DHS Says Proposed Public Charge Rule To Undo 'Straitjacket'

By Rae Ann Varona

The Trump administration on Monday unveiled a proposed rule to broaden U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers' discretion in deeming visa or green card seekers inadmissible if they're likely to depend on government benefits, saying current regulations are overly restrictive.

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Justices Will Review Defunct Asylum Metering Policy

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to review a defunct policy under which border agents physically prevent asylum-seekers from setting foot on U.S. soil and turn them back to Mexico when border processing capacity is maxed out.

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Judge Tests DOJ Claim That TPS Decisions Can't Be Reviewed

By Britain Eakin

A New York federal judge Monday grilled a government attorney over the Trump administration's termination of temporary protected status for Syrians, pressing him on the outer limits of judicial review of such decisions.

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DOJ Backs White House's Military Lawyer Transfers

By Courtney Bublé

A newly released legal opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice says the Trump administration is allowed to detail military lawyers to serve as immigration judges and special assistant U.S. attorneys in the District of Columbia.

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DOJ Sues Calif. Over Laws To Unmask, ID Federal Agents

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice launched a lawsuit Monday challenging two California state laws that aim to unmask federal law enforcement officers, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and require them to visibly display their name and agency, saying the laws are unconstitutional and endanger agents.

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Ill. ICE Detainees Win Class Cert. Over Facility Conditions

By Lauraann Wood

An Illinois federal judge said Monday that he will give class treatment to two civil immigration detainees' claims that they experienced "inhumane" conditions at a holding facility officials have allegedly used as a detention center during ramped-up enforcement operations.

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Judge Rebukes DOJ Over Defiance In Abrego Garcia Case

By Jared Foretek

A Maryland federal judge on Monday blasted U.S. Department of Justice attorneys looking to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia to Liberia, saying they were asking her to countenance testimony that Costa Rica would not accept the Salvadoran national absent "additional commitments" from the U.S., without explaining how the conclusion was reached.

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Wis. Judge And Feds Clash Over ICE Arrest Trial Rules

By Emily Sawicki

Federal prosecutors and a Wisconsin state judge are trading barbs over their respective motions ahead of an anticipated December trial over criminal charges alleging the judge attempted to hinder a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrest this spring.

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BNP Asks Judge To Overturn $21M Sudan Refugee Verdict

By Katryna Perera

BNP Paribas has asked a New York federal judge to reverse a recent $21 million bellwether verdict won by three Sudanese refugees who claim that the French bank contributed to longtime dictator Omar al-Bashir's atrocities, arguing that the jury's verdict and damages awards are inconsistent with Swiss law, which governs the suit.

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Fired Atty Says Debevoise Can't Force Arbitration Of ADA Suit

By Emily Sawicki

An attorney who accused Debevoise & Plimpton LLP of unlawfully refusing to rehire him because he took protected medical leave has urged a New York federal court not to dismiss his suit or send it before an arbitrator, arguing an arbitration provision in an earlier settlement does not apply to new claims.

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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Dynamic Databases

Several recent federal court decisions illustrate how parties continue to grapple with the discovery of data in dynamic databases, so counsel involved in these disputes must consider how structured data should be produced consistent with the requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, say attorneys at Sidley.

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How To Prepare If Justices Curb Gov't Contractor Immunity

Given the very real possibility that the U.S. Supreme Court will determine in GEO v. Menocal that government contractors do not have collateral immunity, contractors should prepare by building the costs of potential litigation, from discovery through trial, into their contracts and considering other pathways to interlocutory appeals, says Lisa Himes at Rogers Joseph.

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Colo. Justices Unsure On Limits For Borrowing Claims Rule

By Zach Dupont

Colorado Supreme Court justices on Tuesday grappled with when an attorney has satisfied their requirements under Colorado law to conduct a "reasonable inquiry" when including pleadings from other litigation during oral arguments in CenturyLink's petition to have a securities class action dismissed for including anonymous claims from a different lawsuit.

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Bonus Spotlight

Cravath Unveils Associate Bonuses, Multiple Firms Follow

By Aebra Coe

Multiple firms swiftly fell in line Tuesday evening just hours after Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP announced associate bonuses in line with those offered last year, continuing a long tradition of BigLaw firms following Cravath's lead on compensation.

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Analysis

Perkins Coie's Trump Fight Doesn't Scare Off UK Suitor

By Chris Villani

Perkins Coie LLP's ongoing fight with the Trump administration did not deter a proposed combination with British law firm Ashurst, signaling that the legal community is not worried about fallout from the president's suspension of the firm's security clearances.

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Judge Upholds NY Law Blocking ICE Courthouse Arrests

By Andrea Keckley

New York beat back a federal lawsuit challenging the state's policy barring immigration officials from arresting people near its courthouses, after a federal judge rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's preemption claims.

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Brief

Conn. Atty Fined $500 For AI-Generated Errors In Wage Suit

By Emily Sawicki

In an order that noted an attorney's remorse, a Connecticut federal judge sanctioned a solo practitioner $500 this week for submitting a brief packed with false, AI-generated case citations, finding the fake authorities wasted court resources, risked misleading a pro se litigant and undermined trust in the judicial system.

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Brief

Missouri Federal Judge To Take Senior Status

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Douglas Harpool of the Western District of Missouri has given notice he will take senior status upon the confirmation of state Judge Megan Benton, whose nomination to the federal bench President Donald Trump announced Friday.

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Republican Senators Seek Judge Boasberg's Suspension

By Courtney Bublé

Six Republican senators, three of whom sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, are asking that Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg of the District of Columbia be administratively suspended while Congress considers his impeachment.

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Sanctioned Atty Convinces Mo. Court Errors Not Caused By AI

By Emily Sawicki

A Missouri federal judge sanctioned former counsel for Liberty Mutual Personal Insurance Co. Monday for including citation errors in a motion this fall, finding that, although the attorney likely inserted the errors herself without the use of AI software, "such carelessness, exacerbated by a lack of internal guardrails, is entirely unacceptable."

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Ex-Dechert Moscow Office MP Joins BCLP's DC Office

By Jack Rodgers

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP has hired the one-time managing partner of Dechert LLP's Moscow office, whose practice focuses on advising corporations, banks, investment funds and other clients on mergers and acquisitions matters, cross-border transactions and matters related to emerging markets, the firm announced Tuesday.

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Non-Law Firm Lobby Shops Overtake BigLaw In Trump Era

By Alison Knezevich

Law firms have been K Street's top earners in recent years, but some non-law firm lobbying shops, including Trump-connected Ballard Partners, have surpassed major legal industry players in 2025 as clients seek access to the White House in a year of upheaval.

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Latino Atty Drops Bias, Retaliation Suit Against Va. Law Firm

By Irene Spezzamonte

A Latino former managing partner for an employee-side law firm told a Maryland federal court Tuesday that he agreed to end his lawsuit claiming he was fired for flagging bias and advocating to raise a Black attorney's pay.

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Clifford Chance Adds Day Pitney Energy Pro In DC

By Christine DeRosa

Clifford Chance LLP has grown its energy regulatory and markets practice in the nation's capital with the addition of a veteran attorney from Day Pitney LLP.

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NY AG James Blasts 'Outrageous Conduct' Behind Indictment

By Adrian Cruz

New York Attorney General Letitia A. James has told a Virginia federal court to dismiss the U.S. government's indictment of her, calling it "patently unconstitutional" and "outrageous conduct."

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McGuireWoods Is Delaying Defamation Case, NC Justices Told

By Hayley Fowler

The former CEO of a managed care organization who alleges McGuireWoods and one of its ex-partners defamed him during a press conference more than seven years ago has told North Carolina's top court not to take up the case, panning their petition as yet another stalling tactic.

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Law Firms Being Tested With Associate Performance Reviews

By Tracey Read

Eighty-three percent of U.S. and Canadian associates receive a yearly annual review, but there is room for improvement in how law firms evaluate their attorneys' performance, according to a new study.

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Trump Asks 11th Circ. For Redo On Clinton, DNC RICO Claims

By David Minsky

President Donald Trump urged the Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to revive his Florida federal lawsuit alleging a racketeering conspiracy between Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee to thwart his 2016 presidential campaign with false Russian collusion evidence, saying the complaint was tossed without giving him another chance to replead.

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Brief

Rumble Alerts 9th Circ. To Recusal Bid Over Google Ties

By Emily Sawicki

Days after Rumble asked a California federal judge to consider recusal in the event the Ninth Circuit revives its antitrust lawsuit against Google, the video-sharing site flagged its recusal bid to the Ninth Circuit itself, filing a motion for judicial notice of the district court judge's friendship with Google's top in-house litigation chief.

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1st Circ. May Nix Trump Funding Freeze In 'Weird' Case

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit on Tuesday hinted that a federal judge may have been in bounds when blocking the Trump administration from withholding certain funds for states, expressing skepticism that the judge's order was improper or overly broad.

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Atty Asks 5th Circ. To Address Outlying Matters In TM Case

By Elliot Weld

An attorney locked in a trademark battle with Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP asked the Fifth Circuit to address the case again Tuesday, saying it did not get to several outstanding issues that will affect the case in district court when it vacated the firm's $1 million damages award against him.

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Asst. Gets New Try At Religious Bias Suit Over Wash. Vax Rule

By Ben Adlin

A divided Washington state appeals court panel said Tuesday a lower court was wrong to dismiss a legal assistant's lawsuit accusing the Washington State Attorney General's Office of wrongfully refusing her request for a religious accommodation to the state's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, reopening the suit.

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