5th Circ. Revives Penske Vicarious Liability Suit

By Linda Chiem

The Fifth Circuit Tuesday revived a lawsuit alleging trucking services giant Penske Logistics LLC and its freight broker affiliate Penske Transportation Management LLC are vicariously liable for a fatal 2018 Texas collision, after the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Montgomery ruling reshaped brokers' liability exposure.

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Ford Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Lemon Law Fake-Billing Suit

By Linda Chiem

Ford Motor Co. has asked the Ninth Circuit to revive its racketeering lawsuit accusing three attorneys affiliated with Knight Law Group LLP of orchestrating a massive fraudulent billing scheme, saying First Amendment protections don't immunize the attorneys' underlying conduct in California lemon law litigation against the automaker.

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Spirit Airlines Sells Detroit Airport Hangar Space For $18M

By Vince Sullivan

Bankrupt budget airline Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc. received approval Tuesday from a New York judge to sell its hangar space at Detroit's major airport for $18 million, with the airport's owner acquiring the existing ground lease and the debtor's improvements to the property.

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Workers Should Get Back Pay In RLA Dispute, 9th Circ. Says

By Emily Brill

A California federal judge erred by refusing to order an airline caterer to provide its workers with back pay after a healthcare dispute with a union, a split Ninth Circuit ruled Tuesday, saying the Railway Labor Act violation committed by the caterer occasioned a back pay award.

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11th Circ. Backs $12M Battery IP Award, But Drops Damages

By Theresa Schliep

The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a Florida federal jury's conclusion that a battery charger company infringed a competitor's trademarks with Amazon advertisements and other communications and upheld a $12.1 million disgorgement order — although it ordered a new trial on a separate $1.3 million damages award.

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Ex-Volkswagen Engineers Plead Not Guilty To Insider Trading

By Frank G. Runyeon

Two former Volkswagen engineers pled not guilty to insider trading charges in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday, rejecting claims that they illegally made $300,000 in profits trading on the carmaker's plans with electric car specialist Rivian.

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Brief

6th Circ. Says No Injunction For Ex-Plant Worker Suing Aptiv

By Susan Smiley

A former plant manager for automotive technology company Aptiv will not have his employment benefits reinstated after he suffered a severe medical crisis and was terminated from his job, a Sixth Circuit panel said Tuesday, affirming a decision by the Ohio federal court.

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Colo. Judge Stays Carvana Manager's Safety Concerns Suit

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado federal judge agreed to stay a former Carvana manager's lawsuit against the automobile dealer that claimed the company fired him for reporting violations of motor vehicle safety regulations and raising safety concerns.

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Land Rover Renews Bid To Arbitrate Brake Defect Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

Jaguar Land Rover is urging a New Jersey federal judge to end or stay a proposed class action over claims Range Rover brakes have a defect that causes premature wear, arguing that the drivers all agreed to arbitration.

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Amazon Delivery System Suppresses Wages, NJ AG Says

By Carla Baranauckas

New Jersey's attorney general hit Amazon with a federal antitrust suit Tuesday, alleging the company engineered its Delivery Service Partner program to create a "captive seller," then used its dominance to impose substandard pay, harsh working conditions and anti‑union tactics on thousands of last‑mile delivery drivers across the state.

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Modivcare, White & Case Settle Ch. 11 Fee Dispute

By Clara Geoghegan

A Texas bankruptcy judge has approved a deal between Modivcare and advisers to its official committee of unsecured creditors, putting to bed turmoil over the committee's $19 million fee application and a connected contempt motion against the reorganized health services group.

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Ex-Flextronics GC Deputy Can't Ditch Calif. IP Theft Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

The former deputy general counsel for Flextronics AP LLC cannot escape litigation alleging he sought to transfer company patents to a startup he secretly co-founded before leaving the Singapore electronics giant subsidiary, a California federal judge has ruled.

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Brief

Mexico, Japan Eye Trade Cooperation On Energy, AI

By Dylan Moroses

Mexico and Japan are looking to heighten their coordination on trade matters in fields including energy and technology, the two governments said after a meeting of officials.

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Climate Crisis Costs Top $8B In Indian Country, Justices Told

By Crystal Owens

More than a dozen Indigenous nations, federal Indian law professors and tribal organizations are backing Boulder County, Colorado, in the Supreme Court, telling the justices that climate change has already caused roughly $8 billion in disruptions across Indian Country, yet the federal government provides only $400 million to mitigate them.

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Corps, Enbridge Seek Win In Tribe's Line 5 Reroute Permit Suit

By Crystal Owens

The federal government and Enbridge Energy are looking to dismiss a challenge to a permit that allows 41 miles of pipeline to be rerouted around a Wisconsin tribe's lands, arguing that any attempts to find flaws in an environmental analysis for the plan are hasty and lack merit.

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Key Compliance Insights From Calif.'s Volvo Diesel Deal

While the future of California's vehicle emissions standards under the Clean Air Act is uncertain, the state's recent settlement with Volvo over diesel emissions hinges on the truthfulness of manufacturer representations to state regulators, and offers important lessons for companies on compliance and recordkeeping, says Thierry Montoya at FBT Gibbons.

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Brown Rudnick Adds 34 Attys, Will Open Silicon Valley Office

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Brown Rudnick LLP announced on Wednesday that it had lured a 34-attorney intellectual property litigation group from Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP and would be opening a Silicon Valley office with many of those lawyers.

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Law Grad Employment Remains High As BigLaw Drives Hires

By Aebra Coe

Class of 2025 law school graduates posted near-record high employment rates, with large law firms hiring more graduates than any other industry category as federal government hiring experienced a significant decline, according to new data released Wednesday.

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Analysis

These Firms Are Picking Up The Most PTAB Work

By Theresa Schliep

Intellectual property heavyweight Fish & Richardson PC remains the busiest firm in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, as it again secured the top spot on a list of firms with the most PTAB trials over the past three years.

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Murdaugh Loses Jury Tampering Suit Against Ex-Court Clerk

By Jake Maher

A South Carolina federal judge on Wednesday dismissed disgraced attorney Alex Murdaugh's jury tampering suit against a former court clerk who was found to have interfered in his murder trial, ruling there was no connection between his alleged damages and the ex-clerk's misconduct.

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New Mexico Joins States With Alternative Atty License Paths

By Jack Karp

Law school graduates will soon be able to earn their license to practice in New Mexico by working under an attorney's supervision and demonstrating their legal skills rather than by taking the bar exam, the state's Supreme Court chief justice told Law360 Pulse on Wednesday.

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New Mexico Says Blanche, DOJ Blocked Epstein Ranch Probe

By Lauren Berg

The state of New Mexico asked a Washington, D.C., federal court Wednesday to force the U.S. Department of Justice to hand over unredacted Jeffrey Epstein investigative files, saying it needs the materials for its own investigation of alleged crimes at the late sex offender's Santa Fe County ranch.

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Texas Firm Lands $150M HHS Services Deal For Migrant Kids

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said it has entered into a $150 million contract with a small Texas law firm to provide legal services to unaccompanied immigrant children, raising concerns from former subcontractors about the firm's experience with immigration matters.

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Simpson Thacher Witness Takes Aim At PIPE Stocks Claim

By Madison Arnold

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP wrapped up its defense Wednesday to a Florida state malpractice suit from the founder of Patriot National Inc. over the firm's handling of a private investment in public equity transaction, with a stock market expert testifying that short selling stock allowed under the deal didn't lead to the insurance services company's downfall.

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Conn. Atty To Fork Over $3,500 For AI Errors In Taco TM Beef

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut federal judge imposed a $3,500 fine on a defense attorney who submitted two motions riddled with AI-generated mistakes in a taco restaurant's trademark battle, finding that although the lawyer expressed remorse and promised to make changes to his verification process, he still showed "subjective bad faith."

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Sierra Leone Isn't Responding To Its Own Attys, Judge Told

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

A second law firm now says it is being iced out by the government of Sierra Leone in a yearslong legal battle that began over the country's dispute with a U.K.-based mining company.

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NY Legal Aid Union Averts Strike After 4 Months Of Talks

By Andrea Keckley

Another New York legal aid union has reached a deal with its organization's management, averting the possibility of a strike after its contract and those of four other unions expired at the end of June.

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CREXi Wants 9th Circ. To Undo Quinn Emanuel CoStar Row DQ

By Bryan Koenig

Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc. doesn't want to replace Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP after a California federal judge disqualified the firm from defending a copyright infringement suit by CoStar, seeking Ninth Circuit intervention and a pause on the district court case.

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