Harvard takes Trump to court

05:02 |

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The Daily Docket

A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Caitlin Tremblay

Good morning. A federal judge will consider an indefinite block on President Trump's bid to bar Harvard from enrolling foreign students. Plus, the U.S. Supreme Court will announce opinions this morning; a U.S. court blocked most Trump tariffs; Trump nominated his former defense lawyer to the 3rd Circuit; and starting pay for associates has been flat since 2023. Let's dive in on this Friday eve.

Harvard to urge judge to extend block on Trump's effort to bar foreign students

REUTERS/Brian Snyder

Today, as Harvard University holds its 374th commencement ceremony, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston will consider whether to issue an injunction that would indefinitely block the Trump administration from revoking the university's ability to enroll foreign students. Here's what to know:

Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order on Friday blocking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's move to prevent the university from enrolling foreign students. Read the order here.
About a quarter of Harvard's student body would be forced to transfer if the policy is allowed to stand. Read more about those students here.
The school's lawyers argue the action was part of "unprecedented and retaliatory attack on academic freedom at Harvard." Trump told reporters on Wednesday that Harvard should have a 15% cap on the number of foreign students it admits. "Harvard has got to behave themselves," he said.
This case is the latest escalation in a broader battle between Harvard and the White House. Harvard has pushed back hard against President Trump, having previously sued to restore nearly $3 billion in federal grants that had been frozen or canceled. On Tuesday, the Trump administration sent a letter to federal agencies saying it plans to terminate the federal government's remaining contracts with Harvard.
In recent weeks, the administration has proposed ending Harvard's tax-exempt status and hiking taxes on its endowment and has opened an investigation into whether it violated civil rights laws.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. ET. Read Harvard's complaint here.

Coming up today

The U.S Supreme Court is expected to announce opinions.
U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco will consider whether to halt the Trump administration's plan to strip temporary legal protections for thousands of Venezuelan migrants, exposing them to imminent deportation. Ahead of the hearing, Chen asked lawyers on both sides to address the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision allowing the administration to end deportation protection for Venezuelans while it pursues an appeal in the case.
U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan will hear arguments from Visa in a case in which the DOJ accuses the company of monopolizing the market for networks used to run debit card transactions.
Broadcom's VMware will ask a California federal court to dismiss allegations that it infringes Netflix patents related to "virtual machines" that run another computer's operating software on a host computer.
Former Goldman Sachs partner Tim Leissner is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Brooklyn, where he has pleaded guilty to corruption charges for his role in helping loot billions of dollars from Malaysia's 1MDB development fund.
Hearings will begin in a court in Argentina to determine the future of the trial of seven members of Diego Maradona's medical team charged with negligent homicide in the soccer star's 2020 death, after one of the judges stood down amid a scandal.

Court calendars are subject to last-minute docket changes.

More top news

Industry insight

President Trump nominated Emil Bove, a lawyer who previously defended Trump in a criminal case stemming from hush money paid to a porn star, to serve as a judge on the 3rd Circuit.
Moves: Former FERC general counsel Matthew Christiansen joined Wilson Sonsini … Kirkland added three M&A partners in Boston … Bradley added two healthcare partners in Atlanta … DLA Piper hired a partner in its healthcare regulatory practice in D.C. … Litigation partner Matthew Regan rejoined Skadden in Chicago … Also in Chicago, Troutman Pepper added a government contracts partner … A government contracts law duo joined Fox Rothschild in D.C. … DLA Piper has a new healthcare regulatory partner in D.C. … Willkie hired a new music and entertainment transactions partner in Los Angeles … and Orrick added an M&A partner in Paris.

$200,000

That's the median base salary for first-year associates according to the National Association for Law Placement. It's the same median from January 2023 when NALP last conducted its Associate Salary Survey. Learn more about why salaries haven't budged.

"There was absolutely no testimony from the witness that was prejudicial in any way, shape or form."

—U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, denying Sean "Diddy" Combs' request for a mistrial. Combs' lawyer Alexandra Shapiro said on Wednesday, outside the jurors' presence, that the prosecutors' questions to a Los Angeles investigator who probed an alleged arson incident implied that Combs had a role in the destruction of fingerprint evidence. Read more.

In the courts

The NCAA urged a 7th Circuit panel to strike down a court ruling that the organization argues will upend a key restriction on college student athlete eligibility for team sports. Read more about the arguments.
Attorneys for medical implant maker Exactech said at a bankruptcy court hearing in Delaware that it is walking away from recent efforts to protect its owner TPG from lawsuits alleging that Exactech's knee implants were defective.
Harvard University has agreed to give up ownership of photos of an enslaved father and his daughter who were forced to be photographed in 1850 for a racist study by a professor trying to prove the inferiority of Black people to resolve a lawsuit by one of their descendants.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman blocked the Transportation Department from cutting funds for New York as the Trump administration moves to end Manhattan's congestion pricing plan.
U.S. District Judge Christina Reiss in Vermont removed one roadblock preventing a Russian-born scientist at Harvard from being released from U.S. custody three months after immigration authorities detained upon her arrival at an airport in Boston. Read more.

Attorney Analysis

Bracewell's Mark Hunting and Myriam Lace examine the extension of corporate criminal liability in the UK. Read today's Attorney Analysis.

Correction: Yesterday's newsletter included an incorrect link in the item about Simpson Thacher's new partner Jana Hymowitz. The correct link is here.

Additional writing by Shruthi Krishnamurthy.

Contact

Caitlin Tremblay

caitlin.tremblay@thomsonreuters.com

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