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The Daily Docket

A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Caitlin Tremblay

Good morning. Tariff refund claims are piling up and trade lawyers expect a law firm committee to steer the litigation. Plus, the 11th Circuit will take up a Florida book ban; Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to give testimony in the congressional investigation of Jeffrey Epstein; and the White House ballroom can move ahead, for now. Let’s wrap up the week with some of our most unusual photos from around the world. See you Monday for a new week and a new month.

Trade lawyers expect law firm committee to steer tariff refunds litigation

REUTERS/Carlos Barria

New claims are piling up at the U.S. Court of International Trade after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that President Trump lacked authority to impose tariffs under a law meant for use in national emergencies.

More than 1,800 cases were pending before the high court's decision. Since then, FedEx, L'Oreal and more than 100 other companies have added to the crush of lawsuits, with many more expected in the coming weeks. Quinn Emanuel partner Dennis Hranitzky said his firm alone is planning to bring claims for hundreds of clients.

Law firms that already have a large share of refund cases include Crowell & Moring, which has filed at least 150 cases, and Grunfeld, Desiderio, Lebowitz, Silverman & Klestadt, which has filed more than 300 tariff lawsuits.

Lawyers with pending cases told Reuters they expect the court to form a plaintiffs steering committee that includes firms like their own to advise a designated lead plaintiff and serve as a liaison to the court and the government for the thousands of other cases.

Coming up today

First Amendment: The 11th Circuit will hear arguments in a lawsuit filed by Florida parents against the state’s board of education alleging discrimination under a state law that fails to provide them with a process for appealing decisions banning books from school libraries. Read the complaint.
Government: Former President Bill Clinton is scheduled to appear for a transcribed and filmed deposition in the House Oversight Committee investigation of Jeffrey Epstein.

Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.

More top news

"Unfortunately, because both sides initially focused on the President's constitutional authority to destruct and construct the East Wing of the White House, Plaintiff didn't bring the necessary cause of action to test the statutory authority the President claims is the basis to do this construction project without the blessing of Congress and with private funds."

—U.S. District Judge Richard Leon in D.C., declining to block President Trump from proceeding with construction of a $400 million White House ballroom to replace the demolished East Wing. Leon found that preservationists failed to meet the high bar for a preliminary injunction that would halt the project for now. Read the opinion.

$100 million

That’s how much Walmart agreed to pay to settle charges that the company caused delivery drivers to lose tens of millions of dollars in earnings, the FTC said. Read more here.

Tech policy and antitrust correspondent Jody Godoy will be interviewing the FTC Competition Director Daniel Guarnera on March 17 as part of Reuters Pharma USA. Got questions for Guarnera? Submit them here.

In the courts

The 9th Circuit rejected a bid by unions to block the Trump administration from stripping hundreds of thousands of federal employees of the ability to engage in union bargaining with U.S. agencies. Read the opinion.
U.S. District Judge Maxine Chesney in San Francisco issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from cutting off funding for 22 Democratic-led states to administer food stamp benefits unless they turned over data on millions of people who received aid. Read the PI.
The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in its effort to strip deportation protections from about 6,000 Syrians living in the United States. Read the filing.
Apple urged a federal judge in California to dismiss a proposed class action claiming it defrauded shareholders twice. Read the filing.
Judge LeAnn Rafferty in Texas rejected Kenvue's bid to dismiss a lawsuit by state AG Ken Paxton that accused the company of falsely marketing Tylenol by concealing autism and other risks to children when pregnant women use the popular painkiller. Read the order.
Vanguard Group agreed to pay $29.5 million to settle litigation filed by the Republican attorneys general of Texas, Kansas and other states, who had alleged the fund manager and rivals violated antitrust law through their climate activism. Read the settlement.