Ford Says Quill & Arrow Can't Escape Lemon Law Fee Fight

By Linda Chiem

Ford Motor Co. has told a California federal judge that Quill & Arrow LLP must face claims that it saddled Ford with high-priced legal bills for work purportedly handled by virtual assistants overseas or nonlawyers, saying the personal injury firm's "fraud factory" tactics cannot continue unchecked.

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Detroit Must Face Negligence Claim Over Ambulance Crash

By Jonathan Capriel

Detroit must face claims that an ambulance driver negligently killed a patient he was transporting by running a red light at high speeds without emergency lights on and causing a crash that made it roll over, a Michigan state appeals court has ruled, saying a jury needs to hear the evidence.

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Alaska Airlines Can Move To Appeal Sick Leave Suit Ruling

By MJ Koo

A California federal court has allowed Alaska Airlines to immediately appeal a ruling that the state's sick leave protection law covers its flight attendants, pausing a proposed class action while the Ninth Circuit considers a question that could determine whether the case can proceed at all.

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Analysis

EPA's Policy Repeals May Spell Exit From Climate Regulation

By Keith Goldberg

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest move to undo Biden-era greenhouse gas emissions rules lays legal groundwork for the agency to completely abandon climate change regulation, though it remains to be seen whether courts will endorse a full-blown retreat.

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GM Vehicles Have 'Shuddering' Clutch Defect, Suit Says

By Mike Curley

A California man is suing General Motors LLC in Delaware federal court, alleging in a proposed class action complaint that model year 2019 to 2025 vehicles shipped with a defect in their continuously variable transmissions that leads to shuddering and stalling.

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DLA Piper, Latham Steer $1.4B Driverless Vehicle SPAC Deal

By Al Barbarino

May Mobility and blank check company ACP Holdings Acquisition Corp. said Wednesday they have agreed to merge in a deal that would take the autonomous vehicle technology company public at a $1.4 billion pro forma enterprise value.

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JB Hunt Reaches Deal To End Tobacco Fee Class Action

By Kellie Mejdrich

Trucking company J.B. Hunt has struck a deal to settle a proposed class action alleging workers who used tobacco were wrongly charged $15 per week more for healthcare, parties told an Arkansas federal court in a joint filing on Wednesday.

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House Clears Russia Sanctions Bill With New Tariff Powers

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. House of Representatives approved legislation Wednesday that would enhance President Donald Trump's economic tools to pressure Russia and Iran, including new tariff authorities to impose duties on imports from countries found to economically support Russia, sending the bill to his desk.

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Forum Clause Doesn't Sink Yacht Builder's Fla. Suit

By Danielle Ferguson

A Florida appellate court revived a lawsuit from a Taiwanese yacht builder alleging its insurer has refused to indemnify the manufacturer for repairs to a vessel damaged in a fire on its way to Florida, ruling Wednesday that the policy did not require the dispute to be tried in a Taiwan court.

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DOJ Fights Acquittal Motion Following Okla. Bid-Fixing Verdict

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Department of Justice is urging an Oklahoma federal court to reject an acquittal bid from a man convicted of participating in an erosion control company's bid-rigging conspiracy that allegedly affected over $100 million in publicly funded transportation construction contracts.

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Va. DOT Warns FCC Deadlines For Permits May Be Too Short

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Virginia Department of Transportation has warned the Federal Communications Commission that a plan to limit state and local telecom permit reviews to 120 days might not offer enough time, especially if service providers' applications are faulty.

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Conservation Group Sues To Block Road Through Wash. River

By Corey Rothauser

A conservation group has sued the National Park Service over its approval of a plan to construct part of a temporary road within Washington's Stehekin River, arguing the project would disrupt salmon spawning and alter a river eligible for protection under the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

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Housing Developer Says Contract Winner Had Lower Scores

By Rachel Konieczny

A Georgia affordable housing developer challenged a Colorado public transit agency's decision to award a housing development contract in Denver to another developer, contending in Colorado state court that the agency relied on undisclosed evaluation criteria and declined to award the developer the contract despite its higher evaluation scores.

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McGuireWoods Lands 2 Former Boeing Attys In Seattle

By Christine DeRosa

Two former senior product liability litigators for Boeing have returned to private practice, landing at McGuireWoods LLP, the firm said Wednesday.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Cultivating Good Judgment

Law schools generally overlook the role that solid judgment skills play in real-world practice, but attorneys can bridge the gap by strengthening their abilities to assess a case’s strengths and weaknesses, develop and execute effective strategies, and provide clear recommendations to clients, says Manny Caixeiro at Venable.

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Senate Confirms Kirkland Partner To Texas Federal Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 49-45 on Thursday to confirm Kasdin Miller Mitchell, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, to serve as a U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Texas.

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Analysis

Sue To Stop AI Armageddon? Not So Fast, Attys Say

By Y. Peter Kang

As executives at leading artificial intelligence companies increasingly assert that their own technology could one day pose an existential threat to humanity, a natural question follows: If the risk is real, can anyone sue to stop it before disaster strikes?

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Clancy Atty Denies Malpractice Claim By Man Serving Life

By Julie Manganis

A prominent Massachusetts criminal defense attorney best known for representing Lindsay Clancy has been accused in a separate case of "abandoning" a client who is serving life sentences for second-degree murder and home invasion, allegations the lawyer denies.

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AI Flubs, More Secure PACER Get Judiciary Forum Spotlight

By Jeff Overley

Misuse of artificial intelligence tools and a "state-of-the-art" revamp of electronic dockets in federal cases were among the hottest topics Thursday at a major meeting of judiciary leaders, who also heard a lawmaker warn of eroding trust in the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Analysis

For Single-Party FTC, Easier Suits May Come With A Cost

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission has ditched its historical multimember, multiparty ethos for a one-party regime in which fewer dissents might make it easier for Chairman Andrew Ferguson to pursue his agenda, but it also forecloses the potential "moderating influence" that comes with winning broad buy-in from commissioners of two parties.

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Immigration Attorney Wants SEC Sanctioned In EB-5 Case

By Tom Lotshaw

An immigration attorney and her firm asked a New York federal judge to sanction the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for failing to reasonably investigate an allegedly bogus unregistered securities claim it brought against them in an EB-5 immigrant investor case.

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Weaponization Fund Plaintiffs Say Discovery Ruling Was Right

By Jared Foretek

Plaintiffs suing over the Trump administration's once-proposed "anti-weaponization fund" are telling a Virginia federal judge to reject the U.S. Department of Justice's objections to a magistrate judge's discovery order, accusing the administration of stonewalling their requests and urging prompt discovery production.

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