VW Can't Shed Paraplegic Woman's Seat Heater Burn Suit

By Mike Curley

A Washington federal judge won't let Volkswagen AG fully escape a paraplegic woman's suit alleging she was burned because of a defect in her vehicle's seat heater, finding a jury should decide whether the seat was too hot to be safe.

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9th Circ. Says New Rotor Parts Reset Clock In Crash Suit

By Mike Curley

The Ninth Circuit has reinstated a couple's suit against Robinson Helicopter Co. over the death of their daughter in a helicopter crash, finding that replacement parts for the helicopter reset the 18-year statute of repose.

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NTSB's LaGuardia Crash Probe Flags Lack Of Runway Alerts

By Linda Chiem

Fire truck crew members didn't know that air traffic controllers' instructions to stop were directed at them before they collided with an Air Canada passenger jet landing at New York's LaGuardia Airport last month, and the lack of a transponder on the truck prevented a runway collision warning system from sending out alerts, the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday.

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Brief

Firm Seeking Philly Zantac Judge's Recusal Appeals Refusal

By Emily Field

A plaintiff represented by Keller Postman LLC has asked the Pennsylvania Superior Court to weigh in on a Philadelphia judge's refusal to recuse himself from overseeing mass tort litigation against GlaxoSmithKline over Zantac's alleged cancer risks.

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Brief

Boeing 737 Max Door Blowout Cases Merged In Wash. Court

By Jonathan Capriel

The number of passengers suing Boeing, Alaska Airlines and Spirit AeroSystems over a door plug blowout on a 737 Max airplane has grown by one, with a Washington state court consolidating a lone complaint into the larger case.

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DOJ Final Order Loosens Rules For State-Legal Medical Pot

By Sam Reisman

The U.S. Department of Justice published a final order Thursday loosening federal restrictions on medical marijuana products that fall within the ambit of state-regulated programs or have approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

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Brief

DOJ Says Medical Pot Shift Shouldn't Affect Gun Rights Case

By Sam Reisman

Despite an order from the U.S. Department of Justice loosening federal restrictions on medical marijuana, the Trump administration signaled Thursday that it does not intend for the changes to cannabis regulation to apply retroactively.

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Brief

Chinese Company Settles Suit Over Defective Dehumidifier

By Celeste Bott

A group of property owners and their insurer agreed Thursday to end their lawsuit over allegedly defective dehumidifiers manufactured by Chinese company Gree Electric Appliances Inc. ahead of a planned jury trial in August.

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Sig Sauer Claims Contractor Immunity In Gun Injury Suits

By Elaine Briseño

Sig Sauer told a Pennsylvania federal court it cannot be sued by a government agent accidentally shot in the leg after one of its P320 pistols allegedly spontaneously discharged, saying it has immunity as a government contractor.

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Feds Say Earlier Deal Doesn't Negate Black & Decker Claims

By Mike Curley

The U.S. government is urging a Maryland federal court not to throw out its bid for a permanent injunction in a suit against Stanley Black & Decker (U.S.) Inc. over its alleged failure to report dangerous defects, saying a 2015 consent decree doesn't render the government's current claims moot.

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Apache Group Amends Suit To Reverse Arizona Land Transfer

By Crystal Owens

An Apache nonprofit amended its challenge to the federal government and Resolution Copper Co. over the exchange of nearly 2,500 acres within Arizona's Tonto National Forest, arguing the land transfer, which contains a sacred Indigenous worship site, was rushed in violation of religious freedom and constitutional laws.

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Davis Polk To Launch Appellate Practice With Paul Weiss Pair

By Lauren Berg

Two experienced Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP appellate litigators are leaving to launch a U.S. Supreme Court and appellate practice at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, a firm spokesperson confirmed to Law360 on Thursday.

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PFAS Study Is Wake-Up Call For Pet Food Companies

As standards around per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances continue to evolve, a new study revealing that PFAS have found their way into many brands of pet food is a warning to the industry to reexamine the contents and marketing of their products in the face of increasing regulatory and litigation exposure, say attorneys at MG+M.

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Series

Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

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DLA Piper Clears Vote To End Verein, Unify Leadership

By Tracey Read

DLA Piper announced Friday that firm partners on both sides of the Atlantic have "overwhelmingly approved" a plan to dissolve its Swiss verein structure effective May 1.

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Exclusive

Judge Albright Reflects On 8 Years Shaping Patent Law

By Dani Kass

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright will be walking away from the Western District of Texas at the end of the summer, ready to head back into patent litigation work. He talked with Law360 on Friday about the rockier elements of his judgeship and lessons he'll take into private practice.

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Commerce Department's General Counsel Departs

By Christine DeRosa

The U.S. Department of Commerce's general counsel has left the agency after just over a year, the agency confirmed on Friday.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

In what may be a first, a federal judge has ordered BJ's Wholesale Club to put an investor's climate-related proxy proposal up for a vote of the shareholders at the company's annual meeting. And a new study shows that more in-house counsel are staying in place despite pay increases slowing amid less competition for talent.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Butler Prather LLP, Bowen Painter LLC and Cannella Snyder LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Fluor Corp. can be held liable for a veteran's state-based injury claims stemming from a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen a Hong Kong company sue the government and a COVID-19 PPE company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone, an oligarch bring a fresh claim against a rival in a long-running feud, a rugby league club sue over a canceled mass dance event, and Visa and Mastercard hit with legal action from H&M, Eurostar, and Bang & Olufsen. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Oregon Lawyer Ordered To Pay Attorney Fees For Use Of AI

By Matt Perez

An Oregon attorney was sanctioned by a state appellate court for filing a brief containing a fabricated list of authorities because she used generative artificial intelligence, marking the first case in the jurisdiction to present the option of awarding attorney fees as a sanction as opposed to fines payable to the court.

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Akin Can't 'Recast' Appeal As Good-Faith Effort, 9th Circ. Told

By Lauren Berg

A European winemaker slammed attempts by a U.S. importer and its Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to "recast a frivolous appeal as a good-faith effort," saying they should have to pay monetary sanctions for pursuing what the Ninth Circuit called a "self-indulgent" appeal of a valid arbitration award.

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Atty, Brother Say Father's Last Will Altered In Secret

By Emily Sawicki

A Blank Rome LLP attorney and his brother have sued the attorney who executed their father's will in New Jersey federal court, alleging the lawyer preyed on their ailing father toward the end of his life to alter his beneficiaries through undue influence, forgery and fraud.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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