Rising Star: Stokes Lawrence's Rachael Wallace

By Mike Curley

Rachael Wallace of Stokes Lawrence PS has spent her career navigating the tricky waters of maritime law, including winning a defense verdict for commercial fishery Fishermen's Finest and defeating a motion to dismiss for a plaintiff client in a missing-cargo suit, earning her a spot among the transportation law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

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Roundup

Transportation Tracker: Boeing, CH Robinson Verdicts

By Linda Chiem

In our latest Law360 Transportation Tracker, an Illinois jury awarded $29 million to the family of a U.N. worker killed in the 2019 crash of a Boeing 737 Max 8, while freight broker C.H. Robinson was hit with a blockbuster $604 million verdict in Texas over a fatal 2021 trucking accident.

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Illinois-Led States Win TRO To Block DOT Bid For CDL Data

By Tom Lotshaw

A Virginia federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from obtaining a database containing information on 17 million commercial driver's license holders, ruling in favor of 21 states that allege it unlawfully demanded the records for immigration enforcement.

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Papa John's Wage Deal Is 'Collusive Fiction,' Judge Says

By MJ Koo

A North Carolina federal judge rejected a proposed $225,000 settlement that would resolve delivery drivers' wage claims against a Papa John's franchisee, finding the deal was a "collusive fiction" that benefited the company and class counsel rather than the drivers, who would likely receive no more than $35,000.

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Engine Concerns Spark NHTSA Probe Of 1M GM Vehicles

By Joyce Hanson

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it has opened an investigation into nearly 1 million General Motors pickups and sport utility vehicles based on complaints about engine failure after a recall remedy had already been completed.

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US Postal Service Hit With $8.6M Crash Suit Verdict

By Jonathan Capriel

The government must pay nearly $8.6 million after a U.S. Postal Service driver blew through a rural Texas intersection — which was missing a stop sign — and crashed into a minivan, injuring three, a federal judge has ruled, pinning all the blame on the postal worker's "distracted or mindless driving."

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Union Pacific Loses Bid To Block BIPA Class Claims

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge on Thursday certified a class of more than 22,000 truck drivers accusing Union Pacific of violating Illinois' biometric privacy law and denied the railroad's bid for summary judgment, finding that the finger scans in question fall in the purview of the statute and rejecting the railroad's federal preemption and government-contractor defenses.

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Argentina Says DC Circ. Misread Time Bar On $391M Award

By Caroline Simson

Argentina on Thursday urged the D.C. Circuit to rethink its decision rejecting a three-year statute of limitations in a dispute over the enforcement of a $391 million arbitral award, calling the ruling an "outlier" that conflicts with Second Circuit precedent.

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Brief

EU Closes Pratt & Whitney Probe After Contract Changes

By Matthew Perlman

European enforcers said on Friday they closed an antitrust investigation into Pratt & Whitney Canada after the manufacturer changed its contracts to remove terms that allegedly prevented spare part suppliers from accessing used aircraft engines.

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Brief

RTX Unit Beats Gender Hiring Bias Appeal In Connecticut

By Aaron Keller

RTX Corp.'s Pratt & Whitney aircraft unit prevailed a second time Friday against a female candidate's claim that she wasn't hired because of her gender, with a Connecticut appeals court affirming gender wasn't a motivating factor and that some of the woman's arguments rested on hearsay.

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Uber, DoorDash Lose Most Of NYC Tip Prompt Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A New York federal judge kept alive DoorDash and Uber's compelled-speech challenge to New York City laws requiring delivery platforms to display a tipping prompt at or before checkout that includes an option of at least 10%, but tossed their remaining five claims.

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Australian Enforcer Sues Subaru Over Right To Repair

By Nadia Dreid

Australia's competition enforcer is taking Subaru to court, accusing the Australian arm of the Japanese car manufacturer of breaking the country's antitrust laws by failing to offer all car mechanics the diagnostic capabilities that it gives Subaru-affiliated repair shops.

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Produce Co. Says Staffing Firm Owes Defense In Pot Test Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

Plant-based protein food producer Myrtle Greens says it shouldn't be on the hook in a hiring discrimination lawsuit filed by a man who was turned away from a delivery job due to a positive drug test, arguing that all hiring is done by a third-party contractor that allegedly agreed to indemnify the food-maker.

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DC Circ. Voids Block On OMB Funding Freeze

By Jared Foretek

The D.C. Circuit on Friday vacated a district judge's block on the Trump administration's pause on a wide array of federal grants, loans and financial assistance, ruling that the Office of Management and Budget's rescission of the memorandum rendered the lawsuit moot.

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Judge Lets Cruise Passenger Refile Legionnaires' Complaint

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge on Friday dismissed a cruise passenger's lawsuit alleging he contracted Legionnaires' disease during a cruise, but allowed him to refile his complaint after finding that his amended suit was a "shotgun pleading" that failed to separate claims. 

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2nd Circ. Backs NY Water Permit For Pipeline Project

By Keith Goldberg

The Second Circuit on Friday upheld New York's issuance of a Clean Water Act permit for a controversial Williams Cos. pipeline upgrade, saying state environmental regulators justified their about-face from previous permit denials over pollution concerns.

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Roundup

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

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen former Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten sue a fur auction house, private equity and pensions magnate Edmund Truell hit by a commercial fraud claim and Charles Russell Speechlys file a contract claim against two of its previous clients in the Middle East.

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AGs Want Meta's Privilege Claims Reviewed In Bellwether Trial

By Dorothy Atkins

During a break in a jury trial Monday over states' claims Meta hid social media's harm, states' counsel urged a California federal judge to require Meta to re-review all of its attorney-client privilege designations, arguing that "it seems actually logically impossible" that Meta described the wrong standard in only a single document.  

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Legal Center Says DOJ Is Stonewalling Fund Records Request

By Jared Foretek

A voting rights nonprofit is accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of stonewalling a request for records on the Trump administration's attempted "anti-weaponization fund," claiming that the agency has spent the summer unlawfully ducking a Freedom of Information Act submission.

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Galindo Law Files For Ch. 11 After Camp Lejeune Fee Fight

By Ben Zigterman

A Houston-based personal injury law firm sought bankruptcy relief on Monday with more than $50 million in liabilities after a mass tort litigation marketing company sued for over $9 million in fees related to finding potential victims of water contamination at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune.

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Attys Ask Court To Toss Suit Alleging They Stole 1,000 Cases

By Spencer Brewer

Multiple attorneys asked a Texas federal court to toss claims that they conspired to hijack 1,000 cases filed by hurricane survivors who had hired and built cases with a different firm, claiming the firm that brought the suit failed to plead a viable RICO claim.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week saw a wave of lawsuits involving corporate oversight, take-private deals, financing transactions, bankruptcy fallout, stockholder voting rights and disputes over control.

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