Biden Taps BigLaw Brainpower For Transition Squad

By Brandon Lowrey

About two dozen BigLaw lawyers will help plan President-elect Joe Biden's takeover of the federal government, the transition team announced Tuesday, including a Jones Day partner who will prime the Department of Justice and two federal election commissions even as her colleagues help represent the GOP in mail-in voting litigation.

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DC Judge Delays Execution After Convict's Attys Get Virus

By Kevin Penton

A District of Columbia federal judge on Thursday postponed a death row inmate's upcoming execution after two of her attorneys contracted COVID-19, determining that the woman would otherwise be deprived of "meaningful representation" as she seeks clemency.

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9th Circ. Denies Advocate's Nuke Decommissioning Challenge

By Michael Phillis

The Ninth Circuit has rejected a California public safety advocate's challenge of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decommissioning plan for a nuclear plant on the Pacific coast, saying the group didn't show the federal government "abdicated" its safety responsibilities.

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Girardi Gained Their Trust, But Left Them With Regret

By Brandon Lowrey & Ryan Boysen

In an airy conference room overlooking downtown San Francisco, celebrity trial lawyer Thomas V. Girardi looked into Kathy Ruigomez's sleepless eyes and told her everything was going to be all right.

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Texas Seeks Block Of Biden's Deportation Freeze

By Jennifer Doherty

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made good on threats to sue the Biden administration over a newly implemented moratorium on certain deportations, accusing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Friday of violating an enforcement agreement with the state.

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New Group Aims To Put Spotlight On Diversity In Arbitration

By Caroline Simson

Despite the global nature of international arbitration, a lack of diversity, often punctuated by offhand or even offensive remarks about race, continues to pervade the practice area. A new group hopes to not only bring increased awareness of the problem but also expand access to what's become known as an exclusive "arbitration club."

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Amazon Settles Whistleblower Suit Over Virus Protocols

By Jeannie O'Sullivan

Amazon has settled whistleblower claims brought by a former employee who alleged that he was fired for raising concerns that a shift manager at a New Jersey warehouse was flouting COVID-19 safety measures, according to a filing made in a New Jersey federal court Monday.

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Q&A

Legal Tech Expert On Pandemic Being An 'Inflection Point'

By Aebra Coe

Bob Ambrogi has been writing about legal technology for the last 30 years. Here, he tells Law360 Pulse how the pandemic has spurred a "dramatic" acceleration in the adoption of legal tech, particularly cloud technologies.

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Billable Rates Shift With Firm Size, Alma Mater, Gender

By Cara Bayles

Law partners bill a median rate of $620 per hour, but not all billable hours were created equal, a new Law360 Pulse survey reveals. Here are some of the factors that come into play.

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Girardi's Companies Default In Suit Over Boeing Settlements

By Brandon Lowrey

A Chicago federal judge on Friday held in default two companies owned by Girardi Keese founder Tom Girardi and his estranged wife, reality show star Erika Jayne, after they failed to respond to a December complaint alleging they wrongfully took millions of dollars from a plane crash settlement.

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Pulse Magazine

First Wave: The Attys Who Pioneered Law Firm Gender Suits

By Cara Bayles

In recent years, a slew of women have filed suit against law firms, alleging they were passed over for promotion because of their gender. For the attorneys who pioneered such discrimination suits decades ago, this new wave is a sign of both how much things have changed and how they haven’t.

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Key Bipartisan Sens. Demand Ethics Rules For Justices

By Andrew Kragie

A bipartisan pair of senior senators called on the federal judiciary to adopt stronger financial disclosure rules, telling Chief Justice John Roberts they will consider "a legislative solution" if the courts don't act on their own.

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Why NJ's Bar Is Sounding An Alarm About Virtual Trials

By Nick Muscavage

The New Jersey State Bar Association's recent amicus brief urging the state judiciary to halt virtual jury trials over constitutional questions is one of the association's latest initiatives to help its members during the coronavirus pandemic.

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Jones Day Adds Ex-Chief Of Staff For DOJ's Civil Rights Unit

By Kevin Penton

Jones Day has added a former Cravath attorney who most recently served as chief of staff for the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division to its New York office.

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3 Justices Balk At Decision To Snub Pa. Mail-In Ballot Case

By Matthew Santoni

The U.S. Supreme Court said it would not hear Pennsylvania Republicans' challenge to an extended deadline for 2020 mail-in ballots because it was moot, but Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch disagreed in a pair of dissents Monday, saying the case raised issues that should be decided before the next election.

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Toyota Stamps Out Bid To Unseal Ex-WilmerHale Temp's Case

By Frank G. Runyeon

A Florida state judge on Monday declined to unseal allegations of corruption leveled against Toyota by an ex-WilmerHale temp who worked on an internal document review project related to the automaker's operations in Thailand.

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Atty In GOP Election Suit Appeals Disciplinary Panel Referral

By Khorri Atkinson

A Mohrman Kaardal & Erickson PA partner wants the D.C. Circuit to overturn a federal judge's recent order referring him to face a court disciplinary panel over his role in a lawsuit that unsuccessfully sought to block the certification of last year's presidential election.

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Texas Courts Ease COVID-19 Restrictions

By J. Edward Moreno

The Texas Supreme Court issued a revised emergency order Friday easing COVID-19 restrictions on court proceedings, a move that came days after Gov. Greg Abbott announced he would end the statewide mask mandate next week and allow all businesses to operate at full capacity.

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4th Circ. Says TM Owners Can Use Both Appellate Routes

By Bill Donahue

Weighing in on Frito-Lay Inc.'s long-running trademark battle over "Pretzel Crisps," the Fourth Circuit issued a novel ruling Wednesday that a brand owner is still allowed to file a so-called de novo appeal to a district court if it has already gone to the Federal Circuit.

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High Court Will Take Up Arbitration Discovery Question

By Caroline Simson

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider whether U.S. law allows federal courts to order discovery for private commercial arbitration abroad, taking on a case brought by an aerospace parts maker seeking information for a $12.8 million U.K. arbitration over an engine fire.

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Justices Say Plaintiff Who Evaded Police Was Still 'Seized'

By Jimmy Hoover

The U.S. Supreme Court held Thursday that an officer's failed attempt to detain a suspect by shooting at them can still qualify as a "seizure" under the Fourth Amendment, spurring a heated debate between two conservative justices over how to interpret historical precedent.

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Fox News Has High-Profile Team In $1.6B Defamation Defense

By Rose Krebs

Two high-profile attorneys have joined Fox News' defense team in a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit filed in Delaware Superior Court by Dominion Voting Systems that accuses the cable giant of spreading "outlandish" claims about the 2020 election.

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Ex-Littler Client Wants Substitute From Judge's Old Firm

By Andrew Strickler

After lies from a Littler Mendelson PC partner to an Alabama federal judge resulted in a five-figure sanction for the employment powerhouse and an Atlanta partner being scrubbed from the Littler website, the firm's former client is seeking to substitute in a lawyer from the judge's old law firm.

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Feds Raid Giuliani's Apartment In Escalation Of Ukraine Probe

By Jack Queen

Federal investigators raided the New York City apartment of Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday morning, his lawyer confirmed, seizing electronic devices in a major escalation of a foreign lobbying probe into Giuliani's dealings in Ukraine.

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Tit-For-Tat Court Packing Would Radically Enlarge High Court

By Andrew Strickler

The key conclusion of a study published Tuesday about the likely "endgame" of tit-for-tat partisan packing of the U.S. Supreme Court is that we're going to need a bigger bench — much bigger.

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Texas County Must Face Ex-Judge's Due Process Suit

By Kevin Penton

A Texas county is not immune to allegations by an ex-state judge that it should be liable for due process and Fourth Amendment violations she allegedly suffered after politically motivated charges were filed against her, a Texas federal judge has determined.

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Supreme Court Spotlight

The Supreme Court's Week: By The Numbers

By Jacqueline Bell

Here, Law360 Pulse takes a data-driven dive into the week that was at the U.S. Supreme Court.

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High Court To Review Courts' Authority Over FBI Spying Intel

By Daniel Wilson

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review the Ninth Circuit's partial revival of a proposed class action alleging the FBI unlawfully surveilled Muslims based on their religious identity.

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Monsanto Asks 11th Circ. To Create Roundup Label Precedent

By Rosie Manins

In a question of first impression for the Eleventh Circuit, Roundup maker Monsanto has urged the appellate court to rule that federal law preempts state law claims alleging the company failed to warn weedkiller buyers that a chemical in the product causes cancer.

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Tom Girardi's Conservatorship Made Permanent

By Ryan Boysen

A Los Angeles judge on Wednesday placed disgraced trial attorney Thomas V. Girardi permanently under the care of his brother in conservatorship, despite claims the 81-year-old attorney is faking having Alzheimer's in order to insulate himself from allegations that he stole tens of millions of dollars from his own clients.

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For Foreign Agent Legal Reform, Will 58th Try Be The Charm?

By Andrew Strickler

With a dozen bills introduced in Congress just this year meant to strengthen, broaden, modernize, or otherwise fix the much-maligned Foreign Agent Registration Act, one might think the moment for FARA reform was finally upon us. But even the more optimistic experts say getting any of the current bills through Congress remains a long shot.

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Retired NY Bankruptcy Judge Cornelius Blackshear Dies At 81

By Lauren Berg

Retired Bankruptcy Judge Cornelius Blackshear, who served 20 years in the Southern District of New York, has died, leaving a long legacy of serving Manhattan as a jurist and a police officer. He was 81.

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Meet The Judge: Fla. Federal Court's Raag Singhal

By Matt Perez

Law360 Pulse looks at U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal's path to the bench in the Southern District of Florida and some of his biggest moments as a jurist, including his rejection last month of CNN's motion to dismiss a $300 million defamation case from attorney Alan Dershowitz.

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Biden Taps Boies Schiller Alum For Key DOJ Post

By Justin Wise

President Joe Biden said Friday he plans to nominate a former Boies Schiller Flexner LLP partner to serve as assistant attorney general of the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Legal Policy, which serves as a key arm of the administration in the federal judicial nomination process. 

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In Oversight Void, Ill. Public Defenders 'Beholden' To Courts

By Andrew Strickler

Without any form of state oversight or basic information about its indigent defense system, Illinois criminal courts are rife with ethical and constitutional problems, and public defenders are "beholden" to local officials for their livelihoods, according to a report commissioned by the state Supreme Court.

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Judge Backtracks On Juror Vaccine Mandate In Opioid MDL

By Adam Lidgett

An Ohio federal judge said on Wednesday he wouldn't automatically throw out potential jurors in the national multidistrict opioid litigation because they are unvaccinated against COVID-19, undoing an earlier order requiring juror vaccinations.

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Defense Missteps And Experts Spur $194M Win Over Toyota

By Andrew Strickler

Capitalizing on Toyota's bid to seal design evidence and a winning expert strategy at trial, lawyers at Vinson & Elkins LLP and other firms left the carmaker on the hook for nearly $200 million in damages for a crash that left two children with permanent brain injuries.

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Janus Nixes Ore. Bar Fee Mandate, Libertarians Tell Justices

By Khorri Atkinson

Three libertarian public interest groups are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a lawsuit that seeks to strike down the Oregon State Bar's membership requirement, telling the justices that the bar's mandatory fee is similar to mandatory union dues fees the high court outlawed in the landmark 2018 Janus ruling.

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Del. Federal Court Taps New Chief Judge

By Kevin Penton

The District of Delaware has a new chief judge, with District Judge Colm F. Connolly on Thursday taking over a post held since 2014 by District Judge Leonard P. Stark, according to the court.

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La. High Court Disciplines Justice For Election Interference

By Ryan Boysen

Louisiana's Supreme Court has censured one of its own justices for allegedly offering $5,000 to flip a local politician's support from one judge to another in a hotly contested 2019 election for a seat on the high court.

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Analysis

Justices Seemed Above The Political Fray, Until The Last Day

By Jimmy Hoover

Throughout the Supreme Court term, the justices defied partisan expectations in cases involving LGBTQ rights, the Affordable Care Act, student athlete compensation and more. But on its final day, the court shattered any illusion that such harmony would last.

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AGs Unveil $26B Global Opioid Deal With J&J, Distributors

By Emily Field

The New York attorney general and six other state attorneys general on Wednesday formally announced a global opioid settlement worth $26 billion with Johnson & Johnson and the nation's three largest drug distributors.

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GC's Talks With Worker Who Sued For Age Bias Not Privileged

By Rachel Stone

A Michigan federal court refused to let a steel company's general counsel avoid giving a deposition in a former worker's age bias suit, ruling that the lawyer's discussions with the ex-employee about perceived discrimination weren't privileged.

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US Marshals Tap Crypto Bank To Handle Seized Digital Assets

By Jon Hill

Anchorage Digital, the first cryptocurrency bank to receive federal charter approval, has been awarded a contract to manage seized and forfeited digital assets for the U.S. Marshals Service, the company said Wednesday.

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Biden Chooses Elizabeth Prelogar For Solicitor General

By Jimmy Hoover and Khorri Atkinson

President Joe Biden on Wednesday nominated acting Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar as his permanent choice for the position, which is often called the "10th justice" for the prestige and influence of representing the federal government at the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Ex-Engine Co. CEO Seeks Fees For DOJ Case Defense

By Rose Krebs

Former Power Solutions International CEO Gary Winemaster has filed a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court seeking to have the company or an insurer pay more than $7 million in legal fees he has incurred defending himself from federal criminal charges.

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The Gay & Lesbian Attorneys Behind 3 Big LGBT Rights Cases

By Aebra Coe

The LGBT rights movement has seen some major victories and intensely fought cases in the courts over the last year. Law360 spoke with gay and lesbian BigLaw attorneys who dedicated their legal talents and time pro bono to three of those high-profile cases.

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Atty's Estate Agrees To $3.7M Tax Bill Tied To Fraud Plea

By Theresa Schliep

The estate of an attorney convicted of fraud agreed to owing $3.7 million in taxes that he failed to pay before his death, the U.S. and an estate representative told an Arkansas federal court in a joint filing.

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Justices Let Texas Keep Its Abortion Law, But Clinics Can Sue

By Jimmy Hoover

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday allowed Texas abortion clinics to sue over the state's six-week abortion ban, but threw out a request from the Biden administration to immediately block the law, known as S.B.8.

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Vulgarities Fly During Wild Avenatti Cross Of Stormy Daniels

By Pete Brush

Embattled lawyer Michael Avenatti quizzed former porn actress Stormy Daniels on Friday about wrathful public statements she has made about him, including that she hoped he would be sexually assaulted while in custody for legal troubles including allegedly stealing from her book advance.

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Former Manhattan US Atty Strauss Returns To Fried Frank

By Rachel Scharf

Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss is rejoining Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP to work with Geoffrey S. Berman, her predecessor and former boss in the Southern District of New York, the firm announced Monday.

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Justices Formally Reject Bid To Stop Handover Of Jan. 6 Docs

By James Arkin

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to take up former President Donald Trump's case attempting to block the disclosure of White House records to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. 

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Justices Appear Skeptical Of EPA Air Power Fight — For Now

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday appeared reluctant to entertain states' and coal companies' attacks on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, as several justices focused on the lack of current regulations to review.

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Jones Day Can Stay As J&J Talc Spinoff's Ch. 11 Counsel

By Jeannie O'Sullivan

Jones Day can continue serving as Chapter 11 counsel for Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder liability unit following a New Jersey bankruptcy judge's determination Tuesday that the firm's former role as the personal care product giant's restructuring counsel doesn't create a conflict of interest.

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Q&A

65 Project Leader Talks Holding 'Big Lie' Attys Accountable

By Justin Wise

A new group is taking aim at a coalition of lawyers who it says participated in a concerted push to overturn the 2020 election and abused the legal system in the process.

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​​​​​​​Senate Confirms Biden's 2nd Circ. Pick, 4 Other Jurists

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday evening confirmed President Joe Biden's pick of U.S. District Judge Alison J. Nathan to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, as well as federal judges for New York, Washington and Nevada.

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Trump Sues Clinton, Dems Over Russia Collusion Claims

By Khorri Atkinson

Former President Donald Trump accused 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in a lawsuit Thursday of conspiring with the Democratic National Committee and others during the contest "to weave a false narrative" that Trump and his campaign were colluding with Russia.

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Judge Blocks Pa. High Court's Anti-Bias Rule For Attorneys

By James Boyle

An attempt to adopt an anti-bias rule by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's disciplinary board was blocked for the second time Thursday when a federal judge ruled that the revised wording violated the First Amendment.

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5th Circ. Asks For Precedent Backing Court Prayer Policy

By Michelle Casady

The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday asked a Texas justice of the peace for the precedent that supports his argument that prayers opening his court proceedings don't violate the Constitution because they are conducted by chaplains from various religious backgrounds and aren't mandatory.

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Judge's 'Disdain For Antitrust Law' Gets Visa Case Rerouted

By Michelle Casady

A Texas federal judge who "candidly revealed his disdain for antitrust law" to the parties in a private antitrust lawsuit against Visa Inc., even suggesting that Standard Oil Co. wasn't an actual monopoly, won't be presiding over the dispute anymore, the Fifth Circuit has decided.

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Why Burford Capital Raised $720M In Less Than Two Weeks

By Steven Lerner

Burford Capital LLC raised its private offering of senior notes to $360 million last week, two days after the litigation funder announced that it would cap the senior notes at $350 million.

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Del. Judge Requires 3rd Party Litigation Funding Disclosures

By Dorothy Atkins

Delaware's chief federal judge has issued a standing order requiring litigants to disclose whether their cases or defenses are being financed by third parties — and whether there are conditions tied to that funding — in a move that could impact the court's number of patent infringement cases, according to a legal expert.

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Eastman Drops Suit To Keep Cell Records From Jan. 6 Panel

By Jack Karp

Embattled former Trump attorney John Eastman has dropped his lawsuit seeking to block the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection from obtaining his cellphone records.

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Walls Start To Close In On Acquitted Conduct Sentencing

By Stewart Bishop

After years of failed congressional action and apparent disinterest by the U.S. Supreme Court, opposition to the use of acquitted conduct to increase the sentences of defendants who receive mixed verdicts at trial may have finally reached critical mass, enough to banish the practice from federal courts.

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Analysis

Young Thug Trial Illustrates System's Strain On Jurors

By Rosie Manins

Prospective juror No. 1,616 sits in the witness box of the downtown Atlanta courtroom and tells the judge he has three children, ages 2, 4 and 6, making it especially difficult for him to serve in what is expected to be Georgia's longest trial.

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Bribery Law Covers Losing Candidates, NJ High Court Says

By Carla Baranauckas

Political candidates who fail to win election can be tried on bribery charges even though they are unable to deliver on any corrupt promises, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled Monday, holding that the state bribery statute applies to any "person" — whether an incumbent, winning candidate or losing candidate — who accepts an improper benefit.

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Georgia DAs' Fear Of 'Witch Hunt' Unfounded, Judge Told

By Rosie Manins

Counsel for members of Georgia's new commission tasked with investigating complaints against prosecutors urged an Atlanta judge Friday to reject an attempt by four district attorneys to halt the commission's work before it starts accepting complaints Oct. 1.

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Ga. Atty Wants Murder Conviction, Life Sentence Overturned

By Rosie Manins

An Atlanta corporate attorney convicted of murdering a real estate developer in an alleged road rage incident should get a new trial in which the jurors can consider his defense that the death resulted from an accident as well as lesser criminal charges, his counsel told the Peach State's highest court.

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Alex Jones ID'd As Possible Witness In Ga. Election Case

By Kelcey Caulder

Prosecutors in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump and 18 others are seeking testimony from Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones for the upcoming trial of former Trump attorneys Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

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NY Jury Clears Ex-Boston Prosecutor Of Rape

By Lauren Berg

A New York state court jury on Friday found a Boston prosecutor-turned-criminal justice reform advocate not guilty of rape charges.

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Trump Mocks Hush Money Case As 'Deluded Fantasy'

By Frank G. Runyeon

Counsel for former President Donald Trump has branded the hush money charges against him as a "deluded fantasy," arguing that the Manhattan district attorney is framing the New York state court case as a conspiracy to undermine the 2016 election despite it being a "narrow business records case."

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Trump Wants New Bite At Recusal Over Judge's Daughter

By Lauren Berg

Donald Trump is again seeking the recusal of the judge overseeing his Manhattan criminal case, saying the judge's daughter and her political consulting firm stand to financially benefit from the case, while prosecutors argued Trump's "daisy chain of innuendos" isn't evidence that the judge, or his daughter, will gain anything.

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Trump Can't Move Hush Money Trial, NY Appeals Judge Says

By Frank G. Runyeon

A New York appellate judge on Monday denied Donald Trump's request to halt his upcoming hush money trial due to what the former president cast as a hopelessly biased jury pool in Manhattan, as he awaited a hearing on his separate bid to lift a gag order.

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High Court Sides With Gov't Over Repeat Offender Sentencing

By Alison Knezevich

A state drug conviction can trigger a mandatory 15-year sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act if it involved a drug on the federal schedules at the time of that conviction, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

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Trump Ally Asks If Stay Applies To All Ga. Co-Defendants

By Kelcey Caulder

As former President Donald Trump asks the Georgia Court of Appeals to hear oral arguments in his appeal of a ruling allowing Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis to continue prosecuting the Georgia election interference case, one of his co-defendants asked for clarity on whether a recent stay applies to every defendant.

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Justices Reject Missouri's Bid To Block Trump's NY Gag Order

By Dorothy Atkins

The U.S. Supreme Court rejected on Monday an effort by Missouri's Republican attorney general to lift convicted former President Donald Trump's gag order on First Amendment grounds and delay sentencing in his New York criminal hush money case until after the general election.

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Logistics Co. CEO Denies Role In NJ Racketeering Scheme

By George Woolston

The chief executive officer of logistics firm NFI Industries on Wednesday denied that he played a role in an alleged scheme led by a New Jersey power broker accused of reaping millions in tax credits by using extortion to acquire waterfront property in the distressed city of Camden.

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NJ Mogul's Brother Says Lawyering Isn't Racketeering

By George Woolston

Parker McCay PA shareholder Philip A. Norcross is urging a New Jersey state judge to toss the sweeping indictment against him, his power broker brother and others over an alleged extortion scheme to acquire riverfront property in a distressed city, arguing that none of the targeted conduct is criminal.

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Trump Taps His Criminal Defense Lawyer For Deputy AG

By Phillip Bantz and Lauren Berg

President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday picked his personal defense attorney Todd Blanche to serve as second-in-command at the U.S. Department of Justice as deputy attorney general.

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Trump Names Immigration Official As Acting Attorney General

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Monday designated a longtime immigration official at the U.S. Department of Justice to be acting attorney general until his pick Pam Bondi, former Florida attorney general, can be confirmed.

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'Unicorn Prosecution' Could Upend Legal Practice, Court Told

By George Woolston

Brown & Connery LLP partner William Tambussi told a New Jersey state judge Wednesday that the entire practice of law in the Garden State rests on his impending decision on the charges against him in the state's sweeping racketeering case targeting power broker George E. Norcross III, arguing that a lawyer has never been prosecuted for routine legal work.

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Convicted Atty Disbarred In NJ Over LA Utility Billing Scandal

By Jake Maher

The New Jersey Supreme Court disbarred an attorney this week who orchestrated a sham lawsuit against the city of Los Angeles on behalf of plaintiffs suing the local water utility and who later made $24 million off contracts with the city reached through a number of bribery schemes.

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Trump Names His Counselor Interim US Atty For NJ

By Carla Baranauckas

President Donald Trump on Monday named his counselor and former personal attorney, Alina Habba, as interim U.S. attorney for New Jersey, a surprise move in which she'll replace a prosecutor who was sworn into the role on March 3.

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Sotomayor And Jackson Rue Court's Rejection Of Habeas Case

By Cara Salvatore

Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson said Monday the U.S. Supreme Court should resolve a circuit split regarding how many circuit judges' votes are needed to allow a habeas appeal, critiquing the denial of cert to a death row prisoner.

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Feds Drop FCPA Case Against Ex-Cognizant Execs

By Carla Baranauckas

The federal government on Wednesday moved to dismiss its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case against two former Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. executives, ending a long-running case that had been stalled by President Donald Trump's executive order curtailing bribery prosecutions and another now-rescinded presidential decree targeting Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, which had been representing one of the defendants.

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Ga. Justices Nix Reprimand For Solicitor General Over Theft

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Supreme Court has rejected former Hall County Solicitor General Stephanie Woodard's bid to receive a public reprimand after she pled guilty to stealing taxpayer dollars, finding that the suggested discipline is not enough.

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JAMS Brings On Another Retired DC Superior Court Judge

By Jack Rodgers

Judge Anthony Epstein, a veteran of the D.C. Superior Court, has joined the alternative dispute resolution group JAMS, where he'll work as a mediator with clients on a range of business, commercial and family law matters, according to a recent announcement.

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Judicial Watchdog Says Mich. Judge Created 'Climate Of Fear'

By Danielle Ferguson

Michigan's judicial watchdog has said in a formal misconduct complaint a state judge "created a climate of fear" among court personnel that disrupted the administration of the court, "bullied" court staff and improperly dismissed criminal cases to "punish" prosecutors.

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Fla. Justices Set New Atty Suspension Rule For Felony Cases

By Madison Arnold

Florida attorneys who are charged with a felony will soon be given the opportunity to respond before the issuing of an interim suspension under a new rule created by the Florida Supreme Court Thursday.

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Ex-Wells Fargo Atty Wins Arbitration Bid In Trade Secrets Suit

By Ryan Harroff

A former senior in-house counsel for Wells Fargo Advisors won his bid to make the bank arbitrate claims he absconded with confidential information and coordinated a mass resignation of other staff when he left to work at a competing advisory firm.

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Justices Grant Compensation Leeway To Late-Filing Vets

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Barring Act's six-year statute of limitations for certain military-related claims does not apply to combat-related special compensation, a win for a proposed class of roughly 9,000 veterans who say they deserve additional pay despite filing late.

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Former Chief US Atty In South Carolina Joins Nelson Mullins

By Phillip Bantz

Brook Andrews, the former chief federal prosecutor for South Carolina, who played a key role in prosecuting the "nukegate" scandal and oversaw the government's team in the high-profile fraud case against convicted double murderer and disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh, has joined Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.

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Feature

Communication Lapses Topped Conn. Ethics Issues For Attys

By Aaron Keller

Connecticut attorneys whose conduct drew attention from state disciplinary authorities over the past year were most often accused of failing to adequately communicate with clients, followed by general allegations of misconduct, a panel of ethics lawyers told a gathering of attorneys in Hartford on Friday.

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Ex-Ohio Speaker Calls 6th Circ. Bribery Ruling A 'Stretch'

By Ryan Harroff

Former Ohio House of Representatives Speaker Larry Householder urged the Sixth Circuit to rethink its decision to stand by his bribery conviction over the FirstEnergy nuclear bailout scandal that got him 20 years in prison, arguing the panel made "an illegal stretch" in assuming the jurors undertook proper analysis despite allegedly improper instructions.

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DA Willis Urges Ga. Justices To Ax Trump Case Testimony Bid

By Emily Johnson

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis urged the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday to toss a subpoena seeking her testimony from the state Senate committee that was investigating her relationship with a special prosecutor during her prosecution of President Donald Trump in an election interference case, arguing the panel is "seeking to 'try' the district attorney in public."

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Del. Chief Justice Tapped To Lead National State Courts Group

By Jake Maher

Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr. has been elected for a one-year term as president of the Conference of Chief Justices, a group within the National Center for State Courts dedicated to representing state court systems.

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NY US Atty Faces Watchdog's Ethics Suit After Altercation

By Katherine Smith

Legal ethics watchdog Campaign for Accountability on Wednesday called for an ethics probe of acting U.S. Attorney John Sarcone III of the Northern District of New York, alleging that he made a number of deceptive claims arising from a June altercation.

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Ex-US Atty Turns Documentarian With Nursing Home Exposé

By Jack Rodgers

After his work investigating opioid overprescription as a federal prosecutor in the 2000s became part of a Hulu miniseries, former U.S. Attorney Rick Mountcastle is making waves in the film industry again with a new documentary series on Amazon Prime, ‘No Country For Old People,’ taking aim at the nation’s nursing home industry.

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Mich. Judge Says Racism Pervades Ethics Probe Into Bike Row

By Danielle Ferguson

A Michigan state judge facing allegations she escalated an interaction with a bike shop owner at a judicial conference and lied about the exchange urged a special master overseeing her case to dismiss the claims, while disciplinary counsel said the judge must be held accountable for her "abuse of authority."

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Del. Eyes More Oversight With New Inspector General's Office

By Rose Krebs

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer recently signed into law legislation that establishes a new independent Office of the Inspector General, a move proponents said will provide more oversight and investigatory power to identify waste, corruption and mismanagement.

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