Contractor Calls Migrant Workers To Its Aid In Trafficking Trial

By Carolyn Muyskens

Several migrant workers for a farm labor contracting company testified they weren't forced to turn over their passports or work 20-hour days as the company sought to defend itself against human trafficking claims before a Michigan federal jury on Wednesday.

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6th Circ. Pick Quizzed On Experience, Ties To Conservatives

By Courtney Bublé

The first batch of judicial nominees of President Donald Trump's second administration had their hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, during which a Sixth Circuit nominee fielded questions about litigants' obligation to follow court orders and her connection to Leonard Leo-affiliated groups following Trump bashing the former Federalist Society executive.

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1st Circ. Upholds Block On Trump's Education Dept. Job Cuts

By Chris Villani

The First Circuit on Wednesday rejected a bid by President Donald Trump to greenlight massive job cuts at the U.S. Department of Education, finding that the administration had not provided enough evidence to overturn a block put in place by a Massachusetts federal judge.

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Assault Survivor Sues MSU Over Identity Leak, Career Harm

By Danielle Ferguson

A sexual assault survivor and activist has sued Michigan State University's Board of Trustees, alleging in a new complaint that the university mishandled her sexual harassment report against former football coach Mel Tucker and saying trustees publicly disclosed her identity against university policy.  

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Agent Seeks Toss Of Insurer's $1M Reinsurance Loss Suit

By Hope Patti

An insurance company's suit alleging that an insurance agent's errors cost the company its reinsurance through the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. should be tossed, the agent told a Michigan federal court, arguing that the claims are time-barred and have already been litigated.

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Lawmakers Say Recent Rocket Mortgage Deals Need Scrutiny

By Matthew Perlman

A group of lawmakers is calling on antitrust enforcers to scrutinize online mortgage giant Rocket's recent deals for real estate brokerage website Redfin and mortgage company Mr. Cooper over concerns that Rocket is trying to dominate the entire homebuying process.

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SEC Says Accountant Errors Don't Doom Crowdfunding Case

By Danielle Ferguson

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a Michigan federal judge Wednesday that mistakes in one of its accountant's declarations do not warrant the dismissal of its first crowdfunding enforcement action, arguing the SEC's lawyers acted in good faith when they alerted the court to the errors.

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French Plane Co. Escapes Crash Suit In Fla. Courts

By Mike Curley

A Florida appeals panel on Wednesday threw out product liability claims against a French plane manufacturer in a suit over a crash that killed all but one of its passengers, saying the company's ties to the Sunshine State are not related to the allegations in the complaint.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Supporting A Trial Team

While students often practice as lead trial attorneys in law school, such an opportunity likely won’t arise until a few years into practice, so junior associates should focus on honing skills that are essential to supporting a trial team, including organization, adaptability and humility, says Lucy Zelina at Tucker Ellis.

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Skadden Foundation Chief Exits, Urging Pro Bono 'Courage'

By Lauren Berg

The executive director of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's Fellowship Foundation, which funds public interest legal work, announced her resignation Wednesday, two months after the firm struck a deal with President Donald Trump to avert an executive order that could have interfered with its business.

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DOJ Alumni Aid Group Launches Pro Bono Legal Network

By Ryan Boysen

Justice Connection, a group founded by former U.S. Department of Justice attorneys in response to the Trump administration's ongoing purge of the department, has launched a pro bono legal network to represent DOJ attorneys being "unfairly targeted" by the administration.

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FTC Fights Attys Who Want State Bar Input On Ethics Worries

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission doesn't want staff attorneys to be able to seek state bar association guidance if they dispute the legality of an instruction, arguing in a fight with the FTC's union that seeking such guidance would gum up the gears of commission work.

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Scalia Invoked Against Trump's Citizenship Stance At 9th Circ.

By Rachel Riley

A panel of Ninth Circuit judges scrutinized the Trump administration's take on the citizenship clause as the government argued Wednesday to preserve the president's push to curb birthright citizenship, with one judge suggesting the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia would've rejected the attempt to read "beyond the mere words" of the 14th Amendment.

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MoFo Can't Escape Perkins Coie's 'Taint' In IP Suit, Court Told

By Adrian Cruz

Biometric security company FaceTec told a California federal judge that Morrison & Foerster LLP should be barred from representing identity verification platform Jumio in a patent suit, arguing that its participation is "tainted" by the actions of disqualified co-counsel Perkins Coie LLP.

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High Court Told 'Categorical' Right To Counsel Must Persist

By Cara Salvatore

A criminal defendant's right to consult with counsel during an overnight trial recess is "clear and categorical," a man who didn't receive that right has told the U.S. Supreme Court in preparation for his Sixth Amendment case to be heard before the justices.

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Analysis

What To Know About Trump's Shake-Up At Copyright Office

By Ivan Moreno

The firing of Shira Perlmutter by President Donald Trump as the head of the U.S. Copyright Office has introduced uncertainty into the agency's operations, including whether a previously unannounced report on artificial intelligence will ever be released, and set up a fight regarding the president's power to remove and replace whoever he wants without congressional input.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Bernstein Litowitz's Salvatore Graziano

By Sydney Price

When Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP's Salvatore Graziano made the switch from prosecution to securities litigation in the '90s, he realized he had an uphill battle ahead of him.

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