Public Interest

SCOTUS will consider impact of death row inmate’s multiple IQ tests in determining execution eligibility

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide whether and how courts can consider multiple IQ tests when considering whether a death row inmate is intellectually disabled and ineligible for execution.

Jun 12, 2025 3:51 PM CDT

Transgender lawyers are resilient, but level of fear is real, says business consultant and coach

While June is Pride Month, Dru Levasseur, a transgender attorney, thinks it’s a somber time for the trans and nonbinary community.

Jun 12, 2025 3:03 PM CDT

Suit over mistaken raid by FBI SWAT team given another chance by Supreme Court

A federal appeals court made “two faulty assumptions” when it tossed an Atlanta family’s lawsuit over a mistaken raid of their home by an FBI SWAT team, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday.

Jun 12, 2025 12:06 PM CDT

7 partners leave this BigLaw firm for new boutique after pro bono deal

More lawyers from Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison are joining a litigation boutique formed by four partners of the BigLaw firm.

Jun 12, 2025 9:34 AM CDT

ABA Commission on Immigration launches new program to respond to ICE’s courthouse arrests

The Immigration Court Observation and Awareness Project aims to identify trends and systemic issues by asking volunteers to observe short preliminary hearings and record their observations. The commission plans to use this data to better support noncitizens’ access to counsel and due process rights.

Jun 11, 2025 11:33 AM CDT

How ethics reforms in Arizona led to LegalZoom’s law firm

The notion of nonlawyer ownership for law firms has long been a third rail, often resulting in bitter conflict between its proponents and its opponents. LegalZoom is certainly no stranger to this battle.

Jun 11, 2025 9:51 AM CDT

Did Trump violate law by deploying National Guard troops? Commentators see issues as California sues

The state of California is filing a lawsuit that seeks to set aside President Donald Trump’s order sending at least 2,000 state National Guard troops to Los Angeles in response to protests there over immigration raids, the state announced Monday.

Jun 10, 2025 9:15 AM CDT

Budget proposal for ‘orderly closeout’ of Legal Services Corp. is ‘devastation,’ says legal aid leader

The Legal Services Corp. has requested $2.1 billion in funding for fiscal year 2026, a far cry from the administration’s $21 million request to enable an “orderly closeout” of the program, according to a Bloomberg Law story.

Jun 9, 2025 2:09 PM CDT

Abrego Garcia is back in US, but government stonewalling merits contempt inquiry, court filing says

Lawyers for a mistakenly deported Maryland immigrant are asking a federal judge to pursue contempt proceedings against the Trump administration for “an elaborate, all-of-government effort to defy court orders” in the case seeking his return—even though the Salvadoran man is back in the United States.

Jun 9, 2025 12:14 PM CDT

Is Supreme Court giving US preferential treatment? That might be ‘troubling message,’ dissent argues

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson criticized the Supreme Court majority Friday for an emergency order allowing the Department of Government Efficiency to access data kept by the Social Security Administration.

Jun 9, 2025 10:49 AM CDT

Coco Su helps expand access to justice throughout California

Coco Su has worked with the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s lawyer referral service, SmartLaw, for more than a decade and is now its director. She has been the driving force behind many of its efforts to increase access to justice for underserved communities and low-to-moderate income consumers.

Jun 9, 2025 9:12 AM CDT

Former US attorney Damian Williams leaves Paul Weiss for Jenner & Block

Damian Williams, the former top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, is leaving the law firm Paul Weiss to join Jenner & Block, defecting from a firm that struck a deal with the Trump administration to sign on with one that fought it in court.

Jun 6, 2025 1:21 PM CDT

Judge suspends Trump’s latest bid to bar foreign students from Harvard

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday swiftly suspended the latest attempt by the Trump administration to keep international students out of Harvard, a victory for the university amid a wider, winding legal war with the administration, which for weeks has been trying to force change at the elite institution.

Jun 6, 2025 8:55 AM CDT

SCOTUS rejects Mexico’s suit against US gun-makers, sees problems with aiding-and-abetting theory

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that Mexico cannot sue U.S. gun companies for aiding the flow of guns to drug cartels because its factual allegations fell short.

Jun 5, 2025 1:12 PM CDT

Executive director of Skadden’s fellowship foundation resigns following firm’s pro bono deal with Trump

The executive director of the Skadden Foundation, a nonprofit entity that manages Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom’s public interest fellowship program, has resigned after the law firm reached a pro bono deal with President Donald Trump that affects its work.

Jun 5, 2025 11:41 AM CDT