5th Circ. Hints Texas Vote Harvesting Law Is Constitutional

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel seemed skeptical of voting rights advocates who claim that a Texas law banning so-called vote harvesting violates the First Amendment, with one judge saying Tuesday that without the law, paid actors could "worm" their way into people's homes and secure votes.

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5th Circ. Weighs If Ex-Starbucks CEO Made Anti-Union Threat

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel pressed Starbucks Corp. to explain how former CEO Howard Schultz's comments telling a pro-union employee they could find another job did not run afoul of labor law, saying Tuesday the comments could be seen as threatening retaliation.

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5th Circ. Skeptical Of NLRB Dinging Starbucks For Subpoenas

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel seemed skeptical of the National Labor Relations Board's claim that it can slap Starbucks Corp. with a labor law violation after it allegedly sent overbroad subpoenas to pro-union employees, saying Tuesday it seemed like the board created a "liability trap."

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Foxconn Ordered To Pay $8.45M Award Over Defective Phones

By Joyce Hanson

A Texas federal judge has enforced an arbitral award ordering major technology manufacturer Foxconn International Holdings to pay cellphone supplier Emblem Solutions $8.45 million in a dispute over allegedly defective phones.

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Texas Rep. Introduces Bill To Sanction Cyber Actors

By Madeline Lyskawa

Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, introduced a bill that would create a federal process for identifying and sanctioning state-sponsored cyber actors that target U.S. networks, critical infrastructure and elections.

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Grid Org. Justified Project Exemptions, FERC Tells DC Circ.

By Keith Goldberg

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said Tuesday that it reasonably trusted a regional grid operator's judgment that a Kansas electricity cooperative's transmission projects should be exempted from a process to determine how project costs are divided before they're approved.

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9th Circ. Tosses Tesla Investor Suit Over Self-Driving Tech

By Katryna Perera

The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the dismissal of a suit against Tesla Inc. and its CEO Elon Musk claiming they deceived investors about the capabilities and safety record of the company's self-driving technology, finding the investors failed to plead any actionable false statements, among other issues.

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Roundup

Defamation Litigation Roundup: FDA, Lively, Alexander Bros.

By Theresa Schliep

In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 highlights a pharmaceutical company's suit against a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration official, as well as the latest decision siding against President Donald Trump in his fights with media companies.

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Exclusive

14 Ex-Lawmakers Tell USPTO Proposed Rules Violate The Law

By Ryan Davis

A group of 14 former members of Congress, including America Invents Act sponsor Patrick Leahy, has told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the agency's proposal to restrict many patent challenges "violates foundational American legal principles and the AIA."

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Fed. Circ. Erases $41.8M Verdict Over Seagen Cancer Drug IP

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit in a precedential opinion Tuesday reversed a $41.8 million verdict against Daiichi Sankyo for infringing a Seagen breast cancer treatment patent, saying a lower court should have found that the patent didn't adequately describe the claimed invention or enable a skilled person to use it.

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Lyft Gets Albright To Invalidate Some Ride-Hailing Patents

By Adam Lidgett

A Texas federal judge has found that three of Quartz Auto Technologies' patents Lyft Inc. has been accused of infringing are not patentable, after the ride-hailing giant said they were ineligible for patent protection under the U.S. Supreme Court's Alice standard.

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Squires Institutes First PTAB Challenges Since Taking Over

By Dani Kass

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has instituted four inter partes reviews and two post-grant reviews, the first Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges to get his sign-off since he took over the institution review process.

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A&O Shearman Corporate Pro Joins Holland & Knight In Texas

By Lynn LaRowe

Holland & Knight LLP announced Monday that it has bolstered its corporate, mergers and acquisitions, and private equity practices with a partner in Austin, Texas, who came aboard from Allen Overy Shearman Sterling.

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Opinion

Nursing Home Abuse Cases Face 3 Barriers That Need Reform

Recent headlines reveal persistent gaps in oversight and protection for vulnerable residents in long-term care, but prosecution of these cases is often stymied by numerous challenges that will require a comprehensive overhaul of regulatory, legal and financial structures to address, says Veronica Finkelstein at Wilmington University.

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Opinion

Asylum Pretermission Ruling Erodes Procedural Protections

A recent Board of Immigration Appeals decision permitting immigration judges to dismiss asylum applications without notice or evidentiary hearings adopts the civil court's summary judgment mechanism without the procedural protections that make summary judgment fair, says Georgianna Pisano Goetz at GHIRP.

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Bonus Spotlight

Sheppard Mullin To Offer Larger Bonuses To Busy Associates

By Kevin Penton

Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP associates who labored past 2,000 hours in 2025 can expect to see a little extra in their upcoming bonus checks, according to an internal memo obtained by Law360.

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Hagens Berman Referred To DOJ For Alleged Misconduct

By Emma Cueto

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday recommended to the U.S. Department of Justice that it investigate powerhouse plaintiffs firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP's conduct in connection with several since-dropped product liability cases that a special master found to be filed in bad faith.

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King & Spalding Atty Dies In Mountain Climbing Accident

By Kelcey Caulder

People at King & Spalding LLP are mourning after an appellate attorney from the firm and a mountain guide fell to their deaths climbing New Zealand's tallest mountain.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Robart On Living Under Threats

By Cara Bayles and Steven Trader

It's been nearly nine years since U.S. District Judge James Robart blocked President Donald Trump's 2017 executive order barring travel from seven Muslim-majority countries, and though the judge has had a long career — including groundbreaking patent and securities decisions — he still occasionally gets recognized as that "so-called judge."

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Twitter Investors Lose Bid To DQ Musk Counsel Spiro

By Katryna Perera

A California federal judge has denied an attempt by Twitter investors to have Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP partner Alex Spiro disqualified from serving as both lead counsel for Elon Musk and a witness in a trial over claims that Musk tried to tank Twitter's stock.

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Dentons Sees Ex-Partner's Appeal Nixed In California

By Caroline Simson

California's highest court has quietly tossed litigation filed by a former Dentons partner who was fired over a $34 million contingency fee due from a Chinese client following an arbitration matter, several months after advising the parties to prepare for oral arguments.

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The Top In-House Hires Of November

By Sue Reisinger

Elon Musk's xAI has a new but familiar general counsel, while several sports groups — including the New York Mets, PGA of America and the SEC college athletic conference — also brought on new legal leaders in November.

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SDNY Head Backs Good Deals For Quick Cooperation By Cos.

By Stewart Bishop

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton on Tuesday said he's prepared to offer "real benefits" to corporations facing criminal investigations if they quickly agree to cooperate and compensate victims, ideally in the form of comprehensive, government-wide resolutions.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

The FTC urged a D.C. court to block a deal involving a new heart valve treatment, and courts rejected the commission's monopolization case over Meta's past acquisitions and the agency's challenge of a medical device coatings deal. Here, Law360 looks at the major merger review developments from November.

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2 New Judges Confirmed To NC Federal Court

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate confirmed two federal judges for North Carolina on Tuesday.

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