Location Data Increasingly Shielded After High Court Ruling

It will keep getting harder for the government to take a suspect’s digital data without a warrant as federal and state courts expand U.S. constitutional privacy protections to newer technologies. That’s the word from privacy attorneys as the use of devices holding sensitive data proliferates.

Fleshing Out the Fourth: The Supreme Court’s latest foray into the subject, Carpenter v. United States, extended Fourth Amendment protections to historical cell tower location information. The high court didn’t rule on whether real-time data deserves the same protection, but several courts have since said that it does.

Information Overload: The decisions “reflect the growing consensus among courts, legislators, and the public that there is simply too much personal information available electronically for the Constitution not to be triggered in the context of government searches and surveillance techniques,” an attorney and former federal prosecutor told Bloomberg Law. Daniel R. Stoller has more.

TOP STORIES

Scalia’s Old Foes Await in Return to Labor, 16 Years After Split
Gibson Dunn partner Eugene Scalia, President Donald Trump’s pick as his next labor secretary, is on the cusp of returning to the Labor Department and it could tee up tensions between the agency and one of the unions that has regularly engaged with the Trump White House.

Workers Suing for ADA Bias Must Show ‘But-For’ Cause: 9th Cir.
A pair of U.S. Supreme Court cases clarified the level of proof workers need to establish disability discrimination under federal law, the Ninth Circuit ruled.

ILTACON Full of AI Discussion, But Also Concerns Over Hype
Presenters and participants at one of the largest legal technology conferences in the U.S. are abuzz this week about how artificial intelligence fits into the future of legal tech, but some experts at the event also warned that law firms and other buyers need to separate facts from hype.

Davis Polk Hires Former Top SEC Crypto Enforcer in Washington
Davis Polk & Wardwell has brought on one of the government’s top enforcers in the cryptocurrency space, Robert Cohen of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to work as a partner in the firm’s litigation department in Washington.

PRACTITIONER INSIGHTS

INSIGHT: A Chief Legal Officer’s Perspective on Psychology and Client-Firm Relationships
Outside counsel play an important role in assisting general counsel, but what motivates them to deliver great work? Lawrence Greenberg, chief legal officer of the Motley Fool Holdings, discusses recent findings on what factors improve outside counsel performance.

INSIGHT: Crypto—The Pursuit of Sufficient Decentralization
Recent SEC guidance on digital assets cleared a path for at least certain stable coins or payment tokens to avoid securities regulation. However, Latham & Watkins attorneys say there are still a number of open questions that should be addressed.

INSIGHT: Recent FINRA Disciplinary Decision Illustrates Limits of Hearsay Evidence
Hoguet Newman Regal & Kenney LLP partner John Curley examines the factors cited in a recent FINRA National Adjudicatory Council decision to disallow hearsay testimony in a case involving a broker accused of stealing from an elderly client.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Supreme Court

Whistleblower Who Lost $34 Million Wants Supreme Court Review
The estate of a whistleblower who lost a $34 million False Claims Act award after a May 6 appeals court ruling wants the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene.

Legal Profession

First Amendment Doesn’t Protect Bar Application Lies: 7th Cir.
An Illinois federal district court reasonably blocked a California attorney who didn’t disclose past discipline from practicing before it, the Seventh Circuit said.

Ga. Lawyer Disbarred After Not Replying to Notice of Disbarment
A Georgia lawyer who was under interim suspension for not responding to a state bar investigation has been disbarred by the state’s highest court for failing to respond to another disciplinary hearing seeking disbarment.

Cozen O’Connor Can Remain Counsel in Contracts Dispute
Cozen O’Connor isn’t conflicted out of representing a woman in her breach of contract claim against a company that’s a former client of the firm, a New York court ruled.

Case Alert

Estate of Inmate Who Died in Jail Mostly Wins $10 Million Appeal
Two Oklahoma sheriffs who lost a $10 million case against the estate of an inmate who died in custody saw their appeal largely rejected.

Social Networking Site Operator Not Responsible for Drug Death
The operator of a social network wasn’t liable for an overdose death from a drug deal facilitated through the site, the Ninth Circuit said.

Mexican National Had Right to Attorney at Asylum Hearing
Mexican national Baldemar Zuniga is entitled to a new hearing in his fight for asylum due to a “reasonable fear” of retribution from a drug cartel, an appeals court ruled.

GOP Candidate, Ex-Porn Site Owner Appeals Twitter Ban Ruling
A Republican Senate candidate who once ran a “revenge porn” website has appealed the dismissal of his lawsuit challenging his repeat bans by Twitter Inc.

Expelled Purdue Student May Use Pseudonym in Suit Against School
A former Purdue University student may use the pseudonym “John Doe” in his civil rights suit alleging he was wrongly expelled based on false accusations of sexual misconduct, the Northern District of Indiana said.

Al-Qaeda Conspirator’s Material Support Conviction Upheld
The conviction of Abid Naseer for providing material support to al-Qaeda was upheld by the Second Circuit.

Monsanto’s $21.5 Million Roundup Labeling Class Deal Affirmed
A $21.5 million settlement between Monsanto Co. and consumers over allegedly misleading labels on concentrated versions of Roundup weedkiller was properly approved, the Eighth Circuit said.

DOL View of Third-Party Bonuses as Regular Pay Nixed by 3d Cir.
Bonuses paid by a natural gas company to a subcontractor’s employees didn’t necessarily count as regular pay under federal overtime law, the Third Circuit ruled.

EPA’s Air Toxics Policy Shift Memo Can’t Be Challenged in Court
An EPA memo that allowed power plants and refineries to ease their regulatory burdens after a history of major air pollution wasn’t a final agency action that can be challenged in court, the D.C. Circuit said.

Endo Escapes First of Opioid Test Trials in $11 Million Pact
Endo International Plc agreed to an $11 million settlement to avoid going to trial in the first federal court cases targeting opioid makers and distributors over the public-health crisis caused by the painkillers.

Transgender Inmate Loses Suit Over Sex Reassignment Surgery
Prison officials are immune from a transgender inmate’s suit to allow her to experience life as a woman while she’s incarcerated before undergoing sex reassignment surgery, the Seventh Circuit said.

Also in the News

Trump Loses Effort to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Military Trans Ban
The Trump administration can’t avoid a lawsuit over a ban on military service by most transgender Americans, a judge ruled, dealing a blow to the policy seven months after the U.S. Supreme Court let it take effect.

Civil Rights Rift at Trump Agencies Forces Employer Reckoning
A rift between the Justice Department and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over discrimination cases—a rare occurrence, now increasingly common in the Trump era—is forcing companies to reckon with the ideological divide to comply with federal civil rights laws.

Trump Fights to Keep New York Tax Return Lawsuit in DC
President Donald Trump beefed up the argument for why his lawsuit with New York state officials and the House Ways and Means Committee should stay in Washington.

Calling the Designer Drug ‘Hotline’—Is This Stuff Legal or Not?
The following is an excerpt from America’s Secret Drug War, Bloomberg Law’s investigation into the world of “analogue” drugs and the troublesome law—questioned even by one of the DEA’s own—used to prosecute dealers. If you didn’t catch the whole story the first time around, it’s not too late to add to your summer reading list. In the meantime, find out what happened when our reporter asked the DEA: “Is This Stuff Legal or Not?”

WORKFLOWS

Stradley Ronon announced that Barry L. Klein, employee benefits and executive compensation attorney, joined the Philadelphia office as partner from Gordon & Rees | Seward & Kissel said Christopher D. Carlson joined as counsel in the Investment Management Group in Washington from Thompson Hine | Dilworth Paxson hired associate Sarah Gremminger to the Trusts & Estates Department, working in its Philadelphia and Cherry Hill, N.J., offices | Davis Polk added Robert Cohen as a partner in the White Collar Criminal Defense and Government Investigations Group in Washington; he joins from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission | Dickinson Wright said attorney J. Alex Grimsley joined the Phoenix office as a member | Baker McKenzie hired mergers and acquisitions lawyer Leif King in Palo Alto, Calif., as part of a continuing expansion of its transaction practice in Silicon Valley and globally from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom | Gibson Dunn & Crutcher added co-lead of Debevoise & Plimpton’s banking industry group Matthew Biben as co-chair of its financial institutions practice group in New York | Jackson Lewis said litigator H. Bernard Tisdale III has joined the firm to lead its 61st office in Charlotte, N.C. (the firm recently announced the opening of its 60th office in Silicon Valley) | Hinshaw & Culbertson announced the arrival of Jennifer L. Gray as a partner in the Consumer Financial Services practice in Los Angeles.