 //sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591700&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=34636568&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591701&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=34636568&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591702&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=34636568&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591703&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=34636568&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
//sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=126591704&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=34636568&stpe=pixel” width=”2″ height=”6″ border=”0″ /> |
|
|
|
| //sli.reutersmedia.net/imp?s=874768&li=&e=gjjtuyu768@gmail.com&p=34636568&stpe=static” border=”0″ style=”max-height:12px;” /> |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
U.S. District Judge J. Campbell Barker in Tyler, Texas, delivered a setback to the National Labor Relations Board, striking down a rule that would treat many companies as employers of certain contract and franchise workers and require them to bargain with unions representing them.
Barker agreed with the challengers to the “joint employers” rule, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, that it is too broad and violates federal labor law, our colleague Daniel Wiessner reports. Barker said the rule is invalid because it would treat some companies as the employers of contract or franchise workers even when they lacked any meaningful control over their working conditions. The rule had been set to take effect today.
In a statement, NLRB Chair Lauren McFerran said the ruling was “not the last word on our efforts to return our joint-employer standard to the common law principles that have been endorsed by other courts.” The decision can be appealed to the New Orleans-based 5th Circuit. U.S. Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark called the ruling “a major win for employers and workers who don’t want their business decisions micromanaged by the NLRB.”
|
|
|
|
- Law firm Jackson Walker turned to prominent Texas litigator Rusty Hardin to fight claims that it profited from a secret romance between one of its lawyers and a federal bankruptcy judge overseeing many of the firm’s cases. Hardin is known for representing professional sports athletes, including former pro baseball pitcher Roger Clemens.
- A committee of judges on the Federal Circuit said a D.C. court should dismiss what remains of a lawsuit filed by their 96-year-old colleague Pauline Newman challenging her suspension amid an investigation into her fitness to serve. U.S. District Judge Christopher “Casey” Cooper dismissed most of Newman’s other allegations against the council last month.
- The American Bar Association approved a plan that will allow current law students to get their degrees from Golden Gate University even after that J.D. program shuts down this summer. The last ABA-accredited law school to come under a teach-out plan was Florida Coastal School of Law, which closed in 2021.
|
That’s the total number of legal sector jobs reported in February, according to preliminary, seasonally adjusted data released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The legal sector added 2,700 jobs in February, putting the industry within striking distance of an all-time employment record it hit two months ago, according to the Labor Department data. February’s numbers marked the second-highest count the sector has ever hit.
|
In a little-noticed trend, small claims court caseloads in recent years have dropped, in some instances dramatically. Jenna Greene in her latest column digs into why the “people’s court” may be falling out of favor, even as concerns over access to justice for low-income Americans continue to mount. For a first-hand look at what the forum does well – and where it falls short – Greene checked out a dozen small claims trials last week. Her takeaway: Sometimes there’s no substitute for a lawyer.
|
“The dissent’s reading implies that the invention of the Internet somehow reduced the scope of the state’s ability to protect children.“
|
|
|
|
- Today, a 3rd Circuit panel will hear a challenge to Delaware’s bans on assault weapons and large capacity magazines. Gun rights groups including the Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association, represented by Erin Murphy of Clement & Murphy, are challenging an order that declined to block the law following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2022 that expanded gun rights.
- Also today, U.S. District Judge Adrienne Nelson in Oregon will hold a status conference in the FTC’s antitrust case challenging Kroger’s $25 billion proposed purchase of rival grocer Albertsons. The litigation has drawn antitrust veterans from many firms. James Weingarten of the FTC is leading the case for the government, joined by eight states and the District of Columbia.
- On Tuesday, the 2nd Circuit will take up Ghislaine Maxwell’s appeal of her 2021 conviction and 20-year prison sentence for helping the disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein sexually abuse teenage girls. In her appeal, the daughter of the late British media mogul Robert Maxwell said prosecutors scapegoated her because Epstein was dead and “public outrage” demanded that blame go somewhere.
- On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika in Delaware will hold a status hearing in the firearms prosecution of President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden. Noreika said the attorneys in the case should be prepared to discuss a trial schedule in the event that the court denies Hunter Biden’s bid to dismiss the indictment. Biden has pleaded not guilty.
- On Thursday, Denise Lodge, the wife of Harvard Medical School’s former morgue manager, is scheduled to plead guilty before U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann to transporting human remains stolen from donor bodies. Her husband, Cedric Lodge, is slated to face trial in August for his alleged role in the scandal. Reuters has previously reported on abuses in the body trade business.
- On Friday, U.S. prosecutors face a deadline to tell U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan what they think Sam Bankman-Fried’s prison sentence should be for his conviction last year in what prosecutors have called one of the biggest financial frauds in American history. Lawyers for the FTX crypto exchange founder have asked Kaplan to impose a sentence of about five to six years behind bars. Bankman-Fried’s sentencing is scheduled for March 28.
|
Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
|
- U.S. Senator Bob Menendez is set to appear today before U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein to be arraigned on a new indictment charging him with obstruction of justice. As the embattled Democratic lawmaker’s corruption trial draws near, Menendez has called the new charges false.
- The 2nd Circuit revived a lawsuit brought by investors against Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, of violating U.S. securities laws by selling unregistered tokens that lost much of their value. The court said investors in the proposed class action plausibly alleged that domestic securities laws applied because their purchases of tokens had become irrevocable in the U.S. once they paid for them.
- U.S. District Judge James Cain in Lake Charles, Louisiana, rejected a bid by 11 Republican-led states and energy industry groups to partially block a new EPA rule expanding the power of states and Native American tribes to veto infrastructure projects within their borders over concerns about their broad impact on water resources. Cain said the plaintiffs had not shown that the energy companies that submitted water quality certification requests before the rule took effect in November faced a threat of imminent harm, because they could still amend their applications if needed.
- SpaceX has asked the full 5th Circuit to review a ruling rejecting the company’s bid to keep its lawsuit challenging the structure of the National Labor Relations Board in Texas rather than California. SpaceX in a petition told the court that a judge in Brownsville, Texas, applied the wrong standard when he ruled last month that the lawsuit has closer ties to California, where the NLRB is prosecuting claims that SpaceX illegally fired engineers for criticizing CEO Elon Musk.
- The 2nd Circuit revived corruption charges against former New York Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin, whom prosecutors accused of funneling a $50,000 state grant to a now-deceased developer in exchange for campaign contributions. The unanimous decision by a three-judge panel reversed a December 2022 ruling by U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken in Manhattan, and returned the case to him.
|
|
|
|
