Michigan's courts are gearing up for a busy second half of the year, with high-profile prosecutions of Chinese scientists accused of smuggling, the state's top court tackling arbitration and automotive contracts, and revisions to the professional conduct rules for lawyers and judges all on deck.
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WEDNESDAY, JULY 16, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Analysis

Michigan Cases To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2025

By Carolyn Muyskens

Michigan's courts are gearing up for a busy second half of the year, with high-profile prosecutions of Chinese scientists accused of smuggling, the state's top court tackling arbitration and automotive contracts, and revisions to the professional conduct rules for lawyers and judges all on deck.

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Roku Attacks Mich. AG's Standing In Child Data Privacy Suit

By Carolyn Muyskens

Michigan's attorney general lacks the authority to assert privacy claims on behalf of millions of Great Lakes State residents, Roku Inc. said Monday in a bid to narrow a lawsuit accusing the streaming platform of illegally collecting and sharing children's data.

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Michigan Court Eases Rules On Admitting Past Abuse Evidence

By Danielle Ferguson

The Michigan Supreme Court on Monday ruled that evidence of a sexual assault victim's past abuse is generally barred from being presented during trial but modified the test used to determine when such information can be admitted to no longer require the previous abuse to have resulted in a conviction.

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Judge Says Election Audit Deal Doesn't Cover Michigan Atty

By Danielle Ferguson

A $500,000 settlement reached between a Pennsylvania businessman and a cybersecurity firm suing over unpaid voting machine investigation bills does not cover a Michigan attorney and her firm, a Michigan federal judge ruled this week.

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Analysis

High Court Term Yields Gains For Criminal Defendants

By Marco Poggio

The U.S. Supreme Court addressed several contentious issues this term, with the conservative majority prevailing in numerous high-profile cases. Yet, in a notable trend, the court also issued multiple rulings favorable to criminal defendants, including expanding prisoners' rights in civil lawsuits and reinforcing due process protections in capital cases.

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LITIGATION

Abbott Brass Ignoring Call For Formula Plant Probe, Suit Says

By Lauraann Wood

An Abbot shareholder has launched a derivative lawsuit in Illiniois state court accusing the company's leaders of improperly sitting on her demand to investigate a baby formula shortage caused by safety and regulatory violations that she said executives and officers hid from the public.

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PVC Pipe Buyers Seek Initial OK Of $6M Deal In Antitrust Row

By Celeste Bott

Counsel for two classes of purchasers of polyvinyl chloride pipe urged an Illinois federal judge Tuesday to grant preliminary approval to two $3 million settlements resolving their antitrust claims against an analytics service allegedly used in a conspiracy by PVC pipe makers to inflate the price of their products.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Challenging A Class Representative's Adequacy And Typicality

Recent cases highlight that a named plaintiff cannot certify a putative class action unless they can meet all the applicable requirements of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, so defendants should consider challenging a plaintiff's ability to meet typicality and adequacy requirements early and often, say attorneys at Womble Bond.

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Opinion

4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Keesal Young Accuses Stradley Ronon Of Unfair Poaching

By Emma Cueto

Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young has been hit with allegations from California firm Keesal Young & Logan that it unfairly poached both shareholders and associates from the firm, allegedly conspiring with the departing attorneys to violate their agreements with the firm and costing Keesal Young $2.5 million in annual profits.

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Jackson Walker, US Trustee Tell Court 'There's No Deal'

By Lauren Berg

Jackson Walker LLP and the federal government's bankruptcy watchdog told a Texas federal judge Tuesday that they have not reached an agreement to resolve a fee dispute stemming from a former bankruptcy judge's previously undisclosed romantic relationship with a onetime partner of the firm.

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Trump Admin Fires 17 More Immigration Judges, Union Says

By Hailey Konnath

The Trump administration has fired 17 more immigration judges, bringing the total of immigration judges that have either been terminated, transferred or accepted retirement offers since January to 103, according to an announcement made Tuesday by the union that represents them.

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Wisconsin Judge Says Actions Were Part Of Judicial Duties

By Adrian Cruz

The Wisconsin state judge accused of helping an immigrant living in the country illegally avoid arrest objected to a federal judge's recommendation not to have her indictment dismissed, arguing Tuesday that her actions were lawful and that accepting the recommendation would set a dangerous precedent.

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Advocates Turn To Florida High Court For Bondi Ethics Probe

By Madison Arnold

A group of attorneys, law professors and former judges asked the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday to order the Florida Bar to investigate U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi for alleged unethical conduct.

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Grassley Rejects Dems' Push For 2nd Hearing On Emil Bove

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Tuesday rebuffed the request from Democrats on his committee for the whistleblower who made claims regarding Third Circuit nominee Emil Bove to testify and said the committee will proceed with the vote on Bove's nomination Thursday.

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SEC Drops Bribery Suit Against Ex-Cognizant Execs

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told a New Jersey federal court Tuesday that it will drop its lawsuit against the former president and chief legal officer of Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. over an alleged bribery scheme, after the U.S. Department of Justice dropped a related criminal case.

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Funding 'Crisis' Jeopardizes Indigent Defense, Judiciary Says

By Courtney Bublé

The judiciary rang the alarm on Tuesday that funding has been exhausted for the private attorneys who represent indigent federal criminal defendants, and this predicament is expected to last for three months.

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2 NY Legal Services Shops Go On Strike, More Could Follow

By Andrea Keckley

Two member shops of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys — a union that represents thousands of public interest attorneys and advocates in the New York City metro area — commenced strikes Tuesday, with deadlines for others looming later this week as the ALAA hopes its sectoral bargaining strategy will lead to better contracts.

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Jeanine Pirro's $11M Net Worth Revealed In Disclosure

By Courtney Bublé

Former judge and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, nominee for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, has a net worth of over $11 million, according to a financial disclosure obtained by Law360 on Monday.

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Judge Denies Early Win For Family Of Atty Seeking 9/11 Fees

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge denied an early win for the estate of a 9/11 families attorney suing the firm that contracted him over fees Tuesday, lambasting the contracts at the center of the litigation for their lack of clarity and suggesting that a trial might be the only way to discern their meaning.

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Analysis

The Biggest IP Agency Developments Of 2025: Midyear Report

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the U.S. Copyright Office have not been spared from the Trump administration's shake-ups and changes across the federal government in the first half of the year.

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Court Reporters Defend Suit Saying Group Coerces Dues

By Bryan Koenig

A pair of court reporters defended their New Jersey federal court proposed class action accusing the National Court Reporters Association of anticompetitively conditioning needed certification on expensive membership with the group, arguing the NCRA can't try to argue that membership and certification are one and the same.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Axinn Veltrop

Cohen Milstein

Crowell & Moring

Dentons

Dilworth Paxson

Douglas & London

FeganScott

Fenwick & West

Garrett & Tully

Gibbons PC

Gimbel Reilly

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

Gustafson Gluek

Holland & Knight

Honigman LLP

Jackson Walker LLP

Johnson Fistel

Jones Day

Kaplan Fox

Keesal Young

Kirby McInerney

Kirkland & Ellis

Kirsch & Niehaus

Korein Tillery

Kreindler & Kreindler

Levin Sedran

Lockridge Grindal

Manatt Phelps

Massey & Gail

Mayer Brown

Morrison & Foerster

Nemeth Bonnette

Norton Rose

Pearson Warshaw

Perkins Coie

Robbins Geller

Rusty Hardin & Associates

Saul Ewing

Scott&Scott

Seeger Weiss

Sheppard Mullin

Siver & Associates

Sperling Kenny

Stinson LLP

Stradley Ronon

Strang Bradley

Susman Godfrey

Tanenbaum Keale

Ticktin Law Group

Varnum LLP

White & Case

Wilson Sonsini

Womble Bond

Zelle LLP

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Abbott Laboratories

AddShoppers Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

American Civil Liberties Union

American Property Casualty Insurance Association

Apple Inc.

Audible Inc.

Bloomberg LP

Canon Inc.

Cato Institute

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp.

Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP

Disney Plus

Drummond

Equifax Inc.

FCA US LLC

Geico Corp.

GoJet Airlines LLC

Justia Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Michigan Attorney Grievance Commission

Microsoft Corp.

National Rifle Association of America

Netflix Inc.

New York Legal Assistance Group Inc.

Nikola Corp.

Ohio State University

Roku Inc.

Service Employees International Union

State Bar of Michigan

Stellantis NV

Temple University

The Florida Bar

The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Twitter Inc.

University of Virginia

Walmart Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Florida Supreme Court

Food and Drug Administration

Library of Congress

Michigan Supreme Court

National Institutes of Health

National Labor Relations Board

National Science Foundation

Oklahoma Attorney General's Office

Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

U.S. Copyright Office

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

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

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Sentencing Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Kansas

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama