Bassist's Suit Against Metal Band Can Rock On, Judge Says

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut judge has refused to strike six counts from a bassist's lawsuit challenging his ejection from the Grammy-nominated metal band Hatebreed, finding the musician properly pleaded claims that he was harmed by his 2024 removal after a decades-long business relationship.

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Honeywell Beats Suit Over Russian Legal Fee Advancement

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court has recommended dismissing a former Honeywell executive's bid to force the company to cover his legal bills tied to Russian proceedings, finding that he failed to follow key contractual steps required to trigger such payments.

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11th Circ. Affirms Arbitration In Ex-Sears CEO Yacht Case

By Caroline Simson

The Eleventh Circuit affirmed much of an order compelling arbitration in the Cayman Islands of claims brought by a seaman who was injured aboard a luxury 288-foot yacht allegedly owned by billionaire and former Sears CEO Edward Lampert, saying its precedent on such matters remains good law.

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CBRE Escapes Fraud Suit Over Jersey City Apartment Deal

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey state judge has handed a win to CBRE Inc. and two of its brokers in a Jersey City apartment development enterprise's suit alleging it was duped into a $19.5 million site deal, finding no reasonable jury could conclude the buyer justifiably relied on alleged misrepresentations about the number of units that could be built on the property. 

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Hotel Developer's Suit Against Mich. City Revived On Appeal

By Susan Smiley

The Michigan Court of Appeals has reinstated a developer's suit over a failed deal with the city of Jackson to renovate a historic and long-vacant hotel, ruling that the trial court ignored an amended complaint when it granted summary disposition to the city.

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11th Circ. Partly Revives State Farm Unearned Premium Suit

By Hope Patti

Two State Farm units don't belong in a Florida couple's suit over reimbursement for unearned premiums following a total loss, the Eleventh Circuit found, while reviving the couple's breach of contract claim against the insurer's Florida-based subsidiary pending a new jurisdictional analysis.

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Transport Co. Says Broker, Insurer Cost It Gov't Contract

By Gianna Ferrarin

An insurance broker submitted forged documents while obtaining an adjustment on a transportation company's insurance policy, causing it to lose coverage it needed to do business with a Washington, D.C., regional transit agency, according to a complaint filed in D.C. federal court.

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As Game Cos. Fight Over Docs, Judge Trims Requests

By Jarek Rutz

Mobile game companies Skillz Inc. and Tether Studios LLC clashed Thursday in Delaware Chancery Court over the scope of discovery in a contract and trade secrets dispute, with each accusing the other of withholding critical information, while Vice Chancellor Morgan T. Zurn largely trimmed back what she said were overbroad requests.

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Judge Orders Media Matters To Give X Its Employee Lists

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge on Thursday ordered left-leaning media watchdog Media Matters for America to hand over employee lists and editorial process information to X Corp. as part of a business disparagement suit, ending a lengthy battle between the parties over the documents.

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Home Improvement Co. Nailed With Misclassification Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A home improvement company's nationwide sales model is built on a misclassification scheme that shortchanged workers, a group of former sales representatives said in a proposed collective and class action filed in Colorado federal court.

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Ex-First Liberty Chief Ran $140M Ponzi Scheme, DOJ Says

By Kelcey Caulder

The owner and former president of the now-defunct Georgia-based First Liberty Building & Loan LLC was arraigned Thursday in Georgia federal court for allegedly orchestrating a $140 million Ponzi scheme, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Atlanta.

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Fla. Subpoenas Cos., Green Groups In Plastics Antitrust Probe

By Carolina Bolado

Florida's attorney general has subpoenaed several major corporations, including Unilever, Coca-Cola, Target, Nestle and Mondelez International, and a number of environmental groups as part of an investigation into whether their involvement in organizations aiming to reduce plastic waste might run afoul of antitrust and consumer protection laws.

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Expert Must Speak To Ruined Phone Claims In Antitrust Case

By Rachel Riley

A Washington federal judge said Wednesday that a digital forensics expert who was hired by a former Pilgrim's Pride employee facing bid-rigging allegations must testify in long-running civil antitrust litigation accusing poultry producers of price-fixing, finding the expert may be able to speak to claims that the worker destroyed evidence.

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Sikorsky Says UK Co. Owes $9.8M More In Chopper Feud

By Brian Steele

A British company that is already on the hook for more than $26.3 million must pay Sikorsky International Operations Inc. an additional $9.77 million in offer-of-compromise interest after losing a lawsuit over the scrapped purchase of two helicopters, the Lockheed Martin-owned manufacturer told a Connecticut federal judge.

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Solar Co. Again Seeks To Toss Colo. Hemp Growers' Suit

By Zach Dupont

A solar company claims that Colorado's economic loss rule bars a negligence claim from a pair of hemp growers that claim a broken irrigation line caused nearly $200 million in damages to their hemp farm, according to a motion to dismiss filed in Colorado federal court Thursday.

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Series

Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

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DLA Piper Clears Vote To End Verein, Unify Leadership

By Tracey Read

DLA Piper announced Friday that firm partners on both sides of the Atlantic have "overwhelmingly approved" a plan to dissolve its Swiss verein structure effective May 1.

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Exclusive

Judge Albright Reflects On 8 Years Shaping Patent Law

By Dani Kass

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright will be walking away from the Western District of Texas at the end of the summer, ready to head back into patent litigation work. He talked with Law360 on Friday about the rockier elements of his judgeship and lessons he'll take into private practice.

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Commerce Department's General Counsel Departs

By Christine DeRosa

The U.S. Department of Commerce's general counsel has left the agency after just over a year, the agency confirmed on Friday.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

In what may be a first, a federal judge has ordered BJ's Wholesale Club to put an investor's climate-related proxy proposal up for a vote of the shareholders at the company's annual meeting. And a new study shows that more in-house counsel are staying in place despite pay increases slowing amid less competition for talent.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Butler Prather LLP, Bowen Painter LLC and Cannella Snyder LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Fluor Corp. can be held liable for a veteran's state-based injury claims stemming from a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen a Hong Kong company sue the government and a COVID-19 PPE company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone, an oligarch bring a fresh claim against a rival in a long-running feud, a rugby league club sue over a canceled mass dance event, and Visa and Mastercard hit with legal action from H&M, Eurostar, and Bang & Olufsen. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Oregon Lawyer Ordered To Pay Attorney Fees For Use Of AI

By Matt Perez

An Oregon attorney was sanctioned by a state appellate court for filing a brief containing a fabricated list of authorities because she used generative artificial intelligence, marking the first case in the jurisdiction to present the option of awarding attorney fees as a sanction as opposed to fines payable to the court.

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Akin Can't 'Recast' Appeal As Good-Faith Effort, 9th Circ. Told

By Lauren Berg

A European winemaker slammed attempts by a U.S. importer and its Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to "recast a frivolous appeal as a good-faith effort," saying they should have to pay monetary sanctions for pursuing what the Ninth Circuit called a "self-indulgent" appeal of a valid arbitration award.

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Atty, Brother Say Father's Last Will Altered In Secret

By Emily Sawicki

A Blank Rome LLP attorney and his brother have sued the attorney who executed their father's will in New Jersey federal court, alleging the lawyer preyed on their ailing father toward the end of his life to alter his beneficiaries through undue influence, forgery and fraud.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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