Trials & Litigation

Posner wins dismissal of suit for unpaid salary by pro se plaintiff who led his center for unrepresented litigants

Retired federal appeals Judge Richard Posner has won dismissal of a lawsuit filed by an Indiana man who said he was owed $170,000 in unpaid salary for leading a Posner-founded group that helped litigants representing themselves in court.

May 20, 2025 11:09 AM CDT

Climate change suit alleging energy companies created public nuisance may proceed, top state court says

Two energy companies accused of contributing to climate change can be sued in state court, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled last week.

May 20, 2025 8:50 AM CDT

Charges dropped against disbarred ‘Erin Brockovich’ lawyer Tom Girardi in Illinois

A federal judge in Chicago has granted the government’s motion to dismiss pending client-theft charges against disbarred lawyer Tom Girardi in Illinois following his wire fraud conviction in California.

May 19, 2025 9:42 AM CDT

Smartmatic says evidence shows Fox execs didn’t believe election claims

Fox News employees, up and down the corporate ladder, did not believe that the 2020 election was rigged, despite claims that were later broadcast on the network implicating voting technology company Smartmatic in a broader conspiracy to throw the election for Joe Biden, according to newly unsealed documents.

May 16, 2025 11:40 AM CDT

Supreme Court grapples with nationwide orders blocking birthright citizenship ban

The Supreme Court appeared divided Thursday about whether to scale back nationwide orders that have blocked President Donald Trump’s ban on birthright citizenship, in a case with implications for judicial power and what it means to be an American.

May 15, 2025 1:36 PM CDT

Accused killer Karen Read stars in Max docuseries—but why?

I haven’t followed the Karen Read trial. It’s rare for me to stay too engaged in a pending publicized trial, and like you will hear many professional athletes state that they don’t watch their sport during downtime, I imagine it’s true for my profession as well.

May 15, 2025 12:13 PM CDT

Judge temporarily reinstates ABA domestic violence grants, finding US likely retaliated for protected speech

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., ruled for the ABA on Wednesday in its challenge to termination of federal domestic violence grants used to train and offer technical support to lawyers who help survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault.

May 15, 2025 10:34 AM CDT

Sanctions imposed for ‘collective debacle’ involving AI hallucinations and 2 firms, including K&L Gates

A special master has imposed a $31,100 sanction against K&L Gates and a second law firm for submitting a brief with “bogus AI research.”

May 14, 2025 12:50 PM CDT

Book detailing 5 fights for democracy is among 2025 Silver Gavel Award winners

A new book about assaults on democracy by past American presidents is among the recipients of this year’s Silver Gavel Awards for Media and the Arts. The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It, written by Brown University professor Corey Brettschneider, took home the top prize in the books category.

May 14, 2025 11:00 AM CDT

Court’s religious training order for attorneys ‘plainly exceeded remedial bounds,’ 5th Circuit says

A federal appeals court ruled last week that a federal judge erred when he required lawyers for Southwest Airlines to attend “religious liberty training” for failing to comply with a court order.

May 12, 2025 12:45 PM CDT

Federal judge orders release of detained Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk

A federal judge ordered the government to release a Tufts University graduate student who was grabbed off the street in late March and detained for co-writing an opinion piece in a student newspaper criticizing the war in Gaza.

May 9, 2025 2:45 PM CDT

$2.6M settlement approved in suit claiming meditation program violated public school students’ religious rights

A federal judge in Chicago has approved a $2.6 million settlement in a class action lawsuit alleging that the Chicago Public Schools violated the establishment clause when it required students to participate in transcendental meditation or observe a half hour of silence.

May 8, 2025 12:53 PM CDT

NC justice can be sworn in after 6-month court battle over top court seat

A Republican who narrowly lost a North Carolina Supreme Court election ended his challenge to the results Wednesday, clearing the way for the Democratic incumbent to be sworn in six months after she won the race.

May 7, 2025 4:45 PM CDT

Likeness of man killed in road-rage incident gives impact statement at sentencing, thanks to AI

An AI-generated video of a slain man told an Arizona judge last month that he believes in forgiveness, and that in another life, he and the man who killed him “probably could have been friends.”

May 7, 2025 11:40 AM CDT

California state bar sues vendor after troubled exam

Now facing an audit itself, the State Bar of California is suing ProctorU, the vendor that administered the ill-fated February launch of the state’s remote and hybrid exam, alleging the company failed to deliver on its claims that it was capable of handling the needs of bar examinees.

May 7, 2025 9:22 AM CDT