Lawyers say exam shows 96-year-old judge fit to serve, Senate gives Democrats FCC majority, Arnold & Porter hires product liability team, and more

?? Good morning from The Legal File! Here are today's top legal stories:

????Lawyers say exam shows 96-year-old US appeals judge still fit to serve

Attorneys for Pauline Newman on Thursday touted a forensic psychiatrist's findings that the 96-year-old judge has "no substantial emotional, medical, or psychiatric disability" that would stop her from continuing to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

For months, Newman has been fighting an investigation into her fitness by a panel of her fellow Federal Circuit judges in Washington, D.C. The panel said in April that Newman has showed signs of serious cognitive and physical impairment and accused her of misconduct for allegedly refusing to cooperate with its probe.

Newman's lawyers at the New Civil Liberties Alliance on Thursday released a report by Dr. Regina Carney, a Miami-based forensic psychiatrist, that described Newman as an "unusually cognitively intact 96-year-old woman" with "no evidence of current substantial medical, psychiatric, or cognitive disability."

A spokesperson for the Federal Circuit did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Carney.

The Federal Circuit's judicial council has barred Newman, who has defended her mental fitness from the beginning, from hearing new cases. In May, Newman?sued ?to end her suspension and to either halt the competency probe or move it to another circuit.

Read more: https://reut.rs/483JxSF

??US Senate votes to give Democrats majority on telecom regulator

The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to approve President Joe Biden's nominee for a key fifth seat on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), giving Democrats a majority on the telecommunications regulator.

The Senate voted 55-43 to confirm Anna Gomez, a Democratic telecommunications attorney who serves as a senior adviser for the State Department's Bureau of Cyberspace and Digital Policy.

Since January 2021, the FCC has been deadlocked 2-2, stalling Democrats' efforts to reinstate landmark net neutrality rules revoked under Republican then-President Donald Trump and to pursue other priorities.

Another big issue for the FCC is the fate of a subsidy program for internet users. Congress awarded $14.2 billion in 2021 for a $30 per month voucher for low-income families to use toward any internet service plan of their choosing.

Read more: https://reut.rs/3sDFlZw

??DC court revives torture report lawsuit against Sidley law firm, psychology group

The D.C. Court of Appeals on Thursday revived a lawsuit against U.S. law firm Sidley Austin and the American Psychological Association brought by retired military psychologists who said they were defamed in a report about detainee interrogations following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The court rejected the psychologists' argument that Washington, D.C.'s Anti-SLAPP Act, which allows defendants to quickly dismiss certain lawsuits, violated the First Amendment right of petition under the U.S. Constitution.

The Court of Appeals reversed the D.C. Superior Court's March 2020 dismissal of the defamation lawsuit filed by former Army field officers Morgan Banks, Debra Dunivin and Larry James and ordered more discovery in the case.

Bonny Forrest, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement that they "are confident that, with the evidence full discovery will produce, they can prove that they were defamed by the Hoffman report that gave rise to the case."

An APA spokesperson said the group was disappointed by the ruling. The D.C. anti-SLAPP provision rejected by the court lets libel defendants "obtain early dismissal of non-meritorious lawsuits like the one at issue," the spokesperson said.

Read more: https://reut.rs/3sDFlZw

??Product liability trial team jumps to law firm Arnold & Porter

Six longtime Shook, Hardy & Bacon product liability litigators have taken their practices to Arnold & Porter, their new law firm said on Thursday.

Frank Cruz-Alvarez, Brian Jackson, Christopher Nease, David Thorne, and Michael Walden joined 1,000-lawyer Arnold & Porter as partners. Rachel Forman joined the Washington, D.C.-founded firm as counsel.

The partners each practiced at Shook Hardy, which is known for product liability defense work, for more than 20 years, according to their LinkedIn accounts. Forman was at the firm for about seven years.

The new lawyers are formally associated with either Arnold & Porter's Washington or Houston locations but will also work remotely or travel for trials much of their time, they said.

Read more: https://reut.rs/3PunrS9

?? That's all for today, thank you for reading?The Legal File!

For more legal industry news, read and?subscribe ?to The Daily Docket .