Trump Taps NLRB Member To Lead As Board Chairman

By Katherine Smith

President Donald Trump has selected James Murphy to take over as chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, the agency announced Friday, a move that comes several months after the longtime board official returned from his retirement to fill a vacant board seat.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fired Cognizant Worker Was 'Uncooperative,' Jury Told

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal jury weighed claims Friday that Cognizant Technology Solutions fired a New York University professor for complaining about hiring bias, after a lawyer for the company called him a troublesome employee who has no contemporaneous evidence of his concerns.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NRA Strikes Deal With Its Ex-President In Florida Suit

By David Minsky

The National Rifle Association and its former president reached a settlement in her Florida federal lawsuit alleging the organization misappropriated her name, image and likeness. 

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

5th Circ. Won't Revive Ex-Health IT Co. Worker's Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Fifth Circuit upheld a healthcare information technology provider's win over a Black former manager's lawsuit claiming she was fired for complaining that a white male colleague was treated better, saying she couldn't overcome the company's rationale for letting her go.

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

Up Next At High Court: Birthright Citizenship, Arbitration

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will close out its March oral arguments session by hearing a nationwide class's blockbuster challenge to President Donald Trump's limited view of birthright citizenship, as well as a dispute over federal courts' authority to confirm or vacate arbitration awards in cases they've formerly overseen.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roundup

Employment Authority: 1st Circ. Views On Post-Muldrow PIPs

By Patrick Hoff

Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage on how a recent First Circuit decision shines a light on how a performance improvement plan can run afoul of the law in light of a worker-friendly U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the high court's review of an exemption to federal arbitration requirements for interstate transportation workers and Washington's new statute allowing state agencies to fill in if the National Labor Relations Board is hampered in enforcing federal labor law.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

General Motors Can't Get Early Win In EEOC Age Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

An Indiana federal judge refused to let General Motors escape a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming the business unlawfully withheld disability pay from workers who received Social Security benefits, calling GM's argument that its policy hinged on benefit eligibility rather than age premature.

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

Mich. Judge Signals No Stay If Attys Exit Retaliation Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge said Friday she is not inclined to pause a long-running sexual harassment suit again if counsel for an attorney who is suing her ex-mentor and former firm are allowed to withdraw, telling the parties, "We've been here. We've done this," as she heard arguments over a motion to exit the case.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Colo. City Nabs Early Win In Sexual Harassment Suit

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado federal judge granted the city of Aurora summary judgment Friday after finding that the sexual harassment claims brought by three women who participated in an Aurora Police Department training program are time-barred.

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

Guardsman Says Partners Pushed Him Out Of Biz Venture

By Kelcey Caulder

An Oklahoma National Guard member told a Georgia federal court his business partners violated federal law by trying to boot him from their company after he was called up for duty and by starting a new venture when they couldn't get rid of him. 

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

Colo. Nurses Snag Class Cert. In Holiday Pay Case

By Benjamin Morse

A group of nurses can proceed as a class in a suit accusing a healthcare company of excluding holiday premiums from their pay when they worked overtime, a Colorado federal judge has ruled.

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

Uber Crash Liability Case Review Denied By Texas High Court

By José Luis Martínez

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday declined to review a case brought by passengers injured in a car crash during a trip arranged through Uber Technologies Inc.'s app, leaving intact a lower court ruling rejecting their liability claims and finding that the company's drivers are independent contractors under state law.

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

Brief

Berkshire RE Franchise Says 'Pied Piper' Lured Away Agents

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts franchise of Berkshire Hathaway's real estate unit alleged in a state court complaint Friday that the former sales manager of two offices outside Boston "acted as a corporate pied piper" to lure 21 colleagues to a competitor.

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

Bank Says Ex-Execs Fired For Conduct, Not Whistleblowing

By Sydney Price

Florida community bank First National Bank of Pasco told a federal judge that two former executives who claim they were fired for blowing the whistle on banking law violations were actually fairly terminated, and one of the plaintiffs did not even participate in the alleged whistleblowing.

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

High Court Asked To Review $168M Trade Secret Award

By Ivan Moreno

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fifth Circuit ruling that upheld a $168 million judgment in a trade secret case, arguing the decision allowed an unjust enrichment award without proof that an IT competitor suffered any monetary harm.

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

Brief

OSHA Proposes $116K In Fines Over Silica Dust Exposure

By Benjamin Morse

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed more than $116,000 in penalties against two Georgia countertop manufacturers, after inspectors found workers exposed to respirable crystalline silica — an issue identified in previous investigations — and noise hazards.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pharma Co. Says Exec Was Fired Over Conduct, Not Piglets

By Hayley Fowler

The U.S. arm of a Danish pharmaceutical company has told a North Carolina federal judge to throw out a former director's "extraordinary and conspiratorial" lawsuit claiming he was fired for expressing concerns about his employer's use of piglets at an anniversary party.

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

Morgan Lewis Adds Baker McKenzie Employment Ace In Fla.

By Madison Arnold

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP said Friday it has bolstered its labor and employment practice with the addition of a former Baker McKenzie attorney in Miami.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NFL Hiring Bias Ruling Signals Trend Away From Arbitration

A New York federal court's recent decision in Flores v. NFL, declining to compel arbitration in a class action alleging racial discrimination in the league's hiring practices, reflects courts' increasing reluctance to allow private dispute resolution for systemic discrimination claims, says Masood Ali at Segal McCambridge.

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

Series

Watching Hallmark Movies Makes Me A Better Lawyer

I realize you may be judging me for watching, and actually enjoying, Hallmark Channel movies, but the escapism and storylines actually demonstrate qualities and actions that lead to an efficient, productive and positive legal practice, says Karen Ross at Tucker Ellis.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Firms Targeted By Trump Urge DC Circ. To Uphold EO Rulings

By Alison Knezevich

Four law firms targeted last year by President Donald Trump urged the D.C. Circuit on Friday to affirm lower court rulings that struck down executive orders restricting their ability to practice law, saying the directives blatantly violate the Constitution.

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

Ex-Williams & Connolly Clerk Accused Of Posting Client Info

By Hailey Konnath

A former Williams & Connolly LLP clerk has been posting confidential firm information — including client information and work email exchanges — and he's threatening to "keep leaking" the materials, which he called "a fun read," according to a suit filed in District of Columbia Superior Court.

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

BigLaw Races To Capture Expanding Fund Finance Market

By Kevin Penton

Debt financing work at the fund level has long been dominated on the lender side by attorneys from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, Haynes Boone and Mayer Brown LLP, but other firms are increasingly crafting formal practices and poaching fund finance stars from the more established players.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Federal Judge DQs Beasley Allen In J&J Talc MDL

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey federal judge has disqualified the Beasley Allen Law Firm from representing hundreds of plaintiffs in sprawling multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder, holding that the firm violated ethics rules by collaborating with former outside counsel for J&J, a ruling the law firm has vowed to appeal.

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

Apollo, BlackRock Deny Asking Kirkland To Abandon Optimum

By Tracey Read

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other major financial companies have denied Optimum Communications' claims accusing them of "bullying" Kirkland & Ellis LLP into withdrawing as the telecommunications company's transaction counsel to get revenge for a collusion lawsuit filed in New York federal court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Sanctioned For AI Hallucinations In Workers' Comp Row

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New Jersey appellate court on Friday ordered an attorney to pay $1,000 in sanctions for failing to rectify AI-hallucinated case citations pointed out to him in an appeal concerning reimbursement sought by a workers' compensation carrier.

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

Brief

Amazon Swaps MoFo In, Perkins Coie Out In Cooker Suit

By Ben Adlin

Amazon.com LLP switched counsel Friday in a customer's product defect suit accusing the retail giant of selling a faulty pressure cooker that allegedly malfunctioned and caused her severe burns, substituting two Morrison Foerster LLP attorneys in place of an outgoing Perkins Coie LLP lawyer.

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

Judiciary Nixes Amicus Disclosure Reform Over Potential Chill

By Emily Sawicki

The federal judiciary has been asked not to move forward with a plan to add to amicus brief disclosure requirements designed to curb "dark money" groups from bankrolling amicus briefs, after rules committee chairs pulled the recommendation over concerns of a possible chilling effect.

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

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Apple hit back at a tech company's wireless charging patent claim, a flurry of businesses bring COVID-19 pandemic insurance claims as a key deadline draws closer and Ipulse Partners LLP file a claim against a luxury yacht company it represented in a trademark dispute. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

A federal judge has stopped the Pentagon from dropping AI giant Anthropic from the government's supply chain, and Latham & Watkins ranked first in a survey of in-house legal leaders on which law firms are most helpful in developing business, followed by King & Spalding, Jones Day and Ropes & Gray.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The Lanier Law Firm, Kiesel Law LLP, Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP and Beasley Allen Law Firm lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California state jury in a bellwether trial found Meta and Google liable for harming the mental health of a woman who says she became addicted to their social media platforms as a child.

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 »

Mayer Brown's $21M Fee Bid In RI Truck Tolls Suit Rebuffed

By Linda Chiem

A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday rebuffed Mayer Brown LLP's bid for $21 million in attorney fees for representing the commercial trucking industry's lead trade group in long-running litigation over the state's truck tolling program, saying the American Trucking Associations ultimately was not the "prevailing party."

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