Biotech giant Amgen Inc. struck a deal to end a proposed class action alleging a $150-a-month fee on the health plans of employees who used tobacco violated federal benefits law, according to a filing in California federal court Thursday.
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FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Amgen Reaches Deal To End Ex-Worker's Tobacco Fee Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

Biotech giant Amgen Inc. struck a deal to end a proposed class action alleging a $150-a-month fee on the health plans of employees who used tobacco violated federal benefits law, according to a filing in California federal court Thursday.

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Coal Producer Must Face Suit Over Retirement Plan Fees

By Patrick Hoff

A coal company can't escape a proposed class action claiming it unlawfully allowed its employee retirement plan to pay exorbitant recordkeeping fees, an Oklahoma federal judge ruled Thursday, saying workers' allegations that other plans paid far less were sufficient to stay in court.

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NY Hospital To Pay $3M In Suit Over Retirement Plan Roster

By Grace Elletson

A Long Island hospital will pay $3 million to close a suit claiming it failed to trim pricey and underperforming investment funds from its retirement plan, costing workers millions of dollars in savings, according to a filing in New York federal court.

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Frontier's $14M Deal In 401(k) Verizon Stock Suit Gets 1st OK

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A Connecticut federal judge has given his initial OK to a $14 million settlement Frontier Communications Corp. has reached to end a proposed class action over claims its employee 401(k) plan was overinvested in Verizon Wireless and other telecommunications stocks.

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LITIGATION

Judge Denies Bid To Move AT&T ERISA Case To State Court

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A California federal judge has denied a former AT&T employee's bid to move his class action suit alleging violations of state labor law over a tobacco surcharge on employee health plans from federal to state court.

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Coal Co. Loses 4th Circ. Challenge To Black Lung Benefits

By Carla Baranauckas

The Fourth Circuit on Thursday upheld a Black Lung Benefits Act award to a former underground electrician, finding that an administrative law judge reasonably relied on two medical experts who linked his chronic lung problems to nearly 12 years of coal mine work.

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Vestis, Aramark Opposition To Cert. Bid 'Absurd,' Judge Told

By Sydney Price

A group of institutional investors urged a Georgia federal court to certify claims accusing uniform supplier Vestis Corp. and food and facilities services giant Aramark of making misleading statements about Vestis' operations prior to its 2023 spinoff from Aramark, saying several of the defendants' arguments opposing certification have been addressed.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Series

Being In A Band Made Me A Better Lawyer

Playing shows in storied New York City venues and rehearsing with my bandmates in poorly ventilated rooms helped develop the professional qualities I rely on as a litigator, including an ability to collaborate with strong-minded equals and the determination to treat each client with singular focus, says Eliad Shapiro at Herrick Feinstein.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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TikTok's Ex-Legal Head Made Racist Comments, Suit Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

TikTok and its former head of global legal operations have been accused in a California state court lawsuit of harassment and discrimination based on race and sex by a former legal department employee who claims the executive subjected her and other nonwhite colleagues to an "unrelenting campaign of harassment."

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Meta Atty 'Absolutely Wrong' On Client Privilege, Judge Warns

By Dorothy Atkins

With trial dark Thursday due to juror illness, a California judge overseeing states' claims that Meta Platforms Inc. hid social media's harms heard arguments over evidence, at one point criticizing Meta's efforts to assert attorney-client privilege and calling the company's in-house lawyer "absolutely wrong" about the appropriate standard.

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Uber Gets Greenlight On Most Fraud Claims Against LA Firms

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge Wednesday largely rejected two Los Angeles personal injury firms' attempts to ditch Uber's suit claiming it's being targeted by a scheme involving fraudulent personal injury claims, finding Uber has plausibly alleged that the firms schemed with a surgeon to rack up medical costs.

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Trump Taps DOJ Official, ND Solicitor General For Judgeships

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced Thursday he's tapping Jesus Osete, a top U.S. Department of Justice official, to serve on the Western District of Missouri and Philip Axt, solicitor general of North Dakota, for the District of North Dakota.

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Jay-Z Appeals Buzbee Win In Rapper's Defamation Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

Music mogul Jay-Z's counsel fought uphill Thursday to convince a California state appeals court to revive claims that Texas attorney Tony Buzbee defamed and extorted him by roping him into a sexual abuse suit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, arguing in court that a trial court erroneously read evidence in Buzbee's favor.

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CREXi Drops 9th Circ. Challenge To Quinn Emanuel DQ

By Isaac Monterose

Property listing company Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc. has moved to dismiss its own Ninth Circuit mandamus petition, which challenged a lower court's disqualification of CREXi's counsel, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, from a legal battle against rival CoStar.

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Eastman Among 16 Calif. Attys Disbarred In Q2 2026

By Emily Sawicki

The State Bar of California removed the licenses of 16 attorneys between April and June of this year over a broad spectrum of ethical breaches ranging from the high-profile case of John Eastman attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, to a lawyer found to be in possession of child sex abuse images.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Ashurst Perkins

Bailey & Glasser

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner

Buzbee Law Firm

Capozzi Adler PC

Covington & Burling

Downtown LA Law Group

Employee Justice Legal Group

GableGotwals

Gibson Dunn

Girardi & Keese

Herrick Feinstein

Holland & Knight

Horvitz & Levy

Hueston Hennigan

Izard Kindall

Jackson Lewis PC

Karr & Allison

Larson LLP

Latham & Watkins

Law Offices of Jacob Emrani

Lindsey & Lacy

Lyons & Clark

Martin LLP

Mayer Brown

Milberg PLLC

Miller Waxler

O'Melveny & Myers

Ogletree Deakins

Pomerantz LLP

Quinn Emanuel

Robinson & McElwee

Saxena White

Sheppard Mullin

Sidley Austin

Susman Godfrey

Taft Stettinius

Verrill Dana

Wilkinson Stekloff

Winston Taylor

Wolfe Williams

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AT&T Inc.

Alliance Resource Partners LP

Amgen Inc.

Apple Inc.

Aramark

Boyer Co.

CoStar Group Inc.

Friedman LLP

Frontier Communications Parent Inc.

Harvard University

LoopNet Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

NYU Langone Medical Center

State Bar of California

TikTok Inc.

Uber Technologies Inc.

Verizon Communications Inc.

Vestis

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Department of Justice

California Supreme Court

Los Angeles Superior Court

North Dakota Attorney General's Office

Supreme Court of Missouri

U.S. Army

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of North Dakota

United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma