Attorneys have been analyzing the Trump administration's many pronouncements against diversity, equity and inclusion programs over the past several months, only to be left with questions as to what exactly "illegal DEI" is and what the government will do to police it.
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TOP NEWS

Analysis

Amid DEI Uncertainty, Cos. Face Pressure From All Sides

By Sarah Jarvis

Attorneys have been analyzing the Trump administration's many pronouncements against diversity, equity and inclusion programs over the past several months, only to be left with questions as to what exactly "illegal DEI" is and what the government will do to police it.

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Atkins Says SEC Is Taking A Fresh Look At SPAC Regulations

By Tom Zanki

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins said Wednesday that regulators are reviewing recently beefed-up rules governing special-purpose acquisition companies as part of a broader policy of increasing public listings.

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DOJ, HHS Form New False Claims Act Enforcement Group

By Gianna Ferrarin

Lead attorneys at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Justice Department will head a working group focused on enforcement of the False Claims Act, government officials announced Wednesday.

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SEC Strikes Deal With SolarWinds In Data Breach Case

By Jessica Corso

SolarWinds Corp. is on the cusp of resolving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's novel case alleging the software developer hid faulty cybersecurity practices before a major breach, telling a New York federal judge Wednesday that the parties have agreed to a settlement.

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FCC To Vote On More 'Delete' Docket Regs This Month

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission plans to vote this month on a proposal to remove outmoded regulations from its books that would advance FCC Chair Brendan Carr's "Delete, Delete, Delete" proceeding to cut down on what he considers burdensome agency rules.

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Calif. AG Secures Record Data Privacy Deal Against Healthline

By Allison Grande

Medical information provider Healthline Media LLC will pay $1.55 million and refrain from sharing certain information with advertisers and other third parties that may reveal website visitors' health diagnoses, as part of the California attorney general's largest settlement to date under the state's data privacy law. 

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Wash. Tribal Warrants Gain Statewide Reach Under New Law

By Crystal Owens

A Washington law that took effect this month will allow its state police to enforce tribal warrants, a move that legislators say closes a jurisdictional gap that often allowed individuals who committed crimes on Indigenous lands to evade prosecution by fleeing to state property.

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Feature

The Funniest Moments Of The Supreme Court's Term

By Jeff Overley

After justices and oral advocates spent much of an argument pummeling a lower court's writing talents, one attorney suggested it might be time to move on — only to be told the drubbing had barely begun. Here, Law360 showcases the standout jests and wisecracks from the 2024-25 U.S. Supreme Court term.

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SECURITIES & BANKING

Analysis

High Court Case Tops List of Securities Appeals To Watch

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up at least one shareholder's lawsuit when it reopens its doors in October, and securities attorneys from both the plaintiff and defense bars will be watching that appeal and several others as the year moves forward.

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East West, Cathay Accused Of Enabling $20M NFT Fraud

By Sydney Price

A Texas investor who says he lost millions in a romance-driven NFT scam has expanded his legal battle, suing East West Bank and Cathay Bank in California federal court for allegedly ignoring red flags while scammers used accounts at the banks to siphon nearly $17 million from his family trusts.

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Bankers Worry TCPA Rule Causes Fraud Alert Blocking

By Jared Foretek

The financial services industry says it is gaining allies in its fight against a 2024 Federal Communications Commission rule making it easier for consumers to opt out of robotexts and calls, telling the agency that groups from a wide range of industries have concerns about the potential for negative impacts from the rule.

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CRYPTO & FINTECH

SEC Staff Shares Disclosure Guidance For Crypto ETPs

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff is providing more insight on its expectations around disclosures for novel crypto exchange-traded products, urging issuers to share risks specific to the product and use plain language over technical jargon to explain the business.

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Justices Won't Hear Crypto Firms' Venue Statute Case

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Supreme Court has said it will not take up a petition from the Binance-branded U.S. exchange and an affiliated crypto data site to resolve what they call a circuit split in a case accusing Binance.US of artificially deflating the price of a cryptocurrency token by lowering its ranking on the Binance exchange.

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PUBLIC INTEGRITY

2nd Circ. Reinstates FIFA Bribery Convictions

By Cara Salvatore

The Second Circuit on Wednesday reinstated two conspiracy convictions linked to the FIFA bribery scandal, saying a former 21st Century Fox executive and a company that brokers media rights for major tournaments weren't absolved by new U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

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SeaCrest Adviser To Pay $161K For Cherry-Picking Scheme

By Katryna Perera

A former SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC adviser will pay $161,000 to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly carrying out a cherry-picking scheme through which he misappropriated more than $108,000.

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Feds Charge Four North Koreans With Crypto Theft Scheme

By Chart Riggall

Federal prosecutors in Atlanta have charged four North Korean nationals with stealing and laundering nearly $1 million in cryptocurrency from a pair of companies after lying about their backgrounds to gain employment with American and European firms.

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GOV'T CONTRACTS

GOP Reps. Want Probe Of RI Judge Blocking Funding Freeze

By Jack Karp

Two Republican U.S. House members have asked the First Circuit to investigate a Rhode Island federal judge who blocked a Trump administration spending freeze, claiming the judge's link to a funding recipient constitutes a conflict of interest, one of those congressmen's office confirmed to Law360 Pulse on Wednesday.

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EMPLOYMENT & BENEFITS

TikTok Can Arbitrate Most Sales Reps' Claims Of Unpaid OT

By Emmy Freedman

A lawsuit by a group of sales representatives accusing TikTok of incorrectly classifying them as exempt from earning overtime can largely be sent to arbitration, a California federal judge ruled, saying all but one worker signed an agreement that mandates employment disputes stay out of court.

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Veterans Sue Air Force For Disability Review Failures

By Tom Lotshaw

Three former service members hit the U.S. Air Force with a proposed class action challenging the lawfulness of a screening process used to determine if people should be retained or referred to a formal disability evaluation process.

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Segal McCambridge Hit With Age Bias, Retaliation Suit

By Jake Maher

A former secretary is suing Segal McCambridge Singer & Mahoney Ltd. in New York federal court alleging that the firm excluded her from work emails, falsely accused her of failing to perform her work duties and ultimately fired her based on her age.

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INSURANCE

Mich. Justices Say Old Insurance Policies Violated New Limits

By Danielle Ferguson

In a closely divided order Wednesday, the Michigan Supreme Court held that insurance policies straddling the dates for which 2019 no-fault reforms went into effect are subjected to post-reform increased limits for liability, reversing a lower appellate opinion in favor of insurers.

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HEALTHCARE & LIFE SCIENCES

Pa. Hospital Co. To Pay $2.75M Over Drug Theft Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Pennsylvania healthcare company Lehigh Valley Hospital Network Inc. has agreed to pay the federal government $2.75 million to settle claims that it ran afoul of controlled substance laws when one of its pharmacy technicians allegedly stole medication on multiple occasions.

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COMPETITION

Ill. Judge Asks Deere Rivals To Stop Pestering Court Staff

By Nadia Dreid

The judge overseeing the FTC's antitrust enforcement action against farm machinery maker Deere & Co. has penned a light-hearted order calling out another judge and asking equipment manufacturers to stop calling his staff to ask for advice.

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CONSUMER PROTECTION & PRODUCT LIABILITY

Amazon Judge Presses FTC On Bid For 'Bad Faith' Finding

By Rachel Riley

As the Federal Trade Commission insisted Wednesday that Amazon should be punished with a bad faith finding for mislabeling documents as privileged in a case over the company's Prime subscription practices, a Washington federal judge questioned why the agency wasn't "made whole" when the court granted its sanctions bid.

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TAX

Tax Court Rejects IRS' Partnership Income Adjustment Regs

By Kat Lucero

The U.S. Tax Court ruled Wednesday that the IRS was too late to adjust a Texas real estate partnership's income under a relatively new centralized audit regime, holding that regulations providing a longer adjustment period had exceeded the agency's rulemaking authority granted by Congress.

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Mortgage Lender Says IRS Owes $1.2M In Retention Credits

By Anna Scott Farrell

The IRS has delayed paying a mortgage lender $1.2 million in tax credits for keeping employees on payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the company said it was forced to curtail business because of a pause on evictions, according to a complaint in Alabama federal court.

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Solar Farm Halt Can't Rest On Federal Tax Credits, Judge Says

By Keith Goldberg

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit seeking to block a NextEra Energy solar farm in Kansas, saying arguments that the project can't receive federal clean energy tax credits until it undergoes an environmental review aren't supported by law.

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REAL ESTATE

Seattle Sued Over 'Unconstitutional' Affordable Housing Rules

By Isaac Monterose

A Washington construction company and two Seattle homeowners claimed in Washington federal court that the city's Mandatory Housing Affordability program is "unconstitutional," in part because it doesn't consider the public impact of housing projects and makes land-use permit applicants pay upzoning fees for the city's public housing fund.

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Investor Says Houston Apt. Owner Diverted $17M In Proceeds

By Grace Dixon

An investor controlled by bridge lender KHCA Funding LLC has filed suit against the owner and operator entities of a multifamily building in Houston, alleging that $17.6 million in investment proceeds it was due were improperly diverted elsewhere by the company.

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ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL

DC Circ. Stands By Decision Nixing $7B Power Line Fight

By Jared Foretek

The D.C. Circuit has rejected an en banc rehearing petition from Illinois landowners and farmers challenging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision to issue a license for the $7 billion Grain Belt Express transmission project, affirming an appellate panel and a district court's findings that the plaintiffs lack standing.

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Avangrid Units Win Extra Time To Depose Conn. Utilities Chair

By Aaron Keller

Two Avangrid Inc. subsidiaries now have extra time to depose the chair of Connecticut's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority in a $62 million revenue request case because of records purportedly discovered less than a week after the agency claimed the chairperson's phone deleted text messages.

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PEOPLE

Outgoing US Steel GC To Leave With $29M After Nippon Deal

By Sue Reisinger

U.S. Steel Corp.'s former general counsel Duane Holloway will leave his special adviser job on July 18 about $29 million richer, thanks to the company's recent sale to Nippon Steel, according to a recent company filing.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Policy Shifts Bring New Anti-Money Laundering Challenges

In the second half of 2025, the U.S. anti-money laundering regulatory landscape is poised for decisive shifts in enforcement priorities, compliance expectations and legislative developments — so investment advisers and other financial institutions should take steps to prepare for potential new obligations and areas of risk, say attorneys at Linklaters.

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Assessing New Changes To Texas Officer Exculpation Law

Consistent with Texas' recent modernization of its corporate law, the recently passed S.B. 2411 allows officer exculpation, streamlines certificate of formation amendments, authorizes representatives to act on shareholders' behalf in mergers and makes other changes aimed toward companies seeking a more codified, statutory model of corporate governance, say attorneys at Bracewell.

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3 Cautionary Tales For Cos. Using Facial Recognition Tech

Whether a business intends to develop its own facial recognition applications or contract with another company to use such services, three recent case studies should be kept in mind to help lower the risk of litigation or regulatory enforcement, says Adam Nyenhuis at Hilgers Graben.

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Kousisis Concurrence Maps FCA Defense To Anti-DEI Suits

Justice Clarence Thomas' recent concurrence in Kousisis v. U.S. lays out how federal funding recipients could use the high standard for materiality in government fraud cases to fight the U.S. Justice Department’s threatened False Claims Act suits against payees deviating from the administration’s anti-DEI policies, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

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High Court ACA Ruling May Harm Preventative Care

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Kennedy v. Braidwood last week, ruling that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services secretary has authority over an Affordable Care Act preventive care task force, risks harming the credibility of the task force and could open the door to politicians dictating clinical recommendations, says Michael Kolber at Manatt.

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8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Trump Announces 1st And 9th Circ. Nominees

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced nominations for judges on the First and Ninth circuit courts on Wednesday evening.

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Girardi Asks To Remain Free During Fraud Appeal

By Lauren Berg

Disbarred attorney Tom Girardi asked a California federal judge on Wednesday to remain free on bond while he appeals his wire fraud conviction, saying he's not a flight risk or danger to the community and there are several issues on appeal that could result in reversal or resentencing.

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Wisconsin High Court Narrowly Blocks 1849 Abortion Ban

By Dan McKay

The Wisconsin Supreme Court on Wednesday narrowly struck down an 1849 statute criminalizing abortion, finding that the law has been effectively replaced by more modern legislation regulating the procedure.

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DOJ, Defenders Alums Chosen As EDNY Magistrate Judges

By Andrea Keckley

The Board of Judges of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York has announced the appointment of two new magistrate judges: a former federal prosecutor and a Federal Defenders of New York alum.

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Litigation Funder Seeks Exit From NJ Suit Over Crash Funding

By Emily Sawicki

A litigation funder has asked a New Jersey state court to remove it from a suit alleging it worked with two law firms to unlawfully steer a former client into high-interest loans amid a vehicle injury suit, arguing its funding agreements are not loans and therefore are not governed by the Consumer Fraud Act.

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Calif. Man Charged In Plot To Murder Fed. Judge, Senator

By Lauren Berg

A California man allegedly belonging to an online-based terrorist group is accused of soliciting the murders of a federal judge, a U.S. senator, a former U.S. attorney and other officials the organization deemed to be obstructing their white supremacist aims, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday.

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Roundup

Hub Hires: Crowell & Moring, Greenberg Traurig, Kirkland

By Chris Villani

There will be more than a few Boston-area attorneys celebrating new jobs while attending Fourth of July cookouts this year.

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Promo that reads Law360 400 Promo that reads 2025 Law360 Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Armbrecht Jackson

Baker & Hostetler

Baker McKenzie

Behm & Behm

Bracewell LLP

Brown Hay

Byron Carlson

Chamberlain Hrdlicka

Clement & Murphy

Cohen Milstein

Cooley LLP

Covington & Burling

Crowell & Moring

Davis Wright Tremaine

Day Pitney

Debevoise & Plimpton

Ellenoff Grossman

Fisher Patterson

Fox Rothschild

Gibson Dunn

Girardi & Keese

Goodwin Procter

Graves Garrett

Greenbaum Rowe

Greenberg Traurig

Hahn Loeser

Hewson & Van Hellemont

Hilgers Graben

Hogan Lovells

Hueston Hennigan

Jones Day

K&L Gates

Kaplan Law Firm PLLC

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Kramer Levin

Labaton Keller

Latham & Watkins

Law Offices of Paul G. Neilan

Lee & Lin

Linklaters LLP

Manatt Phelps

Mike Morse Law Firm

Milbank LLP

Miller & Chevalier

Miller Canfield

Morrison Foerster

Morvillo Abramowitz

Nichols Kaster

Nixon Peabody

Norton Rose

Orrick Herrington

Perkins Coie

Pierce Atwood

Pierson Ferdinand LLP

Plunkett Cooney

Potomac Law Group

Quinn Emanuel

Richards Layton

Segal McCambridge

Sessions Israel

Shapiro Arato

Taylor Law Offices PC

Troutman

Weil Gotshal

White and Williams

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Amazon.com Inc.

American Bankers Association

Ascena Retail Group Inc.

Avangrid Inc.

BDO LLP

BDO USA LLP

Binance Holdings Ltd.

Binance.US

Brooklyn Law School

ByteDance Ltd.

CBS Interactive Inc.

Caesars Entertainment Inc.

Cathay General Bancorp

Citigroup Inc.

CoinMarketCap OpCo LLC

Comcast Corp.

Connecticut Natural Gas Corp.

CoreLogic Inc.

Deere & Co.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.

Discord Inc.

DoorDash Inc.

DraftKings Inc.

East West Bancorp Inc.

Edison Electric Institute Inc.

Ethereum GmbH

Federation Internationale de Football Association

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc.

FirstEnergy Corp.

Fox Corp.

Gleason Corp.

Google LLC

Harvard University

Illinois Farm Bureau

Institute for Justice

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

Invenergy LLC

LinkedIn Corp.

Macy's Inc.

Major League Baseball Inc.

McDonald's Corp.

Meta Platforms Inc.

NVIDIA Corp.

New York University

NextEra Energy Inc.

NextEra Energy Resources LLC

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

PacifiCorp

Palantir Technologies Inc.

Planned Parenthood Federation

Public Co. Accounting Oversight Board

Sephora SA

Slack Technologies Inc.

SolarWinds Corp.

Stanford University

The Boeing Co.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The New York Times Co.

TikTok Inc.

United States Steel Corp.

Universal Health Services Inc.

University of Virginia

Versity Invest LLC

Walmart Inc.

Zillow Group Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Arkansas Teacher Retirement System

Bureau of Indian Affairs

California Attorney General's Office

California Privacy Protection Agency

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

City Council of Seattle

Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation

Connecticut Attorney General's Office

Delaware Court of Chancery

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Federal Housing Administration

Federal Trade Commission

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network

Food and Drug Administration

House Committee on Natural Resources

Internal Revenue Service

Michigan Supreme Court

National Institute of Standards and Technology

New Jersey Court

New York State Department of State

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of State

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Public Health Service

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Tax Court

US Office of Management and Budget

United States District Court for the District of Kansas

United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama

Washington Attorney General's Office

Wisconsin Department of Justice

Wisconsin Supreme Court