Analysis

Justices Fret Any Climate Tort Ruling Will Open Pandora's Box

By Jeff Overley

U.S. Supreme Court justices Monday pondered the risks of far-reaching fallout whether they allow or restrict burgeoning lawsuits targeting oil companies, acknowledging fears of near-limitless litigation but also struggling to distinguish climate torts from famous legal battles involving tobacco and opioids.

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Justices Unsure Climate Lawsuits Are A Constitutional Matter

By Keith Goldberg

U.S. Supreme Court justices on Monday appeared reluctant to endorse the argument that climate change lawsuits brought by state and local governments against fossil fuel companies are constitutionally prohibited, even as they questioned whether such lawsuits can be sustained.

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Spirit's Data Sale To Google Protects Consumers, Court Told

By Hailey Konnath

Spirit Airlines and Google have taken "consequential steps" to protect the privacy of millions of consumers whose data is being sold as part of the airline's bankruptcy, a consumer privacy ombudsman said in a report lodged in New York federal bankruptcy court Monday.

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Aerosonic Wins $116.8M In Joby Aero Air Data Probe IP Trial

By Elliot Weld

A Florida federal jury has awarded $116.8 million to aviation manufacturer Aerosonic LLC in its case alleging Joby Aero Inc. stole intellectual property related to air data probes.

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Youths Lose Bid To Stay Repeal Of Climate Finding

By Tom Lotshaw

A D.C. Circuit panel on Monday denied youth plaintiffs' request to stay the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's repeal of a landmark finding that greenhouse gas pollution endangers people's health while they pursue a legal challenge.

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Philippine Airlines Asks Tax Court To Cut $5.7M Off Tax Bill

By Kevin Pinner

The IRS cannot deny Philippine Airlines a tax exemption on income from passengers and excess baggage just because the Philippines taxes cargo income, the airline told the U.S. Tax Court in a bid to cut more than $5.7 million off a $7.1 million tax bill.

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Air Ambulance Co. Says Pilot's 'Inattention' Wasn't Willful

By Hayley Fowler

A pilot's actions in the cockpit during a patient transport flight that crashed in the mountains of North Carolina don't rise to the level of gross negligence or warrant punitive damages, an operator of air ambulance helicopters said in seeking to purge those claims from a personal injury suit.

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High Court Turns Away Delta Pilots' Military Leave Bias Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear former Delta Air Lines pilots' challenge to an Eleventh Circuit ruling that grounded their suit alleging the airline pushed them out of their jobs for taking military leave.

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Justices Skip American Airlines Teen In-Flight Death Suit

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a case from the family of a 14-year-old teenager who died of cardiac arrest on board an American Airlines flight, which sought clarity on what's considered an accident under the Montreal Convention.

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High Court Won't Review United Challenge To Vax Bias Class

By Patrick Hoff

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review class certification in a religious bias lawsuit over United Airlines' COVID-19 vaccine mandate, leaving in place a Fifth Circuit ruling that found no issue with the trial court's decision.

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Justices Let Uber's Win Stand In Fatal Florida Crash Suit

By Carolina Bolado

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a wrongful death suit over an accident that killed an Uber driver's ex-girlfriend, leaving in place a ruling that said the ride-sharing app could not be held liable because the driver was not logged into the app at the time of the crash.

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Insurer's Late Filing Doesn't Doom Crash Deal, Ga. Court Says

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia appeals court found Monday that an insurer's late delivery of a coverage statement did not prevent the enforcement of a settlement in a suit stemming from a car collision, sending the case back to a lower court to determine whether the deal was validly rescinded.

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Ford Didn't Need To Keep Ex-Engineer's Records, Judge Says

By Mike Curley

A Massachusetts federal magistrate judge on Monday denied a bid for curative measures from a group of drivers suing Ford Motor Co. over allegedly faulty transmissions, saying their proposed class action failed to show that the automaker had a duty to preserve records from a former chief engineer who left the company years before the suit was filed.

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Justices Pass On Fatal Drunk-Driving Qualified Immunity Case

By Marco Poggio

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a ruling granting qualified immunity to an Alabama sheriff's deputy who was accused of killing a passenger in a crash while driving drunk and off duty, then fleeing the scene.

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Split 9th Circ. Backs Ex-GM Worker's $5M Bribery Conviction

By Lauren Berg

A split Ninth Circuit on Monday upheld a former General Motors Co. commodity manager's conviction for soliciting a $5 million cash bribe from an auto parts supplier in return for ensuring it secured a $100 million contract.

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Oil Giants Seek 2029 Trial In Wash. Tribes' Climate Harm Suits

By Ben Adlin

Oil giants Exxon, Chevron, Shell and others are at odds with two Native American tribes over when to schedule a trial in the tribes' consolidated lawsuits in Washington state court accusing the companies of downplaying the risks of climate harm.

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Justices Won't Hear Google Maps Antitrust Case

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to scrutinize a Ninth Circuit decision declining to revive a proposed antitrust class action from app makers accusing Google of locking out rival maps products.

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Supreme Court Won't Rethink Trucking Co. Bargaining Order

By Tim Ryan

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a trucking company's bid to reverse a National Labor Relations Board order requiring it to bargain with a union, leaving in place a Fourth Circuit decision that found the order was supported by substantial evidence.

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CH Robinson To Acquire RXO In $5.8B Logistics Deal

By Al Barbarino

Transportation technology company C.H. Robinson Worldwide Inc. said Monday it has agreed to acquire freight broker RXO in a stock-and-cash transaction for $5.8 billion, creating a combined company with an enterprise value of over $25 billion.

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Justices Decline To Hear Post-Mallory Forum-Shopping Fight

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider whether state business-registration laws like Pennsylvania's asserting jurisdiction over out-of-state companies for out-of-state conduct alleged by out-of-state plaintiffs are unconstitutional under the dormant commerce clause.

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11th Circ. Won't Revive Carnival Cruise Jacuzzi Hatch Fall Suit

By Mike Curley

The Eleventh Circuit won't reinstate a cruise passenger's suit against Carnival Corp. alleging she fell down a jacuzzi maintenance hatch while aboard a 2024 cruise, saying she failed to show the cruise line had any constructive notice of the danger.

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High Court Won't Take Up Maine Lobster Boat Tracking Suit

By Allison Grande

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a constitutional challenge to Maine's tracking of vessels that hold federal lobster permits, a policy several lobster fishermen claimed violated their privacy rights.

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Ex-FBI Analyst Says Bove Ordered Illegal Protester Probe

By Courtney Bublé

A former FBI agent has come forward with a claim that when U.S. Circuit Judge Emil Bove was at the U.S. Department of Justice, he directed the Los Angeles field office to illegally investigate protesters.

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3rd Circ. Judge Faces Ethics Complaint For Managing PR Firm

By Adrian Cruz

A pair of U.S. senators from Delaware have filed an ethics complaint with the Third Circuit raising concerns over U.S. Circuit Judge Jennifer Mascott's purported operation of a public affairs agency, months after she was officially confirmed to the appellate court.

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Cornell Hires Ex-Deputy AG Yates To Lead Internal Review

By Christine DeRosa

Following widespread public outrage over how a former student's rape allegations were handled, Cornell University has hired former deputy U.S. attorney general and King & Spalding LLP partner Sally Yates to lead an internal review of its policies and procedures.

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Judge Newman Gets Suspension Fight Moved To 11th Circ.

By Dani Kass

Chief Justice John Roberts has transferred the Federal Circuit's investigation of suspended U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman to the Eleventh Circuit, the latter court said Tuesday.

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Texas Justices Leery Of Banning AI Deposition Transcripts

By Spencer Brewer

Texas Supreme Court justices seemed hesitant to bar attorneys outright from using artificial intelligence voice transcription software during depositions, pointing out Tuesday that multiple safeguards exist to ensure accuracy.

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DOJ Says 12-Juror Rule Would Cause Unwarranted 'Upheaval'

By Brandon Lowrey

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday urged the Supreme Court to uphold precedent allowing states to use juries of fewer than 12 people in serious criminal cases, saying overruling it could unsettle thousands of convictions and force many states to change their criminal procedure laws.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Panter On Mediating Vs. Judging

By Cara Bayles and Kelley Marcano

When attorneys come before retired Judge Michael Panter, a former circuit court judge in Cook County, Illinois, they sometimes forget that he is not there to decide their cases, but to resolve them.

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UVA Law Prof Takes On Role Of USPTO General Counsel

By Elliot Weld

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said University of Virginia School of Law professor John F. Duffy has joined the agency as its general counsel and acting solicitor.

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