10th Circ. Backs Fee Award In Trade Secret Fight

By Elliot Weld

The Tenth Circuit has affirmed a Colorado federal court's finding that it lacked jurisdiction over an Illinois couple and their company, which were accused of conspiring to steal trade secrets and give them to a Chinese manufacturer of knockoff products, agreeing they should be granted $183,000 in attorney fees.

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5th Circ. Skeptical Chinese Citizens Have Right To Texas Land

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel wants to know if Chinese citizens who wish to purchase property in Texas are arguing that everyone in the world has a constitutional right to do so, asking Monday if people globally "have the right to be treated as U.S. citizens for purposes of purchasing property in Texas."

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Webuild Asks Justices To Clarify Foreign Award Jurisdiction

By Caroline Simson

Italian construction giant Webuild is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Third Circuit decision reviving litigation to enforce a $140 million arbitral award against it, arguing the justices must resolve whether courts can enforce such awards based solely on a defendant's in-state property.

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Triller Faces $6.16M Default Judgment In Boxing Dispute

By Craig Clough

A Florida federal magistrate judge recommended Monday that two Triller companies pay nearly $6.2 million to a boxing agent over a breached settlement agreement, after the defendants failed to obtain replacement counsel by a court-ordered deadline.

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BlackRock, State Street Get State AG Coal Suit Trimmed

By Sarah Jarvis

BlackRock and State Street have pared down a lawsuit by Republican state attorneys general accusing them of driving up coal prices, but a Texas federal judge let stand claims brought by Iowa and Nebraska on behalf of their resident electricity consumers.

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Coors, Supplier Send Colo. Contract Exit Suit To Arbitration

By Rachel Konieczny

Coors Distributing Co. LLC and one of the beer wholesaler's suppliers reached an agreement Monday to allow an arbitrator to resolve the wholesaler's bid for a Colorado state judge to block the supplier from exiting the companies' decadeslong distribution contract.

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4 Mass. Rulings You May Have Missed In October

By Julie Manganis

A nonprofit municipal insurance group is responsible for a portion of a settlement with a man who spent 37 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit, and a biotech startup can continue to pursue trade secrets and breach of contract claims against two former employees and a rival they joined last year, Massachusetts Superior Court judges said in rulings last month. 

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Ex-Fairstead Partner Says Late Experts Violate Court Order

By Jarek Rutz

A former partner at affordable housing firm Fairstead Capital Management LLC urged the Delaware Chancery Court on Monday to stop the company from using newly disclosed valuation experts and documents in a fight over his canceled equity, while Fairstead argued the changes were justified and caused no harm.

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Toyota Says Farmers' Policy Shift Flouts 2021 Insurance Deal

By Bonnie Eslinger

Toyota Insurance filed a lawsuit on Monday in Delaware state court against Farmers Insurance Exchange and several affiliates, accusing them of breaching an agreement inked in 2021 for Toyota-branded auto insurance policies.

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European Airline Blames RTX Unit For Engine Troubles

By Brian Steele

RTX Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney division built what it said was an advanced aircraft engine that would save on maintenance and operating costs, but it actually suffered from "serious" problems that cost a Romanian airline millions of dollars, according to a Connecticut federal lawsuit.

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Railway Co. Says Pact Silent On NJ Transit Indemnity Claim

By George Woolston

A railway electronics company is urging a Garden State federal court to toss New Jersey Transit's suit claiming the company must fund the transit agency's defense against patent infringement claims in an underlying suit, arguing the agreement the agency cites doesn't support what is alleged.

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Shop Says Rival Must Arbitrate ENASCAR Trade Secrets Row

By Elaine Briseño

An eNASCAR digital race car shop accused of stealing trade secrets told a North Carolina federal judge the dispute should be arbitrated, arguing the accusations stem from supposed information obtained from its rival's website.

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FTC Inks $600K Redress Deal With Wash. Payment Cos.

By Ben Adlin

Riverside Payments Inc. and affiliate Cascade Equipment Leasing LLC agreed to pay $600,000 and let clients exit contracts to resolve federal and state allegations that the companies lied to small businesses about cost savings and falsely advertised risk-free service cancellations, according to authorities' filings in Washington federal court Monday.

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Pharmacy Hit With NJ Suit Over GLP-1 Marketing

By George Woolston

A compounding pharmacy deceptively and falsely marketed its GLP-1 compounded weight loss medications as safe, effective, clinically supported and personalized, according to a proposed class action filed in New Jersey federal court.

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Groups Urge Justices To Take Up Capital Group ERISA Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

Several employee benefits trade groups urged the U.S. Supreme Court Monday to review a Ninth Circuit ruling that refused to force arbitration of a retirement plan dispute against an investment management company, arguing the case could resolve a circuit split on the scope of relief under federal benefits law.

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Ex-Bank Compliance Chief's Termination Suit Sent To Fla.

By Katryna Perera

A New Jersey federal judge has transferred to Florida federal court a wrongful termination suit by the former chief compliance officer of First National Bank of Pasco, finding that its ties to the state are not enough to meet the minimum standard for personal jurisdiction.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week allowed a stockholder claim over R1 RCM Inc.'s $8.9 billion buyout to proceed, while investors in Meta Platforms Inc. sued to block a stock restructuring they say would let CEO Mark Zuckerberg sell billions of dollars in shares without giving up control of the company.

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DirecTV Says Nexstar Hiding Behind Privilege In Antitrust Suit

By Nadia Dreid

DirecTV says it's time for a New York federal court to step in and force Nexstar Media Group to hand over documents it was ordered to produce in discovery, saying the massive multimedia conglomerate has been dragging its feet for months.

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Security Co. Allowed Multiple Break-Ins, Cannabis Co. Claims

By Jonathan Capriel

Burglars broke into a Sacramento cannabis facility multiple times in one night because of the allegedly sloppy work of the security company paid to guard it, according to a lawsuit filed in California state court that claims more than $300,000 in damages.

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Ferry Cos. Say Mackinac Island Hid Rate-Freeze Facts

By Susan Smiley

Two Michigan ferry operators asked a federal judge on Friday to compel city of Mackinac Island officials to submit to depositions, accusing the city of blocking access to historical ferry rate data and key interpretations of a franchise agreement.

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Kirkland ITC Patent Litigator Leaves For Wolf Greenfield In DC

By Dani Kass

Wolf Greenfield & Sacks PC has expanded its litigation team in Washington, D.C., with a U.S. International Trade Commission-focused intellectual property specialist from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, the firm announced Monday.

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Logistics Update: Handling Iran War Supply Chain Limitations

The war in Iran is straining global logistics by introducing practical, commercial, legal and claims limitations for both operators and customers — so all supply chain participants must understand the resulting legal issues, and how to respond to them, says Jonathan Todd at Benesch.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Wilson On Trial By Zoom

By Cara Bayles and Kelley Marcano

Before she became a state court judge in Washington, Judge Coreen Wilson worked as a trial attorney litigating hundreds of cases, including the country's first binding virtual civil jury trial during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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DOJ Says Trump Adviser Needn't Answer ABA Subpoenas Yet

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Department of Justice is arguing that Trump attorney Boris Epshteyn shouldn't have to respond to subpoenas from the American Bar Association in its challenge to the Trump administration's campaign against law firms until the presiding judge rules on the administration's preexisting motion to quash them.

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Judge Questions Federal Role In Ed Martin Ethics Case

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge struggled Tuesday to see how he could preside over a state attorney ethics proceeding if U.S. pardon attorney Ed Martin gets his way and keeps the case in federal court, as the city's ethics board fought to have it sent back to state court.

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Brownstein Hyatt Faces Suit Over Flawed Cannabis Co. Deal

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado real estate developer and his company alleged that Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP negligently drafted their settlement agreement in a dispute with members of cannabis dispensary chain Native Roots over a sale of the chain's entities, resulting in a roughly $100 million arbitration award against the developer's company.

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Texas Atty Seeks Release In Cyberstalking Case

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas lawyer who is expected to plead guilty in a cyberstalking case involving BigLaw firm attorneys is asking a federal court to free her, saying circumstances are "materially different" because of mental health treatment she has received while behind bars.

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Adult Daycare Pushes To Revive Suit Against Fox Rothschild

By Rose Krebs

An adult daycare company is asking a New Jersey state court to undo the toss of its suit against Fox Rothschild LLP and one of its attorneys, saying the dismissal was in error because the business had sought more time to respond to a dismissal motion.

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Volunteer Exits Malicious Prosecution Suit Naming DLA Piper

By Craig Clough

A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday tossed a malicious prosecution claim against a former volunteer for Breaking Code Silence on free speech grounds, even as he called the broader case against DLA Piper and the nonprofit "stronger than most."

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Ashurst Perkins ICap Suit Stayed Amid Bankruptcy Fight

By Ben Adlin

A Washington state judge has agreed to freeze a lawsuit accusing law firm Ashurst Perkins Coie of aiding and abetting a nearly $230 million Ponzi scheme, ordering the King County Superior Court litigation be put on hold pending an outcome in a related bankruptcy dispute.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of October

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Fox, Dell and LinkedIn. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from October.

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