DOJ's $450M PFAS Deal Win For Chemours

By Emily Field

The $450 million settlement between the federal government and Chemours Co. over its "forever chemicals" is a major win for the manufacturer, but the relatively small payout means that two of the three impacted states are now being watched for any objections, especially the one that was caught by surprise by last week's announcement.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Texas Court Sends 4 Asbestos Suits Out Of MDL Court

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appeals court on Tuesday found that multiple families of people who died following diagnoses of asbestos-related malignancies can remand their cases back to the courts they initially filed in, saying the multidistrict litigation rules do not apply to their cases.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

High Court Sends 3 Roundup Cases Back After Monsanto Win

By Emily Field

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday sent back several cases over claims that Bayer unit Monsanto Co.'s Roundup weed killer causes cancer, after the court last week delivered its ruling that state-based claims about a failure to warn on the weedkiller's labeling are barred by federal law.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Meta Social Media Addiction MDL Headed For August Trial

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge has mostly denied dueling motions for summary judgment in litigation brought by multiple states claiming Meta intentionally designed its products to be addictive, rejecting Meta's attempts to ditch the case and teeing it up for an August advisory jury trial.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Uber, FedEx Slam Pa. Law Firm Counterclaims In RICO Suit

By James Boyle

Philadelphia-based personal injury firm Simon & Simon PC and its founder have failed to support a counterclaim in Pennsylvania federal court saying Uber Technologies Inc. and FedEx Corp. filed a sham litigation and abused the legal process with their ongoing RICO complaint against the firm, the companies argued Monday.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Drivers Seek OK Of Deal To End VW Fuel Leak Defect Suit

By Mike Curley

A proposed class of drivers is asking a New Jersey federal court to grant preliminary approval to a settlement to end two years of litigation alleging Volkswagen Group of America Inc. sold vehicles with faulty suction jet pumps that led to fuel leaks and fire risks.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2nd Circ. Backs NY Gas Appliance Ban In Split With 9th Circ.

By Lauren Berg

New York City and the Empire State can enforce their laws effectively banning fossil-fuel appliances in new buildings, the Second Circuit ruled Tuesday, splitting from the Ninth Circuit in rejecting trade groups and unions' arguments that the statutes run afoul of federal law.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justices Will Hear Challenges To Semiautomatic Rifle Bans

By Aaron Keller and Celeste Bott

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday accepted Second Amendment challenges to semiautomatic rifle bans in Cook County, Illinois, and the state of Connecticut, combining two cases to decide whether the Constitution guarantees the right to possess AR-15-style weapons.

7 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

High Court Declines To Review Under-21 Gun Sale Bans

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to review the constitutionality of laws banning the sale of firearms to people under 21, once again rejecting calls to consider a question that has sharply divided the lower courts.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FDA Lets Zyn Market Some Pouches As Less Risky Than Cigs

By Rae Ann Varona

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that Philip Morris may now market 20 of its Zyn nicotine pouch products as having less of a health risk than cigarettes.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Smoke Shops Take Aim At Mass. Ban On Vapes And Pouches

By Jonathan Capriel

Massachusetts' health agency and other state officials are illegally forcing smoke shops and other retailers to pull vapes and nicotine pouches from shelves, the retailers alleged in a lawsuit claiming the enforcement effort violates federal law and caused sales to dramatically drop.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Tribes Back RI As CFTC Sues Over Kalshi Betting Ban

By Crystal Owens

Indigenous rights groups are supporting Rhode Island in a challenge by the U.S. and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that looks to block the state's efforts to prevent prediction market platforms from offering sports-related event contracts, saying the litigation could turn decades of federal law on its head.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Broker Dropped From Fatal Fla. Turnpike U-Turn Crash Suit

By Linda Chiem

The estate of one of three people killed in a Florida Turnpike collision last year has dropped C.H. Robinson from its negligence lawsuit after the freight broker said it didn't even arrange the shipment and wasn't connected to the trucking company or driver involved in the accident.

Notice attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Says Mich. Climate Antitrust Claims Are Barred

By Melanie Dorsey

The U.S. Department of Justice has weighed in on Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel's antitrust lawsuit against some of the world's largest oil companies, arguing much of the state's case is legally barred because Michigan is improperly attempting to regulate climate change through state antitrust law. 

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ConocoPhillips Again Seeks To Exit Wash. Tribal Climate Torts

By Rachel Riley

ConocoPhillips is urging a Washington state judge to free it from a pair of Native American tribes' lawsuits accusing major oil companies of a decades-long campaign to downplay the climate risks of fossil fuels, contending Monday that the tribes have still failed to satisfy jurisdictional requirements in their revised complaints.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Gordon Rees Adds 8 Partners In Northern California

By Tracey Read

Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP has expanded its offices in Northern California with eight new partners who have expertise in multiple practice areas, a firm spokesperson told Law360 Pulse on Tuesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lessons For Cos. From Nixed Apple Watch Greenwashing Suit

A California federal court's recent decision in Dib v. Apple, a putative class action challenging carbon-neutral marketing statements made about the Apple Watch, provides meaningful guidance on how such claims may be defeated at the pleading stage, especially where they hinge on third-party verification, say attorneys at Mintz.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2 Ex-Clifford Chance Attys Say Firm Wants To Claw Back $6M

By Jake Maher

Two former practice group leaders at Clifford Chance LLP have sued in New York federal court alleging the firm is trying to claw back nearly $6 million in total from the pair after they moved to Sidley Austin LLP early this year.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump Nominates Just Confirmed La. Judge For 5th Circ.

By Courtney Bublé

Judge Anna St. John has been on the federal bench for less than four months, and now she's being put forth for a higher court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

McCarter Atty Says He Didn't Know NY Law Before $20M Deals

By Brian Steele

A onetime McCarter & English LLP partner in Hartford testified Tuesday that he did not research New York's municipal contracting laws before helping two insurers enter into doomed $20 million loan repayment agreements with a Long Island town, but contended that he was under no obligation to do so.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NJ Assembly Passes Litigation Funding Disclosure Bill

By Jake Maher

The New Jersey Assembly passed a bill requiring the disclosure of third-party litigation funding arrangements on Tuesday by an overwhelming margin after similar pending legislation in the state Senate received pushback from trial lawyers and litigation finance representatives.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Apple Gets High Court Review Of Epic Case Sanctions

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to take up Apple's challenge to a California federal court contempt order against it for violating a ban, won by Epic Games, on company policies that barred app developers from steering users to outside payment options.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Justices' Birthright Ruling Leaves Little Room For Congress

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 holding Tuesday that President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship is unconstitutional did more than invalidate the policy, it effectively foreclosed Congress from trying to implement the executive order through legislation, experts told Law360.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

High Court Scraps Caps On Coordinated Campaign Spending

By Katie Buehler and Jeff Overley

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday struck down federal limits on political party spending in coordination with individual candidates, agreeing with a Republican-led challenge that the caps violate the First Amendment.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY State Bar Wants New Bar Exam Rules For Emergencies

By Kevin Penton

Following two recent incidents that drew scrutiny over their handling, the New York State Bar Association is calling for new standardized protocols to be followed should emergencies occur during the administration of the bar exam.

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »