Arizona Atty Reprimanded For Series Of AI Errors

By Matt Perez

An Arizona federal judge has formally reprimanded a lawyer who admitted to filing four briefs that contained errors including false quotes and a faulty case summary generated with artificial intelligence amid an employment discrimination suit, noting the lawyer previously faced sanctions on two separate occasions for violating court rules.

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Court Rules DOL's H-2A Farmworker Wage Rule Unlawful

By MJ Koo

A California federal court found unlawful a U.S. Department of Labor rule overhauling minimum wage rate calculations for H-2A temporary agricultural workers, ruling four rule components were arbitrary and capricious and the agency bypassed required rulemaking procedures without adequate justification while declining to immediately vacate the rule.

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Pillsbury Settles Ex-Recruiting Director's Pregnancy Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP has settled a Black former director's suit claiming the law firm fired her weeks after she shared that she was pregnant and would need accommodations, according to a Tennessee federal court filing.

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Del. Police Captains' OT Exemption Fight Heads To Trial

By MJ Koo

A Delaware federal court has declined to rule before trial on whether Wilmington police captains are exempt from overtime pay, finding genuine factual disputes about whether their primary duty is frontline law enforcement or management that only a jury can resolve.

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House Committee Wants DOL IG To Widen Info-Sharing Probe

By Benjamin Morse

Top House Education and Workforce Committee Republicans urged the U.S. Department of Labor's watchdog Wednesday to expand its review of information-sharing arrangements with outside groups, asking whether three additional agencies improperly disclosed confidential investigative material during the Biden administration.

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O'Reilly Worker Says Auto Retailer Shorted Breaks, Sick Pay

By Maddie Khaw

A retail worker for an O'Reilly Auto Parts subsidiary has accused the company of failing to pay Washington state employees for missed meal breaks and post-shift work, part of an alleged systematic practice of undercompensation in which workers are also restricted from discussing their wages with others.

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Translation Co. Wants Quick Appeal Of PAGA Timing Ruling

By Benjamin Morse

A translation services company asked a California federal judge to let it immediately appeal a ruling that kept alive a former worker's Private Attorneys General Act claim based on an alleged wage-statement violation, saying the dispute presents a novel question over when such claims accrue.

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Feds Aim To Give Employers Clarity On Wellness Programs

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies on Wednesday issued guidance on employer wellness programs that permit fees on workers' health premiums for things like tobacco use, which the agencies said was in response to legal questions raised by numerous recently filed class action federal benefits lawsuits.

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'A Bad Argument': Southwest's Filing In FMLA Suit Irks Judge

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge on Wednesday criticized counsel representing Southwest Airlines in a certified employment class action for filing an untimely and overbroad motion, saying Southwest's attorney was making "a bad argument" and telling counsel, "You guys should not have done that."

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Joe Gibbs Racing Beats Ex-Director's Cyber Trespass Claims

By Hayley Fowler

Joe Gibbs Racing's former competition director can't pursue counterclaims alleging the NASCAR super team violated state and federal cyber hacking statutes when it allegedly accessed "off-limits" information on his devices during a forensic review, a North Carolina federal judge ruled Wednesday in their high-profile trade secrets dispute.

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Chemical Co. Reps Can't Dissolve $1.9M Trade Secret Verdict

By Ben Adlin

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected a request by three chemical sales representatives to undo a $1.9 million jury verdict for their former employer in a trade secret dispute, ruling that Silver Fern Chemical Inc. clearly demonstrated that they took confidential customer information that was valuable and not readily accessible elsewhere.

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Ex-Josh Cellars Exec Balks At Bid For Lit Funding Probe  

By Aaron Keller

Companies behind the Josh Cellars wine brand should be banned from probing a former executive's litigation funding deal during a November trademark royalties trial, the executive told a Connecticut state court Tuesday, arguing his cash sources are irrelevant to his attempt to seek more than $4 million through contract and fiduciary duty claims.

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When And How To Use 4 Types Of Cross-Exam Questions

Perceptions of a great cross-examination are often shaped by aggressive courtroom exchanges, but to be truly effective, this stage of trial requires strategically selecting confirmation, confinement, contrast or confrontation questions at key moments, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

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Exclusive

Inside The $150M Immigration Contract That Wasn't

By Daniel Connolly

The leader of a small Houston-based law firm says she was "blindsided" by an announcement from the federal government that her 24-attorney shop had won a $150 million no-bid contract to represent thousands of immigrant children in deportation proceedings.

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ABA Faces Uphill Battle To Remain As Law School Accreditor

By Emma Cueto

The American Bar Association council responsible for accrediting law schools is fighting on multiple fronts to retain its status as a nationwide accreditor, fending off challenges at both the federal and state levels.

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Dems Say DOJ Opinion Aims To Foil Oversight Of White House

By Courtney Bublé

With midterm elections right around the corner, Senate Democrats are worried the new legal opinion from the U.S. Department of Justice could let the Trump Administration obstruct congressional oversight of the White House.

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Google Users' Atty Fee To Be In 'Realm' Of $147M, Judge Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated Thursday that he won't give the full $147 million in fees sought by lawyers who won a $425 million class action verdict against Google for unlawfully collecting user information, but he said their "really excellent lawyering" deserves an amount "within that realm."

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Womble Bond Asks To Drop Dutch Software Client Over Rift

By Hayley Fowler

Womble Bond Dickinson is looking to pull its representation of a Dutch software company after five years of a bitter trademark battle, citing a "fundamental disagreement" that has allegedly made it impossible for the firm to move forward as counsel of record.

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