News

Medical Associations Sue Blue Cross Blue Shield, Anthem Over ER Claims

R. Robin McDonald | July 17, 2018

Last year, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia and parent company Anthem Insurance Cos. rolled out a new policy that included refusals claims based on emergency room visits if the insurers later deemed them non-emergencies. Medical associations have been fighting the policy as dangerous and a violation of federal law ever since. On Tuesday, two groups—the American College of Emergency Physicians and the Medical Association of Georgia—sued to block the policy.

Law Firms Need Artificial Intelligence to Stay in the Game

Erin Hichman | July 17, 2018

The legal department is savvier and has more options in the form of ASPs and legal technology - It’s time for law firms to embrace change. Artificial Intelligence is a key ingredient in doing so.

The Siren Call of International Growth

Hugh A. Simons and Nicholas Bruch| July 17, 2018

The data show that global expansion comes with a serious downside risk: weakened U.S. practices

News

Morris Manning & Martin Passes Leadership Baton to Malko

Meredith Hobbs | July 16, 2018

Simon Malko will succeed Louise Wells as managing partner, becoming Morris Manning's youngest leader to date and the first non-real estate lawyer to head the firm.

News

Ford Motor Settles for $299 Million Over Takata Air Bags

Catherine Wilson | July 16, 2018

The class action proposal addresses Takata air bags installed in 10 Ford, Lincoln and Mercury models made over various periods from 2004 to 2018.

News

Hall Booth Smith's Former Name Partners Sullivan and Slover Return to Their Roots

Meredith Hobbs | July 16, 2018

After forays into plaintiffs law, Terry Sullivan and Jack Slover have returned to their medical malpractice defense roots—Sullivan at Hall Booth Smith, which he launched almost three decades ago, and Slover at Downey & Cleveland.

Expert Opinion

Once the Addicted Lawyer Becomes Impaired, It May Be Too Late

Patrick Krill| July 16, 2018

We have implicitly taught attorneys that everything up to that line is OK.

News

11th Circuit Upholds $1.5M of $2.1M Commodities Fraud Judgment

Katheryn Tucker | July 16, 2018

A business selling metals futures and derivatives will have to pay most but not all of the $2.1 million in restitution awarded by a Florida federal judge, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled Thursday.

New Data Confirms Risks of Legal Malpractice Claims

Shari L. Klevens and Alanna Clair| July 16, 2018

According to the Ames & Gough study, five major insurers made payouts in 2017 that exceeded $50 million, while three paid a claim between $50 and $100 million, and one paid out in excess of $150 million.

News

Ex-Real Estate Executive Pleads Guilty to $22M Fraud

R. Robin McDonald | July 13, 2018

The founder of Suwanee-based real estate investment and advisory firm Capital Investment International Inc. pleaded guilty to a federal fraud charge accusing her of embezzling $22 million from investors, according to the U.S. attorney in Atlanta.

News

Former Congressman Pat Swindall's Life Marked by Controversy

R. Robin McDonald | July 13, 2018

The political career of former U.S. Rep. and attorney Pat Swindall, 67, fell nearly as fast as he rose to national prominance as Georgia turned from a Democratic to a Republican-dominated state. But he was never able to escape the political controversies that always seemed to dog him.

News

Lyft's Workplace Rules for Confidentiality, IP Are Lawful: NLRB Memo

C. Ryan Barber | July 13, 2018

A top NLRB lawyer concluded Lyft's confidentiality policy was permissible because it was primarily directed at prohibiting the "disclosure of 'technical, financial, strategic and other proprietary' information,” as opposed to the sharing of information about working conditions.

Lawsuits Mounting Against Delta Air Lines, Broward Sheriff’s Office, Others Over Fort Lauderdale Airport Shooting

Zach Schlein | July 13, 2018

Following an initial lawsuit earlier this year, another survivor of the January 2017 shooting at the Fort Lauderdale airport is alleging that Delta Airlines and the Broward Sheriff's Office failed to keep travelers safe.

News

Colonial Pipeline Sued Over Fatal 2016 Alabama Explosion

Greg Land | July 13, 2018

Two men died and several were injured when a trackhoe operator sparked a "burning geyser of gasoline" while attempting to repair a leak in a pipeline near Pelham, Alabama, in October 2016.

News

Planned Parenthood Rallies Against Kavanaugh in Atlanta

Jonathan Ringel | July 13, 2018

During his third debate with Hillary Clinton in 2016, Trump said, "If we put another two or perhaps three justices" on the high court, Roe v. Wade would be reversed 'automatically' because "I am putting pro-life justices on the court."

Consensus Drove Succession Planning at Burr & Forman

Robin Hensley| July 13, 2018

Thuston knew succession doesn’t always go smoothly at law firms. Bruised egos can take a long time to heal, and sometimes firms take years to recover from the fallout that can accompany transitions.

News

AG Convenes Prosecutors to Talk Gang Violence 'Crisis'

Katheryn Tucker | July 13, 2018

“In America, nearly half of all violent crimes are gang-related,” AG Chris Carr said.

News

Republican AGs Urge Speedy Confirmation of Trump SCOTUS Pick

Katheryn Tucker | July 12, 2018

“As the chief legal officers of our states, we write to urge the United States Senate to promptly hold a hearing on and confirm the nomination of Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court of the United States."

News

Kilpatrick, Polsinelli Boost Bay Area Presence With IP Hires

Xiumei Dong | July 12, 2018

The two Am Law 100 firms have made a batch of new intellectual property hires in California, with at least one lawyer switching from one firm to the other, and another firm closing up shop in the region entirely.

News

Judge Drops Case Against 3 Soldiers Who Spent 25 Years in Prison

Katheryn Tucker | July 12, 2018

“It’s all over for the soldiers. They are free and they can finally breathe in peace without fear,” said Jim McCloskey, founder of the Princeton, N.J.-based Centurion Ministries innocence project, which won the reversal.

News

Plastic Surgery Client Sues Clinic Over Nude Pics Posted on Web

Greg Land | July 12, 2018

The lawsuit said the Celebrity Body Sculpting clinic illegally posted pictures of her nude body—identifiable by her tattoos—on its website, Facebook and Yelp.

News

NFL's Carolina Panthers Terminate Longtime GC

Kristen Rasmussen | July 12, 2018

Several news media outlets reported Thursday that the franchise parted ways with Richard Thigpen, who had been with the team since 1997.

News

Confidence Dips, but Firm Leaders Bullish on Demand Growth, Citi Report Says

Scott Flaherty | July 12, 2018

Concerns about the global and U.S. economy have contributed to a dip in law firm leaders' confidence looking ahead at the second half of the year.

News

Gwinnett School District Sued Over Band Director's Alleged Sexual Assaults of Students

R. Robin McDonald | July 12, 2018

A federal lawsuit claims that the former band director of South Gwinnett High School in Snellville had a track record of sexually inappropriate conduct before he was hired by the Gwinett school district, where he allegedly assaulted multiple female band students.

News

11th Circuit: Zip-Lipped Owner of Burned Home Breached Insurance Contract

Greg Land | July 12, 2018

Upholding a trial judge, the Eleventh Circuit said that—pique or no pique—an Allstate policyholder had a contractual obligation to answer questions about his fire-razed Hogansville home or suffer the denial of coverage.

News

US Government Clashes With Alabama Firm Over Patent Owners

Scott Graham| July 11, 2018

Issued patents are only presumed valid, so owners are on notice of potential invalidity proceedings, the government contends before the Court of Federal Claims.

News

Morehouse to Host National Public Defender Training Program

Katheryn Tucker | July 11, 2018

"Criminal justice is this generation’s civil and human rights struggle, and empowered public defenders are essential to transforming the culture," says Gideon's Promise founder and president Jonathan Rapping.

Commentary

Cave-Diving Atlanta Lawyer on Thai Rescue: 'Miraculous'

Robert Highsmith| July 11, 2018

To the dangers present in every submerged cave, the Tham Luang rescue added far more.

News

By Google or Word-of-Mouth, Local Counsel Gigs Support Small and Midsize Firms

Jonathan Ringel | July 11, 2018

Referrals can come from clients, former adversaries and professional associations—or from an internet search.

Commentary

Star Litigators Notch First Win in Suit Against Charlottesville Neo-Nazis

Jenna Greene| July 11, 2018

Suing white supremacists is not for the faint of heart—but Roberta Kaplan and Karen Dunn are not backing down.

News

Ga. Ranch of Lawyer and Convicted Murderer Tex McIver Is on Auction Block

R. Robin McDonald | July 10, 2018

Now that Atlanta attorney Claud "Tex" McIver has begun serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife, Diane, the court-appointed executrix of Diane McIver's estate, in tandem with Tex McIver's lawyers, have decided to sell the 80-acre property near Lake Oconee, although who will ultimately get the proceeds remains in dispute.

News

New Fulton County Superior Court Judge Appointed

Katheryn Tucker | July 10, 2018

Fulton County Magistrate Judge Shukura Ingram Millender has been named by Gov. Nathan Deal to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Alford Dempsey Jr.

News

Waldon Adelman's Busy Month Spurs Debate on Why PI Trials Are Surging

Greg Land | July 10, 2018

Coming off a busy and successful month of trial, Walson Adelman partner decries advertising, health care claims as pushing more cases to trial, but the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association president says tight-fisted insurers bear much of the blame.

News

Kavanaugh on Health Care: How Might He Rule as a Supreme Court Justice?

Kristen Rasmussen | July 10, 2018

Corporate Counsel took a look at how U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh has weighed in on a number of health care-related matters, from the ACA to abortion rights to health care mergers.

News

Scramble for Sutton Golf Tournament Will Benefit Grady Burn Unit

Meredith Hobbs | July 10, 2018

After the Grady Memorial Hospital Burn Unit saved plaintiffs lawyer Sutton Slover's life in 2016, he and his family started the annual golf tournament to help other burn victims at Grady and their families.

News

Georgia's Senators Cheer Kavanaugh Selection

Katheryn Tucker | July 10, 2018

U.S. Sens. Johnny Isakson and David Perdue, both Republicans, attended the formal announcement at the White House, designed for prime-time television and starting promptly at 9 p.m. By 9:30 p.m., both senators had released statements cheering the choice.

News

Recommending a Georgia Justice, Trump's SCOTUS Pick Told What Makes a Great Jurist

Katheryn Tucker | July 10, 2018

Write clearly, be neighborly, don't act like a jerk and other thoughts from Brett Kavanaugh.

Coordination Game: The Global Cybersecurity Legal Ecosystem and Business Obligations for Data Protection

Todd McClelland| July 10, 2018

Practices adopted to comply with U.S. breach notification and cybersecurity obligations may not be sufficient in other international jurisdictions.

Commentary

The GDPR Enforcement Deadline Has Passed: What’s Next?

Bess Hinson| July 10, 2018

There is more to do, and complacency may now be the company’s biggest risk.

SCOTUS Nominee Brett Kavanaugh In His Own Words: 'Tune Out the Crowd Noise'

Tony Mauro | Mike Scarcella | July 09, 2018

“If it’s a tight case, a controversial case, and you’re wondering where he will come out, often times it’s good to put your chips on the individual, rather than the government," Brett Kavanaugh once said about Justice Anthony Kennedy, for whom he clerked.

Seven Brett Kavanaugh Opinions That Will Find Renewed Attention

Tony Mauro | July 09, 2018

Firearms. The environment. Executive power. Judge Brett Kavanaugh's D.C. Circuit rulings will come into sharp focus now, as his Supreme Court nomination advances.

Trump Picks Brett Kavanaugh, Conservative Stalwart on DC Circuit, for Supreme Court

Tony Mauro | July 09, 2018

In picking the 53-year-old Brett Kavanaugh of the D.C. Circuit, Trump opted for a hard-to-defeat nominee whose Ivy League credentials are similar to those of Neil Gorsuch, the president's first Supreme Court nominee. Kavanaugh is a Washington-area native who has ruled to dial back federal agencies and broaden gun rights.

Troutman Sanders Adds Partner Quintet From Crowell & Moring

Ryan Lovelace | July 09, 2018

The group includes the former co-chairs of Crowell's insurance/reinsurance group and office leaders in London and Orange County, California.

King & Spalding Emerges as Latest Big Law Suitor for IP Litigators

Christine Simmons | July 09, 2018

The Am Law 100 firm, which has been busy this year recruiting new partners, as hired a new chairman of life sciences patent litigation from Paul Hastings.

Commentary

Emails and Encryption: What Is a Lawyer to Do?

Roy E. Hadley Jr.| July 09, 2018

Recent examples of lawyers’ email accounts being hacked are numerous.

Swift Currie Adds 25th Lawyer This Year as Litigation Defense Stays Hot

Meredith Hobbs | July 09, 2018

With 140 lawyers, Swift Currie is now the biggest litigation-only firm in Atlanta.

Commentary

Cyber for Growth: How Security Planning Is Good for the Bottom Line

Mitzi Hill| July 09, 2018

Showing that you are prepared is increasingly a requirement for your customers, investors, employees and potential acquirers.

Simulated Phishing Tests Reveal the Cyber Danger Lurking in Your Organization

Justin Daniels| July 09, 2018

Attacks are now so sophisticated that the hackers read the executive’s hacked emails so they can write the fake email and make it appear very "authentic."

Google and FitBit Collaboration Could Affect Personal Injury Litigation

Samuel E. Britt III| July 09, 2018

Conceivably, the deal between Google and Fitbit could provide defense attorneys with access to information about a patient’s movement and sleep patterns that could show that the injury claims are, at the very least, overstated.

News

Georgia Cyber Center, Touting Partnerships Across Sectors, to Open in Augusta

Gabrielle Orum Hernández | July 09, 2018

The new $100 million facility is slated to open its first building on July 10.

Profile

Meet the GC at Georgia-Pacific: Tye Darland

Kristen Rasmussen | July 09, 2018

The top lawyer at the Atlanta-based building products and paper-making giant speaks with the Daily Report about everything from whom he uses for outside counsel to what he's been reading lately.

News

Brief That Lost 6-3 at SCOTUS Wins AG Award

Katheryn Tucker | July 06, 2018

Georgia Solicitor General Sarah Warren and her staff won the Best Brief Award from the National Association of Attorneys General at the group’s summer meeting in Portland.

News

LegalSpark Offers Advice-Seekers a Call From a Lawyer in 10 Minutes

Meredith Hobbs | July 06, 2018

Founder Nick Gladd says LegalSpark can provide extra income to lawyers and, more importantly, serve as a referral source.

News

Georgia Prosecutors, Public Defenders Keep Their Eyes on Salaries

Jonathan Ringel | July 06, 2018

In Georgia, starting pay for prosecutors and public defenders is $44,828.

News

Jury Awards $3.2M in Death of Disabled Man Pinned in Wheelchair by Patio Rail

Greg Land | July 06, 2018

The family of Antoine Hendrix, who suffocated after his motorized wheelchair ran through a rail and off a patio at a Villa Rica apartment complex, had reached an earlier $1M settlement, which will be deducted from the final judgment.

News

JNC Releases Names of Nominees for Georgia Supreme Court

Katheryn Tucker | July 05, 2018

The commission will narrow the list to about 30 for interviews on July 26, Chair Pete Robinson of Troutman Sanders told the Daily Report. After the interviews, the commission will send a shortlist of recommendations to Gov. Nathan Deal.

News

He Got Help for Mental Illness. Now He Says Florida Bar Examiners Are Using That Against Him

Samantha Joseph | July 05, 2018

Law student Capt. Julius Hobbs got the green light from a federal judge to proceed with a suit against the Florida Board of Bar Examiners, which handles bar admissions.

Commentary

Motherhood Isn't the Culprit for Big Law's Gender Equity Failures

Vivia Chen | July 05, 2018

Women lawyers shouldn’t be viewed as moms first when it comes to the workplace.

News

11th Circuit Revives Legal Malpractice, Conspiracy Claims Against Miller & Martin

Greg Land | July 05, 2018

The appellate court said there was enough evidence to allow legal malpractice and civil conspiracy claims to go forward, but it upheld U.S. District Judge Mark Cohen's dismissal of other claims filed by an investment group that sued after the collapse of a startup company whose founder and CEO looted the business.

News

It's Official, Interim Atlanta City Attorney Nina Hickson to Take Position Permanently

Kristen Rasmussen | July 05, 2018

The former vice president and general counsel for the Atlanta Beltline has been interim city attorney since May, a month after Jeremy Berry resigned as part of a mayoral cabinet shake-up.

Commentary

What the Brangelina Story Means About Keeping Your Settlement Agreement Out of Public View

Jon Hedgepeth| July 05, 2018

Requesting that a divorce settlement agreement stay private is more than just a simple question to the court. It’s a process. And the parties involved don’t always get what they want.

News

His Meth Conviction Upheld, Disbarred Lawyer Thanks Judge, DA for Intervention

Greg Land | July 03, 2018

The Court of Appeals upheld the conviction of former prosecutor and criminal defense lawyer Rand Csehy, who was charged with possession of meth after a judge ordered him to take a urine test when he appeared unsteady and disheveled in court.

News

Gov. Deal Gets Shortlists for 5 Superior Court Jobs

Katheryn Tucker | July 03, 2018

Gov. Nathan Deal will fill the vacancies from among the lists. The governor’s office will contact candidates to schedule interviews.

News

Chief Judge Dillard Tweets His Supreme Court Plans

Katheryn Tucker | July 03, 2018

"I am honored to have been nominated. But after a great deal of prayer and consideration, I have decided not to seek an appointment to the Supreme Court," tweeted @Chief Judge Dillard.

News

Cobb Veterans Court to Send Off Five More Graduates Friday

Katheryn Tucker | July 03, 2018

It will be the sixth graduation ceremony for the court which Judge Reuben Green, a former Marine, started in 2014, on the cusp of a surge in accountability treatment programs tailored for veterans nationwide.

News

Georgia Case Asks US High Court for LGBT Protection in the Workplace

Erin Mulvaney | July 03, 2018

An Eleventh Circuit case figures prominently in a new push in the U.S. Supreme Court to end discrimination against gay workers.

News

Product Liability Defense Team Wins 21 Years After 'Horrible' Accident

Katheryn Tucker | July 02, 2018

On Aug. 25, 1997, a 36-year-old apprentice lineman fell out of the bucket on a power company truck and was paralyzed. Lawyers have been fighting over whether the bucket was defective ever since—until now.

News

Dunwoody Solo's Hands-Free Marketing Magnet Attracts Buzz

Meredith Hobbs | July 02, 2018

As the state's new hands-free driving law takes effect, solo Ryan Schwartz said potential clients snapped up the magnetic cell phone holders he created to advertise his firm.

News

Ga. Supreme Court OKs Late Med-Mal Claim That 'Related Back' to Original Lawsuit

Greg Land | July 02, 2018

The opinion, written by Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harris Hines, said the plaintiff's discovery that nursing staff may have violated hospital rules meant that a new claim could be added to the lawsuit, even though the statute of limitations had run.

Commentary

The Practice Is a Profession

Shari L. Klevens and Alanna Clair| July 02, 2018

Even though it is commonly accepted that professionalism and civility are cornerstones of the profession, they can still create a tension for attorneys who are simultaneously tasked with zealously representing clients and advocating for their positions.

News

John Roberts Sees Himself as 'Honest Broker' Among the Justices

Tony Mauro | July 02, 2018

“I feel some obligation to be something of an honest broker among my colleagues and won't necessarily go out of my way to pick fights,” Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. said at the biennial conference of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. He also said that at times, “You would sort of sublimate your views.”

News

Supreme Court Tosses Guilty Plea in Lil Wayne Tour Bus Shooting

Katheryn Tucker | July 02, 2018

The Georgia Supreme Court has tossed out a conviction over a judge’s words encouraging a man to plead guilty to charges related to a drive-by shooting…

News

Muscling Into Collection Case Gets Ga. Judge a Public Reprimand

Katheryn Tucker | June 29, 2018

The Georgia Supreme Court on Friday issued a rare public reprimand for a judge charged with getting involved in an auto repossession case and advising the car's owner to file a lawsuit.

News

Lawyer Claims Chiropractor's Google Review Defamed Her

Greg Land | June 29, 2018

A lawyer suit said a chiropractor defamed her in an online review by insinuating the lawyer had stolen money.

News

11th Circuit Shuts Down $97M Tax Refund for NextEra

Katheryn Tucker | June 29, 2018

Judge Beverly Martin explained tax code and nuclear power plant housekeeping for waste that “will remain dangerous for time spans seemingly beyond human comprehension.”

News

Ex-Hunton Lawyer, Longtime Fugitive, Admits to $1.7M Real Estate Fraud

Scott Flaherty | June 29, 2018

Scott Wolas, a one-time Hunton & Williams lawyer kicked out of the firm's partnership in 1995, spent nearly 20 years on the run from the law, but has now admitted to a real estate fraud scheme in Massachusetts.

News

Klein Takes Attorney of the Year; Lifetime Achievers Steal the Show

Jonathan Ringel | June 29, 2018

Lifetime achievement honorees stole the show with moving and funny remarks about their careers, their families and the legal profession.

News

Ga. Supreme Court Justices Grant, Blackwell on Trump's SCOTUS List

R. Robin McDonald | June 28, 2018

Rising star Britt Grant, on track to become the newest member of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, has been added to Trump's list of possible U.S. Supreme Court candidates. The list includes Grant mentor Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit in Washington and her fellow Georgia Supreme Court Justice, Keith Blackwell.

News

Appeals Court Tosses $10.6M Judgment Against Albany Over Killing at Club

Greg Land | June 28, 2018

In a 2-1 ruling, the Georgia Court of Appeals said sovereign immunity protected the city of Albany from liability for renewing an occupancy license for a crime-plagued recording studio where a young man was murdered.

Hall Booth's Shannon Opens Atlanta Office for Wheeler Trigg

Meredith Hobbs | June 28, 2018

Bobby Shannon joined the Denver-based litigation boutique after a dual career at Hall Booth and as a major general in the Air Force Reserve.

Here Are the Recipients of the 2018 Georgia Legal Awards

Jonathan Ringel | June 28, 2018

Getting to know these leaders has inspired us, and we hope you feel the same as you read their words that follow.

News

Second Ex-Equifax Employee Faces Federal Insider-Trading Charges

R. Robin McDonald | June 28, 2018

Federal authorities contend that an Equifax software engineering manager, who has since been fired, learned of Equifax's massive 2017 data breach before it went public. Federal prosecutors in Atlanta contend he then bought Equifax put options—and sold them at a profit when news of the data breach went public and Equifax's stock price plummeted.

News

'Diverse Groups Make Better Decisions': Racial, Gender Diversity Spotlighted in High Court Job Openings

Katheryn Tucker | June 28, 2018

“When the new justices are being selected for the Georgia Supreme Court—unless we’re willing, in this day and age, to once again accept an all-male court, which is predominantly white, that neither reflects the diversity of the population served nor that of the legal profession itself—diversity must be a priority rather than an afterthought,” —Former Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears

News

With Kennedy's Retirement, 11th Circuit's Pryor Back on Hot List

Katheryn Tucker | June 27, 2018

The speculation about his replacement started about a minute after Justice Anthony Kennedy, 81, announced his retirement Wednesday.

News

Jones Day Says Bias Suit Breached Partnership Pact; Ogletree Plaintiffs Reload Again

Scott Flaherty | June 27, 2018

Jones Day is looking to put a lid on a gender discrimination suit brought by former partner Wendy Moore, while women suing Ogletree Deakins are seeking to add new allegations.

John Roberts, the New 'Swing' Vote? Not Likely. Try, Perhaps, 'Median.'

Marcia Coyle | June 27, 2018

"I can’t predict where Roberts will move left because these are pragmatic not principled considerations, but it would likely be more in challenges to legislation like Obamacare than in culture-war issues like affirmative action," said Ilya Shapiro of the Cato Institute.

News

Dunwoody Lawyers Unite as City Gets Its Own Bar Association

Meredith Hobbs | June 27, 2018

Dunwoody lawyers Eileen Shuman and Andrea Hirsch decided it was high time the city had its own bar association, like its neighbor Sandy Springs. They are now the group's co-presidents.

News

Who's Repping Georgia's Lt. Gov. Candidates?

Kristen Rasmussen | June 27, 2018

For more than a year, the state's three candidates for lieutenant governor have turned to various local and Washington, D.C.-based lawyers for campaign-related legal work, the Daily Report has learned.

News

Crosstown Hop for 5-Lawyer Team Joining Bradley Arant

Miriam Rozen | June 27, 2018

The Am Law 200 firm has hired a group of litigators led by the former managing partner of leading North Carolina firm Smith Moore Leatherwood's Charlotte office.

News

Justice Anthony Kennedy Announces Retirement, Setting Stage for Nomination Battle

Marcia Coyle | Tony Mauro | June 27, 2018

"Please permit me by this letter to express my profound gratitude for having had the privilege to seek in each case how best to know, interpret, and defend the Constitution and the laws that must always conform to its mandates and promises," Kennedy said in a letter to President Trump.

News

Nearly $2.5M in State Funds Awarded for Domestic Violence Victims

Katheryn Tucker | June 27, 2018

The Judicial Council of Georgia Standing Committee on Grants announced Wednesday the award of about $2.5 million to legal aid groups around the state for low-income victims of domestic violence and their children.

News

Sexual Abuse Survivor Litigation Yields More Than Money

Katheryn Tucker | June 27, 2018

The CEASE clinic reports that only one case has been tried to verdicts under the Hidden Predator Act’s briefly open window: The award was small, but the sense of justice for the survivor was big.

News

Split Water Wars Ruling Ensures Decadeslong Battle Is Far From Over

R. Robin McDonald | Tony Mauro | June 27, 2018

The 5-4 decision appears to be a win for Florida, which claims Georgia is overusing water in the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin.

News

Cobb Jury Delivers Defense Win in Apartment Shooting Case

Greg Land | June 26, 2018

Hall Booth Smith partner Jeffery Saxby said the jury was leaning 11-to-1 for a defense verdict from the outset of deliberations, rejecting plaintiffs' arguments that the Six Flags Drive apartment complex had failed to provide adequate security.

News

Big Law Rushes to Reunite Families Separated under Trump's Immigration Policy

Ellis Kim | June 26, 2018

Firms including Paul Weiss; Kirkland & Ellis; and Covington & Burling have all gotten involved in some fashion after President Donald Trump backed off from a zero tolerance policy that separated immigrant families.

News

Reality Winner Pleads Guilty to Espionage, Faces Potential 5-Year Sentence

R. Robin McDonald | June 26, 2018

A U.S. Air Force veteran and NSA contractor accused of leaking information on Russia's attempts to hack into state election systems in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election pleaded guilty Tuesday to leaking information the government claimed was critical to the national defense to an online news magazine.

News

11th Circuit Chops $1.7M Penalty in Suit by Cotton Trade Group vs. Farmers

Katheryn Tucker | June 26, 2018

This is a case about cotton. B.B. King once called cotton "a force of nature"—"[t]here’s a poetry to it," he wrote, "‘hoeing and growing cotton,’” Judge Kevin Newsom said. “Here, the poetry of the hoeing and growing has given way to a nasty little feud over the selling.”

Commentary

A Better Way to Pitch for Business

Alexander Geisler| June 26, 2018

What truly stands out in today's competitive market? Hint: It's not about legal bona fides or your resume.

News

US Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Trump's Travel Ban

Marcia Coyle | Tony Mauro | June 26, 2018

"We express no view on the soundness of the policy. We simply hold today that plaintiffs have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their constitutional claim," Chief Justice John Roberts wrote for the majority.

News

King & Spalding Grabs Finance Group From Reed Smith

Brenda Sapino Jeffreys | June 26, 2018

The firm said the three finance partners will help build King & Spalding's transactional strength in Houston.