Feature

Chest Binders Become Latest Front In Anti-Trans Litigation

By Emily Field

Chest binders — medical devices that can be used by individuals experiencing gender dysphoria or who want a more gender-neutral alternative to bras — have emerged as the newest target in an unfolding regulatory and legal climate that transgender advocates describe as an overtly partisan political attack against a type of product that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has deemed the least risky.

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Ill. Jury Adds $17M Punitive Award To Baby Formula Verdict

By Lauraann Wood

Illinois jurors on Friday slapped another $17 million in punitive damages atop the $53 million they awarded the previous afternoon to four mothers who accused Abbott Laboratories of selling preterm infant formula that contributed to a serious and often fatal gut condition their babies developed.

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NJ Justices Won't Review Beasley Allen's DQ From Talc Cases

By George Woolston

The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to review a lower court's order booting the Beasley Allen Law Firm from multicounty litigation in the Garden State over Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder, according to an order made public Friday.

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Meta Must Face Mass. AG's Instagram Addiction Suit

By Chris Villani

Meta Platforms Inc. will have to face a suit brought by the Massachusetts attorney general claiming the company is illegally hooking kids on Instagram, the state's top court ruled Friday.

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'What're We Doing Here?' Judge Asks FTC After Deere Deal

By Bryan Koenig

An Illinois federal judge wondered aloud Friday whether John Deere's $99 million class action settlement with farmers, and more importantly its promised facilitation of independent equipment repairs, mooted the Federal Trade Commission's still-pending right-to-repair lawsuit.

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Suzuki Can't Escape $20M Verdict Over Brake Warning Failure

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida appeals court on Friday affirmed a $20 million verdict finding Suzuki Motor Corp. negligent for failing to warn riders about risks associated with a motorcycle's braking system, ruling that a prior jury's rejection of a strict liability design defect claim did not bar a separate failure-to-warn theory.

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Uber Had 'Non-Delegable Duty,' Judge Finds In Assault MDL

By Rae Ann Varona

Uber is a "common carrier" and thus it owed a "non-delegable duty" to safely transport a woman who alleged that a driver on its platform sexually assaulted her, a California federal judge ruled Friday, rejecting the ride-hailing company's contention that it doesn't carry passengers but merely connects them to others who independently provide transportation.

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Uber Wants NC Jury To Hear Rider's Mental Health History

By Hayley Fowler

Uber wants to be able to bring up a passenger's mental health history during a sexual assault trial to discredit her damages theory, saying the jury should be able to evaluate her alleged emotional distress in the context of her preexisting conditions.

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Drugmakers Can Intervene In Texas, Fla. Abortion Drug Suit

By Gianna Ferrarin

A federal judge Friday allowed abortion medication manufacturers GenBioPro Inc. and Danco Laboratories to intervene in litigation brought by the states of Texas and Florida seeking to undo a slew of federal regulations concerning the abortion drug mifepristone.

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Philip Morris Urges 11th Circ. To Affirm FDA Rule Toss

By Kelcey Caulder

Philip Morris urged the Eleventh Circuit to affirm a decision that struck down a U.S. Food and Drug Administration rule calling for graphic warnings on cigarette packaging, arguing a district court rightly found the FDA had not followed proper procedure when crafting the regulations.

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Compass Group Workers Get Cert. For Tobacco Fee Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

Former employees for food service company Compass Group USA have secured class certification for their Missouri federal lawsuit claiming the company's $48 bi-weekly health insurance fee for tobacco using-workers violates federal law.

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Maryland, Ship Owner Reach Deal On Baltimore Bridge Wreck

By Linda Chiem

Maryland has reached a settlement in principle with the owner and manager of the container ship that slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge and triggered its March 2024 collapse, ending the state's claims that their negligence and mismanagement left six people dead and destroyed a vital transportation corridor.

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Texas Judge Blocks State From Enforcing New Hemp Rules

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas state court on Friday blocked state agencies from enforcing new rules restricting the sale of certain hemp products, after hemp industry groups sued the agencies over claims they illegally went past what the legislature allowed them to ban.

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DLA Piper Defeats Fired Associate's Claims Of Pregnancy Bias

By Pete Brush

A federal jury in Manhattan declined to award damages Monday to a former associate who says DLA Piper unlawfully fired her after she announced she was pregnant, absolving the BigLaw firm hours after tense closing arguments.

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Q&A

Former Pardon Atty Says Trump's Clemency Grants Hurt DOJ

By Phillip Bantz

Former U.S. Department of Justice pardon attorney Liz Oyer spoke recently with Law360 about how the pardon process has changed, the impact the shift might have on the DOJ and how the system could be reformed.

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DOJ Urges DC Circuit To Revive Trump EOs Targeting Firms

By Alison Knezevich

The D.C. Circuit should individually review each section of President Donald Trump's executive orders targeting four law firms, allowing certain portions to stand if others are blocked, the U.S. Department of Justice argued in a new filing urging the court to revive the measures.

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Analysis

The Justices Had Their Say On Immunity. Is A DC Jury Next?

By Chris Villani

The limits of presidential immunity are once again set to be tested after a D.C. federal judge ruled President Donald Trump must face civil claims over the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, clearing the way for trial and potentially another high-stakes appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Meta Pulls Some Attys' Social Media Addiction Ads

By Rachel Rippetoe

After losing a bellwether trial last month in one of a slew of cases from plaintiffs who claim to have been harmed by social media, Meta has begun removing ads from attorneys seeking clients with similar claims.

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Brief

EEOC To Produce Law Firm DEI Letter Records By May 15

By Kelcey Caulder

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission told a federal court Monday that it would give two law professors documents related to 20 letters the agency sent to law firms over their purported diversity, equity and inclusion practices by May 15.

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Morgan & Morgan Sued Over Firing Amid Nevada Expansion

By Emily Sawicki

Personal injury titan Morgan & Morgan is facing allegations from a former firm attorney in California state court alleging the Golden State lawyer was pressured to file suits in neighboring Nevada despite having an inactive law license and no experience practicing there, and was then harassed and wrongfully fired over the filings.

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Atty Says Ogletree Can't Litigate Against Her In 2 Similar Cases

By Adrian Cruz

A Georgia attorney said Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC should be disqualified from serving as defense counsel in a discrimination suit she's working on while simultaneously litigating against her on behalf of her ex-employer in a similar matter.

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NJ Man Who Sought To DQ US Atty Leadership To Plead Guilty

By Gina Kim

A criminal defendant who joined a pending bid to disqualify assistant U.S. attorneys overseeing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey and escalated a constitutional challenge to its leadership structure told a federal judge Saturday he plans to plead guilty in his drug case. 

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court's docket this past week featured a mix of high-stakes settlements, fast-moving deal litigation, governance disputes and a notable post-trial ruling involving fraud-tainted loans.

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