AFL-CIO Backs Oregon's Cannabis Labor Peace Law

By Sam Reisman

The AFL-CIO has jumped into a legal battle to defend against a constitutional challenge seeking to block implementation of a voter-approved Oregon state law that requires cannabis businesses to have labor peace agreements.

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Smoke Shop Says Hookah Maker's 'Litigation Mill' Is A Fraud

By Mike Curley

A smoke shop among nearly 1,000 sued by GS Holistic LLC over alleged sales of counterfeit products is suing the hookah maker in California federal court, saying GS Holistic's "litigation mill" has committed fraud against the courts through false accusations.

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Meta Wins Dismissal In Cannabis Logo Copyright Dispute

By Ivan Moreno

A Manhattan federal judge has dismissed a copyright complaint from a "serial IP litigant" who sued Meta Platforms over a cannabis logo used on Facebook to promote a cannabis-themed cruise, saying plaintiff did not own a valid copyright for the logo.

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SEC Settles With Pot App Owner Over Alleged $1.6M Fraud

By Mike Curley

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission settled claims Tuesday against CannaCloud Inc. and its owner alleging that he duped investors into pouring $1.65 million into the business, but then took $1.5 million to pay off his own debts and go to casinos.

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Law Firm Executive Orders Create A Legal Ethics Minefield

Recent executive orders targeting BigLaw firms create ethical dilemmas — and raise the specter of civil or criminal liability — for the government attorneys tasked with implementing them and for the law firms that choose to make agreements with the administration, say attorneys at Buchalter.

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Milbank Latest To Ink Trump Deal To Avoid Executive Order

By Anna Sanders

Milbank LLP became the fourth firm to strike a deal with President Donald Trump in the wake of a series of executive orders targeting BigLaw, pledging on Wednesday to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal work supported by the administration and to refrain from what the White House deems discriminatory and "illegal" diversity hiring.

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Holland & Knight Opens In Seattle With 16 Karr Tuttle Attys

By Tracey Read

Holland & Knight LLP has opened a Seattle office with 10 partners and six associates from Karr Tuttle Campbell that will be led by former Davis Wright Tremaine LLP managing partner Scott MacCormack, the firm announced Wednesday.

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Perkins Coie Urges Court To End To Trump's 'Assault' On Firm

By Hailey Konnath

Perkins Coie LLP on Wednesday asked a D.C. federal judge to permanently block enforcement of President Donald Trump's "unconstitutional assault" on the firm and the rule of law, filing a summary judgment bid the same day the federal government pushed for the firm's suit to be tossed.

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Ex-Kirkland Atty To Drop Bias Suit, Appeal Atty Firing Ruling

By James Mills

A former Kirkland & Ellis LLP intellectual property associate is expected to drop her claims against the law firm and related defendants, while also appealing a ruling that precluded her from firing her attorney in the case, the parties told a California federal court Tuesday.

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Kramer Levin DC Leaders Head To Hogan Lovells With Team

By Jack Rodgers

A quartet of former Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP attorneys, two of whom helped co-lead the firm's Washington, D.C., office and held other leadership roles, have moved their broad commercial litigation practice to Hogan Lovells, the firm announced Wednesday.

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Feds Drop FCPA Case Against Ex-Cognizant Execs

By Carla Baranauckas

The federal government on Wednesday moved to dismiss its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case against two former Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp. executives, ending a long-running case that had been stalled by President Donald Trump's executive order curtailing bribery prosecutions and another now-rescinded presidential decree targeting Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, which had been representing one of the defendants.

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Eric Adams Case Dismissed As Judge Rebukes DOJ 'Bargain'

By Frank G. Runyeon

A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday permanently dismissed corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, heeding advice from court-appointed counsel Paul Clement even as he gave credence to district prosecutors' claims of a quid pro quo between Adams and Trump administration officials in the Justice Department.

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Ogletree Opens Kentucky Office With Boutique Attys

By Daniel Connolly

Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, a big law firm representing employers in labor and employment disputes, is opening a Lexington, Kentucky, office and has hired the two leaders of a Kentucky boutique law firm with experience in representing mining companies.

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When Can Attys Decide To Drop Clients? ABA Says It Depends

By Ryan Boysen

Lawyers can drop clients at will as long as doing so won't harm the client's legal objectives or needlessly drive up costs, according to new guidance by the American Bar Association — but the guidance also notes that "getting out of a matter can be a lot harder than getting in."

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'Zero Support In The Bar': Judiciary Downsizes Amicus Project

By Jeff Overley

Faced with wide-ranging opposition and potential constitutional challenges, federal judiciary advisers Wednesday sharply scaled back plans to strengthen scrutiny of amicus briefs, a retreat that won praise from disparate corners of the legal industry.

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American Airlines Taps Latham Atty As New Legal Chief

By Lynn LaRowe

American Airlines announced Wednesday that it has chosen a Latham & Watkins LLP partner to serve as the company's chief legal officer, effective May 5.

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Forum Shopping Debated At Nationwide Injunctions Hearing

By Courtney Buble

Legal experts gave varying testimony at a Senate hearing on Wednesday about how addressing forum shopping would remedy issues related to nationwide injunctions, which Republicans have been highly critical of due to the vast number issued against President Donald Trump's policies since he came into office.

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Justices Broaden RICO Reach To Personal Injuries

By Sam Reisman

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday expanded the type of civil actions that can be brought under a federal racketeering statute, asserting that claims stemming from personal injuries are redressable if they can be shown to have caused economic harm.

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Man To Plead Guilty To Justice Kavanaugh Murder Attempt

By Katie Buehler

A California man charged with attempting to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh has agreed to plead guilty and forgo a trial originally scheduled for this summer, according to Maryland federal court filings Wednesday.

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