9th Circ. Revives County's $162M Environmental Coverage Bid

By Abraham Gross

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a California county's suit seeking coverage of up to $162 million for environmental remediation efforts at an airport, reversing a lower court ruling that the policies were capped by an annual limit.

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11th Circ. Partly Revives State Farm Unearned Premium Suit

By Hope Patti

Two State Farm units don't belong in a Florida couple's suit over reimbursement for unearned premiums following a total loss, the Eleventh Circuit found, while reviving the couple's breach of contract claim against the insurer's Florida-based subsidiary pending a new jurisdictional analysis.

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Senators Seek Oversight Of DOL Benefits Agency Probes

By Patrick Hoff

A pair of Republican senators introduced legislation that would require the U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm to give Congress more information about its enforcement efforts, an action lawmakers say is necessary to ensure investigations are conducted in a timely manner.

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Fake Patients Got Braces Approved In Medicare Scheme

By Carolina Bolado

An investigator with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services told jurors on Thursday that a telemedicine doctor signed off on unnecessary orthotic braces for two fake personas he created to test out a software system that the government claims bilked Medicare out of nearly half a billion dollars.

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No Class Cert. Redo In United Healthcare Breast Surgery Fight

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New Jersey federal judge said a policy change by United Healthcare was not enough to make her rethink her denial of certification to a proposed class of patients who were allegedly systematically shut out of coverage for postmastectomy breast reconstruction.

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AIG Unit Denies Coverage For $5.4M Casino Sprinkler Repair

By Mark Payne

An AIG unit told a California federal court that it owes no coverage for a $5.4 million award against a subcontractor for the cost of repairing and replacing an allegedly defective sprinkler system in a Las Vegas hotel, saying that defective work did not constitute covered property damage. 

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Transport Co. Says Broker, Insurer Cost It Gov't Contract

By Gianna Ferrarin

An insurance broker submitted forged documents while obtaining an adjustment on a transportation company's insurance policy, causing it to lose coverage it needed to do business with a Washington, D.C., regional transit agency, according to a complaint filed in D.C. federal court.

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Honeywell Beats Suit Over Russian Legal Fee Advancement

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court has recommended dismissing a former Honeywell executive's bid to force the company to cover his legal bills tied to Russian proceedings, finding that he failed to follow key contractual steps required to trigger such payments.

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Brief

Chinese Company Settles Suit Over Defective Dehumidifier

By Celeste Bott

A group of property owners and their insurer agreed Thursday to end their lawsuit over allegedly defective dehumidifiers manufactured by Chinese company Gree Electric Appliances Inc. ahead of a planned jury trial in August.

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What GCs Should Consider Before Tendering TM Litigation

When a trademark lawsuit lands on a general counsel's desk, the instinct is to tender it to the insurer, but that model often breaks down in intellectual property litigation, where the stakes extend far beyond defense costs to injunctions, forced rebranding and permanent market constraints, says Bill Wagner at Taft.

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How Banks Can React To Risks In FinCEN Whistleblower Rule

Financial institutions should reassess and, if necessary, strengthen existing policies, procedures and other frameworks related to whistleblowers and internal reporting in light of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent proposal to formalize a whistleblower award program, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

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Insurer Lessons From 1st Wave Of GenAI Coverage Rulings

Several pending cases target the issue of whether generative AI may appropriately replace human professional decision-making, and though each case is still in discovery, the decisions thus far provide insurers with guidance on how courts may view these claims, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

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GHG Endangerment Finding Repeal Brings New Legal Risks

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2009 determination that greenhouse gases endanger public health and welfare anchored a matrix of regulation across multiple sectors — and the recent repeal of that finding has fundamentally destabilized the legal landscape governing industrial emissions, corporate liability and climate-related risk management, says Tanya Nesbitt at Thompson Hine.

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Series

Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

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DLA Piper Clears Vote To End Verein, Unify Leadership

By Tracey Read

DLA Piper announced Friday that firm partners on both sides of the Atlantic have "overwhelmingly approved" a plan to dissolve its Swiss verein structure effective May 1.

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Exclusive

Judge Albright Reflects On 8 Years Shaping Patent Law

By Dani Kass

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright will be walking away from the Western District of Texas at the end of the summer, ready to head back into patent litigation work. He talked with Law360 on Friday about the rockier elements of his judgeship and lessons he'll take into private practice.

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Commerce Department's General Counsel Departs

By Christine DeRosa

The U.S. Department of Commerce's general counsel has left the agency after just over a year, the agency confirmed on Friday.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

In what may be a first, a federal judge has ordered BJ's Wholesale Club to put an investor's climate-related proxy proposal up for a vote of the shareholders at the company's annual meeting. And a new study shows that more in-house counsel are staying in place despite pay increases slowing amid less competition for talent.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Butler Prather LLP, Bowen Painter LLC and Cannella Snyder LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Fluor Corp. can be held liable for a veteran's state-based injury claims stemming from a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen a Hong Kong company sue the government and a COVID-19 PPE company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone, an oligarch bring a fresh claim against a rival in a long-running feud, a rugby league club sue over a cancelled mass dance event, and Visa and Mastercard hit with legal action from H&M, Eurostar, and Bang & Olufsen. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Oregon Lawyer Ordered To Pay Attorney Fees For Use Of AI

By Matt Perez

An Oregon attorney was sanctioned by a state appellate court for filing a brief containing a fabricated list of authorities because she used generative artificial intelligence, marking the first case in the jurisdiction to present the option of awarding attorney fees as a sanction as opposed to fines payable to the court.

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Akin Can't 'Recast' Appeal As Good-Faith Effort, 9th Circ. Told

By Lauren Berg

A European winemaker slammed attempts by a U.S. importer and its Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to "recast a frivolous appeal as a good-faith effort," saying they should have to pay monetary sanctions for pursuing what the Ninth Circuit called a "self-indulgent" appeal of a valid arbitration award.

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Atty, Brother Say Father's Last Will Altered In Secret

By Emily Sawicki

A Blank Rome LLP attorney and his brother have sued the attorney who executed their father's will in New Jersey federal court, alleging the lawyer preyed on their ailing father toward the end of his life to alter his beneficiaries through undue influence, forgery and fraud.

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