Campbell Soup Sued Over 'Worm-Like' Critters In SpaghettiOs

By Rae Ann Varona

Florida parents and their minor child have lodged a negligence suit against Campbell Soup Co. in federal court, alleging that the child and her mother discovered "worm-like organisms" moving in SpaghettiOs they ate and suffered parasitic infections as a result.

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Sysco Reveals Deal Probe, Promises 'Gov't Will See Benefits'

By Bryan Koenig

Sysco's CEO has disclosed that U.S. antitrust enforcers launched an in-depth probe into the wholesale restaurant food distributor's plan to acquire Jetro Restaurant Depot at a total enterprise value of approximately $29.1 billion, while expressing confidence that officials will find no issues with the transaction.

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USTR Floats Double-Digit Tariffs On Basis Of Forced Labor

By Jack McLoone

Sixty economies are facing added tariffs of either 10% or 12.5% on their exports to the U.S. following investigations by the U.S. Trade Representative's Office into countries' protections against the importing of goods produced with forced labor.

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AGs Defend $10M Fee Bid In Kroger-Albertsons Merger Case

By Celeste Bott

Attorneys general from Illinois, California, the District of Columbia and six other states have pushed back on Kroger and Albertsons' challenge to them receiving nearly $10 million in attorney fees for a "minimal role" in blocking the grocery giants' proposed $24.6 billion merger, arguing that while the states may have worked in the background, they achieved "a tremendous result."

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Analysis

The Plaintiffs Atty Now 5-0 At High Court With No Dissents

By Jeff Overley

It's true that Jennifer Bennett is undefeated at the U.S. Supreme Court, but it's also an understatement. Bennett's five wins, including two recent ones, were all unanimous decisions. They showed that the plaintiffs bar can still persuade a conservative supermajority. And they turned the tide after a spree of decisions keeping workers and consumers out of court.

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6th Circ. Probes $450K Award In Farmworker Trafficking Case

By Melanie Dorsey

A Sixth Circuit panel on Wednesday examined whether a $450,000 punitive damages award in a farmworker trafficking case can stand when the jury awarded only economic damages, and whether a trial judge properly handled an unusual incident involving a spectator whose presence allegedly affected a plaintiff's testimony.

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Bojangles Workers Didn't Plead Data Hack Harm, Court Told

By Abigail Harrison

Counsel for national fried chicken fast food chain Bojangles told a North Carolina Business Court Wednesday that a putative data breach class action against it can't survive, as a group of employees didn't allege how the cyber-theft caused them harm.

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Insurer Says E-Cig Co.'s Lies Bar Warehouse Fire Coverage

By Hope Patti

An insurer said it shouldn't have to pay out an electronic cigarette product wholesaler's $5 million claim for a warehouse fire, telling an Illinois federal court that the company misrepresented important facts about its business in its application for coverage that warrant rescission of the policy.

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5 Things Associates Must Ask About Their Firm's Merger Plan

The associates who navigate law firm mergers best ask the right questions early, such as inquiring about partners' plans, to assess how the merger could affect their workflow and career path, says Jackie Bokser-LeFebvre at Major Lindsey.

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BigLaw Insider Trading Defendants Have Big-Name Legal Help

By Chris Villani

An insider trading case involving nonpublic information prosecutors say was stolen from some of the largest law firms in the U.S. has ensnared more than two dozen defendants, many of whom have turned to lawyers with notable clients including Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein and Luigi Mangione.

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Hueston Hennigan Follows Milbank's Lead In Associate Pay

By Tracey Read

The race to match Milbank LLP's attorney pay hikes is officially on, with trial firm Hueston Hennigan the latest to announce it will increase associate pay by $10,000 to $20,000 annually.

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Goldstein Cites Addiction To Avoid Time, DOJ Seeks 8 Years

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors recommended a 97-month prison sentence for convicted SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein, telling a Maryland federal court he has bilked the government out of more than $9.5 million in unpaid taxes. Goldstein, meanwhile, asked for a suspended sentence and supervised release, citing a "severe and longstanding gambling addiction."

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Rocade Capital Buys LFG To Create Combined $2B Lit Funder

By Ryan Boysen

Rocade Capital LLC has acquired fellow litigation funder Law Finance Group LLC, creating a combined platform that has deployed more than $2.3 billion and specializes in $10 million to $50 million deals, including post-judgment financing, portfolio deals and lending to plaintiff's firms.

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Court Reporter Shortage A 'Crisis,' Calif. Supreme Court Told

By Bonnie Eslinger

Two legal nonprofits urged the California Supreme Court to issue an order entitling low-income civil litigants to electronic recording if a live court reporter is not available, saying at a hearing Wednesday that a court reporter shortage in the Golden State has created a "crisis."

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9th Circ. Suspends 2 Attys For 6 Months Over AI Hallucinations

By Rae Ann Varona

The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday temporarily suspended two California immigration attorneys from practicing before the appellate court for filing briefs in a deportation relief case containing artificial intelligence-generated hallucinations, finding no excuse for their "extraordinary confession" of not vetting citations used by unlicensed brief writers.

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Tenn. Firm Gets AI Sanctions In Suit Against Baker Donelson

By Emily Sawicki

A Tennessee federal judge has sanctioned a Memphis, Tennessee, law firm over its misuse of artificial intelligence amid a malpractice suit against Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC, ordering the regional firm to reimburse costs associated with the matter and report the misconduct to the state's disciplinary counsel.

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Feature

'Read The Cases': Conn. Judge Offers AI Advice To Attys

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut federal judge told a gathering of attorneys Tuesday that his law clerks are not allowed to use generative artificial intelligence for any purpose involving legal research, his interns are barred from using it at all, and lawyers must be careful when relying on the material that the tools produce.

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Atty Can't Shake $120M Verdict In RICO, Defamation Dispute

By Carolina Bolado

An Alabama federal judge refused to disturb a $120 million verdict against a former Conrad & Scherer LLP managing partner, ruling there was enough evidence at trial for a jury to find the attorney liable on Drummond Co.'s racketeering and defamation claims.

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Graham Pushes Federal Tort Path After DOJ Drops $1.8B Fund

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Department of Justice seemed, at least briefly, to support a Republican senator's alternative solution to the "anti-weaponization" $1.8 billion fund that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said Tuesday the department is abandoning.

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DOJ Sets New Healthcare Fraud Convictions Record

By Phillip Bantz

The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday announced that its Health Care Fraud Unit secured six jury trial convictions across the country in less than three weeks, with the cases involving more than $1.1 billion in fraud losses.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Dardarian Ho's Linda Dardarian

By Lynn LaRowe

Despite being on the other side of a disability rights case that will cost his municipality at least $150 million, Kevin McLaughlin, city attorney for Oakland, California, believes that if more lawyers were like Linda Dardarian, there would be far less lamenting about civility in the legal profession.

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