Judge's 'Grudges' Book, Obscenities Spur Conduct Complaint

By Matthew Santoni

A Pennsylvania magisterial judge has been charged by the state's Judicial Conduct Board with professional misconduct, including keeping a "book of grudges" and a desk calendar with sexually explicit jokes, and shutting a defendant outside of her courtroom during a hearing in his case, court administrators announced Thursday.

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Pa. Board Can't Review Court Firing Over 'FAFO' Freebies

By Matthew Santoni

The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board lacks jurisdiction to review an Adams County probation officer's firing over passing out stress balls with the irreverent acronym "FAFO" on them, since it did not fit a narrow union-related exemption to the courts' broad authority over their employees, a state appellate court said Thursday.

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Musk-Owned Co. Freed From Voter Cash Pledge Suit

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A Pennsylvania federal judge has trimmed a proposed class action alleging Elon Musk failed to deliver on cash rewards promised to those who agreed to sign and refer others to sign a petition supporting gun and speech rights in the leadup to the 2024 general election, letting out a company owned by Musk that paid canvassers who recruited voters to sign.

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Aetna Must Cover Gender-Affirming Surgery, Conn. Court Told

By Aaron Keller

Two individuals from a proposed class of transgender women on Thursday urged a Connecticut federal judge to stop Aetna from refusing to cover gender-affirming facial reconstruction to treat severe depression, anxiety and, in one case, suicidal thoughts, saying the insurer committed sex discrimination while claiming the surgeries were purely cosmetic.

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States Fight To Block EPA From Wiping Out $7B Solar Funding

By Dorothy Atkins

A coalition of states urged a Washington federal district judge Thursday to preliminarily block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from cutting solar power grant programs, arguing that without an injunction the Trump administration could transfer $7 billion back to the Treasury and "we will be entirely out of luck."

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VW Can't Nix Bulk Of Tiguan Oil-Guzzling Defect Suit

By Mike Curley

A New Jersey federal judge on Thursday denied the bulk of Volkswagen Group of America Inc.'s bid to dismiss a proposed class action from drivers in seven states who say their 2022 and 2023 Tiguan vehicles have a defect causing them to consume oil, saying the complaint sufficiently states most of its claims under the seven states' laws.

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3rd Circ. Rules Hotel Room Searches After Checkout Are Legal

By Parker Quinlan

The Third Circuit on Thursday ruled that hotel guests are not entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy after checking out, rejecting an appeal from a man arrested after hotel staff notified police that they found drugs in his room.

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3rd Circ. Upholds 24-Year Drug, Fraud Sentence

By Jarek Rutz

A Third Circuit panel on Thursday upheld a roughly 24-year prison sentence imposed on a Pennsylvania man convicted of marijuana trafficking and wire fraud, rejecting arguments that the trial judge improperly relied on acquitted conduct, overstated the man's leadership role and imposed an excessive punishment.

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Venezuela Says Citgo Auction Marred By Conflicts

By Caroline Simson

Venezuela pressed the Third Circuit Thursday to overturn an order greenlighting the nearly $6 billion sale of Citgo to satisfy billions of dollars of the country's debt, arguing that the underlying attachment orders are void and that the proceeding was marred by "obvious" conflicts of interest.

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Greenberg Traurig Adds 2 Duane Morris Employment Pros

By Gina Kim

Greenberg Traurig LLP has brought on two Duane Morris LLP attorneys as its newest shareholders focusing on class action litigation, labor and employment and commercial litigation practices, adding them to the firm's offices in San Diego and Philadelphia. 

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How 11th Circ.'s Zafirov Decision Could Upend Qui Tam Cases

Oral argument before the Eleventh Circuit last month in U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates suggests that the court may affirm a lower court's opinion that the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act are unconstitutional — which could wreak havoc on pending and future qui tam cases, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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Series

Muay Thai Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Muay Thai kickboxing has taught me that in order to win, one must stick to one's game plan and adapt under pressure, just as when facing challenges by opposing counsel or judges, says Mark Schork at Feldman Shepherd.

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Goldberg Segalla Fights Ex-IP Co-Chair's $4M Arbitration Bid

By Theresa Schliep

An arbitration fight Goldberg Segalla LLP initiated against a former co-chair of its intellectual property group over proceeds from transferred cases spilled into New York state court, where the firm is seeking relief from his counterclaims that it shorted him nearly $4 million in compensation.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen a collapsed investment firm revive a $15 million dispute with a hedge fund, major Hollywood studios bring an IP claim against the U.K.'s largest internet providers over illegal streaming, and the Department of Health and Social Care sue the law firm and barrister representing it in a pharma competition damages case.

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Jones Day To Help Restore David Bowie's Old London Home

By Jamie Lennox

Jones Day's charitable foundation will help to restore the childhood home of musical icon David Bowie before it opens to the public in late 2027, the historical trust leading the project said Friday.

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Law Firms Closed 2025 With Continued 'Appetite For Hiring'

By Tracey Read

The legal sector continued to defy hiring expectations in spite of uncertainty in the U.S. economy as 2025 drew to a close.

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Bruce Fein Unauthorized To Represent Maduro, Atty Says

By Rachel Rippetoe

When constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein entered an appearance as counsel for former Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro on Tuesday, it was without having ever spoken to the client, according to a Thursday filing by Maduro's attorney Barry Pollack seeking to remove Fein from the case.

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Calif. Wage Suit Settles Months After Atty Admits To AI Mishap

By Emily Sawicki

A proposed wage and hour class action that drew the legal world's attention in November after the plaintiff's counsel admitted to using a half-dozen artificial intelligence tools to prepare a botched motion has now ended, with a Northern California federal judge granting a joint dismissal following a settlement agreement.

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NJ Justices Nix Atty Registration Fee Hike After Bar Pushback

By Rose Krebs

The New Jersey Supreme Court has rejected a request to raise the annual registration fee for attorneys after the state's bar association complained that a proposed $27 hike for certain attorneys, following prior year increases, was too much at a time when they and their firms face "significantly increasing operational costs."

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New Trade Group Joins Litigation Finance Lobbying Fight

By Ryan Boysen

A new trade group for litigation funders has launched with the aim of enlisting personal injury and mass tort attorneys in a fight against proposed federal laws that it says could threaten the $16 billion litigation finance industry.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

In technology, the increasing use of artificial intelligence by legal departments will be a major concern for general counsel seeking to control costs in the New Year. And in labor matters, the National Labor Relations Board has a new general counsel along with a quorum and is ready to start deciding cases again.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Ninth Circuit panel affirmed a ruling in which Apple beat claims it illegally blocked third-party access to Apple Watch medical data so it could create rival software.

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Biz Owner's RICO Suit Says 5 Calif. Attys Helped Loot IT Co.

By Daniel Connolly

A business owner has filed a lawsuit this week accusing five attorneys from five different small California law firms of conspiring with his ex-business partner to steal assets from a company the two had jointly owned.

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Ramey Ducks BlackBerry's Sanctions Bid Over 'Frivolous' Suit

By Elliot Weld

Patent attorney Bill Ramey has avoided sanctions requested by BlackBerry Corp. for what the smartphone company called the "frivolous and unreasonable" way he litigated a case brought on behalf of Silent Communications LLC.

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