Georgia

March 25, 2025
GAO Rejects Protest Over Army's $16M Waste Collection Deal

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected a protest over a $16.2 million U.S. Army waste collection contract, saying the Army reasonably decided the awardee met subcontracting limits for the deal.
March 25, 2025
Ford To Explore Mediation After $2.5B Rollover Verdict

At the suggestion of a Georgia federal judge, Ford Motor Co. and a family that won a $2.5 billion punitive damages verdict against the company last month in a fatal Super Duty truck rollover trial have agreed to give mediation a try before the company presses ahead with efforts to get the record-breaking award overturned.
March 25, 2025
Pro Tennis Player Asks 11th Circ. To Affirm $9M Abuse Ruling

A professional tennis player who was awarded $9 million over claims of sexual abuse from her coach has asked the Eleventh Circuit to uphold the ruling, arguing that a Florida federal court properly found the training facility should have done more to protect her based on the evidence.
March 25, 2025
No Caprice In OSHA's Work Citation Rules, 11th Circ. Hears

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration urged the Eleventh Circuit Tuesday to ignore a Georgia roofing contractor's claims that it can't be on the hook for a $158,000 fine under the agency's "capricious" multiemployer citation rule, alleging the company's counsel told it to avoid being caught on the work site to dodge liability.
March 25, 2025
A Look At 6 States Tussling Over Tort Reform Legislation

There are six state legislatures, mostly in the South, that are debating whether to install business-friendly tort reform legislation or dismantle medical malpractice guardrails. The bills run the gamut from potential game-changing legislation in Georgia, to efforts in Texas to cap certain types of personal injury damages.
March 24, 2025
UPS Retirees Call Co.'s Class Cert. Objections 'Baffling'

Retired UPS workers who say the logistics giant bilked them on their benefits payments urged a Georgia federal judge Friday to certify a proposed class of nearly 70,000 beneficiaries and ignore the company's calls to shoot down the certification bid over its allegedly faulty math.
March 24, 2025
Equifax Freed Of FCRA Suit Over Forgiven Student Loans

A woman who alleged Equifax recklessly published derogatory and damaging credit reports that included a six-figure student loan debt, which was forgiven by the Biden administration, has agreed to end her Fair Credit Reporting Act putative class action, according to a stipulated dismissal filed Monday in Georgia federal court.
March 24, 2025
Feds Seek About 5 Years For Insurance Rep's $6M Bank Fraud

Georgia federal prosecutors recommended that a Florida insurance broker who pled guilty to defrauding a credit union out of $6 million through loans to commercial borrowers for insurance premiums be sentenced to between 51 and 63 months in prison.
March 24, 2025
Ga. Clinic Hit With Retaliation, Confidentiality Allegations

A former employee of a Georgia sexual assault survivors' clinic filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the organization Friday claiming that she was forced out of her position after refusing to help cover up allegations that the clinic was violating victim confidentiality laws.
March 24, 2025
Norfolk Southern Must Face Investors' Suit Over Safety Claims

A lawsuit claiming that Norfolk Southern executives propped up stock prices with false claims about the railroad's safety culture has survived the company's motion to dismiss, with a Georgia federal judge ruling Monday that those claims were specific enough to be material for investors who were allegedly deceived up until the 2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
March 24, 2025
TTAB Denies Jack's Grill TM Over Confusion With Chain

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has denied an attempt by a California restaurant called Jack's Grill and Billiards Inc. to register its name, saying it would likely create confusion with Jack's Family Restaurants, a chain that has hundreds of locations in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee.
March 24, 2025
Ga. Law Firm Accuses Recruiting Agency Of Contract Breach

Atlanta law firm Mozley Finlayson & Loggins LLP is accusing recruiting company Frederick Fox LLC of breach of contract after it refused to pay back a more than $36,000 placement fee when its candidate quickly left his role.
March 24, 2025
Monsanto Hit With $2.1B Verdict In Ga. Roundup Case

A Georgia jury has ordered Monsanto to pay nearly $2.1 billion to a man who said his cancer was caused by the weedkiller Roundup, in what his attorneys called the largest single-plaintiff injury verdict in the state's history.
March 24, 2025
Justices Won't Hear Peanut Truck Co.'s Excise Tax Case

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will not hear a Georgia company's case arguing the IRS wrongly denied it an excise tax exemption for the special trucks it makes for peanut farming, letting stand an Eleventh Circuit ruling.
March 21, 2025
11th Circ. Declines To Disturb Tesla Crash Suit Dismissal

The Eleventh Circuit on Friday affirmed a Florida federal court's dismissal of a Tesla battery deflect suit brought by the father of a teenager killed in a crash, ruling there is no evidence the teen would have survived but for the lack of a fire retardant in the car's batteries.
March 21, 2025
Real Estate Recap: GSA Leases, Artemis, C-PACE

Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including insight from Holland & Knight attorneys on General Services Administration lease terminations, Paul Hastings dealmakers on the Artemis takeover, and how attorneys see increasing use of commercial property-assessed clean energy financing.
March 21, 2025
Ga. Tort Refom Bill Gets Lawmakers' Final Approval

Georgia lawmakers gave final approval Friday to the state's first significant civil justice overhaul legislation in two decades, sending the bill to the desk of its biggest proponent, Gov. Brian Kemp, a day after it cleared the House of Representatives.
March 21, 2025
Travelers Wants Exit From $4.5M Faulty Apartment Settlement

Travelers told a Georgia federal judge Friday that the insurer should not owe the lion's share of a construction contractor's $4.5 million settlement over botched site work at an apartment complex, arguing the bill should be footed by the company's primary policies with Amerisure.
March 21, 2025
Ga. Law Firm Hit With Telemarketing Calls Class Action

An Illinois man is suing Kaila & Solomon Law Group LLC, which does business as Guardian Law, and marketing company ClicTree LLC in federal court, alleging they violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by making unsolicited telemarketing calls to people on the National Do Not Call Registry.
March 21, 2025
Judge Accused Of Bias Expresses Regret Over MDL Remarks

The chief judge of the Eleventh Circuit has dismissed a judicial ethics complaint alleging that a Florida federal judge had shown impermissible bias in favor of women leading the multidistrict litigation over the hormonal contraceptive drug Depo-Provera, after the judge said she "regrets any misunderstanding" and took steps to address the issue.
March 21, 2025
Gas Co. Retirees Urge 11th Circ. To Revive Pension Suit

Retirees of gas and electric utility Southern Company Services Inc. urged the Eleventh Circuit to revive their proposed class action alleging that their employer's outdated mortality tables lowered their pension payouts, arguing that a lower court wrongly tossed the dispute.
March 20, 2025
11th Circ. Allows Remand Of EB-5 Suit To Fla. State Court

The Eleventh Circuit has dismissed the appeal of a Canadian citizen trying to compel arbitration and keep in federal court the suit accusing him of defrauding foreign investors, saying it doesn't have jurisdiction to review the order sending the case back to Florida state court.
March 20, 2025
Faegre Drinker Faces Sanctions Bid In Trump IP Song Suit

Isaac Hayes' estate urged a Georgia federal judge Thursday to sanction a conservative political group and its Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath counsel in a copyright lawsuit over President Donald Trump's playing of Hayes' "Hold On, I'm Comin'" hit song at rallies, arguing they filed a "frivolous" dismissal bid.
March 20, 2025
State AGs Want 11th Circ. Redo Of FCC Robocall Reg Ruling

Attorneys general from more than half the states and Washington, D.C., are urging the full Eleventh Circuit to reverse a panel decision that nixed a federal rule restricting the use of comparison shopping sites to generate robocall leads.
March 20, 2025
MiMedx Challenges FDA Classification Of Wound Care Powder

Biomedical company MiMedx Group urged a Georgia federal judge on Thursday to overturn the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's classification of a wound care treatment as a biological product, arguing the agency misapplied its own regulations.

Expert Analysis

Boosting Confidence In Pennsylvania's Election System

As Election Day nears, Pennsylvania is facing an intense flurry of litigation, including an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court centered on mail-in and provisional ballots, but the state's election system is robust, and attorneys from all practice areas have an important role to play in ensuring confidence in and access to our election system, says Bucks County Commissioner Bob Harvie.
Empathy In Mediation Offers A Soft Landing For Disputes

Experiencing a crash-landing on a recent flight underscored to me how much difference empathy makes in times of crisis or stress, including during mediation, says Eydith Kaufman at Alternative Resolution Centers.
Series

Being An Artist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My work as an artist has highlighted how using creativity and precision together — qualities that are equally essential in both art and law — not only improves outcomes, but also leads to more innovative and thoughtful work, says Sarah La Pearl at Segal McCambridge.
How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.
How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.
11th Circ. Ruling Offers Refresher On 'Sex-Plus' Bias Claims

While the Eleventh Circuit’s recent ruling in McCreight v. AuburnBank dismissed former employees’ sex-plus-age discrimination claims, the opinion reminds employers to ensure that workplace policies and practices do not treat a subgroup of employees of one sex differently than the same subgroup of another sex, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.
Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.
Opinion

Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.
The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.
Series

Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer

The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.
Opinion

Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits

With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.
How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program

During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.
Series

Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.
An Update On Legal Issues In The Drone Market

Marialuisa Gallozzi and Alex Slawson at Covington examine recent developments in the legal issues surrounding the growing drone market, including possible First Amendment protections, Fourth Amendment surveillance, and litigation involving criminal and civil penalties, evidentiary pursuits, and insurance.
Navigating FEMA Grant Program For Slope Fixes After Storms

In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, it is critical for governments, businesses and individuals to understand the legal requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's grant programs to obtain funding for crucial repairs — including restoration of damaged infrastructure caused by landslides and slope failures, says Charles Schexnaildre at Baker Donelson.