Judge orders reform of school-funding system; BigLaw malpractice suit settles

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Weekly Briefs: Judge orders reform of school-funding system; BigLaw malpractice suit settles

By Debra Cassens Weiss

February 10, 2023, 2:44 pm CST

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School-funding system violates state constitution, judge says

A Pennsylvania judge has ruled that the state’s school-funding system, which is heavily dependent on local property taxes, violates the state constitutional rights of students in poor school districts. Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer said the system violates the Pennsylvania Constitution’s education clause and deprives students of their right to equal protection of the law. A pro bono team at O’Melveny & Myers represented the plaintiffs, working with the Education Law Center in Pennsylvania and the Public Interest Law Center. (The Associated Press, press releases here and here, Jubelirer’s Feb. 7 decision)

Nelson Mullins settles malpractice suit

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough has settled a Florida malpractice lawsuit alleging that it failed to ensure that a wealthy couple’s five children each shared equally in trust money. The case settled shortly before a new trial was to begin; the first had ended in a mistrial. Jurors in the first trial told lawyers that they unanimously favored the law firm on 14 out of 15 counts, according to a Nelson Mullins spokeswoman who spoke with Law360 at the time. Five out of six jurors favored the defense on the 15th count. (Law360)

Judge tosses Trump campaign’s suit against Washington Post

U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras of the District of Columbia has dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by the Trump campaign against the Washington Post. The suit had focused on two opinion pieces alleging that former President Donald Trump had encouraged or invited foreign nations to take actions that would assist his campaign. Contreras said the campaign had failed to plead facts supporting an inference of actual malice. He gave the campaign a chance to amend and refile the suit. (Law360, Law.com, the Feb. 3 opinion)

Texas suit seeks to block US guidance on abortion prescriptions

A lawsuit filed Tuesday by Republic Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton challenges federal guidance to pharmacies regarding abortion drugs. The guidance says pharmacies that receive Medicare and Medicaid funds could violate anti-discrimination law if they refuse to fill prescriptions for abortion drugs that are also used to treat other conditions. (Reuters, the Texas Tribune, Paxton press release, the Feb. 7 lawsuit)

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