An overall rise in recalls of motor vehicles tracks with an increase of product liability lawsuits over autos in recent years, as motor vehicle lawsuits made up half of all product liability lawsuits outside multidistrict litigation filed in 2025, according to a new report by Lex Machina.
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TOP NEWS

Analysis

Motor Vehicles Lead Product Liability Litigation, Report Says

By Emily Field

An overall rise in recalls of motor vehicles tracks with an increase of product liability lawsuits over autos in recent years, as motor vehicle lawsuits made up half of all product liability lawsuits outside multidistrict litigation filed in 2025, according to a new report by Lex Machina.

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Amazon Halts 21 Air Cargo Flights, Faces New Crash Suit

By Linda Chiem

Amazon has suspended operations with cargo carrier partner 21 Air LLC, a week after one of its planes overran a runway at Miami International Airport and plowed into vehicles, killing five people, as the company faces another negligence and wrongful death lawsuit over the wreck.

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9th Circ. Says Hyundai, Kia Parent Cos. Can't Slip Theft MDL

By Craig Clough

The Ninth Circuit on Monday found that a district court wrongly dismissed insurers' claims against the Korea-based parent companies of Kia and Hyundai alleging their vehicles were susceptible to theft, saying the lower court must conduct further analysis to determine if it can exercise personal jurisdiction over them.

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SpaceXAI Drops Apple In Antitrust Claims For OpenAI Deal

By Spencer Brewer

SpaceXAI on Monday dropped its claims that Apple breached antitrust laws by signing a deal with OpenAI to integrate ChatGPT into the iPhone but kept its claims against OpenAI Foundation intact.

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AVIATION

Gov't Beats Suit Over Fatal Georgia Plane Crash

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia federal judge threw out a suit Monday brought by a woman who alleged that negligent directives given by the Federal Aviation Administration led to her husband's death in a plane crash, finding her case too speculative. 

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Chamber Tells Justices Plane Forfeiture Should Be Blocked

By Mike Curley

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reaffirm the Eighth Amendment's excessive fines clause and find that the state of Alaska's seizure of a $95,000 plane over a six-pack of beer is out of proportion to the alleged harm.

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FCC Crafts Spectrum Plan For Drone 'Dominance'

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission's staff has agreed to waive agency rules for a federal testing program it says will give a boost to the "dominance" of the U.S. drone industry.

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Latvian Carrier AirBaltic Hits Ch. 11 After COVID, War Shocks

By Yun Park

Latvian carrier airBaltic filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Monday, citing liabilities of more than $1 billion, after years of financial strain from the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and a sharp increase in jet fuel prices following the outbreak of the Iran-U.S. conflict in early 2026.

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AUTOMOTIVE

State Farm Spared Treble Damages In Policyholders' $38M Win

By Danielle Ferguson

A Washington federal judge on Monday said policyholders failed to show they were entitled to enhanced damages after the court determined State Farm shorted them on payouts for totaled vehicles, finding class members had already been fully compensated by the $38 million in actual damages they were already awarded.

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Tesla Says Fatal Vehicle Crash Suit Belongs In Miami

By David Minsky

Tesla Inc. asked a Florida state court on Monday to transfer a lawsuit alleging the wrongful death of a passenger in a vehicle crash to Miami-Dade County, arguing that there's virtually no connection to the neighboring venue where the case was filed. 

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RAIL

Trade Court OKs ITC's Freight Coupler Duty Determination

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. International Trade Commission provided sufficient explanation for including a major U.S. producer and importer of Mexican freight rail couplers as part of the domestic industry during the course of its duty investigations, according to an opinion published Monday by the U.S. Court of International Trade.

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LOGISTICS

Debt Buyer Settles Mass. AG Complaint Over Collection Tactics

By Julie Manganis

The owner of a Massachusetts debt buyer and collection agency has agreed to walk away from approximately $52 million he sought to collect through aggressive and allegedly illegal tactics, including seizing vehicles as a way to coerce payments on unrelated loans, the state attorney general's office said Monday.

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IP

Feds Want Justices To Skip Google 'Settled Expectations' Row

By Adam Lidgett

The federal government is telling the U.S. Supreme Court that Google didn't meet the appropriate standard to get the Federal Circuit to look at the company's challenge to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's policy of using the age of patents as a reason not to review them.

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TECHNOLOGY

Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week saw disputes over allegedly fabricated board approvals at a telecom infrastructure startup, insider trading and child safety at Roblox Corp. and ownership of artificial intelligence technology used in legal proceedings.

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INSURANCE

1st Circ. Backs Travelers In RI State Worker's UIM Benefits Bid

By Hope Patti

A Travelers unit doesn't owe underinsured motorist coverage to a Rhode Island state employee who was injured in a car crash during the scope of her employment, the First Circuit said, refusing to depart from the Rhode Island Supreme Court's recent response to a pair of certified questions.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

How Cos. Can Fight Consumers' Tariff Refund Class Actions

After the U.S. Supreme Court's February decision in Learning Resources Inc. v. Trump, invalidating $165 billion of presidentially imposed tariffs, consumers have filed numerous class actions seeking tariff refunds from businesses — but companies have substantial and multifaceted defenses available against these claims, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Big Biz Coalition Backs Litigation Funding Disclosure Rule

By Ryan Boysen

Big U.S. businesses and insurers like Amazon, Anthropic, Chubb and Walmart asked the federal judiciary on Monday to tighten disclosure requirements for litigation finance, claiming the lack of guardrails allows funders to operate "in the shadows."

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Indiana Atty Hit With $10K Sanction Over False Citations

By Andrea Keckley

An Indiana federal judge on Friday adopted a magistrate judge's recommendation to sanction a local attorney $10,000 after finding that five briefs in a consumer credit case included citations to nonexistent cases.

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Jackson Lewis Removes Ex-Atty's Bias Suit To Federal Court

By Patrick Hoff

Jackson Lewis PC has moved a former associate's suit accusing the firm of refusing to accommodate her temporary work restrictions following her medical leave to California federal court, saying state court wasn't the right venue for dispute.

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Bove Rejects Recusal Bid Tied To DOJ Whistleblower Claims

By Courtney Bublé

U.S. Circuit Judge Emil Bove declined Monday to recuse himself in a Third Circuit immigration case, saying the attorneys for the petitioner are "recycling a failed pre-confirmation political smear" on him.

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State Farm Attorney Sanctioned $999.99 For AI Hallucinations

By Jonathan Capriel

An attorney for State Farm who filed several motions citing nonexistent cases and fabricated quotes generated by AI software must pay a $999.99 sanction, a Los Angeles judge ruled, an amount one cent below the threshold that would have triggered a mandatory notice to the State Bar of California under state law.

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Brief

Ex-Moses & Singer Partner Gets 10 Months For Tax Crimes

By Craig Clough

A Connecticut federal judge Monday sentenced a former Moses & Singer LLP partner to 10 months of imprisonment and ordered him to pay more than $3.1 million for failing to file personal income tax returns, the U.S. attorney's office announced.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

21 Air LLC

3M Co.

Amazon.com Inc.

Amsted Industries Inc.

Anthropic PBC

Apple Inc.

Atlas Air Inc.

Atlas Energy LP

ClearList LLC

Compass Minerals International, Inc.

Costco Wholesale Corp.

Experian PLC

FCA US LLC

Five Below Inc.

Ford Motor Co.

Global Logistic Properties Ltd.

Google LLC

Hayfin Capital Management LLP

Herzog

International Legal Finance Association

Johnson & Johnson

LG Chem Ltd.

Lawyers for Civil Justice

Learning Resources Inc.

Lex Machina Inc.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

Liberty Mutual Insurance Group

Mercedes-Benz USA LLC

Morgan Stanley

National Association of Manufacturers

Nissan Motor Co. Ltd.

Oaktree Capital Management LP

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Pratt & Whitney

RELX PLC

Roblox Corp.

State Bar of California

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co.

Strategic Value Partners LLC

Target Corp.

Tesla Inc.

The Associated Press

The Travelers Cos. Inc.

Thomson Reuters Corp.

TikTok Inc.

Toyota Motor Corp.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Wabtec Corp.

Walmart Inc.

X Corp.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Akerman LLP

Alston & Bird

Axinn

Badgley Mullins

Brown Pruitt

Cantey Hanger

Covington & Burling

Cummins & White

Duggan & Gianacoplos

Gordon Rees

Grotefeld Hoffmann

Grunfeld Desiderio

Hodgson Russ

Jackson Lewis PC

Jenner & Block

Johnson Becker

Jones Day

Kelley Uustal

King & Spalding

Lanier Law Firm

Law Offices of Daniel R. Whitmore

Luks Santaniello

Lynn Pinker

Milbank LLP

Morrison Mahoney

Moses & Singer

Munger Tolles

Musick Peeler

Nelson & Fraenkel

Nelson Mullins

Paganelli Law Group

Patterson Belknap

Quill & Arrow

Rice Dolan

Robinson & Cole

Russ August

Shook Hardy

Strategic Legal Practices

Theta Law Firm

Wachtell Lipton

Wheeler Trigg

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Alaska Attorney General

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Delaware Court of Chancery

Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Communications Commission

International Trade Commission

Miami International Airport

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

National Transportation Safety Board

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia

United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana