4th Circ. Hints $166M Fight​​​​​​​ Could Create Circuit Split

By Abigail Harrison

In questioning counsel for an insolvent Dutch insurance company trying to confirm a $166 million arbitral award against convicted insurance mogul Greg Lindberg, two Fourth Circuit judges quipped the insurer likely wants to avoid a circuit split over interpreting the Federal Arbitration Act and keep the case out of the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Wells Fargo Says It Didn't Know Ex-Atty Stole From Clients

By Emilie Ruscoe

Wells Fargo is seeking to shed claims in Texas federal court alleging it turned a blind eye to a convicted former attorney's misuse of client funds held in accounts at the bank, arguing that the victims of the lawyer's fraud failed to show it knew of the misconduct.

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Syngenta, Corteva Face Class Cert. Bids For $2B In Damages

By Bryan Koenig

Pesticide companies Syngenta and Corteva are facing damages claims of more than $1.2 billion and $883 million claim, respectively, according to class certification bids filed by farmers looking to represent the hundreds of thousands of pesticide buyers allegedly harmed by rebate programs that paid distributors to forgo cheaper generics.

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HPE Fights State AGs' Bid To Block Juniper Integration

By Matthew Perlman

Hewlett Packard Enterprise told a California federal court that even though it has already combined with Juniper Networks, state enforcers are seeking to temporarily break up the companies while the court mulls a U.S. Department of Justice settlement over the $14 billion wireless networking deal.

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Amazon Shoppers In Price-Hike Suit Say Retailer Deleted Docs

By Ben Adlin

Amazon shoppers accusing the e-commerce giant of price-gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic urged a Seattle federal judge to sanction the company for allegedly destroying an "untold number of documents" crucial to their proposed consumer class action.

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AGs Say Judicial Safety Threats Reaching 'All-Time Highs'

By Matthew Santoni

Attorneys general for 43 states, three territories and the District of Columbia signed a letter to Congress urging more financial support for judicial security in the face of threats against judges, including funding for a program that lets judges scrub addresses and personal information from online databases.

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4th Circ. Icy To Reviving Retired Miners' Health Coverage Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Fourth Circuit seemed disinclined Wednesday to reopen a dispute over lifetime retirement health and life insurance benefits from a proposed class of retired coal miners, as two judges knocked the coal company's attempt to pick apart the results of a seven-day bench trial that broadly favored them.

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Courts Let Military Ban Trans, HIV-Positive Troops For Now

By Anne Cullen

Two federal appellate courts have cleared the federal government to enforce a pair of controversial policies restricting transgender and HIV-positive people from serving in the military, with each lifting trial court blockades on the rules while litigation challenging them plays out.

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Willkie, Latham Guide $242M Infrastructure IPO

By Grace Dixon

Cardinal Infrastructure Group's shares began trading on the Nasdaq on Wednesday, following an over $241 million initial public offering led by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP.

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Series

The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

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Bonus Spotlight

Litigation Shops Paying Above-Market Bonuses, Reports Say

By Andrea Keckley

Litigation boutiques Yetter Coleman LLP and Dunn Isaacson Rhee LLP are giving above-market bonuses to their associates, according to reports from Above the Law and Bloomberg.

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Jack Smith To Launch Firm With Willkie Partner, 2 Ex-Deputies

By Jack Rodgers

Jack Smith, the former Justice Department special counsel appointed to investigate President Donald Trump, is set to launch his own firm alongside two of his former top deputies and the co-chair of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP's investigations and enforcement practice.

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Judge Bove Faces Complaint Over Trump Rally Attendance

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. Circuit Judge Emil Bove, who previously served as President Donald Trump's personal defense attorney and a top official at the U.S. Department of Justice, has been hit with a judicial misconduct complaint for his appearance at a Trump event on Tuesday night.

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Analysis

Wanted: Temporary US Attorney, No Experience Needed

By Phillip Bantz

Frustrated by a string of court rulings disqualifying several of his U.S. attorney picks, President Donald Trump lamented recently that he might "just have to keep appointing people for three months and then just appoint another one, another one." Experts say the idea raises legal and practical issues.

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Akerman Beats Healthcare Cos.' Bid To Escape Fee Suit

By Madison Arnold

Akerman LLP can continue its fees lawsuit against Rennova Health Inc. and other defendants after they lost their motion to dismiss the suit for being "facially time-barred, factually flawed and legally indefensible," a Florida state judge has ruled.

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Fla. Atty Faces Bar Referral Over 'Hallucinated' Case In Filing

By Madison Arnold

A Florida appeals court will refer an attorney to the state's Bar after she filed a brief that included a "hallucinated" case.

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Disciplined Attys Want High Court's Take On Judge Criticism

By David Minsky

A father-daughter team of attorneys have brought a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging their suspensions for criticizing a Florida state judge who reversed a $2.75 million jury verdict in favor of their client in a racial discrimination lawsuit, saying their comments are protected by the First Amendment. 

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McIver's Immunity Disputed In Detention Center Assault Case

By Elizabeth Daley

Federal prosecutors asked a New Jersey federal judge to maintain all charges against U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, who was accused in an indictment of assaulting federal officers outside an immigration detention center during a scrum in which the mayor of Newark was arrested in May.

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Regulate AI With Existing Regs, Financial Industry Lobby Says

By Sarah Jarvis

The Financial Services Institute on Wednesday recommended that regulators apply existing rules and standards to artificial intelligence, saying they should use new rules only when AI brings "genuinely new issues or significantly alters existing risks."

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