Split Fed. Circ. Affirms Tesla's Loss In Charger Patent Fight

By Adam Lidgett

A split Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday refused to revive Tesla's challenge to a Charge Fusion Technologies patent on electric vehicle charging, backing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that the automobile company failed to show it was invalid.

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9th Circ. Upends $8M Asbestos Verdict Against BNSF

By Linda Chiem

The Ninth Circuit has ruled that BNSF Railway Co. cannot be held strictly liable under Montana law for transporting asbestos-containing vermiculite and letting vermiculite dust collect on tracks and its railyard, upending the $8 million jury verdict awarded to the estates of two former Libby, Montana, residents who developed mesothelioma.

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NJ Transit Allowed To Pick Horizon Over Aetna, Panel Finds

By George Woolston

New Jersey Transit Corp.'s award of a health benefits administration contract to Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey was not unreasonable despite the proposal being more expensive than one submitted by Aetna, a state appeals panel found Wednesday.

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Tesla Must Face Anti-American Hiring Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

A California federal judge declined to let Tesla out of a bias suit claiming it declined to hire American citizens in favor of foreign workers, ruling one of the applicants behind the case put forward "just enough" detail to show prejudice may have driven hiring decisions.

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CSX Strikes Deal To Wrap Up Ex-Manager's Retaliation Suit

By Chart Riggall

Rail giant CSX has reached a deal to end a lawsuit from a former maintenance manager who alleged he was met with "screaming, cussing, and hollering" for reporting railway safety concerns before eventually being forced out of his job, according to a Georgia federal court filing. 

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2nd Circ. Skeptical Of Expanding Collectives' Borders

By Irene Spezzamonte

A Second Circuit panel seemed doubtful about allowing workers from a state other than where a Fair Labor Standards Act case arises to join a collective, signaling that it might side with Bimbo Bakeries in a case accusing the company of misclassifying delivery workers as independent contractors.

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Enbridge Cites 'Painful' Risk In Bid To Delay Line Shutdown

By Corey Rothauser

Enbridge Energy LP insists that a Wisconsin federal court has the authority to pause a looming shutdown of a portion of its Line 5 pipeline, telling a judge that keeping the crude oil and natural gas liquids line running amid an appeal would prevent "painful, irreparable harm" to consumers, workers and energy markets in the U.S. and Canada.

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Levona Wants Permanent Injunction In Eletson Gas Spat

By Emily Lever

Levona Holdings urged a New York district court to permanently bar the former majority shareholders of Eletson Gas from exercising any control over the company or interfering with Levona's ownership of the preferred interests in the company, several weeks after the federal court vacated a $102 million arbitration award in the feud.

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BLM Nom Faces Sen. Committee Heat Over Public Lands Stance

By Keith Goldberg

President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Bureau of Land Management on Wednesday faced tough questions from a Senate energy panel over prior comments he made that advocated for selling off large swaths of public lands.

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Tom Goldstein Guilty On Tax Evasion, 11 Other Counts

By Jared Foretek

SCOTUSblog founder and famed U.S. Supreme Court advocate Thomas Goldstein was found guilty of tax evasion, as well as aiding in the filing of false tax returns and lying on loan applications, by a Maryland federal jury Wednesday. 

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Patterson Belknap Adds Ex-SDNY Prosecutor Maurene Comey

By Alison Knezevich

Former Manhattan federal prosecutor Maurene Comey, who handled some of the nation's highest-profile cases before she was fired by the Trump administration, has joined Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, the firm announced Wednesday.

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Cat Cover Story In Ginsburg Health Hack Gives Judge Pause

By Hayley Fowler

A Fourth Circuit jurist on Wednesday seemed fixated on the feline excuse a former hospital transplant coordinator gave FBI agents when he was questioned in 2019 about accessing U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's healthcare records.

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Democrats Cast Doubt On New DOJ Fraud Role

By Courtney Bublé

During the confirmation hearing on Wednesday for President Donald Trump's nominee for the new assistant attorney general for fraud role, Democrats expressed anxiety about the White House's involvement in the fraud crackdown and how genuine the effort is.

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Dems Demand Explanation For DOJ Antitrust Chief's Exit

By Lauren Berg

Two Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee demanded Wednesday that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi explain to lawmakers why the U.S. Department of Justice's antitrust chief was forced to resign, expressing concern about the administration's potential interference with merger reviews and antitrust litigation.

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Florida Co. Blames Holland & Hart For $21M Judgment

By Zach Dupont

A Florida-based company claimed in Colorado federal court Wednesday that a Holland & Hart LLP attorney was negligent in representing it in a lawsuit from the city of Fort Collins that eventually ended in a more than $21 million judgment against the company.

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'Do Not Lie To Me': Calif. Judge Panel Agrees Credibility Is Key

By Bonnie Eslinger

California federal judges speaking at a Federal Bar Association panel in San Francisco have urged attorneys to protect their credibility in the courtroom, with one judge bluntly telling lawyers "do not lie to me" and another revealing it's "shocking" how frequently judges share notes about lawyers.

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Justices Set New Limits On Recess Testimony Talks

By Cara Salvatore

A unanimous Supreme Court set limits Wednesday on the right to counsel during overnight breaks in a defendant's testimony under the Sixth Amendment, ruling that prohibiting talk about "testimony for its own sake" strikes an appropriate constitutional balance.

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Netflix Swaps Out Latham For Munger Tolles In Antitrust Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

Latham & Watkins LLP withdrew Wednesday as defense counsel for Netflix in a proposed consumer class action in Illinois federal court claiming Meta cut an illegal deal ceding the video streaming market to Netflix, which is now represented by Munger Tolles & Olson LLP.

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Foley & Lardner Wants 'Scattershot' Malpractice Suit Tossed

By Rose Krebs

Foley & Lardner LLP is urging the Delaware Superior Court to toss a malpractice suit accusing the firm of negligence in representing an officer of a now-defunct food recycling company in a Chancery Court case that led to a $1.6 million judgment, saying it "suffers from basic pleading defects."

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