Potential Trump SCOTUS pick lambasts 'racism against whites'

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By Caitlin Tremblay

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Plus, this week's Legal Fee Tracker. 

Judge James Ho, Nov. 30, 2022. REUTERS/Michelle McLoughlin/File Photo

A divided 5th Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a Texas student's lawsuit alleging he was bullied for being white and supporting Republican President-elect Donald Trump, prompting Judge James Ho, seen as a potential U.S. Supreme Court nominee, to dissent and deplore "racism against whites."

Ho, in an opinion joined by fellow Trump appointee Judge Kyle Duncan, wrote that the student was "harassed on multiple occasions for multiple reasons — but being white was absolutely one of them."

"It's racist to characterize whites as racist," Ho wrote. Nate Raymond has more.

Martin Cirkiel, a lawyer for the student, said he planned to pursue an appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court, citing the "importance of protecting kids at school, regardless of their race, religion, nationality or political beliefs." A lawyer for the school district did not respond to a request for comment.

REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol/File Photo

After reaching a $6.01 billion deal with 3M to settle the largest mass tort litigation in U.S. history, lawyers for the plaintiffs got a step closer this week to securing their own share of the settlement fund.

The plaintiffs' lead attorneys at Seeger Weiss; Aylstock, Witkin, Kreis & Overholtz; and Clark, Love & Hutson on Wednesday persuaded U.S. District Judge M. Casey Rodgers to maintain a 9% hold-back on the class funds, paving the way for them and about 60 other law firms in the case to be awarded common benefit fees. David Thomas and Mike Scarcella have more on the 3M fees and other new fee news.

Legal Fee Tracker is a weekly feature. Read last week's here.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to revisit a 2nd Circuit ruling that said a shareholder from 1-800-FLOWERS had standing to bring a derivative case against the hedge fund Raging Capital for allegedly violating Section 16 of the Exchange Act. The hedge fund's lawyers did their best, writes Alison Frankel, to pitch the suit as a chance for the Supreme Court to force the 2nd Circuit line up with three other circuits to apply a two-step test of standing for plaintiffs alleging statutory violations. Frankel says the ruling means we should expect more swing-sale derivatives suits in New York courts.

Check out other recent pieces from our columnists: Alison Frankel and Jenna Greene

Trump opts for personal ties and TV chops in choosing his team … Trump's team drawing up list of Pentagon officers to fire, sources say … Expect to hear the F-word a lot in the U.S. Senate next year … A "morphing" wheel allows wheelchairs to climb stairs … No more monkey mania in Thai town after clamp down … Yoko Ono is the rightful owner of John Lennon's stolen watch, says Swiss court … And our top photos of the day.

Additonal writing by Shruthi Krishnamurthy.

caitlin.tremblay@thomsonreuters.com

@ctrembz

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