SEC Makes First Move To Nix Biden-Era Climate Reg

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing to rescind a Biden-era requirement that publicly traded companies disclose their greenhouse gas emissions, with staff informing the Office of Management and Budget this week of the planned rescission.

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AT&T Finds 'Thousands Of Use Cases' For AI In-House

By Alex Baldwin

In-house counsel for AT&T said Wednesday that the company has found "thousands of use cases" for artificial intelligence models in intellectual property work, both in-house and for outside counsel.

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Judge May Curb Exxon Questions In Mass. Greenwash Case

By Carolyn Muyskens

A judge hinted Wednesday that he could somewhat limit the topics ExxonMobil may broach in an upcoming deposition of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office as the energy giant defends itself from the commonwealth's greenwashing allegations.  

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'Do Not Use This Report': J&J Hid Asbestos Test, Jury Told

By Craig Clough

Johnson & Johnson and a consultant it hired in the 1970s altered the conclusions of tests that found alarming levels of asbestos in the company's talc products before giving different results to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a former FDA commissioner told a Los Angeles jury Wednesday.

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Mother Of Musk's Kids Defends Role As OpenAI Liaison

By Dorothy Atkins

Ex-OpenAI board member Shivon Zilis, who has four children with Elon Musk, took the stand in a California federal jury trial Wednesday over Musk's challenge to OpenAI's for-profit conversion, defending her role as an intermediary between Musk and other OpenAI founders and testifying she twice raised concerns over Sam Altman's leadership.

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Extend Immediate Expensing For Plastic Recycling, IRS Told

By Kat Lucero

Advanced plastic recycling should be eligible for a new tax perk allowing full expensing of a qualified production property's costs, a chemical trade association said in a letter, released Wednesday, recommending the industry-specific change for the IRS' upcoming proposed regulations.

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Democrats Urge EEOC Chair Not To Roll Back IVF Protections

By Patrick Hoff

Over a dozen Democratic senators urged the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to preserve safeguards for workers undergoing fertility treatments, asserting in a letter that Chair Andrea Lucas' plans to rewrite Pregnant Workers Fairness Act regulations could lead employers to unlawfully deny employees' accommodation requests.

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Feds Say Stolen BigLaw Deal Info Aided Huge Trading Scheme

By Chris Villani

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday unveiled indictments outlining a massive insider trading scheme that allegedly netted tens of millions of dollars using nonpublic information about mergers and acquisitions worked on by some of the nation's biggest law firms.

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Dish To Pay $17M In Broadband Subsidies Settlement

By Sarah Jarvis

Dish Wireless LLC has agreed to pay more than $17 million to settle allegations it submitted false claims for payment under two Federal Communications Commission programs offering discounted broadband services to low-income households, according to a Wednesday announcement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Mich. Gov. Ex-Appointee Accused Of $20 Million Grant Fraud

By Susan Smiley

An ex-appointee of Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was charged Wednesday with 16 felonies in connection with misappropriation of a $20 million taxpayer-funded business grant.

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High Court Rejects Apple's Bid To Pause App Store Ruling

By Matthew Perlman

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected Apple's request to pause a mandate in the case from Epic Games that directs a lower court to determine what commission Apple can charge developers for purchases made outside of its app store through links.

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'Wasn't A Hard Call': Jeffer Mangels Can't Arbitrate Atty's Suit

By Craig Clough

A Los Angeles judge ruled at a Wednesday hearing that Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP can't arbitrate an ex-associate's lawsuit alleging she was harassed and fired due to her pregnancy, saying it "wasn't a hard call" because her sexual harassment claims are statutorily prohibited from being arbitrated.

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Meta's Exploitation Reporting Needs Work, NM Judge Told

By Cara Salvatore

An executive for a child protection organization told a New Mexico judge Wednesday that "ongoing quality issues" with Meta's reporting and the use of message encryption have made it harder to deliver actionable reports to law enforcement, as the state seeks $3.7 billion in reforms at the social media company.

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Alto Says Investors Use Hindsight In Suit Over Drug Trial

By Katryna Perera

Alto Neuroscience has urged a California federal judge to toss an investor suit alleging the psychiatric biotech company and its top brass overstated the efficacy of their lead drug candidate for treating major depressive disorder, saying the suit is a "classic case of trying to plead fraud by hindsight."

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Sony Reaped 'Windfall' From Illegal Tariffs, Gamers Say

By Dylan Moroses

Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC retained a "substantial windfall" generated by illegal tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, two Sony PlayStation console owners said Wednesday in a proposed class action in California federal court.

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Tea Deal Sparks Chancery Fight Over Tax Records

By Jarek Rutz

An international tea business has sued a food-and-beverage manufacturer in Delaware Chancery Court, accusing it of withholding tax and audit records needed to complete 2024 filings tied to the manufacturer's purchase of Harris Tea Co. LLC.

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Brief

Tenn. Telecom Says Dish Owes $300K For Using Fiber Cables

By Nadia Dreid

Dish Wireless has been slapped with yet another suit over its decision to ditch both its plans to build a nationwide 5G network and the dozens of contracts it signed to make that network happen, this time by a Tennessee telecom that says it's owed more than $300,000.

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Insider Trading Safeguards Can Mitigate Sports Betting Risk

As the rapid growth of sports betting heightens the risk that sensitive information held by coaches, players and staff may be improperly exploited, sports organizations can look to the securities context to safeguard information and address potential misconduct, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

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How To Reconcile AI Opacity And Advisers' Fiduciary Duties

Firms that treat fiduciary compliance as a foundation for responsible artificial intelligence adoption will be best positioned when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission moves from implicit expectations to explicit rules regarding advisers' core duties, as those are unlikely to change, says Ivor Wolk at Manatt.

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High Court's Cox Ruling Leaves ISP Copyright Rules Intact

Though some commentators predicted a cataclysmic impact from the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Cox v. Sony, in actuality the decision correctly maintains the status quo for internet providers' copyright infringement liability, says Courtney Sarnow at CM Law.

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Documenting Business Purpose After IRS' 10th Circ. Win

Following the Tenth Circuit’s recent Liberty Global v. U.S. decision, which held the economic substance doctrine does not require a threshold relevancy determination, taxpayers can prepare for potential audits by maintaining contemporaneous documentation and taking other steps that demonstrate the business purpose of transactions, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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McDermott Is Cutting Its Associate Ranks

By Aebra Coe

McDermott Will & Schulte is downsizing its associate ranks less than a year after the firm was created via a combination of legacy firms McDermott Will & Emery and Schulte Roth & Zabel, the law firm confirmed Wednesday.

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Roberts Says High Court's Job Is To Make Unpopular Rulings

By Katie Buehler

Chief Justice John Roberts said Wednesday that the U.S. Supreme Court often must issue "unpopular" opinions, as the high court faces widespread backlash over its recent ruling limiting the Voting Rights Act's use in challenging racial discrimination in congressional redistricting.

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The Top Law Schools For Every Career Path: Class Of 2025

Where do law school graduates end up once they dive into the job market? Find out which schools came out on top for job placements in BigLaw, federal and state court clerkships, and other legal industry sectors.

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Atty Sanctioned Over Bogus Citations In Forced Labor Case

By Jake Maher

A Maine federal judge has sanctioned an attorney for submitting court filings with fake legal citations to oppose the dismissal of a forced labor trafficking suit against a school, after using an artificial intelligence platform.

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Feds Say 4th Circ. ICE Ruling Doesn't Help Ex-Wis. Judge

By Ryan Boysen

Former Wisconsin state judge Hannah C. Dugan can't use a recent Fourth Circuit ruling to overturn her conviction for obstructing ICE officers, the federal government said Wednesday, calling that ruling "merely relevant" and not at all binding.

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NC Man Pleads Guilty To Doxxing Justice's Home Address

By Bonnie Eslinger

A North Carolina man who posted the home address of a U.S. Supreme Court justice online and suggested violence against members of the high court pled guilty Wednesday to a "doxxing" charge with the intent to "threaten, intimidate, or incite a crime of violence" against the justice.

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Judge Won't Force Hunter Biden's Foreign Agent Registration

By Jack McLoone

A Washington, D.C., federal judge won't force the U.S. Department of Justice to register Hunter Biden as a foreign agent, dismissing a suit brought by a group founded by now-Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller because it can't establish it suffered an injury.

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