Litigation Spending To Keep Growing As Biz Risks Run High

By Jack Karp

Companies are likely to increase their spending on litigation next year, some by over 10%, as legal disputes become more complex, more contentious and more high-stakes, according to a new report out Thursday.

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11th Circ. Seems Open To Reviving Mortality Table Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday seemed open to reviving a proposed class action from married energy company retirees who claim outdated life expectancy data caused them to lose out on benefits, with judges questioning the lower court's holding that actuarial assumptions don't have to be reasonable.

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NCAA Volunteer Coaches Secure $49M Wage-Fix Settlement

By Elaine Briseño

A California federal court approved a $49 million settlement between the National Collegiate Athletic Association and 1,000 Division I volunteer baseball coaches that resolves an antitrust dispute stemming from a now repealed bylaw that allegedly prevented the coaches from receiving market value wages.

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Disney's $233M Deal In Living Wage Suit Gets Final OK

By Rae Ann Varona

A California state court has granted final approval of Walt Disney Co.'s $233 million settlement with more than 51,000 Disneyland workers who accused the entertainment company of flouting the city of Anaheim's minimum wage ordinance, handing the workers' lawyers $35 million in attorney fees.

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NCR Pushes For Full 11th Circ. Review In Pension Payout Spat

By Chart Riggall

Software company NCR Corp. asked the full Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday to examine a pension payout fight with former executives in the wake of a three-judge panel's ruling last month that the company can't issue lump-sum payments to plan participants as alternatives to promised life annuities.

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Ex-Applicant Sues Walmart, Alleging Consumer Report Misstep

By Emilie Ruscoe

Big box retailer Walmart faces a proposed class action alleging it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by running a background check, then rescinding a job offer to an applicant who'd disclosed her criminal record before starting the application process.

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H-2A Truck Drivers' Wage Suit Heads To Arbitration

By Irene Spezzamonte

Four seasonal truck drivers did not cross state lines when they transported agricultural products from fields to a cooling facility, and therefore their wage and hour suit belongs in arbitration, a California federal judge ruled.

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Hospital Agrees To End Retirement Plan Fee, Investment Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A New York hospital system told a federal court Wednesday it will end a proposed class action alleging it failed to remove underperforming investment options from its retirement plan and keep an eye on administrative costs, losing millions of dollars of employees' savings.

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Chancery Approves $30M Match.com Spinoff Suit Settlement

By Jeff Montgomery

A Delaware vice chancellor approved a $30 million mediated settlement Wednesday to resolve a five-year dispute over the fairness of Match.com's 2019 reverse spinoff from Barry Diller-controlled IAC/Interactive, with stockholder attorneys taking home $6.9 million.

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Ex-CBD Exec's Attys Awarded $1.3M In Investment Fraud Suit

By Katryna Perera

A Florida federal judge has adopted a magistrate judge's recommendation to award approximately $1.3 million in attorney fees to the former executive of a CBD company who alleged he was duped by his family members into investing, rejecting objections raised by one of the defendants.

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Chancery Mulls Limited Discovery In $8.7B Cerevel Sale Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

A Delaware vice chancellor said Wednesday he is considering denial of a motion to dismiss as well as limited plaintiff discovery in a suit accusing Cerevel Therapeutics Holdings Inc. insiders of lining up a secondary stock sale ahead of the biopharma's disclosure of a proposed $8.7 billion sale to AbbVie.

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3rd Circ. Urged To Revive NJ Casino Antitrust Pricing Suit

By Carla Baranauckas

Algorithmic collusion by Atlantic City casino hotels, as alleged by their customers, poses a grave threat to consumers as the hotels use software to get around a century's worth of antitrust precedent, an attorney for the American Antitrust Institute told the Third Circuit on Wednesday, urging the court to revive an antitrust suit.

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Shipbuilders Ask Justices To Weigh 4th Circ. No-Poach Ruling

By Tom Lotshaw

Shipbuilders and designers accused of conspiring to suppress industry wages urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fourth Circuit decision that revived a proposed class action against them, saying the allegedly untimely antitrust claims threaten ruinous damages.

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Charter Jet Co. Alleges GE Engine Defect Caused Fatal Crash

By Mike Curley

A charter flight company is suing General Electric Co., Bombardier Inc. and a group of airplane maintenance companies over a fatal crash, saying that GE's engine was defective and prone to corrosion that it didn't warn buyers about and which the maintenance companies failed to detect.

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Herbal Co.'s Supplements Lack FDA Disclaimer, Buyers Claim

By Mike Curley

A proposed class of herbal supplement buyers is suing Traditional Medicinals Inc. in California federal court, alleging that its line of supplements makes claims that they support sleep, digestion and other functions, but they lack federally required disclaimers.

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BIPA Logic May Sustain Walgreens Data Suit, Ill. Justices Hint

By Celeste Bott

Illinois' highest court Wednesday pressed an attorney for Walgreens to address why the company shouldn't apply its own reasoning that a plaintiff can file suit based solely on a statutory violation of the state's biometric privacy statute to allegations that the retail pharmacy chain printed too much financial information on receipts.

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Chicago Cubs Hit With Biometric Privacy Suit

By Celeste Bott

The Chicago Cubs have collected the biometric data of millions of fans attending baseball games at Wrigley Field, deploying a security system with facial recognition technology without getting the written, informed consent from visitors required under Illinois law, according to a proposed class action filed in Illinois federal court Monday.

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Movie Chain Shakes Privacy Row Over Meta Data-Sharing

By Allison Grande

A New York federal judge tossed a proposed class action accusing Bow Tie Cinemas of illegally sharing movie ticket buyers' personal information with Facebook parent Meta, finding a recent Second Circuit decision on what qualifies as data covered by the Video Privacy Protection Act was "fatal" to the plaintiff's claims.

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NC Loan Servicer Can't Escape Default Warning Letter Suit

By Sydney Price

Housing loan servicer Selene Finance LP must face most of a putative class action accusing it of sending false and deceptive notices regarding loan defaults, with a North Carolina court finding that the plaintiffs have shown various elements of deception.

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Hermes Gets Birkin Bag Antitrust Claims Tossed For Good

By Matthew Perlman

A California federal court on Wednesday tossed a proposed class action accusing Hermes of unlawfully tying the sale of its iconic Birkin handbag to other expensive items, finding the latest version of the complaint still fell short of making a plausible antitrust claim.

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ICE Ordered To Improve Conditions At Manhattan Facility

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge on Wednesday ordered the Trump administration to improve conditions for migrants detained at a Manhattan immigration holding facility, saying detainees at the federal building needed protection from alleged "unconstitutional and inhumane treatment."

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Colo. Judge Certifies U Visa App In GEO Forced Labor Suit

By Britain Eakin

A Colorado federal judge certified a U visa application for the class representative in a 2014 suit involving forced labor claims against private prison company GEO Group, after he told the court that immigration officials said he could be detained during a check-in this week.

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Coaches Ask For Lower Court Redo On 'Sham' NFL Arbitration

By David Steele

Arguing that a recent Second Circuit ruling supports their position that arbitration overseen by the NFL commissioner cannot be impartial, three former NFL coaches have asked the district court judge who sent part of their proposed racial discrimination class action to arbitration two years ago to again reconsider that decision.

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Diverging FAA Preemption Rulings Underscore Role Of Venue

Two recent rulings evaluating Federal Arbitration Act preemption of state laws — one from the California Supreme Court, upholding the state law, and another from a New York federal court, upholding the arbitration agreement — demonstrate why venue should be a key consideration when seeking to enforce arbitration clauses, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

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Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From Va. AUSA To Mid-Law

Returning to the firm where I began my career after seven years as an assistant U.S. attorney in Virginia has been complex, nuanced and rewarding, and I’ve learned that the pursuit of justice remains the constant, even as the mindset and client change, says Kristin Johnson at Woods Rogers.

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Ex-Calif. Judge Gets 35 Years For Shooting Wife To Death

By Gina Kim

Former California state court judge Jeffrey M. Ferguson lost his bid for a new trial Wednesday and was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison for shooting his wife to death at home in a drunken rage, with the presiding judge expressing sympathy for his "extraordinary" son who tried to save his mother's life.

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Feds Want 3 Years For Girardi Son-In-Law's Chicago Contempt

By Lauraann Wood

Tom Girardi's son-in-law should receive a three-year prison sentence for his admitted role in helping the once-celebrated plaintiffs' lawyer steal millions from Lion Air crash victims, federal prosecutors in Chicago argued Wednesday.

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Winston & Strawn Blamed For 'Anti-Woke' Fintech $1.7B Crash

By Lauren Berg

The trustee of bankrupt "anti-woke" financial technology startup GloriFi on Wednesday launched malpractice litigation against Winston & Strawn LLP in Texas bankruptcy court, accusing the firm and one of its managing partners of putting the interests of the company's founder first and costing the business $1.7 billion in valuation.

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7th Circ. Pick Shrugs Off Conservative Group's Opposition

By Courtney Bublé

During her confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin tapped for the Seventh Circuit, fended off opposition to her nomination from conservative groups, antipathy that the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee called a "new low" for the committee.

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House Votes To End DC Judicial Nominations Commission

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 218-211 along party lines on Wednesday to eliminate the commission that vets and picks potential judicial nominees for Washington, D.C.'s local courts.

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Retired Judges Speak Out On 'Threats' To Constitution

By Courtney Bublé

More than 40 retired federal judges appointed by presidents of both parties released an open letter Wednesday, the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, saying they sought to underscore the importance of the rule of law at a time when the nation's ideals "are under historic strain."

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Del. Judge's US Atty Application Plan Draws Blanche's Ire

By Lauren Berg

Delaware's chief district judge, a Trump appointee, is seeking applications for the state's U.S. attorney position to prepare for an upcoming vacancy in the interim position, a move that drew the ire of Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday.

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Giuliani Must Pay Attys $1.4M After Missing Bills Claim Fails

By Adrian Cruz

A New York state judge has awarded nearly $1.4 million to Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP in its lawsuit accusing former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani of racking up unpaid legal bills for the firm's work in various criminal, civil and administrative matters.

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Criminal Restitution Fails Defendants, Victims, Report Says

By Brandon Lowrey

Federal criminal restitution often fails to benefit victims of crime and throws defendants into a "Sisyphean struggle" with debt, with $100 billion in outstanding restitution deemed uncollectable, according to a report released this week by the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

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SEC Policy Shift Could Foreclose Some Investor Class Actions

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission issued a policy statement Wednesday that allows the use of mandatory arbitration by new publicly traded companies as its chief seeks to "make IPOs great again," but Democrats warned the move could shut the door to shareholder class actions.

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Ex-Law Student's Bias Suit In Wrong Forum, 4th Circ. Told

By Patrick Hoff

A Black former student at Washington University School of Law shouldn't be able to revive claims that she was suspended from campus and lost her scholarship after complaining about a professor's race bias because she filed the suit in the wrong state, the law school told the Fourth Circuit.

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Trump Could Swing Fed With This 1 Weird Trick: Ex-Fed Gov.

By Jon Hill

A former top Federal Reserve official told Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday that if President Donald Trump succeeds in quickly ousting Fed Gov. Lisa Cook, it could unlock an obscure mechanism for his allies at the Fed to sway future interest-rate decisions.

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