How States' 'Perry Mason Moment' Led To $17B Meta Deal

By Dorothy Atkins

A recent landmark $17.1 billion settlement with Meta Platforms Inc. may have never happened if it weren't for a quick-thinking trial attorney and his close-knit team of lawyers representing 29 states, who worked together to swiftly shift strategies midtrial.

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Hyundai Must Face Trimmed Claims On Braking System

By Emily Field

A California federal judge on Monday dismissed state unfair competition law claims from a proposed class action brought by Hyundai Tucson drivers who said the company equipped the cars with a defective automatic emergency braking system, but preserved warranty, fraud and unjust enrichment claims.

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F-150 Drivers Denied Class Cert. In Ford Transmission Suit

By Mike Curley

An Illinois federal judge has denied class certification to a group of Ford F-150 owners who allege Ford shipped vehicles with defective transmissions, finding their warranty claims are blocked by a class action waiver, and they failed to show there was a common defect among class vehicles.

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Talc Co. Barretts' Creditors Again Call For End Of Its Ch. 11

By Clara Geoghegan

The unsecured creditors committee in the Chapter 11 case of Barretts Minerals has accused the former talc supplier's parent of not delivering on its promises to fund the proceeding, asserting that this has left the debtor administratively insolvent and its three-year-old bankruptcy in need of dismissal.

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Insurers Can't Nix $195M Opioid Coverage Bid, Trustee Says

By Gianna Ferrarin

Chubb, Liberty Mutual and Lloyd's of London units and other insurers can't get off the hook for covering the remainder of third-party payor opioid lawsuits against Endo International, a representative for a trust of the bankrupt pharmaceutical company told a Pennsylvania federal court.

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Mich. AG Says PBMs Put Opioid Profits Before Patient Safety

By Susan Smiley

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has asked a federal court not to dismiss the state's lawsuit accusing pharmacy benefit managers including Express Scripts and Optum of abetting the opioid epidemic, arguing the PBMs are not passive administrators, but profit-driven architects of the crisis.

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Costco Tequila Buyers Say Agave Certification Isn't Conclusive

By Rachel Riley

Tequila buyers who claim Costco falsely labeled Kirkland Signature-brand tequila told a Washington federal judge on Tuesday that a Mexico-based council's certification of the bottles as "100% agave" isn't enough to extinguish their deceptive marketing case against the U.S. retailer.

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Haleon Sued Over 'Zero Sugar' Claim In Emergen-C Gummies

By Gina Kim

Haleon US Holdings was hit with a proposed class action in California federal court Sunday, which accused the consumer healthcare giant of deceptively labeling its Emergen-C immune support gummies as containing "zero sugar," even though they are sweetened with allulose, which is a sugar under federal regulations.

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Meta's Data Collection From DMV Is Invasive, Calif. Drivers Say

By Bonnie Eslinger

Golden State drivers seeking to certify two classes over claims that Meta unlawfully obtained information from the state Department of Motor Vehicles' website told a California federal judge Tuesday that they have standing to sue under the Driver's Privacy Protection Act because the collection was invasive, even if it wasn't embarrassing or sensitive.

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Fintech Co. Says Nuvei Bungled Mastercard Transactions

By Gina Kim

Chicago-based fintech and futures prop trading firm Topstep has sued Nuvei Technologies in Arizona federal court, alleging the payment processor concealed a system error that bungled 189,000 Mastercard transactions and then tried to improperly resubmit them, leaving Topstep's customers "blindsided with unexpected charges" and resulting in reputational harm to Topstep.

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Disney Wants Kids' Data Privacy Claims Tossed For Good

By Hailey Konnath

Disney on Monday asked a California federal court to once again throw out a proposed class action claiming it allowed advertisers to illegally collect minors' personal information, pressing for the dismissal of a new version of the complaint just days after YouTube said it had reached a settlement in the case.

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DC Circ. Queries Feds On Immigrant Truck Driver Restrictions

By Linda Chiem

D.C. Circuit judges on Tuesday questioned whether the U.S. Department of Transportation reasonably justified the safety rationale for new restrictions on commercial driver's licenses for foreign truckers or whether it disproportionately relied on individuals' immigration status to promulgate an "exclusionary" rule.

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Uber Says MDL Bellwether Plaintiff Can't Show Reliance

By Mike Curley

Uber Technologies Inc. is urging a California federal judge to throw out claims in a bellwether suit from multidistrict litigation over sexual assaults of its passengers, saying the plaintiff here cannot show she relied on any of the company's representations or features on the night she was allegedly assaulted.

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Justices Asked To Resolve Cannabis Dormant Commerce Split

By Sam Reisman

A California litigator's campaign of lawsuits alleging that state and local cannabis regulatory regimes violate the U.S. Constitution's dormant commerce clause has culminated in a petition for a writ of certiorari which appeared on the U.S. Supreme Court's docket Tuesday.

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Alaska Judge Defers To Army Corps In Gold Mine Permit Row

By Tom Lotshaw

An Alaska federal judge has told tribal and environmental groups that they failed to show the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers improperly approved a Clean Water Act permit allowing JT Mining Inc. to develop access to a mineral exploration site on privately owned land in Lake Clark National Park.

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9th Circ. Backs Tribe In Casino Fight, Questions Joinder Rule

By Crystal Owens

A Ninth Circuit panel has rejected a group of Anchorage, Alaska, residents' appeal to undo an order finding the Native Village of Eklutna immune from their lawsuit seeking to block a casino development, with two judges expressing some doubt over a tribe's ability to be joined in a lawsuit.

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Responding To State Packaging Law Uncertainty

As states roll out new packaging and recycling mandates, companies face expanding compliance duties and a growing wave of constitutional challenges that offer key lessons for managing regulatory risk, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

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Ashurst Perkins Aided $230M ICap Ponzi Scheme, Suit Claims

By Ben Adlin

Ashurst Perkins Coie pocketed millions of dollars in legal fees by providing services to clients it knew were operating a Ponzi scheme that ultimately swindled investors out of nearly $230 million, plaintiffs claimed in a Washington state lawsuit accusing the firm of aiding and abetting fraud.

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Trump Taps Ex-DOL Official To Serve As EEOC Top Cop

By Anne Cullen

The White House nominated a former Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP attorney who previously led the U.S. Department of Labor's contractor compliance arm to serve as the general counsel of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

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Washington Sen. Murray Vows To Block Trump US Atty Pick

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump's nominee to be U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington is under fire from one of the home state senators who vowed to use every avenue possible to block him.

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Fla. Judge Won't Pause Trump-IRS Settlement Sanctions

By Jack McLoone

The Florida federal judge who barred President Donald Trump and others from citing a settlement resolving what she characterized as a sham $10 billion case against his own Internal Revenue Service won't pause her sanctions order while the president appeals to the Eleventh Circuit.

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4th Circ. Appears Split On Reviving Comey, James Indictments

By Jared Foretek

Partisan splits were apparent Tuesday on the Fourth Circuit panel hearing the Trump administration's challenge to a federal district judge's dismissal of the indictments of former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, with two of the three judges appearing to agree an improper appointment doomed the cases.

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Brief

Calif. Judge Charged Over Fatal Crash With Bicyclist

By Craig Clough

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Tuesday that his office charged Kings County Superior Court Judge Kendra Weber with a misdemeanor count of vehicular manslaughter, alleging she struck and killed a bicyclist.

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