M&A Claim Payouts Hit $1B High In North America, Aon Says

By Hope Patti

The frequency and severity of claims made under policies for mergers and acquisitions have risen in recent years, with Aon's North American clients recovering a record-breaking $1 billion across transactional liability lines in 2025, according to a report published Wednesday.

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5th Circ. Says ChampionX Lacks Rights Under Spill Policy

By Danielle Ferguson

A Fifth Circuit panel on Tuesday affirmed a decision finding that ChampionX Corp. lacked the contractual standing to sue insurers for coverage of a $40 million oil spill lawsuit involving one of its subsidiaries, but gave the company a chance to add parties to its complaint in the lower court. 

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Bankrupt Hospital Can't Exit $3B BCBS Antitrust Deal

By Danielle Ferguson

A bankrupt Alabama hospital with "settler's remorse" can't bail on a multibillion-dollar antitrust settlement with Blue Cross Blue Shield, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

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NC Man Gets OK For $10M Wrongful Murder Conviction Deal

By Abigail Harrison

A North Carolina federal judge has approved a $10 million compromise settlement that ends a North Carolina man's civil rights lawsuit alleging he was coerced as a teen into falsely confessing to the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl.

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OXEA's $8M Policy Covers Toxic Gas Exposure, 5th Circ. Told 

By José Luis Martínez

The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday fielded dueling arguments from OXEA Corp. and insurance policy underwriters on whether the chemical giant is entitled to $8 million in coverage under an environmental pollution policy to cover part of a settlement reached with a contractor's employee who was exposed to carbon monoxide.

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MetLife To Boost Pensions In $23M Mortality Data Suit Deal

By Patrick Hoff

MetLife has agreed to increase retirees' monthly pension benefits and settle a class action claiming its use of outdated mortality data unlawfully reduced retirement payouts in a deal worth $23 million, the workers leading the suit told a New York federal court.

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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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HHS Says Bronx Facility $31M Payback Suit Filed Prematurely

By Elaine Briseño

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says a nursing center in New York City should have pursued administrative remedies before fighting the collection of $31 million in Medicare overpayments with a lawsuit.

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Balwani Takes Theranos Conviction Challenge To Justices

By Lauren Berg

Former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review his criminal fraud conviction and nearly 13-year prison sentence, arguing that the Ninth Circuit used the wrong review doctrine in rejecting his argument that prosecutors had failed to correct allegedly false testimony given by investor victims.

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Paul Weiss, Weil Steer $1.9B Wellington-Hartford Funds Deal

By Al Barbarino

Boston-based Wellington Management has agreed to acquire Hartford Funds from insurer The Hartford in a deal valued at about $1.9 billion, with Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP advising, the companies said Wednesday.

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Brain Computer Interfaces Boot Up Multipronged Legal Issues

As neurotechnology companies begin to conduct human clinical trials for brain computer interfaces, attorneys should prepare for legal ramifications across a broad range of practice areas, including intellectual property, privacy and product liability, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

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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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Quinn Emanuel, Texas Boutique Match Milbank Associate Pay

By Kevin Penton

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and a Texas-based litigation boutique are the latest firms to match Milbank LLP's pay hikes for associates, with annual increases of $10,000 to $20,000 that top off at $455,000.

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Blanche's AG Bid Could Face Rocky Path In Senate

By Courtney Bublé

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will be tapped for the permanent role, but he might not have a smooth path to confirmation.

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Goldstein Seeks Sentencing Delay, Citing New Tax Claims

By Jared Foretek

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein renewed his push Wednesday in Maryland federal court for a delayed sentencing, saying prosecutors blindsided his defense by including additional uncharged years of alleged tax avoidance in the government's sentencing memorandum.

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Georgia Fed. Judge Facing Impeachment Threat, New DQ Bid

By Emily Johnson

A Georgia federal judge reportedly disciplined for having sexual intercourse in her chambers and attending a political event is facing renewed pressure, as a former UPS employee seeks her disqualification from his dismissed racial discrimination lawsuit and a Georgia congressman drafts articles of impeachment to remove her from the bench.

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Deepfake Mocks Judge Spearheading Judiciary Deepfake Rule

By Jeff Overley

The New York federal judge developing policies for phony audiovisual materials revealed Thursday firsthand experience with the subject: an artificial intelligence video on social media that depicts him as a maniacal Nazi who recently sentenced a private equity executive to prison "for being a Republican."

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Analysis

'Parallel' DOJ, SEC Investigations Not So Parallel Anymore

By Phillip Bantz

The level of coordination between the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has decreased under the Trump administration, resulting in disjointed investigatory efforts and misaligned timing in parallel investigations, experts say.

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'Kentucky Hammer' Tries To Control Attys, PI Market, Suit Says

By James Boyle

The principal attorney of personal injury firm Isaacs & Isaacs PCS, who advertises as the "Kentucky Hammer," has been accused by a former attorney at the firm of bullying his employees into signing unfavorable contracts and attempting to monopolize the local personal injury market.

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Baker Donelson Seeks 'No Recovery' Ruling In Ponzi Fallout

By Emily Sawicki

Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC on Thursday asked a Mississippi federal court to issue a single check-box form ruling that states the firm does not owe a monetary judgment stemming from a jury's verdict finding it committed negligent supervision amid a timber company's nine-figure Ponzi scheme, which was perpetrated in part by two of the firm's then-partners.

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Calif. Bar Accuses More Attys In Unlicensed Practice Scheme

By Lauren Berg

Three more attorneys at the Los Angeles personal injury firm facing investigation for its involvement in a record $4 billion sex abuse settlement against Los Angeles County are facing disciplinary charges by the State Bar of California, alleging the firm illegally practiced law outside the state.

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NY AG Must Preserve Cohen Docs In Trump's Civil Fraud Case

By Frank G. Runyeon

The New York state trial court judge overseeing President Donald Trump's civil fraud case granted his request to preserve notes from private meetings between state litigators and Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen after the key witness said he felt "pressured" to testify.

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SEC Disgorgement Powers Stay Intact After High Court Fight

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday said that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could collect ill-gotten gains from alleged fraudsters without having to identify victims who were financially harmed by the fraud, declining to place further limits on the agency's disgorgement powers six years after it last did so.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Robbins Geller's David Knotts

By Sydney Price

Right after graduating from Cornell University Law School, David Knotts, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, landed at one of the world's largest corporate defense firms.

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