9th Circ. Says Loggers' Suit Does Not Show A Monopoly

By Elaine Briseño

The Ninth Circuit declined Tuesday to revive a lawsuit by a coalition of logging groups that accused a U.S. Forest Service contractor of monopolizing the industry in the Pacific Northwest, finding the plaintiffs' antitrust claims lacked adequate details.

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Gov't Didn't Allege Formula Was Contaminated, Abbott Says

By Emily Field

Abbott Laboratories has urged a Michigan federal judge to throw out a suit brought by the federal government over the 2022 infant formula shortage, saying the government is trying to recoup a "belated windfall" and no tainted formula left its plant's doors.

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Ex-Ohio Judge Suspended Over Divorce Work Scandal

By Emily Sawicki

A former Ohio judge was hit Tuesday with a license suspension of up to two years after the state Supreme Court determined she repeatedly violated court rules by assigning herself to high-stakes divorce cases and funneling work to her "long-term friend and love interest" without disclosing their relationship.

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Manufacturer To Pay $2.2M Settlement Over COVID Loan

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Department of Justice said on Tuesday it had reached a $2.2 million settlement with a manufacturer of automotive die casting components over claims it unlawfully obtained a Paycheck Protection Program loan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Ex-SBA, IRS Worker Accused Of Scheme To Steal Relief Funds

By Tom Lotshaw

Federal prosecutors accused a Hampton, Georgia, woman of conspiring to steal more than $3.5 million from pandemic relief programs by using her positions with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the Internal Revenue Service to solicit fraudulent applications.

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GAO Denies Challenge To DOD Agency's $472M Support Deal

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Government Accountability Office denied a protest challenging experience and cost evaluations that the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency relied on to award a $472 million contract aimed at modernizing a national background investigation system used to vet federal personnel.

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2026 Enforcement Trends To Expect In Maritime And Int'l Trade

The maritime and international trade community should expect U.S. federal enforcement to ramp up in 2026, particularly via Office of Foreign Asset Control shipping sanctions, accelerating interagency investigations of trade fraud, and U.S. Coast Guard narcotics and pollution inspections, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

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5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2026 And Beyond

2026 will likely be shaped by issues ranging from artificial intelligence regulatory turbulence to potential evidence rule changes, and e-discovery professionals will need to understand how to effectively guide the responsible and defensible adoption of emerging tools, while also ensuring effective safeguards, say attorneys at Littler.

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No Jury Yet In Goldstein Trial, But Celeb Witnesses Possible

By Jared Foretek

Day two of jury selection in Tom Goldstein's tax and mortgage fraud case wrapped without a jury being seated Tuesday, but did reveal that the government could call celebrities Tobey Maguire and Kevin Hart to the stand.

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Ex-Duane Morris Tax Partner Charged With Murdering Wife

By Hailey Konnath

A former tax partner at Duane Morris LLP's Chicago office has been charged with killing his wife a little more than a year ago, according to an announcement made Tuesday by Illinois prosecutors.

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Beasley Allen Talc Work Sends 'Bad Signal,' J&J Says

By George Woolston

Johnson & Johnson's talc unit told a New Jersey appeals panel on Tuesday that a lower court's ruling permitting Beasley Allen Law Firm attorneys to represent plaintiffs in multicounty litigation over its talc-based baby powder "sends a very bad signal" to the state bar.

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Ex-Atty, Others Charged In Staged New Orleans Crash Scheme

By Hope Patti

A disbarred attorney was hit with new charges claiming that he induced a witness to commit perjury and obstructed justice in the federal investigation of an insurance scam involving staged car crashes in the New Orleans area.

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Halligan Blasts Court's 'Inquisition' Over US Atty Status

By Ryan Boysen

Lindsey Halligan said Tuesday that she is still the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia despite a recent ruling to the contrary, dismissing a federal judge's questions about why she's still using the title as an "inquisition" and a "gross abuse of power."

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Approach The Bench: Judge Bough On Ethics

Years of experience as a plaintiff's attorney influenced U.S. District Judge Stephen Bough's disclosure rules for litigators appearing in his court.

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DLA Piper Can't Counsel Hudson Hotel In Ch. 11, Judge Says

By Alex Wittenberg

A Delaware bankruptcy judge Tuesday rejected a bid by two bankrupt entities tied to the former Hudson Hotel to retain DLA Piper LLP as special counsel in their Chapter 11 case, saying the law firm's work for the entities' lender presented a conflict of interest.

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Sen. Whitehouse Presses AG On Boasberg Complaint Results

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., ranking member of the courts panel on the Senate Judiciary Committee, is calling for Attorney General Pam Bondi to release the results of the disciplinary complaint she filed against Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia when the investigation wraps up.

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Jack Smith To Testify Publicly Next Week

By Courtney Bublé

Former special counsel Jack Smith is slated to testify publicly before the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 22 after, according to his attorney, having been "ready and willing" to do so for a while.

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4th Circ. Combines DOJ Appeals Of Comey, James Dismissals

By Jack Karp

The Fourth Circuit has granted the Trump administration's request to combine its previously separate appeals of the dismissals of prosecutions against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James.

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