Fla. Suit Alleging Race Bias In New Voting Districts Proceeds

By David Minsky

A Florida federal court has ruled that a lawsuit by five Tampa-area citizens accusing state officials of using race to redraw two new voting districts in their region can proceed, saying the residents do not claim vote dilution and are not required to allege a discriminatory effect.

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Florida Judicial Ethics Panel Split Over Personal Fundraising

By Madison Arnold

 A judicial candidate may distribute business cards and other campaign materials with a web address for his campaign site that includes an option to donate but cannot post a cover photo with that same URL on the candidate's personal Facebook page, the majority of Florida's Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee has found.

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Peru Ducks $154M Claim Over Seized Gold Shipments

By Caroline Simson

Peru has fended off a Miami-based gold trader's $154 million claim accusing the country of unlawfully seizing its gold shipments, after an international tribunal ruled Tuesday that it lacked jurisdiction and that the trader should be on the hook for all costs in the proceeding.

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Russian Gas Ex-CFO Can't Nix $44M FBAR Suit, Judge Rules

By Anna Scott Farrell

The former chief financial officer of a Russian gas company who was sentenced to seven years in prison for hiding money in Swiss banks can't escape the government's civil suit seeking nearly $44 million in reporting penalties, a Florida federal judge ruled Wednesday.

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EEOC Suit Over Vax Refuser's Firing Survives Dismissal Bid

By Patrick Hoff

Arkansas-based Hank's Furniture Inc. must face a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit claiming it unlawfully fired a Christian manager who refused the COVID-19 vaccine, with a Florida federal judge ruling the agency plausibly alleged her beliefs conflicted with the company's inoculation policy.

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Law Firm Urges Reversal Of Malpractice Arbitration Award

By Carolina Bolado

The Ferraro Law Firm urged a Florida appeals court Wednesday to reverse a trial court order upholding a $1.5 million arbitration award against it over alleged malpractice, arguing that its opponent and former client improperly got a successor trial judge to reverse course after the first one vacated the arbitration ruling.

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Masters Employee Cops To Selling $5.3M In Golf Memorabilia

By Elliot Weld

A former employee of Augusta National Golf Club pled guilty Wednesday to stealing $5.3 million worth of memorabilia from the Masters golf tournament and selling it online, including a green jacket belonging to Arnold Palmer.

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Hemp Co. Settles Sales Dispute With Fla. Regulators

By Jonathan Capriel

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has inked a deal with a hemp-product maker that accused the agency of overstepping its bounds and using stop-sale orders to block it from selling its hemp products outside the state.

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Insurer Says Security Co. Not Covered For Nightclub Injuries

By Jennifer Mandato

A security services company is not owed coverage for three underlying personal injury lawsuits stemming from multiple shooting and stabbing incidents at a Florida gentlemen's club, an insurer told a New York federal court, stating its policies exclude coverage for injuries sustained at clubs and assault.

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Fla. Sheriff Caved To ICE Detainer On American, Atty Says

By David Minsky

Attorneys for a Tampa-area U.S. citizen mistaken for a Jamaican national and nearly deported told a Florida federal judge Wednesday that the Monroe County sheriff lacked probable cause to arrest the man, arguing that the police agency blindly followed a federal immigration detainer without checking its accuracy.

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Fees Sought For Missed Depo During Atty's Solar Eclipse Trip

By Lynn LaRowe

In following up on a Florida federal judge's sanctioning of a lawyer whose client missed a deposition while the attorney was solar eclipse viewing, AAA is asking the court to award it more than $7,800 in fees and costs as it fights a gender discrimination lawsuit.

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Little People Wrestling Co. Starts 'Micro' TM Fight With Rival

By Elaine Briseño

Low Budget Rock Star Entertainment LLC, which produces wrestling entertainment featuring little people, has accused two men of infringing its trademark by using the word "micro" in their own wrestling ventures, according to a lawsuit filed in Florida federal court.

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Insurer Wants Payback For Covering Theater Group Theft

By Elizabeth Daley

An insurance company has asked a Connecticut federal court to force a married couple to pay for coverage it granted a theater education group that it says was bilked out of nearly $588,000 by the pair via personal use of the nonprofit's funds.

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11th Circ. Ruling May Foreshadow Ch. 15 Clashes

The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in In re: Talal Qais Abdulmunem Al Zawawi has introduced a split from the Second Circuit regarding whether debtors in foreign proceedings must have a domicile, calling attention to the understudied nature of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, say attorneys at Cleary.

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What The Justices' Copyright Damages Ruling Didn't Address

While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Warner Chappell v. Nealy clarified when a copyright owner may recover damages in jurisdictions that apply the so-called discovery rule, it did not settle the overriding question of whether the Copyright Act even permits applying the rule, say Ivy Estoesta and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.

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Devil's In The Details On FDCPA, Article III Standing

The Third Circuit’s recent decision in Barclift v. Keystone Credit Services concerning the alleged harm needed to support a class action under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act is in line with other circuits' interpretations of Article III of the Constitution, notwithstanding disagreement over the minutiae of a proper Article III analysis, says Nick Agnello at Burr & Forman.

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Series

Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

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Analysis

In Hush Money Case, Jury May Choose To Keep Silent, Too

By Cara Salvatore

Though Donald Trump's gag order violations have earned him a threat of jail time, First Amendment experts say jurors in the New York case will likely be free to speak their mind afterward if they want to — a dynamic that in rare instances has led to posttrial controversy.

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Trump Taking Criminal Gag Order Appeal To NY's High Court

By Lauren Berg

Former president Donald Trump wants New York's highest court to review a gag order intended to stop him from criticizing witnesses and others involved in his criminal fraud trial, according to a docket entry Wednesday, just a day after a lower appellate court refused to overturn the order.

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Womble Bond Names 'Fearless Leader' As Chair, CEO-Elect

By Tracey Read

Womble Bond Dickinson announced Wednesday that global finance partner Merrick Benn has been elected U.S. chair and CEO, for a three-year term effective Jan. 1.

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Paul Weiss Establishes Center To Combat Hate

By Lynn LaRowe

Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP announced Wednesday that it has launched the Center to Combat Hate, an organization that will partner with civil rights groups and educational institutions to use litigation in tackling violence and intimidation driven by hate.

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Tesla Fires Back At Claims It Bullied Retired Law Professor

By Alison Knezevich

Tesla has pushed back against allegations that it tried to bully a retired law professor out of weighing in on an investor suit over CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion compensation plan, according to new filings in Delaware.

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Senators Release 'Road Map' For Crafting Federal AI Policy

By Jared Foretek

A bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday laid out a "road map" for artificial intelligence policy that calls for increased AI innovation funding, testing of potential harms posed by AI and consideration of the technology's workforce implications.

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NY Magistrate Judge, SD Law Partner OK'd For District Courts

By Courtney Buble

The Senate voted 51-42 on Wednesday to confirm Magistrate Judge Sanket Jayshukh Bulsara to the Eastern District of New York and 61-33 to confirm Eric C. Schulte, partner at Davenport Evans Hurwitz & Smith LLP, to the District of South Dakota.

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US Attorney For Colorado Resigns From Post

By Thy Vo

U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Cole Finegan announced Wednesday that he will step down at the end of May to return to the private sector, after serving for more than two years in the role.

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House Dems Launch Task Force To Address High Court 'Crisis'

By Courtney Bublé

A group of House Democrats on Wednesday launched a task force seeking to bring more transparency and accountability to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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'Where's Bob?' Nowhere Near Wife's Gold Bars, Jury Hears

By Carla Baranauckas

Sen. Robert Menendez and his future wife weren't living together when an alleged bribery scheme took root six years ago and continued residing mostly apart after they married, he in Washington, D.C., and she in her New Jersey home that had a closet filled with gold bars and cash, jurors heard Wednesday.

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Del. Justices Ask: Do Attys Get Thinner Slice Of $1B Dell Pie?

By Leslie A. Pappas

A near record-breaking $266.7 million fee for stockholder attorneys who settled a Chancery Court class action against Dell Technologies Inc. for $1 billion had Delaware's Supreme Court raising questions Wednesday about how the state traditionally calculates attorney fee awards in large class action settlements.

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DocuSign Investors Near Cert. In Post-COVID Prospects Fight

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge told counsel Wednesday he's inclined to certify a class of investors who allege DocuSign and its top brass misled investors about the e-signature company's post-pandemic growth prospects, saying DocuSign's challenges to the class-wide damages model seem premature, and the investors easily meet other class certification requirements.

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