NTSB Probes LaGuardia Runway Alerts, Air Traffic Control

By Linda Chiem

A runway surveillance system at LaGuardia Airport did not alert air traffic controllers to the potential collision between an Air Canada passenger jet and a fire truck, which did not have a transponder, that crossed its path, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

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Chicago Can Access $2B Trump Froze For Transit Upgrades

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday granted the Chicago Transit Authority a temporary restraining order forcing the Trump administration to lift its freeze on more than $2 billion in funding for city train line upgrades, saying the administration "changed the game midstream" in applying a new rule for the transit grants retroactively and singled out Chicago and New York in doing so.

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FedEx Asks 6th Circ. To Uphold $89M Foreign Tax Credit

By Kevin Pinner

FedEx is entitled to an $89 million tax refund because the U.S. Department of the Treasury lacked the authority to issue regulations disallowing foreign tax credits for offset earnings, the company told the Sixth Circuit, asking the court to uphold a lower court ruling.

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Kinder Morgan Is An Anomaly, NLRB Tells En Banc 9th Circ.

By Rae Ann Varona

A National Labor Relations Board attorney urged an en banc Ninth Circuit to overrule a 6-year-old precedent that recognized a "work preservation" defense for unions accused of unlawfully pressuring an employer for disputed work, saying there was good reason that "no other case" ever applied the defense.

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5th Circ. Upholds Pilot Suspension Over Tail Number

By Jonathan Capriel

The Fifth Circuit upheld the suspension of a pilot who twice flew a jet that displayed an incorrect tail number and lacked an airworthiness certificate, ruling he shouldn't have relied on assertions by the aircraft's owner that the plane was in compliance with federal regulations.

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School Bus Co. Says Teamsters' Strike Threat Violates CBA

By Katherine Smith

A threatened strike by a Teamsters local representing bus drivers in two Massachusetts public school districts would violate the terms of their collective bargaining agreement, a school transportation company claimed, asking a federal court Tuesday to stop the drivers from going through with the work stoppage.

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First Brands Seeks To Close Brakes, Spark Plug Businesses

By Ben Zigterman

First Brands has asked a Texas bankruptcy judge to let the auto parts supplier wind down some of its remaining businesses, including several brake components brands and its Autolite spark plug unit.

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DOT Awards $21M To Boost Tribal Road Safety

By Crystal Owens

The U.S. Department of Transportation has awarded more than $21 million in grants to fund 84 projects for 61 tribal nations, an effort it says will help reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries on Indigenous lands.

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Squires Institutes 6 Patent Reviews, Denies 15 Others

By Ryan Davis

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has granted six petitions seeking America Invents Act reviews of patents and rejected 15 others, according to his latest summary order listing his most recent decisions.

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Gulf Reinsurance Plan Could Help China, Lawmaker Says

By Gianna Ferrarin

The ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sought more information about the U.S. International Development Finance Corp.'s plan to provide up to $20 billion in maritime reinsurance in the Persian Gulf region, expressing concern that China could be the proposal's "greatest direct beneficiary."

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Union Fund Asks High Court To Preserve 2nd Circ. Win

By Emily Brill

The U.S. Supreme Court shouldn't disturb a union pension fund's win in a multimillion-dollar dispute with the federal agency that bails out struggling pension funds, the fund's trustees have argued, asking the justices to reject the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.'s petition for review of a Second Circuit ruling.

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Md. Supreme Court Nixes Climate Torts Against Energy Cos.

By Keith Goldberg

Maryland's highest court on Tuesday dismissed climate change lawsuits brought by local governments against fossil fuel companies, saying that state law can't be used to impose liability for global greenhouse gas pollution.

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DC Judge Says Interior's Offshore Air Rule Not Arbitrary

By Mike Curley

A D.C. federal judge has sided with the U.S. Department of the Interior and an oil and gas group in a suit by environmentalists challenging a 2020 final rule on air pollution, finding that the rule isn't arbitrary or capricious, and falls within the agency's discretion.

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'Bowling Ball' Tips Scale To FERC In Gas Project, Judge Says

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission requirement to strongly presume that projects like the liquefied gas export terminal it recently approved in Louisiana are in the public interest sits like a "bowling ball" on one side of the scales against environmental groups worried about pollution, said a D.C. Circuit judge.

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And Now A Word From The Panel: New Rules For The JPML

On the heels of a new federal rule of civil procedure governing multidistrict litigation, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has adopted amendments to its own rules on subjects ranging from motions to seal to oral arguments — and it behooves panel practitioners to familiarize themselves with these changes, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

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DOJ Says Gov't Attys Can't Be Punished Over ICE's Actions

By Ryan Boysen

The Trump administration says a Minnesota federal judge erred by holding a government attorney in contempt after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement flouted a court order, claiming the lawyer was "wrongfully held captive to induce ICE's compliance."

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Judicial Conference Backs Latest Judge Newman Suspension

By Jack Karp

The federal judiciary on Tuesday upheld the latest extension of Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's suspension and the decision not to transfer her case to another circuit, finding neither to be unconstitutional.

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Goldstein Seeks New Trial, Citing 'A Series Of Legal Errors'

By Emily Sawicki

SCOTUSblog founder and appellate icon Thomas Goldstein has filed a lengthy motion for a new trial or acquittal after his conviction on a dozen criminal charges related to tax evasion, alleging his trial was marred by improper jury instructions, improper exclusion of evidence and inadequate evidence, among other things.

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Analysis

Fraud Task Force May Boost White Collar Defense Work

By Phillip Bantz

A new federal anti-fraud task force involving at least a dozen federal agencies could soon expose more state and local governments, contractors, companies and others to compliance risks, particularly in healthcare fraud and False Claims Act cases, experts say.

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Fla. Judge Faces Discipline For Remark About Shooting Attys

By David Minsky

A Florida state judge is facing a public reprimand after admitting to becoming frustrated with attorneys in an estate dispute and saying that he "would like to tell the deputy to pull his gun and shoot all three of you," according to records filed Tuesday in the state's high court.

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Senate Confirms Chief Of New DOJ Fraud Division

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate voted 52-47, along party lines, on Tuesday to confirm Colin McDonald to the newly created assistant attorney general for fraud role.

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Reed Smith's Silence On Depo 'Speaks Volumes,' Ex-Atty Says

By Jake Maher

A former Reed Smith LLP attorney suing the firm for underpaying her based on her gender criticized the firm for its "inexcusable delay and attempted meandering" in seeking to resume deposing her years after her last deposition date.

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Beasley Allen Says NJ Justices Review Of Talc DQ 'Essential'

By George Woolston

Beasley Allen urged the New Jersey Supreme Court to hear its appeal of a lower court's decision to disqualify it from representing plaintiffs in multicounty litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder, arguing that the court's immediate review of the interlocutory order is "essential."

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