From Hospital Bed, Ex-Uber Driver Denies Sexual Assault

By Hayley Fowler

A former Uber driver denied sexually assaulting a North Carolina woman in a video deposition taken from his hospital bed, telling jurors in a Charlotte courtroom on Thursday that he has no memory of the passenger who is suing the ride-share giant over the alleged incident.

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Ex-Housing Worker Drops Punitive Damages Bid Against Boss

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A former Charlotte public housing authority coordinator awarded $2.34 million for her hostile work environment claims, has opted not to pursue punitive damages against her ex-supervisor, who was found liable for only $1 in compensatory damages.

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Cigar Lounge Manager Sanctioned In Embezzlement Case

By Mike Curley

North Carolina's business court has sanctioned and entered a default judgment against a cigar lounge manager who was accused of misappropriating funds and locking his business partners out of the establishment.

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Cummins Can't Slip Male Worker's Sex Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

Engine manufacturer Cummins can't escape a former office technician's lawsuit claiming he was denied training and stuck with entry-level tasks for years while female colleagues were given opportunities to advance, with a North Carolina federal judge saying his complaint was detailed enough to stay in court.

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Analysis

AGs' Win Over Live Nation Leaves DOJ Watching From The Side

By Bryan Koenig

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.'s across-the-board trial rout by 34 state attorneys general underscores the ascendancy of state antitrust enforcers looking to fill perceived enforcement gaps left by the U.S. Department of Justice during President Donald Trump's second term.

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Meta, Uber Verdicts Top Product Liability Trials

By Emily Field

This year has brought major courtroom setbacks for tech platforms and app companies. Juries issued headline-making verdicts against Meta and Google over claims their platforms harm young users, while Uber lost its first federal bellwether trial over driver assaults and now faces a second sexual assault case.

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DC Circ. Ponders If FERC Mistakenly Rejected PJM Deal

By Nadia Dreid

PJM transmission owners faced a skeptical D.C. Circuit Thursday, as aside from saying their arguments were properly preserved in an appeal of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejecting a plan they worked out with regional grid operator PJM Interconnection, they also had to defend the arguments themselves.

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Citizens Group Says 27 States Are Eyeing AI Chatbot Laws

By Joyce Hanson

Twenty-seven U.S. states are looking at passing laws to make artificial intelligence companies face liability claims in civil suits if they fail to protect consumers who interact with chatbots, while another three states have already enacted protections, according to a citizens group's new legislative tracker.

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Feds Can't Stay Trans Healthcare Orders During Appeal

By Mark Payne

The Trump administration won't be able to enforce two executive orders that ban federal funding for gender-affirming care for patients under the age of 19 while the federal government appeals a nationwide injunction blocking the orders, the Fourth Circuit ruled Thursday. 

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Brief

4th Circ. Seeks Genworth's Take On 401(k) Suit Rehearing Bid

By Patrick Hoff

The Fourth Circuit on Thursday sought Genworth Financial Inc.'s response to employee 401(k) participants who asked the court to rethink nixing class certification in their lawsuit alleging their retirement savings were bogged down by underperforming BlackRock Inc. target date funds.

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Series

Isshin-Ryu Karate Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My involvement in martial arts, specifically Isshin-ryu, which has principles rooted in the eight codes of karate, has been one of the most foundational in the development of my personality, and particularly my approach to challenges — including in my practice of law, says Kaitlyn Stone at Barnes & Thornburg.

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Analysis

Bondi's Contempt Defenses Are Strong, But Not Without Risk

By Phillip Bantz

Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi currently has some potentially powerful defenses against Congress' relatively limited abilities to force her to comply with a subpoena to be deposed under oath about the Epstein files, but her exposure to being held in criminal contempt could shift with the political winds, experts said.

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Calif. Lawyer Sues Over State Bar Investigations

By Andrea Keckley

A California trial lawyer claimed in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that he has been unfairly investigated by the state bar since 2019, alleging the office "illegally prioritizes revenue-generation over protection of the public."

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NJ US Atty's Office Turmoil Doesn't Nix Conviction, Judge Rules

By Carla Baranauckas

A federal judge on Thursday rejected a New Jersey criminal defendant's attempt to dismiss his conviction and disqualify the state's top federal prosecutor, holding that the appointment of the current U.S. attorney complies with federal law and that any earlier defects in leadership do not warrant dismissal.

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Judiciary Panel Loves Paralegal's Idea To Modernize Briefs

By Jeff Overley

An Arizona paralegal's unsolicited idea for overhauling a procedural rule governing the format of briefs found a surprisingly enthusiastic audience Thursday at a federal judiciary meeting, where prominent officials and attorneys voiced strong interest and agreed to explore the concept in earnest.

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Ramey Says Sanctions Violation Was 'Misunderstanding'

By Elliot Weld

William Ramey, an intellectual property attorney sanctioned in several federal jurisdictions, told a California federal judge Thursday that any violations of a previous sanctions order regarding his ability to practice law in the state were due to "good-faith misunderstanding of the scope of the court's order — not willful disregard."

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Judge Doubts Broad Shift In Immigration Hearing Access

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge appeared unconvinced Thursday by a human rights group's claim that the public is getting less access to immigration court hearings in Minnesota during the second Trump administration.

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Optimum Defends Antitrust Suit Against Apollo, BlackRock

By Alex Wittenberg

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other financial giants are colluding to block Optimum Communications Inc. from negotiating a debt refinancing to avert bankruptcy, acting as a "cartel" and locking Optimum out of credit markets, Optimum said in a brief opposing the investors' bid to dismiss its antitrust suit in New York.

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Sentencing Commission Votes To Enact Modest Reform Agenda

By Stewart Bishop

The U.S. Sentencing Commission on Thursday voted to enact multiple revisions to the federal sentencing guidelines, including the first inflationary adjustment in over a decade for calculating penalties for economic crimes, but declined to take action on a series of more transformational changes that were under consideration.

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