Apache Women Urge Justice Kagan To Halt Ariz. Land Swap

By Crystal Owens

A group of Apache women are asking Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan to block the federal government's transfer of a sacred Apache worship site within Arizona's Tonto National Forest to a copper mining company, arguing that this could be the last chance to prevent a generational tragedy.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Enviros, Ariz. Tribes Continue Push To Halt SunZia Power Line

By Crystal Owens

A coalition of tribes and conservation groups has asked an Arizona district court to vacate an Interior Department decision that allowed construction of a 520-mile power line route to proceed, arguing the federal agency treated cultural property "as an afterthought" and ignored the effects on the San Pedro Valley.

Summary Judgment attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

US Won't Alter Stance After Interior Restores Riverbed Opinion

By Corey Rothauser

Federal attorneys told the D.C. federal court that the U.S. Department of the Interior has reinstated a prior legal opinion concluding that North Dakota, not the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, owns mineral rights beneath a portion of the Missouri River flowing through the Fort Berthold Reservation.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

1st Circ. Affirms Block Of Trump's 'Unprecedented' Aid Freeze

By Hailey Konnath

The First Circuit on Monday mostly upheld a lower court's order blocking the Trump administration from enacting a "sweeping and unprecedented categorical 'freeze' of federal financial assistance," ruling that the states involved in the suit will likely successfully show that the federal government acted arbitrarily and capriciously.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump Admin Wants Student Loan Forgiveness Suits Tossed

By Julie Manganis

The Trump administration on Monday asked a Massachusetts federal judge to toss a pair of lawsuits challenging a change to eligibility requirements for student loan forgiveness, calling the potential repercussions from the new rule "speculative."

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Environmental Groups Fight EPA's $3B Grant Cut In Court

By Jared Foretek

Environmental advocacy groups and localities seeking to revive their suit accusing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of illegally stripping $3 billion from a congressionally created program told the D.C. Circuit on Monday that the government's own documentation indicated that the funding should have remained in place when Congress axed "unobligated" funding.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FERC OKs Grid Operator Bid To Streamline Planning Process

By Keith Goldberg

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved regional grid operator Southwest Power Pool's plan to combine its planning and power plant hookup processes, a move that a pair of FERC commissioners hope will be replicated across the U.S.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

The Benefits Of Choosing A Niche Practice In The AI Age

As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly accessible, lawyers with a niche practice may stand out as clients seek specialized judgment that automation cannot replicate, but it is important to choose a niche that is durable, engaging and a good personal fit, says Daniel Borneman at Lowenstein Sandler.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Conservative Groups Back DOJ As Amici In Law Firm EO Suits

By Emily Sawicki

Conservative groups are backing the Trump administration's attempts to revive executive orders targeting BigLaw firms, arguing in an amicus brief to the D.C. Circuit that Perkins Coie LLP had "unclean hands" for its part in what they called the "Russiagate hoax."

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Winston & Strawn Sanctioned For Trying To 'Make Up Facts'

By Dani Kass

A California federal judge sanctioned Winston & Strawn LLP on Monday for making up facts and otherwise misrepresenting the record in contract litigation over its client's app being removed from Apple's platform, then separately dismissed the case on the merits.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Don't 'Grimace, Nod, Laugh': Judge Breyer Slams Musk's Attys

By Bonnie Eslinger

U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer scolded Elon Musk's Quinn Emanuel counsel during a hearing Monday ahead of closing arguments in California litigation alleging that Musk tanked Twitter's stock to get out of his $44 billion acquisition deal, saying he wouldn't "sit here and watch lawyers grimace, nod, laugh in court."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pro Se Litigant Lawyered So Well He Owes $1.8M, Judge Says

By Dorothy Atkins

A Michigan federal judge ruled Monday that a pro se defendant must pay software-maker Dassault Systemes $1.8 million in fees for willfully infringing its software copyrights to train design students, while commending the pro se litigant's professionalism during 15 years of litigation for rivaling and exceeding many licensed attorneys.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

SEC Enforcement Head Resigns After 7 Months

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that its enforcement director, Margaret "Meg" Ryan, has resigned from the agency after nearly seven months on the job.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Excitement, Tinged With Skepticism, Over AAA's AI Arbitrator

By Caroline Simson

The American Arbitration Association caused a stir last fall when it introduced its AI Arbitrator for documents-only construction cases, and even though lawyers say they're excited about the tool's possibilities — and that of artificial intelligence in arbitration in general — so far, many have been reluctant to be the first to take that plunge.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Boris Epshteyn Targeted Over Trump Bid To 'Coerce' BigLaw

By Lauren Berg

Lawyers, law professors and retired judges led by two nonprofits urged the New York state courts' ethics committee on Monday to investigate Boris Epshteyn's involvement in President Donald Trump's efforts to "intimidate and coerce" BigLaw firms into pro bono agreements with the administration.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump To Get 5th North Carolina Federal Court Vacancy

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump will get another judicial vacancy to fill in North Carolina with U.S. District Judge William L. Osteen Jr. of the Middle District of North Carolina recently announcing he will take senior status.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Paralegal Calls Full Lewis Brisbois Arbitration Unenforceable

By Adrian Cruz

A former Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP paralegal has told a Florida state judge that the firm shouldn't be able to force her into arbitrating her claims against it because a number of the alleged actions took place after she was terminated from her job.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Democrats Push DOJ To Investigate Noem For Perjury

By Courtney Bublé

Democrats have referred the departing U.S. secretary of homeland security, Kristi Noem, to the Department of Justice for a perjury investigation following her recent congressional testimony.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Mass. Justices Won't Boost Pay For Court-Appointed Attys

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' highest court on Monday declined a request to let state judges offer higher hourly rates to induce attorneys to accept court-appointed cases, a proposal meant to alleviate a shortage of appointed counsel in two of the state's busiest counties.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ga. Panel Says Minister Can't Rep His Church In Tax Case

By Chart Riggall

The Georgia Court of Appeals said Monday that nonattorneys can't be allowed to represent unincorporated associations in court, backing a trial court's dismissal of a minister's bid to represent his church in a property tax dispute with his home county.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket last week featured disputes including an $83.75 million settlement tied to a renewable energy merger, fraud claims in a fertilizer company acquisition and a developer's fight for control of a major Philadelphia redevelopment project.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »