The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear AT&T's bid for review of a Ninth Circuit panel decision reviving a class action against the telecom giant alleging mismanagement of an employee 401(k) plan, rejecting employers' request for more clarity from the court on the pleading standard for federal benefits lawsuits alleging excessive fees.
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Justices Won't Disturb 9th Circ.'s AT&T 401(k) Suit Revival

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear AT&T's bid for review of a Ninth Circuit panel decision reviving a class action against the telecom giant alleging mismanagement of an employee 401(k) plan, rejecting employers' request for more clarity from the court on the pleading standard for federal benefits lawsuits alleging excessive fees.

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Brief

Boston Children's To Pay $3M In Retirement Plan Fee Suit

By Elliot Weld

Boston Children's Hospital will pay $3 million to a class of participants in its retirement plan to settle claims that it saddled them with excessive fees.

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5th Circ. Grants DOL 30-Day Stay In States' ESG Rule Appeal

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Fifth Circuit on Monday granted the U.S. Department of Labor's request to stay an appeal from Republican-led states in a suit challenging the agency's rule that allows retirement fiduciaries to consider issues like climate change and social justice when choosing investments, but limited the pause to 30 days.

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Red States Want ACA Trans Health Rule Permanently Off Books

By Ryan Harroff

A group of 15 red states that successfully got a Biden-era rule frozen that protected gender-affirming care under the Affordable Care Act have urged a Mississippi federal judge to rule the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services overstepped its authority and cannot require states to allow gender-affirming care for transgender people.

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Justices Open To New Combat Compensation Filing Window

By Jared Foretek

A group of U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed open to letting late-filing veterans get retroactive combat-related special compensation, with some justices saying that the statute might be explicit enough to not fall under the Barring Act's statute of limitations.

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POLICY & REGULATION

Brief

EPA Restarts Voluntary Retirement Program

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Monday refreshed its effort to convince employees to take a voluntary retirement package that was rolled out in the early days of the Trump administration but has been dormant until now.

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LITIGATION

Union Tells 3rd Circ. Healthcare Fight Belongs In Arbitration

By Emily Brill

A Pennsylvania federal judge properly concluded that a healthcare dispute between a power plant operator and an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local was arbitrable, the union said, asking the Third Circuit to uphold the judge's decision to send the fight to arbitration.

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Wells Fargo Investors Win Class Cert. In 'Sham' Hiring Case

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge has certified a class of thousands of Wells Fargo & Co. investors in litigation over the bank's alleged practice of conducting "sham" job interviews to meet diversity targets, a strategy investors say led to stock prices dropping when the truth came to light, according to an order issued Friday.

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3rd Circ. Won't Rethink Teamsters Fund's Win In $39M Row

By Matthew Santoni

The Third Circuit won't give a group of dairy businesses a second chance to prevent a Teamsters union pension fund from suing them and their affiliates to enforce a $39 million settlement, the court announced Monday.

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Class Attys Seek $6.5M Cut In $29.5M Plantronics Settlement

By Gina Kim

Lead counsel for Plantronics investors who secured a $29.5 million deal resolving claims the company used "channel stuffing" tactics to bolster revenue are seeking $6.5 million in fees, telling a California federal judge Friday the request is reasonable, given the strong recovery and their track record successfully prosecuting similar securities cases.

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Boeing Rips Investors' Class Cert. Bid In 737 Max Fraud Suit

By Linda Chiem

Boeing has told an Illinois federal judge that pension funds and private investors cannot certify a sweeping class action seeking a "jaw-dropping" $15 billion in damages by alleging Boeing repeatedly misrepresented the overall safety and certification process for the 737 Max 8 jets after two deadly crashes in 2018 and 2019.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

The 2025 Lawyer Satisfaction Survey

Law firms and the legal profession are facing new uncertainties, shifting the stress levels, economic pressures, and overall contentment of lawyers in private practice, according to the 2025 Law360 Pulse Lawyer Satisfaction Survey.

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'The Court Is Not A Cartoon': Judge Rips Dragon Watermark

By Hailey Konnath

A Michigan federal magistrate judge Monday ordered an East Lansing, Michigan, firm called Dragon Lawyers PC to stop plastering its pleadings with a large, suit-clad purple cartoon dragon watermark on each page, saying it's not only "distracting, it's juvenile and impertinent."

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Analysis

Feds Have Strong Hand On Judge Charged With Blocking ICE

By Danielle Ferguson and Carolyn Muyskens

A Wisconsin state judge faces an uphill battle in defending against federal criminal allegations that she helped a man evade immigration officials at a Wisconsin courthouse, but she may be able to stake out a defense in arguing the government can't prove intent, experts told Law360. 

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California Judge Loses Pay After Conviction For Murdering Wife

By Gina Kim

The California Commission on Judicial Performance formally suspended a California judge without pay after a state jury found him guilty of second-degree murder last week for shooting his wife to death in their Anaheim Hills home on Aug. 3, 2023, following a heated argument. 

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Q&A

Sullivan M&A Chief Sees Opportunities Amid Tariff Turmoil

By Al Barbarino

After a rocky start to 2025, the mergers and acquisitions landscape is grappling with economic volatility, shifting trade policies and a complex regulatory environment. But even in a "choppy" market, there are always deals to be made, says Melissa Sawyer, global head of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's M&A group and co-head of its corporate governance practice.

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NJ Judge Apologizes Through Waylon Jennings Lyrics

By George Woolston

Clark Township, New Jersey, Municipal Judge Antonio Inacio said Tuesday that he isn't proud of all the things that led him to appear before a Garden State judiciary disciplinary committee, but he can say that he never intentionally hurt anyone by his conduct.

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$10M Brown Rudnick Deal With Guo Trustee Gets Judge's OK

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut bankruptcy judge on Tuesday approved a $10 million deal between Miles Guo's Chapter 11 trustee and the Chinese exile's onetime attorneys at Brown Rudnick LLP, and greenlighted 10 lesser settlements with other firms and luxury retailer Versace.

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Analysis

GOP Plan To Shutter Audit Watchdog Could Strain SEC

By Jessica Corso

Congressional Republicans are renewing the push to get rid of a financial regulator that conservatives have complained is costly and lacks proper oversight, but some former staffers at the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board wonder whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has the manpower or expertise to take over the board's duties.

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Federal Defenders Of NY Staff Announce Union Drive

By Andrea Keckley

Staff members at the Federal Defenders of New York have announced their plans to join their attorney colleagues as members of the Association of Legal Advocates and Attorneys.

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Justices Scoff At Feds' Defenses In Mistaken FBI Raid Case

By Chart Riggall

Supreme Court justices Tuesday appeared flummoxed by the government's "ridiculous" arguments it should be immune to a Georgia resident's lawsuit over a mistaken FBI raid on her house, but seemed unlikely to issue a blanket ruling on when an officer's discretion trumps their liability for injuries caused by their actions.

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Alex Jones Wants High Court Look At $1.3B Sandy Hook Case

By Brian Steele

Bankrupt Infowars host Alex Jones will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate a mammoth libel judgment that families of Sandy Hook shooting victims secured against him and his company over his conspiratorial broadcasts calling the massacre a hoax, he told a Connecticut appellate court in seeking to extend a pause on the payout.

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Breyer To Talk Pragmatism At NJ Bar Association Convention

By Carla Baranauckas

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will bring his pragmatic legal philosophy to center stage when he appears at the New Jersey State Bar Association Convention on May 16 in Atlantic City.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Advisors LLC

ArentFox Schiff LLP

Bailey & Glasser

Baker & Hostetler

Benesch

Bernstein Litowitz

Boyden Gray

Broocks Law Firm

Brown Rudnick

Capozzi Adler PC

Clement & Murphy

Cohen Milstein

Cohn Birnbaum

Davidson Bowie

Eberle & Bundick

GPS Legal

Gibson Dunn

Hagens Berman

Hamilton Lincoln

Hodgson Russ

Kessler Topaz

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Klausner Kaufman

Koskoff Koskoff

Lowenstein Sandler

McManimon Scotland

Miller Shah LLP

Morgan Lewis

NachtLaw

Neubert Pepe

Randazza Legal Group

Richards Layton

Saxena White

Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP

Sidley Austin

Spero Law LLC

Sullivan & Cromwell

Sullivan Hazeltine

WilmerHale

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AT&T Inc.

Allergan PLC

American Benefits Council

Apple Inc.

Bausch Health Cos. Inc.

Boston Children's Hospital

Chevron Corp.

Comcast Corp.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.

Energy Harbor Corp.

Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise

FMR LLC

FTI Consulting Inc.

Financial Engines, Inc.

Institute for Justice

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

LinkedIn Corp.

Meta Platforms Inc.

New Jersey State Bar Association

Pershing Square Capital Management LP

Plantronics Inc.

Polycom Inc.

Public Co. Accounting Oversight Board

State Bar of Michigan

The Boeing Co.

The ERISA Industry Committee

The New York Times Co.

Wells Fargo & Co.

Zuora Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Commission on Judicial Performance

City and County of San Francisco, California

Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Bureau of Investigation

National Labor Relations Board

New Jersey Supreme Court

State of Tennessee

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

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 Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi

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

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

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut