Texas Judge Says Perot's VC Firm Can't Be Held To Handshake

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Business Court threw out a lawsuit brought by a Dallas businessman accusing billionaire Ross Perot Jr. of stiffing him out of his rightful equity interest in a healthcare company that sold for $2 billion, saying the businessman signed an agreement waiving his interest in the company.

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McDonald's Beats Most Of Black Franchisees' Bias Claims

By Dorothy Atkins

An Illinois federal judge on Friday tossed all but a single claim in litigation by former McDonald's franchisees who allege the fast-food giant systematically discriminated against Black operators, while warning plaintiffs that they "pushed — if not crossed" — boundaries by filing a complaint containing "more paragraphs than the Gettysburg Address contained words."

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Del. Chancery Bars Ex-CareOne GC's Fee Advance Claim

By Hailey Konnath

CareOne's former general counsel cannot get an advancement of legal fees and expenses after his former employer sued him, Delaware's Court of Chancery has ruled, noting that the lawyer is asking the court "to enforce the very right he was instructed by his client to eliminate" a decade ago.

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Ukrnafta Must Keep Producing Records In $150M Award Fight

By Corey Rothauser

A Texas federal judge has ordered Ukraine's largest oil producer to provide ongoing records for its U.S. dollar and euro accounts as Carpatsky Petroleum Corp. searches for assets to satisfy a $150 million arbitration award.

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Cox Can't Recoup $15M In DMCA Suit Costs From Insurers

By David Aaro

A Georgia federal judge backed two insurers in a lawsuit by Cox Enterprises that alleged it was wrongly denied coverage for more than $15 million it racked up in separate litigation with a music publisher, saying the claims were not covered under Cox's policies.

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Verdict Axed Over Injured Homeowner's Absence At Trial

By Danielle Ferguson

A Florida appellate panel on Friday said a homeowner is owed a new jury trial in an insurance dispute over coverage for losses from a plumbing incident, finding a lower court should have declared a mistrial when the homeowner was seriously injured and unable to attend the trial.

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UDR Settles Wash. AG's Claims Of Illegal Rent Hikes

By Isaac Monterose

Multifamily real estate investment trust UDR Inc. will pay more than $1.6 million in order to settle a suit filed by the Washington State Office of the Attorney General, which accused the REIT in state court of illegally hiking rents on its tenants.

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Kraft Heinz Must Face Cheesecake Snack Label Deception Suit

By Lauraann Wood

Kraft Heinz Foods Co. LLC must face a group of customers' proposed class claim that the company deceives consumers by making its Philadelphia Cheesecake Crumble snack with synthetic lactic acid despite its label claiming the product is free of artificial preservatives, an Illinois federal judge ruled.

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Pitt Can't Sue Marshall U. In College Football Hosting Spat

By Matthew Santoni

West Virginia's constitution does not allow the University of Pittsburgh to haul Marshall University into a Pennsylvania court for a dispute over a canceled college football game, a Keystone State appellate panel ruled Thursday.

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Unions Urge 2nd Circ. To Back Reviving Uber, Lyft Driver Law

By Katherine Smith

A group of unions and workers' rights advocates has asked the Second Circuit to lift the block on a municipal ordinance banning Uber and Lyft from kicking drivers out of the app without a formal notice or an investigation, claiming the district court was wrong to stop the law.

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Brief

Waffle House Tobacco Fee Suit Stayed For Arbitration Bid

By David Aaro

A Georgia federal judge on Friday agreed to pause a former Waffle House server's challenge to a health plan fee for tobacco users until the court hashes out the company's motion to kick the dispute to arbitration.

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Southwest Investors Ask 5th Circ. To Revive 'Meltdown' Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

Southwest Airlines investors have asked the Fifth Circuit to revive their securities fraud suit, alleging the airline's 2022 holiday travel "meltdown" stemmed from outdated technology and a flawed flight route structure, and that they have provided enough evidence showing the company made false statements to the public.

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Del. Chancery Says Curonix Owns Stimwave Shares

By Hilary Russ

The medical device company Curonix LLC has won its lawsuit against the founder of Stimwave Technologies Inc., with Delaware's Court of Chancery finding that the plaintiff is the rightful holder of 75,000 shares of the company it purchased in bankruptcy.

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Investor Says Colo. Real Estate Firm Hid PE Priority Deal

By Nate Beck

An investor claimed in state court that a Colorado industrial real estate company secretly gave an outside private equity firm a priority stake in exchange for a $26.5 million investment after enticing existing limited partners not to cash out.

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Hemp Shop Owner Hits LA With $10M Suit Over Raids

By Jonathan Capriel

A Black entrepreneur claims he was run out of business through unlawful and racially motivated raids on his hemp shop by the Los Angeles Police Department, in a lawsuit in state court that seeks $10 million in damages — the third he has filed on similar claims against city officials.

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Senior Lawyers Survey: Tell Us About Your Career

How are senior lawyers adapting to evolving career paths and emerging technologies? Share your perspective in this five-minute survey.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

O'Melveny & Myers LLP and Reed Smith LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Ninth Circuit overturned a $140 million class verdict against CenturyLink, holding that the company had a reasonable interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

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Arkansas Firm 5th To Seal PE Deal With Uplift Investors

By Tracey Read

Arkansas' largest personal injury law firm is the latest legal entity to ink a deal to take private equity investment using Uplift Investors' associated management services organization.

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AI Mishap Has Judge Questioning 'Our Collective Character'

By Julie Manganis

A California attorney was barred from representing the plaintiffs in a Massachusetts insurance coverage dispute and ordered to pay legal costs of up to $10,000 to opposing counsel, after a federal judge found he relied on "inaccurate and fictitious" case cites and holdings in three filings.

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Tarter Krinsky Faces Suit After Disclosing Data Breach

By Andrea Keckley

Tarter Krinsky & Drogin LLP maintained "intentional opacity" about a recently disclosed cybersecurity attack last year that may have compromised protected health information, a proposed class action alleged in New York federal court.

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A2J At The High Court: Gun Bans, Voting And Civil Remedies

By Marco Poggio

From the right to own semiautomatic rifles to the rules governing voter registration, the upcoming U.S. Supreme Court term will see the justices tackle a broad swath of constitutional and access to justice issues.

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Domino Foods Fights Paul Weiss DQ Bid In Price-Fixing MDL

By Madison Arnold

Domino Foods is pushing back on an attempt to disqualify its counsel from Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP in a sugar price-fixing multidistrict litigation, arguing Hershey, J.M. Smucker and other food makers filed the motion as a "strategic attempt to gain tactical advantage" at a critical point in the dispute.

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Duane Morris To Settle Employee's Tax Withholding Claim

By Asha Glover

Duane Morris LLP has agreed to private mediation to settle a proposed class action by an employee who alleged that the firm failed to withhold taxes for workers who were misclassified as partners, according to a notice.

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Roundup

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

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen Glencore Energy sue a refinery for allegedly defrauding it out of more than $236 million worth of crude oil, the former CEO of ankle-tag maker Big Technologies file a defamation claim against the company, and property investment group Hunter Jones hit by a claim from the Financial Conduct Authority. 

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Wilson Sonsini topped a list of law firms that have alumni attorneys working at six of the country's most prominent tech companies. And general counsel at most large companies expect to increase their litigation budgets next year.

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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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