Appeals Court Wipes Out PacifiCorp Wildfire Liability Verdict

By Cara Salvatore

A verdict that made power utility PacifiCorp liable to a class of property owners around Oregon from Labor Day 2020 wildfires must be overturned because of a faulty jury instruction, a state appeals court ruled Wednesday.

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NY Panel Skeptical Of TikTok Bid To Ax AG's Addiction Suit

By Frank G. Runyeon

A five-judge appellate panel Wednesday voiced doubts about TikTok's bid to dismiss the New York attorney general's claims that the social media platform is an addictive product that targets and harms children, pushing back on the company's free speech defense.

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Fiat Chrysler Loses 'Absurd' Arb. Bid In Defect Suit At 9th Circ.

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit panel has rejected Fiat Chrysler's request to send a certified class action over allegedly defective Jeep and Dodge headrests to arbitration, finding that FCA's theory would lead to "absurd" results in which third parties with "no connection whatsoever to the underlying arbitration agreement" could force arbitration.

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Biz Judge Keeps Doc Class Action Against Luxottica, For Now

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas Business Court judge Wednesday kept alive, on procedural grounds, a proposed class action made up of Texas optometrists who say that their office space deals with eye care giant Luxottica of America Inc. didn't follow Texas law.

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Roundup

ERISA Recap: 6 Noteworthy Decisions From March

By Kellie Mejdrich

JPMorgan Chase & Co. narrowed but couldn't escape a suit from workers who said their health plan paid too much for prescription drugs, Genworth Financial Inc. unwound a class at the Fourth Circuit, and the Sixth Circuit breathed new life into proposed class actions against FedEx and Kellogg. Here, Law360 looks at these and three other notable decisions from March in ERISA cases.

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Teamsters, United Defeat Bid To Revive Suit Over Pay Formula

By Benjamin Morse

A memorandum alleging union misconduct and claims that a union representative may have simultaneously worked for United Airlines do not justify reopening a lawsuit accusing the airline and the Teamsters of underpaying workers, a California federal judge ruled.

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NJ Car Dealer Accused Of Picking Pricey 401(k) Funds

By Carla Baranauckas

Holman Automotive Group Inc. was slapped with a proposed class action in New Jersey federal court accusing the company and unidentified plan fiduciaries of breaching their duties under ERISA by saddling employees with unnecessarily expensive retirement plan investments that allegedly drained more than $1 million from workers' savings.

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AstraZeneca Wants 25 Opt-Ins Axed From Pay Bias Suit

By MJ Koo

More than two dozen women refused to take part in required discovery and should be removed from a collective action accusing AstraZeneca of paying female pharmaceutical sales representatives less than men, the company told an Illinois federal court.

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Mercury Systems Investors Seek Final OK Of $32.5M Deal

By Emilie Ruscoe

Investors in aerospace and defense technology company Mercury Systems Inc. have asked a Boston federal judge to give the final nod to their $32.5 million deal to end claims the company mischaracterized certain integration processes amid a $1.4 billion acquisition spree, causing trading prices to slide as the company acknowledged financial fallout stemming from the integration woes.

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Tupperware Investors Seal $21.8M Deal, Net $7.3M In Atty Fees

By Sydney Price

Former executives of Tupperware and the company's investors have received final approval of their $21.8 million deal to end claims the executives misleadingly represented that Tupperware was taking significant efforts to correct dwindling profit margins.

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3rd Time's The Charm For $7.85M PlayStation Antitrust Deal

By Matthew Perlman

A California federal court gave its initial approval for a $7.85 million settlement resolving antitrust claims from gamers over Sony's restriction of retail codes for PlayStation games, after rejecting two previous requests for approval.

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Magistrate Judge Allowed 'Gamesmanship,' Shipbuilders Say

By Bryan Koenig

Major shipbuilders have asked a Virginia federal court to override a magistrate judge's decision permitting a former naval engineer to amend her lawsuit alleging a conspiracy to suppress naval architect and engineer wages, arguing the plaintiff waited too long to add another engineer.

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MatchaBar Sold Lower-Grade Tea As 'Ceremonial,' Suit Says

By Corey Rothauser

A matcha powder by MatchaBar Inc. is falsely marketed as "ceremonial grade" worthy of a Japanese tea ceremony despite independent testing by an expert showing the product actually exhibits "bitterness and astringency in taste," making it unlikely for formal ceremonies, according to a proposed class action by two consumers.

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AI Hiring Startup Reckless With Users' Data, Suit Says

By Rae Ann Varona

A San Francisco startup that helps experts land roles training artificial intelligence models failed to prevent a cyberattack that exfiltrated databases, source code, and the personal information of customers and employees from the startup's information technology network, a putative class action in California federal court alleged.

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Va. Hospital Patient Seeks Final Nod For $3.1M Privacy Deal

By Allison Grande

An Inova Health Care Services patient is urging a Virginia federal judge to grant final approval to a $3.1 million deal to resolve claims the healthcare system unlawfully shared private health information with Meta and Google through online tracking tools, arguing the resolution has received "overwhelming support" from the settlement class.

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StubHub Customer's Eras Tour Tickets Suit Sent To Arbitration

By Rachel Riley

A StubHub customer must arbitrate her claims that the ticket reseller botched her order for $14,000 in tickets to Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, a Washington federal judge has said, agreeing with the company that the patron agreed to a mandatory arbitration pact when she logged onto the website and made her purchase.

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Veterans Say Citibank Arb. Ruling Is 'Anti-Military Readiness'

By Abigail Harrison

A group of service members urged a North Carolina federal court to keep in its sights claims that Citibank NA proffered misleading information about credit card account interest and fees, arguing a recent arbitration order erodes safeguards baked into the Military Lending Act.

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Judge Halts Trump Admin Bid To End TPS For Ethiopians

By Rae Ann Varona

A Massachusetts federal judge Wednesday postponed the Trump administration's termination of deportation relief for roughly 5,000 Ethiopians in the U.S. escaping humanitarian crises, expressing skepticism over the administration's reasons for ending the Ethiopian nationals' temporary protected status.

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GEO Seeks Immunity Appeal In Forced Labor Class Action

By Tom Lotshaw

Prison operator GEO Group Inc. has asked a Colorado federal judge to pause a forced labor class action brought by former immigrant detainees and certify an appeal for the Tenth Circuit to weigh a question about government contractor immunity that could end the case.

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Feds Call 3-Hour Notice In Immigrant Bond Case 'Unworkable'

By Julie Manganis

The U.S. Department of Justice told a Massachusetts federal judge that part of her order requiring the government to provide immigrants in detention with timely, written notice of their rights to a bond hearing and appeal is too burdensome.

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Brief

HIV, AIDS Patients End Disability Bias Suit With CVS

By Grace Elletson

CVS Pharmacy Inc. and a group of HIV and AIDS patients have agreed to wrap up a suit claiming the company made it harder for them to get their medication in violation of disability discrimination law, according to a California federal court filing.

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Debt Collectors Sue Calif. Over 'Excessive' Licensing Fees

By Jon Hill

California's financial services regulator has been hit with a proposed class action that seeks to recoup potentially millions of dollars for debt collectors in the state over claims the agency is unlawfully charging inflated fees to license and oversee them.

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Securities And M&A Litigator Rejoins Latham From Cooley

By Andrea Keckley

Latham & Watkins LLP has announced that a New York litigator has rejoined its ranks after a decade-long stint with Cooley LLP.

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Reed Smith Expands With 6-Atty K&L Gates Litigation Team

By Adrian Cruz

Reed Smith LLP announced Wednesday that six attorneys, including four partners, have joined the firm's Boston and Princeton, New Jersey, offices from K&L Gates LLP.

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Telehealth Suit May Redraw Rules For Physician Classification

A new class action in California federal court, Cioppettini v. Mochi Medical, alleging a telehealth company misclassified providers as independent contractors, suggests that traditional markers of physician independence may not apply to telehealth, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

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DLA Piper Offered Pregnant Atty 'Dignified' Exit, Jury Told

By Pete Brush

A former DLA Piper associate who claims she was unlawfully fired after announcing her pregnancy was offered a chance to transition out of the firm "without anyone knowing that her work was subpar," a partner told a Manhattan federal jury Wednesday.

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Spencer Fane Adds 75 Attys Through Tie-Up With Okla. Firm

By Tracey Read

Missouri-headquartered Spencer Fane LLP announced Wednesday that it plans to combine with Southwest firm Conner & Winters LLP on July 1 in its largest tie-up to date and its third already in 2026.

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AEG, BigLaw Atty In Hot Seat As Live Nation Trial Nears End

By Stewart Bishop

Live Nation on Wednesday concluded its defense case with glowing testimony about it from the manager for rap star Drake, while the Manhattan federal judge overseeing the case said rival company AEG Worldwide and a Hogan Lovells lawyer may face sanctions for revealing confidential information about a witness.

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DOJ's Lead Google Attys Both Leave Agency Same Day

By Bryan Koenig

The lead attorneys on both of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's monopolization cases against Google left the agency Wednesday or said they would be doing so.

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Mich. Federal Judge Pleads No Contest In Drunk-Driving Case

By Gina Kim

A Michigan federal judge pled no contest Wednesday to a misdemeanor drunken-driving charge in Emmet County court in connection with an incident where he crashed his Cadillac and registered a 0.27% blood alcohol level, apologizing and saying he "looks forward" to continuing his judicial service.

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ABA, State Bars Blast DOJ Proposal To Block Bar Probes

By Emily Sawicki

The American Bar Association and a chorus of state and local bar groups have come out against a proposed rule that would allow the U.S. Department of Justice to pause and review state-level ethics complaints against its attorneys, calling the proposal "unlawful and unconstitutional."

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ABA Rates Montana Judicial Pick 'Not Qualified'

By Courtney Bublé

Katie Lane, senior legal counsel at the Republican National Committee who has been tapped for a federal judgeship in Montana, is the first nominee to receive a majority "not qualified" rating by the American Bar Association in the second Trump administration.

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NY Panel Backs DLA Piper's $482K Fee Win In Malpractice Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

A New York appellate court affirmed Tuesday the dismissal of a Chinese software company's legal malpractice suit against DLA Piper, along with a $482,000 sanctions order against the company and its counsel, noting that the company's frivolous claims also drew a $635,000 sanctions ruling in "mirror" federal court litigation.

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Bondi To Skip Epstein Deposition After DOJ Cites AG Exit

By Courtney Bublé

Former Attorney General Pam Bondi will not sit for her scheduled deposition next week on the Epstein files now that she has left the role, and the Justice Department has asked the House Oversight Committee to withdraw its subpoena.

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Trump Asks NY's Top Court To Toss AG's 'Flawed' Fraud Case

By Lauren Berg

President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked New York's highest court to throw out New York Attorney General Letitia James' "deeply flawed" civil fraud judgment entirely after a lower appellate court tossed what it called an "excessive" $489 million penalty against the president, his sons and his real estate companies.

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