Abortion access fights fuel state top court races, law firms ride private credit wave, Trump sues CBS over Kamala Harris interview, and more ?

?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here is the rundown of today's top legal news:

???Battles over abortion access fuel US state supreme court races

The once low-profile elections for seats on state supreme courts have become prominent abortion battlegrounds since the U.S. Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade.

State supreme courts have the final word on interpreting state constitutions and new constitutional amendments, significantly raising the stakes for elections to their benches - something that in the past drew far less attention and fewer voters than presidential and other races higher on the ballot.

Now, advocates on both sides of the abortion issue are targeting judicial races in Michigan and Ohio, two of the 33 states nationwide in which supreme court seats are on the ballot in the Nov. 5 election either through competitive elections or votes to retain appointed jurists.

Advocacy groups are pouring money into races in states including Montana and North Carolina, where both parties are laying the groundwork for future electoral battles to tilt the courts' makeup, and in Arizona, where two Republican-appointed justices who upheld a 1864 abortion ban hope to retain their seats.

Read more about how these elections are being shaped by abortion rights battles.

??Law firms ride private credit wave as market evolves

The growing private credit market is keeping U.S. finance lawyers busy, and a recent string of alliances between banks and non-bank lenders and an expansion into asset-based financings could drive more work their way.

Law firms with leading finance practices have stocked up on attorneys to compete for work in private credit, which has ballooned to a $2 trillion market.

Mayer Brown and Kirkland & Ellis hired several partners that handle private credit transactions in recent weeks. "Without being hyperbolic, I do think that the opportunity set is tremendous," said Jennifer Daly, head of private credit and special situations at Paul Hastings. Daly was one of 11 restructuring and private credit attorneys who joined Paul Hastings from King & Spalding in June.

Traditional lenders have been seeking a slice of the lucrative market, including by teaming up with investment firms. Lawyers also pointed to private credit's increasing diversification into areas such as asset-based finance. Raymond James in May partnered with investment firm Eldridge Industries to expand into private credit. Wells Fargo last year teamed up with private equity firm Centerbridge to launch a direct lending fund.

Such alliances leverage bank relationships to originate transactions for their private credit partners, hopefully creating a "bigger deal source funnel," said Peter Williams, who joined Cahill Gordon & Reindel as co-head of private credit in July.

That can "lead to more deals, more deals leads to more legal work and opportunities for a law firm that has a good private credit bench," said Williams.

Jon Truster, a law firm recruiter at Macrae, said there have been twice as many private credit partner moves among top firms in 2024 than in the prior two years in major markets. It's an "area of huge interest from law firms," he said.

Read more.

?? Trump sues CBS over Kamala Harris '60 Minutes' interview

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit against CBS over an interview of his Democratic rival Kamala Harris aired on its "60 Minutes" news program in early October that the lawsuit alleged was misleading, according to a court filing.

The complaint, filed in federal court in the Northern District of Texas, alleges the network aired two different responses from Harris responding to a question about the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

The version that aired during the "60 Minutes" program on Oct. 6 did not include what the lawsuit calls a "word salad" response from Harris about the Biden administration's influence on Israel's conduct of the war.

"Former President Trump’s repeated claims against 60 Minutes are false," a CBS News spokesperson said. "The lawsuit Trump has brought today against CBS is completely without merit and we will vigorously defend against it."

Trump and Harris face each other in what polls show to be a tight race ahead of Tuesday's U.S. presidential election.

Read more.

?? Friend bought you a ticket to the big game? You still have to arbitrate, says US appeals court

Remember the brouhaha last summer when Disney tried to force a widower out of court and into arbitration for a wrongful death claim against a restaurant that allegedly served his wife food that triggered a fatal allergic reaction? Faced with a PR nightmare, Disney eventually caved. But it’s hardly the only defendant, writes Reuters columnist Alison Frankel, to test the bounds of an arbitration clause in a consumer contract.

Just ask four friends of a generous Philadelphia Eagles fan who bought tickets for a group of buddies to attend a Washington Commanders game. The friends filed a lawsuit when a railing broke and they fell to the stadium floor.

Here’s what the 4th Circuit had to say.

?? That's all for today, thank you for reading?The Legal File and have a great day!

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