On The Merits

For farmers in the South, feral hogs are a constant threat to their crops and, thus, their livelihoods. But with the expiration of a federal pilot program to eradicate them, the feral hog invasion has become another skirmish in the broad fiscal battles dominating Washington. One problem: there's not an agreement on what role the federal government should play in solving the invasive hog problem. And that disagreement could have serious impacts as Congress gears up to debate several major agricultural funding bills in the coming months. On this episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Government reporter Jack Fitzpatrick explains why invasive feral hogs are such a difficult problem to solve, and outlines the pros and cons of the dueling solutions to eradicate the boars: a government-led campaign or a market-oriented solution. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Former crypto titan Sam Bankman-Fried had a bad day on Nov. 2, as he was found guilty on all seven charges of fraud and conspiracy. But, according to Bloomberg Law reporters Matthew Bultman and Daphne Zhang, he can probably expect more bad days to come. Bankman-Fried will face sentencing early next year, where, Bultman reports, former federal prosecutors predict he could receive at least 20 years in prison. Another issue he could face is an inability to pay his attorneys. Zhang reports that Bankman-Fried recently dropped a suit against an insurer of his former crypto trading firm, FTX, to force it to pay his legal costs. Zhang and Bultman join today's episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, to discuss what's on the horizon for Bankman-Fried and whether his case will make insurers think differently about underwriting risky companies. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Finding clients is one of the biggest challenges facing mass tort lawyers. But that task has gotten even more challenging for lawyers working on Camp Lejeune, which could end up being one of the largest-ever mass tort cases. Many of these attorneys have been paying firms for the names of people who've been exposed to toxic water at the military base and may be entitled to a government payout. However, in some cases the attorneys later discover that the names and details in the leads are totally fabricated, according to recent reporting from Bloomberg Law. At best, this adds to lawyers' workloads as they have to weed out the real leads from the fake. At worst, it can get the lawyers in serious trouble if they don't realize their clients' story is fake until too late. On this episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, reporters Kaustuv Basu and Emily R. Siegel explain how these lead generating scams work and why they're bad news not just for attorneys but also for real Camp Lejeune victims. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Nearly three years after the decennial process of redistricting started, ongoing litigation means state or federal political maps are still uncertain in more than a dozen states. While knock down, drag out fights over redistricting are common, that's a lot of maps to still be up in the air this late in the decade. On this special episode of On The Merits, our weekly news podcast, we examine why redrawing these maps has become such a litigious affair and what that means for lawmakers, candidates, and voters. We also learn about how the Supreme Court's decision to stop policing partisan gerrymandering has led us to where we are today. Attorneys, academics, and party officials weigh in on why the courts are now hearing so much redistricting litigation and whether this trend can even be reversed. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

If autoworkers and automakers can't reach a deal, the current strike paralyzing the automotive industry could go on for months, according to Bloomberg Law reporter Ian Kullgren. The big three US automakers are signaling that they're unwilling to make many more—or, perhaps, any more—concessions to the United Autoworkers Union, led by its new firebrand president, Shawn Fain. But Fain shows no signs that he's ready to accept what the three are offering. On this episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, Kullgren talks about why Fain has taken his union into such a radical new direction. He says a main reason for the strike is the UAW's desire to ensure new US-made electric vehicles will be manufactured by unionized workers. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

A major clash on Capitol Hill ended in an anticlimax, as lawmakers moved at the very last minute to delay a federal funding deadline by several weeks. But it's unclear whether anyone "won" here: Democrats were unable to secure additional aid for Ukraine, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is now in danger of losing his speakership, and the right wing of the Republican party achieved almost none of its goals. On this episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, we speak to Bloomberg Government's Jack Fitzpatrick about how we Congress got its federal funding deadline extended through Nov. 17, and about all of the upcoming legislative deadlines it faces through the rest of this year. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

Death penalty cases are often adjudicated for years, if not decades, before they reach the Supreme Court. But once they do, the justices must make life-or-death decisions in a relatively quick amount of time. Death penalty cases at the Supreme Court often come through the court's emergency, or "shadow" docket. In recent years, the court's conservatives have handed down rulings that closed off several avenues for capital defendants to get a rehearing of their case, or to even to challenge their method of execution. On this special episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law's Kimberly Robinson and Lydia Wheeler take a look at what the court's rulings mean for how the death penalty works in America, and what happens at the court when an 11th hour request comes in. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

After his victory over race conscious college admissions policies this summer, anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum wasted no time moving to his next target. Last month, groups led by Blum filed suit against two of the country's largest law firms, arguing the recent high court opinion means their diversity fellowships are now illegal. The suits are already paying off: Within days of filing, two firms changed their criteria for granting fellowships designed to recruit associates from more diverse backgrounds. On this week's episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law reporters Tatyana Monnay and Riddhi Setty talk about what these firms did and why Blum was able to achieve results so quickly. They also get into what this means for the future of DEI departments in Big Law, many of which were already struggling before the uncertainty brought by Blum's suits. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

The pharmaceutical industry is making some bold constitutional arguments in its attempts to overturn a new law allowing Medicare to negotiate directly with drug makers on prices. The industry says the law, part of the Biden administration's Inflation Reduction Act, violates the Fifth, Eighth, and even First Amendment rights of companies like Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and AstraZeneca, among others. On this episode of our weekly podcast, On The Merits, Celine Castronuovo and David Schultz look into why the drug makers are waging this uphill legal battle against Medicare negotiations and whether they'll ultimately succeed. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.

More than a quarter of the nation's federal district courts have never had even one Black judge. That's the takeaway from a new investigation by Bloomberg Law's Tiana Headley and Andrew Satter. In some instances, this reflects the small Black populations within these courts' respective jurisdictions. But that's not the case in places like the Southern District of Georgia, where the region's large Black population has never been tapped for a federal judgeship. On this episode of our weekly news podcast, On The Merits, Tiana and Andrew talk about the lack of diversity on federal trial courts and about the situation in South Georgia specifically, where prominent Black lawyers have been continually passed over for the rare open seats on the court. Do you have feedback on this episode of On The Merits? Give us a call and leave a voicemail at 703-341-3690.