Starbucks Beats Investor Suit Over Ex-CEO's Biz Statements

By Sydney Price

Starbucks Corp. has given a plausible "alternative explanation" for its former CEO's 2024 statements about the business that were deemed misleading by investors suing the company over its "Triple Shot" reinvention plan, a Washington federal judge said Wednesday.

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Albertsons Slow To Review Wash. Opioid Sales, Judge Told

By Ben Adlin

Albertsons conducted few reviews of opioid dispensing by its Washington pharmacies for years after establishing a controlled substances compliance team, according to testimony played on Day 3 of a bench trial in the state's lawsuit accusing the company and its Safeway subsidiary of exacerbating Washington's opioid epidemic.

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4th Circ. Rejects Golden Corral's COVID-19 Coverage Do-Over

By Hayley Fowler

The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday declined to walk back a North Carolina federal judge's five-year-old decision denying Golden Corral insurance coverage for pandemic-era business interruption losses, finding a belated state Supreme Court victory for policyholders in another case doesn't merit a redo.

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Brief

White Farmers Win Cert. In Suit Against USDA

By Nadia Dreid

The Texas Farm Bureau won certification of a class of white farmers after the federal government said it had no position on the motion in the suit accusing the government of giving minority farmers preferential treatment under a Biden administration program.

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Analysis

Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To The US Supreme Court's Term

By Jeff Overley

Federal appeals courts had wide-ranging successes and struggles during the U.S. Supreme Court's recently completed term: One had its best showing in years following its worst showing in years; one felt déjà vu after recently starting to find favor with the justices; and one saw its reputation for independence occupy a rare role in the Supreme Court spotlight.

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DOJ Asks DC Circ. To Stay USDA Grant Revival Order

By Jared Foretek

The Trump administration is asking the D.C. Circuit to pause a district judge's injunction ordering the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reinstate more than $100 million in land access program grants aimed at assisting "underserved" farmers, arguing that the case belongs in the Court of Federal Claims.

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Sports Bar Calls Ex-Manager's $431K Atty Fee Bid Gratuitous

By Patrick Hoff

A North Carolina sports bar urged a federal court to slash a former manager's bid for nearly $431,000 in attorney fees following her jury win on a claim that the restaurant's owner sexually harassed her, arguing the worker inflated the total with unnecessary costs and lofty rates.

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Pa. Panel Backs Benefits For Giant Eagle Worker Hit By Car

By Matthew Santoni

A Pittsburgh pharmacy technician can get workers' compensation after she was hit by a car during her 15-minute lunch break, since the break was limited enough to fall under the "personal comfort doctrine" in state law, a divided appellate court ruled Wednesday.

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Opinion

Shareholder Derivative Litigation Needs A Better Framework

Uncoordinated, multiforum shareholder derivative litigation is a growing issue for corporate defendants that have little to no recourse for organizing and consolidating actions, but several commonsense steps should be utilized to preempt such disputes, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

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How Does Your Compensation Stack Up? Take Our Survey

Is your compensation keeping pace with the rate of inflation? Do you know what your colleagues made last year? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's Law Firm Compensation Survey.

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Feature

As Law Firms Race To Adopt AI, Cost Concerns Grow

By Phillip Bantz

Pressure is mounting on law firm leaders to dive into the AI waters or watch competitors swim away, but figuring out responsible, cost-effective methods to use high-priced legal tech remains tricky, experts say.

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Richards Layton Apologizes For AI Errors In Chancery Case

By Rose Krebs

Richards Layton & Finger PA and one of its attorneys have apologized to the Delaware Chancery Court for submitting a filing with errors generated by artificial intelligence, asking that sanctions not be imposed.

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McDermott Atty Denies Pressuring Friend To Alter Testimony

By Rose Krebs

A McDermott Will & Schulte LLP attorney has told a Delaware vice chancellor that he is in "complete shock" and "hurt" by a longtime friend's contention that he pressured him to change his testimony in a Chancery Court case, saying the accusation "is false and without any merit."

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Simpson Thacher 'Never' Explained Ill-Fated Deal, Exec Says

By Cara Salvatore

A founder seeking over $100 million from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett over a transaction he says destroyed his insurance services company testified Thursday the law firm provided him no education on various words he wasn't familiar with in the deal.

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Blue-Slip-Backed Trump Judge Selections Advance

By Courtney Bublé

The first two judicial nominations of the second Trump administration to receive supportive blue slips from Democratic senators advanced to the Senate floor Thursday.

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Goulston Docked Ex-Partners' Pay For Joining Rival, Suit Says

By Julie Manganis

Two Goulston & Storrs PC directors who jumped to Troutman Pepper Locke LLP were stiffed out of hundreds of thousands of dollars in compensation in retaliation for leaving, according to a suit filed Thursday in New York federal court.

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Feature

In Uber Assault Trial, A Courtroom Tests Truth Face-To-Face

By Hayley Fowler

This is the first in a two-part series about the Virginia Revival Model courtroom in the Charles R. Jonas federal courthouse in Charlotte, North Carolina. Here, judges and attorneys recall how a sexual assault trial against Uber unfolded in a space designed to place focus on the witnesses.

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Tillis Might Back Blanche, As AG Pick Met Epstein Survivors

By Courtney Bublé

Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on Thursday afternoon met with a group of survivors of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after retiring Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., said his condition for supporting Blanche's appointment to the permanent position was for the nominee to speak to them face-to-face.

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