Today's Legal Pulse
Biden sues DOJ to block release of interview audio
President Joe Biden has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to prevent the Department of Justice from publishing an audio recording of his interview. The action, reported by Axios and TIME, aims to keep the interview confidential amid political controversy.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader clear final merger hurdles
Worker’s Firing Days Before Retirement Didn’t Violate ERISA, Judge Holds
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio ruled in *Armstrong v. Western & Southern Financial Group* that the insurer did not violate ERISA when it terminated a sales representative days before her planned May 2022 retirement. The employee, with 18 years of service, claimed the firing was intended to block her retirement‑benefit entitlement. The judge dismissed the claim, finding no reasonable inference of benefit interference and noting a six‑month limitations clause that barred the suit. The decision clarifies the evidentiary burden for ERISA retaliation claims.
Employee Benefits Regulator to Focus on ‘Bad Actors’
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced a strategic shift to target enforcement on the most egregious conduct that harms employee benefit plans. The agency outlined four guiding principles emphasizing timely, fair action tied directly to...
Settlement Bars Arizona Utility From Extreme-Heat Disconnections
Arizona Public Service (APS) agreed to a $7 million settlement that bars the utility from disconnecting service for nonpayment when temperatures reach 95 °F or higher. The deal follows the death of 82‑year‑old customer Katherine Korman, whose power was cut on a...
Dem Senators Boost Effort to Reinstate Two Immigration Judges
Democratic senators have asked the Federal Circuit to expedite an appeal by two former immigration judges who were fired under an at‑will authority asserted by the Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB). The MSPB’s ruling, based on a half‑sentence dictum from...
Fired Fannie Mae Workers' Defamation Lawsuit Dismissed
U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema dismissed the defamation lawsuit filed by 61 former Fannie Mae employees, allowing them to refile the claim. The workers, all of Indian origin, said FHFA Director Bill Pulte’s public statements falsely portrayed them as engaging...
The Trump Administration Has Fired Over 100 Immigration Judges Without Explanation
The Justice Department has dismissed more than 100 immigration judges since President Trump began his second term, with the latest report identifying the 113th judge fired without any public explanation. Unlike Article III judges, immigration judges serve at the pleasure...
Mullin Blasts Biden Admin After DHS Employee Killed By Naturalized Felon
Department of Homeland Security auditor Lauren Bullis was shot and stabbed to death while walking her dog in DeKalb County, Georgia. Police arrested 26‑year‑old Olaolukitan Adon‑Abel, a naturalized U.S. citizen with a violent felony record, and charged him with two...
The Myth of the CMMC “Easy Button:” Why Shortcuts Usually Collapse Under Scrutiny From a Third-Party Assessor
Defense contractors face intense pressure to meet CMMC Level 2 requirements on compressed timelines, turning what was once a planning exercise into a contractual mandate. The article warns that shortcuts—such as relying on shared multi‑tenant environments or skipping a proven reference...
Paramount‑Skydance’s $110 B Warner Bros. Deal Sparks Massive Industry Backlash
Paramount Skydance’s $110 billion bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery has drawn an open‑letter protest from more than 2,000 film and television professionals. Critics warn the deal would shrink the studio landscape, raise antitrust concerns and threaten creative freedom. Regulators in...
Maine Rejects Broad Privacy Bill
Maine lawmakers rejected the Maine Online Data Privacy Act (LD 1822), a sweeping proposal that would have restricted data collection, mandated opt‑outs for behaviorally targeted advertising, and banned the sale of sensitive information such as biometric, genetic, and race data. The...
The $50 Million Salad: Green Gurus Who Landed Biden Loan Committed Fraud, Lawsuit Claims
Vertical Harvest Maine L3C, an $80 million indoor hydroponic farm championed by Maine officials, received a $48.7 million USDA‑guaranteed loan and $1 million state loan but has operated at only 3‑4 percent capacity with two employees. A Canadian broker, Waterside Commercial Finance, sued the...
Pentagon Seeks Full Access to Anthropic’s Claude AI, Company Pushes Back
The Pentagon asked Anthropic for unrestricted access to its Claude AI models, prompting the firm to refuse. Defense officials labeled Anthropic a supply‑chain risk, a designation a judge later blocked, leaving the dispute unresolved and highlighting tensions between national security...
Minnesota's Classic Car Weekend Driving Bill Stalls Out in State Legislature
Minnesota lawmakers introduced a bill to extend weekend‑driving privileges for vehicles bearing collector plates, but critics argued it would also codify tighter mid‑week limits. The proposal generated push‑back from classic‑car enthusiasts who feared new restrictions on when they could operate...
Cumulus Media Bankruptcy Plan Approved
A federal judge in Texas has approved Cumulus Media's reorganization plan, erasing $592 million of debt and securing up to $100 million in lender financing to sustain operations. The plan keeps CEO Mary Berner and CFO Francisco Lopez‑Balboa at the helm through...
Federal Court Expands AI Ban to All Discovery Materials in Protective Order
A U.S. district court broadened a protective order to prohibit the use of public AI tools on any discovery material, not just confidential documents. The ruling signals a shift in how courts will manage technology in litigation and forces firms...
Montana High Court Affirms Block on Binary Sex Definition
The Montana Supreme Court ruled 5‑2 that the state cannot enforce a binary definition of sex, allowing transgender residents to amend birth certificates and driver’s licenses to match their gender identity. The decision overturns Senate Bill 458, enacted in 2023,...
Senate Committee Unanimously Advances $15 Million Mental Health in Aviation Act
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee voted unanimously to advance the bipartisan Mental Health in Aviation Act, a $15 million measure that would require the FAA to revise rules so pilots can seek mental‑health treatment without risking their careers. The...
N.Y. Judge Backs Insurer in Staged-Crash Scheme
A New York Supreme Court judge granted summary judgment to Integon National Insurance, finding that eight collisions between March and July 2023 were deliberately staged by an Ecuadorian fraud ring. The court determined the crashes did not qualify as legitimate...
Chancery Imposes Penalties for Intentional Spoliation Coupled with Forgeries and Lies
The Delaware Court of Chancery sanctioned NICbyte LLC for deliberately deleting electronic communications, forging documents, and lying to the court in the NICbyte v. Startop Investments case. The court applied Rule 37(e), imposing adverse inference and shifting the opposing party’s fees...
Stablecoins vs Tokenized Deposits: How New Rules Shape U.S. Payments
Brookings' latest analysis contrasts payment stablecoins, governed by the 2025 GENIUS Act, with tokenized bank deposits that sit inside the traditional banking framework. The piece highlights divergent backing, insurance and regulatory oversight, underscoring how each model could reshape U.S. payments.
Back to Basics: The Two-Year Rule
The SBA’s two-year rule for joint ventures (JVs) begins when the JV receives its first contract, not when the JV is formed. The JV has a two‑year window to submit offers; after that, it can only win awards if the...
Elizabeth Warren on Her Proposal to Bring Back IRS Direct File: ‘For Just One Day of Bombing Iran, We Could...
Senator Elizabeth Warren is re‑introducing the Direct File Act to restore the IRS’s short‑lived free filing service, arguing that a single day of military action could fund two decades of the program. Her push follows a 2024 pilot that served...
SEC Approves Exemptive Order and Proposed Rule Change to Permit Customer Cross-Margining in the U.S. Treasury Market
The SEC issued a conditional exemptive order that permits broker‑dealers registered as futures commission merchants to cross‑margin customer cash Treasury positions cleared by FICC with Treasury futures cleared by CME. In parallel, the SEC approved a FICC rule change to...
Building 1,000 Black Family Trusts at Premium Price
Some black people will be mad because I charge $750 for a trust fund strategy call that acts towards the deposit of setting up a trust fund for family but for the 60+ families clients they can not thank me...
Politicians Deceive Public with Draconian Bill Pre‑election
Except for lying to the public that this draconian bill is needed at all, much less 7 months before the next election
Turning Down the Thinking: A Law & Economics Trilogue on AI Throttling
A viral GitHub issue claims Anthropic’s Claude Code model lost about 70% of its “thinking” depth during peak GPU‑load hours, prompting users to retry queries far more often. The slowdown appears tied to dynamic compute throttling rather than a change in...
FDA Reverses Ban on 12 Peptides for Review
So... @SecKennedy just announced that 12 peptides the Biden FDA shoved into "Category 2" — effectively banning them from regulated compounding pharmacies and driving people to the black market - are being pulled back for legitimate scientific review. Here's what each one...
Founders Must Use Vesting and One‑Year Cliff
Founders should have vesting shares like everyone else. With a one-year cliff for early folks that don’t work out, which is extremely common; the more founders, the more common. Yes you should make that legal before you start. Always.
Class Action Accuses Principal of Self-Dealing in Target Date Retirement Funds
A class‑action lawsuit filed in Oregon accuses Principal Financial Group of steering billions of retirement‑plan assets into its own high‑fee, underperforming target‑date funds. The complaint alleges that Principal’s proprietary index products charge fees up to 0.13%, far above the 0.02%...
Antitrust Chief Assefi, a Ticketmaster Settlement Loser
It's worth noting that acting Antitrust chief Omeed Assefi, who settled the Ticketmaster case on orders of his higher-ups, is a loser. https://t.co/dN91Pfnkfp
Harvard Law Hosts NCAA Litigator Rakesh Kilaru on College Sports
Thank you to attorney Rakesh Kilaru for joining us today at @Harvard_Law for a superb discussion on sports litigation, particularly in college sports. Rakesh has played an instrumental role for the NCAA in the House settlement & eligibility litigation. We're...
Boston City Council Members Float Eliminating Parking Minimums For All Housing Development
Boston City Councilors Sharon Durkan and Henry Santana introduced a 35‑page amendment to eliminate off‑street parking minimums for all new residential construction. The proposal would rewrite the city’s base zoning code and every neighborhood article, aiming to reduce development costs...
Jonathan Kanter Hailed for Tackling Ticketmaster Monopoly
Credit to Jonathan Kanter, one of the greatest AAGs in US history, for bringing the case against ticketmaster
Jury Finds Ticketmaster Monopoly Abuse, DOJ Settlement Pathetic
Ticketmaster abused its monopoly says jury - monster win for state antitrust ; shame on the Justice Department for settling for peanuts https://t.co/ZsHAmlbSri
Ohio Regulator Signals $5M Penalty Against Prediction Markets Platform Kalshi for Unlicensed Operations
Ohio’s Casino Control Commission has issued Kalshi a notice of intent to levy a $5 million fine for operating unlicensed sports‑related binary contracts. The regulator argues the contracts constitute illegal sports betting, while Kalshi maintains they are CFTC‑approved financial products. A...
We Beat Ticketmaster and Its Veteran Attorney
Not a good headline if you're Ticketmaster's main attorney Dan Wall. Wall came out of retirement to represent Ticketmaster. So not only did we defeat Ticketmaster, we defeated the spirit of evil boomers. https://t.co/Ahvh1iPEiB
Canada Embraces Tall Towers, California Limits to Midrise
While Canada is fine with high-rise residential even in otherwise low-slung residential areas, California insists on chunky midrise even in other highly urban areas. What explains this? https://t.co/2L7ha4W3Uw
The Clever New Lawsuit That Could Finally End ICE’s Reign of Terror in Blue States
Civil rights lawyers, led by the ACLU, have filed a lawsuit in Maine on behalf of Juan Sebastián Carvajal‑Muñoz, a lawful resident who was allegedly abducted, shackled and detained by ICE agents. The suit sidesteps the Supreme Court’s narrow Bivens doctrine...
States Still Have Teeth Despite Recent Court Losses
The lesson from today's LiveNation verdict combined with the Nxstr/Tgna TRO -- states have teeth. People seem to think that since the states lost TMO/Sprint that Fed support was sufficient. Think again.
Feds Sued over Revoking Protections for Rare Gulf Whale
A coalition of environmental groups led by the National Wildlife Federation sued the Trump administration over the Interior Department’s Endangered Species Committee’s decision to lift oil‑tanker speed and monitoring restrictions in the Gulf of Mexico. The committee, dubbed the “God...
States Diverge on OBBBA, Complicating Tax Filing Season
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is prompting a fragmented response from U.S. states, with some conforming, others decoupling, and many taking a mixed approach. This patchwork is creating a massive tracking and modeling burden for corporate tax departments,...
No Actual Loss Needed to Convict Crypto Token Fraudster, Ontario Court Rules
The Ontario Securities Commission secured a fraud conviction against Peblik token founder Stephan Katmarian after 32 investors lost roughly $484,000. A trial judge had acquitted him, but the Superior Court reversed, ruling that a loss is not required if investors'...
AELP Backed Ticketmaster Antitrust Lawsuit Since 2020
It's been a long time coming. AELP encouraged a Ticketmaster antitrust suit in 2020 in our Courage to Learn agenda for Biden. We were part of the BreakUpTicketmaster coalition. And supported @JKBustertruster when he brought the suit. We had a...
Jury Finds Live Nation, Ticketmaster Operated Illegal Monopoly
Live Nation and Ticketmaster Held Illegal Monopoly in Ticketing Market, Jury Finds https://t.co/DtLnRj7IxJ via @variety
The 2026 Am Law 100 Is Out, And Surprise: The Rich Law Firms Got Richer
The 2026 Am Law 100 shows Biglaw’s revenue surge, with Kirkland & Ellis leading at $10.56 billion, a near‑20% jump from 2025. Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz dominates profit per equity partner at $12.15 million, up 34.5%, while revenue per lawyer rose 8.7%...
Jury Finds Live Nation Illegally Monopolized Live Events Market
A New York federal jury found Live Nation Entertainment and its Ticketmaster subsidiary liable for illegally monopolizing the live‑events market, concluding a landmark antitrust case brought by 39 states and the District of Columbia. The verdict follows a Department of...
Ohio Appeals Court Revives Worker’s Claim over Disputed Subrogation Fee
An Ohio Court of Appeals revived Lamar Thomas’s challenge to a $6,044 subrogation lien imposed by the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. The court held that the $120 fee for an independent medical exam was not a recoverable subrogation interest...
Senate Committee Recommends Harsher Penalties for Copper Theft
The Senate transport and communications committee is urging the federal government to amend the Criminal Code with harsher penalties for copper theft, aligning with telecom industry demands. The committee’s report, Stolen Signal, also calls for a national metal‑theft task force...
FTC Slaps Oak Street Bootmakers Over ‘More Than Made in USA’ Claims
The Federal Trade Commission has fined Oak Street Bootmakers $75,000 and ordered it to stop misrepresenting its footwear as wholly made in the United States. The FTC found the company sourced uppers from the Dominican Republic and outsoles from Brazil,...
Lawsuit Filed Against Mining Operation In Mojave National Preserve
The National Parks Conservation Association has filed a lawsuit to block Dateline Resources Ltd.’s mining at the historic Colosseum Mine in California’s Mojave National Preserve. The suit claims the Bureau of Land Management improperly allowed the mine to resume despite...