Unpacking Fed. Courts: Reforms Biden Might Actually Make

By Jack Karp

Calls to expand the Supreme Court have led President-elect Joe Biden to propose a commission to study reforms to the federal courts as a whole. "Packing" the high court may be too contentious for such a commission, but these reforms may have broad support.

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Judge OKs Trustee In Girardi Bankruptcy Cases

By Brandon Lowrey

A California bankruptcy judge ordered the appointment of a trustee to take control of the finances of famed trial lawyer Tom Girardi and his firm, Girardi Keese, following a virtual hearing Tuesday that neither Girardi nor his lawyers attended.

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Supreme Court Received Bomb Threat, No Evacuation Needed

By Jimmy Hoover

The U.S. Supreme Court confirmed that it received a bomb threat on Inauguration Day but required no evacuation after a check of the grounds and the building.

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Why Law Firms May Not Require Vaccine For Attys And Staff

By Aebra Coe

Deciding whether to require lawyers and staff to get the COVID-19 vaccine, strongly encourage it, or remain silent on the matter is top of mind for law firm leaders right now, as many are waiting to see what peers do before making a move.

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Roberts Avoids Presiding At Trump's 2nd Impeachment Trial

By Andrew Kragie

Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. will not have to leave his duties at the U.S. Supreme Court to preside over former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial, senators said Monday, because the most senior Senate Democrat is expected to fill the largely ceremonial role.

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What Attys Are Saying As Fla. Eyes Expanded Remote Trials

By Matt Perez

With Florida recently giving the green light to remote trials for criminal cases, Law360 Pulse spoke with attorneys on the benefits and drawbacks of such proceedings.

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Girardi Victim Can Recover $11M From Personal Bankruptcy

By Ryan Boysen

A teenage burn victim who obtained an $11 million judgment against Girardi Keese founder Thomas Girardi in a case over the disgraced trial attorney's alleged theft of settlement money is entitled to 80% of the assets in Girardi's personal bankruptcy until that money is paid back, according to a deal reached Friday.

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Meet the BigLaw Tax Atty Fighting Evictions In Dallas

By Andrew Strickler

Attorney Mark Melton has a lucrative job as a tax partner at Holland & Knight LLP, and over the past year, he has turned a few Facebook posts about COVID-related tenant questions into a nonprofit he hopes will continue long after the pandemic has passed. He talked to Law360 Pulse about how he started doing that work and its emotional resonance for him.

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Interview

Minn. Judge Calls For More Zoom Trials – Pandemic Or Not

By Cara Salvatore

The District of Minnesota will keep holding Zoom civil jury trials even after the pandemic has abated, according to its chief judge, who said virtual proceedings can help to relieve the criminal trial backlog and can still be held in the middle of a St. Paul blizzard.

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Justices Won't Hear In-Person Args Until At Least Next Term

By Jack Karp

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday that it will continue to hear oral arguments by telephone for the remainder of its current term.

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Littler Nixes Atty Bio From Its Site After Subpoena Fiasco

By Andrew Strickler

Littler Mendelson PC has removed an Atlanta-based employment lawyer and partner from its website following revelations that he lied to a federal judge about human resources company ADP Inc., a longtime Littler client.

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Meet The Attys Arguing Appellate Costs Before The High Court

By Andrew Strickler

With oral arguments for the term wrapping up next week, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear an "e-booking" tax case of particular relevance to appellate practitioners and the issue of appellate costs.

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High Court Wants Feds To Weigh In On Counties' VW Fight

By Carolina Bolado

The U.S. Supreme Court asked the federal government Monday to weigh in on the appeal of a Ninth Circuit decision allowing Florida and Utah counties to sue Volkswagen over alleged anti-tampering law violations stemming from the 2015 diesel emissions-cheating scandal.

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Americans Split By Race, Age On Whether Justice Is Biased

By Kevin Penton

The U.S. is sharply split by age and race on whether the nation's justice system has racial bias built into its procedures, rules and practices, according to an American Bar Association survey released Thursday.

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Floyd Family Atty Ben Crump To Speak At Texas Graduation

By Andrew Strickler

Florida civil rights lawyer Benjamin Crump, who has represented the families of George Floyd and Trayvon Martin, will deliver the spring commencement speech next month at Texas Southern University in Houston.

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Alston & Bird Presses Ga. Justices To Topple $1.7M Judgment

By Emily Johnson

Alston & Bird LLP asked the Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday to reverse a decision that found the firm responsible for 92% of malpractice damages despite a jury assigning 60% fault to a nonparty, while a family-run management company argued the firm should pay the bulk of a $2.1 million judgment.

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How 2 Firms Took Action On Equality After Floyd's Murder

By Sue Reisinger

After the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman last year, many major law firms issued statements of outrage, joined coalitions and signed joint letters. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at how two law firms moved through America's recent racial turmoil, aspiring to make real, lasting change.

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Fla. Magistrate Judge Dave Lee Brannon Dies At 68

By Kevin Penton

A longtime federal public defender who became a magistrate judge for the Southern District of Florida over nine years ago has died, court officials have said.

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Why This Judge Is No Stranger To The 5th Circ.'s Ire

By J. Edward Moreno

U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes has been on the federal bench since 1985. In that time, he's become known for the Fifth Circuit rebukes he has drawn for racist, sexist and anti-government comments made in the courtroom, and decisions that have resulted in cases being removed from his docket.

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Speech Debate Erupts At Stanford Over Spoof FedSoc Flyer

By Ryan Boysen

Stanford Law School has become the center of a contentious debate that's been roiling the legal community since the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, after the school's investigation of a student who mocked Federalist Society members for spreading election misinformation led to a fierce backlash.

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Justices Add More Oversight To PTAB In Arthrex Ruling

By Dani Kass

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday held that Patent Trial and Appeal Board judges are unconstitutionally appointed but that giving the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's director more control over their rulings will fix the problem.

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First Wrongful Death Suits Filed After Fla. Condo Collapse

By Carolina Bolado

The condominium association of the collapsed building in Surfside, Florida, has been hit with the first group of what is expected to be dozens of wrongful death lawsuits, including one by the 15-year-old boy who was rescued from the rubble but lost his mother in the collapse.

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CFO Of John Pierce's Legal Org Facing Criminal Charges

By Ryan Boysen

The chief financial officer of controversial attorney John Pierce's new civil rights organization, the National Constitutional Law Union, or NCLU, was indicted last year for allegedly falsifying court documents in what prosecutors say was a scheme to defraud an elderly woman.

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Court Asked To Bar Atty From Testifying In Straight Path Case

By Rose Krebs

Counsel for investors suing in connection with Verizon's $3.1 billion purchase of Straight Path Communications have asked the Delaware Chancery Court to bar a defense attorney from testifying at trial, opposing a recent defense filing that said he may be called on to offer rebuttal testimony.

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Clark Hill Litigator Takes Over As ABA President

By Rachel Rippetoe

Clark Hill PLC litigator Reginald Turner has officially become president of the American Bar Association, while a Debevoise & Plimpton LLP senior adviser was elected to take his place next August.

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DC Atty Nominee Reports $650K In DLA Piper Partner Share

By Justin Wise

President Joe Biden's pick to lead the U.S. attorney's office in Washington, D.C., reported earning nearly $650,000 from his DLA Piper partnership share, according to a new financial disclosure obtained by Law360 on Monday.

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11th Circ. Judge Chastises Atty For Irrelevant Appeal

By Brett Barrouquere

A federal appeals court judge on Wednesday scolded an attorney for a medical device maker, telling him that much of the company's appeal of a $9.2 million verdict in an asset sale fraud suit was irrelevant.

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Rule To Strengthen Fla. Judges' Bar Complaints Worries Attys

By Carolina Bolado

A proposed new Florida Bar rule that would give additional weight to attorney misconduct complaints from judges appears poised for approval by the Florida Supreme Court, despite concerns from bar defense counsel about lengthening the already arduous disciplinary process and the potential for abuse.

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4 Key Takeaways From Deloitte's Alternative Fee Report

By Matt Perez

Alternative fee arrangements are becoming more prevalent than ever but their use and type employed between law firms and corporate legal departments can differ greatly, according to a new report from Deloitte Legal Business Services.

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Ga. Justices See Holes In Atty Group's Attack On Bar's Advice

By Rosie Manins

Georgia Supreme Court justices showed support Tuesday for the state bar's proposed guidance on ex parte communication, and highlighted flaws with a defense attorney group's bid to restrict lawyers from talking with former employees of organizations involved in litigation.

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Most Judges Back Term Limits For High Court, Survey Says

By Andrew Strickler

More than half of judges support term limits for justices on the nation's top court, according to a survey published this month by the National Judicial College.

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Biden's DOJ Antitrust Pick Easily Clears Senate Panel

By Christopher Cole

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted overwhelmingly Thursday to send to the full chamber President Joe Biden's nomination of Jonathan Kanter to lead the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division.

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Alex Jones Must Pay Damages In Conn. Sandy Hook Suits

By Y. Peter Kang

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is on the hook for damages after a Connecticut state judge on Monday handed a win to the families of eight people killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting who had sued Jones for saying the attack was a hoax, according to an attorney for the families.

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LeClairRyan Trustee, Insurer Reach $9.5M Conspiracy Deal

By Bill Wichert

The trustee for the now-defunct LeClairRyan has called on a Virginia judge to greenlight a nearly $9.5 million settlement with its insurer over certain claims related to a purported conspiracy with legal services provider UnitedLex and other entities that plunged the law firm into bankruptcy.

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Pro-Trump Attorneys To Pay $187K In 'Big Lie' Sanctions

By Ryan Boysen

Two attorneys who "should have known better" must pay $187,000 in sanctions for filing a sloppy suit that falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump in a vast conspiracy, a Colorado federal judge ruled.

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Senate Finance Panel OKs Biden Pick For Top Treasury Atty

By Stephen K. Cooper

The Senate Finance Committee on Thursday approved the nomination of a corporate defense lawyer and former associate deputy attorney general as the next general counsel for the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

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Pandemic Put Deep Freeze On State Trials, New Data Show

By Cara Salvatore

The number of trials in state courts fell off a cliff in 2020 with the start of the pandemic, new statistics reveal, although some states were better able to keep trials going than others.

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'Irretrievable' Client Schisms Not Always How They Appear

By Andrew Strickler

"Irretrievable breakdown." For most of us, the phrase brings to mind grim images of marital acrimony, or maybe a divorce court judge banging a gavel on daytime TV. But when you're talking lawyer-client breakups, the phrase can be so much more — a coded "wink wink" to the court, a convenient catchall, and an ethical defense mechanism.

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Meet The Trailblazing Nominee For Conn. US Atty

By Sameer Rao

Vanessa R. Avery will both break new ground and return to her prior workplace if Congress confirms her as the District of Connecticut's next U.S. attorney.

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Ex-NYT Editor Says Errors 'My Fault' At Sarah Palin Trial

By Frank G. Runyeon

Former New York Times editor James Bennet took the stand Tuesday to both take blame for publishing errors and defend his underlying argument in "America's Lethal Politics," a 2017 editorial that Sarah Palin claims defamed her by linking her political rhetoric to a mass shooting.

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Judge Jackson To Kick Off Senator Meetings This Week

By James Arkin

Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson is scheduled to meet with top Senate leaders of both parties Wednesday on Capitol Hill, officially kicking off the confirmation process as she aims to secure support to become the first Black woman on the Supreme Court.

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Meet The Attys Prosecuting First Capitol Riot Trial

By Jack Rodgers

Jury selection began Monday in the first criminal trial stemming from the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, with two veteran prosecutors, including one O'Melveny & Myers LLP alum, at the helm of the government's case.

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Rakoff 'Not Familiar' With Phone News Alerts Before Palin Trial

By Rachel Scharf

Manhattan U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff on Tuesday defended his move to toss Sarah Palin's libel suit against the New York Times while the jury was still out, despite admitting that he was not aware jurors might receive pop-up news alerts on their phones about his decision.

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NY AG Agrees To Delay Trump Depositions In Business Probe

By Hailey Konnath

New York Attorney General Letitia James has agreed to give former President Donald Trump and two of his children extra time to provide testimony in her office's investigation into his business dealings, according to a letter and stipulation filed Thursday in New York state court.

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Judge Questions Clerkships For Students Who Disrupt Events

By Justin Wise

Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Laurence Silberman on Thursday raised the idea of disqualifying individuals from potential clerkships if they are "willing to disrupt" panel discussions, a federal judge confirmed to Law360, in comments that apparently came in response to a recent student protest at a Yale Law School event.

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Ex-Dewey CFO Won't Appeal Conviction To NY's Top Court

By Max Jaeger

Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP's former chief financial officer will face an eight-year-old civil fraud suit now that he's given up appealing a criminal conviction stemming from an alleged scheme to con banks and insurer-investors out of $250 million to keep the doomed firm afloat, according to a New York federal court filing Tuesday.

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Quinn Emanuel ACA Clients Urge Fed. Circ. To OK $184M Fees

By Dorothy Atkins

A group of health care plan insurers represented by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP have urged the Federal Circuit to affirm class counsel's $184 million attorney fee award for settlements totaling $3.7 billion that resolve litigation over so-called risk corridor payments under the Affordable Care Act.

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Ukrainian Lawyers Share Tales Of War And Ways To Help

By Marco Poggio

Early on the morning of Feb. 24, Alesya Pavlynska, an attorney at Arzinger, Ukraine's third-largest law firm, woke up to ominous sounds. Missiles were cutting through the sky in Kyiv, where she lives.

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NY Feds Drop $500M Fraud Case, Avoiding Misconduct Probe

By Max Jaeger

A sweeping $500 million real estate fraud case ended with a series of minor plea deals involving just a few thousand dollars Tuesday, as New York federal prosecutors tossed their 114-count indictment rather than submit to a potentially embarrassing evidentiary hearing into their own alleged misconduct.

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Justice Barrett Leads Peers In Book Royalties, Records Show

By Jimmy Hoover

The justices of the U.S. Supreme Court took home far more than their government salaries in 2021, collecting checks from securities dividends, book royalties, television show options, summer cottage rentals and far-flung teaching gigs, according to their latest financial disclosures uploaded Thursday by a watchdog group.

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Posner Wants To Nix Ex-Pro Se Project Exec's Wage Suit

By Dave Simpson

Retired Seventh Circuit Judge Richard Posner urged an Indiana federal court to dismiss a suit from a man who claims the former judge stiffed him out of a six-figure salary to run a now-defunct pro bono legal services organization for pro se litigants, arguing Monday that their alleged agreement was too indefinite to form a binding contract.

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Gibson Dunn Adds Class Action Litigation Expert To NY Office

By Nick Muscavage

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP announced Monday that it is bolstering its litigation practice with the addition of the co-head of Mayer Brown LLP's Supreme Court and appellate practice group.

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Analysis

'Idiosyncratic' Gorsuch Blazes Unpredictable Trail

By Jimmy Hoover

Justice Amy Coney Barrett and Justice Brett Kavanaugh are widely considered the U.S. Supreme Court's two "swing" votes who can make or break a majority. But in closely divided cases, it was actually Justice Neil Gorsuch who voted more frequently with the court's liberal bloc than any other Republican appointee last term.

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Del. Judge Calls VLSI's Funding Disclosure 'Inadequate'

By Dani Kass

Delaware Chief U.S. District Judge Colm Connolly has taken VLSI Technology to task for providing "clearly inadequate" disclosures of how it is funding patent litigation against Intel and improperly sealing a declaration from its CEO.

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Dechert Agrees To Pay ENRC £20M, Hit With Indemnity Costs

By Richard Crump

Dechert has agreed to make a £20 million ($24.4 million) interim payment to ENRC following a damning court ruling over its work for the Kazakh miner, but faces an inflated legal bill after its former client was awarded indemnity costs on Wednesday.

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Ga. DA Says Sen. Graham Can't Ax Trump Probe Subpoena

By Lauren Berg

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., can't escape a special grand jury subpoena for his testimony as part of an investigation into whether former President Donald Trump and others criminally tried to interfere in Georgia's 2020 election, state prosecutors told a Georgia federal judge Thursday.

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New Texas Judge's Journey From Blue Collar To Black Robe

By Lynn LaRowe

James Boone Baxter went from carpet installer to oil field engineer and to law school before recently landing in Texarkana as the newest federal magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Texas.

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Schnader Again Beats $8M Malpractice Suit At The 2nd Circ.

By Rachel Scharf

The Second Circuit refused Wednesday to revive a Canadian private equity company's $8 million malpractice lawsuit blaming Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP for losses in a joint venture to develop electric vehicle technology.

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2nd Circ. Won't Cut Defeated Wage Claims From Fee Award

By Caleb Drickey

The Second Circuit declined Wednesday to slash a nearly $577,000 attorney fee award to cellphone plan sales workers who pursued an unpaid wage lawsuit with limited success, finding that thwarted and successful claims were inseparable.

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Florida Man Charged With Vandalizing Federal Courthouse

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida man has been charged with destruction of federal property, accused of vandalizing the federal courthouse in Fort Lauderdale on Labor Day and breaking doors and windows in the building.

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DOJ Appeals Mar-A-Lago Special Master Order, Asks For Stay

By Carolina Bolado

The U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday it will appeal a Florida federal judge's decision to appoint a special master to screen documents seized by the FBI from former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate for attorney-client and executive privilege and asked the judge to pause an injunction against prosecutors' review of only the classified materials seized at the estate.

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Meet The Lawyers On Deck In NY V. Trump Biz Fraud Case

By Hannah Albarazi

The New York attorney general's blockbuster fraud suit against former President Donald Trump, three of his adult children and the Trump organization will pit some of the family's fiercest defenders against a team of seasoned prosecutors.

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Convicted Pol Can't Search Juror's Cellphone, 6th Circ. Says

By Jack Karp

A former Cincinnati City Council member convicted of bribery and attempted extortion cannot conduct a forensic examination of the electronic devices belonging to a juror who posted about the trial on Facebook, the Sixth Circuit ruled Friday.

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Girardi Victims Hit NY Law Firm With $6.3M Conversion Suit

By Brandon Lowrey

Girardi Keese founder Tom Girardi illegally gave $6.3 million from a burn victim's settlement to a New York lawyer who founded a litigation lending company, the victim's family says in a new lawsuit filed in Los Angeles.

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Legal Sector Loses 5,000 Jobs In September

By Anna Sanders

The U.S. legal industry lost 5,000 jobs in September as law firms responded to slowing deal flow and shifts in client needs, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Department of Labor.

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Ga. PFAS Liability, DEI Bills Among Those To Not 'Crossover'

By Kelcey Caulder and Chart Riggall

Georgia lawmakers failed to push forward legislation that would have reduced corporate liability for PFAS contamination, would have given voters a say on whether to legalize sports betting and curbed diversity initiatives in schools, after having previously passed bills to advance the governor's tort reform agenda.

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Ex-Seton Hall Law Worker Avoids Jail In Embezzlement Case

By Carla Baranauckas

A former employee of Seton Hall University School of Law was sentenced Monday to two years of probation with one year of electronic monitoring for her guilty plea in an embezzlement scheme that defrauded the school of $1.3 million over 13 years.

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Feds Say Crypto Lobbyist Can't Delay FTX-Tied Case

By Katryna Perera

New York federal prosecutors Thursday opposed a request from attorney and crypto lobbyist Michelle Bond to extend filing deadlines for pre-trial motions in her criminal case until June, saying Bond's inability to access her assets due to bankruptcy proceedings involving her FTX-affiliated husband is not enough to warrant a delay.

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Attys Warned To Be Patient When Seeking Colo. Justices' Take

By Thy Vo

A Colorado Supreme Court justice warned lawyers on Tuesday that while sending a question to the high court could resolve a legal "quandary" in their federal case, the move could come at a cost to their clients, with one recent issue taking nearly 500 days for the high court to resolve.

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Supreme Court Backs FDA Block Of Flavored Vapes

By Sam Reisman

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday overruled a determination that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration acted arbitrarily when it rejected an e-cigarette company's applications to market flavored vape products.

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Former Greenberg Traurig Atty Named US Atty In Florida

By Madison Arnold

U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi has tapped a onetime Greenberg Traurig PA shareholder and former leader of a team that advised an ad hoc court formed to prosecute Saddam Hussein as the next interim U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida.

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Justices Remove Bar On Venezuelan Removals

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled the Trump administration can move forward with its removal of alleged Venezuelan gang members from the United States under the Alien Enemies Act, vacating a D.C. federal judge's order that had temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's invocation of the 1798 wartime law.

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BigLaw Partners, Judges Back Susman Godfrey In EO Suit

By Ryan Boysen

Hundreds of BigLaw partners and former judges on Friday threw their support behind Susman Godfrey LLP's lawsuit in D.C. federal court over President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm, warning that if "the independent bar is cowed into submission" it will threaten "the rule of law itself."

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Creek Say Tulsa Jurisdictional Row Is 'Federal To The Core'

By Joyce Hanson

The Muscogee (Creek) Nation continues to fight attempts by Tulsa County, Oklahoma, its sheriff and a district attorney to assert criminal jurisdiction on the tribe's reservation, telling a federal court that the Tenth Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court support its jurisdictional authority.

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Texas Rep. Cuellar, Wife Must Face Bribery Trial In Houston

By Catherine Marfin

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and his wife must face bribery and corruption charges in Houston, a federal judge has ruled.

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Texas Judge Among 6 Indicted For Alleged Vote Harvesting

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas county judge is among the six individuals facing charges over an alleged vote harvesting scheme related to the 2022 election, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced on Wednesday.

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Q&A

Ex-NJ Judge 'Back Home' As Trial Atty At Chiesa Shahinian

By Jake Maher

Alberto Rivas, who retired from a 15-year career on the New Jersey Superior Court earlier this year, joined Law360 Pulse to discuss the next phase of his legal career in the litigation department at Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC.

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Trump Calls On Justices To Stay Block Of Gov't Restructuring

By Beverly Banks

President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to pause a California federal judge's order temporarily halting agencies from implementing an executive order to plan reorganizations and reductions in force, claiming the lower court's decision has caused confusion and wasted taxpayer dollars.

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DeSantis Taps Ex-Governor's Office Atty For Appellate Seat

By Madison Arnold

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday appointed his former chief deputy general counsel to the First District Court of Appeal bench in Tallahassee.

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Meet The Ex-Prosecutors Defending NJ Rep. In Assault Case

By Jake Maher

U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., has turned to a pair of New Jersey's most experienced former federal prosecutors, who spearheaded charges in the Bridgegate lane closure scandal, to back her in her assault case stemming from her inspection of a Newark immigration detention facility.

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Analysis

How Trump's Pardons Could Sway Prosecutorial Discretion

By Phillip Bantz

As President Donald Trump dismantles a growing list of white collar criminal cases with a flurry of clemency grants early in his second term, erasing years of investigative and prosecutorial work with a stroke of his black Sharpie, experts worry his actions will have a chilling effect on prosecutorial decision-making.

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2nd Circ. Weighs Menendez Bail Bid Over Evidence Mishap

By Cara Salvatore

The Second Circuit questioned Monday whether providing excluded evidence to the jury in former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez's bribery trial is the type of error that can justify bail pending appeal.

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Justices To Review Persecution Standard In Immigration Appeal

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to look at whether the First Circuit was right to give deference to the Board of Immigration Appeals' conclusion that a Salvadoran family failed to show it suffered persecution back home and is therefore ineligible for asylum.

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Texas AG Paxton Drops Appeal Of $6.7M Whistleblower Award

By Catherine Marfin

The Texas attorney general's office has abandoned its appeal of a $6.68 million judgment awarded to a group of former deputies to Attorney General Ken Paxton who say they were fired in retaliation for reporting alleged abuses of office to the FBI.

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Fla. Atty Suspended After Conviction In Embezzlement Case

By Lynn LaRowe

The Florida Supreme Court has suspended a lawyer who was found guilty at a June retrial of embezzling from an Orlando law firm where she worked as a paralegal before acquiring her law license.

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Conn. Judiciary Names New Head Of Criminal Matters

By Christine DeRosa

An experienced jurist has been assigned to serve as Connecticut's chief administrative judge of criminal matters effective Sept. 1, Chief Court Administrator Elizabeth A. Bozzuto said in a Friday statement.

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NJ Says Subpoenas In Judge's Removal Suit Directly Relevant

By George Woolston

New Jersey urged a state court to reject a bid by a former workers' compensation judge to quash its subpoenas in her suit over her removal from the bench, arguing that the material is directly relevant to its defenses.

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Ga. Court Secretary's Pregnancy Bias Suit Gets Dismissed

By Emily Johnson

A Georgia federal judge has dismissed a former secretary's pregnancy discrimination suit against a county and the chief judge of its juvenile court, adopting a magistrate judge's recommendation that found the secretary didn't prove that her pregnancy led to her being fired.

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Trump Picks Ex-Scalia, Kavanaugh Clerk For 7th Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced on Thursday evening he would be nominating Rebecca Taibleson, an assistant U.S. attorney in Wisconsin, to the Seventh Circuit.

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Famed Trial Atty, 'Country Lawyer' Gerry Spence Dies At 96

By Ryan Boysen

Gerry Spence, the celebrated "country lawyer" known for his Stetson hats, plainspoken style and high-profile courtroom victories, has died after a singular career that saw him tackle tough cases while preaching a gospel of emotional honesty and vulnerability.

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Rawle & Henderson Adds Litigator, Ex-Municipal Judge In NJ

By Jake Maher

Rawle & Henderson LLP announced this week that it has added a longtime small firm managing partner and municipal and administrative law judge as of counsel in Hackensack.

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Privilege Bars Ex-Holland & Knight Atty's Defamation Claim

By James Boyle

A former Holland & Knight attorney's counterclaim against Philadelphia personal injury firm Fritz & Bianculli LLC has been dismissed from Pennsylvania federal court after a judge ruled that statements made in the firm's complaint accusing the attorney of unauthorized access to confidential files could not be used to allege defamation.

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Retired Federal Judges Throw Shade On Shadow Docket

By Bonnie Eslinger

Retired federal judges speaking at a Federal Bar Association panel in California Thursday criticized the U.S. Supreme Court's increasing use of "shadow docket" emergency rulings that offer little or no explanation, with retired Ninth Circuit Judge Paul Watford saying the high court has "an obligation to give more of a ruling."

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Retired Judges Speak Out On 'Threats' To Constitution

By Courtney Bublé

More than 40 retired federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties released an open letter Wednesday, the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, saying they sought to underscore the importance of the rule of law at a time when the nation's ideals "are under historic strain."

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Star Witness Against NJ Sen. Menendez Asks For Leniency

By Elizabeth Daley

The government's key witness in the cases against former New Jersey U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife told a New York federal court that because he pled guilty and cooperated, his sentence for admitted bribery and other crimes should be time served, not the years his seven counts could carry.

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DOJ Wants Atty Jailed For Blogging After Cyberstalking Arrest

By Ryan Boysen

Federal prosecutors want to detain a Texas attorney who is accused of cyberstalking two other lawyers, claiming she violated the terms of her pretrial release by posting personal information about her alleged victims on her website.

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Analysis

Gov't Remarks Boost Mangione Defense In Slain CEO Case

By Ryan Boysen

Luigi Mangione, accused of killing an insurance CEO, probably can't turn a series of "egregiously" prejudicial statements by Trump administration officials into a get-out-of-jail-free card, but the episode will likely anger the New York federal judge overseeing the murder case and boost his defense.

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ABA Says Attys Must Be Clear About Neutrality In Mediations

By Emily Sawicki

Attorneys who agree to work as neutral, third-party mediators must make it explicitly clear that they are not advising or holding privilege with participants, the American Bar Association has warned in its latest ethics opinion.

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Employers Must Heed Rising Attorney Stress And Alcohol Use

Krill Strategies’ Patrick Krill, who co-authored a new study that revealed alarming levels of stress, hazardous drinking and associated gender disparities among practicing attorneys, highlights how legal employers can confront the underlying risk factors as both warnings and opportunities in the post-COVID-19 era.

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What Attys Should Consider Before Taking On Pro Bono Work

Piper Hoffman and Will Lowrey at Animal Outlook lay out suggestions for attorneys to maximize the value of their pro bono efforts, from crafting engagement letters to balancing workloads — and they explain how these principles can foster a more rewarding engagement for both lawyers and nonprofits.

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