FDA Dodges Suit Over Ozempic, Wegovy Listing

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration was able to escape allegations that it catered to Big Pharma by nixing cheaper versions of the miracle weight loss drug Ozempic, after a Texas federal judge tossed a lawsuit from two compounding pharmacies.

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High Court Says Texas Can't Challenge Nuclear Waste Site

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday said Texas and a mineral owner could not challenge the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval of a temporary nuclear waste storage facility in the state, while sidestepping the issue of whether the agency is authorized to license such facilities.

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AG Paxton Says Austin Bank Contract Violates 2021 Gun Law

By Catherine Marfin

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is giving the city of Austin a month to cure a contract that he says violates a 2021 law preventing government entities from doing business with companies that discriminate against companies involved in the firearm industry.

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Texas Judge Vacates Biden-Era HHS Abortion Privacy Rule

By Hailey Konnath

A Texas federal judge on Thursday agreed to vacate a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services rule finalized during the Biden administration that aimed to protect the privacy of patients seeking abortions and gender-affirming care, ruling that the HHS didn't have the authority to "fashion special protections" in areas of "great political significance."

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FDA Says Vape Co.'s Suit Doesn't Merit Jury Trial

By Spencer Brewer

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration told a Texas federal court a company that allegedly sold illegal vapes does not have the right to a jury trial, saying that Congress expressly created administrative proceedings for infractions such as the one the company allegedly committed.

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DC Judge Restores Some Canceled COVID Grants For Now

By Tom Lotshaw

A D.C. federal judge has ordered the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to restore at least some canceled public health grants to four local governments, ruling the Trump administration likely exceeded its constitutional power when it terminated the grants in March.

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Defamation Brawl Over Braves Auction Booted To Georgia

By Alex Lawson

A Texas federal judge shipped auctioneer Heritage Vintage Sports' defamation suit against the Atlanta Braves over auctions of the team's merchandise to Georgia federal court, finding that the dispute did not carry specific ties to the Lone Star State.

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Brief

Tesla Says Justices Shouldn't Wait On La. Auto Sales Law

By Nadia Dreid

Tesla is asking the U.S. Supreme Court not to push off considering Louisiana regulators' petition seeking to appeal the revival of a lawsuit brought by the electric-car maker targeting the state's ban on direct sales by automakers, even though the state has asked the justices to wait.

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Pollution Insurer Says Cos. Not Covered In Groundwater Row

By Ganesh Setty

A pollution liability insurer for an oilfield services company told a Texas federal court it owes no coverage for two lawsuits accusing the company and a former subsidiary of groundwater contamination, arguing the company breached its claim reporting requirements and knew of the alleged contamination before purchasing coverage.

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5th Circ. Affirms Nix Of Ex-Hospital Workers' COVID Vax Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Fifth Circuit backed a Houston hospital's defeat of a lawsuit alleging that hundreds of employees were unlawfully fired when they refused to get the COVID-19 vaccine, saying the workers couldn't demonstrate that their right to reject the shot had been violated.

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Montessori School Owner Files Ch. 11 With $144M Of Debt

By Vince Sullivan

Higher Ground Education Inc., once the largest owner and operator of Montessori schools in the world, filed for Chapter 11 protection late Tuesday in Dallas, saying it has an agreement with stakeholders to obtain postpetition financing and turn the company over to secured creditors.

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Texas Judge Keeps Bar On Removing Colo. Attacker's Family

By Britain Eakin

A Texas federal judge on Wednesday agreed to extend a temporary restraining order barring the Trump administration from immediately deporting the wife and children of an Egyptian man accused of violently attacking peaceful pro-Israel demonstrators earlier this month.

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ACLU Asks 5th Circ. To Note Report Disputing Gang Invasion

By Britain Eakin

The American Civil Liberties Union advised the Fifth Circuit to consider a National Intelligence Council assessment that the Maduro regime likely does not cooperate with the Tren de Aragua gang in its bid to halt removals under the Alien Enemies Act in the Northern District of Texas.

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Brief

Harris County, Trump Admin Drop Suit Over Refugee Funds

By Catherine Marfin

Harris County and the Trump administration have agreed to drop the former's lawsuit alleging the government was unlawfully freezing federal funds for a Houston-area refugee resettlement program.

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Ex-Soldier Gets Nearly 3 Years For Orchestrating Smuggling

By Spencer Brewer

Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that a former soldier previously stationed at Fort Hood in Texas was sentenced to 33 months in prison for smuggling immigrants entering the country illegally further into the United States for financial gain.

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Netflix Gets Fed. Circ.'s Backing In Streaming Patent Fight

By Theresa Schliep

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board finding that invalidated claims in a streaming patent challenged by Netflix while also vacating the board's decision to decline to scrub other claims.

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Apple Gets PTAB To Ax All Claims Of Biometric Patent

By Adam Lidgett

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found that Apple proved that claims across a Proxense patent on biometric verification technology are invalid, holding that they were obvious.

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Former Holland & Knight Partner Joins Husch Blackwell

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Husch Blackwell has announced that former Holland & Knight LLP partner Bruce Toppin has joined the Kansas City, Missouri-headquartered law firm as a partner in its financial services and capital markets industry group.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Teaching Yourself Legal Tech

New graduates often enter practice unfamiliar with even basic professional software, but budding lawyers can use on-the-job opportunities to both catch up on technological skills and explore the advanced legal and artificial intelligence tools that will open doors, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.

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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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