Mich. AG Pushes For Strengthening Consumer Protection Law

By Carolyn Muyskens

Michigan's attorney general on Wednesday asked lawmakers to broaden the reach of the state's consumer protection law following a setback in her efforts to change the law in court.

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Mich. Exec Gets Prison As Judge Rips White Collar Wrist Slaps

By Danielle Ferguson

A Michigan federal judge said Wednesday that he couldn't offer probation to a former asphalt company executive, saying the $17 million his company received as part of a bid-rigging scheme with competitors warrants some prison time to deter white collar criminals from thinking they can escape with a more lenient sentence.

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Students, UMich Seek To Merge Ex-Coach Hacking Suits

By Danielle Ferguson

Students alleging the University of Michigan didn't protect them from a former assistant football coach's purported hacking and downloading of intimate photos, and the university urged a federal judge to consolidate the eight different actions launched following the coach's indictment.

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Analysis

Auto Supply Chain Tariffs Chart Tricky Compliance Landscape

By Linda Chiem

The compliance landmines created by the Trump administration's sweeping new tariffs have sparked a scramble among the automotive supply chain to renegotiate contracts and stockpile inventory to blunt the financial impacts in the short term, but long-term strategies are still being ironed out, experts say.

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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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Workers Ask Michigan Judge To OK Boot-Up Suit Deal

By Irene Spezzamonte

A home healthcare company has agreed to pay about $86,000 to settle a lawsuit accusing it of not paying employees for the time they spent booting up their computers, a former insurance specialist said, asking a Michigan federal court to greenlight the deal.

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Energy Dept. Blocked From Cutting School Research Grants

By Brian Dowling

A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Energy from capping indirect costs for research grants while the court considers arguments from a group of universities that the policy shift will "devastate" scientific research.

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Accellion Breach Victims Fight Uphill To Get Class Cert.

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge Wednesday doubted whether a class of 5 million individuals could be certified on claims that file-sharing software-maker Accellion negligently failed to protect against cyberattacks in light of the high court's TransUnion ruling, adding that it would be a "Herculean task" to determine certain classwide damages.

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More Students Sue Over Scrapped Foreign Student Records

By Madeline Lyskawa

More than 130 international students accused the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of abruptly and unlawfully terminating digital visa compliance records, saying in a complaint filed in Georgia federal court that the data deletion puts them at risk of arrest, detention and deportation. 

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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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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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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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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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