FERC Chairman Blasts PJM Over Transmission Line Project

By Madeline Lyskawa

Mark Christie, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, ripped into PJM Interconnection LLC on Thursday, saying the regional transmission organization is ignoring history by arguing that its project approval preempts states' ability to deny a certificate of public convenience and necessity.

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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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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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Army Corps Says Miss. Dolphin Harm Suit Rightfully Tossed

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has urged the Fifth Circuit to affirm its decision to divert trillions of gallons of polluted floodwater into the Mississippi Sound, which Mississippi local governments and industry groups allege unlawfully harms bottlenose dolphins.

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ITC Blocks Chinese Co.'s Plastics Tech Over Patent Dispute

By Andrew Karpan

The U.S. International Trade Commission issued a limited order barring a Chinese company from importing parts used in molding machines that make plastic bottles, following an infringement case from a Canadian rival — though the trade agency split in its decision not to issue a cease-and-desist order targeting imported parts that already made it into the U.S. 

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Texas Rep. Cuellar Asks To Move Bribery Trial To Home City

By Elliot Weld

U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, asked a federal judge in Houston to move their bribery case to the couple's home city of Laredo, saying the current venue has limited connections to the case and will make it more difficult for the representative "to keep up with his public duties."

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Chevron Owes $24M For Years Of Work, Venezuelan Co. Says

By Catherine Marfin

A Venezuelan oil company accused Chevron of taking advantage of its family-owned business by pressuring it into performing years of work without paying $24 million in invoices.

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Mitel Networks Gets Ch. 11 Plan Confirmed In Texas

By Emlyn Cameron

A Texas bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved telecommunications group Mitel Networks' disclosures regarding its prepackaged Chapter 11 plan and confirmed the company's reorganization proposal, overruling an objection from the U.S. Trustee's Office regarding claims release provisions.

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Exela Gets OK For $5M Financing While In DIP Talks

By Rick Archer

A Texas bankruptcy judge gave Excela Technologies the go-ahead for a $5 million transaction as a stopgap while the payment processing company works to resolve objections to the final order for its proposed $185 million in Chapter 11 financing.

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Rapper Drops Houston Texans From 'Still Tippin' Lawsuit

By Elaine Briseño

Texas rapper Bigg Tyme and his company dropped the Houston Texans from a copyright infringement lawsuit that alleges the NFL team and fellow rapper Mike Jones stole Bigg Tyme's 2002 song "Still Tippin" to use at games without his permission.

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Greenberg Traurig Adds Private Wealth, Finance Attys In Texas

By Lynn LaRowe

Greenberg Traurig LLP has bulked up both its private wealth services and finance practices in Austin, Texas, with one attorney coming aboard from Jackson Walker LLP and another returning to the firm following an in-house role with JPMorgan Chase & Co. 

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Assessing Market Manipulation Claims In Energy Markets

Today's energy markets are conducive to sudden price changes, breakdowns in pricing linkages and substantial shifts in trading patterns, so it's necessary to take a holistic view when evaluating allegations of market manipulation, say Maximilian Bredendiek, Greg Leonard and Manuel Vasconcelos at Cornerstone Research.

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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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WilmerHale, Feds Dispute Reach Of Trump Order Against Firm

By Jack Karp

WilmerHale and the U.S. Department of Justice traded salvos in the BigLaw firm's challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order targeting it, with the firm and the government offering "starkly different" versions of what's at stake in the dispute.

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Ex-Katten Partner Hits Firm With $67M Age Bias Suit

By Lauren Berg

A former Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP partner launched a $67 million discrimination lawsuit against his one-time firm in New York federal court, alleging he was pushed out of the aircraft-finance practice group, pressured to resign and then fired because of the firm CEO's "stereotyped views of lawyers in their 60s."

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Joel Katz, Music Law's Longtime Power Broker, Dies At 80

By Chart Riggall

Joel Katz, the powerful music industry lawyer who co-founded Greenberg Traurig LLP's media and entertainment practice and helped bring the firm to the Atlanta market, has died at the age of 80, Law360 confirmed Friday.

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Sunoco Accused Of Age Bias By Ex-Chief Counsel

By Gina Kim

A former chief counsel for Sunoco LP sued her ex-employer in Texas state court Wednesday, alleging she was denied promotional opportunities and later terminated due to her age, while also accusing the company of replacing attorneys older than 50 with significantly younger attorneys with less experience.

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How They Won It

How Manatt Beat A Crypto Trader's 'Code As Law' Defense

By Aislinn Keely

After a crypto user exploited a software bug to create millions of dollars' worth of new tokens from a blockchain network, a Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP team defeated his claim to the tokens — and won an award worth millions — by showing that faulty code can't stand in for rule of law.

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Justices Temporarily Block Removals Under Wartime Law

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday ordered the Trump administration to halt removals of alleged Venezuelan gang members detained in Texas under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, pending further input from the court.

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High Court's Pause Of Removals Was 'Premature,' Alito Says

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision early Saturday morning to prohibit the Trump administration from using a 1798 wartime law to remove alleged Venezuelan gang members detained in northern Texas to an El Salvadoran prison was hasty and premature, Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a dissent joined by Justice Clarence Thomas.

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Ex-DOJ Atty Convicted In 1MDB Case Ordered Disbarred In NY

By Craig Clough

A New York appellate court ordered Wednesday that a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney be disbarred due to his felony conviction as part of a sprawling, billion-dollar fraud scandal connected to 1Malaysia Development Berhad and Fugees founder Pras Michél.

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Judge Nixes Feds' DQ Bid In Migrant Kids Legal Funding Case

By Ryan Boysen

A California federal judge has denied the Trump administration's bid to remove her from a lawsuit challenging funding cuts that prevent attorneys from representing child migrants, ruling her employment at one of the plaintiffs nearly seven years ago doesn't undermine her impartiality.

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PTAB Judge Heads To Boutique, Citing Return-To-Office Order

By Andrew Karpan

An outgoing Patent Trial and Appeal Board judge based in Austin, Texas, tells Law360 that President Donald Trump's return-to-office order was a "significant factor" in her decision to return to private practice, joining boutique patent firm Smith Baluch LLP as a partner.

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Judiciary Faces Security Risks Amid Spending Freeze

By Courtney Bublé

The federal judiciary is warning congressional appropriators that funding shortfalls could threaten courthouse security.

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Wis. Sens. Renew Bipartisan Judicial Nomination Commission

By Courtney Bublé

The Republican and Democratic senators from Wisconsin announced Friday they are renewing their bipartisan commission to recommend U.S. attorney and judicial nominees to the president.

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Up Next At High Court: Preventive HealthCare & LGBTQ Books

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in five cases this week, including disputes over the constitutionality of a task force that sets preventive healthcare coverage requirements, a school district's introduction of LGBTQ-themed storybooks and whether parties can establish standing based on harms affecting third parties. 

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Google and its chief legal officer have now lost two major antitrust cases to DOJ prosecutors after a federal judge ruled Thursday the search engine monopolized markets and servers related to display advertising. Meanwhile, a new study shows companies are disclosing their business risks, and how they are trying to mitigate those risks, amid changing tariffs and the uncertainty of the U.S.-China trade war. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Schlichter Bogard LLC and the University of Virginia School of Law Supreme Court Litigation Clinic lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court revived a class action from Cornell University workers who said their retirement plans were saddled with excessive fees.

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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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