Delaware Justices Clarify Ruling On Loews' $1.5B Cash-Out

By Jeff Montgomery

In a rare second look at one of its own recent decisions, Delaware's Supreme Court said an earlier opinion "misconstrued" some dimensions of an unjust enrichment challenge to Loews Corp.'s $1.5 billion buyout of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP public unitholders.

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Widow Of 'Sophie's Choice' Author Settles Stage Rights Spat

By Chris Villani

The 97-year-old widow of author William Styron has settled a suit by a playwright who claimed he held exclusive rights to the stage version of Styron's novel "Sophie's Choice," according to a filing in Massachusetts state court.

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Pa. Justices Reverse Clickwrap Arbitration Limits, For Now

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has determined that a lower appellate court was too quick to declare that "clickwrap" arbitration agreements buried in apps' and websites' terms of service erode the constitutional right to trial by jury, reversing a decision that invalidated such an agreement in an injury suit against Uber.

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Court Rejects Sanctions In Venezuelan Oil Defamation Case

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida federal judge on Wednesday declined to sanction a director of a Venezuelan state-owned oil company, finding no conflict of interest by his attorneys at Diaz Reus LLP in a now-dismissed suit accusing the director and others of engaging in a campaign to smear Venezuelan civic leaders.

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Brief

Texas AG Launches Investigation Into Vaccine Incentives

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas attorney general launched what it characterized as a sweeping, multi-industry investigation into financial incentives for medical providers to recommend childhood vaccines, saying providers regularly dish out vaccines that "are not proven to be safe or necessary."

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Feds Back Freight Broker In High Court Negligence Case

By Linda Chiem

The federal government urged the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday to hold that federal law unequivocally shields freight brokers from state-based negligence and personal injury claims, throwing its support behind broker and logistics giant C.H. Robinson in a closely watched case.

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Chancery Gives Solar Roof Co. One Week To Find In-State Atty

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court on Wednesday declined to rule immediately on a request to hold a solar roofing company in contempt for defying a court order, instead pausing the case to give the company time to hire Delaware counsel, a prerequisite to allowing the company to be heard on the merits.

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Costco Nears Settlement With Insurer Over Store Injury Claims

By Rachel Riley

A Hartford unit has reached a tentative deal with Costco to end claims that the insurer wrongfully refused defense coverage for a lawsuit by a customer allegedly hurt while trying to move a grill box at a California store, according to a Wednesday filing in Seattle federal court.

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Licensing Deal Saves Cisco From Lionra Suit, Fed. Circ. Says

By Theresa Schliep

The Federal Circuit rebuffed Lionra Technologies Ltd.'s efforts to save its patent infringement case against Cisco Systems Inc., with a panel finding Wednesday that a licensing agreement foreclosed the lawsuit and calling Lionra's characterization of the agreement "skewed."

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Tex-Mex Chain's 'Feeling' Isn't Trade Secret, NC Biz Court Told

By Hayley Fowler

A chain of upscale Tex-Mex restaurants in North Carolina failed to specify the trade secrets a former manager is accused of stealing to replicate its dining concept at another restaurant in Missouri, defense counsel told a North Carolina Business Court judge on Wednesday.

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NYC Sues Dr. Phil's Son To Stop NYPD Reality Show

By Hailey Konnath

The city of New York on Wednesday sued the son of celebrity psychologist Dr. Phil in state court, claiming that he and his production company plan to air a reality television show about the New York Police Department that contains footage that would threaten the lives and safety of active police officers, witnesses and victims.

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NC Court Throws Duke A Lifeline In Transfer Battle With QB

By Alex Lawson

A North Carolina state judge allowed Duke University quarterback Darian Mensah to enter the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday, but prohibited him from signing with another school until ruling on Duke's request for an injunction that would keep him at the university.

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3rd Circ. Ends Minor League Owner's Suit Over MLB Ties

By Ganesh Setty

The Third Circuit on Wednesday upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit from the owner of the Oregon-based Salem-Keizer Volcanoes alleging a minor league baseball official cut the team out of a relationship with Major League Baseball, finding the official had no fiduciary duty to it.

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Apple Workers In Wash. Sue Over Limits On Moonlighting

By Ben Adlin

Apple Inc. has broken a Washington state moonlighting law by prohibiting dozens of lower-wage workers from taking second jobs to supplement their incomes, according to a former employee's proposed class action against the company.

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Schwab Nixed From DOL Enforcement Suit Against Other Firm

By Katryna Perera

A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday dismissed two Schwab companies from a U.S. Department of Labor enforcement case, finding the financial services providers' participation was no longer needed in the agency's dispute against another firm.

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Realtor Alleges Zillow 'Monopoly' Forces Loan Referrals

By Isaac Monterose

A proposed class of real estate agents accused property listing company Zillow Group Inc. and several of its subsidiaries in Washington federal court of running a monopoly that forces real estate agents to, among other things, use a Zillow client referral program that pushes program participants to refer clients to Zillow's loan services.

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Businesses Seek OK On $436M Toyota Forklift Emissions Deal

By Mike Curley

A proposed class of businesses is asking a California federal court to give the go-ahead on a $436 million settlement with Toyota Industries Corp. and its material handling affiliates in a suit that alleged the company misled them on their forklift and construction engine emissions.

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PE Firm Used Jail Threats To Steer Cannabis Deal, Court Told

By Abigail Harrison

A private equity firm can't free itself from a contract breach spat between a CBD and hemp product manufacturer and its business partner, as the firm not only interfered with the contract but also threatened to have people thrown in jail if they refused to capitulate, a North Carolina federal court heard Wednesday.

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Cresco Accused Of Withholding Revenue Share From Partner

By Sam Reisman

An Ohio company that claims it helped cannabis giant Cresco Labs LLC build its medical and retail marijuana operations in the Buckeye State alleges in a new federal lawsuit that the company bilked it out of promised fees when it expanded its business into adult-use cannabis.

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How A 1947 Tugboat Ruling May Shape Work Product In AI Era

Rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence test work-product principles first articulated in the U.S. Supreme Court’s nearly 80-year-old Hickman v. Taylor decision, as courts and ethics bodies confront whether disclosure of attorneys’ AI prompts and outputs would reveal their thought processes, say Larry Silver and Sasha Burton at Langsam Stevens.

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Ex-Baker McKenzie Atty Alleges Assault In New DC Lawsuit

By Alison Knezevich

A former Baker McKenzie associate who was sued for defamation over a series of social media posts accusing the firm's Washington, D.C., managing partner of sexual assault has brought her own lawsuit, marking the first time she publicly detailed her allegations in court records.

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Trump Calls For Prosecution Of Jack Smith Post-Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

Shortly after former special counsel Jack Smith gave his first public congressional testimony on the Trump cases, in which he warned the rule of law should not be taken for granted, President Donald Trump said he should be prosecuted.

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ABA Outlines Limited Atty Duty To Give Info To Former Clients

By Lynn LaRowe

The American Bar Association said attorneys have a limited responsibility to convey information to former clients or successor counsel that was not within the client's file, when doing so is necessary to protect a client's interests and reasonably practicable, according to a new ethics opinion.

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Proposed Subpoena Rule Change Raises Victim Privacy Fears

By Brandon Lowrey

A proposal to loosen restrictions on the use of federal criminal subpoenas would endanger and further traumatize victims of crime, most of whom lack legal representation to fight the invasive demands, victims' rights advocates told a federal rules advisory committee on Thursday.

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Pa. Justices Say Judge's Partisan Posts Warrant Suspension

By Hayley Fowler

Pennsylvania's highest court has adopted a balancing test for restricting a sitting judge's free speech outside the context of an election and, in doing so, affirmed the suspension of a state court judge who it said damaged the court's appearance of impartiality by making political posts on social media.

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Brief

Courthouse News Drops Access Suit Against DC Court Clerk

By Emily Sawicki

National litigation news outlet Courthouse News Service has voluntarily and permanently dropped claims against a Washington, D.C., Superior Court clerk and the executive officer of the D.C. courts over filing delays, with both sides agreeing to pay their own costs.

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