Analysis

Midterm Dem Wins To Scramble Lit Funding Legislative Efforts

By Ryan Boysen

Litigation funders can rest easy, for now, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will need to rethink its approach after last night's midterm elections saw Democrats rout Republicans, scrambling a yearslong effort for federal regulation of litigation finance that's so far relied on Republicans.

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Ex-NCR Execs' Attys Get $16M As $48M Deal Finalized

By Patrick Hoff

A Georgia federal judge on Wednesday awarded nearly $16 million in attorney fees and granted final approval to a $48 million settlement that ends a decade-old class action alleging NCR Corp. broke its promise to send former executives annuity payments for life after retirement.

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Delta Can't Toss Flyers' Windowless 'Window' Seat Fee Suit

By Lauren Berg

Delta Air Lines Inc. cannot shutter a proposed breach of contract class action brought by flyers who accuse it of charging premium fees for windowless seats that are misleadingly advertised as having windows, a New York federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying their claims are not preempted by federal law.

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MVP: Lockridge Grindal's Brian Clark

By Jonathan Capriel

Brian D. Clark of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP spearheaded a pro bono effort that freed unlawfully detained immigrants in Minnesota during the early days of ICE's Operation Metro Surge, and he secured more than $116 million in a sprawling PVC pipe antitrust suit — one of many multimillion-dollar outcomes for clients — earning him a spot as one of the 2026 Law360 Class Action MVPs.

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Feature

4 Argument Sessions For Benefits Attys To Watch In Nov.

By Kellie Mejdrich

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will defend its win in a 401(k) forfeiture suit at the Ninth Circuit, Aetna will ask the Second Circuit to push a multiemployer health plan's suit into arbitration, and the Tenth Circuit hears from pharmacy benefit managers who want an opioid nuisance battle moved to federal court. Here, Law360 looks at four arguments that benefits attorneys may want to keep an eye on in November.

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Nationwide Agrees To $12.9M Deal Over 401(k) Fund Fees

By Bonnie Eslinger

Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. has agreed to pay an 83,000-member class $12.9 million to end claims the company mismanaged an employee 401(k) plan, ending six years of litigation less than two weeks before trial.

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$19M Pact Brings Recovery In Teachers' Pension Suit To $35M

By Grace Elletson

Investment companies Aon and Aksia have agreed to pay $19.3 million in a suit claiming they helped cause a multibillion-dollar shortfall in Pennsylvania's Public School Employees Retirement System, according to a federal court filing.

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Ford, EV Battery Co. Must Face Workers' Unpaid Wage Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

Ford Motor Co. and its electric vehicle battery joint venture must face a proposed class and collective action alleging unpaid wages after a Michigan federal judge ruled Wednesday that workers sufficiently alleged the automaker was their joint employer and that Michigan courts have jurisdiction over the venture.

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Walgreens Seeks Sanctions In Investors' Pharma Growth Suit

By Sydney Price

Walgreens has asked an Illinois federal judge to sanction investors and their attorneys in a securities fraud class action, arguing they continued to falsely attribute statements about the company's plans to open hundreds of clinics to a former executive even after a recording showed his statement was taken out of context.

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'Clearly Sanctionable' Conduct Not Punished In Vape MDL

By Jonathan Capriel

Buyers of CCell-branded vape hardware escaped sanctions Friday after they repeatedly mischaracterized emails to suggest a distributor had an enforcement role in a price-fixing scheme, when the California federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation called the conduct "clearly sanctionable" but giving counsel "one last chance."

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2nd Circ. Told To Not Expand Antitrust Patent Fraud Standing

By Bryan Koenig

A pharmaceutical industry trade group has backed Bristol-Myers Squibb and its Celgene subsidiary in the Second Circuit, warning that health plans asking the appeals court to reinstate a proposed class action against the companies are seeking to expand who can bring antitrust cases alleging fraudulently obtained patents.

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Coca-Cola Sued Over Minute Maid 'Natural Flavors' Claim

By Rae Ann Varona

The Coca-Cola Co. was accused Wednesday in Illinois federal court of falsely marketing its Minute Maid Fruit Punch as containing only natural flavors, with a consumer alleging in the putative class action that the beverage actually gets its tartness from a "synthetic, non-natural flavoring ingredient."

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Humm Kombucha Hit With Suit Over 'Zero Sugar' Labels

By Jonathan Capriel

A maker of probiotic kombucha products faces a proposed class action claiming its "zero-sugar" drinks are deceptively marketed and actually contain a substance that federal food regulators have "repeatedly" called a sugar, according to a complaint filed in California federal court.

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$5.5M Doxim Data Breach Deal Gets Final OK In Mich.

By Sydney Price

A Michigan federal judge has granted final approval to a $5.5 million class action settlement resolving claims that software provider Doxim Inc. and two credit unions failed to adequately protect customers' sensitive personal information in a 2023 data breach.

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Highmark Health Network Hit With Suit Over AI Recording Use

By Gianna Ferrarin

Allegheny Health Network and its parent Highmark Health failed to get informed consent from patients for use of an artificial intelligence-based clinical documentation tool in exam rooms, according to a patient's proposed class action complaint in Pennsylvania state court.

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Zula Casino Gambling Suit Returned To Georgia State Court

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia federal judge has remanded a lawsuit filed against the operator of Zula Casino alleging illegal gambling to state court, finding an arbitration clause in Zula's terms and conditions does not confer federal court jurisdiction.

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Zillow Faces New Proposed Class Action Over Text Ads

By Isaac Monterose

Property listing giant Zillow Group Inc. was hit with another proposed class action accusing it of violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act by sending consumers unwanted telemarketing texts.

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Sony Must Face Trimmed Suit Over Smart TV Data Collection

By Allison Grande

A California federal judge has tossed the bulk of a proposed class action accusing Sony of collecting and selling smart TV users' viewing data without consent, finding that the plaintiffs had failed to adequately plead more than a dozen wiretap and privacy allegations while leaving two common law claims intact.

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Meta Share Plan Fight Gets January Injunction Hearing

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court ruled Wednesday that stockholders challenging Meta Platforms Inc.'s plan to create nonvoting shares will get a preliminary injunction hearing in early January, rejecting the company's push for a full trial before the transaction takes effect Jan. 19, 2027.

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Md. Judge Extends Asylum Deal Over 84 Wrongful Removals

By Nadia Dreid

A Maryland federal judge is extending the deadline for a settlement that protects certain asylum-seekers from deportation until their applications are fully processed, after finding that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security wrongfully deported at least 84 people covered by the settlement. 

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Nike Scores Quick OK For Appeal In Wash. Spam Class Action

By Ben Adlin

A Washington state judge greenlighted Nike Inc.'s bid for a quick appeal Tuesday in a case accusing the apparel giant of sending customers misleading advertising emails, clearing the way for appellate review of whether alleging violations of Washington's antispam statute automatically establishes economic injury under the state's consumer protection law.

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Ogletree Adds Ex-Amazon Employment Atty To Seattle Office

By Rachel Riley

A leading in-house employment attorney for Amazon has departed to join Ogletree Deakins' Seattle office, bringing expertise helping Fortune 50 companies navigate workforce challenges to the firm.

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How Groq-Nvidia Suit Tests Venture Capital Exit Math

A recent Delaware Court of Chancery suit concerning Nvidia's acquihire of certain Groq employees highlights that when such deals are challenged, the economic dispute turns on reconciling technology, people, cash and continuing ownership rather than on the headline number, says Ben Dubin at VC Expert Services.

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What Axing ERISA Exhaustion Rule Means For Plan Sponsors

The Eleventh Circuit’s recent reversal of a 40-year precedent requiring plaintiffs to exhaust administrative remedies before filing statutory Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims eliminates a common threshold defense in fiduciary breach suits, making it important for plan sponsors to reassess their internal review and litigation strategies, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

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Opinion

The Invisible AI Danger That May Undermine Legal Profession

A public database tracking cases involving hallucinations generated by artificial intelligence recently surpassed 2,200 entries, but the bigger risk underlying attorneys’ use of such tools is that they will slowly surrender their judgment to AI and lose analytical skills, says Massachusetts District Court Associate Justice Brian Palmucci.

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Gibson Dunn Set To Bring On 120 Lawyers From Weil

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson and Marialuisa Taddia

Gibson Dunn is set to hire the U.S. and London-based private funds teams from Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP, bringing on 120 attorneys in the largest group move reported since Weil's management committee recommended last week that the firm wind down operations.

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State AG Race Wins Set To Give Dems Control Of Most Offices

By Madison Arnold

Democrats are poised to oversee a majority of state attorneys general offices around the country after Tuesday's elections saw the party hang on to all of its existing seats and flip control of five offices from the Republicans, according to unofficial election results.

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Goldstein Ordered To Pay Trimmed $1M Forfeiture

By Nadia Dreid

Former SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein was hit with a $1 million forfeiture order Wednesday by a Maryland federal judge in the wake of his tax and mortgage fraud trial, where the appellate advocate was convicted on a dozen charges.

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Analysis

Attys Ensure Voters' 'Right To Be Heard' In Midterm Elections

By James Boyle and Lynn LaRowe

From BigLaw attorneys and solo practitioners to university professors, thousands of attorney volunteers turned out for Tuesday's midterm elections to ensure American voters' ballots would be counted.

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DOJ Says Epshteyn Will Answer ABA Service Motion

By Jared Foretek

Trump advisor Boris Epshteyn will answer for himself why he has allegedly been evading subpoenas in the American Bar Association's legal challenge to the administration's law firm targeting campaign, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Wednesday.

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Holland & Hart Cost Ex-Client $23M Stake In Co., Suit Says

By Zach Dupont

Holland & Hart LLP and two of its attorneys were accused of malpractice in Colorado state court Tuesday by a former client who claims the attorneys failed to inform her that a wealth transfer plan with her then-husband left her iced out of the couple's most valuable asset.

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DOJ Accused Of Unlawfully Ending Crime Victim Agreement

By Tom Lotshaw

The National Crime Victim Law Institute has accused the U.S. Department of Justice in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims of unlawfully terminating a $500,000 cooperative agreement aimed at strengthening legal support for disabled crime victims in the wake of an executive order against diversity, equity and inclusion programs.

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Former DOJ Officials See Mixed Results In Midterm Races

By Chris Villani

The 2026 midterm elections included bids for office by several former U.S. Department of Justice officials and nominees for the federal bench, with one race a dead heat and several others decided as of early Wednesday.

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