Fla. High Court Won't Take Up Gambling Compact Challenge

By Carolina Bolado

The Florida Supreme Court refused Thursday to take up a challenge by two casino operators over the state's gambling pact with the Seminole Tribe, declaring the petition — which says the governor exceeded his authority in signing the pact — is the improper vehicle for assessing the constitutionality of the pact.

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Fla. High Court Rejects Judge's Discipline Over Campaign Talk

By David Minsky

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday rebuffed a stipulation between the state's Judicial Qualifications Commission and a county circuit judge agreeing to a 30-day suspension without pay over pro-law enforcement remarks he made during his campaign for office, saying the settlement was based on an incorrect reading of conduct rules.

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Trump's Mystery Docket: Inside NY's Secretive Filing System

By Frank G. Runyeon

The first criminal indictment of a former American president may have arrived in 21st century New York, but it landed in a court system stuck in the past — where the official record is a disorganized and incomplete mass of paper with no accounting of what's inside.

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Ex-CEO Says Social Media Profiles Are Tied To His Personality

By David Minsky

The former CEO of the company that makes Bang Energy drinks argued Thursday in a Florida federal court that a bankruptcy judge wrongly took away ownership of three social media accounts he created for the brand, saying his persona used in them was instrumental in successfully marketing its products.

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Panama Seeks To Enforce $4.8M Arbitration Award

By Carolina Bolado

Panama urged a Florida federal court on Thursday to enforce a $4.8 million arbitral award against a Miami businessman and his construction firm following a dispute stemming from contracts to build hospitals, a municipal hall, a courthouse and other facilities.

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Lawmakers Eye Permanent Status For 10 Federal Judgeships

By Lynn LaRowe

A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers has put forward bills in the Senate and House that would make 10 temporary district judgeships permanent in 10 states including Texas, Florida and California.

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Feds Defend Congressional Authority To Reduce HFCs

By Peter McGuire

The EPA is urging the D.C. Circuit to reject coolant industry challenges to a gradual reduction of climate-damaging hydrofluorocarbons, arguing it had a congressional mandate to establish the phase-out and correctly excluded recent years' chemical imports from future quota calculations.

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Shumaker Hires Kass Shuler Atty In Tampa As Partner

By Jack Rodgers

A 13-year Kass Shuler PA attorney and one-time Florida assistant state's attorney, has joined Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP in Tampa as a partner, the firm announced Thursday.

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Opinion

Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year

As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.

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Reed Smith Ties Associate Raises To Billable Hours

By Andrea Keckley

Reed Smith LLP is reportedly raising associate salaries in a range similar to those first announced by Milbank LLP last November, with an associate's place on the scale depending on their billable hours.

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Unabomber Prosecutor To Probe FTX's Sullivan & Cromwell Ties

By Emily Lever

The Delaware bankruptcy court overseeing the Chapter 11 case of FTX Trading Ltd. has approved the appointment of a former federal prosecutor, whose experience includes work on the Unabomber case, to delve into accusations Sullivan & Cromwell is conflicted as debtor's counsel.

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The LA Boutique Repping MLB's Ohtani Amid Betting Scandal

By Alex Lawson

An unfolding sports betting scandal has prompted Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani to lawyer up, enlisting the West Hollywood boutique Berk Brettler LLP to advise him in a saga that has already led the club to fire his longtime interpreter.

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Trump Misquotes Justices In Immunity Case's Opening Brief

By Katie Buehler

Former President Donald Trump invoked the writings of three sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices in a brief Tuesday to argue that former presidents are absolutely immune from criminal prosecution. Yet the cited opinions and papers actually express the opposite theories from what he claims — a miscue attorneys say could backfire on him.

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Ex-Moses & Singer Partner Says New-Mom Bias Is Rampant

By Abby Wargo

A former partner at New York litigation firm Moses & Singer LLP said she witnessed women at the firm go from being considered "superstars" to "mommy brained" after returning from maternity leave, according to a declaration attached to an amended pregnancy discrimination complaint in federal court.

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12 Ex-Constantine Cannon Attys Launch Whistleblower Firm

By Anna Sanders

A dozen attorneys who have represented whistleblowers from Facebook, Theranos and Boeing have left Constantine Cannon LLP to form their own stand-alone boutique to support whistleblowers and boost corporate accountability globally, according to a Thursday announcement.

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'Sit Down!' DC Judge Snaps At Atty Over False Ad Defense

By Jared Foretek

Oral arguments over footwear nearly got an attorney kicked out of court Thursday, as a D.C. federal judge told a defense counselor to "Sit down!" for making "snide remarks" before ultimately denying most of his motion to dismiss a Federal Trade Commission suit alleging deceptive advertising.

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Biden's Judicial Nominees Face New Barriers

By Courtney Bublé

President Joe Biden is encountering new hurdles to placing his judicial nominees on the bench, particularly one who would be the first Muslim federal appellate judge if confirmed.

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Schumer Urges Texas District To Adopt Judge-Shopping Rule

By Hailey Konnath

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday urged the chief judge of the Northern District of Texas to quickly implement the Judicial Conference of the United States' updated policy that looks to prevent litigants from judge shopping, arguing that the district's current practices are "dangerous."

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DA Rips Trump For 'Wild' Accusations Over Late Documents

By Elliot Weld

The Manhattan district attorney is pushing back on claims of misconduct from former President Donald Trump's legal team as the two sides spar over the late production of thousands of pages of documents that have cast doubt on the timing of his hush-money trial.

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Burford, Sysco Get OK To Swap Bid In Price-Fixing Cases

By Hailey Konnath

An Illinois federal judge on Thursday agreed to allow an affiliate of legal investment firm Burford Capital to substitute for food giant Sysco in price-fixing litigation against broiler chicken producers, a ruling that comes a month after a Minnesota federal judge refused to allow the same Burford unit to substitute for Sysco in similar pork and beef price-fixing litigation.

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Robins Kaplan, Funding Firm Must Pay Sanctions, Court Told

By Katryna Perera

An investment firm has urged a New York state appellate court to uphold a $156,000 sanction levied against a litigation funding firm and its counsel from Robins Kaplan LLP over the law firm's access to the opposing party's Dropbox account, saying a trial court acted within its discretion in imposing the sanction.

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USPTO Expands Types Of E-Signatures Allowed For Patents

By Sarah Martinson

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will allow filers to sign patent documents using a wider range of third-party electronic signature platforms, including DocuSign and Acrobat Sign, starting Friday.

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