Analysis

DOJ Charges Bring More Complications For Key Bridge Ship

By Linda Chiem

Recent federal criminal charges over Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster have created new risks for operators of the cargo ship at the center of the wreck, potentially upending a civil trial that's set to start next month to determine the scope of damages for victims' families and other injured claimants.

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3rd Circ. Revives Webuild Asset Bid In $140M Award Feud

By Caroline Simson

The Third Circuit revived a Chilean construction company's bid to enforce a $140 million arbitral award against Italian construction giant Webuild, alleged successor to award debtor Astaldi SpA, ruling Monday in a precedential opinion that a lower court was wrong to nix the suit on jurisdictional grounds.

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BofA Can Arbitrate Overdraft Fee Claims, 9th Circ. Says

By Emilie Ruscoe

Bank of America can arbitrate proposed class action claims over overdraft fees it charges its business checking account customers instead of fighting the allegations before a judicial referee, the Ninth Circuit has determined.

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Analysis

Unsafe Carriers Seem Doomed After Freight Broker Ruling

By Y. Peter Kang

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent holding that freight brokers can be held liable under state law for the negligent hiring of motor carriers that cause auto collisions is a "monumental" win for highway safety, plaintiffs attorneys said, as dangerous "fly-by-night" trucking companies could be put out of business.

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7th Circ. Considers Reviving Claims In Wind Farm Contract Row

By Lauraann Wood

A Seventh Circuit panel seemed unconvinced Monday that a jury improperly awarded an Illinois wind farm contractor nominal damages in a subcontractor termination dispute, but suggested the $1 award may still be unwound if the court decides the subcontractor's claims were improperly kept from trial.

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Boies Schiller, Firm Partner Dropped From Fla. Fee Suit

By Madison Arnold

Boies Schiller Flexner LLP and a firm partner have been dismissed as defendants in a Florida state lawsuit brought by a pharmaceutical mass tort law firm and other parties that alleged they breached a nondisclosure agreement and interfered with business relationships.

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Fla. Agency Owed No Legal Duty In Fraud Probes, Court Says

By David Minsky

A Florida federal court rejected a roofer's claims that the state's Department of Financial Services caused him to be charged three times with insurance fraud, ruling the agency's job at large is to investigate alleged criminal misconduct.

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Fla. Coffee Shop Says Landlord, REIT Hid Construction Plans

By Grace Dixon

A newly opened coffee shop in a Fort Lauderdale open-air shopping center has brought a suit against real estate investment trust Kimco Realty Corp. and an affiliated landlord in Florida state court, alleging they hid major renovation plans during lease negotiations.

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Hanover Not Liable For Coverage Gap, Mass. Court Affirms

By Julie Manganis

Hanover Insurance Co. is not responsible for a Massachusetts property owner's inadequate coverage, an intermediate state appellate court said Monday, rejecting arguments that the insurer's familiarity with the home it had insured for nearly two decades created such a duty.

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NY Court Tosses Challenge To Insurers' Anti-Adjuster Clause

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New York federal court permanently dismissed a public adjusting company's proposed class action against a group of insurers over a policy endorsement barring insureds from hiring public adjusters, finding enforcement of the clause did not constitute tortious interference.

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Senior Home Says Colo. Is Right Venue For Insurance Dispute

By Zach Dupont

The owner of a Kansas-based senior living community said its claims that its insurer failed to pay over $7 million in damages it suffered when a sprinkler burst must stay in Colorado, according to a pair of briefs filed in Colorado federal court Friday.

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Fla. Court Revives Child Abuse Case Against YMCA

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida appeals court has revived part of a lawsuit by the parents of a 3-year-old girl who says she was molested by boys on a YMCA playground, ordering the district court to allow the parents to amend two of their claims.

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P-Funk Founder Sues UMG For $1.1M In Frozen Royalties

By Susan Smiley

Parliament-Funkadelic frontman George Clinton filed suit Friday in Michigan federal court alleging that music industry giant UMG has illegally withheld more than $1.1 million in royalty payments because of a separate lawsuit pending between Clinton and the estate of Clinton's keyboardist in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.

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USPTO Data Error Kept Patent Assignment Files From Public

By Ryan Davis

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data indicates the office mistakenly kept hundreds of thousands of records of patent ownership transfers from becoming public for years, according to researchers who analyzed the files, an error that experts say could cause complications for anyone who relied on the incomplete data.

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Health Co. Wants Kirkland Off IP Case For 'Cardinal Sin'

By Elliot Weld

A healthcare company suing medical technology company Commure Inc. over alleged trade secret theft has said Kirkland & Ellis LLP should be disqualified from representing Commure because the healthcare company had tried to retain Kirkland prior to filing the suit and shared confidential information before anyone asked who the defendant was going to be.

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Justices Pass On Bakery Distributors' FAA Arbitration Fight

By Benjamin Morse

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review whether a Federal Arbitration Act exemption applies to agreements between two business entities when neither is a worker, leaving intact a Second Circuit decision that sided with two delivery drivers seeking to pursue their claims in court rather than arbitration.

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Justices Won't Review Denial Of Luxottica Arbitration Push

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away eyewear giant Luxottica's bid for review of a Second Circuit decision that allowed certain claims in a proposed benefits class action to proceed in New York federal court rather than in arbitration.

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Revised Suit Against Healthcare Data Co. Still Fails, Court Told

By MJ Koo

A former healthcare data platform chief strategy officer's amended complaint against the employer failed again to justify bringing three out-of-state individuals into the litigation, the company told a North Carolina federal court, adding that several key claims remain flawed.

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OpenAI Beats Musk Suit Over For-Profit Restructuring

By Dorothy Atkins

In an advisory decision Monday, a California federal jury cleared OpenAI and executives Sam Altman and Greg Brockman of allegations they breached the nonprofit's charitable trust by converting to a for-profit, handing billionaire Elon Musk a defeat in a closely watched three-week trial that threatened to shake up the artificial intelligence industry.

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Amazon Fights Calif.'s Injunction Bid In Antitrust Case

By Matthew Perlman

Amazon is pushing back after California state enforcers accused the e-commerce company of bullying major brands into pressuring competing retailers to raise prices, arguing the case has never involved price-fixing allegations before.

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Amazon's Subscribe & Save Duped Consumers, Suit Says

By Rachel Riley

Two Pennsylvania consumers targeted Amazon's Subscribe & Save feature in a proposed class action filed in Seattle federal court Monday, claiming the e-commerce giant tricks shoppers into registering by pricing eligible items lower than other sellers, then jacks up those prices once customers are committed to automatic future purchases.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled a broad mix of celebrity estate litigation, merger disputes, investor suits, record demands, sanctions fights and questions over corporate moves away from Delaware.

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Pot Co. Ghosted Investor After Securing NY License, Suit Says

By Taylor Bowie

A New York-based cannabis company refused to disclose sales and revenue information to an investor after using his "regulatory status" to secure a state-issued dispensary license, the shareholder told a New York federal judge in a complaint filed Friday.

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Nielsen Appeal Tests Antitrust Limits Of Pricing And Bundling

In Cumulus v. Nielsen, the Second Circuit is considering a structural pattern in which a monopolist exploits upstream market power to foreclose downstream competition, which could potentially offer broad insight into how courts will assess exclusionary bundling and pricing defenses under antitrust law, says Luke Hasskamp at Bona Law.

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Series

Judges On AI: How Courts Can Survive The Tech Revolution

Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Lino Lipinsky de Orlov discuss how artificial intelligence has already fundamentally altered the legal system and offer tips for courts navigating deepfakes, hallucinations and a gap in access to AI tools.

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Murdaugh Sues Ex-Court Clerk Who Tried To Sway The Jury

By Jack Karp

Disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh is suing the court clerk whose attempt to influence the jury in his murder trial led the South Carolina Supreme Court to overturn his murder conviction.

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Morgan & Morgan Atty Barred From Harvard Suit Over AI Error

By Chris Villani

A Massachusetts judge on Monday said a Morgan & Morgan PA attorney may not appear before him in a suit against Harvard University over the theft of body parts donated to its medical school, saying the lawyer did not learn his lesson after signing off on briefs in another case with fake case law generated by artificial intelligence.

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Trump Seeks Circuit Seats For 2 Judges He Appointed

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's recent picks for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits mark the first time in his second administration that he's seeking to elevate judges he appointed in his first term.

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Wyoming Prosecutor Confirmed Despite Misconduct Rebuke

By Courtney Bublé

Just a few days ago, federal judges tossed nine criminal indictments after President Donald Trump's pick to lead the U.S. attorney's office of Wyoming was accused of prosecutorial misconduct. On Monday evening, he was confirmed to permanently lead the office.

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Analysis

Half The Nation's Bar Apps Could Remove Rape Questions

By Cara Bayles

By next year, it's possible that about half of U.S. jurisdictions will have amended character and fitness questions to avoid dredging up aspiring lawyers' sexual trauma. But while advocates hail the reforms as progress, concerns linger about the patchwork this could create across the country.

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Ex-Willkie Atty Banned By SEC For Insider Trading

By Emily Sawicki

A former Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP mergers and acquisitions attorney who earlier this month admitted to taking part in a widespread BigLaw insider trading scheme will be barred from representing a client before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a minimum of four years, according to an order the agency issued Monday.

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NY Judge Largely Halts Manhattan Immigration Courts Arrests

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge Monday largely barred U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from conducting arrests at three Manhattan immigration courthouses, finding there was no good reason why "unfettered discretion" by ICE officers was better than a policy with arrest limitations.

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