Texas Judge Denies Relief For Venezuelan Men Facing Removal

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge on Thursday refused to bar the Trump administration from deporting two Venezuelan men under a 1798 wartime statute, departing from other judges in Texas, New York and Colorado who granted injunctions to protect due process and maintain jurisdiction.

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4th Circ. Refuses To Halt Abrego Garcia Probe In Sharp Order

By Dorothy Atkins

A Fourth Circuit panel on Thursday rejected the Trump administration's "extraordinary" emergency motion to stay a discovery order in litigation over Kilmar Abrego Garcia's deportation to El Salvador, while cautioning the administration against ignoring federal courts, saying it could degrade both executive and judicial branch powers and that "law in time will sign its epitaph."

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High Court Sets Arguments Over Birthright Pause

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ordered special oral arguments over President Donald Trump's bid to pause or limit three nationwide court orders prohibiting implementation of his executive order aimed at limiting birthright citizenship, keeping the president's mandate on hold until at least mid-May.

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Ga. Judge Leaning Toward Foreign Students In DHS Suit

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia federal judge said on Thursday that she was likely to grant an injunction restoring more than 130 international current and former college students to a U.S. Department of Homeland Security database after their records were allegedly deleted, a move the students said made them ineligible to attend school and put them at risk of wrongful deportation.

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Fla. Arrest Defies Court Order Blocking Anti-Migrant Law

By Carolina Bolado

Florida authorities have arrested an individual under a new law criminalizing the entry of unauthorized migrants into the state despite a federal court order temporarily barring enforcement of the law.

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Detained Tufts Student Denied Bond By Immigration Judge

By Julie Manganis

An Immigration Court judge in Louisiana has denied bond to a Tufts University graduate student who was taken into custody in Massachusetts last month after her visa was revoked over an op-ed in a campus newspaper, her lawyers said.

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Feds Say Estonians Won't Be Deported Before Fraud Sentence

By Elliot Weld

Prosecutors told a Washington federal judge Thursday that they had secured approval for "deferred action" from the Department of Homeland Security on potential immigration proceedings against two Estonian men awaiting sentencing for a cryptocurrency fraud scheme.

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Trump Can't Reboot 'Remain In Mexico' Policy Amid Litigation

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration from re-implementing its so-called Remain in Mexico policy while an immigrants' rights group challenges it, finding the group's "core" business activities will be irreparably harmed without a stay and the group is likely to win its First Amendment claims.

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Trump Admin Resumes Funding Texas Refugee Program

By Catherine Marfin

The Trump administration has released funding for Harris County, Texas' refugee resettlement program following a lawsuit the county filed last week against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the county's attorney announced Wednesday.

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Man's Deportation Looms After Tax Evasion Plea Stands

By Kevin Pinner

A Connecticut federal judge denied a man's attempt to vacate his guilty plea for tax evasion, despite accepting that his lawyers had misled him into believing that if he received no prison time he could avoid mandatory detention and likely deportation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

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6th Circ. Says No Naturalization When Removal Pending

By Joyce Hanson

The Sixth Circuit in a split decision has held that a lower court rightfully dismissed a lawful permanent resident's request for naturalization while he was concurrently in removal proceedings, ruling that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services correctly delayed his application to become a citizen.

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6th Circ. Revives Fight For Docs In Prison Co. Investors' Suit

By Carolyn Muyskens

The Sixth Circuit ordered a do-over of a judge's decision to shield court records in a securities lawsuit against private prison operator CoreCivic on Thursday, saying it isn't enough to invoke unspecified "confidentiality" interests. 

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Tracking The Evolution In Litigation Finance

Despite continued innovation, litigation finance remains an immature market with borrowers recieving significantly different terms as lenders learn to value cases, which firms need a strong handle on to ensure lending terms do not overwhelm collateral value, says Robert Wilkins at Lightfoot Franklin.

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Series

Volunteer Firefighting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While practicing corporate law and firefighting may appear incongruous, the latter benefits my legal career by reminding me of the importance of humility, perspective and education, says Nicholas Passaro at Ford.

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Solicitor General's Office Now Features Two Top Lieutenants

By Jeff Overley

Mere days after the U.S. Solicitor General's Office got a new leader, it also got a new leadership structure featuring two BigLaw alums in the traditional second-in-command post, according to a hearing list the U.S. Supreme Court released Thursday.

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Jenner & Block Fights DOJ Bid To Toss Exec Order Suit

By Ryan Boysen

Jenner & Block LLP on Thursday urged a D.C. federal court to reject the government's bid to dismiss its lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump's executive order targeting the firm, saying the "legal profession as a whole is watching."

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K&L Gates Bungled Crypto Co.'s Bankruptcy Claim, Suit Says

By Aislinn Keely

Gryphon Digital Mining has sued its former counsel K&L Gates LLP, claiming it dropped the ball on a bankruptcy filing that cost the company millions of dollars and complicated another legal case, all while allegedly overbilling the crypto mining firm by $1 million for related matters.

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Akerman Sues To Block Malpractice Claim, Secure $750K Fees

By Jake Maher

Akerman LLP sued the healthcare services company Rennova Health Inc. and three medical laboratories in Florida state court this week, alleging that they owe the firm about $750,000 in unpaid fees and are now threatening to sue the firm for malpractice even though they have already released any claims.

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Calif. Judge To Resign Over Misconduct Amid Office Romance

By Jack Karp

A California state judge will resign and be barred from serving on the bench after engaging in misconduct that included pretending to be the lawyer for his judicial secretary with whom he was having an affair, according to a Thursday decision.

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LegalZoom Scores Arbitration In Unlawful Practice Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A suit accusing online legal services provider LegalZoom of engaging in the unauthorized practice of law will head to arbitration, after a New Jersey federal judge ruled the claims fall within the scope of an enforceable arbitration agreement.

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Judge Accused Of Sexting, Misusing Bench For Ex-Client

By Thy Vo

A Colorado state judge improperly used his position to help a former client with legal advice and exchanged sexually explicit texts with her while on the bench, according to a judicial disciplinary complaint that also alleged the judge failed to disclose their "prior sexting" when he later presided over her case.

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Top Democrats Urge DOJ To Defend GAO's Legislative Status

By Courtney Bublé

Three top House Democrats are looking for assurances from the U.S. Department of Justice that it will "zealously defend" a government watchdog in upcoming litigation by a conservative legal organization that challenges its status in the government.

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Debt Firm's Successor, Ch. 11 Trustee End Latest Pay Dispute

By Daniel Connolly

A law firm that bought thousands of client files left over from the collapse of bankrupt California-based debt relief business Litigation Practice Group PC has agreed to pay nearly $1 million to the bankruptcy estate to help settle a payment dispute that began months ago.

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'Latter-Day Machiavelli' Defamed Calif. Law Firm, Court Told

By Rose Krebs

California employment law firm Lawyers for Justice PC has filed a suit in state court accusing one of its former clients of defamation in what the firm calls "a scorched-earth crusade against her former attorneys."

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen the producers of West End show "Elf the Musical" face a contract dispute, Korean biotech company ToolGen Inc. bring a fresh patents claim against pharma giant Vertex, and ousted car tycoon Peter Waddell bring a claim against the private equity firm that backed his business. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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