DuPont, Spinoffs Ink Historic $590M PFAS Deal In NC

By Hayley Fowler

DuPont and its spinoffs will pay $590 million to resolve claims they contaminated North Carolina's environment with forever chemicals, marking the largest total environmental damages recovery in the state's history, Attorney General Jeff Jackson and The Chemours Co. announced Thursday.

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6th Circ. Says GE Asbestos Suit Belongs In Kentucky Court

By Mike Curley

The Sixth Circuit sent a woman's suit against General Electric Co. over her husband's asbestos-related mesothelioma back to Kentucky state court, rejecting the company's argument that the man's military service warranted removal to federal court.

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Zuckerberg Testifies List Of Kid-Glove Users Not A Problem

By Cara Salvatore

Mark Zuckerberg strenuously disputed in testimony seen Thursday by a New Mexico jury that Facebook's internal list of parties whose content receives special treatment undercuts the company's public declarations that policy-violating content must be taken down without exception.

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Calif. Enacts Laws To Curb Addictive Feeds, AI Risks For Kids

By Dorothy Atkins

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed more than a dozen kids online safety bills into law Thursday, expanding student data privacy laws while barring social media companies from offering teens personalized accounts with addictive features and requiring artificial intelligence companies to implement guardrails to prevent teen suicide and self-harm.

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Fla. AG Pushes Liability For Chatbots' Role In Crimes

By Carolina Bolado

Florida's attorney general — who has accused OpenAI of facilitating a deadly mass shooting at Florida State University — is now pushing for legislation that would impose heavy fines, payments to victims and monitorship on tech companies whose artificial intelligence chatbots participate in criminal activity.

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Hess Corp. Says Insurers Must Cover Cancer Suits

By Danielle Ferguson

Hess Corp. has told a New Jersey federal court that insurers must defend and indemnify it against personal injury suits brought by employees of a transportation company who allege their exposure to benzene in Hess gasoline contributed to their cancer diagnoses.

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9th Circ. Clears Boeing Of Liability In Police Helicopter Crash

By Dorothy Atkins

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a ruling Wednesday tossing product liability litigation over a 2022 Huntington Beach Police Department helicopter crash that killed an officer and injured another, finding the victims' claims against Boeing and other aircraft-makers are time-barred under the General Aviation Revitalization Act's 18-year statute of repose.

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RJ Reynolds Wants In On Suit Over FDA Vape Review Rule

By Jonathan Capriel

Vape and nicotine pouch subsidiaries owned by Altria and R.J. Reynolds are looking to upend the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's premarket authorization rule, claiming the agency is breaking the law by dragging out product reviews well past the statutory deadline, which delays their goods by years while illegal Chinese products flood the market.

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Unharmed Class Members Don't Sink US Steel Pollution Suit

By Matthew Santoni

A Pennsylvania state judge denied U.S. Steel's bid to undo a class of residents surrounding the company's Clairton Coke Works on Wednesday, after the steelmaker argued that some class members attested they were not harmed by an increase in sulfur pollution after a 2018 fire.

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Fla. Panel Orders New Trial In $604K PGA Resort Fall Suit

By Mike Curley

A Florida appeals panel has ordered a new trial and vacated a $604,000 jury verdict in a woman's trip-and-fall suit against PGA National Resort and Spa, saying the trial court wrongly treated an out-of-date administrative rule as binding law.

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State AI Safety Laws Raise New Liabilities For Healthcare Cos.

Healthcare and life science companies using third-party artificial intelligence tools should pay particular attention to the changing state-level legal landscape, where the rollout of multiple AI safety laws is introducing both new compliance obligations and potential consumer protection liabilities, say attorneys at McDermott.

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Series

Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

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ABA Study Shows 20% Of Attys Under Severe Mental Distress

By Tracey Read

About one-fifth of attorneys across the country meet moderate-to-extremely severe symptom thresholds for depression, anxiety and stress, according to the largest-ever study of mental health and well-being in the legal profession.

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Mass. Judge Sanctioned Over Handling Of ICE At Courthouse

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday sanctioned a judge over her handling of a case involving a defendant wanted by immigration agents in 2018, an incident that led to federal charges that were dismissed after the judge agreed to a disciplinary process.

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Ed Martin Reprimanded Over Unauthorized FBI Contacts

By Courtney Bublé

Last summer, when Ed Martin was still head of the weaponization working group at the U.S. Department of Justice, he was reprimanded after his team communicated with the FBI without authorization, according to recently released emails.

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2 At DOJ Sued Over Conn. Immigration Court Record Access

By Christine DeRosa

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Connecticut has filed suit in Connecticut federal court challenging the Hartford Immigration Court's refusal to provide access to immigration court records.

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JPMorgan Aided Ex-Atty Kossoff's $18.5M Theft, Trustee Says

By Hailey Konnath

The Chapter 7 trustee representing bankrupt firm Kossoff PLLC on Wednesday sued JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, claiming the bank helped the firm's principal steal at least $18.5 million from clients, and it "should be made to account."

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Analysis

Executive Privilege Questions Cloud Congressional Probe Prep

By Phillip Bantz

As corporate leaders brace for the possibility of Democrats retaking control of Congress and launching aggressive investigations into the Trump administration's dealings with a vast array of companies, attorneys say a U.S. Justice Department opinion on executive privilege could complicate the probes.

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DOJ Urges High Court To Revisit 9th Circ.'s Bar Of Nev. US Atty

By Madison Arnold

The Justice Department has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit a recent Ninth Circuit ruling disqualifying the Trump administration's top federal prosecutor in Nevada, calling it a decision that imposes "ongoing confusion" in the executive branch.

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Jay-Z Can't Undo Buzbee's Win In Rapper's Defamation Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A California state appeals court has refused to revive claims that Texas attorney Tony Buzbee defamed and extorted music superstar Jay-Z by roping him into a sexual abuse suit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, saying the case was properly thrown out under California's free speech statute.

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