Meta Social Media Addiction MDL Headed For August Trial

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge has mostly denied dueling motions for summary judgment in litigation brought by multiple states claiming Meta intentionally designed its products to be addictive, rejecting Meta's attempts to ditch the case and teeing it up for an August advisory jury trial.

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Trump Public Loan Forgiveness Rule Is Unlawful, Judges Find

By Rae Ann Varona

Federal judges in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., on Tuesday struck down a U.S. Department of Education rule that effectively narrowed which public service workers could receive student loan forgiveness, saying the department had issued limitations on qualifying employers outside its rulemaking authority.

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Trans Troops Class Certified Despite Representation Concerns

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday certified a class of military members challenging the Trump administration's ban on transgender troops, but she raised significant concerns about the proposed class counsel's ability to represent thousands of members.

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Plumbing Co. ESOP Trial Averted By Settlement Deal

By Kellie Mejdrich

A California federal judge stayed deadlines Tuesday in a federal benefits class action against a plumbing company and the caretakers of its defunct employee stock ownership plan that was set for trial in September, after the parties said they'd settled their dispute Monday following mediation.

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Mitsubishi Chemical Settles Ex-Workers' 401(k) Fund Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

A New York federal judge agreed Tuesday to stay deadlines in a proposed class action from Mitsubishi Chemical America ex-workers who alleged their 401(k) savings were dragged down by lackluster fund offerings, after the parties told the court Monday that they had settled their dispute.

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UCHealth Workers Fight Bid To Toss Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

Two former hospital workers urged a Colorado federal court to keep alive their proposed class and collective action alleging University of Colorado Health shorted hourly employees through a time-rounding policy and denied them required meal and rest breaks, saying their claims are sufficiently detailed to proceed.

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Conn. Servers Seek Quick Win On Minimal Duties Claims

By MJ Koo

Restaurant servers have asked a Connecticut state court to throw out a steakhouse's argument that some of their unpaid work was too small to matter, saying a recent state high court ruling makes clear that no amount of work can go uncompensated under state law.

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Mental Health Nonprofit Hit With RN's Wage Suit Over Breaks

By Melanie Dorsey

A former Pine Rest Christian Mental Health Services registered nurse filed a proposed collective action on Tuesday accusing the Michigan health provider of shorting hourly workers on overtime pay through automatic meal-break deductions, time-rounding practices, unpaid training and excluded bonuses. 

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Zenas Wins Dismissal Of IPO Suit Over R&D Spending Claims

By Katryna Perera

A Massachusetts federal judge has permanently dismissed an investor suit alleging Zenas BioPharma hid how quickly it was spending money before its 2024 initial public offering, saying the company warned investors before the IPO that its drug-development costs were high and rising, and therefore did not have to provide a quarter-by-quarter spending breakdown.

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Securities Cos. Hit With Spoofing Suit In Florida

By David Minsky

An investor is accusing Citadel Securities LLC and Virtu Americas LLC of securities violations in Florida federal court, saying in a proposed class action that the broker-dealer firms used the illegal trading strategy known as spoofing to artificially depress a technology company's market value, enriching themselves in the process.

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Freight Logistics Co. Misled Investors About Costs, Suit Says

By Sydney Price

Transportation logistics company Hub Group Inc. was hit with an investor's proposed class action in Illinois federal court alleging that the company artificially inflated its share prices by concealing deficient internal controls that caused the company to restate its most significant operating expenses.

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Drivers Seek OK Of Deal To End VW Fuel Leak Defect Suit

By Mike Curley

A proposed class of drivers is asking a New Jersey federal court to grant preliminary approval to a settlement to end two years of litigation alleging Volkswagen Group of America Inc. sold vehicles with faulty suction jet pumps that led to fuel leaks and fire risks.

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Chamber Backs Circle's Bid To Dismiss $280M Drift Hack Suit

By Katryna Perera

The Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday urged a Massachusetts federal judge to throw out claims Circle Internet Group enabled fraudsters to drain $280 million in digital assets from crypto project Drift Protocol in an April Fools' Day exploit, arguing Circle cannot be held liable because third parties misused its platform.

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Patients Say Colo. Health Network Didn't Secure HIV Data

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado healthcare organization that operates as the state's largest source of services and programs for people impacted by HIV did not protect patients' private information in a cyberattack, according to three proposed class actions filed in state court.

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Williams-Sonoma Fights To Arbitrate Sneaky Fee Claims

By Bonnie Eslinger

Williams-Sonoma urged a California federal judge on Tuesday to toss a putative class action alleging the retailer unlawfully quotes an artificially low price for products on its website before sneaking in a "processing" fee after getting consumers credit card information, saying the claims from two women belong in arbitration.

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Authors Ask Calif. Court For Win In AI Training Copyright Case

By Elliot Weld

Several authors suing artificial intelligence firms Databricks and Mosaic ML have asked a California federal judge for a favorable ruling on their claims of direct copyright infringement for what they say was the mass ingestion of their works for AI training, saying the companies' conduct was "undoubtedly substitutive and plainly harmed the market" for their books.

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SAG-AFTRA Wants House Panel To Advance AI Deepfakes Bill

By Elliot Weld

The president of actors union SAG-AFTRA spoke to a congressional subcommittee Tuesday to press the need for a bill to allow for the removal of deepfakes from the internet, framing the advent of digital replicas of people as a fundamental alteration in the methods of human interaction that cannot be ignored by lawmakers.

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Geico, Drivers Seek Final OK Of Deal Over Injury Coverage

By Eli Flesch

Geico and a class of hundreds of drivers asked a Washington federal court Tuesday to approve a settlement in a dispute over whether the insurer improperly withheld drivers' personal injury protection coverage by asserting they reached "maximum medical improvement."

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Lessons For Cos. From Nixed Apple Watch Greenwashing Suit

A California federal court's recent decision in Dib v. Apple, a putative class action challenging carbon-neutral marketing statements made about the Apple Watch, provides meaningful guidance on how such claims may be defeated at the pleading stage, especially where they hinge on third-party verification, say attorneys at Mintz.

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The Hidden Settlement Problem In Complex Securities Cases

The Second Circuit's recent decision in Knapp v. Barclays is a reminder that in securities cases with complex corporate records, the tracing picture is rarely as settled as the complaint suggests, and that conversations in the early stages require everyone to work from the same underlying facts, says Peter Kamminga at JAMS.

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$885M IBS Drug Verdict Tests Pay-For-Delay Limits

The outcome in the Amitiza Antitrust Litigation is significant because it is the first jury trial win for private antitrust plaintiffs in a suit challenging a patent settlement reverse payment since the U.S. Supreme Court adopted the rule-of-reason legal framework in 2013, offering a blueprint for pay-for-delay claims, say attorneys at Katten.

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Series

Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

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Goldstein Calls Gov't's Attack On Text Messages 'Hypocrisy'

By Jared Foretek

Lawyers for convicted SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein have rejected prosecutors' claims that the famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer may have deleted messages between himself and his poker backers, calling the government "hypocritical" after it had previously argued that Goldstein could authenticate the messages if he took the stand at trial.

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Judiciary Dems Seek DOJ Replies Before Blanche Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

Ahead of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing for the permanent position, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding he provide answers to their outstanding oversight inquiries.

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Brief

Texas Federal Judge Requires Confirmation Of AI Checks

By Emily Sawicki

Attorneys and self-represented parties appearing before U.S. District Judge Ernest Gonzalez of the Western District of Texas are now required to certify that they have independently verified the contents of any filings created or edited using artificial intelligence.

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'Do Your Part,' Mass. Judge Chides Read Case Attys Post-Leak

By Cara Salvatore

A Massachusetts judge on Wednesday lectured counsel in the high-profile civil case against Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman acquitted of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend, to honor their ethical obligations after sensitive information leaked on social media.

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U Of Ky. Appoints Controversial Dean Pick For Law School

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove of the Eastern District of Kentucky will retire from the bench later this month to become dean of the University of Kentucky's J. David Rosenberg College of Law, a move that sparked controversy in the state.

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Wash. Atty Loses Bid For Jury In Dispute Over Bar Sanctions

By Emily Sawicki

A Washington lawyer sanctioned and disciplined for bringing a "frivolous" election suit in 2021 against then-Gov. Jay Inslee has lost her bid to have her ethics charges heard by a jury, with a state appeals panel finding no error in a trial court's ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to take on the disciplinary matter.

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Analysis

High Court's Guardrails Won't Ease Fight Over Trans Athletes

By Alex Lawson

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision permitting states to ban transgender athletes from girls' sports was written in simple terms, but attorneys tracking the issue see the ruling as a flashpoint for further litigation.

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Analysis

Plea Deals Get Scrutiny In 'Hunter,' But Justices Stay Cautious

By Brandon Lowrey

The shock for Mary Fan came almost immediately after she began her career as a federal prosecutor in Southern California in the mid-2000s.

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5 NYC Legal Service Provider Union Contracts Have Expired

By Andrea Keckley

The collective bargaining agreements for five New York City-based indigent defense and civil legal aid providers expired at the end of the day Tuesday as multiple unions reported outstanding points of contention in their negotiations.

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Watchdog Says DOL Needs Better Info Sharing Controls

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor's lack of controls over information sharing between subagencies and nongovernmental entities, including law firms and legal advocacy organizations, may have unfairly advantaged those parties with privileged investigative information, an agency watchdog reported, though use of the practice has dropped off. 

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of June

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Bayer, Harley-Davidson and PBS. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from June.

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