The top appellate lawyer in the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General will be ringing in the new year by performing a comical cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, the latest show in a lengthy side career in music.
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MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2024 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

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Feature

Litigator On The Roof: The Acting, Singing Mass. Solicitor

By Chris Villani

The top appellate lawyer in the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General will be ringing in the new year by performing a comical cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, the latest show in a lengthy side career in music.

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Psychedelics Law Reformers Hit Multiple Setbacks In 2024

By Sam Reisman

In 2024, advocates, physicians and researchers attempted to broaden lawful access to federally illegal psychedelic drugs through a variety of avenues — the new drug approval process, litigation and a ballot initiative — with the upshot that the law remains largely unchanged and, for the most part, still restricts legal use and possession of these substances.

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Analysis

The Most Significant Trade Secrets Cases Of 2024

By Ivan Moreno

Insulet Corp. became the latest company to notch a colossal trade secrets award, and a new presidential administration has attorneys wondering what will become of the Federal Trade Commission's pending proposal to ban employee noncompete agreements. Here's a look at trade secrets cases that defined 2024 and what to expect from the FTC in the coming year.

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Roundup

Real Estate Recap: Stats, Multifamily Tech, Pot Shop Pickle

By Real Estate Authority Staff

Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including big picture stats for commercial real estate in 2024, how one proptech company is leveraging resident data for multifamily profitability, and a conversation with a BigLaw leader about navigating New York's pot shop crackdown.

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Ex-NFL Stadium Manager Sues For Disability Discrimination

By Brian Dowling

A former operations manager at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, claims he was illegally fired because of panic attacks he has suffered since he was badly burned in a fire while working for the home of the NFL's New England Patriots.

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POLICY & REGULATION

FTA Proposes Buy America Waiver For Electric Minibuses

By Daniel Wilson

The Federal Transit Administration has asked for public feedback on whether it should grant a temporary nonavailability waiver from domestic sourcing requirements for battery electric minibuses, saying it had received related requests from multiple transit operators.

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LITIGATION

Nippon Owes $115M In Muscular Dystrophy IP Fight, Jury Says

By Adam Lidgett

Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd. owes more than $115 million for infringing a patent owned by Massachusetts-based Sarepta Therapeutics, a federal jury in Delaware said Friday after finding that the Japanese company failed to prove the patent was invalid.

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South Korean Needle Operation Secures Patent Win At ITC

By Andrew Karpan

The U.S. subsidiary of a South Korean dermatologist's needle business has convinced a judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission that several rivals in the marketplace for selling microneedles to plastic surgeons are infringing patents. 

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DEALS

Fuji Soft Founder, Bain Band Together On 'Not' Hostile Bid

By Al Barbarino

Bain Capital and Fuji Soft's founder said Friday they are joining forces on a plan to snap up a 50.1% stake in the Japanese IT company and take it private, as a bidding war with Bain rival KKR kicks into high gear. 

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Timeline Considerations For Boston's New RE Review Process

Boston's newly reimagined large real estate project review process, featuring early community engagement, holds impacts for project timelines that land use counsel must account for when guiding developers through approvals, says David Linhart at Goulston & Storrs.

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Series

Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

MoFo, Irell Latest Firms To Unveil Competitive Bonuses

By Aebra Coe & Hailey Konnath

Morrison Foerster LLP and litigation boutique Irell & Manella LLP have joined a chorus of firms announcing associate bonuses that meet or exceed the BigLaw standard for associate bonuses this year, with MoFo offering up to $218,200 and Irell handing its lawyers as much as $175,000.

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Approach The Bench: What Judges Had To Say This Year

By Cara Bayles

Jurists weighed the benefits of partisan elections, praised innovations in telehearings and worried about the future of the profession in nearly a dozen interviews with Law360 this year.

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Gunster $8.5M Data Breach Deal Needs More Info, Judge Says

By Matt Perez

A Florida federal judge this week denied preliminary approval of an $8.5 million settlement in a data breach class action against Gunster and demanded more information on payouts, the plaintiffs' standing in the case and a historical breakdown of settlement rates.

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NJ Bar's Diversity Plan Isn't Biased, Panel Says

By Tracey Read

A New Jersey state appeals court reversed and remanded on Friday a lower court's ruling that found the state bar association's diversity practices to be an unlawful, discriminatory quota system.

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Analysis

How Lawyers May Sue The Trump Administration … Again

By Cara Bayles

During the last Trump administration, BigLaw firms challenged White House policies, focusing on immigration, environmental regulations and healthcare. This time around, attorneys could rely on old tools, and some new tactics, to stall the executive branch.

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Biden Exceeds Trump's Record On Judges By One

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate confirmed on Friday the last two judicial nominations from President Joe Biden, making his total of lifetime judicial appointments 235, just one over President Donald Trump's 234.

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High Court Bar's Future: Williams & Connolly's Sarah Harris

By Katie Buehler

Sarah M. Harris of Williams & Connolly LLP never planned on being a U.S. Supreme Court advocate, or even an appellate one. She stumbled upon that career path after realizing her initial goal of becoming a national security or government lawyer wasn't the right fit.

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Legislators Key To Court Fee Relief, Chief Justices Say

By Cara Salvatore

Two state high court chief justices and a top judicial administrator have told the National Center for State Courts that while they've been able to make significant progress in abolishing unfair court fines and fees, lawmakers have been vital in enacting these changes.

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No, Microsoft Isn't Driving DOJ's Google Antitrust Suit: Judge

By Bryan Koenig

A D.C. federal judge pushed back Friday on Google's efforts to paint Microsoft as the true plaintiff in the Justice Department's search monopolization lawsuit, casting doubt during a hearing that Google should get even more information about Microsoft's relationship with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

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Another Texas Judge Exits X's Advertising Boycott Suit

By Lauren Berg

The second Texas judge to oversee litigation filed by Elon Musk's X Corp. accusing the World Federation of Advertisers and others of conspiring to withhold advertising revenue from the company has recused himself from the case.

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Hagens Berman Settles Suit Over Effexor Deal Atty Fees

By Bryan Koenig

A pharmaceutical reseller's in-house counsel and founder moved Friday to drop a Mississippi federal court breach of contract suit accusing Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP of stiffing him on his share of a $13 million attorney fees award from an antitrust class settlement, citing a resolution to the dispute.

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Girardi's Mental Health To Be Evaluated At NC Federal Prison

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge said Friday she will order Tom Girardi to receive a psychiatric evaluation at a North Carolina federal correctional facility after she recently delayed his wire fraud sentencing to determine if he should be committed to a medical facility instead of prison due to his dementia diagnosis.

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Q&A

A Judge Reflects: West Wing Call, 'Alford Plea?' Early Exit

By Hayley Fowler

When Chief Judge Louis A. Bledsoe III of the North Carolina Business Court hangs up his robes for the last time on Dec. 31, he'll leave behind a white-hot docket of high-profile cases and a profusion of opinions that helped mold the court into a tribunal fit to rival Delaware's Court of Chancery.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Andrea Keckley

This week's Legal Lions leader comes from the public sector, as federal prosecutors secured a $650 million settlement from McKinsey & Co. to resolve a lawsuit over the consulting giant's role in Purdue Pharma's promotion of OxyContin.

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

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen the University of Southampton sue a drone-maker over the rights to an uncrewed aircraft patent, Importers Service Corp. and its subsidiary ISC Europe take action against a former director who allegedly owes the company over £1.1 million ($1.4 million), and DAC Beachcroft face a fraud claim by a "prolific litigant." 

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Addleshaw Goddard

Ahmad Zavitsanos

Akerman LLP

Alston & Bird

American Center for Law & Justice Inc.

Armstrong Teasdale

Arnold & Porter

Baker McKenzie

Barrett Law Group

Bartkowski PLLC

Blacks Solicitors

Bradley Arant

Brito PLLC

CMS Cameron McKenna

Cantey Hanger

Charles Russell Speechlys

Choate Hall

Conrad & Scherer

Covington & Burling

Cozen O'Connor

Cravath Swaine

DAC Beachcroft

Davis Wright Tremaine

Dechert LLP

Dhillon Law Group

Faegre Drinker

Fenchurch Law

Fieldfisher

Finnegan

Fisher & Phillips

Forsters LLP

Fox Rothschild

Fried Frank

Gatehouse Chambers

Gibbons PC

Gibson Dunn

Girardi & Keese

Glancy Prongay

Glenn Agre

Goodwin Procter

Goulston & Storrs

Gowling WLG

Gunster Yoakley

Gupta Wessler

Hadsell Stormer

Hagens Berman

Halunen Law

Haynes & Boone

Hill Ward Henderson

Hogan Lovells

Holman Fenwick

Holwell Shuster

Hueston Hennigan

Hugh James

Hunton Andrews

Ice Miller

Irell & Manella

Jenner & Block

Jones Day

Kaufman Dolowich

Keker Van Nest & Peters

Kilpatrick Townsend

Kirkland & Ellis

Kutak Rock

Latham & Watkins

Law Office of Rajeh A. Saadeh

Leydig Voit

Mayer Brown

Milbank LLP

Morgan & Morgan

Morgan Lewis

Morris Nichols

Morrison Foerster

Nabarro LLP

Norton Rose

O'Melveny & Myers

Orrick Herrington

Patterson Belknap

Paul Weiss

Paynter Law Firm

Pearl Cohen

Perkins Coie

Porter Wright

Quarles & Brady

Quinn Emanuel

Reynolds Porter

Robins Kaplan

Robinson Bradshaw

Ropes & Gray

Ross Aronstam

Roythornes Solicitors

Sanford Heisler

Sidley Austin

Skadden Arps

Spector Constant & Williams

Sullivan & Cromwell

TLT LLP

Trenk Isabel

Troutman Pepper

Trowers & Hamlins

Vartabedian Hester

Vinson & Elkins

Ward Hadaway

White & Case

Wiley Rein

Wilkinson Stekloff

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

Wilson Sonsini

Winston & Strawn

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Civil Liberties Union

American Constitution Society

American Public Transportation Association

Appian Corp.

Apple Inc.

Atlantic Coast Conference

BNP Paribas SA

Beazley PLC

Boy Scouts of America

British American Tobacco PLC

CVS Health Corp.

Cincinnati Financial Corp.

CrossCountry Mortgage Inc.

Cutera, Inc.

Cynosure Inc.

Democracy Forward Foundation

Duke Energy Corp.

Essity AB

Federalist Society

Foxconn

GP Global

Google LLC

Gulf Petrochem FZC

Hytera

Insulet Corp.

Insulet Corporation

JOANN Inc.

Judicial Watch Inc.

Kraft Group LLC

Lambda Legal Defense & Educational Fund

Lykos Therapeutics

Mars Inc.

McKinsey & Co. Inc.

Meadow

Microsoft Corp.

Motorola Mobility LLC

Motorola Solutions Inc.

Mozilla Corp.

Natixis SA

New Jersey State Bar Association

Nippon Shinyaku Co. Ltd.

Our Children's Trust

Pegasystems Inc.

Pfizer Inc.

Phillips 66

Princeton University

Prospect Medical Holdings Inc.

Purdue Pharma LP

QuikTrip Corp.

ROC Nation LLC

RealPage Inc.

Reynolds American Inc.

Ryan LLC

Saint-Gobain SA

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.

Sotheby's

Spotify Technology SA

Starr International Co. Inc.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.

The New York Times Co.

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC

The Walt Disney Co.

TikTok Inc.

Twitter Inc.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Ulta Beauty Inc.

Unilever PLC

United Steelworkers

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Valero Energy Corp.

Walmart Inc.

Walt Disney Parks & Resorts Worldwide Inc.

Wells Fargo & Co.

Western Environmental Law Center

World Economic Forum

Yellow Corp.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Supreme Court

Central Intelligence Agency

Circuit Court of Fairfax County

Colorado Supreme Court

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Companies House

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Delaware Court of Chancery

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Georgia Court of Appeals

Internal Revenue Service

International Trade Commission

Ohio Supreme Court

Texas Supreme Court

The Crown Prosecution Service

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. Department of the Interior

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Government Accountability Office

U.S. Railroad Retirement Board

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

UK High Court

US Office of Management and Budget