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Good morning. A Louisiana federal judge’s order imposing curbs on Biden administration officials from contacting social media companies will face a tough legal challenge on appeal, experts told our colleagues. Plus, a conservative legal group is warning law schools about race and admissions, in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last week against affirmative action. Meanwhile, lawyers suing Rudy Giuliani for alleged defamation just filed a legal-fee tab as part of a sanctions flare-up. It’s a scorcher of a legal news day.
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REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
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U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty’s order in Louisiana federal court restricting Biden administration officials from contacting social media companies about content moderation will face tough legal challenges on appeal, experts told reporters Brendan Pierson and Andrew Goudsward.
There was no precedent to support the sweeping 155-page preliminary injunction order that Doughty issued on Tuesday, legal scholars said. Still, they said the lawsuit brought by Republican attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri, as well as several individuals, raised real free speech concerns.
The plaintiffs alleged U.S. officials violated their right to free speech by pressuring social media companies to take down posts that they worried could fuel COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy during the pandemic or conspiracy theories about elections. The DOJ on Wednesday filed its notice to appeal the case to the 5th Circuit.
Jameel Jaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said Doughty’s opinion raises “difficult First Amendment questions,” but that it “doesn’t really offer any principled way of separating legitimate government speech from illegitimate government coercion.” Jonathan Turley, a professor at George Washington University’s law school, praised the court’s order but said it “will have a difficult time on appeal, because it is such a rare and novel order.”
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- Law schools that give preferences to minorities and women in admissions and hiring risk getting sued by America First Legal, the conservative legal group warned in a letter to 200 U.S. law schools following last week’s U.S. Supreme Court decision on affirmative action. One legal scholar whose school received the letter said it adopts an expansive view of the justices’ recent ruling. (Reuters)
- Georgia attorney L. Lin Wood, who faced ethics scrutiny after challenging former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss, has formally retired from practicing law, according to a letter Wood publicly disclosed. His retirement ends state bar disciplinary proceedings against Wood. The decision to retire is permanent and means he can no longer act as a lawyer. (Reuters)
- Lawyers for suspended Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said he will not testify in his upcoming impeachment trial in the state Senate and indicated Paxton would fight any efforts to compel him to testify. State legislators impeached Paxton in May on charges including bribery. Paxton has denied any wrongdoing. (Reuters)
- Quinn Emanuel asked a Chicago federal judge to block a subpoena against the firm from Sanjay Gupta, former dean of the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. Gupta is suing the school and various officials, alleging they “improperly and unjustifiably removed Gupta’s appointment as Dean and endowed chair position based on false pretexts.” The school’s board of trustees had hired Quinn Emanuel for work including an internal review of the circumstances of Gupta’s departure. The firm said in its filing that it was “bound to protect information” about its services to the board.
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Number of the day:
$89,172.50
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That’s how much Willkie and other lawyers asked a D.C. federal court to award in legal fees as a sanction against Rudy Giuliani in a defamation lawsuit brought against him and others by two former Georgia election workers. U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell previously ordered Giuliani, Donald Trump’s ex-lawyer, to pay attorney fees and costs associated with the plaintiffs’ effort to force Giuliani to search for documents. Willkie is working pro bono in the litigation.
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In a major development in private crypto litigation, a California judge last week certified a class of U.S. purchasers of XRP digital assets in a case accusing XRP’s issuer, blockchain company Ripple Labs, of selling unregistered securities. The Ripple class — which may include millions of XRP purchasers, according to class counsel from Susman Godfrey and Taylor-Copeland Law — is the most consequential yet to have been certified in a crypto class action. And it doesn’t matter, according to the judge who certified the class, that tens of thousands of them disagree with the fundamental premise of the case. Alison Frankel has details on the milestone decision.
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“The D.C. Circuit’s holdings threaten legitimate companies and nonprofits with massive liability for supplying goods and services in the places most in need.“
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- U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper in D.C. will hold a status and scheduling hearing in the lawsuit filed by 96-year-old Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman in her challenge to an order suspending her from hearing cases amid an investigation into her competence and conduct. Newman, represented by Greg Dolin of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, said in a court filing that her suspension without a misconduct finding is unconstitutional and repeated her argument that she is fit to serve, citing a recent neurological exam that she said “revealed no significant cognitive deficits.”
- In Los Angeles, U.S. District Judge George Wu will consider claims alleging University of Southern California made misrepresentations for more than a decade about the USC Rossier School of Education’s annual standing in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings of education schools. Lawyers for the school assert among other defenses that the plaintiffs “did not bargain for a particular ranking” but instead “bargained for an education, which they received. Attorneys from Shook Hardy represent USC, and Latham represents co-defendant 2U, accused of leading “the effort to disseminate this ranking to prospective students.” Lawyers at Tycko & Zavareei are on the plaintiffs’ team.
- Donald Trump aide Walt Nauta is expected in federal court in Florida before Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin Torres to face charges in connection with the mishandling of classified documents. Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges that he unlawfully kept national security documents when he left office and lied to officials who sought to recover them. Nauta and Trump were released after an initial court appearance without having to post bond and were ordered not to talk to other witnesses. Nauta did not enter a plea then because he did not have a local attorney to appear with him in court.
- In Chicago, U.S. District Judge Mary Rowland will hold a status conference in multidistrict litigation over claims that hair-relaxers sold by L’Oreal USA and other companies cause cancer. Rowland in March named Diandra “Fu” Debrosse Zimmermann of DiCello Levitt and Ben Crump as co-lead counsel, along with Fidelma Fitzpatrick of Motley Rice and Michael London of Douglas & London. L’Oreal has said it is “confident in the safety of our products and believe the recent lawsuits filed against us have no legal merit.” The company is represented by attorneys from Ellis George Cipollone O’Brien Annaguey and Gordon Rees.
- Lawyers for Louisiana Children’s Medical Center, HCA Healthcare and the FTC will meet in New Orleans federal court for a status hearing in a mergers and acquisitions dispute pending before U.S. District Judge Lance Africk. The FTC contends Louisiana Children’s plan to acquire three hospitals from HCA should have been presented to the agency for review. Louisiana Children’s, represented by Hogan Lovells, and HCA’s attorneys at Simpson Thacher argue the deal was immune from disclosure requirements and a waiting period under the federal Hart-Scott-Rodino Act. Attorneys for Louisiana also contend the transaction was “authorized by clearly articulated and affirmatively expressed state policy.”
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Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.
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- Elon Musk’s SpaceX won court permission to intervene as a defendant in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups challenging the company’s federal approvals for rocket launches near a national wildlife refuge in Texas. The Center for Biological Diversity and others sued the FAA in D.C. federal court in May, claiming the government failed to adequately consider environmental harms from the next-generation Starship rocket program. Lawyers from Venable represent SpaceX. (Reuters)
- Prince Harry fought to take his phone-hacking lawsuit against Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers to trial, asking London’s High Court to let him rely on an alleged “secret agreement” between Britain’s royal family and the publisher. NGN has argued Harry should have taken action sooner. (Reuters)
- Apple infringed two telecommunications patents used in devices including iPhones and iPads, London’s Court of Appeal ruled, dismissing the tech giant’s appeal in a long-running dispute with Texas-based Optis Cellular Technology. Optis sued Apple in 2019 over its use of patents, which Optis says are essential to certain technological standards, such as 4G. (Reuters)
- An Indian court said leasing companies can access aircraft leased to Go First for inspection and maintenance, though they were still unable to repossess them while the airline’s operations remain stalled. Lessors of Go First, granted bankruptcy protection in May, have made several attempts to reclaim planes for missed payments, filing over 50 requests with India’s aviation watchdog to allow repossession. (Reuters)
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- O’Melveny hired real estate finance partner Malcolm Montgomery in New York from Shearman & Sterling, where he was head of the real estate practice. (Reuters)
- Arnold & Porter hired Los Angeles-based partner Gina Cavalier in the firm’s life sciences and healthcare regulatory group. She was previously at Cooley. (Reuters)
- Akin added D.C.-based tax partner Sam Guthrie, who focuses on projects and energy transition. Guthrie rejoins the firm from Allen & Overy. (Akin)
- Dechert added Robert Leonard and Michael Mavrides as New York-based partners in the firm’s financial services and investment management practice. They arrive from Proskauer. (Dechert)
- Thompson Coburn brought on Yael Tobi and Michael Rosenblum as Los Angeles-based partners. Tobi, who focuses on commercial litigation, previously led West Coast litigation for Munck Wilson Mandala. Rosenblum joined the firm’s corporate and securities practice from cannabis company STIIIZY, where he was general counsel. (Thompson Coburn)
- Vedder Price added Todd Lurie as an investment services partner in D.C. Lurie was previously an associate general counsel at MetLife focused on global derivatives. (Vedder Price)
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Damages under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act can quickly add up, writes Anjali Das of Wilson Elser. The statute provides for damages of $1,000 for each negligent violation and up to $5,000 for reckless or intentional violations. The Illinois Supreme Court has said a company can be subject to violations of the biometric law each time it scans or transmits biometric data without an individual’s prior consent. Companies can’t shift liability to vendors.
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