Analysis

Trump's China Visit Reveals Signs Of Continued Trade Truce

By Dylan Moroses

Signals from President Donald Trump's visit to China indicate an ongoing trade truce with the U.S. may continue, though concrete details on tariff reductions and policy changes were largely absent from the meetings.

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Cummins Beats Emissions Derivative Suits, For Now

By Linda Chiem

An Indiana federal judge on Wednesday dismissed consolidated shareholder derivative litigation alleging engine manufacturer Cummins Inc.'s top executives breached their fiduciary duties by overseeing a scheme to rig vehicles with emissions-cheating software, prompting $2 billion in penalties to settle regulators' claims concerning Clean Air Act violations.

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Royal Caribbean Can't Avoid Arbitration In Voyeurism Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A Florida federal judge has adopted a magistrate's recommendation denying arbitration for Royal Caribbean in a suit alleging a now-former employee secretly filmed passengers after placing hidden cameras in their rooms.

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Toyota Settles Fatal 'Smart Key' Suit Just Before Trial

By Kelcey Caulder

Toyota has settled a lawsuit over the fatal carbon monoxide poisoning of a man who accidentally left his 2017 Tacoma running in his attached garage, just before trial was set to start on his wife's claims that buyers weren't warned about risks associated with the truck's keyless ignition system.

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American Airlines Can't Duck Flight Attendants' OT Suit

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge Tuesday refused to dismiss a putative class action brought by flight attendants alleging American Airlines failed to properly compensate them for overtime work, saying the airline's argument that their claims are preempted and require interpreting collective bargaining agreements is premature.

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Spirit OK'd For $275M DIP To Simplify 20-Plane Sale In Ch. 11

By Ben Zigterman

Spirit Airlines received approval Wednesday for $275 million in Chapter 11 financing that aims to simplify the previously approved sale of 20 aircraft to a stalking horse buyer as it seeks to preserve assets during its wind-down.

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3rd Circ. Affirms Toss Of Spirit Airlines Site Tracking Suit

By Gina Kim

The Third Circuit has refused to revive a proposed class action accusing the now-defunct Spirit Airlines of recording communications by visitors to its website, finding the plaintiffs voluntarily provided information to look for flights and that, at any rate, many understand "'that what we do on the Internet is not completely private.'"

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Southwest Union Says Airline Shouldn't Access Member Texts

By Spencer Brewer

Southwest's union asked a Texas federal court to bar the airline from accessing every text message of two of its members at the center of a suit alleging Southwest retaliated against union activity, saying that the airline failed to show why it should get complete access.

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Ga. Panel Orders New Trial In Highway Collision Case

By Mike Curley

A Georgia appeals panel has ordered a new trial for a woman who was injured when her stopped vehicle was struck by a speeding Ford F-150 truck on a Georgia highway, finding that the jury was improperly instructed on the "sudden emergency" doctrine.

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Fla. Panel Says Confederate Tag Didn't Bias Crash Case Jury

By Elizabeth Daley

A man sentenced for seven crimes in connection with crashing his car into another vehicle was not unfairly prejudiced when the trial court admitted into evidence photos from the crash showing the Confederate flag tag he had affixed to his car, a Florida state appeals court said Wednesday.

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Truck Stop Giant Gets $22M Judgment In Biz Sale Row

By José Luis Martínez

Truck stop operator Pilot Travel Centers LLC and an affiliate have secured a more than $22 million judgment in the Texas Business Court after settling claims over a financed oilfield transportation business sale.

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Bumble Bee Beats Injunctive Relief Claim In Forced Labor Suit

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge nixed Indonesian villagers' requests to have Bumble Bee Foods change its practices stemming from their suit claiming it benefited from forced labor, ruling Wednesday the plaintiffs lacked standing since they don't say they're currently working as fishers or that the alleged practices prevented them from working as fishers.

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Feds Challenge Wash. Policy Denying DHS Undercover Plates

By Ben Adlin

The Trump administration took aim Wednesday at what it described as a new unconstitutional Washington state policy that denies undercover vehicle license plates to U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials while still granting them to state and local agencies.

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US Implements Semiconductor Deal Cutting Taiwan Tariffs

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. is capping tariffs on certain Taiwanese products while eliminating some derivative tariffs on aircraft components as part of the implementation of a deal aimed at bringing semiconductor production to the U.S., the U.S. Department of Commerce said Wednesday.

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EV Co. Can Challenge 500% Rate's Constitutionality, CIT Says

By Jack McLoone

An electric golf cart company hit with interim U.S. Customs and Border Protection measures, including an over 500% duty rate on its imports, doesn't need to wait until CBP issues a final determination to bring a due process challenge, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled.

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Caterpillar Launches New Patent Suits Against Bobcat

By Elliot Weld

Construction equipment maker Caterpillar Inc. has added to an intellectual property dispute between it and rival Doosan Bobcat by filing patent infringement claims in Delaware federal court and seeking a ban on Bobcat's imports of certain heavy machinery at the U.S. International Trade Commission.

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Pharmacies Hit With Injunction In Gilead Counterfeit Drug Row

By Adam Lidgett

A New York federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction blocking a pair of Queens pharmacies from selling any human immunodeficiency virus medications that bear the Gilead name or the name of two of its products.

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Class Wants OK On $8.8M State Farm 'Diminished Value' Deal

By Danielle Ferguson

More than 15,000 motorists asked a Washington federal judge Tuesday to give the initial approval to an $8.8 million deal to resolve a proposed class action alleging State Farm failed to adequately pay for the diminished value of vehicles under its underinsured and uninsured motorists coverage.

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IRS Asked To Quickly Release Fuel Credit Emissions Model

By Kat Lucero

Energy companies and farm representatives urged the IRS on Wednesday to expedite the release of an updated greenhouse gas emissions model reflecting the 2025 budget law's changes, saying the guidance is needed to determine eligibility for and calculate the clean fuel production tax credit.

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And Now A Word From The Panel: An MDL Realignment

With seven multidistrict litigation proceedings initiated so far this year, a review of venue locations suggests a shift away from the East Coast, a seeming reversal of last year's swing in that direction, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

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Analysis

Meet Biden's Attys Fighting DOJ Release Of Memoir Materials

By Jeff Overley

Former President Joe Biden has selected Hecker Fink LLP lawyers well acquainted with politically charged litigation for his extraordinary new lawsuit accusing the U.S. Department of Justice of orchestrating a congressional inquiry in order to divulge "highly personal" records to the Heritage Foundation.

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Chicago US Atty Revamps Grand Jury Rules After Misconduct

By Parker Quinlan

Chicago's top federal prosecutor announced on Wednesday a new suite of rules for how grand jury investigations are handled after an Illinois federal judge accused the prosecutor's office of misconduct in a case against six immigration activists.

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Pierce Atwood Rips Billionaire's 'Absurd' Suit Over Asset Sale

By Sydney Price

Pierce Atwood and two attorneys urged a Massachusetts federal judge to reject a Ukrainian billionaire's suit blaming them for a $1.8 billion damages order in investor litigation over the billionaire's failed biotech company, saying his own wrongdoing led to the judgment.

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Ex-Judges Urge Court To Scrutinize Trump-IRS Deal

By Jack McLoone

A group of 35 former federal judges pushed for a Florida federal court to reopen President Donald Trump's now-settled $10 billion tax leak case against his own Internal Revenue Service, alleging that Trump and the DOJ deceived the court.

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Trump Taps Ohio Appeals Judge For Federal Bench

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he's nominating state Judge Matthew Byrne as a U.S. district judge for the Southern District of Ohio.

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Perkins Coie Docs At Issue In Omani Co.'s Malpractice Case

By Sarah Jarvis

An Oman-based screw and nail manufacturer has urged a Washington state judge to force Perkins Coie LLP to hand over a trove of documents related to the firm's past work representing the Middle Eastern company in a U.S. Department of Commerce probe, saying more information is needed to assess the law firm's defenses against claims its mistakes cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars.

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ProPublica Denied Access To Ranbaxy Antitrust MDL Docs

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Massachusetts federal court denied ProPublica's bid to unseal court filings in settled multidistrict litigation alleging a subsidiary of Indian drugmaker Sun Pharmaceuticals illegally delayed market entry of generic drugs, ruling the nonprofit news organization's request came too late in the case.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Keller Rohrback's Gretchen Freeman Cappio

By Andrea Keckley

By the time Volkswagen was exposed for touting the low emissions of cars that secretly released nitrogen oxide pollutants up to 40 times the legal limit in the U.S., Keller Rohrback LLP's Gretchen Freeman Cappio knew she wasn't interested in defending corporate giants.

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