5th Circ. Keeps UPS Death Suit In Texas Federal Court

By Mike Curley

The Fifth Circuit has reversed an order sending a woman's wrongful death claims against United Parcel Service Inc. back to Texas state court, finding the district judge should have allowed UPS to fix a procedural defect rather than remanding on their own accord.

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Calif. AG Hits Lyft With $1.8M Fine For Opt-Out 'Barrier'

By Allison Grande

Lyft has agreed to pay $1.8 million and overhaul its mechanism for consumers to stop the sale of their data through its mobile app in order to resolve the California attorney general's claims that the company's existing opt-out process was too "cumbersome" and created a "barrier" to consumers exercising their privacy rights. 

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NTSB Defeats Ex-Member's Race Bias Suit Over Removal

By Patrick Hoff

A D.C. federal judge shut down a former National Transportation Safety Board member's lawsuit alleging he was unlawfully removed by President Donald Trump because he's Black, pointing to the U.S. Supreme Court's June decision concluding that presidents have unlimited authority to fire members of independent agencies.

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Analysis

Maine's Canada Trade Exemption May Ride On Midterms

By Dylan Moroses

The fate of Maine's relief from the trade war between the U.S. and Canada may lie in the balance of Tuesday's midterm election results, a dynamic that shows how trade policy can be influenced by the political winds, experts said.

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Airport Cleaning Co. Seeks To Trim SEIU Pension Suit

By Benjamin Morse

An airport cleaning subcontractor did not agree to pay supplemental retirement contributions and cannot be held liable for payments predating its labor agreement, the company told a D.C. federal court in its bid to trim a suit lodged by a pension fund.

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Honda Keyless Entry Opens Door To Thieves, Driver Says

By Lauren Berg

The design of Honda's keyless entry system makes its vehicles "prime targets for theft," but instead of disclosing the issue to consumers and implementing simple, cost-effective anti-theft features, the automaker for years has focused on its bottom line, according to a new proposed class action filed in California federal court.

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Ford Says Vehicle Sales Sink Defective Transmission Claims

By Mike Curley

Ford has urged a Massachusetts federal judge to throw out claims from 10 consumers in a proposed class action alleging it sold them vehicles with faulty transmissions, contending the drivers' resale of their cars deprives the automaker of evidence in its defense.

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East Palestine Cos. Say Norfolk Can't Rehash Derailment Fault

By Matthew Santoni

Norfolk Southern already tried to shift the blame for the 2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and lost in a jury trial over apportioning a $600 million settlement, so the railroad should not be able to try the same defense in a lawsuit brought by businesses who opted out of the deal, the businesses have told an Ohio federal court.

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Russian Billionaire Takes Yacht Forfeiture Suit To High Court

By Madeline Lyskawa

Russian billionaire Eduard Yurievich Khudainatov urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the federal government's seizure and sale of a $300 million superyacht, arguing that he should have been able to contest the forfeiture as the yacht's titleholder.

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Railway Co. Says Pact Silent On NJ Transit Indemnity Claim

By George Woolston

A railway electronics company is urging a Garden State federal court to toss New Jersey Transit's suit claiming the company must fund the transit agency's defense against patent infringement claims in an underlying suit, arguing the agreement the agency cites doesn't support what is alleged.

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Copyright Board Rejects UPS Logo Registration Bid

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Copyright Office Review Board has ruled that UPS can't register a copyright for its brown-and-gold shield logos, finding that they weren't creative enough to warrant copyright protection.

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Toyota Says Farmers' Policy Shift Flouts 2021 Insurance Deal

By Bonnie Eslinger

Toyota Insurance filed a lawsuit on Monday in Delaware state court against Farmers Insurance Exchange and several affiliates, accusing them of breaching an agreement inked in 2021 for Toyota-branded auto insurance policies.

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Fuel Groups Say Courts Must Stay Out Of Calif. Waiver Fight

By Ganesh Setty

Groups representing the natural gas and oil industry urged the D.C. Circuit to reverse preliminary injunction rulings over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's procedural move sending certain Clean Air Act waivers for California to Congress, arguing that judicial review is barred.

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Kennedys Lands In Dallas With 14-Atty Aviation Firm Combo

By Lynn LaRowe

Kennedys announced Monday that the firm has gained a Dallas office and an aviation-focused trial group in the U.S. by bringing on a 14-attorney team from boutique Cunningham Swaim LLP, which is winding down after more than a decade of operations.

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Logistics Update: Handling Iran War Supply Chain Limitations

The war in Iran is straining global logistics by introducing practical, commercial, legal and claims limitations for both operators and customers — so all supply chain participants must understand the resulting legal issues, and how to respond to them, says Jonathan Todd at Benesch.

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BigLaw Attys Step Up To Help Voters In Midterm Elections

By Jack Karp and Lynn LaRowe

Attorneys from several BigLaw firms are volunteering across the country to make sure voters don't run into problems casting their ballots or having those ballots counted in Tuesday's midterm elections.

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Brief

Winston Taylor, DLA Piper Match Milbank Pay Scale

By Tracey Read

Two more BigLaw firms have opted to match the new associate salary scale set by Milbank LLP in June.

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Analysis

Judiciary Stuck In AI Rulemaking Rut As Attys, Judges Protest

By Jeff Overley

Judiciary efforts to enact rules for the artificial intelligence age are mired in concerns about burdens on litigators, the tensions between burgeoning technology and snail-paced policymaking, and how to even define AI. And despite vivid examples of AI's risks, officials are inching toward mothballing the prominent project.

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Judge Orders Chicago US Atty To Testify In Misconduct Probe

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois federal judge has ordered Chicago's top federal prosecutor and three assistant U.S. attorneys to testify under oath about potentially false statements made to her in a now-dismissed criminal conspiracy case against anti-ICE protesters, saying Monday that the government's shifting explanations about communications with DOJ leadership suggest prosecutors misled the court about outside involvement in the prosecution.

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NY State Bar Says Attys Can't Bill Time Saved By AI

By Andrea Keckley

The New York State Bar Association has told lawyers not to bill clients for the time they saved by using artificial intelligence, or for the time it took to learn a new AI tool.

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Interview

SEC's Top Cop On Building A 'Nimble' Enforcement Division

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has lost hundreds of enforcement employees and seen significant restructuring of its regional offices over the past two years, but the Division of Enforcement's director said that hasn't stopped him from building a "nimble" program that is focused on more than just the number of cases filed.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court last week allowed a stockholder claim over R1 RCM Inc.'s $8.9 billion buyout to proceed, while investors in Meta Platforms Inc. sued to block a stock restructuring they say would let CEO Mark Zuckerberg sell billions of dollars in shares without giving up control of the company.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

The Federal Trade Commission caused a pair of playground equipment makers to abandon their planned merger, Canadian enforcers upended a deal for the Green Giant brand in the country and state attorneys general reached settlements for several regional deals.

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