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Bernstein Litowitz Can Hire Ex-SEC Atty Over Musk Objection

By Jessica Corso

A New York federal judge on Thursday gave the all-clear for investor-side firm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP to hire the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's former litigation chief over the objections of Elon Musk.

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Atty Coalition Asks Fla. Bar To Open Ethics Probe Into Bondi

By Carolina Bolado

A group of lawyers, law professors and former judges asked the Florida Bar on Thursday to open an ethics investigation into Pam Bondi's actions as attorney general, saying she has pushed U.S. Department of Justice attorneys to violate their ethical obligations under the guise of "zealous advocacy."

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Senate Panel Advances Picks For Nat. Sec. Post, Iowa US Atty

By Courtney Buble

The Senate voted 52-43 along party lines on Thursday to confirm John Andrew Eisenberg to be assistant attorney general for national security.

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Foley & Lardner Says Palestine Support Didn't Doom Job Offer

By Andrea Keckley

Foley & Lardner LLP urged an Illinois federal judge to dismiss a bias suit by a former summer associate, arguing her job offer was rescinded not due to her Arab Muslim identity but because her public comments on Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel "violated the firm's core values" and showed "incredibly poor judgment."

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Fla. Justices Set New Atty Suspension Rule For Felony Cases

By Madison Arnold

Florida attorneys who are charged with a felony will soon be given the opportunity to respond before the issuing of an interim suspension under a new rule created by the Florida Supreme Court Thursday.

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Dems, GOP Question Contempt Section Of Reconciliation Bill

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Democrats have vowed to do whatever they can to defeat a provision in the budget reconciliation that would limit federal courts' ability to hold federal officials in contempt, and some Republicans are wary of it as well. 

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Convicted Fla. Atty Urges 11th Circ. To Reexamine Sentence

By Emily Sawicki

A Florida lawyer sentenced to 75 months in prison over a COVID-19 loan fraud scheme has asked the Eleventh Circuit to rehear her sentencing en banc, arguing the appellate court should reexamine the district court's so-called Keane statement allegedly disregarding sentencing guidelines.

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Ex-Atty Says IRS Suit Over Property Sale Tactic Is Retaliatory

By Emily Sawicki

A former attorney has asked an Idaho federal court to toss the government's suit accusing him and his company of promoting an abusive tax scheme, arguing that the underlying property sale transactions were above board but the government targeted him as punishment for suing the IRS and to gain backdoor access into confidential business records.

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Girardi's Son-In-Law Admits Contempt In Illinois Theft Case

By Lauraann Wood

Tom Girardi's son-in-law pled guilty to criminal contempt Thursday in Illinois federal court, admitting he knew the once-celebrated plaintiffs lawyer failed to pay millions of dollars in plane crash settlement funds they had been ordered to distribute to their clients "as soon as practical."

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Conn. Atty Seeks Digital Data To Unmask Alleged ID Thief

By Brian Steele

Claggett Sykes & Garza LLC partner Andrew Garza told a Connecticut state court judge Thursday that someone used his identity to open bank accounts and file a fraudulent registration for his former law firm with the Secretary of the State's office, and he needs the court to order U.S. Bank and other companies to give him information that could reveal the perpetrator.

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Judge Rejects DC Bid To Toss Black Atty's Bias Suit

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge allowed a city attorney's discrimination and retaliation lawsuit to proceed to discovery Thursday, rejecting the D.C. government's motion to toss the claims that a city administrative law judge discriminated against Black women and paid the plaintiff attorney less than her male peers.

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Ga. Law Firm, Insurer Settle Over $6.4M Hotel Injury Case

By Elizabeth Daley

An insurance company that sued a law firm for malpractice in Georgia federal court after paying more than $6.4 million following a worker injury jury verdict against a construction company it insured, said Thursday that it had settled with the firm in connection with its representation of the company.

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Sills Cummis Slams 'Woefully Inadequate' Docs In Fees Suit

By Lynn LaRowe

Sills Cummis & Gross PC is asking a New Jersey state court to order a former client to produce documents to back up allegations the law firm padded legal bills that reached about $1.5 million, saying the man's responses have been "inadequate" and "vaguely written."

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Paralegal Gets Firm's Extortion Counterclaim Nixed

By Emmy Freedman

A law firm's counterclaim accusing a paralegal of launching an unpaid overtime wages lawsuit against it in order to try to extort it for money cannot proceed, a Texas federal judge ruled Thursday, saying the claim isn't sufficiently linked to the underlying dispute.

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Med Mal Juror Misconduct Claim Won't Mean New Trial

By Cara Salvatore

An Indiana state appeals court Thursday upheld a defense win in a medical malpractice trial despite a juror's post-verdict revelation that she had previously heard of a defense expert witness.

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Series

Running Marathons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

After almost five years of running marathons, I’ve learned that both the race itself and the training process sharpen skills that directly translate to the practice of law, including discipline, dedication, endurance, problem-solving and mental toughness, says Lauren Meadows at Swift Currie.

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Analysis

How Trump's Pardons Could Sway Prosecutorial Discretion

By Phillip Bantz

As President Donald Trump dismantles a growing list of white collar criminal cases with a flurry of clemency grants early in his second term, erasing years of investigative and prosecutorial work with a stroke of his black Sharpie, experts worry his actions will have a chilling effect on prosecutorial decision-making.

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Seyfarth Joins Long List Of BigLaw's China Closures

By Aebra Coe

Seyfarth Shaw LLP is the latest large law firm to close an office in China, with a spokesperson confirming Thursday that the firm plans to shutter its Shanghai office later this year.

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Analysis

Trump's New Travel Ban May Be Harder To Fight This Time

By Britain Eakin

President Donald Trump's travel ban, which suffered multiple court losses during his first term before the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld it, may be on more solid legal footing in its renewed form, with lessons evidently applied from those losses.

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Justices Nix Higher Hurdle For Heterosexual Bias Claims

By Ryan Harroff

A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday vacated the Sixth Circuit's ruling that plaintiffs claiming anti-heterosexual workplace discrimination need to provide extra "background circumstances" evidence, opining that it improperly imposed special standards on majority-group plaintiffs.

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High Court Drops Class Cert. Clarification Bid

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Thursday to weigh in on whether federal courts can certify classes that include uninjured members, holding it improperly agreed to hear a disability discrimination case against diagnostics company Labcorp that raised the important question.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Joseph Saveri

By Daniel Connolly

Joseph Saveri, now one of the most successful plaintiffs lawyers in the U.S., said he's thought often about the story of his paternal grandparents, who left Italy around 1918, immigrated to America and traveled across the continent to settle in San Francisco.

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