6 December Argument Sessions Benefits Attys Should Watch

By Kellie Mejdrich

Workers who say Prudential mismanaged their retirement savings will ask the Third Circuit to reinstate their class action, while a union pension fund will ask the Eighth Circuit to put General Electric back on the hook for a $230 million in pension withdrawal liability. Here's a look at six upcoming oral argument sessions benefits attorneys should have on their radar.

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Paratek Beats Suit Alleging $462M Sale Built On D&O Interests

By Jeff Montgomery

A Delaware vice chancellor tossed investor challenges to Paratek Pharmaceuticals' $462 million sale to Gurnet Point Capital and Novo Holdings, saying it was not reasonably conceivable that directors and officers undermined better deal prospects in order to protect personal interests.

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8th Circ. Finds No Grounds For Folgers Deceptive Label Class

By Emily Field

The Eighth Circuit struck down a lower court's order certifying a class of Folgers coffee drinkers allegedly deceived by serving size instructions, saying that many consumers either weren't fooled or simply liked weaker coffee.

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Investor Suit Over Failed TD Bank-First Horizon Deal Tossed

By Katryna Perera

A New Jersey federal judge dismissed an investor class action over TD Bank's failed $13.4 billion merger with First Horizon Corp., finding that First Horizon investors can't sue because they never held TD Bank shares and the deal didn't close.

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Ill. Judge Trims DraftKings Sports Betting Promos Suit

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge refused to dismiss outright a proposed class action claiming that DraftKings's advertisements fuel gambling addiction, but trimmed a few claims from the suit, finding several of the lead plaintiffs failed to specify when they saw the ads in question.

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JetBlue Can Settle With Wash. Putative Wage Class Members

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state judge declined on Wednesday to block JetBlue from pursuing individual settlements with putative class members in a pending wage action, concluding the plaintiff workers hadn't shown "anything nefarious" about the airline's severance package talks with employees related to a recent closure.

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Brief

IBM, Workers End Pension Fight Over Mortality Data

By Grace Elletson

IBM and a group of workers have agreed to close a proposed class action claiming the technology giant paid retirees less than they were owed in pension payments by using outdated mortality data to calculate their benefits, according to a filing in New York federal court.

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Warner Bros. Studio Operations Hit With Wage And Hour Suit

By Gina Kim

Warner Bros. Studio Operations and related companies made California employees work through their meal breaks, required them to work unpaid overtime and didn't pay them for on-call or standby time, according to a proposed wage-and-hour class action filed Nov. 25 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.   

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Abbott Accused Of Miscalculating Workers' Overtime

By Irene Spezzamonte

Abbott Laboratories miscalculated employees' overtime by failing to include periodic award pay in the regular rate of pay when they worked more than 40 hours per week, a former employee said in a proposed collective action in Illinois federal court.

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Trucking Co. Nabs Early Win In 401(k) Recordkeeping Fee Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

A South Carolina federal judge sided with a trucking company in a class action from employee 401(k) participants who claimed their retirement plan was saddled with excessive recordkeeping fees, holding that the class lacked sufficient evidence to back up their fiduciary breach claim. 

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Updated Deal To End School Bus Driver's Wage Suit Gets OK

By Irene Spezzamonte

A Georgia school district will pay nearly $9,000 to end a former bus driver's Fair Labor Standards Act suit alleging it didn't pay her for three months after she returned from an injury-related leave, with a federal judge finding the parties had addressed issues with a previous version of the settlement. 

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Calif. Cannabis Workers Settle Suit Over Quotas, Lack Of Pay

By Jonathan Capriel

Hourly agricultural laborers who accused California cannabis company Glass House Brands Inc. and some of its subsidiaries of bilking them out of sick pay, minimum wage and lunch breaks while enforcing quotas have agreed to settle what is left of their state court labor violation lawsuit for $305,000.

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Investors Say Synopsys Hid Risks Before $35B Deal

By Katryna Perera

Shareholders of Synopsys Inc. have launched a class action in California federal court alleging the chip software design company concealed concerns about its pre-designed semiconductor components business segment before it acquired Ansys for $35 billion.

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Avantor Sued Over Supply Chain Issues After $6.4B Deal

By Matthew Santoni

Investors have accused executives at Pennsylvania-based laboratory supplier Avantor Inc. of falsely inflating the company's stock value by continually touting the value of its $6.4 billion merger with a major distributor in 2017, even as its failures to maintain its supply chain mounted, according to a proposed class action filed Tuesday in federal court.

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Swimmers Defend $1.16M Fee In Antitrust Fight With Aquatics

By Elaine Briseño

Swimmers suing World Aquatics over alleged antitrust violations say the objection to an additional $1.16 million in attorney fees is "absurd," arguing the international governing body knows payment would come from a fund separate from the already negotiated attorney fees.

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Health Plans Defend Renewed Biogen MS Drug Scheme Suit

By Lauraann Wood

Health plans claiming Biogen Inc. illegally stifled competition for its multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera have said an Illinois federal judge should let their latest complaint proceed to discovery because it fixes earlier pleading deficiencies and better outlines the drugmaker's allegedly anticompetitive scheme.

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Huggies' 'Hypoallergenic' Diapers Cause Rashes, Suit Says

By Rae Ann Varona

A "secret reformulation" of disposable Huggies children's diapers is causing severe skin reactions, a proposed class action filed in New York federal court has alleged, claiming that manufacturing giant Kimberly-Clark is still marketing the product as "hypoallergenic" despite pleas for a recall on the Huggies website.

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NetChoice Fights Georgia Law On Parental Consent, Ads

By Kelcey Caulder

Internet trade group NetChoice is urging the Eleventh Circuit to continue blocking the enforcement of a Georgia law that would block social media platforms from allowing minors under 16 from creating accounts without parental permission.

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Databricks Attys Warned Not To Coach IP Suit Witnesses

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal magistrate judge on Wednesday warned attorneys representing Databricks in a group of writers' copyright lawsuit over AI training that they cannot discuss deposition testimony with witnesses during breaks other than for privilege reasons, but she rejected the writers' accusation that defense counsel had improperly coached witnesses.

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Feds Fight Bid For Warrantless Immigration Arrest Oversight

By Tom Lotshaw

The Trump administration told a D.C. federal judge Tuesday that a requested injunction related to warrantless civil immigration arrests in the nation's capital would thrust the court into micromanaging disputes over arrests and their documentation.

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2nd Circ. Decision Offers Securities Fraud Pleading Insights

In Gimpel v. Hain Celestial, the Second Circuit’s recent finding that investor plaintiffs adequately alleged a food and personal care company made actionable misrepresentations and false statements presents a road map for evaluating securities fraud complaints that emphasizes statements made and scienter, rather than pure omissions, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.

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Bonus Spotlight

Magic Circle Firms Enchant Associates With Top-Tier Bonuses

By Tracey Read

U.S. associates at Linklaters LLP and Clifford Chance LLP have a lot to be thankful for this holiday season, as the Magic Circle firms Wednesday became the latest to match the BigLaw standard for this year's associate bonuses.

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Analysis

After Big Win For 2 Trump Foes, A Third Faces 'Tougher Job'

By Phillip Bantz

The recent dismissal of federal criminal charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI director James Comey does little to help President Donald Trump's ex-national security adviser John Bolton, whose defense in a classified-materials case presents a thornier set of legal and factual issues, experts say.

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Roundup

Up Next At High Court: ISP Liability & State Subpoena Suits

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will return Monday for the first week of its December oral argument session, during which the justices will consider whether internet service providers can be held liable for contributing to their customers' infringing activity online and whether the subjects of state subpoenas are required to first challenge them in state court. 

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Interview

For Covington's Adrian Perry, Music Is A Family Affair

By Theresa Schliep

Despite having a famous rock star dad, Covington & Burling LLP partner Adrian J. Perry wasn't all that interested in being a musician as a young child, but he knew as early as 6 years old that he wanted to be a lawyer.

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Analysis

Calif. Privacy Agency Gaining Steam Ahead Of 5th Anniversary

By Allison Grande

California's data privacy regulator has taken several notable steps in recent months, including handing down its first penalty upward of $1 million and finalizing long-awaited rules on topics such as cybersecurity audits and technologies that use artificial intelligence, and the groundbreaking agency shows no signs of slowing down as its fifth anniversary approaches. 

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Split 6th Circ. Shields Baker Donelson, Not City Councilman

By Matt Perez

In a published opinion, the Sixth Circuit has found that Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC is shielded by qualified immunity as outside counsel for the city of Nashville in litigation over the law firm's firing of a city election commission chair and member of the firm.

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Foley & Lardner Hit With Malpractice Suit Over Chancery Loss

By Rose Krebs

Foley & Lardner LLP has been sued in Delaware Superior Court by three officers of a now-defunct food recycling company who say the firm was negligent when representing them in a Chancery Court case that led to a $1.6 million judgment against them and another officer.

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DOJ Asks Court If It Can Release Epstein Files Under New Law

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a New York federal court's permission to publicly release the files related to the investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, clarifying Wednesday that it wants to release search warrant results, travel and financial records, police reports, and other materials.

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Keesal Young Poaching Suit Against Stradley Ronon Trimmed

By Madison Arnold

A California state judge cleared Keesal Young & Logan to pursue most of its lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young crossed the line when it recruited 10 former Keesal Young attorneys, finding that claims such as inducing breach of contract could move forward, in part, because of conversations among the attorneys.

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DOJ Says Ex-Employees Can't Challenge Firings In Fed. Court

By Rose Krebs

The government says a D.C. federal court lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate a lawsuit filed by a former assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and two other ex-Department of Justice employees, alleging they were unlawfully fired.

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Hub Hires: Todd & Weld, Freshfields, Shipman

By Julie Manganis

It was a busy November in Boston's legal community as another firm expanded into the market, and a longtime judge traded his gavel for the ability to address his growing concerns about the Trump administration.

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