Abbott Inks $670M Deal To End Some Preterm Formula Claims

By Lauren Berg

Abbott Laboratories announced Thursday that it has agreed to pay about $670 million to partially resolve ongoing litigation alleging its specialty baby formula caused premature babies to suffer a disabling intestinal condition.

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What To Know As Cyclosporiasis Cases Continue To Climb

By Emily Field

While the iceberg lettuce linked to a multistate cyclosporiasis outbreak that sickened nearly 9,500 people in 17 states is now off the market, cases have reached roughly 11,000, and suits against produce supplier Taylor Fresh Foods and fast-food chain Taco Bell are expected to keep climbing, as well — shining a light on the issues of litigating foodborne illness during one of the largest outbreaks in the U.S. this century.

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J&J Talc Unit Loses Libel Suit Over Flawed Cancer Study

By Dorothy Atkins

A Virginia federal judge handed three doctors a win Wednesday in a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary's libel lawsuit over a 2020 study linking cosmetic talc exposure to mesothelioma, finding the subsidiary's evidence didn't show the trio knowingly or recklessly published falsehoods and instead merely revealed the doctors' "fear of litigation."

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Asbestos Spinoff Bestwall Avoids Ch. 11 Trustee Takeover

By Hayley Fowler

A bankruptcy judge in North Carolina won't appoint an independent trustee to take over the Chapter 11 case of Georgia-Pacific spinoff Bestwall, dealing a blow to a group of mesothelioma patients who argued a trustee might expedite the settlement process.

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Meta Atty 'Absolutely Wrong' On Client Privilege, Judge Warns

By Dorothy Atkins

With trial dark Thursday due to juror illness, a California judge overseeing states' claims that Meta Platforms Inc. hid social media's harms heard arguments over evidence, at one point criticizing Meta's efforts to assert attorney-client privilege and calling the company's in-house lawyer "absolutely wrong" about the appropriate standard.

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Instagram Algorithm Czar Tells Jury Safety Helps Profits

By Cara Salvatore

The Instagram executive responsible for the algorithm kicked off Meta's defense case Thursday over Tennessee's claims it concealed harm to youths' mental health, testifying the company's efforts to protect children also protect its bottom line.

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Social Media Cos. Fight Bid To Merge 2 Bellwether Trials In LA

By Craig Clough

An attorney for two plaintiffs set to be the second and third bellwether trials out of thousands of lawsuits alleging social media platforms caused children mental health harm urged a Los Angeles judge Thursday to combine their trials into one, although a Meta attorney said they are "fundamentally different cases."

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Taco Bell Cyclospora Suit Frozen Amid Similar Cases

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan federal judge Thursday paused filings for a lawsuit alleging Taco Bell and produce supplier Taylor Farms distributed and served contaminated lettuce that caused multiple cyclospora infections.

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Podhurst, Ex-Client Take Malpractice Fight To Lion Air Judge

By Lauraann Wood

The Illinois federal judge handling consolidated wrongful death litigation over Lion Air Flight 610's crash agreed on Thursday to take on malpractice claims a widow recently lodged against Podhurst Orseck PA for allegedly failing to communicate about her $4 million settlement over the 2018 tragedy.

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Smoke Shop Chain Misclassified Workers, Owes OT, Suit Says

By Jonathan Capriel

A chain of Houston-area smokeshops and their owners allegedly misclassified their employees as independent contractors to avoid paying overtime, according to a worker-led lawsuit filed in Texas federal court seeking unpaid wages for similar employees.

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Judge Denies Bid To Move AT&T ERISA Case To State Court

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A California federal judge has denied a former AT&T employee's bid to move his class action suit alleging violations of state labor law over a tobacco surcharge on employee health plans from federal to state court.

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Coal Co. Loses 4th Circ. Challenge To Black Lung Benefits

By Carla Baranauckas

The Fourth Circuit on Thursday upheld a Black Lung Benefits Act award to a former underground electrician, finding that an administrative law judge reasonably relied on two medical experts who linked his chronic lung problems to nearly 12 years of coal mine work.

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Mitigating The Risk Of Antiestablishment Jurors

The legal battles currently embroiling social media companies underscore that jurors with anti-corporate bias and conspiratorial thinking patterns pose myriad risks to corporate defendants, and defense counsel should adapt their trial strategies accordingly, say consultants at Persuasion Strategies.

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Costco Chicken Case Highlights Food Labeling Lessons

Recent litigation over allegedly deceptive food labels, including the ongoing proposed class action in a California federal court over Costco's rotisserie chicken, shows that plaintiffs rarely focus on single label statements in isolation — so product claims that comply with regulations could still incur litigation risk, says Brandy Alonzo-Mayland at Michelman & Robinson.

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Series

Being In A Band Made Me A Better Lawyer

Playing shows in storied New York City venues and rehearsing with my bandmates in poorly ventilated rooms helped develop the professional qualities I rely on as a litigator, including an ability to collaborate with strong-minded equals and the determination to treat each client with singular focus, says Eliad Shapiro at Herrick Feinstein.

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How Does In-House Pay Compare? Take The Law360 Survey

How do in-house salaries vary across industries, roles, and organizational revenue? What compensation tools are companies using to lure top talent? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Compensation Survey.

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TikTok's Ex-Legal Head Made Racist Comments, Suit Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

TikTok and its former head of global legal operations have been accused in a California state court lawsuit of harassment and discrimination based on race and sex by a former legal department employee who claims the executive subjected her and other nonwhite colleagues to an "unrelenting campaign of harassment."

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Uber Gets Greenlight On Most Fraud Claims Against LA Firms

By Hailey Konnath

A California federal judge Wednesday largely rejected two Los Angeles personal injury firms' attempts to ditch Uber's suit claiming it's being targeted by a scheme involving fraudulent personal injury claims, finding Uber has plausibly alleged that the firms schemed with a surgeon to rack up medical costs.

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Trump Taps DOJ Official, ND Solicitor General For Judgeships

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced Thursday he's tapping Jesus Osete, a top U.S. Department of Justice official, to serve on the Western District of Missouri and Philip Axt, solicitor general of North Dakota, for the District of North Dakota.

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Jay-Z Appeals Buzbee Win In Rapper's Defamation Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

Music mogul Jay-Z's counsel fought uphill Thursday to convince a California state appeals court to revive claims that Texas attorney Tony Buzbee defamed and extorted him by roping him into a sexual abuse suit against Sean "Diddy" Combs, arguing in court that a trial court erroneously read evidence in Buzbee's favor.

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CREXi Drops 9th Circ. Challenge To Quinn Emanuel DQ

By Isaac Monterose

Property listing company Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc. has moved to dismiss its own Ninth Circuit mandamus petition, which challenged a lower court's disqualification of CREXi's counsel, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, from a legal battle against rival CoStar.

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Eastman Among 16 Calif. Attys Disbarred In Q2 2026

By Emily Sawicki

The State Bar of California removed the licenses of 16 attorneys between April and June of this year over a broad spectrum of ethical breaches ranging from the high-profile case of John Eastman attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, to a lawyer found to be in possession of child sex abuse images.

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