Analysis

Cuts To Benefits Come With Risks For Employers, Attys Say

By Kellie Mejdrich

Some employers have been reducing employee benefits, attorneys say, a move that brings both legal and reputational risks. Here's a look at three areas where practitioners are seeing cutbacks and the pitfalls they present. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

7th Circ. Backs Pension Fund's Power To Expel Penske Unit

By Patrick Hoff

The Seventh Circuit ruled Friday that a Teamsters pension fund didn't overstep when it tried to kick out a Penske bargaining unit in Dallas, finding it was reasonable for plan trustees to conclude the agreement with the company allowed it to expel the unit.

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

Streamers Deemed NJ Employees, Contractors Under FLSA

By Benjamin Morse

A New Jersey federal judge ruled Friday that adult entertainers who perform on a streaming service are independent contractors under federal wage law but employees under New Jersey law, handing both sides partial wins in a wage class and collective action over the platform's pay practices.

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

Ohio AG Says Cigna Can't Use Sherman Act To Ax State Case

By Bryan Koenig

The Ohio attorney general has urged a federal judge not to dismiss prescription drug price-fixing claims against Express Scripts, its Cigna parent and fellow pharmacy benefit manager Prime Therapeutics, arguing the companies are trying to fight his state law antitrust claims by invoking federal law standards that do not apply.

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

USW Can't Block Retiree Healthcare Shift, Pa. Judge Says

By Katherine Smith

A Pennsylvania federal judge has rejected the United Steelworkers' bid to block materials manufacturer Saint-Gobain from changing union retirees' healthcare benefits, ruling that the union fell short in proving its members would suffer irreparable harm if the changes are made before the parties have finished arbitrating them.

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

SEC's Co-Investment Relief Broadens Private Market Access

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent no-action letter to J.P. Morgan Investment Management permits open-end funds to co-invest with affiliates, removing a long-standing barrier open-end fund sponsors have faced in sourcing private market investments at scale, say attorneys at Debevoise.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Recent Actions Signal Increased NYDFS Health Cyber Focus

The New York Department of Financial Services' recent $2.25 million settlement with Delta Dental indicates that it views cybersecurity enforcement in the healthcare and insurance sectors as an ongoing priority, and serves as a road map for the compliance gaps regulators are most likely to target, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Your Next Litigation Hold Should Cover AI Chat Logs

The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent decision in Fortis Advisors v. Krafton to treat a CEO’s artificial intelligence chats as substantive evidence is being read as a discovery warning to litigators, but there is a second duty-to-preserve lesson that is especially pertinent to in-house counsel, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

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

Double Shooting Renews Courthouse Safety Fears In NC

By Hayley Fowler

The shooting of two Fox Rothschild LLP attorneys outside a courthouse in Raleigh, North Carolina, ahead of Memorial Day weekend has renewed calls to protect the safety of judges and lawyers in an increasingly volatile justice system.

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

Baker McKenzie Asks Judge Not To Toss Suit Against Ex-Atty

By Alison Knezevich

A lawyer for Baker McKenzie on Friday urged a Washington, D.C., judge not to dismiss the BigLaw firm's defamation suit against a former tax associate who accused a firm office leader of sexual assault, telling the court the accusations were false and made with "malice."

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Bonus Spotlight

Selendy Gay Doles Out Spring Associate Bonuses

By Aebra Coe

New York litigation boutique Selendy Gay PLLC paid its associates spring bonuses of as much as $25,000 this week, according to the firm.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Akin Gump Owes Fees For Winebow's 'Self-Indulgent' Appeal

By Dorothy Atkins

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday ordered an importer's Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to pay a European winemaker fees for having to defend against the importer's "spurious objections" to the winemaker's valid arbitral award, ruling that the importer's "self-indulgent" appeal warrants sanctions in the form of fees.

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

Calif. Panel Reverses Order For Citing Atty's Bogus Case Law

By Dorothy Atkins

A California appellate panel on Thursday reversed a judgment in favor of a man accused of abusing his son, finding that "without doubt" the trial judge abused her discretion by incorporating the man's bogus legal citations into her ruling, despite being alerted to the mistakes in advance.

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

NY Judge Doubts Nussbaum-Linked Firms Belong In Ch. 11

By Emily Lever

A New York bankruptcy judge on Friday questioned whether his court was the proper venue to wind down two commercial real estate law firms headed by Mark J. Nussbaum as the debtors sought to ditch an assignment for the benefit of creditors process in New York state court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dems Say DOJ Blocked Bondi On Trump Questions

By Courtney Bublé

Democrats were incensed on Friday that the U.S. Department of Justice attorneys who accompanied former Attorney General Pam Bondi to her committee interview stopped her from answering questions about President Donald Trump.

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

Civil Rights Icon Clarence B. Jones Dies At 95

By Andrea Keckley

Civil rights icon Clarence B. Jones, a speechwriter and personal attorney to Martin Luther King Jr., died May 22 at an assisted living facility in the Santa Clara County city of Cupertino, California, his family confirmed earlier this week. He was 95.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen the billionaire who donated £5 million ($6.7 million) to Nigel Farage sue Ben Habib, the leader of far-right party Advance UK, for defamation; Mashreqbank bring claims against three subsidiaries of dissolved private equity giant Abraaj Group for commercial fraud; and the property and investment vehicle of the State of Kuwait be targeted by four real estate figures who filed a miscellaneous claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Kirkland & Ellis says it's investing a half billion dollars into developing its own artificial intelligence platform to better serve clients. And Law360 looks at the general counsel who is guiding BP through its latest leadership crisis after the company abruptly dismissed its board chair.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Phillips Black Inc., Hogan Lovells and Watkins & Eager PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a Black Mississippi death row prisoner who argued racial discrimination tainted his jury selection is entitled to habeas corpus relief.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Boies Schiller's Matthew Schwartz

By Sarah Jarvis

Matthew L. Schwartz oscillated among many career aspirations as a kid, from astronaut to mayor of New York. When it was time to head off to college, the man who would go on to handle the prosecution of employees tied to Bernie Madoff and become chair of Boies Schiller Flexner LLP set his sights on science, earning an undergraduate degree in physics.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »