Staff Writer

  • Trump Hush Money Judge Delays Ruling on Immunity Following Election Win

    The judge in Donald Trump’s criminal hush money case has postponed ruling on whether Trump’s conviction should be dismissed on immunity grounds, allowing prosecutors to consider next steps following his November 5 election victory. Justice Juan Merchan had initially scheduled a Tuesday ruling on Trump’s argument that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision—granting presidents immunity…

  • Senate Democrats Rush to Confirm Judges Before Trump Takes Office

    The Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate launched an urgent effort on Tuesday to confirm as many of President Joe Biden’s judicial nominees as possible, aiming to prevent vacancies that Republican Donald Trump could fill if he takes office on January 20. With Republicans poised to control the Senate starting January 3, Senate Democrats began…

  • Law Firm Profits Soared in Third Quarter of 2024, Report Finds

    Law firms experienced near-record profits in the third quarter of 2024, with profits rising 11.2% compared to the same period last year, according to a new Thomson Reuters Institute analysis of firm financial data. Higher lawyer productivity, robust billing rates, and modest expense increases point to a highly profitable year for firms, the report found.…

  • KFC Sues Church’s Over ‘Original Recipe’ Fried Chicken Ads

    KFC has filed a federal lawsuit against Church’s Texas Chicken, accusing the competitor of infringing its trademark rights by using the phrase “Original Recipe” in its advertisements. On Friday, KFC told the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas that Church’s use of the slogan in marketing its fried chicken could mislead customers.…

  • Judge to Decide Whether Trump’s Hush Money Conviction Can Stand

    A New York judge will decide this week whether to overturn President-elect Donald Trump’s criminal conviction for hush money payments to a porn star, in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s July ruling on presidential immunity. Justice Juan Merchan announced he would make his decision by Tuesday. This ruling marks the first of two critical…

  • Judicial Panel to Develop Rules to Address AI-Produced Evidence

    A federal judicial panel on Friday agreed to begin developing rules to regulate the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated evidence and address concerns about “deep fakes” in courtrooms. During a meeting in New York, the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Advisory Committee on Evidence Rules decided to move forward with two key initiatives. One will focus on…

  • Sean ‘Diddy’ Proposes $50M Bail, Denied Gag Order

    On Friday, Sean “Diddy” Combs proposed a new $50 million bail package, offering his Florida mansion as collateral in hopes of securing his release from the Brooklyn jail where he has been held for eight weeks on criminal sex trafficking charges. Combs has been denied bail three times since his arrest, with judges citing concerns…

  • Supreme Court Weighs Higher Bar for Exempting Workers from Federal Wage Law

    The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday regarding how difficult it should be for employers to prove their workers qualify for exemptions from overtime pay and other protections under U.S. wage laws. The justices spent about an hour considering an appeal by grocery distributor EMD Sales, challenging a ruling from the 4th U.S. Circuit…

  • American Airlines Loses Appeal of Ruling Barring JetBlue Alliance

    A U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that a trial judge correctly determined that American Airlines’ now-abandoned partnership with JetBlue Airways violated federal antitrust law. The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Boston, sided with the U.S. Department of Justice, affirming the trial judge’s decision to block the airlines’ “Northeast Alliance.” This alliance…

  • Massachusetts’ top court ruled on Friday that a woman must return a $70,000 engagement ring from Tiffany & Co. to her former fiancé, Bruce Johnson, marking a significant end to 65 years of legal debates in the state over who is responsible when a relationship ends. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court sided with Johnson in…