5th Circ. Backs Ax Of $125M Judgment Over Judge Friendship

By Mike Curley

A split Fifth Circuit panel Tuesday affirmed the vacatur of a trial by a magistrate judge that resulted in a $125 million judgment against Port of Lake Charles, finding the district court correctly found that the magistrate judge didn't fully disclose her 40-year, "close, multifaceted, and personal friendship" with IFG Port Holdings LLC's attorney.

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NC Supreme Court Considers Reviving 'Cardiac Pack' NIL Suit

By Alex Lawson

The North Carolina Supreme Court pointedly questioned the NCAA over its refusal to compensate members of the 1983 North Carolina State University championship basketball team Tuesday, expressing skepticism that the dispute was entirely snuffed out over late claims.

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Conn. Justice Says $87M Telecom Bid 'Hard To Take Seriously'

By Aaron Keller

A once-bankrupt telecommunications company's bid for more than $80 million in interest on top of a $3.6 million judgment seemed "absurd" to one Connecticut Supreme Court justice hearing a 16-year-old contract dispute Tuesday, though he later said the party that hasn't paid shouldn't escape entirely unscathed.

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Parler Legal Dustup Revealed Rifts, Jury Hears From Ex-CEO

By Cara Salvatore

Parler's ousted CEO testified Tuesday in his trial against former partner Rebekah Mercer that in 2020, her lawyers' pushback on restructuring provisions recommended by Parler's lawyers was an early clue that "something didn't seem right."

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week saw disputes involving a former NFL star and a $2.5 million solar venture, Morgan Stanley's role in Fox Corp.'s planned $22 billion acquisition of Roku Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s effort to pause more than $20 million in legal-fee payments to former Frank executives.

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Mich. Lawyer Can't Shake Cybersecurity Firm's $550K Claim

By Melanie Dorsey

A Detroit attorney who promoted voter fraud claims after the 2020 election must face a cybersecurity company's breach of contract and defamation suit after a Michigan federal judge found the company plausibly alleged the attorney and her law firm retaliated against its investigators after they found no evidence of election fraud and allegedly declined a request to report otherwise.

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Womble Bond Says No Need To Share Rift Details In Exit Bid

By Emily Sawicki

Attorneys from Womble Bond Dickinson, seeking to withdraw as counsel of record for a Dutch software company embroiled in a trademark dispute with an American rival, told a North Carolina federal judge that they are not obligated under professional conduct rules to disclose the "substance of a confidential disagreement" underlying their withdrawal request.

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Judge Nixes Atty's Bid For More Depositions In $12M Tax Suit

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado federal judge denied a request for additional depositions from counsel of an attorney and others accused of siphoning $12 million while advocating an illegal tax fee after determining the request for the depositions was untimely and made outside the discovery window.

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Fla. Court Misread Complex's Mural Rights Claim, Panel Told

By David Minsky

A Miami apartment complex on Tuesday urged a Florida state appellate panel to remand its case for a new trial on damages over hosting exterior advertisements, arguing that a lower court misapplied the law when it found the complex couldn't establish liability after the city excluded it from a mural district.

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Bridal Shop Says Default Rulings Don't Bar $7M Coverage Suit

By Hope Patti

A Manhattan bridal shop urged a New York federal court to reject a magistrate judge's recommendation to toss its suit seeking to recover $7 million from a contractor's insurers, saying its claims can't be voided by a previous default judgment the insurers won against their policyholder.

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Freight Broker, Steel Cos. Exit Colo. Fatal Truck Crash Suit

By Linda Chiem

A Colorado federal judge on Tuesday slashed a negligence and wrongful death lawsuit seeking to hold freight broker Total Quality Logistics liable for a fatal 2024 trucking collision, along with the steel suppliers whose shipment was being transported at the time.

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Boeing Avoids Broad Financial Discovery In IP Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

A Washington federal judge has ordered The Boeing Co. to provide some, but far from all, of the information Wilson Aerospace LLC sought for its suit accusing the aerospace giant of stealing patented technology for a NASA moon program.

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Trial Is Quickest Path To IP Case's 'Finality,' Justices Told

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina software company told the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday not to pause an upcoming trademark trial with its former Dutch partner over a licensing agreement that went south, saying the quickest way to a resolution of the long-running litigation is to finally bring it to a jury.

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Meta Accused Of Using Photos To Train AI Without Consent

By Adam Lidgett

Facebook and Instagram users hit Meta with a proposed class action accusing the company of harvesting biometric data from photos posted to its platforms without consent to develop its artificial intelligence and facial recognition technology.

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WB Asks Panel To Pull Plug On Claim 'The Pitt' Copied 'ER'

By Rae Ann Varona

Warner Bros. Television told a California appellate panel Tuesday that a trial court should have tossed a lawsuit by writer Michael Crichton's widow alleging the studio ripped off her husband's show "ER" with the hit medical drama "The Pitt," arguing that a plaintiffs' expert who opined on similarities never even watched the Warner Bros. show.

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NC Brokerage Loses Injunction Bid Against Ex-Directors

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A judge with North Carolina's business court has declined to impose an injunction enforcing restrictive covenants on three former real estate brokerage directors who left to join a competitor, ruling that their former employer's suit had not produced evidence of wrongdoing.

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Contractor Can't Send Arbitration Pact To $162M Wage Class

By Benjamin Morse

A contractor that helps administer a New York state Medicaid program cannot send arbitration agreements to members of a $162 million settlement class in a suit alleging it failed to pay personal assistants accurately or on time, a federal magistrate judge ruled, finding the move could confuse workers about the deal.

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Auto Tools Trade Org. Says Antitrust Claims Are Baseless

By Spencer Brewer

An automotive lift trade association and several lift manufacturers asked a Texas federal court to toss antitrust claims brought by a Texas manufacturer, saying that the manufacturer failed to state a viable claim under the Sherman Act.

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8th Circ. Backs Tribal Court In Energy Co.'s Easement Fight

By Joyce Hanson

The Eighth Circuit has agreed with a tribal judge and thrown out a federal court's preliminary injunction barring him from hearing a suit brought by members of the Three Affiliated Tribes against an energy company over an easement agreement.

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Helicore, Investor Clash Over Fraud, Deadlock Claims

By Jarek Rutz

Attorneys for telecom infrastructure startup Helicore LLC and its primary investor clashed Tuesday during a Delaware Chancery Court hearing over whether a dispute involving allegedly fabricated board approvals, equity dilution and a deadlocked board amounts to fraud and fiduciary misconduct or simply a contract fight.

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ABA Law School Accrediting Arm Repeals Diversity Standard

By Emma Cueto and Andrea Keckley

The American Bar Association council responsible for law school accreditation voted Tuesday to eliminate its diversity and inclusion standard, the final step in a process that the council hopes will ensure it remains an accreditor recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

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Ex-DLA Piper Partner Must Face Claim He Raped Associate

By Lynn LaRowe

A Massachusetts state court has ruled it has jurisdiction over an assault and battery claim alleging a former DLA Piper partner raped a former Boston-based associate in Delaware, finding that purported incident was part of "a larger course of conduct encompassing multiple torts across several states, all circling around plaintiff's residence and work in Massachusetts."

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AG Blanche To Speak At GOP Midterm Convention

By Courtney Bublé

Attorney General Todd Blanche will speak at the Republican midterm convention this week in his "personal capacity."

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