Full 5th Circ. Tough On Aetna's Bid To Arbitrate Aramark Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Fifth Circuit seemed skeptical Thursday of Aetna's bid to force a health plan benefits dispute from food services giant Aramark into arbitration, with judges picking the insurer's arguments apart during an en banc rehearing.

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Mortgage Co. Escapes Ex-Workers' 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

By Grace Elletson

A Michigan federal judge shut down a suit claiming United Wholesale Mortgage cost employees millions in retirement savings by using forfeited 401(k) funds to pay for employer contributions rather than plan expenses, ruling the workers who sued can't ask the court to create a benefit they weren't owed.

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Kellogg Seeks High Court Review Of 6th Circ. Pension Ruling

By Emily Brill

The U.S. Supreme Court should resolve a circuit split on whether actuaries must use up-to-date life expectancies when converting pension benefits from one form to another, Kellogg argued, asking the justices to scrap the Sixth Circuit's answer to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act query.

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Texas Utility Commission Looks To Quash Coal Subpoena

By Matthew Perlman

The Public Utility Commission of Texas is pushing back against a subpoena issued by BlackRock in a suit from Republican state attorneys general accusing asset managers of driving up coal prices by pressuring producers to lower their output to meet emission reduction goals.

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Match Group Hit With Del. Suit Over Dating App Safety

By Jarek Rutz

A Match Group Inc. stockholder has sued the dating app company in the Delaware Chancery Court for access to board records, saying it wants to investigate whether directors adequately monitored reports of sexual assault and other violence involving users of Tinder, Hinge and other Match-owned platforms.

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Novartis Beats Patent Listing Suit Over Entresto

By Bryan Koenig

A New York federal judge gave Novartis permanent relief from a proposed class action alleging it monopolistically delayed generic competition for its blockbuster heart failure drug Entresto, concluding that the drugmaker properly used a patent to ensure exclusivity.

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Series

Playing Bid Whist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

As a child, I viewed bid whist as a family tradition and a source of friendly card game competition, but as a lawyer, I see it as a tool that has helped me cultivate skills like communication, teamwork, risk assessment and composure, says Keyonn Pope at Riley Safer.

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Litigation Spending To Keep Climbing While Biz Risks Mount

By Ryan Boysen

Big companies will increase their litigation budgets yet again next year, as navigating legal risk is now an essential element of achieving strategic business goals, according to a new report.

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Seyfarth Failed To Guard Client Data From Hack, Suit Alleges

By Lauren Berg

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on Thursday was hit with a proposed class action in Illinois federal court accusing it of failing to protect its current and former clients' personal information after the Chicago-based law firm this month disclosed a recent data breach.

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PACER Experiences Outages Of Some Court Dockets

By Matt Perez

PACER, the online public repository of federal court documents, experienced technical errors on Wednesday and Thursday preventing some users from accessing certain court dockets.

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New Eastern La. Judge's 5th Circ. Bid Goes To Full Senate

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Anna St. John of the Eastern District of Louisiana, who was confirmed to her current post in March, is one step closer to being elevated to the federal appeals bench.

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Fla. Judge To Get Reprimand For Remark On Shooting Attys

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday ordered a public reprimand of a state district court judge for "intemperate and caustic" comments about shooting attorneys during a hearing.

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Congressional Probes Raise Legal, 'Reputational' Risks

By Phillip Bantz

An array of companies and executives may face investigations over their dealings with the Trump administration if Democrats take control of Congress, raising the possibility that some may refuse to comply. But experts say holding out hope for a mass pardon or expecting the Justice Department not to pursue contempt charges is a risky bet.

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Analysis

5 Circuit Splits To Watch At The High Court

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court has been deciding fewer and fewer cases over the past three decades, with its caseload reaching a historic low just last term. While attorneys believe several factors have contributed to that trend, they say one of the most consequential is the court's apparent declining interest in resolving circuit splits. 

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Trump's Antitrust Pick Advances Amid Independence Worries

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's pick to lead the antitrust division at the U.S. Department of Justice advanced to the Senate floor on Thursday, despite Democratic concerns about agency independence.

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Sen. Hyde-Smith's Opponent Seeks Blue-Slip Transparency

By Courtney Bublé

Four years ago, Scott Colom — the son of the first African American elected to the chancery bench in her region of Mississippi — was nominated for a federal judgeship. Now he's running for Senate against the senator who blocked his confirmation.

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Ed. Dept. Committee Sidesteps ABA Accreditation Issue

By Ryan Boysen

A key U.S. Department of Education committee on Thursday declined to weigh in on whether an American Bar Association council should remain a federally recognized accreditor of law schools, a day after the panel deadlocked on different proposals over the hot-button issue.

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