Q&A

John Morgan On Why Luck Matters More Than Most Admit

By Y. Peter Kang

John Morgan, founder of personal injury giant Morgan & Morgan PA, built the largest personal injury firm in the U.S., with 1,110 attorneys in 140 locations. In his new memoir, "Life Is Luck," the attorney who Forbes estimates has a net worth of $1.5 billion argues that success is about more than talent, intelligence or determination. It is also about recognizing opportunities, taking risks and capitalizing on fortunate breaks when they appear.

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Judge Will Reduce 'Shocking' $88M Mesh Bellwether Verdict

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts federal judge said Tuesday she will reduce an $88 million verdict awarded to an Alabama couple in the first bellwether hernia mesh trial against Medtronic subsidiary Covidien LP, saying the award appeared to be "the product of passion."

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LA Judge Ousted After 'Extreme' Remarks Upend $10M Verdict

By Dorothy Atkins

California's judicial ethics watchdog Tuesday ordered Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert S. Draper, who lost reelection in June, to be removed from office due to willful misconduct, including "extreme and bizarre" racial comments that led a state appeals court to reverse a $10 million sexual harassment verdict. 

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Union Pacific Sees Jury's $1.7M Injury Award Wiped Out

By Mike Curley

A Texas appellate court on Tuesday vacated a $1.7 million injury verdict and ordered a new trial on damages for a Union Pacific Railroad Co. employee who says he was injured on the job, saying that while there is enough evidence to support the jury's findings on causation, the same can't be said about the damages.

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Boeing Admits Liability, Seeks Appeal In 737 Door Plug Suit

By Ben Adlin

The Boeing Co. has acknowledged that a 737 Max jet manufactured in Renton, Washington, "was not reasonably safe in construction" when the plane left the aerospace giant's care — an oversight it said resulted in the blowout of the aircraft's door panel during a 2024 Alaska Airlines flight.

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Mass. Justices Say Gym's Waiver Not Valid In Child Injury Suit

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' highest court ruled Tuesday that a children's gymnastics school cannot rely on a liability waiver to shield itself from claims brought on behalf of a child injured during a class, reviving a negligence lawsuit against the facility.

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BBC Gets Trump Defamation Suit Trimmed But Not Tossed

By Hailey Konnath

A Florida federal judge on Tuesday refused to throw out the bulk of Donald Trump's $10 billion defamation suit against the BBC over its documentary on the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, ruling that the president has plausibly alleged it caused reputational harm, at least for now.

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Mich. Judge Rejects Religious Defense In Forced Labor Case

By Melanie Dorsey

A pastor and two church executives accused of coercing followers into unpaid work through physical abuse, sexual exploitation and threats of spiritual damnation cannot escape federal forced labor charges on religious freedom grounds, a Michigan federal judge said, refusing to dismiss the indictment against them.

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Texas Appeals Court Leery Of Dismissing Fatal Crash Suit

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appeals court seemed skeptical of dismissing a lawsuit alleging that a construction company that didn't place warning signs near a roadway construction site caused a fatal crash, suggesting Tuesday that the plaintiffs' failure to file a certificate of merit at first didn't doom the suit.

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OB-GYN Says Exclusion Doesn't Bar Abortion Suit Coverage

By Hope Patti

An insurer can't avoid covering an underlying suit accusing a Washington state OB-GYN of advising a patient to terminate a normal pregnancy based on a misdiagnosis, the doctor told a federal court, saying the patient's request for medical records does not trigger a coverage exclusion.

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How Product Recalls Expose Insurance Coverage Gaps

The recent Cyclospora outbreak in iceberg lettuce highlights the potential insurance risks of a contaminated ingredient or defective product creating a ripple effect throughout an entire supply chain, leaving companies with substantial costs that standard policies may not cover, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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Planning Personal Phone Collections Before Discovery Begins

For counsel planning a personal phone collection as part of the litigation discovery process, it's important to take early steps to ensure that necessary information will be obtained without exposing unrelated information or running into access issues, says Jeremy Horowitz at MARA Forensics.

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How A Child Of Immigrants Defends Abrego Garcia

By Corey Rothauser

Hecker Fink attorney Jeffrey Then grew up translating English-language letters for customers at his Dominican immigrant family’s Bronx business. Decades later, he drew on that experience while defending Kilmar Abrego Garcia from federal human smuggling charges, becoming a lifeline for Abrego Garcia during his detention.

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Wachtell To Probe Nvidia CEO's Affair With Alleged China Spy

By Anna Scott Farrell and Sue Reisinger

Nvidia has hired Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz to lead an investigation into allegations that its founder and CEO had an affair with a business executive who U.S. intelligence believes is a Chinese spy, the artificial intelligence chipmaker said Tuesday.

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Grassley Defends Rush To Confirm Trump Judicial Picks

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, on Tuesday defended how quickly the committee is moving to confirm President Donald Trump's judicial picks before Democrats control the Senate.

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Trump Swaps Out Blocked 8th Circ. Nominee With Ark. Justice

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump on Tuesday withdrew his pick for the Eighth Circuit and replaced him with a different nominee amid apparent opposition from Arkansas' senators. 

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Girardi Estate's $54M Claim Put Behind Other Creditors

By Craig Clough

The trustees overseeing Tom Girardi's and his former law firm's bankruptcies struck a deal to put their claims against each other behind other approved general unsecured claims, according to a California bankruptcy court filing, with the firm's trustee saying neither estate is expected to collect on those claims.

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