Reuters Legal

A federal appeals court extended by another year the suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, the nation's oldest active federal judge, following allegations that the 97-year-old was no longer fit to serve. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit's 11-member Judicial Council in a two-page order, unanimously adopted a recommendation by a three-judge committee investigating Newman to extend a suspension that began in September 2023. The Judicial Council suspended her last year, finding Newman refused to cooperate with an investigation into her fitness after staff raised concerns about her mental health. It barred her from hearing new cases while suspended or until she sat for court-directed medical examinations. Nate Raymond and Blake Brittain have more: https://reut.rs/3ZhCHHc #legal #legalnews

A federal judge in Boston rejected a request for up to $34.1 million in legal fees by a group of private antitrust lawyers who sued to stop the proposed $3.8 billion merger between JetBlue Airways and Spirit Airlines. U.S. District Judge William Young denied the fee request in a brief electric order. Young wrote ‘the plaintiff's motion is denied because in no sense were any of the plaintiffs a 'prevailing party' in this action.’ The airlines abandoned their merger in March after Young sided with the U.S. Department of Justice in a separate government case challenging the deal, ruling that it would harm consumers. One of the lawyers who sought the fees, Joseph Alioto of the Alioto Law Firm in San Francisco, said Young relied on the wrong statute in rejecting their request. Find out more: https://reut.rs/4gfoe4E 

U.S. law firms Troutman Pepper and Locke Lord LLP said that they have agreed to merge effective Jan. 1, creating a firm with more than 1,600 lawyers. The combined firm will be named Troutman Pepper Locke. It will have 33 U.S. offices, in addition to offices in London and Brussels, according to a joint statement. Tom Cole, chair of the larger firm Troutman Pepper, will chair the newly combined firm. Locke Lord chair David Taylor and Troutman Pepper vice chair Ashley L. Taylor, Jr. will be vice chairs of the new firm. The deal represents the largest law firm combination to emerge in 2024. Read more: https://reut.rs/3zl9Ff8 #legal #leganews #lawfirms #merger

11th Circuit Judge Kevin Newsom said he turned to AI programs like ChatGPT to help interpret a key legal term in a man's appeal of his more than 11-year prison sentence. While the judge said he was initially 'spooked' by slight variances in the answers they generated, he also said the software could be a 'valuable' tool. Subscribe to The Afternoon Docket: https://reut.rs/4aVlZjE #legal #artificialintelligence #judiciary

TikTok and a group of creators on the popular short video app have tapped a pair of leading U.S. Supreme Court lawyers to battle the U.S. government over a law requiring China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. assets or face a ban. Andrew Pincus of law firm Mayer Brown will argue against the controversial U.S. law for TikTok and ByteDance when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit hears arguments in their case on Sept 16. Jeffrey Fisher of Stanford Law School will advocate for content creators. They will face longtime appellate lawyer Daniel Tenny of the Justice Department, which is defending the law. Mike Scarcella has more: https://reut.rs/3Th1eZ8 #legal #legalnews #litigation

A New York judge delayed former U.S. President Donald Trump's sentencing in his hush money criminal case until after the Nov. 5 election, writing that he wants to avoid the unwarranted perception of a political motive. Trump, the Republican nominee for president, had previously been scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 18. His lawyers in August asked Justice Juan Merchan to push back his sentencing date until after the vote, citing 'naked election-interference objectives.' Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who brought the charges against Trump, is a Democrat. Merchan said he now planned to sentence Trump on Nov. 26, unless the case is dismissed before then. Luc Cohen has more: https://reut.rs/47fd1wS #legal #legalnews #litigation

Twelve California cities or counties have passed camping bans since late June, while another nine are considering them or have already given initial approval, following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that camping bans are constitutional. Many of those cities cited the #SCOTUS decision as they passed new ordinances to evict unhoused people from public view. With soaring rents and an acute housing shortage, California has an estimated 180,000 homeless people even though it has spent more than $20 billion on housing and homelessness programs since the 2018-19 fiscal year. Subscribe to The Daily Docket: https://reut.rs/4dKPIxo

Amazon sued a U.S. labor board on Sep. 5, accusing it of illegally interfering in a union election at a New York City warehouse and claiming the agency's structure violates the U.S. Constitution.   The lawsuit filed in San Antonio, Texas, federal court seeks to block the NLRB from deciding a case that could force Amazon to bargain with the union, which won a 2022 election at the warehouse in Staten Island   The labor board last week upheld the results of the election, rejecting Amazon's claims that it was tainted by demonstrations held by workers and union organizers and that board officials who oversaw the voting were biased toward the union.   Amazon's lawsuit says the board's in-house enforcement proceedings violate the constitutional separation of powers and the company's right to a jury trial.   Dan Wiessner has more: https://reut.rs/47cPZXz

Amazon sued a U.S. labor board on Sep. 5, accusing it of illegally interfering in a union election at a New York City warehouse and claiming the agency's structure violates the U.S. Constitution. U.S. law firms Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders and Locke Lord said that they have agreed to merge effective Jan. 1, creating a firm with more than 1,600 lawyers.  Giuliani's $2 million outstanding legal bill to the Trump campaign could be collected by two Georgia poll workers falsely accused of election fraud. TikTok and a group of creators on the popular short video app have tapped a pair of leading SCOTUS lawyers to battle the U.S. government over a law requiring China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. assets or face a ban. Here’s your legal file 👇

TikTok and a group of creators on the popular short video app have tapped a pair of leading U.S. Supreme Court lawyers to battle the U.S. government over a law requiring China-based ByteDance to divest TikTok's U.S. assets or face a ban. Andrew Pincus of law firm Mayer Brown will argue against the controversial U.S. law for TikTok and ByteDance when the D.C. Circuit hears arguments in their case on Sept 16. Jeffrey Fisher of Stanford Law School will advocate for content creators. They will face longtime appellate lawyer Daniel Tenny of the Justice Department, which is defending the law. TikTok and ByteDance are also represented by a team from law firm Covington & Burling, including Alexander Berengaut, who is lead counsel for the companies and co-leader of the firm’s government litigation group. Subscribe to The Daily Docket: https://reut.rs/4dKPIxo