Conservative Justices Probe 'Husk' Of FTC Firing Protections

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Supreme Court's conservative majority pushed back Monday against the 90-year-old precedent permitting the removal only for cause of Federal Trade Commission members, and perhaps those serving other independent agencies, calling those safeguards a "dried husk" and wondering where to draw the line for protected agencies.

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8th Circ. Says Video Privacy Law Doesn't Bind Movie Theaters

By Allison Grande

The Eighth Circuit on Monday became the latest court to conclude that movie theaters don't qualify as businesses that are covered by the federal Video Privacy Protection Act, in affirming the rejection of a proposed class action accusing the regional movie chain Cinema Entertainment of illegally sharing website visitors' video viewing activities with Meta. 

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Mich. Justices To Probe Cyberbullying Free Speech Defense

By Carolyn Muyskens

The Michigan Supreme Court has taken up the appeal of a woman who contends her cyberbullying conviction should be thrown out because her messages were constitutionally protected speech.

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AT&T Joins SG's High Court Review Bid Despite 5th Circ. Win

By Christopher Cole

After winning a Fifth Circuit case involving fines from the Federal Communications Commission, AT&T has nonetheless agreed with the U.S. solicitor general that the U.S. Supreme Court should review the need for jury trials when the agency seeks certain penalties.

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Defense Bill Aims To Boost Pentagon Contracting Competition

By Madeline Lyskawa

Lawmakers' latest version of a $900 billion defense policy and budget bill for fiscal year 2026 includes provisions aimed at boosting competition in defense contracting by expanding acceptable past performance examples in contract proposals and penalizing incumbent contractors who file frivolous bid protests.

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Ex-NY Gov. Aide's Mom Says Alleged FARA Cash Wasn't Dirty

By Stewart Bishop

The mother of a former top aide to New York governors Monday told a Brooklyn federal jury large amounts of cash she held were from legitimate sources, as opposed to prosecutors' claim it was tied to her daughter's alleged scheme to secretly further the People's Republic of China's interests.

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High Court Rejects Bids To Clarify Video Privacy Law's Reach

By Allison Grande

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a pair of disputes over the scope of the federal Video Privacy Protection Act, a 1988 law that has sparked a flood of litigation over the viewing data disclosure practices of website operators ranging from the NBA to streaming provider Flipps Media. 

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Insurer Can't Shake Fintech Co.'s Data Breach Coverage Suit

By Hope Patti

An insurer can't escape a financial technology company's suit seeking coverage for losses stemming from a 2024 data breach caused by its former CEO, a Florida federal court ruled, finding that the company adequately pled a claim for breach of contract.

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Epic Drops App Store Trade Libel Claims Against Google

By Carla Baranauckas

Video game and software developer Epic Games Inc. is dropping its trade libel case accusing Google LLC of making claims about its apps and store on Android devices, following a settlement between the tech giants.

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App Maker Says 1st Amendment Bars AG's Removal Demand

By Ganesh Setty

The developer of an application allowing users to report sightings of immigration enforcement authorities accused U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Monday in D.C. federal court of violating his free speech rights by getting Apple to remove it.

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Forescout Investors Get Final OK For $45M Deal, Atty Fees

By Emilie Ruscoe

Investors in cybersecurity company Forescout have gotten a final nod for their $45 million deal ending claims over an acquisition deal that was scuttled in 2020.

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X Claims Engineer Stole 6M Lines Of Code To Launch New Co.

By Ivan Moreno

X Corp. is accusing a fired software engineer of stealing trade secrets to start her own company, alleging in a federal lawsuit that she exploited upheaval following Elon Musk's April 2022 purchase of the Twitter social media platform to download 6 million lines of proprietary source code. 

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Insurer Needn't Cover Jewish Group's $7.5M Wire Fraud Claim

By Hope Patti

A Jewish nonprofit organization isn't entitled to coverage for a fraudulent $7.5 million wire transfer, a Maryland federal court ruled, finding that its policy's extended reporting period was not active when it submitted the claim due to the start of another insurance program.

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Brief

Payday Loan Company Hit With Data Breach Class Claims

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Dollar Financial Group, which does business as Money Mart, has been sued in Philadelphia by a putative class claiming that the company failed to protect their sensitive information, which was allegedly compromised in a data breach.

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Where Things Stand At The CFPB As Funding Dries Up

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is on pace to run out of funding in the new year, threatening current and future rulemaking efforts, but a rapid series of recent actions still carries significant implications for regulated entities and warrants careful monitoring in the remaining weeks of the year, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

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Terrorist Label For Maduro Poses New Risks For US Firms

The State Department's recent designation of President Nicolás Maduro, and other Venezuelan government and military officials, as members of a foreign terrorist organization drastically increases the level of caution companies must exercise when doing business in the region to mitigate potential civil, criminal and regulatory risk, say attorneys at Freshfields.

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How Bank-Fintech Partnerships Changed In 2025

The 2025 transition to the Trump administration, augmented by the reversal of Chevron deference in 2024, has resulted in unprecedented shifts, and bank-fintech partnerships are no exception, with key changes affecting a number of areas including charters, regulatory oversight and anti-money laundering, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

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Opinion

Horizontal Stare Decisis Should Not Be Casually Discarded

Eliminating the so-called law of the circuit doctrine — as recently proposed by a Fifth Circuit judge, echoing Justice Neil Gorsuch’s concurrence in Loper Bright — would undermine public confidence in the judiciary’s independence and create costly uncertainty for litigants, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.

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Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Getting The Message Across

Communications and brand strategy during a law firm merger represent a crucial thread that runs through every stage of a combination and should include clear messaging, leverage modern marketing tools and embrace the chance to evolve, says Ashley Horne at Womble Bond.

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US Lawyer Numbers Surge With Hefty 2024 Graduating Class

By Tracey Read

The number of U.S. lawyers showed marked growth for the first time since 2020, due to a 2024 graduating class that was nearly 12% larger than any other class since 2012, a study from the American Bar Association released Monday showed.

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Habba Resigns As Acting US Atty After DQ Ruling At 3rd Circ.

By Jake Maher

Alina Habba stepped down Monday as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey following a Third Circuit ruling that she was unlawfully appointed to the position, with the U.S. Department of Justice unveiling that a trio of officials will take on her responsibilities.

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Ex-Josh Cellars President Fights Gibson Dunn Withdrawal Bid

By Elliot Weld

The former president of the company behind the Josh Cellars wine brand disputed Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's version of events around his allegedly unpaid legal bills, saying he has questions about the reasonableness of the firm's charges, which must be arbitrated per his contract with the firm.

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Carlton Fields Steps Aside In 'Irreconcilable' Miss America Case

By Emily Johnson

A Florida federal judge allowed Carlton Fields and its attorneys on Monday to withdraw from representing the plaintiffs in a dispute over the ownership of the Miss America pageant, after the firm said "irreconcilable differences" drew it to ask to step down.

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Jury Expert Sues Atty For 'Pirating' Her Jan. 6 Venue Report

By Matt Perez

A New Hampshire defense attorney representing a defendant charged for crimes related to the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has been sued in D.C. federal court for allegedly stealing a copyrighted study analyzing attitudes in the jury pool of the District of Columbia.

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Litigation Funder Says Attys Hid Deal To Evade $1.5M Payout

By Christine DeRosa

A Florida-based litigation funder has sued two California attorneys and a law firm, alleging they secretly settled a client's civil dispute and steered the money so they wouldn't have to repay over $1.5 million.

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Analysis

What To Do When Jurors Don't 'Trust The Science'

By Chris Villani

The pandemic and initiatives from the second administration of President Donald Trump challenging decades of established scientific norms have made science more politicized, and attorneys say picking a jury and presenting scientific evidence is increasingly challenging.

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Brief

Senators Kelly, Slotkin Set Up Legal Defense Funds

By Courtney Bublé

After appearing in a video encouraging members of the military and intelligence community to not follow illegal orders, Sens. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., have established legal defense funds.

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Defense Bill Includes Protections For Retired Justices

By Courtney Bublé

The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2026 released Sunday night extends U.S. Supreme Court police protection for retired and former justices and their immediate family members.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court delivered a busy first week of December, featuring commercial disputes, post-closing merger and acquisition battles and renewed scrutiny of fiduciary conduct ranging from oil and gas investments to healthcare acquisitions. 

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