Judge Warns No 'Real Winner' If NASCAR Case Goes To Trial

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina federal judge on Tuesday joined a chorus of jurists urging NASCAR and two of its teams to seek a resolution of their competing antitrust claims outside court, cautioning that neither side will emerge victorious if the case makes it to trial in December.

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NC University Fights Consolidation Of Sex Misconduct Suits

By Elaine Briseño

North Carolina State University told a federal judge it opposes combining two cases from former student-athletes who accuse the school's ex-director of sports medicine of sexual abuse, saying the cases differ too much to be consolidated.

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Feds Escape Suit Over NC Woman's Death In Mexico

By Abigail Harrison

A North Carolina federal judge freed the federal government from a lawsuit by the estate of a woman who died, allegedly by foul play, while vacationing in Mexico, finding that the targeted agencies are shielded under an exception in the Federal Tort Claims Act.

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Healthcare Worker's Wage Collective 'Amorphous,' HCA Says

By Emmy Freedman

A respiratory therapist's proposed collective is far too expansive and "amorphous" and is based on scant evidence that HCA Healthcare Inc. illegally manipulated workers' time sheets, the company told a North Carolina federal court, urging it to deny certification. 

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Firms Fight To Rep End Users In PVC Pipe Antitrust Row

By Celeste Bott

Several law firms are duking it out for a lead counsel appointment representing a new class of end-user plaintiffs in consolidated litigation accusing PVC pipe companies of using a commodity pricing service to exchange information and illegally fix prices, with Pearson Warshaw LLP, Kirby McInerney LLP, Fegan Scott LLC and Levin Sedran & Berman LLP making bids.

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4th Circ. Affirms $8M Award Against Kuwaiti Construction Co.

By Caroline Simson

The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday refused to revive a Kuwaiti construction company's bid to nix an $8 million arbitral award favoring Kellogg Brown & Root International Inc. in a dispute over a U.S. Army contract, ruling in a published opinion that the company missed a critical statutory deadline.

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Judge OKs Deal To End LeClairRyan Founder Tax Claims

By Rick Archer

A Virginia bankruptcy judge Tuesday approved a settlement striking LeClairRyan PLLC founder Gary LeClair from the list of owners of the defunct firm, relieving him of responsibility for a share of the firm's nearly $21 million in tax liabilities.

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How AI May Reshape The Future Of Adjudication

As discussed at a recent panel at Texas A&M, artificial intelligence will not erase the human element of adjudication in the next 10 to 20 years, but it will drive efficiencies that spur private arbiters to experiment, lead public courts to evolve and force attorneys to adapt, says Christopher Seck at Squire Patton.

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When Legal Advocacy Crosses The Line Into Incivility

As judges issue sanctions for courtroom incivility, and state bars advance formal discipline rules, trial lawyers must understand that the difference between zealous advocacy and unprofessionalism is not just a matter of tone; it's a marker of skill, credibility and potentially disciplinary exposure, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

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Analysis

High Court Concurrences Signal Hard Battle For Trans Rights

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett joined the court's two most conservative members Wednesday to suggest laws that differentiate based on transgender status should be subject to the lowest level of judicial review, providing guidance to lower courts that will likely make it harder for litigants to vindicate trans rights.

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Atty Told To Fix AI 'Train Wreck' In Multiple Fla. Courts

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge expressed outrage toward an attorney's reliance on artificial intelligence to draft filings with fake legal citations, ordering counsel in a fight over a $5 million Canadian judgment to submit supplemental briefs in order to fix a "train wreck" that spans several cases in multiple courts.

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Trump Organization Taps DLA Piper Atty As Ethics Adviser

By Alison Knezevich

President Donald Trump's family business said Wednesday that it has named a leader of DLA Piper's government affairs and public policy practice as its outside ethics adviser.

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6th Circ. Vacates Removal, Judge Slams High Court's Ruling

By Rae Ann Varona

The Sixth Circuit ruled Wednesday that U.S. Supreme Court precedent required it to vacate a Mexican native's removal order after his U.S. citizenship was revoked for not disclosing a criminal charge, although one circuit judge said it was time justices reconsidered the precedent.

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Jeanine Pirro Faring Better Than Earlier Pick For DC US Atty

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's second pick for U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, former judge and Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, seems to be having an easier time than the previous contender, Ed Martin.

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Pa. Injury Atty With 'No Idea Who He Is Suing' Faces Discipline

By Dorothy Atkins

A Pennsylvania federal judge reprimanded Simon & Simon attorneys Tuesday for letting paralegals file a "cookie-cutter" slip-and-fall lawsuit against Walmart without a presuit investigation and adding store managers as a ploy to beat federal jurisdiction, criticizing counsel for racing through courts "wearing blinders" with "no idea who he is suing."

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California Bar Exam Woes Latest Chapter In Ongoing Scrutiny

By Emily Sawicki

Recent headline-grabbing blunders with the February California bar exam represent a stumbling block in a yearslong effort to reshape the exam, with an eye toward equity and accessibility for the more than 10,000 applicants who sit for the exam each year.

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Trump's Attack On Fed. Worker Unions Meets Skeptical Judge

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge Wednesday appeared open to temporarily blocking President Donald Trump's executive order reclassifying hundreds of thousands of federal workers to bar them from collective bargaining, calling the order "dramatic" and "unprecedented," and asking about the downsides of keeping the status quo until trial.

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DOL Noms Vow To Confront Child Labor, Back Davis-Bacon

By Max Kutner

President Donald Trump's nominees for key U.S. Department of Labor roles told a U.S. Senate panel Wednesday they will go after unlawful child labor and enforce prevailing wages under the Davis-Bacon Act, painting a picture of what the agency could look like as its leadership team rounds out.

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Paralegal Says Firm Fired Her For Cancer Recurrence

By Abigail Harrison

A paralegal alleged in North Carolina federal court that The Driscoll Firm PC fired her one day after she informed her superiors about the recurrence of her ovarian cancer, violating federal disability and state wage laws.

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Ex-Public Defender Says Bogus Bias Reports Got Her Fired 

By Matthew Santoni

The former chief public defender for Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, said Wednesday in a lawsuit that she was wrongfully accused of racial bias and unilaterally fired by the county manager, rather than by the county executive who had appointed her.

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