Employer health plan’s exclusion for gender-affirming care violates Title VII, 11th Circuit rules

A federal appeals court has ruled that a health insurance provider can be liable for denying gender-affirming care to transgender people under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

May 14, 2024 12:48 PM CDT

A letter to young women lawyers about ‘SADNESS’ in the law

My dear sister (in law), welcome to our profession of stress, anxiety, depression, negativity, endangerment, sickness and suicide (also known as "SADNESS"). In addition to the SADNESS, many of us carry secrets, scars and an insatiable longing for change. They all dishearten, discourage and divide us in devastating ways. Yet you can prepare for and overcome them.

May 8, 2024 2:15 PM CDT

Texas man files legal action to probe ex-partner’s out-of-state abortion

As soon as Collin Davis found out his ex-partner was planning to travel to Colorado to have an abortion in late February, the Texas man retained a high-powered antiabortion attorney—who court records show immediately issued a legal threat.

May 6, 2024 12:45 PM CDT

Family members struggle to help University of Chicago law grad who became homeless

Many states are trying to figure out how to help people like 44-year-old lawyer Rob Dart, who is living on the streets of Los Angeles after rejecting his medication for psychosis.

May 6, 2024 11:32 AM CDT

BigLaw firm introduces coaching and support for lawyers who have ADHD

There are law firms in which Carrie Garber Siegrist, a senior associate in the Washington, D.C., office of Goodwin Procter, might have had to be secretive about her diagnosis of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, also known as ADHD. But at Goodwin Procter, Garber Siegrist says, she feels embraced and supported.

May 6, 2024 8:55 AM CDT

Attorney general moves to reclassify marijuana as lower-risk drug

Attorney General Merrick Garland on Tuesday recommended loosening restrictions on marijuana, a historic shift in federal drug policy that could broaden access to the drug for medicinal use and boost cannabis industries in states where it is legal.

Apr 30, 2024 2:12 PM CDT

Court says state health-care plans can’t exclude gender-affirming surgery

A federal appellate court in Richmond became the first in the country to rule that state health-care plans must pay for gender-affirming surgeries, a major win for transgender rights amid a nationwide wave of anti-trans activism and legislation.

Apr 29, 2024 12:25 PM CDT

Conservative justices skeptical federal law requires emergency room abortions

Conservative Supreme Court justices expressed skepticism Wednesday that federal law can require hospitals to provide emergency abortion care in states with strict bans on the procedure, marking the latest legal battle over abortion access since the high court overturned Roe v. Wade nearly two years ago.

Apr 25, 2024 2:15 PM CDT

The fate of emergency abortion care rests with Supreme Court

Shanae Smith-Cunningham arrived at Memorial Regional Hospital on Dec. 21, 2022 - five days after her water broke, only halfway through her pregnancy. Despite her pleas for treatment and the risks to her health, staff at the Hollywood, Fla., hospital turned her away amid the state’s new abortion restrictions.

Apr 23, 2024 1:25 PM CDT

Netflix’s ‘The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker’ smashes the circumstantial evidence argument

Netflix’s The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker tells the story of a man experiencing homelessness, whose rise and fall overshadowed what may have been telltale signs of someone suffering from mental health issues.

Apr 18, 2024 10:08 AM CDT

SCOTUS declines to stay Idaho ban on gender-affirming care for minors

The Supreme Court has cleared the way for Idaho to broadly enforce a ban on gender-affirming medical care for minors, the first time the justices have intervened on the contentious issue of transgender health treatments.

Apr 16, 2024 9:45 AM CDT

Budding cannabis law courses are growing—but not fast enough

An increasing number of law schools around the country are offering cannabis law courses, but some professors think that even more are needed. “We’re still playing catch-up.”

Apr 15, 2024 9:30 AM CDT

Arizona Supreme Court issues near-total ban on abortion

Arizona’s conservative Supreme Court on Tuesday revived a near-total ban of abortion, invoking a 1864 law that forbids the procedure except to save a mother’s life and punishes providers with prison time.

Apr 9, 2024 2:00 PM CDT

Incarceration series includes female inmates but doesn’t tell full story

“Moreover, the series has thus far failed to explain some of the most counterintuitive aspects and sex-based discrepancies of American sentencing and incarceration,” writes Oklahoma lawyer and ABA Journal columnist Adam Banner.

Apr 8, 2024 12:32 PM CDT

Sanofi to settle about 4,000 suits over Zantac cancer claims

Sanofi SA said it has agreed to settle approximately 4,000 lawsuits accusing the French drugmaker of selling its Zantac heartburn medicine without warning patients that it could cause cancer.

Apr 4, 2024 10:35 AM CDT