A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday appeared skeptical of arguments by the Trump administration that it can continue delivering legally mandated services without reinstating hundreds of U.S. Department of Education employees who were fired last month.
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TOP NEWS

Judge Asks How Ed Dept. Can Fulfill Mandates Without Staff

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday appeared skeptical of arguments by the Trump administration that it can continue delivering legally mandated services without reinstating hundreds of U.S. Department of Education employees who were fired last month.

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19 AGs Sue Trump Admin Over Anti-DEI School Funding Threat

By Gina Kim

Nearly 20 state attorneys general sued the U.S. Department of Education in Massachusetts federal court Friday accusing it of embarking on efforts to withhold funding from educational institutions that engage in vague, undefined, "illegal" diversity, equity and inclusion practices through an agency action passed earlier this month.

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Harvard Can't Escape Ousted Ice Hockey Coach's Bias Suit

By Gina Kim

A Massachusetts federal judge refused to nix a former Harvard University ice hockey coach's sex bias suit alleging she was paid less than her male colleagues, issuing an order Friday that agreed with a magistrate judge's report rejecting Harvard's argument that her claims were filed too late.  

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HHS Says Cuts Target Excess After Judge Seeks More Info

By Gianna Ferrarin

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told a Rhode Island federal judge that a group of states has no basis to challenge the cancellation of billions in grants supporting public health programs because they already received the funds appropriated to them by Congress.

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Insulet's $452M Trade Secrets Award Reduced To $59.4M

By Ivan Moreno

A $452 million trade secrets jury award for Insulet Corp. has been cut to $59.4 million by a Massachusetts federal judge who said the reduction is necessary to avoid double recovery and to comply with the law, following a trend where courts have reduced large jury awards in trade secret cases.

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J&J Unit Sees Claims Trimmed In Engineer's Bias Suit

By Emmy Freedman

A Johnson & Johnson-owned prosthetics company does not have to face claims that an engineer filed his lawsuit, alleging violations of the Family and Medical Leave Act, too late, a Massachusetts federal judge ruled Friday, but determined some of the allegations are timely and can proceed.

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LITIGATION

Tort Report: Texas Justices Set Dram Shop Standard

By Y. Peter Kang

The Texas Supreme Court's clarification of a bar's liability in a suit over the alleged overserving of alcohol and a suit over a Boeing whistleblower's suicide lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Hearst Wins Toss Of VPPA Suit Over News App Data Sharing

By Nadia Dreid

Hearst Television is done with a lawsuit that accused it of intentionally sharing the personal information of its app's users with Google's DoubleClick and another third party, a Massachusetts federal judge has declared after finding Hearst didn't violate a law against sharing identifiable information.

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Mass. Data Broker Accused Of Flouting Colo. Privacy Law

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts data broker is violating a Colorado law barring the inclusion of personal cellphone numbers in online directories without permission, a proposed class action alleges.

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Mondelez Says Ghost Can't Use Sour Patch, Other Snack TMs

By Lauraann Wood

Two Mondelez International subsidiaries have filed suit in Illinois to halt Ghost LLC's marketing of energy products that feature Sour Patch Kids, Oreo and certain other iconic snack brand trademarks, claiming Ghost's license to do so ended when Keurig Dr. Pepper began controlling the company.

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DEALS

Nutter McClennen, Goodwin Steer $490M Mass. Banking Deal

By Al Barbarino

Eastern Bankshares Inc. has agreed to acquire HarborOne Bancorp in a $490 million deal steered respectively by Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP and Goodwin Procter LLP, expanding Eastern's regional banking footprint across Massachusetts and into Rhode Island.

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Roundup

Real Estate Recap: Q1 Hospo Deals, Data Center Speculation

By Real Estate Authority Staff

Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including the law firms that guided the largest global hospitality mergers and acquisitions of the first quarter, and how local utilities are attempting to weed out data center speculators.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Legal Ethics Considerations For Law Firm Pro Bono Deals

If a law firm enters into a pro bono deal with the Trump administration in exchange for avoiding or removing an executive order, it has an ethical obligation to create a written settlement agreement with specific terms, which would mitigate some potential conflict of interest problems, says Andrew Altschul at Buchanan Angeli.

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Series

Playing Football Made Me A Better Lawyer

While my football career ended over 15 years ago, the lessons the sport taught me about grit, accountability and resilience have stayed with me and will continue to help me succeed as an attorney, says Bert McBride at Trenam.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

'Give Me A Break': Judge Questions DOJ On Jenner Order

By Aebra Coe

The Department of Justice on Monday argued for the dismissal of Jenner & Block LLP's lawsuit against the federal government over an executive order targeting the law firm for its selection of clients, with the judge on the case commenting "Give me a break" at one point during the DOJ's turn to speak.

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Speaker Johnson's Former Top Lawyer Joining Jenner In DC

By Alison Knezevich

The former general counsel to U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is joining Jenner & Block LLP to co-chair its congressional investigations practice, the firm said Monday.

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Baker Donelson Picks Up Longtime HHS OIG Atty In Maryland

By Gina Kim

Amanda Copsey, a longtime U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General attorney, has joined Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC as a shareholder in its Baltimore office, bringing nearly 20 years of experience in healthcare laws and regulations.

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MyPillow Attys Blame Filing Error After Judge Suspects AI Use

By Andrea Keckley

Attorneys representing MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell in a defamation lawsuit from a former Dominion Voting Systems Corp. executive have told a Colorado federal judge that a February brief the court suspected of being written with AI was a rough draft filed by mistake.

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Tech Exec Says Littler's 'Unlawful' Advice Led To Suspension

By Patrick Hoff

Littler Mendelson PC shouldn't be allowed to escape a tech executive's lawsuit claiming that she was suspended and ultimately fired for complaining about her boss' sexist comments, the employee told a New York federal court, arguing that the firm's advice directly led to her employer's retaliation.

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'Withdraw Your Accusation': Attys, Justices Clash In ADA Case

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court arguments over the standard of proof students must meet to pursue Americans with Disabilities Act claims of discrimination in public schooling turned combative Monday when one veteran litigator accused another of lying to the justices, eliciting sharp rebukes from several members of the bench.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Baker Botts

Baker Donelson

Berger Singerman

Birnbaum & Godkin

Buchanan Angeli

Bursor & Fisher

Cadwalader Wickersham

Cain & Skarnulis

Carlton Fields

Cooley LLP

DLA Piper

Epstein Becker

Fee Smith

Foley Hoag

Fried Frank

Gibson Dunn

Goodwin Procter

Gunster Yoakley

Hengeler Mueller

Holland & Knight

Jenner & Block

Katz Barron

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Littler Mendelson

McCarter & English

McNees Wallace

Meyer Unkovic

Milbank LLP

Nelson Mullins

Nesenoff & Miltenberg

Nutter McClennen

ODU Law Firm

Offit Kurman

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Ratwik Roszak

Recht Kornfeld

Reed Smith

Royer Cooper

Sanford Heisler

Sidley Austin

Susman Godfrey

Thomas Quinn

Trenam Law

Williams & Connolly

WilmerHale

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

American Bar Association

Appian Corp.

Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp.

Columbia Banking System Inc.

DePuy Synthes Cos.

Democracy Forward Foundation

Eastern Bankshares Inc.

Equinix Inc.

Getty Images Holdings Inc.

Google LLC

HarborOne Bank

Harvard University

Heartland Financial USA, Inc.

Independent Bank Group Inc.

Infopay Inc.

Insulet Corp.

Insulet Corporation

Intel Corp.

International Olympic Committee

Johnson & Johnson

Keurig Dr Pepper Inc.

Las Vegas Sands Corp.

McGuireWoods Consulting LLC

Medtronic PLC

Mondelez International Inc.

Mortgage Bankers Association

National Association of Realtors

National Education Association

National Football Museum Inc.

New York University

Nuveen LLC

Pacific Premier Bancorp Inc.

Pegasystems Inc.

RealPage Inc.

Sandy Spring Bancorp Inc.

Snap Inc.

Starwood Property Trust Inc.

Surfside

The Boeing Co.

UMB Financial Corp.

Umpqua Holdings Corporation

Venture Global LNG

Volkswagen AG

Wabash National Corp.

Yardi Systems Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Attorney General's Office

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

City and County of San Francisco, California

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Delaware Court of Chancery

European Union

Florida State Senate

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Texas Supreme Court

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Rhode Island

U.S. Department of Education

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island

U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado