Analysis

'Low-Hanging Fruit' In Devas Resolved, But Questions Remain

By Caroline Simson

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision Thursday rejecting the Ninth Circuit's outlier interpretation of a jurisdictional question in a $1.3 billion arbitral award enforcement case came as no surprise to arbitration experts, who say they will nevertheless continue closely watching the case to see how outstanding issues are resolved.

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DOGE Can Access Social Security Data For Now, Justices Say

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 Friday that the Department of Government Efficiency could obtain unlimited access to Social Security Administration data on millions of Americans while a legal dispute over privacy concerns plays out.

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4th Circ. Stays Ruling Restoring Frozen Federal Grant Funding

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

A split Fourth Circuit panel has blocked a South Carolina federal judge's order directing the federal government to restore 32 congressionally funded grants that were frozen by the Trump administration, while casting doubt on nonprofits' and cities' legal challenge.

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High Court Says Software Glitch Led To Early Order List Drop

By Hailey Konnath

An "apparent software malfunction" caused the U.S. Supreme Court's order list to be issued early Friday, orders in which the justices granted certiorari in four cases and refused to take up a long list of other ones, including cases centered on Pennsylvania's election system and the Obama Presidential Center.

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Split DC Circ. Reinstates AP's White House Press Pool Ban

By Dorothy Atkins

A split D.C. Circuit panel reinstated the White House's decision to ban the Associated Press from the press pool covering the Oval Office, Air Force One and Mar-a-Lago on Friday, while a dissenting judge criticized her colleagues' rationale as being nonsensical and upending longstanding First Amendment precedent and generations of tradition.

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Off The Bench

Off The Bench: NASCAR Antitrust Saga, White Sox Transfer

By David Steele

In this week's Off The Bench, an appeals court says Michael Jordan's auto racing team cannot compete amid an antitrust suit against NASCAR, the Chicago White Sox start a long ownership transfer process, and the woman who accused a college football coach of sexual harassment sues the university over its handling of the complaint.

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Supreme Court Limits Discovery In FOIA Suit Against DOGE

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court halted discovery Friday into whether the Department of Government Efficiency is an agency subject to the Freedom of Information Act, but left the door open to future, more tailored inquiries about the inner workings of the initiative.

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Trump Seeks High Court's OK On Education Dept. Job Cuts

By Katie Buehler

The Trump administration has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to lift a Massachusetts federal judge's order halting massive job cuts at the U.S. Department of Education, arguing that the judge's finding that almost 1,400 employees must be reinstated to ensure the department's continued operation "has no basis in reality."

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Justices Reject Eligibility Appeal On Telemedicine Patents

By Ryan Davis

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Friday to review a decision that telemedicine patents asserted against the U.S. government are invalid for claiming only abstract ideas, in the court's latest refusal to reconsider the standard for determining if inventions are eligible for patents.

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Justices Won't Hear Obama Center Site Selection Complaints

By Nate Beck

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to consider claims that federal agencies failed to complete a full environmental review of plans to construct the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park neighborhood.

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NY Tribe Urges Supreme Court To Overturn Eel Fishing Ruling

By Crystal Owens

A Long Island tribe is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to undo a Second Circuit ruling that rejected its challenge to New York's regulations on eel fishing harvests, arguing that if the decision is held, it would set a precedent allowing district courts to give up their gatekeeping roles on expert testimony.

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Brief

Justices Skip Investment Adviser's Appeal Of $32M SEC Win

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's disgorgement powers, turning away an appeal brought by an investment adviser who was ordered to pay $32 million after a lower court found that he and his firm defrauded clients.

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Split DC Circ. Says IAF CEO Can Stay In Role

By Ali Sullivan

A split D.C. Circuit panel refused to block the reinstatement of the head of a federal agency that invests in Latin America and the Caribbean, concluding that the Trump administration's firing of the official was "likely invalid."

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DC Circ. Backs FERC Extension For Southgate Pipeline Work

By Tom Lotshaw

A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday affirmed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's construction deadline extension for the Mountain Valley Pipeline's southern spur, with one judge characterizing a suit challenging it as "typical" of litigation that has stymied American progress.

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Argentina Tells DC Circ. $391M Award OK Must Be Nixed

By Joyce Hanson

Argentina has asked the D.C. Circuit to overturn a lower court decision ordering it to pay a $391 million arbitral award issued following a 15-year-old dispute over the renationalization of the country's state-owned airline.

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Iraq Says $120M Pier Award Enforcement Must Be Thrown Out

By Joyce Hanson

Iraq has filed an appellate brief urging the D.C. Circuit to overturn a lower court ruling giving a Cypriot construction firm permission to enforce a nearly $120 million arbitral award it won in a dispute over a major port project.

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Stewart Says PTAB Should 'Never' Cancel IP As A Sanction

By Dani Kass

The acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office revived Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics LLC patent claims on Thursday that her predecessor had invalidated to punish Longhorn for misconduct.

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Fed. Circ. Weighs Purview Over Acorda's $17M Arbitral Award

By Theresa Schliep

A Federal Circuit panel on Friday wrestled with its authority to consider arbitration appeals dealing with patent law, with at least one judge appearing skeptical that it could consider Acorda Therapeutics Inc.'s bid to increase a $16.6 million award in a fight with Alkermes PLC over a multiple sclerosis drug.

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New York Says It Won't Rescind Native American Mascot Ban

By Crystal Owens

The New York State Education Department said it won't rescind a ban on the use of Indigenous mascots and names in public schools despite a threat from the Trump administration to pull its federal funding, telling the U.S. Department of Education instead that it's willing to broaden the regulation's reach.

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OpenAI CEO Calls NYT's ChatGPT Log Demand 'Inappropriate'

By Ivan Moreno

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his company have said they intend to appeal a Manhattan federal court order mandating the preservation of ChatGPT logs at the request of The New York Times and other news agencies in ongoing copyright infringement litigation, saying the demand goes too far.

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3rd Circ. Partially Undoes Chipotle's Change-Shorting Suit Win

By Rae Ann Varona

The Third Circuit on Friday declined to fully undo Chipotle's win against a proposed class action that alleged it shortchanged customers during a COVID-19 pandemic coin shortage in 2020, reversing a lower court's determination that a Pennsylvania man waived a breach of contract claim by accepting his change without coins.

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4th Circ. Denies Couple's Bid To Inflate 300K Insurance Payout

By Abigail Harrison

Selective Insurance Company of South Carolina doesn't have to increase its payout to a couple involved in a car wreck, the Fourth Circuit has ruled, finding that North Carolina law doesn't provide that the couple's many insurance policies can be stacked.

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6th Circ. Sends GM Emissions Fraud Claims Back To Michigan

By Linda Chiem

The Sixth Circuit on Friday partly revived drivers' claims alleging General Motors deceptively marketed Chevrolet Cruze vehicles as clean vehicles when they were actually outfitted with emissions-cheating software, punting a question of preemption back to Michigan federal court.

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8th Circ. Rejects Farm Leasing Co.'s Switch To Amortization

By Kat Lucero

The Eighth Circuit denied an Arkansas farm leasing company's action to amortize federal subsidy-eligible land to reduce its tax liability, affirming Friday that the company was not authorized to make such accounting changes without approval from the Internal Revenue Service.

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9th Circ. Won't Boost Interest Rate For Worker's FMLA Win

By Emmy Freedman

The Ninth Circuit declined to upend an order applying the federal rate instead of a higher Washington state rate when calculating prejudgment interest that a federal jury awarded to a worker in his lawsuit accusing a manufacturer of firing him for taking leave, saying his federal claim guided his litigation strategy.

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9th Circ. Mulls If Seagate Win Could Spur Antitrust Suits

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit judge on a panel doubted Seagate Technology's request to reverse NHK Spring's partial win in an antitrust fight over hard drive components, observing Friday that Seagate's position may broaden antitrust liability and asking "how does this not open up the floodgates for a new plaintiffs' cottage industry?"

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Truck Drivers Urge 9th Circ. To Reverse OT Exemption Ruling

By Irene Spezzamonte

Truck drivers said a California federal court focused on the wrong shipper when it ruled that they were overtime-exempt under the Fair Labor Standards Act, urging the Ninth Circuit to flip the decision granting a win to a food distributor.

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11th Circ. Denies Fla. AG's Bid To Unpause Immigration Law

By Carolina Bolado

The Eleventh Circuit on Friday denied Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier's bid to lift a block on a state law criminalizing the entry of unauthorized immigrants into the state, finding that Florida had failed to make a strong showing that it would fend off a challenge to the law.

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Full 11th Circ. Asked To Rethink Workplace Attack Case

By Kelcey Caulder

An employee has asked the en banc Eleventh Circuit to rethink its ruling that wholesale restaurant supply store McLane Foodservice Inc. is not liable for injuries suffered by an employee who was set on fire at work by a former partner, arguing it took too narrow a view on foreseeability.

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Calif. Bar Hires Investigator To Review Exam Snafu

By Emily Sawicki

The State Bar of California's board of trustees voted to approve a $185,000 contract with a nonprofit to review "exam scoring irregularities and testing accommodations" from its fraught February 2025 bar exam.

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Calif. Panel Remands Fee Claims Over Evidence Exclusion

By Emily Sawicki

A California trial court erred when it blocked any reference to underlying legal malpractice allegations in a trial for recovery of fees brought by a San Francisco lawyer against his former clients, according to a Golden State appeals panel, which found the malpractice claims, though "effectively abandoned," had not reached final judgment on the merits.

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Texas Justices Ax Multiplaintiff 'Jurisdictional Loophole'

By Lauren Berg

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday closed a "gaping jurisdictional loophole" that allowed defendants to challenge jurisdiction in just about any case involving multiple plaintiffs, saying the mere presence of multiple plaintiffs is not enough to invoke appellate review.

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Texas Justices Say 'Reciprocal' Discipline Is Time-Limited

By Jack Karp

Texas' four-year time limit on attorney discipline applies to "reciprocal" discipline cases, in which a lawyer is sanctioned in Texas after being similarly sanctioned in another state, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday.

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Texas Court Says Doctor Can Be Sued For Service Dog Mauling

By Y. Peter Kang

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday greenlit a suit accusing a gynecologist of negligently giving a patient a note stating that she required a service dog which later mauled a toddler, saying the alleged negligence is not a malpractice claim, therefore the plaintiffs did not need a medical expert's opinion.

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Texas AG Says Trans Care Investigation Is Lawful

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Attorney General's Office told the state's Supreme Court that a lower court went too far by blocking an investigation into an LGBTQ+ advocacy organization that allegedly had knowledge about outside parties performing gender-affirming care on minors, saying the court undermined the AG's investigative authority.

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Litigation Funder Can't Stop Attys' Texas Fee Fight Remand

By Lynn LaRowe

A divided Texas First Court of Appeals won't disturb a split decision that revived a dispute between an attorney and a former attorney over a fee-sharing agreement in tobacco litigation, rejecting a litigation finance company's en banc request to keep its trial court victory and prevent the case from being remanded.

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Free Speech Shields Rehab From Permit Suit, Court Says

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut drug treatment facility does not have to face claims, including unfair trade practices, lodged by a prospective competitor amid a contentious permit battle, a state appellate panel ruled Friday, finding that the state's anti-SLAPP statute is fatal to the case.

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NJ Court Blocks LTC Insurer's Bid For Triple-Digit Rate Hike

By Elizabeth Daley

A New Jersey state appeals court on Friday backed the state's Department of Banking and Insurance in denying a long-term care insurer's request to increase its policy rates, agreeing that the proposed triple-digit rate increase on aging policyholders was excessive.

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NJ Panel Revives Contract Row Between Pot Co., Landlord

By Mike Curley

A New Jersey state appeals court on Friday revived a Paterson property owner's suit against a would-be dispensary and its principals alleging they broke a deal to share profits from the dispensary, finding that the trial court wrongly conflated the contract's requirement for local approval with a cannabis license.

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Wash. Panel Grills Ambulance Co. On Crash Immunity Defense

By Rachel Riley

Washington appellate judges expressed skepticism on Friday regarding an ambulance company's stance that qualified immunity shielded it from a patient estate's $2.3 million jury verdict over a mid-transport crash, while also casting doubt on the family's contention that the defendant had forfeited its appeal rights.

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Foreign Sovereign Entities Should Heed 9th Circ. IP Ruling

After the Ninth Circuit recently held that four Chinese state-controlled companies were not immune from criminal indictment for alleged economic espionage, foreign sovereign-controlled entities should assess whether their operations and affiliation with their parent states qualify for sovereign immunity under the common law, say attorneys at Cleary.

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How Attorneys Can Become Change Agents For Racial Equity

As the administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and law firms consider pulling back from their programs, lawyers who care about racial equity and justice can employ four strategies to create microspaces of justice, which can then be parlayed into drivers of transformational change, says Susan Sturm at Columbia Law School.

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Legal Sector Jobs Ticked Up In May Amid Uncertain Economy

By Alison Knezevich

The U.S. legal industry added 1,100 jobs in May, holding steady in the midst of economic uncertainty, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Ex-SDNY Prosecutor Exits Paul Weiss For Jenner & Block

By Alison Knezevich

Just months after rejoining Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York is leaving the firm to join Jenner & Block LLP.

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Atty Gets Prison For Conn. Law Firm Parking Lot Shooting

By Aaron Keller

A onetime Cramer & Anderson LLP partner was sentenced Friday to a seven-year prison term after being convicted of first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting an attacker in the parking lot of his rural Litchfield, Connecticut, law firm, although his incarceration will be suspended after 2½ years.

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Brief

Fox Rothschild Settles Suit Over $3M Real Estate Deal

By Ryan Harroff

Fox Rothschild LLP has settled a Colorado real estate investor's legal malpractice lawsuit over a $3 million development deal that went wrong, according to a new order filed in state court directing the parties to file for dismissal within a month.

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Flaws Remain In Bar Fitness Queries, Summit Panelists Say

By Aebra Coe

Many current state bar character and fitness tests fail to identify bad actors, and at the same time, certain aspects of the queries can hurt efforts to increase diversity in the profession, according to panelists at the American Bar Association's 2025 Virtual Equity Summit on Friday.

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Seeger Weiss Aims To Protect Bench With Duke Law Donation

By Madison Arnold

New Jersey-based Seeger Weiss LLP is seeking to help protect judges with a $500,000 donation to an institute at Duke Law School that is named in honor of the murdered son of a federal judge in the Garden State.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

In corporate legal news from the past week,​ in-house lawyers' use of alternative legal service providers remains low, and the top Justice Department merger official said that the Trump administration welcomes "fix-it-first proposals," where merging companies arrange to sell off overlapping business lines.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The University of Virginia School of Law Supreme Court Litigation Clinic and attorney Edward Gilbert lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the Sixth Circuit's ruling that plaintiffs claiming anti-heterosexual workplace discrimination need to provide extra "background circumstances" evidence.

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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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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Lieff Cabraser's Michael Sobol

By Kevin Penton

Michael Sobol has won significant settlements recently, including a $115 million deal over Oracle's allegedly unlawful sale of internet users' electronic profiles and a $62 million deal with Google over allegations it illegally stored and tracked the private location information of smartphone users, earning him a place among Law360's 2025 Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar.

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