Justices Limit FTCA Defense In FBI Raid Case

By Chart Riggall

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday held that the Constitution's supremacy clause cannot shield the federal government from Federal Tort Claims Act suits, in the process reviving a Georgia woman's claim over an FBI raid aimed at a gang member but mistakenly carried out at her home.

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Locals Approve $3B Plan To Lure NHL Team Back To Atlanta

By Nate Beck

Officials in Forsyth County, Georgia, north of Atlanta, have signed off on a $3 billion mixed-use plan anchored by an arena, which developers hope will draw a professional hockey team back to the region.

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Green Groups Call Utility's Rate Freeze 'Smoke And Mirrors'

By Chart Riggall

A coalition of environmental groups on Thursday challenged Georgia's utility commission's planned agreement with Georgia Power to freeze utility rates for the next three years, alleging that the "smoke and mirrors" deal hides rate increases until after the commission's first elections in years.

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Conn. Adviser Banned After $9.2M Fraud, Prison Sentence

By Ryan Harroff

The Connecticut Department of Banking banned an investment adviser from practicing his craft in the Constitution State following his sentence to 87 months in prison and a $9.2 million restitution payment for a Georgia fraud case.

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Ga. Financial Biz Lodges Trade Secrets Suit Against Rival

By Christine DeRosa

Atlanta Deferred Exchange Inc. has sued Deferred Inc. and a former employee who now works for the rival company, claiming they infringed trademarks and lifted trade secrets to bolster the competing financial advisory and consultancy business.

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Fantasy Sports Site Claims Ex-Director Took IP To DraftKings

By Rachel Riley

Fantasy sports platform PrizePicks is suing its former social media director in Washington federal court over his lateral move to DraftKings, accusing him of taking the company's "most closely guarded" marketing trade secrets to the competitor by downloading those documents to his personal ChatGPT account before his departure.

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Econo Lodge Hit With Trafficking Suit In Ga. Federal Court

By Kelcey Caulder

Econo Lodge has been sued in Georgia federal court by an unnamed plaintiff who alleges she was repeatedly trafficked for sex as a minor at one of the chain's hotels in College Park, Georgia, from 2014 through the end of 2016.

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Unifi Aviation Sued For Firing Ga. Worker After FMLA Approval

By Kelcey Caulder

The largest aviation ground handling service in North America has been sued in Georgia federal court by a woman who alleges she was pressured to speak with a male manager about her reproductive issues after requesting medical leave, then fired once that leave was approved.

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Insurer Says Hair Relaxer Maker Not Covered In Cancer Suits

By Elizabeth Daley

An insurer told a Georgia federal court that it had no duty to defend a hair relaxer and beauty products manufacturer in underlying litigation filed by people who alleged that chemicals in hair relaxer products the company produced caused them to develop cancer and suffer bodily injuries.

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Brief

Ogletree Launches Workforce Analytics Group

By Kevin Penton

Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC has launched a new practice group that will focus on using data-driven tools to advise employers on various workforce compliance and risk assessment matters.

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Attacks On Judicial Independence Tend To Manifest In 3 Ways

Attacks on judicial independence now run the gamut from gross (bald-faced interference) to systemic (structural changes) to insidious (efforts to undermine public trust), so lawyers, judges and the public must recognize the fateful moment in which we live and defend the rule of law every day, says Jim Moliterno at Washington and Lee University.

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Analysis

These Firms Are Landing The Most PTAB Work

By Theresa Schliep

Intellectual property powerhouse Fish & Richardson again secured the top spot on a list of firms appearing in the most trials over the past three years in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

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Mass. Judge, On Stand, Denies Helping Immigrant Evade ICE

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts judge accused of approving a plan to let a man elude immigration officers by letting him leave the court through a back door seven years ago testified Thursday that was not her intent when she granted a request to let him speak with an attorney in a courthouse lockup.

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Trump's Deployment Of National Guard Illegal, Judge Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge on Thursday granted California's request for a temporary restraining order blocking President Donald Trump's order sending the National Guard into Los Angeles, calling the president's actions "illegal" and unconstitutional, but the decision was quickly paused by the Ninth Circuit.

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Google Fights MDL Plaintiffs' Sanctions Bid Over Lost Chats

By Emily Sawicki

Google is pushing back on a request for sanctions that a slew of advertisers and publishers have brought in their antitrust lawsuit over the company's advertising placement technology, saying the plaintiffs have not shown Google hid evidence amid the "mountains" of electronically stored information it provided.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Proctor On Civility, Civil Rules

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

R. David Proctor, chief judge of the Northern District of Alabama, is a leader within the federal judiciary. He's both assigned and presided over multidistrict litigation. He may write a nationwide rule governing third-party litigation funding. And he's gained internet fame for ordering two attorneys to eat lunch together.

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Avenatti Sheds 3 Years After 9th Circ. Orders Resentencing

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge on Thursday resentenced disbarred attorney Michael Avenatti to just over 11 years in federal prison for filching millions of dollars from his clients' settlement funds, reducing a 14-year sentence overturned by the Ninth Circuit and leaving Avenatti with about eight years left after time served.

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DOJ Picks Proceed Despite Worry Over Honoring Court Orders

By Courtney Bublé

Two nominations for top positions in the U.S. Department of Justice were voted out of committee on party lines on Thursday.

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Calif. Sues Trump Over 'Wildly Partisan' EV Waiver Repeal

By Dorothy Atkins

The California attorney general and 10 other states sued the Trump administration in federal court Thursday, minutes after President Donald Trump signed resolutions repealing California's Clean Air Act waiver that allowed the state to establish its own vehicle emissions standards, slamming the resolutions as unconstitutional, irrational and "wildly partisan."

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Interview

Ex-Interior Secretary Salazar On 'Coming Home' To WilmerHale

By Aebra Coe

Former U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar of Colorado, who served as secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior during the Obama administration and most recently as ambassador to Mexico during the Biden administration, returned this month to WilmerHale's Denver office, which he founded in 2014.

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Justices Say Habeas Claims Can't Be Added After Judgment

By Marco Poggio

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that a prisoner may not add new claims to a habeas corpus petition once a final judgment is issued, cementing strict limits on repeat habeas filings prescribed by federal law.

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Analysis

Rising PTAB Filings Follow Surge In Patent Cases

By Theresa Schliep

The number of petitions filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ticked up last year, following a similar increase in federal court litigation and suggesting that activity at the board has somewhat stabilized, according to a new report.

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Weinstein Sex Abuse Trial Ends After Mixed, Partial Verdict

By Pete Brush

Harvey Weinstein's sexual abuse retrial ended Thursday with a Manhattan jury failing to reach a verdict on a count alleging the movie mogul raped an actress, one day after he was convicted of forcing sex on a production assistant and cleared on a third charge.

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