Ga. City, Ex-Court Admin To Mediate Retaliation Dispute

By Kelcey Caulder

A federal judge has stayed a former court administrator's suit alleging the city of East Point, Georgia, fired her for complaining about a city council member's attempt to have a relative's court fine withdrawn, saying the parties intend to mediate.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Denver Schools Seek Win In Principal's Free Speech Suit

By Zach Dupont

Denver Public Schools asked for an early win in a First Amendment lawsuit from a former middle school principal, claiming that his interview with local news isn't protected by the First Amendment because his disclosure of juvenile arrest records violated state law and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Summary Judgment attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

PATH Transit Agency Can't Evade Worker's Medical Bill Award

By George Woolston

A New Jersey federal judge declined to alter $913,000 awarded to a Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corp. cable splicer for medical expenses after he was injured on the job, holding that the jury had a reasonable basis to reach its verdict and that the award was not excessive.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Pardon Atty Says DOJ Fired Her Over Actor's Gun Rights

By Rae Ann Varona

Former U.S. pardon attorney Liz Oyer sued the U.S. Department of Justice Thursday in Washington, D.C., federal court, alleging the department unlawfully fired her for not recommending Mel Gibson get his gun rights back — a request she said was based on the actor's relationship with President Donald Trump.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Mass. Dunkin' Owners, Temp Firms Owe $1.4M For Violations

By Julie Manganis

The owners of 20 Dunkin' franchises across eastern Massachusetts and two staffing agencies have been fined $1.46 million for multiple state labor violations, including designating store workers as independent contractors and late paychecks, the state attorney general said Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Detroit Club Must Pay $417K Fee After $6.3M Bias Verdict

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge has awarded more than $417,000 in attorney fees and costs to three former Detroit Club employees who won nearly $6.3 million at trial on race discrimination and retaliation claims, while rejecting the club's effort to revisit an early discovery sanctions ruling as 554 days too late. 

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ga. School District Wants Early Win In Nixed Job Offer Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia school district asked a federal judge to grant it an early win in a high school Spanish teacher candidate's lawsuit alleging her job offer was rescinded after school officials discovered online comments alleging the administration of former President Joe Biden unfairly targeted her spouse's firearm business.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Worker Says Construction Co. Fired Him Over Age, Med Leave

By Patrick Hoff

A construction data and consulting firm fired an employee because he was over 40 and took time off to recover from a heart attack, according to a lawsuit filed in New Jersey state court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Discovery Needed In Shoe Co. OT Collective Bid, Judge Says

By MJ Koo

A North Carolina federal court denied a bid by two footwear store managers to notify thousands of potential opt-in workers about their off-the-clock overtime lawsuit Thursday, ordering the parties to complete limited precertification discovery before the court considers whether to certify a nationwide collective.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Worker Says Colo. Mining Co. Shorted Pay, Including Overtime

By Rachel Konieczny

A uranium mining company operating in Wyoming shorted hourly workers' pay by rounding down workers' recorded time and removing bonuses from overtime rate calculations, according to a proposed class and collective action filed Thursday in Colorado federal court.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Pa. Opens Home Care Wage Probes Covering 100K Workers

By Emily Brill

Pennsylvania is planning to step up enforcement of wage laws for home care employees, the state's labor secretary has announced, saying these workers are particularly vulnerable to wage theft.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Topgolf Settles Ga. Servers' Minimum Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

Topgolf settled a proposed collective action accusing the chain of underpaying servers by improperly taking a tip credit, according to a Georgia federal judge's order approving the deal.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

SEC Sues LSU Over Efforts To Put Ex-NFL Players On Roster

By Alex Lawson

The Southeastern Conference sued Louisiana State University in Alabama federal court Thursday, asking a judge to affirm the conference's right to impose penalties against the school if it decides to place players who had previously appeared in NFL preseason games on its roster.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fisher Phillips Adds Partner, 9 Attorneys In Mexico

By Andrea Keckley

Fisher Phillips announced Thursday that it has hired a partner and nine associates from the small, full-service Mexican firm Ibarra del Paso y Gallego SC, making it one of the largest labor and employment firms in Mexico by headcount.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

11th Circ. FCA Qui Tam Revival Queues Up Next Challenges

Though the Eleventh Circuit on Sept. 1 upheld the constitutionality of the False Claims Act's qui tam provision, it will probably face continued litigation since the appellate court declined to rule on other constitutional challenges and the decision will likely be petitioned to the U.S. Supreme Court, say attorneys at Sheppard.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Ballet Makes Me A Better Lawyer

A lifetime of learning and performing ballet taught me that success — whether in dance or practicing law — comes only through hours of thorough preparation, boundless energy and relentless effort, says Sharon Katz-Pearlman at Greenberg Traurig.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Legal Sector Hiring Grows For 5th Month, But At Slower Pace

By Rachel Rippetoe

The legal sector saw 600 more jobs in August, growing for the fifth consecutive month, according to seasonally adjusted data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

3rd Circ. Revives Malpractice Claim Against Kirkland Atty

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey divorcee may once again pursue a legal malpractice claim against a Kirkland & Ellis LLP attorney who she said lost her millions by mishandling estate documents, after the Third Circuit found it could be possible to link her alleged damages to the lawyer's work.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Quinn Emanuel DQ'd In Defamation Case Over Stock Reports

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas federal court on Friday booted Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP from representing a Hong Kong manufacturing company in its defamation lawsuit against investment research service Muddy Waters LLC after finding that the law firm had received relevant confidential information when it represented Muddy Waters in a related government probe.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DC Panel's Rare Rebuke Over AI Errors Flags Rules Gap

By Andrea Keckley

A D.C. appellate court panel issued a rare sua sponte sanctions order on Thursday after finding nonexistent case citations in a brief filed by a McCabe Weisberg & Conway LLC attorney representing Deutsche Bank National Trust Co. in a foreclosure action, noting an apparent gap in the rules governing the court's sanctions authority.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Motley Rice Founder Remembered As Titan Of Mass Tort Bar

By Adrian Cruz

Motley Rice LLC co-founder Joseph F. Rice, who died Thursday, was remembered by former colleagues and friends as a "transformational" attorney and "giant in the civil litigation bar" who spent decades working on some of the most high-profile mass torts and obtaining landmark asbestos, opioid and tobacco settlements.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sinema Can't Duck Suit Over Affair With Ex-Security Guard

By Y. Peter Kang

A North Carolina federal judge Friday denied former U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema's bid to escape the suit brought by the ex-wife of a former member of her security detail with whom she allegedly had an affair, saying the district court indeed has the authority to adjudicate the case.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

Injury Law Roundup: Meta's Social Media Addiction Deal

By Y. Peter Kang

A $17.1 billion social media addiction settlement between Meta and 29 states and Johnson & Johnson's $5.5 billion ovarian cancer deal over its talc products lead Law360's Injury Law Roundup.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Morgan Verkamp LLC and Sparacino PLLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Eleventh Circuit held that the False Claims Act's qui tam provisions do not violate the appointments clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Attorneys and academics differ over whether the moves by Meta's in-house lawyers ahead of its $17 billion settlement over claims its content harmed children were legal missteps or defensible efforts to manage litigation risk. And the co-founders of a partner-only law firm told Law360 Pulse how their technology reduces intake, billing and other nonbillable tasks that attorneys would normally perform. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

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.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »