10th Circ. Skeptical Of Union's Early Retirement Suit Appeal

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Tenth Circuit appeared skeptical Wednesday of an appeal from a Boilermaker-Blacksmith pension plan and its trustees in a dispute over early retirement benefits, with multiple judges seeming reluctant to overturn a Kansas judge's interpretation that the plan allowed non-boilermaker work after retirement, regardless of the employer's contribution status.

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Lawmakers Float Allowing Charitable Gifts From 401(k) Plans

By Patrick Hoff

A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bill that would allow workers to make tax-free charitable donations directly from their employer-sponsored retirement plans, building on a section of the retirement policy overhaul known as Secure 2.0.

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WestRock Made Illegal Health Plan Shift, NLRB Judge Says

By Katherine Smith

Packaging company WestRock violated federal labor law by changing a health insurance plan for employees without bargaining to a good faith impasse with a Teamsters local, a National Labor Relations Board judge found.

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French Fry Co. Can't Beat Investor Suit Over Software Rollout

By Sydney Price

An Idaho federal judge has largely denied frozen potato products company Lamb Weston Holdings Inc.'s bid to dismiss a proposed shareholder suit accusing it of botching the rollout of an enterprise resource planning system, saying the investors have sufficiently alleged the company sought to downplay challenges after the software went live.

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WWE Investors Want Sanctions For Deleted Signal Messages

By Jarek Rutz

Counsel for World Wrestling Entertainment shareholders urged the Delaware Chancery Court on Wednesday to draw evidence sanctions against former CEO Vince McMahon and other company leaders, arguing that deleted Signal messages, missing texts and discarded notes undercut the record in their challenge to WWE's $21.4 billion merger with Ultimate Fighting Championship.

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Brief

Couple Settles Annuity Fraud Suit With Ameritas, Ex-Agent

By Abigail Harrison

A retired military officer and his wife have agreed to end a lawsuit against Ameritas and a former insurance agent alleging a fraudulent investment scheme based on the sale of unsuitable equity-indexed annuities, according to a notice filed Wednesday in North Carolina federal court.

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Baker Botts Adds V&E Employee Benefits Pro In Dallas

By Lynn LaRowe

Baker Botts LLP announced Wednesday that it has added a Dallas-based partner to its executive compensation and benefits practice who came aboard from Vinson & Elkins LLP.

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Opinion

5th Circ.'s Abortion Pill Order Is Shaky On Multiple Grounds

The Fifth Circuit's recent order in Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion medication mifepristone, seems to turn federalism upside-down, and is also questionable for several other reasons, says Gregory Curtner at Curtner Law.

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Series

The Biz Court Digest: Georgia Court Has Business On Its Mind

Thanks to recent legislation, the Georgia State-wide Business Court will soon offer business litigants greater access to the court than ever before, further enhancing the court's emphasis on efficiency, predictability and accessibility for sophisticated commercial disputes, says former GSBC judge Walt Davis at Jones Day.

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Murdaugh Murder Conviction Overturned By SC High Court

By Parker Quinlan

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned a double murder conviction and ordered a new trial for disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh, finding the jury in his first trial was biased by a clerk of court who allegedly sought a guilty verdict in a ploy to juice sales of her book about the trial.

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Texas Atty Must Pay $5M For Groping Opposing Counsel

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas state appellate court on Wednesday refused to disturb a $5 million jury verdict against a San Antonio lawyer for grabbing the buttocks of opposing counsel at the courthouse where they were arguing a family law proceeding in 2019.

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DOJ Goes After DC Bar, Courts For Discipline Of Ex-DOJ Atty

By Hailey Konnath

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday sued the D.C. Office of Disciplinary Counsel, D.C. Board on Professional Responsibility, D.C. Court of Appeals and the District of Columbia, claiming that they were "punishing" a former Trump administration DOJ official and trying to "control the executive branch."

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DOJ Fraud Division Set To Shake Up White-Collar Enforcement

By Phillip Bantz

President Donald Trump's administration created the U.S. Department of Justice's National Fraud Enforcement Division with a narrow focus on combating government program fraud, but a move to retain federal prosecutors focused on other types of fraud could signal a wider scope with potential ripple effects across white-collar enforcement.

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Arbitrators See Global Stakes In Trump BigLaw EO Fight

By Caroline Simson

Ahead of a D.C. Circuit hearing on Thursday in the Trump administration's effort to revive executive orders imposed against four BigLaw firms, an official at the College of Commercial Arbitrators told Law360 this week there are several things arbitrators are going to be watching for.

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Apple Targets Hagens Berman 'Gamesmanship' In ICloud Suit

By Bryan Koenig

Apple has lashed out at Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP for trying to withdraw a named plaintiff from an iCloud antitrust case in California federal court without discovery into any directions she received to preserve now-deleted emails, raising concerns that the withdrawal is meant to "paper over lost evidence."

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Michigan Federal Judge Gets Probation For Drunken Driving

By Susan Smiley

Michigan federal Judge Thomas L. Ludington was sentenced by a state judge on Wednesday to six months' probation and fined $1,175 after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge last month in Emmet County.

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6th Circ. Says Kentucky Judicial Hopefuls May Tout Ideology

By Emily Sawicki

Kentucky judicial hopefuls are cleared to discuss their political leanings on the campaign trail, according to a precedential ruling by the Sixth Circuit, which permanently enjoined the state's Judicial Conduct Commission from pursuing an enforcement action against two candidates who described themselves as "conservatives" and "Republicans" amid the 2022 election season.

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Judge Says LegalForce Must Pay $93K After Losing TM Suit

By Elliot Weld

A California federal judge on Wednesday ordered LegalForce RAPC Worldwide PC to pay nearly $93,000 in fees and costs to the company that operates LawFirms.com, finding the case to be exceptional because LegalForce alleged facts it knew were false and took steps to obscure other facts that showed its case was meritless.

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CORRECTED: Senate Advances 13 US Attorneys In En Bloc Vote

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 46-45, along party lines, to advance the nomination of 13 U.S. attorneys on Monday as part of a larger nominations package. Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the status of the nominees in the Senate.

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