Securities Class Action Deals On Target To Hit 6-Year High

By Katryna Perera

The value of class action settlements is on track to reach a six-year high of $4.4 billion, fueled in part by a handful of "mega settlements" and other high-dollar deals, a Cornerstone Research report released Wednesday said. 

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Analysis

SpaceX May Not Escape Shareholder Suits' Orbit So Easily

By Sarah Jarvis

SpaceX's recent blockbuster initial public offering includes a novel and untested framework to steer shareholder disputes to Texas' Business Court and arbitration while prohibiting investor class actions, in a move attorneys said will certainly be challenged in court and could lead to the company facing an impractical number of arbitration proceedings.

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J&J Talc Plaintiffs Must Back Up Cancer Link Or Risk MDL

By Lauren Berg

Plaintiffs alleging Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products caused ovarian cancer must show they can offer expert opinions on the link between the disease and talc use or risk having their lawsuits tossed, a New Jersey federal judge ruled Wednesday.

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Teen Drops Meta Mental Health Suit Ahead Of Bellwether Trial

By Hailey Konnath

A Florida teenager on Wednesday withdrew his suit claiming that Meta Platforms Inc.'s social media products harm young users' mental health, walking away from the litigation five days before his bellwether trial was set to kick off in Los Angeles.

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Target Beats ERISA Suit Over Tobacco Health Surcharge

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Minnesota federal judge on Wednesday tossed a proposed class action alleging that a tobacco fee on Target workers' health plan violated nondiscrimination provisions in federal benefits law, agreeing with the retail giant that the suit failed to state a claim.

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Ex-Players Seek $4M In Legal Fees In NFL Race-Norming Fight

By Alex Lawson

Ex-NFL players who settled a suit over racially discriminatory assessments made by the league's disability and retirement plans are asking a Maryland federal judge for over $4 million in legal fees.

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DOL Takes Swipe At Derisking Cases In Bristol-Myers Brief

By Grace Elletson

The U.S. Department of Labor urged the Second Circuit to shut down a suit claiming drugmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb violated federal benefits law by offloading $2.6 billion in pension liabilities to a risky annuity provider, saying benefit plans stand to suffer if courts greenlight flimsy claims of injury.

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AI Training Platform Misclassifies College Workers, Suit Says

By Benjamin Morse

A company that recruits workers to train artificial intelligence models misclassified thousands of college students and others as independent contractors while controlling their assignments, pay and work methods, a proposed class and collective action in California federal court alleges.

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TransMedics Sheds Some Claims In Organ Transfer Biz Suit

By Katryna Perera

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday significantly trimmed a proposed shareholder class action alleging that medical technology company TransMedics Inc. and its top brass made misleading statements about the success and cost-effectiveness of its organ donation products and services.

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EV Battery Co. Misled Investors On Expansion, Suit Says

By Sydney Price

Electric vehicle-battery manufacturer Microvast Holdings Inc. has been accused of misleading investors about production delays at its China facility and concealing the reasons why several of its chief financial officers departed the company over a three-year period.

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Investors Say Primoris Overhyped Renewable Energy Profits

By Spencer Brewer

Two pension funds launched a proposed class action against Dallas-based Primoris Services Corp. alleging the company overhyped the profitability of its renewable energy projects by underestimating costs, telling a Texas federal court that Primoris' negligence caused the company's stock to nosedive.

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Writers Guild Wants Paramount-Warner Bros. Block Extended

By Bryan Koenig

The Writers Guild of America asked a California federal judge Wednesday to extend the two-week injunction against Paramount Skydance's proposed $110 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery, warning that permitting the deal to close while challenges proceed would allow the companies to shut down projects and share negotiation information.

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Safety-Net Clinics Defend Insulin Suit Revival To Justices

By Bryan Koenig

Safety-net healthcare providers urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to take on the revival of their proposed antitrust class action against Sanofi-Aventis, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and AstraZeneca, arguing Wednesday that the Second Circuit's decision was based on neither mere trade group lobbying nor any kind of price-fixing.

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Altria, Juul Ask 9th Circ. To Nix Antitrust Classes

By Matthew Perlman

Altria and Juul are urging the Ninth Circuit to undo a class certification ruling in an antitrust case over Altria's past investment in the e-cigarette maker, saying the classes include disparate groups of purchasers from across the country.

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AGs Appeal Order Blocking RealPage Damages In MDL

By Jared Foretek

Attorneys general for Kentucky, Washington state, New Jersey, Maryland and D.C. have asked the Sixth Circuit to review a district court ruling barring them from seeking damages on behalf of their residents alongside private plaintiffs' settlements in a sweeping multidistrict litigation accusing landlords of using RealPage software to collude on rent prices.

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UFC Wants Pay-Per-View Monopolizing Case Tossed

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Ultimate Fighting Championship is asking the district court in Nevada to toss out a proposed class action filed by fans accusing it of monopolizing the market for pay-per-view mixed martial arts events.

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Brief

Pillsbury Data Breach Suit Voluntarily Dismissed

By Matt Perez

A proposed class action against Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP over a data breach last year has been voluntarily dismissed by the named plaintiffs, following a granted motion to stay in April to discuss mediation.

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Brief

Glass Maker Lands Final OK For Data Breach Settlement

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia federal judge on Wednesday gave final approval to glass products maker AGC America Inc.'s nearly $600,000 settlement resolving claims that it failed to safeguard the personal data of thousands of its workers in a December 2023 data breach.

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Software Co. Freed From Insurer's $2.5M Indemnity Dispute

By Hope Patti

A maker of vehicle valuation software needn't cover the $2.5 million that an insurer paid in connection with a class action alleging that its former affiliate underpaid claims for totaled vehicles, a New York federal court ruled, finding that the insurer has no enforceable subrogation rights.

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Organ Network, Hospital Sued Over Racial Kidney Criteria

By Rachel Riley

A kidney disease patient launched a proposed class action in Washington federal court Tuesday accusing the United Network for Organ Sharing and Seattle hospital operator Swedish Health Services of using a flawed race-based adjustment when scoring kidney functioning, hindering Black patients' chances of getting a transplant for years.

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US Marshals Can't Make Immigration Arrests In DC Court

By Rae Ann Varona

A D.C. federal judge Wednesday refused to toss a lawsuit from a certified class of immigrants challenging immigration arrests by U.S. marshals in D.C. Superior Court, declaring that the marshals lack authority and necessary training for the arrests.

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Migrants Seek Stay Of DHS' 'Life-Altering' Fines

By Carolyn Muyskens

Lawyers for noncitizens challenging steep fines on people who remain in the U.S. after a final removal order urged a Massachusetts federal judge Wednesday to halt the fines now, citing crippling effects on immigrants seeking lawful status.

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Amazon's Deal To End Gambling Suit Draws App Makers' Ire

By Ben Adlin

Developers of casino-style mobile apps sought to intervene Wednesday in Amazon's tentative deal to end consumers' proposed class action accusing the platform of enabling illegal online gambling, arguing that the settlement would leave the developers on the hook for $140 million while forcing Amazon to pay just $2.5 million.

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How 2nd Circ. Raised The Bar For Pleading Securities Fraud

In Huey v. Anavex, the Second Circuit recently appeared to increase the burden on securities fraud plaintiffs in pleading loss causation where no immediate share price decline follows the corrective disclosure, generating new questions that district courts must grapple with, say attorneys at Skadden.

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The Growing Antitrust Risks Of AI Pricing For Health Insurers

Attorneys at Patterson Belknap provide an overview of the increased risk of antitrust enforcement for health insurance companies using algorithmic price models, including in the form of multidistrict private litigation, new state and federal bills, and potential federal enforcement.

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Holland & Knight Hit With $1.2B Malpractice Suit

By Madison Arnold

A real estate firm is accusing Holland & Knight LLP and three attorneys of malpractice in a new complaint filed in Florida state court and is seeking up to $1.2 billion in damages after more than 30 states opened investigations into the company's practices.

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Co. Turned Away Simpson Thacher's Deal Meeting, Jury Told

By Cara Salvatore

A retired Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP partner who handled the fundraising round alleged to have destroyed Patriot National Inc. testified in a Florida state malpractice trial Wednesday that the insurance services company waved off his attempt to present details to the board.

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DLA Piper Says Deception, Not Bias, Cost Palestinian Atty Job

By Grace Elletson

DLA Piper urged an Illinois federal judge to toss a Palestinian attorney's suit claiming the firm revoked a job offer out of discrimination, arguing it rescinded the offer because she concealed allegations that she assaulted someone at a protest.

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DC Bar Leaders Say DOJ Ethics Suit Encourages Misconduct

By Emily Sawicki

Washington, D.C., attorney regulators continue to garner support in their effort to toss a Justice Department lawsuit over alleged "weaponizing" of executive branch lawyer discipline, with D.C. bar organizations, scores of legal scholars and more than 500 former DOJ attorneys backing the disciplinary authorities.

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Mich. Gets Judge With Blue Slips In 1st For Trump Admin

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate voted 62-36 on Wednesday to confirm Michael Martin, a longtime federal prosecutor, to the Eastern District of Michigan and Benjamin Flowers, former solicitor general of Ohio, to the Sixth Circuit.

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DOL IG Says Info-Sharing Pacts Lacked Safeguards

By Irene Spezzamonte

U.S. Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony P. D'Esposito testified Wednesday before a U.S. House subcommittee that during the Biden administration, the department shared confidential information with plaintiffs' attorneys without notifying the Wage and Hour Division or the Employee Benefits Security Administration.

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Gov't Attys May Face Broader Duty To Report Misconduct

By Alison Knezevich

Attorneys representing the government could face "more demanding" obligations to disclose misconduct by people within their client organizations than attorneys representing private entities, according to an ethics opinion issued Wednesday by the American Bar Association.

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Retired Judges Rip Bid To Ban Foreign-Born Federal Judges

By Courtney Bublé

A group of 58 retired federal judges, appointed by presidents of both parties, on Wednesday came out strongly against recent proposals from Republican lawmakers that would require federal judges to be natural-born U.S. citizens and relinquish any citizenship that is not of the United States.

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