Feds Ordered To Pay Millions In Funds For Migrant Kids' Attys

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge ruled on Thursday that the Trump administration is in violation of her preliminary injunction ordering it to continue paying dozens of nonprofits that represent tens of thousands of migrant children in immigration proceedings, saying new data requirements imposed by the government violate "the plain language" of her order.

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Trump Admin Pays RWE $1.2B To Drop Offshore Wind Leases

By Hailey Konnath

Germany-based RWE has agreed to give up its offshore wind leases off the coasts of New York, California and Louisiana in exchange for a $1.2 billion payment from President Donald Trump's administration, the latest in a string of payments from the government targeting wind energy.

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Ex-Goldman Exec Convicted Of Ghana Bribery Plot

By Stewart Bishop

A former Goldman Sachs executive director was convicted Thursday for his role in what Brooklyn federal prosecutors say was a wide-ranging conspiracy to bribe Ghanaian officials in support of a Turkish energy company's push to obtain a lucrative power plant contract as the West African nation was reeling from an electricity crisis.

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GAO Pans DOGE's Savings Claims, Ethics Practices

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said on Thursday that the Department of Government Efficiency's claim to have saved $110 billion from terminated contracts, grants and leases is based on incorrect and opaque cost estimates.

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Blockchain Cybersecurity Co., CEO Settle SEC Suit For $1.2M

By Sydney Price

An Oklahoma-based blockchain cybersecurity company and its founder will pay more than $1.2 million in civil penalties to end the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuit accusing them of raising more than $5 million by falsely claiming that the company had secured contracts and that it expected to generate millions of dollars in revenue.

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Va. Judge Sinks General Dynamics' Fee Bid For No-Poach Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

A Virginia federal judge denied General Dynamics Corp.'s attempt to recoup millions in costs and attorney fees from engineers who dropped claims against the company from a larger suit accusing U.S. shipbuilders of conspiring to suppress wages through no-poach agreements.

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Sikorsky Accuses Tech Supplier Of Deception In $24.7M Job

By Brian Steele

Lockheed Martin unit Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. told a federal court that a subcontractor tricked the Connecticut company into believing it could complete a deal for two software and hardware components critical to a multibillion-dollar military helicopter program, defeating the claims in a suit alleging a $14 million underpayment.

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Ore. Judge Says DOD Wind Project Blockage Was Unlawful

By Madeline Lyskawa

An Oregon federal judge on Thursday halted the U.S. Department of Defense's freeze of wind projects, finding renewable energy groups and environmental nonprofits are likely to succeed in showing the agency violated deadlines for reviewing the projects' impact on military readiness.

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3 Firms Guide Reusable Spacecraft Maker's $380M SPAC Deal

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Orbital spacecraft maker Blackstar Orbital Technologies Corp. on Thursday unveiled plans to go public by merging with special purpose acquisition company Pono Capital Four Inc. in a deal that values it at $380 million and was built by three law firms.

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Justices' FTC Ruling Weakens Qui Tam's Constitutional Base

The U.S. Supreme Court’s holding in Trump v. Slaughter, expanding presidential control over those exercising executive power, suggests that courts may be receptive to arguments challenging the constitutional foundations of the False Claims Act’s qui tam mechanism, says Daniel Passeser at Wiggin.

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Series

Being A Sommelier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Being a sommelier has quietly shaped how I practice law by changing the way I think, communicate and connect with people, and offers a constant reminder that expertise is about making your knowledge useful and accessible to others, says Kara Du at Sheppard.

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How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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No Simpson Thacher Malpractice In PIPE Case, Jury Finds

By Madison Arnold

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP escaped a malpractice lawsuit late Thursday over its representation of Patriot National Inc. in a private investment in public equity transaction in the years before the company's downfall.

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Dems Slam Skadden's 'Nothing To See Here' Trump Deal Reply

By Hailey Konnath

Three Democratic lawmakers on Thursday criticized Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's response to their request that the firm disclose details of its pro bono arrangement with the Trump administration, saying the firm's "three sentence letter essentially saying 'nothing to see here'" is "not going to cut it."

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New ABA Chief Seeks To 'Streamline' Org., Defend Democracy

By Emily Sawicki

The American Bar Association's new president, Barbara J. Howard, will focus on twin goals of defending democracy against expected unprecedented attacks associated with this year's midterm elections, while also reorganizing the association to run more efficiently, as she kicks off her one-year term this month.

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Richards Layton Under Fire Amid Bid To Avoid AI Sanctions

By Rose Krebs

A firm has asked a Delaware vice chancellor to allow it to submit more "factual information" regarding what it says are inconsistencies in Richards Layton & Finger PA's attempt to avoid sanctions for submitting a filing with errors generated by artificial intelligence.

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Analysis

The Dramatic Moments Set To Shape Tom Goldstein's Appeal

By Jeff Overley and Jared Foretek

Prurient revelations, brash recriminations and purportedly glaring judicial errors in Tom Goldstein's criminal case have captivated the appellate bar for nearly 19 months, and many of those moments will be center stage in the star attorney's imminent appeal.

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2nd Circ. Says Pillsbury Must Surrender $3.6M Retainer

By Jessica Corso

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP was ordered on Thursday to hand over a $3.6 million retainer it was paid to defend a client against criminal and civil fraud charges, with the Second Circuit upholding a ruling that the funds were part of an asset freeze order issued in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission case.

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Ex-GC Hijacked Accounts And Posted Klan Imagery, Suit Says

By Ben Adlin

A Washington state court granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday in a school fundraising company's lawsuit accusing its former general counsel of taking control of its social media accounts and allegedly replacing its LinkedIn photo with a manipulated image of its president in a Ku Klux Klan robe.

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Ex-Girardi Atty Gets Probation For Keeping Silent On Theft

By Lauraann Wood

A former Girardi Keese attorney was sentenced to one day time-served and two years of probation Thursday for staying quiet and failing to report disgraced plaintiff's attorney Tom Girardi's theft of millions of settlement dollars owed to Lion Air Flight 620 plane crash victims.

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Wash. Justices Offer Bar Waiver After July Exam Tech Failure

By Rachel Riley

The Washington State Supreme Court said Thursday it's offering to waive the bar exam requirement for first-time applicants who were unable to take the test last week due to an abrupt cancellation driven by technical issues at the Yakima Convention Center where it was scheduled to be administered.   

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