Attorneys have been analyzing the Trump administration's many pronouncements against diversity, equity and inclusion programs over the past several months, only to be left with questions as to what exactly "illegal DEI" is and what the government will do to police it.
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TOP NEWS

Analysis

Amid DEI Uncertainty, Cos. Face Pressure From All Sides

By Sarah Jarvis

Attorneys have been analyzing the Trump administration's many pronouncements against diversity, equity and inclusion programs over the past several months, only to be left with questions as to what exactly "illegal DEI" is and what the government will do to police it.

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SEC Strikes Deal With SolarWinds In Data Breach Case

By Jessica Corso

SolarWinds Corp. is on the cusp of resolving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's novel case alleging the software developer hid faulty cybersecurity practices before a major breach, telling a New York federal judge Wednesday that the parties have agreed to a settlement.

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Navy Construction Bid Protest Targets Union Deal Mandate

By Tom Lotshaw

A company asked the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to strike down project labor agreement requirements Naval Facilities Engineering System Command reincorporated into a solicitation for the design and construction of multiple large-scale military facilities in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C.

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GOP Reps. Want Probe Of RI Judge Blocking Funding Freeze

By Jack Karp

Two Republican U.S. House members have asked the First Circuit to investigate a Rhode Island federal judge who blocked a Trump administration spending freeze, claiming the judge's link to a funding recipient constitutes a conflict of interest, one of those congressmen's office confirmed to Law360 Pulse on Wednesday.

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SUPREME COURT

Feature

The Funniest Moments Of The Supreme Court's Term

By Jeff Overley

After justices and oral advocates spent much of an argument pummeling a lower court's writing talents, one attorney suggested it might be time to move on — only to be told the drubbing had barely begun. Here, Law360 showcases the standout jests and wisecracks from the 2024-25 U.S. Supreme Court term.

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LITIGATION

NC Newspaper Says County Retaliated Over Political Columns

By Abigail Harrison

The only newspaper serving a North Carolina county has sued three of its county commissioners in North Carolina federal court, alleging the trio revoked its status as the newspaper of record in retaliation over unflattering political cartoons and columns.

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Analysis

High Court Case Tops List of Securities Appeals To Watch

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up at least one shareholder's lawsuit when it reopens its doors in October, and securities attorneys from both the plaintiff and defense bars will be watching that appeal and several others as the year moves forward.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Justices' Review Of Fluor May Alter Gov't Contractor Liability

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to review Hencely v. Fluor, a case involving a soldier’s personal injury claims against a government contractor, suggests the justices could reconsider a long-standing test for determining whether contractors are shielded from state-tort liability, says Lisa Himes at Rogers Joseph.

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Kousisis Concurrence Maps FCA Defense To Anti-DEI Suits

Justice Clarence Thomas' recent concurrence in Kousisis v. U.S. lays out how federal funding recipients could use the high standard for materiality in government fraud cases to fight the U.S. Justice Department’s threatened False Claims Act suits against payees deviating from the administration’s anti-DEI policies, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

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8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Legal Sector Jobs Continue To Climb, Nearing All-Time High

By Aebra Coe

The U.S. legal industry added 2,800 jobs in June, marking four months in a row of job growth in the sector, according to preliminary data released Thursday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Analysis

Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

By Jack Karp

The U.S. Supreme Court once again waited until the term's closing weeks — and even hours — to issue some of its most anticipated and divided decisions.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Target's board faces a shareholder derivative suit that accuses the retail giant of damaging the company by implementing an LGBTQ+ Pride-themed marketing campaign, despite knowing the risk of "public backlash." Meanwhile, SolarWinds and the SEC are close to resolving a novel case that alleges the software developer hid faulty cybersecurity practices before a major breach. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Analysis

The Firms That Won Big At The Supreme Court

By Jack Karp

The number of law firms juggling three or more arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this past term nearly doubled from the number of firms that could make that claim last term.

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Analysis

What Judges Might Ponder In Judicial Safety Law Challenge

By Carla Baranauckas

A Third Circuit panel set to examine the constitutionality of a judicial safety law born out of the murder of a New Jersey federal judge's son is tasked with what experts are viewing as a lesser-of-two-evils choice: chilling free speech or chilling public service.

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Ex-Treasury Official Joins Covington's Nat'l Security Practice

By Madeline Lyskawa

Covington & Burling LLP has boosted its national security practice with the hire of the former head of the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence under former President Barack Obama's administration as of counsel.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Maryland school district burdened parents' religious rights when it declined to provide opt-outs from a policy that introduced LGBTQ-themed storybooks into its K-12 English curriculum.

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Spectrum, Border, Injunction Changes Included In Mega Bill

By Courtney Bublé

The House voted 218-214, almost along party lines, on Thursday on the reconciliation budget package, which includes a range of policy provisions on nationwide injunctions, spectrum and immigration and now goes to President Donald Trump's desk ahead of the decided Fourth of July deadline.

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Orrick Adds Nixon Peabody Public Finance Atty In LA

By James Mills

Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP is boosting its finance team, bringing in a Nixon Peabody LLP public finance pro as a partner in its Los Angeles office.

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Analysis

The Moments That Shaped The Universal Injunction Case

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

The U.S. Supreme Court voted along ideological lines when it hindered the ability of federal district court judges to issue nationwide pauses on presidential policies, but that outcome didn't seem like a foregone conclusion during oral arguments earlier this year. What do the colloquies suggest about the justices' thinking? Here are some moments that may have swayed them.

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Justices Extend Due Process Pause To South Sudan Removals

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court clarified Thursday that its recent order allowing the Trump administration to send noncitizens to countries they have no connection to with little notice or chance to object extends to a group of men the government plans to send to South Sudan.

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Analysis

Circuit-By-Circuit Recap: Justices Send Message To Outliers

By Jeff Overley

It was a tough term at the U.S. Supreme Court for two very different circuits — one solidly liberal, one solidly conservative — that had their rulings overturned in eye-popping numbers. But it was another impressive year for a relatively moderate circuit that appears increasingly simpatico with the high court.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

AFN Law PLLC

Agnifilo Intrater

Arnold & Porter

Baker Botts

Ballard Spahr

Bartlit Beck

Blank Rome

Boies Schiller

Buchanan Ingersoll

Bucher Law PLLC

Bunsow De Mory

Burr & Forman

Clement & Murphy

Cohen Milstein

Constangy Brooks

Covington & Burling

Debevoise & Plimpton

Dechert LLP

Farnan LLP

FisherBroyles

Gibbons PC

Gibson Dunn

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

Greenbaum Rowe

Greenberg Traurig

Greenspoon Marder

Gupta Wessler

Haun Mena

Hausfeld LLP

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Jones Day

King & Spalding

Klein Thomas

Korein Tillery

Labaton Keller

Latham & Watkins

Lewis Brisbois

Lomurro Munson

Lowenstein Sandler

Manatt Phelps

McDermott Will & Emery

McElroy Deutsch

McManis Faulkner

Milbank LLP

Miller & Chevalier

Morgan & Morgan

Morrison Foerster

Nixon Peabody

Orrick Herrington

Pierson Ferdinand LLP

Quinn Emanuel

RKW LLC

Raj Ferber

Riker Danzig

Rogers Joseph O'Donnell

Seyfarth Shaw

Shapiro Arato

Sheppard Mullin

Sidley Austin

Stevens Martin

Stinson LLP

Stoel Rives

Sullivan & Cromwell

Thompson Hine

Tin Fulton

Troutman

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

Wood Smith

Wright Close & Barger

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Bankers Association

Apple Inc.

Association of Corporate Counsel

BDO LLP

BDO USA LLP

CTIA

Comcast Corp.

Competitive Carriers Association

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.

Drummond

Equifax Inc.

FirstEnergy Corp.

Fluor Corp.

Google LLC

Harvard University

Human Rights First

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc.

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

KBR Inc.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LinkedIn Corp.

Major Lindsey & Africa LLC

McDonald's Corp.

Medtronic PLC

NVIDIA Corp.

New York University

Oracle Corp.

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development

PacifiCorp

Palantir Technologies Inc.

Planned Parenthood Federation

Pro Bono Institute

Public Co. Accounting Oversight Board

RELX PLC

RTX Corp.

Slack Technologies Inc.

Smith & Wesson Brands Inc.

SolarWinds Corp.

Stanford University

Supervalu Inc.

The Boeing Co.

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

The New York Times Co.

The Wireless Infrastructure Association

Thomson Reuters Corp.

TikTok Inc.

United States Telecom Association

Universal Health Services Inc.

University of California Davis

University of Virginia

University of the Pacific

Valve Corp.

Walmart Inc.

Werner Enterprises Inc.

Zillow Group Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Arkansas Teacher Retirement System

Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives

Bureau of Labor Statistics

California State Treasurer's Office

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Executive Office of the President

Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

Federal Reserve System

Food and Drug Administration

Government of Mexico

Internal Revenue Service

New Jersey Legislature

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Office of Foreign Assets Control

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

Texas Supreme Court

U.S. Army

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Department of State

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. General Services Administration

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Tax Court

US Office of Management and Budget