Business of Law

July 09, 2024
Judge Calls Cost Of DOJ's Assa Abloy Market Study 'Insane'

A D.C. federal judge took the U.S. Department of Justice and its monitoring trustee to task Tuesday for their pursuit of an open-ended look at Assa Abloy's books to check for anticompetitive harms from a 2023 merger, excoriating budget estimates pricing the investigation at a minimum of $1.7 million.
July 09, 2024
Fennemore Craig Launches Remote Work Program

Fennemore Craig PC announced on Tuesday a new remote work program called Fennemore Forward, along with the hiring of a Taylor English Duma LLP remote programming director to lead the initiative.
July 09, 2024
Alston & Bird Brings In Sidley Trio To Launch New Offices

Alston & Bird LLP announced on Tuesday that it has opened two new offices in Chicago and Century City with the addition of three lateral partners from Sidley Austin LLP, a move the firm said will strengthen its corporate, healthcare and real estate practices.
July 09, 2024
Alaska Senators Condemn District Judge After Resignation

Alaska's two Republican senators reprimanded the federal judge from their state who was found by a special committee to have created a hostile work environment and had an "inappropriately sexualized relationship" with one of his clerks, and has resigned.
July 09, 2024
Texas Judge Gets Warning For Sexually Harassing Colleague

A Fort Worth trial judge has been issued a public warning and ordered to attend demeanor and sexual harassment instruction over findings that he "engaged in a pattern of sexually harassing conduct" toward a fellow judge, according to a decision by the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct.
July 09, 2024
Weil Opening Shops In Calif. With Latham Private Equity Pros

Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP announced Tuesday that it has launched an office in Los Angeles and will soon open in San Francisco with a pair of private equity partners who both came aboard from Latham & Watkins LLP.
July 09, 2024
Newman Loses Suit Against Fed. Circ. Over Suspension

A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman filed against her colleagues over her suspension for refusing to undergo medical tests, saying she failed to prove the judicial conduct law at issue is unconstitutional.
July 08, 2024
Resigning US Judge Had 'Sexualized Relationship' With Clerk

U.S. District Judge Joshua Kindred of the District of Alaska, who abruptly announced his resignation last week, had a "sexualized relationship" with his clerk, including sexual encounters with her shortly after she left her clerkship and joined the U.S. Attorney's Office, according to an order issued Monday by the Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit.
July 08, 2024
Senate Confirms 7th Circ. Judge GOP Slammed For Backlog

The Senate voted 47-43 on Monday evening to confirm U.S. District Judge Nancy L. Maldonado to the Seventh Circuit.
July 08, 2024
NYU Settles Case Accusing It Of Fostering Antisemitism

New York University has settled a case brought by three Jewish students accusing the institution of fostering an antisemitic environment in a deal under which the school pledged to address discrimination toward Jewish and Israeli students.
July 08, 2024
PAGA Reforms Mark New Era In Calif. Labor Law, Attys Say

Recently enacted reforms to California's Private Attorneys General Act will likely curb the recent surge in multimillion-dollar PAGA settlements and help employers "stop the bleeding," legal experts told Law360, but the amendments are also likely to spur further litigation over newly created ambiguities in the novel Golden State statute.
July 08, 2024
Meet The Hunton Andrews Atty Rising To NC Biz Court Bench

The Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP partner ascending to a spot on the North Carolina Business Court bench has a methodical and meticulous approach well suited to a jurist and a knack for listening that will be equally important in his new role, according to his colleagues.
July 08, 2024
Tropical Storm Beryl Shutters Texas Law Firm Offices, Courts

As Tropical Storm Beryl slammed into the Texas coast Monday, a number of Houston-area courts and law firm offices closed their doors in the face of a bruising weather event that has reportedly led to at least two deaths and left millions without power.
July 08, 2024
1st Circ. Nominee Cut Teeth As 'Victim-Centered' Prosecutor

Maine Superior Court Justice and First Circuit nominee Julia Lipez spent most of her legal career prosecuting federal human trafficking cases, an experience former colleagues say demonstrates her sense of fairness and a sharp focus on the well-being of victims.
July 08, 2024
PierFerd Opens London Office With More FisherBroyles Attys

Pierson Ferdinand LLP announced Monday it has expanded globally with a new London office with eight partners and six staff members.
July 08, 2024
US Supreme Court Term In Review: What You Need To Know

Judicial deference, agency courts, presidential immunity, abortion and social media moderation were just some of the issues the U.S. Supreme Court considered in its latest term.
July 08, 2024
Biden Says Reelection Crucial To Supreme Court Reform

President Joe Biden told congressional Democrats his reelection is crucial to bringing about "real" reforms to the U.S. Supreme Court in a letter Monday rejecting calls for him to back out of the presidential race.
July 05, 2024
Antitrust Partner In Fatal Crash Remembered As A Mentor

Present and past colleagues this week remembered Molly Donovan, a partner at antitrust boutique Bona Law PC who died in a tragic accident earlier this month, as a powerhouse with an intricate understanding of antitrust matters who always maintained a positive outlook no matter what the status of a case.
July 05, 2024
Armstrong Teasdale Resisted Diversity, Ex-DEI VP Says

Armstrong Teasdale LLP's former vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion claims the law firm hired her to help it cultivate a more diverse workplace, but then blocked her attempts to make recommendations and improvements before wrongly firing her, according to a lawsuit recently filed in Missouri state court.
July 05, 2024
How Reshaped Circuit Courts Are Faring At The High Court

Seminal rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court's latest term will reshape many facets of American society in the coming years. Already, however, the rulings offer glimpses of how the justices view specific circuit courts, which have themselves been reshaped by an abundance of new judges.
July 05, 2024
Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

The U.S. Supreme Court's lethargic pace of decision-making this term left the justices to issue a slew of highly anticipated and controversial rulings during the term's final week — rulings that put the court's ideological divisions on vivid display. Here, Law360 takes a data dive into the numbers behind this court term.
July 05, 2024
High Court Flexes Muscle To Limit Administrative State

The U.S. Supreme Court's dismantling of a 40-year-old judicial deference doctrine, coupled with rulings stripping federal agencies of certain enforcement powers and exposing them to additional litigation, has established the October 2023 term as likely the most consequential in administrative law history.
July 05, 2024
The Sharpest Dissents From The Supreme Court Term

The U.S. Supreme Court's session ended with a series of blockbuster cases that granted the president broad immunity, changed federal gun policy and kneecapped administrative agencies. And many of the biggest decisions fell along partisan lines.
July 05, 2024
5 Moments That Shaped The Supreme Court's Jan. 6 Decision

When the high court limited the scope of a federal obstruction statute used to charge hundreds of rioters who stormed the Capitol, the justices did not vote along ideological lines. In a year marked by 6-3 splits, what accounts for the departure? Here are some moments from oral arguments that may have swayed the justices.
July 05, 2024
The Funniest Moments Of The Supreme Court's Term

In a U.S. Supreme Court term teeming with serious showdowns, the august air at oral arguments filled with laughter after an attorney mentioned her plastic surgeon and a justice seemed to diss his colleagues, to cite just two of the term's mirthful moments. Here, we look at the funniest moments of the term.

Expert Analysis

5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024

Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.
What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.
Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
Legal Practice In The AI Era: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

Guest columnists explored the possibilities and challenges for the legal profession amid the rise of generative artificial intelligence, including privilege complications, demands for new types of legal skills, and the ethics of a ChatGPT-authored motion.
AI In Employment Law: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

This year, the most popular employment law topics related to artificial intelligence in Law360's Expert Analysis section included ChatGPT, new AI legislation, and diversity, equity and inclusion.
AI In Health Law: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

As the use of artificial intelligence accelerated this year, Expert Analysis writers examined AI's significant impact on the healthcare sector, ranging from key compliance considerations for companies utilizing AI tools to regulators' efforts to keep up with rapidly evolving technologies.
AI In IP Law: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

Keeping up with generative artificial intelligence was the name of the game for intellectual property lawyers in 2023 as the government worked to determine whether AI-generated output is protectable under the law and guest writers assessed the technology's risks and rewards.
The Most-Read Securities Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

Securities guest article topics that piqued reader interest this year include how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission utilized seldom-used rules to go after bad actors, and how Delaware courts increased scrutiny on boards of directors — sometimes in surprising ways.
The Most-Read Employment Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

This year, some of the most popular employment topics in articles written for Law360's Expert Analysis section focused on workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, new unionization rules from the National Labor Relations Board, and proposed regulations for implementing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.
Managing AI Risks: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

Amid the rapidly developing legal landscape around artificial intelligence, Law360 Expert Analysis writers tackled a range of compliance and litigation challenges, providing insights on privacy in the age of AI, the role of class actions in AI risk mitigation, and the creation of corporate AI policies.
The Most-Read Law360 UK Guest Articles Of 2023

Benefits of the new EU Unified Patent Court, artificial intelligence regulation and M&A trends amid rising inflation were among the hot topics U.K. Expert Analysis articles explored this year.
The Most-Read IP Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office incentives and restrictions, Federal Circuit decisions on exact meaning, and lessons from the comedic whodunit “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” were among popular intellectual property topics guest authors tackled this year.
The Most-Read Trials Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

Law360 guest columnists provided a number of tips and insights for trial attorneys this year, including pitfalls to avoid in witness preparation, color psychology pointers that can enhance trial graphics, and strategies for excluding expert testimony.