4th Circ. Doubts Standing In $9B Lockheed Pension Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Fourth Circuit appeared open Wednesday to shutting down retirees' challenge to a $9 billion Lockheed Martin pension risk transfer, with judges voicing doubt about a Maryland judge's holding that ex-Lockheed workers had the standing needed to keep their case in court.

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1st Circ. Seems Torn Over Health Plan Surcharge For Smokers

By Carolyn Muyskens

A First Circuit panel appeared divided Wednesday over whether a casino company is required to refund tobacco use fees after smokers on the company's health plan complete a tobacco cessation program.

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JB Hunt Reaches Deal To End Tobacco Fee Class Action

By Kellie Mejdrich

Trucking company J.B. Hunt has struck a deal to settle a proposed class action alleging workers who used tobacco were wrongly charged $15 per week more for healthcare, parties told an Arkansas federal court in a joint filing on Wednesday.

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Liberty Mutual Escapes Suit Over Forfeited 401(k) Funds

By Patrick Hoff

Liberty Mutual dodged a proposed class action alleging it unlawfully used forfeited 401(k) funds to benefit itself rather than covering expenses paid by plan participants, with a California federal judge finding the plan's terms required the money to be used to offset future employer contributions.

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11th Circ. Asked To Overturn $184K ACA Employer Penalty

By Zak Kostro

A commercial laundry services company asked the Eleventh Circuit to reverse a Florida federal court's ruling that upheld a $184,000 payment to the IRS under the Affordable Care Act's employer shared responsibility provisions, saying it didn't receive notice of the penalty soon enough to lodge an effective appeal.

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Express Scripts Seeks To Exit AIDS Group's Drug Rate Suit

By Rachel Riley

Express Scripts called on a Washington federal judge to toss a lawsuit accusing it of using its market power to bully the AIDS Healthcare Foundation into accepting lower reimbursement rates for life-saving drugs, contending Tuesday that the case rehashes allegations a Missouri federal court has already rejected twice.

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DOJ Letter Rescission Portends Proxy Firm Antitrust Risk

The U.S. Justice Department's recent withdrawal of its 1987 business review letter issued to Institutional Shareholder Services, which shielded certain proxy advisory activities from anticompetitive enforcement, likely foreshadows renewed antitrust scrutiny of proxy advisory firms, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Cultivating Good Judgment

Law schools generally overlook the role that solid judgment skills play in real-world practice, but attorneys can bridge the gap by strengthening their abilities to assess a case’s strengths and weaknesses, develop and execute effective strategies, and provide clear recommendations to clients, says Manny Caixeiro at Venable.

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Burford Exec, Holland & Knight Adviser Open AI-Native Firm

By Andrea Keckley

Two veterans of the legal industry announced on Wednesday that they have teamed up to launch FairPlay Law, an AI-native firm based in Manhattan and focused on representing employees.

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Michael Best Combines With NY-Based Kane Kessler

By Kevin Penton

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP announced Wednesday that it is combining with New York-based firm Kane Kessler PC, adding 36 attorneys and a Big Apple presence to a firm that ranked 143rd on Law360's list of the nation's largest law firms.

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Protesters Say Feds' Fight Shows Need For Misconduct Probe

By Lauraann Wood

The U.S. government's opposition to a special investigation of prosecutorial misconduct that "poisoned" a now-dismissed criminal conspiracy case suggests Chicago prosecutors are still shielding critical details regarding the extent of official communications preceding the prosecution, underscoring the probe's necessity, protesters argued Tuesday.

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Apple Backs Its $132K Fee Ask Over 'Bad Faith' Subpoenas

By Bonnie Eslinger

Apple has urged a California federal magistrate judge to grant its $132,700 attorney fee request as a sanction against plaintiff consumers' lead lawyer in antitrust litigation claiming Google muscles out rival search engines, but said Apple's counsel doesn't want to disclose their "highly and competitively sensitive" negotiated legal rates.

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Newman Saga Prompts Bill To Limit Judicial Suspensions

By Courtney Bublé

The long-running saga over Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's fitness to remain on the court has exposed "major flaws" in the judicial accountability system, according to a Republican member of the House who introduced a bill Wednesday to reform it.

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Brief

Senate Panel Weighs 6 Trump Judicial Picks From Red States

By Courtney Bublé

Six nominees for U.S. district judge appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday for their nomination hearing.

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