NC Panel Affirms $10 Nominal Damages In Insurance Fight

By Danielle Ferguson

A split North Carolina appellate panel Wednesday affirmed $10 in nominal damages to a receiver in an insurance dispute, agreeing with a lower court that the receiver for a driver named in an injury suit did not show the driver suffered additional actual damages from the insurer's failure to defend.

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US Steel Says Insurers Must Cover Utah Mill Cleanup Costs

By Hope Patti

U.S. Steel said its excess insurers must cover millions of dollars in mounting costs to investigate and clean up contamination at a long-closed steel mill in Utah, telling a Pennsylvania state court that several carriers have refused to pay out under their policies.

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Employers Say United Health Double Dealt With Claims

By Spencer Brewer

Multiple employers with self-funded medical plans including Aramark and Kraft Heinz told a Texas federal judge United Health Group Inc. regularly approved bogus healthcare claims collectively worth millions of dollars and then helped itself to undisclosed fees incurred from those approvals.

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Brief

PBM Fee Disclosure Rule Clears White House Review

By Kellie Mejdrich

A White House budget office has completed review of a rule from the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm that would require new fee disclosures from pharmacy benefit managers, which act as intermediaries between drugmakers, pharmacies and insurers.

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Insurer Says Seattle Club Worker's Injury Suit Not Covered

By Danielle Ferguson

An insurer asked a Washington federal court to find it has no duty to defend or indemnify a downtown Seattle nightclub in a suit from a former manager who was shot while working a New Year's Eve event, arguing multiple policy exclusions for workplace injuries and intentional harm bar coverage.

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5 Ways Trial Attys Can Build Mental Health Counseling Skills

Studies demonstrate that many attorneys are not equipped to respond adequately to trauma exposure, but trial lawyers can build several key skills drawn from mental health counseling into their interactions with clients and colleagues, from cognitive reappraisal to boundary setting, says Alexandra Echsner-Rasmussen at Aylstock Witkin.

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New Weil-Willkie Domains Add To Merger Speculation

By Marialuisa Taddia

Two domain names that combine the names of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP have been registered, fueling speculation about a potential merger between the two prominent Wall Street law firms.

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Bonus Spotlight

Hueston Hennigan Bumps Clerkship Bonus To $205K

By Lynn LaRowe

Trial boutique Hueston Hennigan is offering a $205,000 bonus to lawyers who have completed one or more federal clerkships, the firm confirmed Thursday.

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'Grave Errors': 5th Circ. Boots Judge After AI 'Botch Job'

By Jeff Overley

A Mississippi federal judge's careless use of artificial intelligence tools led to "sloppy edicts" riddled with "falsehoods and fabrications," the Fifth Circuit held in a Thursday night opinion removing the judge from litigation over an anti-DEI law in the Magnolia State because of his "extraordinarily grave errors."

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Texas Judge Probe Shows Lack Of Mental Impairment Process

By Jack Karp

Fifth Circuit officials have done a reasonable job of handling a rare situation involving a Texas federal judge who appears to be undergoing a mental health crisis, but the episode highlights that a more standardized way of dealing with federal judges experiencing mental impairment needs to be established, experts and scholars say.

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Jackson Walker Hits Back At Fee Clawback Sanction Move

By Vince Sullivan

Law firm Jackson Walker said Wednesday that it should not be sanctioned for failing to bring to a Texas federal judge's attention additional cases involving an undisclosed romantic relationship between a bankruptcy judge and one of its attorneys because the U.S. Trustee already investigated those cases and didn't take action.

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GOP Reps. Seek Probe Of Fla. Judge's Sanctions Order

By Courtney Bublé

Top Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee asked the Judicial Conference Thursday to investigate a Florida federal judge for potential misconduct with an order she issued in the case involving the leak of President Donald Trump's tax returns.

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JPMorgan, Ex-Frank Execs Clash Over $2.1M In Legal Fees

By Jarek Rutz

JPMorgan Chase & Co. faced renewed demands in the Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday to pay about $2.1 million in withheld legal fees for convicted Frank founder Charlie Javice and former executive Olivier Amar, as their lawyers accused the bank of using repeated billing objections to delay funding for their criminal defenses.

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Roundup MDL Atty Fund 'Cries Out' For Review, 9th Circ. Told

By Dorothy Atkins

Plaintiffs' firms urged the Ninth Circuit to reverse a ruling Thursday requiring them to contribute 8% of their recovery fees to a common benefit fund in multidistrict litigation over Monsanto's Roundup weed killer, arguing the judge ignored a special master's recommendation and the issue "cries out for some appellate supervision."

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