MetLife To Boost Pensions In $23M Mortality Data Suit Deal

By Patrick Hoff

MetLife has agreed to increase retirees' monthly pension benefits and settle a class action claiming its use of outdated mortality data unlawfully reduced retirement payouts in a deal worth $23 million, the workers leading the suit told a New York federal court.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

11th Circ. Revives Cop's Military Service Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Eleventh Circuit reopened a lawsuit alleging that a Florida city police officer was harassed and demoted because he took time off for military service, holding that the trial court needed to take a closer look at whether the back pay he received was enough to remedy the situation.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lithia Motors Can't Ship 401(k) Forfeiture Suit To Ore.

By Kellie Mejdrich

A California federal judge turned down an auto dealership company's bid for an Oregon transfer of an ex-worker's proposed class action alleging the company misallocated forfeitures from an employee 401(k) plan, and also rejected the company's bid to stay pleading deadlines in the case.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

OPM Relaxes Remote Work Guidance For World Cup

By Patrick Hoff

The Trump administration told federal agencies that employees based in 11 cities hosting World Cup matches should be allowed to work remotely during the international soccer tournament, easing restrictive guidelines issued late last year.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

HHS Says Bronx Facility $31M Payback Suit Filed Prematurely

By Elaine Briseño

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says a nursing center in New York City should have pursued administrative remedies before fighting the collection of $31 million in Medicare overpayments with a lawsuit.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Helen Of Troy Oversold Restructuring Benefits, Investors Say

By Emilie Ruscoe

Consumer goods company Helen of Troy Ltd. faces a proposed investor class action alleging it concealed its struggles to restructure after a spate of acquisitions, hurting investors as its trading prices sank when financial fallout from the problems became public.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Uncertainty Looms After Justices' Withdrawal Liability Ruling

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding in M&K Employee Solutions v. Trustees of the IAM National Pension Fund increases the unpredictability of withdrawal liability assessments, so employers should prepare for a range of assessments and be equipped to challenge unreasonable ones, say attorneys at Winston Taylor.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

5 Things Associates Must Ask About Their Firm's Merger Plan

The associates who navigate law firm mergers best ask the right questions early, such as inquiring about partners' plans, to assess how the merger could affect their workflow and career path, says Jackie Bokser-LeFebvre at Major Lindsey.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

BigLaw Insider Trading Defendants Have Big-Name Legal Help

By Chris Villani

An insider trading case involving nonpublic information prosecutors say was stolen from some of the largest law firms in the U.S. has ensnared more than two dozen defendants, many of whom have turned to lawyers with notable clients including Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein and Luigi Mangione.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Hueston Hennigan Follows Milbank's Lead In Associate Pay

By Tracey Read

The race to match Milbank LLP's attorney pay hikes is officially on, with trial firm Hueston Hennigan the latest to announce it will increase associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

The Plaintiffs Atty Now 5-0 At Supreme Court With No Dissents

By Jeff Overley

It's true that Jennifer Bennett is undefeated at the U.S. Supreme Court, but it's also an understatement. Bennett's five wins, including two recent ones, were all unanimous decisions. They showed that the plaintiffs bar can still persuade a conservative supermajority. And they turned the tide after a spree of decisions keeping workers and consumers out of court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Goldstein Cites Addiction To Avoid Time, DOJ Seeks 8 Years

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors recommended a 97-month prison sentence for convicted SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein, telling a Maryland federal court he has bilked the government out of more than $9.5 million in unpaid taxes. Goldstein, meanwhile, asked for a suspended sentence and supervised release, citing a "severe and longstanding gambling addiction."

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Rocade Capital Buys LFG To Create Combined $2B Lit Funder

By Ryan Boysen

Rocade Capital LLC has acquired fellow litigation funder Law Finance Group LLC, creating a combined platform that has deployed more than $2.3 billion and specializes in $10 million to $50 million deals, including post-judgment financing, portfolio deals and lending to plaintiff's firms.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Court Reporter Shortage A 'Crisis,' Calif. Supreme Court Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

Two legal nonprofits urged the California Supreme Court to issue an order entitling low-income civil litigants to electronic recording if a live court reporter is not available, saying at a hearing Wednesday that a court reporter shortage in the Golden State has created a "crisis."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Suspends 2 Attys For 6 Months Over AI Hallucinations

By Rae Ann Varona

The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday temporarily suspended two California immigration attorneys from practicing before the appellate court for filing briefs in a deportation relief case containing artificial intelligence-generated hallucinations, finding no excuse for their "extraordinary confession" of not vetting citations used by unlicensed brief writers.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Tenn. Firm Sanctioned For AI Misuse In Baker Donelson Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A Tennessee federal judge has sanctioned a Memphis, Tennessee, law firm over its misuse of artificial intelligence amid a malpractice suit against Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, ordering the regional firm to reimburse costs associated with the matter and report the misconduct to the state's disciplinary counsel.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Feature

'Read The Cases': Conn. Judge Offers AI Advice To Attys

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut federal judge told a gathering of attorneys Tuesday that his law clerks are not allowed to use generative artificial intelligence for any purpose involving legal research, his interns are barred from using it at all, and lawyers must be careful when relying on the material that the tools produce.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Can't Shake $120M Verdict In RICO, Defamation Dispute

By Carolina Bolado

An Alabama federal judge refused to disturb a $120 million verdict against a former Conrad & Scherer LLP managing partner, ruling there was enough evidence at trial for a jury to find the attorney liable on Drummond Co.'s racketeering and defamation claims.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Graham Pushes Federal Tort Path After DOJ Drops $1.8B Fund

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Department of Justice seemed, at least briefly, to support a Republican senator's alternative solution to the "anti-weaponization" $1.8 billion fund that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday the department is abandoning.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Sets New Healthcare Fraud Convictions Record

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced that its Health Care Fraud Unit secured six jury trial convictions across the country in less than three weeks, with the cases involving more than $1.1 billion in fraud losses.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Dardarian Ho's Linda Dardarian

By Lynn LaRowe

Despite being on the other side of a disability rights case that will cost his municipality at least $150 million, Kevin McLaughlin, city attorney for Oakland, California, believes that if more lawyers were like Linda Dardarian, there would be far less lamenting about civility in the legal profession.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »