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WHAT WE’RE WATCHING

CRAIG’S CASE – Former Obama White House counsel Greg Craig will be back in court today as a judge considers the contours of the DOJ’s case against him. Craig’s trial is set to start next week in D.C., where the ex-Skadden partner is accused of lying about the scope of his work for Ukraine, C. Ryan Barber reports. U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson on Tuesday dismissed one of two counts against Craig, who is represented by a team from Zuckerman Spaeder.

CREATIVE- A federal judge appears likely to grant certification of a “negotiation” class of thousands of cities and counties as a potential model to settle cases brought over the opioid crisis. Amanda Bronstad reports that U.S. District Judge Dan Polster in Ohio pushed back on Tuesday against lawyers for some of the pharmaceutical distributors and some of the states who are opposed to a proposal from lead plaintiffs counsel in the MDL to create the class that would encompass potentially 33,000 cities and counties. “There needs to be some vehicle to provide resolution of these cases,” he said at the hearing in Cleveland.

FRAND IN NEED – The landscape for evaluating large portfolios of standard-essential patents could be transformed in a case set for oral arguments today before the Federal Circuit, Scott Graham reports. At issue is the proper framework for determining a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (or FRAND) rate when more than just a handful of patents are in play. Major tech companies, including Google, Uber, Nokia and Panasonic Corp., have filed amicus briefs in TCL Communication v. Ericsson, which pits a mid-market phone player against one of the world’s largest licensors of wireless communication technology.

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EDITOR’S PICKS

Texas Can Block Obama-Era Restrictions on Employers’ Criminal Background Checks, 5th Circuit Rules

Litigation Finance Users Say They’d Do It Again, Survey Finds

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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

HELPER – Actress and women’s rights campaigner Emma Watson, of Harry Potter fame, has helped launch a free specialist legal advice line for women in England and Wales experiencing sexual harassment at work. Rowan Bennett reports that the initiative will offer employment law advice, including how to identifying sexual harassment, how to bring a complaint against an employer, how the employment tribunal procedure works, as well as advice on settlement agreements and non-disclosure agreements.

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WHAT YOU SAID

“[D]eciding to compete in bodybuilding has also shown me a new level of discipline and commitment I didn’t know I had.”

—  CECILIA SANABRIA, A PARTNER AT FINNEGAN, ON HOW EXERCISE ENHANCES HER PERFORMANCE AT WORK.

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