JPML Consolidates Nevro, Abbott Spinal Cord Device Suits

By Joyce Hanson

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has created separate MDLs over purportedly defective spinal cord stimulators manufactured by Nevro LLC and Abbott Laboratories, rejecting the manufacturers' arguments that the cases' plaintiffs do not share enough common factual questions to warrant consolidation.

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Feds Back High Court Review Of Robinhood Disclosure Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

The Trump administration urged the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to take up Robinhood Markets Inc.'s bid to clarify securities issuers' liability for omitting material interim financial information from registration statements, saying the Ninth Circuit erroneously imposes liability by "collapsing" two elements of a misleading-omissions violation.

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Scheduling 'Cascade' Hangs Over Amazon's FTC, Calif. Trials

By Bryan Koenig

Amazon.com sparred with the Federal Trade Commission in a Washington federal court filing over whether to stick to a late March trial kickoff, or whether the multiple trials against the company in 2027 must be pushed back because a California state judge has called a January start unrealistic.

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Eldercare Co.'s Wage Class Fight Bound For Wash. High Court

By Ben Adlin

Washington's highest court agreed Tuesday to take up whether an appellate panel rightly revived two workers' proposed wage-and-hour class action against an eldercare provider despite the plaintiffs' membership in a separate class action against the company that was previously settled.

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Ga. Appeals Court Grapples With Nurses' COVID-Era Pay Fight

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia appeals court wrestled Wednesday with whether nurses who traveled to Florida for jobs at state-run COVID-19 testing sites were owed pay just for showing up in the Sunshine State — or if being assigned a shift triggered a staffing company's pay obligations. 

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CVS 401(k) Recordkeeping Fee Suit Dropped In New York

By Kellie Mejdrich

A former CVS worker dropped his proposed class action alleging the pharmacy giant cost workers millions in retirement savings and violated federal benefits law by failing to rein in excessive administrative fees in its $27 billion 401(k) plan, according to a filing in New York federal court.

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Ex-Fifth Third Worker Claims Unpaid Prep Work Violated FLSA

By Sydney Price

An ex-Fifth Third Bank customer service representative has hit her former employer with a proposed class action accusing it of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act by refusing to pay her and other employees for time spent preparing to work.

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US Bank Keeps Workers' Break Suit In Seattle Federal Court

By Ben Adlin

A proposed wage-and-hour class action targeting U.S. Bank NA will remain in federal court, a Seattle judge ruled Tuesday, finding that the bank sufficiently showed that the dispute is worth more than $5 million and thus eligible for removal under the Class Action Fairness Act.

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UWM Investor Sues To Halt $400M Stock Offering

By Isaac Monterose

A proposed class of UWM Holdings Corp. stockholders urged a Delaware state court to stop the company from going forward with a $400 million stock offering, alleging that the residential mortgage lender's board of directors is offering the stock without sufficient disclosures.

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Latch Investors Get Final OK For Derivative Suit Settlement

By Sarah Jarvis

A New York federal court has given its final approval to a settlement that includes various corporate governance improvements for the home technology company Latch Inc., after shareholders sued the company's top brass for allegedly improperly recognizing revenue in financial disclosures which led to restatements and a stock price decline.

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Meatpackers Urge 8th Circ. To Decertify Price-Fixing Classes

By Craig Clough

Cargill, JBS, Tyson and National Beef urged the Eighth Circuit on Tuesday to undo class certifications in sprawling beef price-fixing litigation against the meatpackers, arguing a Minnesota federal judge granted the certifications despite evidence that many class members were unharmed by the alleged conspiracy.

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Milk Producers Accused Of Using Exports To Raise Prices

By Matthew Perlman

Consumers have filed a proposed class action accusing major dairy producers and their trade association of violating antitrust law by using an export assistance program to divert sales abroad, allegedly resulting in higher domestic prices for milk and dairy products.

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Brief

9th Circ. OKs 90-Day Stay For Maker Of Eye Drops

By Nadia Dreid

The Ninth Circuit isn't going to rehear its decision preserving a win in a case accusing the maker of Clear Eyes drops of illegal price discrimination in favor of Costco, but it will hold off on issuing the mandate while the eye drop maker appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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BMW Beats X5 Transmission Defect Suit, For Now

By Gina Kim

BMW has defeated for now a proposed class action alleging it knew about a transmission component defect causing some of its cars to jerk and shudder but refused to cover repair costs, with a New Jersey federal judge saying Wednesday the allegations are insufficient to infer BMW knew about any defect.

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Crypto.com Beats Website Users' Tracking Suit, For Now

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge dismissed, for now, a proposed class action alleging Crypto.com's site operator allowed third parties to track visitors' browsing activities despite rejecting the use of cookies, ruling Monday the plaintiffs lack standing since the information that was allegedly collected wasn't sensitive enough to constitute concrete injury.

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Amazon Patron's Sales Tax Overcharge Suit Tossed, For Now

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal magistrate judge has thrown out a consumer's proposed class action accusing Amazon of charging too much Tennessee sales tax, finding Wednesday that the plaintiff had not shown the e-commerce giant's alleged overcollection was driven by profit or other business motives.

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Objectors To Keep Fighting $148M Insurance Suit Settlement

By Brian Steele

A group of objectors told a Connecticut federal judge they will continue to fight a $147.5 million class settlement over life insurance costs that the Second Circuit imperiled in August, writing that a retooled complaint against Lincoln National and a Cigna unit only amplifies their concerns.

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Excess Insurers Tell 4th Circ. Under Armour Owes Interest

By Danielle Ferguson

Five excess insurers told the Fourth Circuit that Under Armour Inc. must pay prejudgment interest on its return of $90 million in advanced coverage for defense costs, arguing a Maryland federal judge erred in determining they weren't owed interest under state law.

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Only Animus Claims Viable In Yemen TPS Suits, Judge Says

By Ganesh Setty

A New York federal court has dismissed the thrust of two lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's revocation of Yemen's temporary protected status designation, though it still allowed the plaintiffs to pursue their intentional discrimination claims.

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DOJ Urges Judge To Lift Block On Birthright Citizenship Order

By Jared Foretek

The Trump administration is urging a Maryland federal judge to dissolve her injunction blocking its latest executive order aiming to limit birthright citizenship, claiming that new agency guidance confirming that the policy only applies to children born after it takes effect leaves the families who originally sued without standing.

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NCAA's Eligibility Suits Too Different For MDL, Panel Says

By Elaine Briseño

The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation denied the NCAA's bid to centralize seven antitrust suits challenging the organization's eligibility rules, finding the cases differ too much to justify consolidation.

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Series

Illinois Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

Recent banking developments in Illinois include significant new consumer protection legislation, three meaningful Seventh Circuit decisions, and a high-profile constitutional challenge to the state's new digital asset tax, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

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Why And How To Build A Neurodiversity-Informed Practice

By better understanding neurodiversity and implementing simple accommodations for clients with autism, ADHD or learning differences, attorneys can build stronger relationships with those who may otherwise struggle to obtain and benefit from legal services, while developing good habits that will benefit everyone they represent, says Ting Cheung at Sanford Heisler.

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Omni Bridgeway Raises $1B For New Litigation Funding

By Ryan Boysen

Litigation funder Omni Bridgeway has raised a new $1 billion fund from mostly repeat investors, with plans to deploy the money broadly across countries and case types while avoiding debt leverage.

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Alito Explains Recusal But Says It Shouldn't Become Practice

By Katie Buehler

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said this week he "reluctantly" recused himself from a dispute that could decide whether state and local government can sue Big Oil in state courts for damages related to greenhouse gas emissions, while suggesting the high court's members shouldn't make a practice of explaining their reasons for stepping away from cases.

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Justices' Docs Should Belong To Public, Gov't Watchdogs Say

By Jack Karp

Nearly two dozen government accountability groups are calling for Congress to enact a law that would make U.S. Supreme Court justices' papers government property that would someday be available to the public.

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Analysis

Uncertainty Surrounds Judge Newman's 11th Circ. Transfer

By Dani Kass

Chief Justice John Roberts' order to transfer the Federal Circuit Judicial Council's disability investigation of a suspended 99-year-old judge to another court offers the neutral evaluation the judge has long been asking for, but attorneys are concerned about the transparency of the proceeding.

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California Federal Judge Jeffrey White To Retire After 24 Years

By Bonnie Eslinger

Senior U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White will retire at the end of the year after nearly a quarter-century on the federal bench in Northern California.

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ABA Accreditor Leader Remembered For Passion And Intellect

By Emma Cueto

After her sudden death while leading the American Bar Association council that handles law school accreditation, Melissa Hart is being remembered as a passionate and fiercely intelligent jurist, mentor and leader who will be missed as the council navigates numerous challenges to its accreditor status.

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