Bonds Valid Under Venezuelan Law, Judge Rules In $2B Case

By Caroline Simson

A New York federal judge on Thursday denied a bid by Venezuela's state-owned oil company to refuse enforcement of some $2 billion in defaulted bonds, finding after an "exhaustive review of Venezuelan law" that the bonds were validly issued.

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DC Circ. Judge Says PJM Monitor May Have 'Hint Of Paranoia'

By Nadia Dreid

The D.C. Circuit didn't seem so sure Thursday morning that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was flouting the rules by denying an independent market monitor access to its liaison committee meetings, with one judge saying the monitor seemed to be exhibiting a "hint of paranoia."

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Groups Look To Block EPA's $3B Grant Cuts Amid Appeal

By Crystal Owens

Conservation, tribal groups, and local and county governments are looking to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from terminating a $3 billion climate grant program while they appeal a decision that dismissed their claims, arguing that public interest and equities weigh heavily in their favor.

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EU Agrees To Carbon Tax Concession For India

By Josh White

The European Commission agreed to grant a carbon tax deduction to Indian businesses as part of ongoing trade talks with the Modi government, according to a joint statement.

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Calif. Slams Truck-Makers' Bid To Block Emissions Regs

By Linda Chiem

California has told a federal judge that truck manufacturers seeking to renege on their commitments to follow stringent state emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks in the coming years aren't entitled to an injunction now, and the Trump administration cannot bulldoze California into falling in line.

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Calif. Judge Pauses US Suit Over $380M PetroSaudi Award

By Joyce Hanson

A California federal judge has paused the U.S. government's lawsuit targeting a PetroSaudi unit's $380 million arbitral award over its purported connection to funds embezzled from Malaysia, saying uncertainty remains over related proceedings in the Cayman Islands and Barbados.

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EPA Pitches Plan For Past Renewable Fuel Exemptions

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to reallocate some portion of the biofuel blending volumes it exempted 175 small fuel refiners from in August to overall blending requirements for the next two years.

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V&E Adds FERC-Focused Energy Partner In DC From Sidley

By Jack Rodgers

Vinson & Elkins LLP has hired a 10-year veteran of Sidley Austin LLP who is bringing a practice focused on representing clients before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other energy regulators to a team that recently saw one of its own nominated to chair the agency.

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Sales And Use Tax Strategies For Renewables After OBBBA

With the One Big Beautiful Bill Act sharply curtailing federal tax incentives for solar and wind projects, it is vital for developers to carefully manage state and local sales and use tax exposures through early planning and careful contract structuring, say advisers at KPMG.

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Series

Writing Musicals Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experiences with writing musicals and practicing law have shown that the building blocks for both endeavors are one and the same, because drama is necessary for the law to exist, says Addison O’Donnell at LOIS Law.

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Calif. Bar Escapes Class Claims Over Girardi Case

By Emily Sawicki

A Los Angeles judge has dismissed a proposed class action brought against the State Bar of California accusing the agency and its former leadership of mishandling its investigation into former celebrity attorney Tom Girardi, who was convicted of swindling clients, after plaintiffs seemingly abandoned the case.

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Under Trump, Hiring Immigration Lawyers Is Often Impossible

By Daniel Connolly

As the Trump administration follows through on campaign promises to arrest and deport millions, immigrants are increasingly finding that hiring an immigration lawyer is impossible. And without lawyers, they usually lose, no matter how strong their case is.

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Hagens Berman Seeks To Limit Sanctions For AI Mistakes

By Jack Karp

A Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP partner should face only limited sanctions and the firm shouldn't be sanctioned at all over a contract attorney's use of artificial intelligence to generate legal briefs in a proposed class action against online platform OnlyFans since its attorneys did not act in bad faith, the firm told a California federal judge.

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Pro Bono Spotlight

HSF Kramer, Brown Goldstein Exonerate Man For '90s Murder

By Jack Rodgers

Earlier this year, Tyrone Jones finally closed the book on his 1999 conviction for conspiracy to commit murder, proving his innocence and receiving a nearly $1 million award from a Maryland administrative law judge. His exoneration was decades in the making, and required his attorneys from HSF Kramer and Brown Goldstein to not just dig up new evidence but convince lawmakers to update a state law.

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Nevada Trust Accuses Texas Firms Of $9M Crypto Scheme

By Tom Lotshaw

A Nevada-based trustee accused a Texas law firm and various other companies and residents of the Lone Star State, Wyoming and Florida of carrying out an "audacious, multi-layered scheme" to steal $9 million meant to be used for Bitcoin trades.

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Sirva Sues Ex-General Counsel Over $2.6M Fund Transfers

By Rose Krebs

Moving giant Sirva has sued the ex-general counsel of a predecessor company, seeking a declaration from a New Jersey federal court that it is the rightful owner of $2.6 million in funds it says the lawyer sent to a bank account he controls for an investment entity.

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Firm Says Newsmax Wants 'Haircut' On Fees In Dominion Suit

By Julie Manganis

Todd & Weld LLP said Newsmax has refused to pay outstanding billings for the Boston-based boutique's work in defending the cable news channel from a Dominion Voting Systems defamation suit.

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DNA Phenotyping May Help Police, Or Spur Racial 'Dragnets'

By Jack Karp

Law enforcement says the relatively new science of using DNA to generate an estimation of a person's physical appearance is a powerful tool that can help lead police to suspects, but critics of the practice warn that the still-untested technology will lead to racial profiling.

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Bankruptcy Firm Fined, Banned For 3 Years Over Disclosures

By Clara Geoghegan

A Michigan bankruptcy judge has hit Recovery Law Group, a national consumer bankruptcy law firm, with a fine of about $392,000 and a three-year ban on bringing insolvency cases in the Eastern District of Michigan, finding it violated fee disclosure requirements in 220 cases.

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ICE Leaders Sued For Calif. Court Arrests, Custody Conditions

By Tom Lotshaw

A class action complaint filed Thursday accused Trump administration officials of turning Northern California's immigration courts into "a trap" where masked agents ambush and needlessly arrest immigrants who must then endure squalid conditions in a makeshift San Francisco holding facility.

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Fla. Bar Must Conduct Bondi Ethics Probe, State Justices Told

By Madison Arnold

An attorney has doubled down on his attempt to force the Florida Bar into investigating U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi for alleged unethical conduct, arguing to the state Supreme Court that the bar has a clear legal duty to do so.

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DA In Gilgo Beach Killings Case Talks Advances In DNA Use

By Elizabeth Daley

Law360 sat down with Suffolk County, New York, District Attorney Ray Tierney, who is prosecuting architect Rex Heuermann on charges that he murdered seven women on Long Island, to discuss the use of a newer form of DNA testing that has passed rigorous admissibility standards for the first time, among other aspects of the case.

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Off The Bench

Off The Bench: Briefings On Trans Ban, New Kalshi Conflicts

By David Steele

In this week's Off The Bench, the U.S. Supreme Court receives initial briefs from West Virginia and Idaho regarding their bans on gender identity-based participation in school sports, Kalshi is taken to court by another state over its event contract offerings, and Washington, D.C.'s National Football League team takes a major step toward returning to its namesake city.

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Former Immigration Judge's Bias Suit Gets Trimmed In Fla.

By Madison Arnold

A Florida federal judge has trimmed multiple counts from a former immigration judge's discrimination lawsuit, finding that she failed to back up her bias claims.

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Lawmakers' Exit Puts Court, Judicial Security Funds In Limbo

By Courtney Bublé

Congress left for recess Friday afternoon after the Senate failed to pass a stopgap spending measure that includes funds for judicial security and the courts.

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USPTO's Top Solicitors To Leave Amid Continued Shake-Ups

By Theresa Schliep

The legal department at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is facing some shake-ups, with two of its top officials slated to leave the agency in the coming weeks.

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Treasury Launches Stablecoin Rule Push With Call For Input

By Aislinn Keely

The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Friday asked for public input on key regulatory considerations for stablecoins as it begins crafting rules to govern the stable-value crypto tokens under the recently signed Genius Act.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen brokerage firm ADS Securities file a fresh claim against German entrepreneur Lars Windhorst, AmTrust and Endurance Worldwide Insurance tackle an ongoing £50 million ($67 million) dispute over a failed litigation and insurance scheme, and Howard Kennedy LLP sue the son of a diamond tycoon over a £3.1 million legal bill. 

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

The SEC issued a policy statement that allows the use of mandatory arbitration by new publicly traded companies, but Democrats warned the move could shut the door to shareholder class actions. Meanwhile, a wrongful death suit claiming that ChatGPT aided in a teenager's suicide is set to be a high-stakes test of the responsibilities that AI firms will have toward vulnerable users. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Agnifilo Intrater LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a New York judge threw out the top two charges against Luigi Mangione concerning allegations he killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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