6th Circ. Backs Smucker In Salmonella Coverage Dispute

By Hope Patti

An alleged salmonella outbreak that potentially tainted peanut butter produced by J.M. Smucker Co. is a single occurrence under its commercial general liability policies, the Sixth Circuit affirmed Wednesday, saying Smucker's peanut butter production did not constitute 225 separate occurrences that are each subject to a $250,000 retainer.

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Calif. Court Rejects Challenge To FAIR Plan Fee Pass-Through

By Eli Flesch

California's top insurance regulator has the authority to allow the private insurance companies that make up the state's FAIR Plan to recoup from policyholders payments the companies make to support the last-resort insurer when its claim-paying ability is tested.

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Insurer Must Split $6.5M Explosion Deal Costs With Hartford

By Hope Patti

A Hartford unit prevailed in its bid to force another insurer to split $6.5 million in settlement costs stemming from a gas line explosion at a Maryland apartment complex, after a federal court found the "other insurance" clauses in the excess policies to be mutually repugnant.

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Brief

DOL Nears ESG Rule Rollback As White House Review Begins

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Department of Labor is gearing up to repeal a Biden-era rule allowing retirement fiduciaries to consider issues like climate change and social justice when choosing investments, sending the proposed repeal to the White House for review.

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AIG Loses Bid To Escape Chemical Co.'s $2.9M Pollution Deal

By Abraham Gross

A New Jersey federal court found that a water treatment product manufacturer is eligible for coverage for pollution claims from state agencies that culminated in over $2.9 million settlements, rejecting an AIG unit's claim that the policies barred coverage.

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Insurer Says COVID Test Co. Knew Of Theft Prior To Policy

By Hope Patti

An insurer said it doesn't owe coverage to a COVID-19 test kit supplier for the purported theft of $106 million by its former directors and officers, telling a Nevada federal court that the alleged loss was first discovered a month before the commercial crime policy's inception.

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4 Big Colorado Rulings So Far In 2026

By Zach Dupont

Insurance law took center stage in Colorado's appellate courts during the first half of 2026, but civil rights litigation produced its own notable mark on the landscape. Here, Law360 breaks down four major rulings in Colorado courts from the first half of 2026.

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GM Privacy Penalty Signals A Change In Calif. Enforcement

General Motors' $12.75 million settlement with the California attorney general over its sale of driving behavior and geolocation data to brokers shows that disclosures and user choice may no longer be enough to define permissible data use, says Sonja Arndt-Johnson at Buchalter.

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3 Litigation Strategies To Stay Ahead Of Bad Facts

A case with damaging facts can still be won if, instead of avoiding the facts, attorneys proactively address them by carefully selecting a strategy of confronting, containing or reframing, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

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Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

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Goldstein Calls Gov't's Attack On Text Messages 'Hypocrisy'

By Jared Foretek

Lawyers for convicted SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein have rejected prosecutors' claims that the famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer may have deleted messages between himself and his poker backers, calling the government "hypocritical" after it had previously argued that Goldstein could authenticate the messages if he took the stand at trial.

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Judiciary Dems Seek DOJ Replies Before Blanche Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

Ahead of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation hearing for the permanent position, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are demanding he provide answers to their outstanding oversight inquiries.

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Brief

Texas Federal Judge Requires Confirmation Of AI Checks

By Emily Sawicki

Attorneys and self-represented parties appearing before U.S. District Judge Ernest Gonzalez of the Western District of Texas are now required to certify that they have independently verified the contents of any filings created or edited using artificial intelligence.

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'Do Your Part,' Mass. Judge Chides Read Case Attys Post-Leak

By Cara Salvatore

A Massachusetts judge on Wednesday lectured counsel in the high-profile civil case against Karen Read, the Massachusetts woman acquitted of murdering her Boston police officer boyfriend, to honor their ethical obligations after sensitive information leaked on social media.

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U Of Ky. Appoints Controversial Dean Pick For Law School

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove of the Eastern District of Kentucky will retire from the bench later this month to become dean of the University of Kentucky's J. David Rosenberg College of Law, a move that sparked controversy in the state.

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Wash. Atty Loses Bid For Jury In Dispute Over Bar Sanctions

By Emily Sawicki

A Washington lawyer sanctioned and disciplined for bringing a "frivolous" election suit in 2021 against then-Gov. Jay Inslee has lost her bid to have her ethics charges heard by a jury, with a state appeals panel finding no error in a trial court's ruling that it lacked jurisdiction to take on the disciplinary matter.

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Analysis

High Court's Guardrails Won't Ease Fight Over Trans Athletes

By Alex Lawson

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision permitting states to ban transgender athletes from girls' sports was written in simple terms, but attorneys tracking the issue see the ruling as a flashpoint for further litigation.

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Analysis

Plea Deals Get Scrutiny In 'Hunter,' But Justices Stay Cautious

By Brandon Lowrey

The shock for Mary Fan came almost immediately after she began her career as a federal prosecutor in Southern California in the mid-2000s.

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5 NYC Legal Service Provider Union Contracts Have Expired

By Andrea Keckley

The collective bargaining agreements for five New York City-based indigent defense and civil legal aid providers expired at the end of the day Tuesday as multiple unions reported outstanding points of contention in their negotiations.

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Watchdog Says DOL Needs Better Info Sharing Controls

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor's lack of controls over information sharing between subagencies and nongovernmental entities, including law firms and legal advocacy organizations, may have unfairly advantaged those parties with privileged investigative information, an agency watchdog reported, though use of the practice has dropped off. 

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of June

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Bayer, Harley-Davidson and PBS. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from June.

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