On The Merits

A major clash on Capitol Hill ended in an anticlimax, as lawmakers moved at the very last minute to delay a federal funding deadline by several weeks.But it's unclear whether anyone "won" here: Democrats were unable to secure additional aid for Ukraine, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is now in danger of losing his speakership, and the right wing of the Republican party achieved almost none of its goals.On this episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, we speak to Bloomberg Government's Jack Fitzpatrick about how we Congress got its federal funding deadline extended through Nov. 17, and about all of the upcoming legislative deadlines it faces through the rest of this year.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Death penalty cases are often adjudicated for years, if not decades, before they reach the Supreme Court. But once they do, the justices must make life-or-death decisions in a relatively quick amount of time.Death penalty cases at the Supreme Court often come through the court's emergency, or "shadow" docket. In recent years, the court's conservatives have handed down rulings that closed off several avenues for capital defendants to get a rehearing of their case, or to even to challenge their method of execution.On this special episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law's Kimberly Robinson and Lydia Wheeler take a look at what the court's rulings mean for how the death penalty works in America, and what happens at the court when an 11th hour request comes in.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

After his victory over race conscious college admissions policies this summer, anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum wasted no time moving to his next target.Last month, groups led by Blum filed suit against two of the country's largest law firms, arguing the recent high court opinion means their diversity fellowships are now illegal. The suits are already paying off: Within days of filing, two firms changed their criteria for granting fellowships designed to recruit associates from more diverse backgrounds.On this week's episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law reporters Tatyana Monnay and Riddhi Setty talk about what these firms did and why Blum was able to achieve results so quickly. They also get into what this means for the future of DEI departments in Big Law, many of which were already struggling before the uncertainty brought by Blum's suits.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The pharmaceutical industry is making some bold constitutional arguments in its attempts to overturn a new law allowing Medicare to negotiate directly with drug makers on prices.The industry says the law, part of the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, violates the Fifth, Eighth, and even First Amendment rights of companies like Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca, among others.On this episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, Celine Castronuovo and David Schultz look into why the drug makers are waging this uphill legal battle against Medicare negotiations and whether they'll ultimately succeed.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

More than a quarter of the nation's federal district courts have never had even one Black judge. That's the takeaway from a new investigation by Bloomberg Law's Tiana Headley and Andrew Satter.In some instances, this reflects the small Black populations within these courts' respective jurisdictions. But that's not the case in places like the Southern District of Georgia, where the region's large Black population has never been tapped for a federal judgeship.On this episode of our weekly news podcast, On The Merits, Tiana and Andrew talk about the lack of diversity on federal trial courts and about the situation in South Georgia specifically, where prominent Black lawyers have been continually passed over for the rare open seats on the court.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The presidential campaign of Ron DeSantis is floundering, if the polls are to be believed. But there's one area where the Republican Governor of Florida is crushing his rivals: donations from big law attorneys.Bloomberg Law reporter Justin Wise combed through the latest campaign finance figures and found that lawyers, especially those at elite firms, are lining up behind DeSantis. The reason? Wise says its because these attorneys don't want Donald Trump to win and think DeSantis has the best shot at beating him.In this episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, Wise explains which attorneys from which firms are donating to DeSantis, and whether they could eventually face the wrath of the famously vindictive Trump.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The website Shein is known for selling ultra-cheap clothes that could be classified as "designer knockoffs." But faced with a knockoff of itself, the Singapore-based online retailer is calling in the lawyers.Shein says its Chinese rival, Temu, is not just copying it but is violating its copyrights. Temu, for its part, is suing Shein for violating American antitrust laws and monopolizing the niche market for "ultra fast fashion."Bloomberg Law reporter Katie Arcieri joins us on our weekly podcast, On The Merits, to explain what ultra fast fashion really is, and why these two Asian companies are hauling each other to court in the U.S.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The number of accounts trying to sell you stuff on social media keeps growing. According to one report, the influencer economy doubled in just the last four years.But many influencers now find themselves vulnerable to potentially crippling legal risks and they are seeking, albeit grudgingly, to insure those risks. Bloomberg Law's Daphne Zhang found that while the insurance industry is starting to offer products to these social media mavens, the price points aren't aligning with the influencer world's economic realities.On this episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, Daphne talks about the unique legal risks online influencers face, and how failing to insure those risks can sink not just them but also the brands they work with.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Walmart Inc., The Boeing Co., and Fox Corporation all have watched their boards of directors hauled to court by their own shareholders after headline-grabbing scandals.Such cases of shareholders suing their boards have garnered more attention in recent years. Some say that's indicative of a rise in mismanagement. But others who follow the country's premiere corporate law court point to one man: a judge who is less inclined than his predecessors to dismiss the lawsuits out of hand.On this episode Jennifer Kay speaks to that judge, Delaware Chancery Court Vice Chancellor Travis Laster. He explains why these types of suits can be good for society and who he thinks should be held responsible after a "corporate trauma."Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

It's been almost four months since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit launched an investigation into the fitness for service of one of its own judges, the 96-year-old Pauline Newman.Newman's colleagues believe she is physically and mentally unfit to sit on the bench and that she is refusing to cooperate in their investigation. For her part, Newman denies the accusations and has shown no sign that she's ready to retire from the post she's held for nearly 40 years.On this episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, we hear from Newman herself about why she doesn't want to retire, why she thinks her fellow judges are going after her, and about what she can still contribute to the federal justice system.Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.