Jury Says Homebuilder Owes $21.6M For Sewer Gas Exposure

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas jury hit a Fort Worth homebuilder with a $21.6 million verdict after finding the company built plumbing vents that ended in the attic of a custom home, causing sewer gas exposure for the family that lived there and leading to lasting health issues.

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2nd Circ. Skeptical Of Reviving $4.4M 'Multiplex' COVID Suit

By Brian Steele

A Second Circuit judge cast doubt Wednesday on a Connecticut medical practice's claim that insurers owe $4.4 million for COVID-19 testing, noting that the tests at issue were actually for nearly two dozen viruses and were vastly more expensive than those that only detected the novel coronavirus.

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Perrigo To Pay $10M To End Consumer Gerber Antitrust Suit

By Hailey Konnath

Perrigo will pay $10 million to consumers accusing the company of cutting an anticompetitive agreement with Gerber to maintain a monopoly in the store-brand infant formula market, according to a motion filed in New York federal court Tuesday.

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Whoopi Goldberg's Pot Co. Must Take Fraud Claim To Trial

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey state judge tossed a landlord's lawsuit seeking unpaid rent from television personality Whoopi Goldberg's cannabis company, finding that the proposed dispensary lacked required municipal approvals, but said a jury must decide whether the landlord, a former mayor, fraudulently misrepresented the property's licensing status.

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Atty Sanctioned For Vulgar Emails To Opposing Counsel

By Elliot Weld

A Texas federal magistrate judge has sanctioned an attorney who serves as principal for an oil and gas exploration company locked in a trade secret misappropriation case with a rival after opposing counsel complained of his expletive-ridden emails containing ad hominem attacks.

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Fox Rothschild Beats Daycare's Malicious Prosecution Suit

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state court dismissed an adult daycare company's suit against Fox Rothschild LLP and one of its attorneys related to their prosecution of a fraudulent loan lawsuit that led to a $65,000 sanction against the firm, according to a court order.

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Farmers Insurer Must Face Proposed Class Life Policy Claims

By Rachel Riley

A Seattle federal judge refused on Tuesday to toss a proposed class action against a Farmers Insurance subsidiary, concluding the plaintiff has leveled valid contractual and consumer protection claims based on contentions that the insurer overcharged for life insurance and underpaid interest on policyholder accounts.  

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LG Says It Doesn't Owe Insurer For Range Fire Damage

By Gianna Ferrarin

LG Electronics USA Inc. doesn't owe an insurer for coverage it paid to a pair of homeowners after the cooktop burner on their LG electric range allegedly caused a fire, LG said in an answer to an insurer complaint removed to North Carolina federal court.

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Genentech Wins Judge's OK Of $18M Novartis Award

By Joyce Hanson

A D.C. federal judge has enforced a nearly $18 million arbitral award against Novartis Pharma AG following its dispute with biotechnology firm Genentech Inc. over a licensing agreement for an eye medication.

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Kroger's 'Zero Sugar' Syrup Draws Allulose Labeling Suit

By Celeste Bott

Kroger was hit with a proposed class action in Illinois federal court Wednesday alleging its maple syrup's "Zero Sugar" label misleads shoppers because it contains allulose, joining a growing number of suits following a Seventh Circuit ruling that the sweetener qualifies as sugar under federal labeling rules.

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Roblox, Epic Say Minor Can't Buck Arbitration, Keep Gaming

By Mike Curley

Roblox Corp., Epic Games Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are each asking a Pennsylvania federal judge to reconsider an order denying their bids to arbitrate a suit alleging their platforms addicted a minor to gaming, saying the minor can't disaffirm the arbitration agreement and keep using the platforms.

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Talent Firm Beats Apparel Co.'s CEO Search Suit

By Ganesh Setty

A Michigan federal court tossed an athletic apparel retailer's lawsuit against a talent search firm after a CEO candidate the retailer hired then allegedly lost it millions of dollars, ruling the talent firm still fulfilled its contractual obligations.

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Litigation Funding Partners Clash Over Shift In Del. High Court

By Jarek Rutz

Priority Pre-Settlement Funding LLC and Brett K. Findler urged the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday to revive claims accusing Findler's former business partner of quietly shifting their litigation-finance business into hedge funds the partner controlled, while the other side argued Findler knew about the new structure, agreed to it and helped put it in place.

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Colo. Judge Mulls Coors' Bid To Stop Suppliers' Contract Exits

By Rachel Konieczny

Coors Distributing Co. LLC urged a Colorado state judge Wednesday to block a beer brand supplier from terminating its decades-long contract with the beer wholesaler until arbitration occurs, arguing that the supplier's contract exit presents a "real risk" that other suppliers will end their agreements with the wholesaler.

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Cannabis Co.'s Ex-Legal Chief Says Sale Stripped Assets

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado cannabis company owes nearly $180,000 in severance to its former chief legal officer due to the company's inability to pay its liabilities following a zero-cash sale to a buyer attached to one of the company's co-founders, the former executive told a Colorado state court Wednesday.

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LIV Golf OK To Tap $54M, Enter Into RSA Amid Player Talks

By Alex Wittenberg

LIV Golf secured a New Jersey bankruptcy judge's blessing on Wednesday to borrow $53.6 million in Chapter 11 and assume a $300 million restructuring agreement, giving the debtor more time to try to persuade players to join the revamped, golfer-owned league it has dubbed LIV 2.0.

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Athletes Must Consider PR Risks Surrounding IP Enforcement

NFL player Jayden Daniels' demand for Louisiana State University to cease using his name, image and likeness, and the flurry of social media memes that ensued from this incident, highlight the challenges of navigating the balance between intellectual property legal strategy and public relations, say attorneys at McAndrews Held.

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Bankruptcy Deadlines, Concessions Can Decide Lien Priority

The Fifth Circuit's recent decision in Adler v. Energy Debt Holdings warns buyers of secured claims to watch for binding concessions in earlier proceedings and court-imposed lien challenge deadlines, says Jennifer Maleski at Dilworth Paxson.

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What Lawyers Should Know Before Accepting Crypto Payment

As clients increasingly request to pay legal fees, retainers and escrow funds using cryptocurrency, lawyers should consider how only a handful of state bar authorities have addressed the issue with varying ethics opinions, as well as the related questions that no authority has yet answered, says attorney Felix Shipkevich.

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How To Use AI In Employment Contract Drafting

Before using artificial intelligence to draft employment contracts, law firms and employers must assess practical ethical guardrails, appropriate use cases, core risk areas and validation workflows, says Samuel Mitchell at Smith Gambrell.

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Cyber Incident Halts Bankruptcy Court Noticing Nationwide

By Hilary Russ

The nationwide system for providing notice to creditors in bankruptcy cases has been disrupted by a cybersecurity incident, and it is not currently known when the outage will end.

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Analysis

Missouri AG Alumni Make Their Mark In Trump 2.0

By Courtney Bublé

Missouri is hundreds of miles from Washington, D.C., but the legal community of the Show-Me State has taken a significant hold in the second Trump administration.

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Norton Rose Beats $100M Suit Over Withdrawn Patent App

By Celeste Bott

Norton Rose Fulbright has defeated a former client's malpractice suit over a missed patent fee payment, after an Illinois state judge ruled that the deadline to sue began before the firm allegedly acknowledged its mistake and dismissed the company's $100 million lawsuit against the firm with prejudice.

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Murdaugh Tells 4th Circ. To Revive Jury Tampering Civil Suit

By Cara Salvatore

Disgraced lawyer Alex Murdaugh asked the Fourth Circuit on Thursday to revive his suit accusing a court clerk of interfering in his murder trial, arguing he has standing because the alleged tampering "destroyed the value" of his $600,000 defense.

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Judge Who Called For Philly DA Probe Rejects Recusal Bid

By Matthew Santoni

A federal judge who called for an investigation of the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office will not reconsider or recuse himself from the underlying habeas corpus case, calling DA Larry Krasner's bid to undo his rulings "frivolous" and "intemperate."

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Crowell Faces DQ Bid Over AI Tool At Heart Of Client's IP Suit

By Dorothy Atkins

DeviantArt urged a California federal judge Wednesday to disqualify Crowell & Moring LLP from representing Evox Productions in litigation alleging multiple AI companies used Evox's copyrighted car photos to train artificial-intelligence image generators, arguing the firm "unquestionably" represented DeviantArt and has "sued its own client on behalf of another client."

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Gov't Urges Justices To Reject Google, Intel Fight Over Fintiv

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject Intel Corp. and Google LLC's challenge to a precedent allowing Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions to be denied based on related litigation.

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Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Slams Feds' Skewed Facts

By Lauren Berg

A woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh told the Fourth Circuit that federal prosecutors have presented a "wildly inaccurate description" of a Maryland federal judge's sentencing decision, rejecting their argument that she got off too easy because of her gender identity.

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NYC Sanctuary Policies Survive Trump Admin. Lawsuit

By Rae Ann Varona

A New York federal judge on Thursday tossed the Trump administration's lawsuit challenging New York City policies that the administration alleged unconstitutionally obstruct federal immigration enforcement, saying federal law the administration leaned on does not preempt the sanctuary provisions.

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