Mich. Schools Gain Chance To Opt Out Of Aid Privacy Waiver

By Carolyn Muyskens

Michigan schools have reached an agreement with the state for more time to make what the schools call an "impossible choice" to waive legal privileges to receive critical funding, while court challenges to the waiver play out.

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Mich. Pharmacist Gets 46 Months For $4M Fraud Scheme

By Parker Quinlan

A former Michigan pharmacist who pled guilty to orchestrating a $4 million Medicare scam was sentenced by a federal judge to 46 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution and forfeit property as part of a plea deal, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

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HUD Housing Aid Limits Will Drive Homelessness, States Say

By Rachel Riley

Washington and 19 other states launched a lawsuit Tuesday against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in Rhode Island federal court, seeking to stop abrupt policy changes they claim will result in tens of thousands of formerly homeless people being ousted from publicly subsidized housing and onto the streets.

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FBI 'Surge' Tackles Violent Crime, Missing Indigenous Cases

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Justice Department says a six-month "surge" of FBI assets in Indian Country to address crimes relating to missing or slain Indigenous people has yielded hundreds of criminal charges and arrests and provided services to nearly 2,000 victims and their family members.

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IT Contractor Fights $6.8M Verdict In FAA Contract Dispute

By Carolyn Muyskens

An information technology company has asked a Michigan judge to erase or reduce a $6.8 million verdict finding the company caused a competitor to lose a Federal Aviation Administration contract, saying there was no basis for the jury's award.

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Employer Name Error Doesn't Nix Arb. Award, 6th Circ. Says

By Emily Brill

A Michigan power plant operator must rehire a union-represented worker who it fired after he was approved for long-term disability, the Sixth Circuit ruled, upholding an arbitration award against Holtec over its protests that the company was misnamed in the paperwork.

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6th Circ. Largely Shoots Down Ohio Derailment Atty Fee Fight

By Rae Ann Varona

The Sixth Circuit on Tuesday largely refused to revive Morgan & Morgan's bid to halt the allocation of attorney fees from a $600 million class settlement between Norfolk Southern and residents affected by the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment disaster, but remanded it for a look into the firm's individual allocation amount.

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6th Circ. Backs Theater In Ex-Manager's Sex Harassment Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A former movie theater manager can't reopen her lawsuit claiming her boss' repeated requests for a date and inappropriate comments created an unlawfully toxic workplace, with the Sixth Circuit ruling Tuesday that she hadn't shown his sporadic invites created an abusive environment.

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NBA Gambling Probes Highlight Sports Betting's Broad Risks

Recent NBA gambling scandals illustrate the integrity risks arising from legal sports betting, but organizations, which must navigate a patchwork of state laws, can protect their reputations by drafting and enforcing internal policies to address betting-related risks and complying with league and institutional rules, say attorneys at Littler.

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Considerations When Invoking The Common-Interest Privilege

To successfully leverage the common-interest doctrine in a multiparty transaction or complex litigation, practitioners should be able to demonstrate that the parties intended for it to apply, that an underlying privilege like attorney-client has attached, and guard against disclosures that could waive privilege and defeat its purpose, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

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Bonus Spotlight

Magic Circle Firms Enchant Associates With Top-Tier Bonuses

By Tracey Read

U.S. associates at Linklaters LLP and Clifford Chance LLP have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, as the Magic Circle firms Wednesday became the latest to match the BigLaw standard for this year's associate bonuses.

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Analysis

After Big Win For 2 Trump Foes, A Third Faces 'Tougher Job'

By Phillip Bantz

The recent dismissal of federal criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey does little to help President Donald Trump's ex-national security adviser John Bolton, whose defense in a classified-materials case presents a thornier set of legal and factual issues, experts say.

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Roundup

Up Next At High Court: ISP Liability & State Subpoena Suits

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for the first week of its December oral argument session, during which the justices will consider whether internet service providers can be held liable for contributing to their customers' infringing activity online and whether the subjects of state subpoenas are required to first challenge them in state court. 

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Interview

For Covington's Adrian Perry, Music Is A Family Affair

By Theresa Schliep

Despite having a famous rock star dad, Covington & Burling LLP partner Adrian J. Perry wasn't all that interested in being a musician as a young child, but he knew as early as 6 years old that he wanted to be a lawyer.

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Analysis

Calif. Privacy Agency Gaining Steam Ahead Of 5th Anniversary

By Allison Grande

California's data privacy regulator has taken several notable steps in recent months, including handing down its first penalty upward of $1 million dollars and finalizing long-awaited rules on topics such as cybersecurity audits and technologies that use artificial intelligence, and the groundbreaking agency shows no signs of slowing down as its fifth anniversary approaches. 

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Split 6th Circ. Shields Baker Donelson, Not City Councilman

By Matt Perez

In a published opinion, the Sixth Circuit has found that Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC is shielded by qualified immunity as outside counsel for the city of Nashville in litigation over the law firm's firing of a city election commission chair and member of the firm.

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Foley & Lardner Hit With Malpractice Suit Over Chancery Loss

By Rose Krebs

Foley & Lardner LLP has been sued in Delaware Superior Court by three officers of a now-defunct food recycling company who say the firm was negligent when representing them in a Chancery Court case that led to a $1.6 million judgment against them and another officer.

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DOJ Asks Court If It Can Release Epstein Files Under New Law

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a New York federal court's permission to publicly release the files related to the investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, clarifying Wednesday that it wants to release search warrant results, travel and financial records, police reports, and other materials.

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Keesal Young Poaching Suit Against Stradley Ronon Trimmed

By Madison Arnold

A California state judge cleared Keesal Young & Logan to pursue most of its lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young crossed the line when it recruited 10 former Keesal Young attorneys, finding that claims such as inducing breach of contract could move forward, in part, because of conversations among the attorneys.

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DOJ Says Ex-Employees Can't Challenge Firings In Fed. Court

By Rose Krebs

The government says a D.C. federal court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate a lawsuit filed by a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and two other ex-Department of Justice employees, alleging they were unlawfully fired.

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Hub Hires: Todd & Weld, Freshfields, Shipman

By Julie Manganis

It was a busy November in Boston's legal community as another firm expanded into the market, and a longtime judge traded his gavel for the ability to address his growing concerns about the Trump administration.

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