Texas Appeals Court Reverses $73M Train Accident Judgment

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appeals court Tuesday reversed a $73 million judgment and ordered a new trial for a woman who sued Union Pacific Railroad Co. after a train hit her as she slept on the tracks, saying the trial court applied the wrong negligence standard.

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7th Circ. Scraps American Airlines Toxic Uniforms Suit

By Linda Chiem

The Seventh Circuit said Tuesday that American Airlines employees suing over allegedly toxic uniforms didn't have sufficient expert evidence suggesting the uniforms triggered their allergic reactions and other health symptoms, rejecting their bid to invoke the legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur to infer a defect or negligence.

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Judge Won't Nix Minor's Guardian In Ethiopia Crash Suit

By Mike Curley

An Illinois federal judge won't remove a court-appointed independent guardian for the minor child of a victim of the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash, saying the litigation behavior of the child's grandparents in opposing the appointment has only reinforced the need for one.

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5th Circ. Revives Plane Crash Suit Under Texas Tolling Law

By Y. Peter Kang

The Fifth Circuit on Tuesday revived a suit alleging that a pilot's severe crash injuries were caused by several companies' defective parachute and safety systems, saying the Texas Savings Statute does indeed apply to the pilot's third lawsuit related to the crash.

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9th Circ. Rejects FCA Bid To Pause Headrest Class Trial

By Joyce Hanson

The Ninth Circuit has rejected outright Fiat Chrysler's bid to pause class action proceedings over supposedly defective Jeep and Dodge headrests during the automaker's preparation of a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court as it pushes for arbitration in the case.

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Calif. Panel Upholds $19.5M Verdict In Bicycle Crash Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

A California state appeals court has affirmed a $19.5 million verdict against a motorist who ran a red light and struck a bicyclist at a crosswalk, rejecting the driver's argument that the sum was excessive because the jury heard prejudicial testimony about her not wearing her prescription glasses.

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GM Says Cadillac EV Owners' Design Defect Suit Falls Flat

By Susan Smiley

General Motors has asked a Washington federal judge to toss a proposed class action accusing the automaker of false advertising and concealing design defects in its Cadillac Lyriq electric vehicle, saying the complaint fails to make any specific claims or show how the plaintiffs were harmed by the alleged electrical malfunctions.

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Brief

Fla.'s Brightline Railway Gets Bond Payment Extension

By Emlyn Cameron

The Florida Development Finance Corp. has extended the term rate on $985 million in bonds borrowed by Brightline Florida Holdings LLC in relation to a project to expand passenger rail in the Sunshine State, according to a notice released Tuesday.

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Feds Dropped From Foreign Drivers' Fla. License Ban Suit

By Britain Eakin

Nineteen foreign drivers challenging a Florida agency's decision to stop issuing commercial driver's licenses to some noncitizens have dropped the federal government from their suit after the U.S. Department of Transportation argued that the case belongs in a federal appeals court.

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Justices Told Jules Upends 3rd Circ. Arbitration Ruling

By Caroline Simson

Litigation funder Burford Capital told the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday that the justices' decision this year finding federal courts that have sent a dispute to arbitration retain jurisdiction in subsequent enforcement proceedings was enough to warrant undoing a Third Circuit decision the company called erroneous.

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EU Parliament Approves Trade Deal With US

By Dylan Moroses

European Union lawmakers voted Tuesday to approve legislation implementing the bloc's safeguard-bolstered trade deal with the U.S. founded on a series of tariff cuts, moving one step closer to implementation that is expected before the end of the month.

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Boat Listing Service Escapes Antitrust Claims For Now

By Matthew Perlman

A Florida federal court on Tuesday dismissed an antitrust case accusing Boats Group LLC of monopolizing the market for online platforms used to buy and sell boats, finding the conduct being attacked is not anticompetitive.

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Connecticut Owner Barred From Razing 1835 Captain's House

By Aaron Keller

At Connecticut's request, a state judge has briefly barred a property owner from demolishing a nearly 200-year-old house, giving the parties time to argue whether longer-lasting protections are warranted after the state sought to include the building in a proposed historic district.

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ITC To Review Hoverboard Patent Infringement Decision

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. International Trade Commission said Tuesday that it will review portions of an administrative law judge's decision finding two companies infringed two Razor USA LLC patents for self-balancing hoverboards.

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Chevron's Climate Suit Comparison Meets Skeptical Judge

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state judge pushed back Tuesday after Chevron and other oil giants urged dismissal of a family's lawsuit over a 2021 heatwave death, saying this case differs from a host of failed climate torts because it focuses on a single fatality from a "very specific weather event."

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Aviation Watch: Product Safety Lessons From The UPS Crash

The National Transportation Safety Board's recent hearing concerning the crash of a UPS jet late last year highlighted the importance of maintaining records documenting analysis of design defects, adequately warning users of defects and related safety issues, and requiring use of improved designs, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

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Regulatory Rollbacks Complicate Car Co. Compliance Plans

As federal fuel economy and emissions regulations undergo seismic changes, and gas prices surge, automakers seeking to position their product lines for the future face a difficult strategic choice: whether to treat today's regulatory rollback as a lasting shift or as a temporary opening in an uncertain market, says Thomas Healy at Honigman.

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The Paradoxical Duty To Adopt AI When You Can't Bill For It

Both billing for hours saved using artificial intelligence and preserving billable time by not adopting AI may violate rules of professional conduct, but until bar associations' ethics rules catch up to this emerging economic dilemma, firms must decide how to adjust fee structures themselves, says Ines Lassalle at Peyrot & Associates.

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Full Fed. Circ. To Hear Immigration Judges' Firing Challenge

By Ganesh Setty

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday agreed to conduct en banc review over the firing of two immigration judges, after the Merit Systems Protection Board ruled that they constituted inferior officers who are subject to at-will removal by the president.

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No Discipline For DOJ Atty's 'Lapse Of Judgment' In ICE Case

By Emily Sawicki

A Rhode Island federal prosecutor who knowingly withheld information about a detainee's criminal history at the behest of immigration enforcement, leading to an "unfounded attack" against a federal judge by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following the detainee's release, violated his duty of candor but will not face discipline, the district's chief judge determined.

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Trump Halts Clayton Director Hearing Over Blue-Slip Dispute

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump directed Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, not to appear for his confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to be director of national intelligence, in part over a blue-slip issue.

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Maya Kowalski Sues Ex-Atty Over Fees, Funding Loan

By Carolina Bolado

Maya Kowalski, the subject of the Netflix documentary "Take Care of Maya," filed a malpractice suit against her former attorney on Wednesday, accusing him of charging excessive fees and improperly orchestrating an advance funding loan after winning a $213 million judgment.

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Sanctioned IP Atty Tells Fed. Circ. 'Integrity' On The Line

By Elliot Weld

An attorney who was sanctioned in a trade dress infringement case due to what a judge said were his repeated misrepresentations has asked the Federal Circuit to lift the penalties against him and his client, saying his "professional and personal integrity, and my family, depends on it."

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Bosch Receives First DOJ Declination Under New Policy

By Sarah Jarvis

German technology company Bosch on Wednesday became the first company to avoid criminal prosecution under a new U.S. Department of Justice enforcement policy after it cooperated with the federal government and agreed to pay $36 million to settle allegations it improperly exported technology products to sanctioned Chinese company Huawei.

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DOJ's Pot Shift Leaves Key Questions For Cannabis Industry

By Sam Reisman

The Trump administration's recent moves to relax federal restrictions on marijuana through the administrative process will have unclear ramifications for all industry players unless Congress steps in to rewrite cannabis law, attorneys heard Wednesday.

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