3rd Circ. Revives Benicar MDL Fees Suit Against NJ Law Firm

By Carla Baranauckas

The Third Circuit on Friday revived a proposed class action against Mazie Slater Katz & Freeman LLC attorneys that claims they took excessive fees from plaintiffs' settlements in multidistrict litigation over the blood pressure drug Benicar, remanding the dispute for the district court to determine whether it has jurisdiction over the case.

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

6th Circ. Tosses Arbitration Denial In FCA Minivan Fire MDL

By Jonathan Capriel

A Michigan federal judge flubbed it when he denied Fiat Chrysler's bid to push into arbitration some of the plug-in hybrid minivan drivers who claim in multidistrict litigation that their vehicles could spontaneously explode, the Sixth Circuit ruled Thursday, saying the judge tipped the scales against the automaker by raising arguments the drivers hadn't mentioned.

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

Dow, Others Can't Duck NY Water District's Contamination Suit

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

Dow and two other companies must face a New York state water district's claims that they contaminated drinking water supply wells with a highly toxic chemical, a federal judge has said.

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

Tesla Faces Trial Over Fatal Autopilot Crash In Florida

By Carolina Bolado

The first third-party wrongful death case involving Tesla's autopilot system is headed to trial Monday in Miami federal court, where jurors will determine whether the autopilot was at fault for the death of a pedestrian in a Florida Keys crash.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

5th Circ. Cites Expert Errors In Rejecting BP Spill Sinus Claims

By Jonathan Capriel

The Fifth Circuit has ended a cleanup worker's toxic tort lawsuit against BP Exploration & Production Inc. claiming he suffered sinus issues from cleaning up the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, saying his experts' testimony, some of which was riddled with errors, was properly ejected by the trial court.

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

Analysis

Courts Face Early Push To Expand Justices' Injunction Ruling

By Katie Buehler

In the two weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court curtailed federal judges' ability to issue universal injunctions, Trump administration attorneys have begun pushing to expand the decision's limits to other forms of relief used in regulatory challenges and class actions. So far, judges don't appear receptive to those efforts. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ethiopian Airlines Case Settles '2 Minutes' Before Last Hearing

By Lauraann Wood

A Chicago damages trial set for a man who lost his immediate family in an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash can be taken off the books because his case settled "literally two minutes" before his final pretrial hearing, attorneys told an Illinois federal judge Friday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Transportation Policies To Watch In 2025: A Midyear Report

By Linda Chiem

Sweeping new tariffs, revised vehicle emission and fuel-economy standards, and aviation safety reforms are some of the transportation industry's top regulatory priorities to watch in the second half of 2025.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

7th Circ. Tosses Korean Samsung Arm From Vape Battery Suit

By Mike Curley

The Seventh Circuit won't revive a minor's claims against South Korea-based Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. over his injuries from an exploding vape battery, saying there's too much of a "disconnect" between the company's marketing of batteries for use in battery packs and finished products and the sale of an individual battery like the one in this case.

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

Stanley Mug Maker Seeks To Dodge Class Suit Over Lid Recall

By Rachel Riley

The Seattle-based company behind the popular Stanley-brand tumbler is urging a Washington federal judge to throw out a proposed class action from consumers who alleged the company's travel mug is defective, criticizing the plaintiffs' counsel for "sprinting to the courthouse" even though the manufacturer offered replacement lids during a voluntary recall.

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

Cannabis Industry Group Praises Hemp Ban In Spending Bill

By Sam Reisman

A cannabis industry trade group has applauded a U.S. Senate committee's adoption of language in a federal appropriations bill that would ban consumable hemp-derived products with THC, while hemp industry stakeholders are seeking to use a one-year delay to amend a policy they say would kill the market.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2nd Circ. Backs NY Liability Law Targeting Gunmakers

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Second Circuit has upheld a New York public nuisance statute that opens up firearm manufacturers to civil lawsuits for acts of violence involving their guns.

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

Gun Group's NJ Nuisance Law Case Paused Amid State Action

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey federal judge has put the National Shooting Sports Foundation's lawsuit against the Garden State on hold, finding that the group's challenges to a state law — holding gunmakers and sellers liable for crimes committed with their products — are also being raised by one of its members in a related state enforcement action.

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

Dem States Drop Bid To Block Machine Gun Trigger Returns

By Mike Curley

Sixteen Democrat-led states and the District of Columbia told a Maryland federal judge Friday that they are dropping their motion to block the federal government from returning forced-reset triggers for guns to their owners, following declarations from the government and others that they would not distribute the products into states where possession is illegal.

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

Mich. Gun Store Seeks Escape From School Shooting Suit

By Carolyn Muyskens

A gun dealer has asked a Michigan state appellate court to dismiss a lawsuit over the sale of a gun used in a deadly school shooting, arguing it can't be held responsible for the buyer giving the gun to his son.

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

Firing Of DOJ Ethics Chief Draws Watchdog Groups' Concerns

By Jack Karp

Attorney General Pam Bondi has fired the attorney responsible for advising the U.S. Department of Justice's top officials on matters of ethics, according to a Monday social media post by that ethics lawyer.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

WilmerHale DQed From Representing Verizon In Patent Row

By Adam Lidgett

A federal magistrate judge in Texas has disqualified WilmerHale from representing Verizon on the eve of a trial over allegations that the telecommunications company infringed wireless communications patents owned by Headwater Research.

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

Girardi Keese CFO Gets 5 Concurrent Years For Aiding Theft

By Lauraann Wood

Girardi Keese's former accounting head should serve more than five years alongside the 10 he's already logging for his role in helping Tom Girardi steal millions from plane crash clients who'd settled their cases in Chicago, an Illinois federal judge said Monday.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

UAE Prisoner Voluntarily Drops Suit Against Ex-Dechert GC

By Emily Sawicki

A Jordanian lawyer imprisoned in the United Arab Emirates has permanently dropped a Philadelphia civil suit seeking discovery against Dechert LLP's former general counsel in the U.S. over what the law firm's leadership knew of alleged human rights abuses committed by a former partner.

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

6th Circ. Judge Is 1st Sen. Confirmation Of Trump's 2nd Term

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 46-42 on Monday evening to confirm Whitney Hermandorfer, director of the Office of the Tennessee Attorney General's Strategic Litigation Unit, to the Sixth Circuit, making her the first judicial confirmation of the second Trump administration.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Audio

San Francisco DA: 'Tough On Crime' Can Also Be Thoughtful

By Brandon Lowrey

In 2022, San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins took charge of an office in turmoil after leading a successful recall effort against her predecessor, whom she criticized as too soft on crime. Now, Jenkins is under harsh public scrutiny as she works to shift the office's priorities. In this audio interview with the new Criminal Practice Law360, she discusses some of the challenges — and opportunities — of one of the highest-profile and most politicized prosecutors' offices in the nation.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

NY Court Declines To Make Trump US Atty Permanent

By Andrea Keckley

The Northern District of New York said on Monday that it has declined to appoint interim U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III to the permanent seat ahead of his short-term tenure's expiration, despite his previous comments to the contrary to local media.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fla. Landlord Accuses Akerman Of Botching Lease Language

By Emily Sawicki

Real estate investor Turner Healthcare Facilities Fund LP on Monday accused its former Akerman LLP counsel in a south Florida state court of having committed a $45 million "mistake" by approving unenforceable clauses in leases on properties the investor owned.

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

Texas AG Says Several Officials Indicted For Ballot Collection

By Spencer Brewer

The Texas Office of the Attorney General released a statement Monday announcing indictments and arrests for nine people for an allegedly ongoing ballot collection scheme in Frio County, adding to a growing list of state officials facing charges for participation in the alleged scheme.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Supreme Court Clears Way For Education Dept. Layoffs

By Katie Buehler and Jeff Overley

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday lifted a Massachusetts federal judge's order halting massive job cuts at the U.S. Department of Education, allowing the Trump administration to move forward with firing nearly 1,400 employees.

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

CFTC Must Pay $3M Atty Fees As Sanctions In Forex Case

By Jake Maher

A New Jersey federal judge ordered the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday to pay back over $3.1 million in attorney fees to a foreign exchange company after dismissing the regulator's case for bad-faith sanctionable behavior.

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

Former Del. GOP Leader Sworn In As US Atty

By Lynn LaRowe

The former head of the Delaware Republican Party was sworn in Monday as the top federal prosecutor in the First State, according to the agency's website and a social media post from the attorney.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »