KPMG gets nod to launch US law firm, judge halts Trump's calls for federal mass firings, Musk backs merging FTC and DOJ antitrust units and more ?
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?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here is the rundown of today's top legal news:
?? KPMG approved to launch US law firm in first for Big Four
KPMG won approval from Arizona's Supreme Court on Feb. 27 to launch a law firm in Arizona, making it the first of the Big Four accounting firms to be able to practice law in the United States.
KPMG Law US, an independently managed subsidiary of KPMG, will work with the accounting firm to provide legal and consulting services, the firm said.
'KPMG is uniquely positioned to transform the delivery of legal services,' Rema Serafi, vice chair of tax at KPMG LLP, said in a statement.
Arizona in 2020 became the first U.S. state to scrap rules barring non-lawyers from having an economic interest in law firms, allowing them to have co-ownership with court approval.
Most states still allow only lawyers to practice law, own law firms and share legal fees. Supporters of reforming such barriers say they can make legal advice more expensive, hamper innovation in the market and restrict access to justice.
?? US judge halts Trump administration's calls for mass firings at agencies
A California federal judge on Feb. 27 temporarily blocked the Trump administration from ordering the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies to carry out the mass firings of thousands of recently hired employees.
U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said during a hearing that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management lacked the power to order federal agencies to fire any workers, including probationary employees who typically have less than a year of experience.
Republican President Donald Trump and billionaire Elon Musk, who oversees the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, are spearheading an unprecedented effort to shrink the federal bureaucracy, including through job cuts.
Those efforts have resulted in a fierce pushback from Democrats, unions and federal workers, who argue the job cuts are illegal and could compromise government functions.
Related reads:
?? US officials must testify about DOGE in lawsuit over access to agency systems
Trump administration officials must face questioning under oath about the workings of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency in a lawsuit by government employee unions seeking to block the secretive cost-cutting department from accessing federal agency systems, a federal judge ruled on Feb. 27.
U.S. District Judge John Bates in Washington ruled that the unions can question four officials, one from DOGE itself and one each from the Department of Labor, the Department of Health and Human Services and from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The order did not name the individual officials that would be questioned.
The judge is considering whether to issue a preliminary injunction blocking DOGE from accessing agency systems while the unions' lawsuit proceeds.
The depositions, which are limited to a total of eight hours, must focus on DOGE's organizational structure, the roles and responsibilities of its employees, the extent of their access to agency systems and what measures have been taken to ensure security and privacy, Bates ruled.
Related read:
??? Elon Musk throws weight behind merging FTC and DOJ antitrust units
Elon Musk, the billionaire behind President Trump's efforts to shrink the U.S. government, threw his support behind a bill that would consolidate antitrust enforcement at the U.S. Department of Justice, stripping that authority from the Federal Trade Commission.
'Sounds logical,' Musk posted on X late on Feb. 26 night in response to U.S. Senator Mike Lee's post on the social media site expressing hope that Trump and Musk's government efficiency effort would examine consolidating the two antitrust enforcers.
Lee, a Republican from Utah, posted about the One Agency Act, a bill he first proposed in 2020, which would remove the FTC's antitrust authority and give it to the DOJ. The two agencies have shared federal antitrust jurisdiction, intended to guard against anticompetitive business behavior, for more than 100 years.
"We should no more have two antitrust agencies than two presidents of the United States — no more than the Catholic Church should have two popes," Lee posted on Feb. 26.
?? That's all for today, thank you for reading The Legal File, and wish you a pleasant weekend! For more legal industry news, read and subscribe to The Daily Docket.
I just hope that they pay their new contract attorneys more than the measly $27/hour they offer document review attorneys.