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2nd Circ. Upholds Toss Of Barclays Investor Case

By Sydney Price

The Second Circuit on Friday affirmed the dismissal of a proposed securities class action accusing Barclays PLC of misleading investors about its internal controls before the bank accidentally oversold billions of dollars' worth of exchange-traded notes, finding the complaint did not allege that the bank's executives acted with fraudulent intent.

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2nd Circ. Backs Ex-Goldman Exec's 1MDB Conviction

By Phillip Bantz

Former Goldman Sachs managing director Roger Ng's attempt to overturn his conviction in the $6.5 billion 1MDB corruption scheme hit a wall Friday at the Second Circuit, where a panel categorically rejected his multipronged appeal.

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NFL Owner's Ex-Aide Agrees To Arbitrate Harassment Suit

By David Steele

A former assistant to Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill agreed to proceed with arbitration in her lawsuit accusing Bidwill of harassment, after having previously opposed the move, according to a joint court filing from the parties.

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3rd Circ. Backs NJ In-State Rule For Medical Aid In Dying

By Carla Baranauckas

A Delaware woman with terminal cancer cannot end her life with medical assistance in New Jersey, the Third Circuit ruled Friday in a precedential opinion, finding that the Garden State residency requirement for medical aid in dying is restricted solely to New Jerseyans.

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3rd Circ. Clears Philadelphia Cops In Fatal Chase Crash

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Third Circuit ruled Friday that Philadelphia police aren't liable for the death of a bystander struck by an alleged drug dealer fleeing the cops, reasoning in a precedential decision that the officers didn't intend to harm. 

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BofA Says Northrop 401(k) Suit Toss Backs 4th Circ. Appeal

By Kellie Mejdrich

Bank of America urged a North Carolina federal court Friday to let it appeal an earlier decision denying dismissal of a proposed class action alleging forfeitures were misspent from workers' employee 401(k) plan, arguing a Virginia federal court's decision tossing similar claims against Northrop Grumman supported its bid.

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5th Circ. Halts Order To Revive Texas College Women's Teams

By Alex Lawson

The Fifth Circuit has struck down a court order requiring Stephen F. Austin State University to reinstate three women's sports teams while a Title IX suit against the school proceeds, finding that the directive was too vague.

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6th Circ. Partially Overturns EPA's Detroit Ozone Ruling

By Carolyn Muyskens

The Sixth Circuit reversed a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency determination that the Detroit area meets federal air quality standards, ruling Friday that the state of Michigan failed to implement federally required air pollution controls.

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Address Mix-Up Was No Cause To Reject Brief, 6th Circ. Says

By Tom Lotshaw

A Sixth Circuit panel said the Board of Immigration Appeals erred when it rejected a brief due to a discrepancy with an attorney's address and then ultimately denied several Salvadorans' asylum applications for the lack of a timely brief.

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7th Circ. Backs Distribution Of $2.5M In Fraud Funds

By Celeste Bott

The Seventh Circuit on Thursday rejected a real estate banking business's argument it should have been prioritized over other investors for proceeds from the liquidation of assets related to an alleged $135 million Ponzi scheme, and affirmed a lower court's finding it would have learned of those other investors' interests on two Chicago properties with a more diligent inquiry.

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7th Circ. Won't Revive Ex-Tenant's Palestinian Flag Bias Suit

By Isaac Monterose

The Seventh Circuit has backed the dismissal of a Palestinian American's Fair Housing Act lawsuit that accused an apartment building's owner and operator of wrongfully evicting her after she refused to remove a Palestinian flag outside her apartment window.

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'What's The Fight About?': Fed Funding Fight Puzzles 9th Circ.

By Craig Clough

Two Ninth Circuit judges appeared confused Friday as to what exactly the Trump administration and some sanctuary cities are arguing over in the government's appeal of a district court's injunction blocking the administration from withholding federal funding to sanctuary jurisdictions.

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9th Circ. Won't Unfreeze Trump Cuts To Student Mental Health

By Ben Adlin

The Ninth Circuit rejected the Trump administration's effort to undo a lower court's pause on federal funding reductions to K-12 mental health services, siding with a coalition of 16 states seeking to preserve programs established in the wake of high-profile school shootings.

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Meta CEO Zuckerberg Fights Privacy Suit Depo At 9th Circ.

By Dorothy Atkins

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg urged a Ninth Circuit panel during a hearing Friday to scrap orders requiring him to give a limited deposition in privacy litigation over Facebook's alleged collection of health data, arguing the plaintiffs failed to exhaust alternative methods of getting the information they seek.

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Legislation Targets Reversal Of Oak Flat Land Transfer In Ariz.

By Crystal Owens

An Arizona congressional representative is carrying on her father's initiative to repeal a 2014 National Defense Authorization Act rider that transfers more than 2,422 acres to a copper mining company while litigation to block the move continues to play out in the Ninth Circuit.

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10th Circ. Won't Stay Order In Union Early Retirement Case

By Emily Brill

A union pension plan must comply with an order compelling it to restore benefits to certain early retirees while it appeals the ruling that required it to do so, the Tenth Circuit held, denying the plan's request for a stay of the order.

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11th Circ. Backs Temp Co. On Work Travel Deductions

By Irene Spezzamonte

A temporary labor provider could deduct from workers' pay the transportation costs to and from worksites, the Eleventh Circuit ruled on Friday, also concluding that the travel time, waiting for transportation and picking up of tools was not compensable.

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NY Court Grants Murder Retrial Due To Jury Instruction Error

By Elizabeth Daley

A man sentenced to up to life in prison for murder after stabbing another man in a bar fight has been granted a new trial by a New York appeals court, which said his jury should have been allowed to consider whether he had acted in self-defense.

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Calif. Court Reverses Arbitration Denial In Injury Firm Dispute

By Y. Peter Kang

A California state appeals court has reversed a lower court's decision denying an injury firm co-founding partner's petition to compel arbitration in a dispute with his former law partner over referral and attorney fees, finding that an arbitration clause may be enforceable.

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Court Asks Texas DPS If Delay At Uvalde Injured Survivors

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court pressed counsel for the Texas Department of Public Safety to explain how sovereign immunity bars tort claims brought by the victims who survived the Uvalde massacre, asking Friday why the agency should get to avoid negligence claims.

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Conn. Court Grants New Hearing In Double Homicide

By Elizabeth Daley

A Connecticut man convicted of murdering and robbing two women in 2007 to support a drug habit should have been afforded a hearing concerning his motion to dismiss his attorney before his habeas petition was denied, the state's appellate court announced Friday.

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Capital Firm Boss Asks Conn. Justices To Reject $10M Appeal

By Aaron Keller

The co-founder of a capital firm has asked the Connecticut Supreme Court to reject an investment bank's bid to keep a $10.4 million bench trial judgment intact, arguing the state's intermediate appeals court correctly erased the judgment and rightfully earmarked the case for a jury trial.

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Fla. Court Upholds Atty Disqualification In $1M Estate Dispute

By David Minsky

A Florida state appellate court on Friday affirmed the disqualification of an attorney who abandoned his client and began representing his client's adversaries in a $1 million probate case, finding that he likely violated ethics rules regarding conflicts of interest.

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Panel Says NJ County Illegally Awarded $13.5M Jail Contract

By George Woolston

A New Jersey county violated the state's public contracts law when it awarded a $13.5 million contract to provide medical care and other services at a county jail, a state appeals court has ruled, backing a determination from the Office of the State Comptroller.

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Mich. Panel Finds Youth's 40-Year Sentence Is 'Effectively' Life

By Carolyn Muyskens

The Michigan state appeals court has ruled that 40 years was a disproportionately lengthy prison sentence for a 16-year-old convicted of murder, as the Wolverine State courts continue to rethink youth sentencing.

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Court Staff Attys Settle Claims Of Undermining Colleague

By Julie Manganis

Six months after Massachusetts' highest court revived some of a former Appeals Court staff attorney's claims in a suit alleging two supervisors intentionally undermined him, the parties have reported reaching a settlement in the case.

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Mass. Justices Muse On Swift, 'FOMO' In Meta Addiction Case

By Chris Villani

Massachusetts' highest court appeared divided Friday as it wrestled with whether Meta Platforms Inc. should have to face a suit by the state attorney general claiming that it is illegally getting kids hooked on Instagram.

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Mass. IOLTA Panel Says It's Owed Slice Of Residual Funds

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts panel that oversees Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts asked the state's highest court Friday to at least partially unwind a $4 million class action settlement, saying a lower court didn't give it a chance to argue for a portion of what it says are "significant" residual funds.

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11th Circ. Ruling Stresses Economic Reality In Worker Status

The Eleventh Circuit's recent worker classification decision in Galarza v. One Call Claims, reversing a finding that insurance adjusters were independent contractors, should remind companies to analyze the actual working relationship between a company and a worker, including whether they could be considered economically dependent on the company, say attorneys at Ogletree.

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DC Circ. Decision Reaffirms SEC Authority Post-Loper Bright

The recent denial of a challenge to invalidate 2024 amendments to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's tick size and fee-cap rules reinforces the D.C. Circuit's deference to SEC expertise in market structure regulation, even after Loper Bright, though implementation of the rules remains uncertain, say attorneys at Sidley.

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How Fed. Circ. Shaped Subject Matter Eligibility In 2025

The Federal Circuit's most impactful patent eligibility decisions this year, touching on questions about obviousness and abstractness, provide a toolbox of takeaways that can be utilized during patent preparation and prosecution to guard against potential challenges, says Reilley Keane at Banner Witcoff.

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10 Commandments For Agentic AI Tools In The Legal Industry

Though agentic artificial intelligence has demonstrated significant promise for optimizing legal work, it presents numerous risks, so specific ethical obligations should be built into the knowledge base of every agentic AI tool used in the legal industry, says Steven Cordero at Akerman LLP.

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Bonus Spotlight

Katten Exceeds Market Bonus Scale, Orrick Matches

By Tracey Read

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has joined a select few law firms that have gone beyond the BigLaw norm for year-end and special bonuses.

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Immigration Lawyers Battle Burnout Amid Deportation Surge

By Daniel Connolly

As the Trump administration carries out a mass deportation campaign across the country, immigration attorneys faced with heavy demand and changing norms are feeling the impact of burnout and stress on their practices and emotions, they told Law360.

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Judges Beat Ethics Suits For Dropping Retirement Post-Trump

By Jake Maher

A Fourth Circuit judge and two district court judges have defeated ethics complaints from a conservative legal organization alleging they improperly reversed their decisions to take senior status after President Donald Trump was elected.

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Rosen Law Firm Sanctioned Over 'Frivolous' Investor Suit

By Lynn LaRowe

A Wisconsin federal judge has sanctioned The Rosen Law Firm PA for failing to conduct an adequate investigation before filing a "frivolous" securities complaint against an airline holding company.

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Utah Atty Avoids Monetary Sanction For 'Hallucinated' Cases

By Matt Perez

A Utah federal judge handling a trademark infringement matter has sanctioned an attorney for filing court documents with "hallucinated" cases, but instead of issuing a fine, the lawyer was ordered to read all the cases and authorities cited in the opinion and file a summary statement within 30 days.

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Fla. Judge OKs Release Of Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts

By Rae Ann Varona

A Florida federal judge on Friday ordered the release of grand jury transcripts from an investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, citing a newly enacted law that the government said overrides a prohibition on disclosing the documents to the public.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

An SEC panel has asked the agency to adopt regulations that could standardize the way publicly traded companies report details about AI use. Meanwhile, the FCC approved AT&T's $1 billion UScellular deal after AT&T became the latest of the big three mobile carriers to agree to do away with diversity, equity and inclusion policies. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Gupta Wessler LLP and Block & Leviton LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Eleventh Circuit revived a proposed class action against NextEra Energy Inc. that seeks to hold the energy company liable for a share price drop that followed political interference allegations involving a subsidiary.

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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.

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