Arbitrator Choice Prompts New Feud In Asbestos Claims Fight

By Caroline Simson

A California federal judge on Wednesday ordered a group of reinsurers to confer with Truck Insurance Exchange as the company looks to remove a "side-switching" arbitrator from a dispute over coverage for millions of dollars' worth of asbestos bodily injury claims.

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Conn. Justices Question 'Double Recovery' In Asbestos Case

By Aaron Keller

Several Connecticut Supreme Court justices on Wednesday appeared uneasy with the thought of a mesothelioma patient's estate and widow receiving a "double recovery" from private settlements and workers' compensation law payments in an illness involving both workplace and at-home asbestos exposure sources.

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Robins Kaplan Takes Aim At Benicar MDL Fees Suit In NJ

By Jake Maher

Robins Kaplan LLP told a New Jersey federal court Wednesday that a suit over fees the firm collected in multidistrict litigation over blood pressure medication should be thrown out, saying it "parrot[s]" claims from earlier suits that were already dismissed.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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Brief

Syngenta, Chevron Settle Paraquat Case Before 1st Philly Trial

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The first paraquat Parkinson's disease mass tort case set to be tried in Philadelphia was resolved Tuesday night on the eve of trial, according to the court.

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Fairlife Founders Freed From Calif. Cow Treatment Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

The founders of Fairlife brand milk can't be held liable in a California proposed class action accusing the company of making false claims about humane cow treatment, a federal judge ruled, saying the suit failed to point to any examples of intentional acts they made directed to the state.

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Attys Get $2.5M In $7.5M Preterm-Birth Drug Settlement

By Mike Curley

A New Jersey federal judge has given final approval to a $7.5 million settlement to end claims that AMAG Pharmaceuticals Inc. knew its preterm-birth prevention drug Makena was ineffective when it first marketed it, along with $2.5 million to class counsel in attorney fees.

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Insurer Claims No Duty In Crash Suit Against Vape Shop

By Abigail Harrison

A deadly car accident underpinning a lawsuit against a North Carolina-based vape and smoke shop occurred several miles away from the store's grounds, so exclusions in the shop's commercial insurance policy preclude coverage, the insurer's counsel told a North Carolina state appeals court Wednesday.

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Colo. Drivers Claim $5M Damage From Gas-Diesel Mix-Up

By Rachel Konieczny

Colorado residents filed a proposed class action Tuesday in federal court against two fuel station operators, alleging the companies distributed gasoline contaminated with diesel fuel to major gas stations in early January that caused more than $5 million in damage to their vehicles.

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7th Circ. Doubtful Climate Fight Belongs In Federal Court

By Lauraann Wood

Seventh Circuit judges seemed skeptical Wednesday of Chevron and other oil giants' argument that a lower court incorrectly sent Chicago's climate deception claims back to state court, questioning whether they've cited the type of contractual government work and relationship that would otherwise keep the suit in federal court.

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Enbridge Looks To Keep Pipeline Open Amid 7th Circ. Appeal

By Crystal Owens

Enbridge Energy Inc. is looking to pause a shutdown order of a segment of its Line 5 pipeline that runs through Wisconsin tribal lands pending its Seventh Circuit appeal, arguing to a Wisconsin district court that a cutoff would cause disproportionate economic harm and energy shortages.

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And Now A Word From The Panel: MDL Year In Review

2025 was a roller coaster for the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, with the panel canceling one hearing session due to the absence of new MDL petitions, yet also issuing rulings on more new MDL petitions than in 2024 — making it clear that MDLs are still thriving, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.

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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: January Lessons

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five rulings from October and November, and identifies practice tips from cases involving consumer fraud, oil and gas leases, toxic torts, and wage and hour issues.

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Series

Judges On AI: How Judicial Use Informs Guardrails

U.S. Magistrate Judge Maritza Dominguez Braswell at the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado discusses why having a sense of how generative AI tools behave, where they add value, where they introduce risk and how they are reshaping the practice of law is key for today's judges.

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ICE Violated Nearly 100 Court Orders, Minn. Judge Says

By Rae Ann Varona

The Minnesota federal court's chief judge admonished U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Wednesday for violating nearly 100 court orders concerning the Trump administration's immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota while another judge, on the same day, temporarily blocked ICE from unlawfully arresting and detaining refugees in the North Star State.

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Tobey Maguire Says He Rerouted Fee To Goldstein

By Jared Foretek

"Spider-Man" star Tobey Maguire told the jury Wednesday in Thomas Goldstein's tax fraud trial that he paid $500,000 for his legal services to another poker player the former SCOTUSblog founder owed money to, rather than Goldstein's law firm.

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Tom Goldstein Saga Could Go From Courtroom To Big Screen

By Rachel Rippetoe

As federal prosecutors are two weeks into detailing SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein's storied descent into the world of high-stakes poker during his tax fraud trial in Maryland, Hollywood producers are gearing up to tell the same story on-screen.

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Fla. Prosecutors' Detention Defense Met With Sanction Threat

By Adrian Cruz

The U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, Gregory Kehoe, along with an assistant U.S. attorney have been threatened with sanctions by a federal judge for the methods their office used in defending the mandatory detention of noncitizens.

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Brief

Trump Announces Pick For New Assistant AG For Fraud Role

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced Wednesday evening that he would be nominating Colin McDonald, associate deputy attorney general, for the newly created assistant attorney general for fraud role.

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USPTO Seeks 'Serious Sanctions' For Chinese Co.'s 19K Apps

By Rae Ann Varona

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says the "most serious sanctions" are warranted against a China-based company for filing more than 19,000 trademark submissions using names of U.S.-licensed attorneys who did not review the applications, saying submissions were at times filed in 3-minute intervals "or less."

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Prosecutors Form New Group To Fight Federal Overreach

By Ryan Boysen

Several progressive prosecutors have launched a new group to hold accountable federal officials who "exceed their lawful authority," amid a growing backlash to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and the recent killing of two protesters by immigration agents in Minneapolis.

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Analysis

Trade Secret Filings Hit Record High In 2025, Report Finds

By Ivan Moreno

Trade secret litigation reached an all-time high in 2025, with more than 1,500 federal cases filed for the first time ever, according to a new report by legal analytics firm Lex Machina, which also highlights trends about damages, the busiest courts and the law firms most frequently involved.

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