A Texas jury has awarded more than $1.6 billion in damages to family members of two workers who died after a fatal explosion threw them off a tank at a hazardous chemicals facility owned by Upton Assets LLC, which the jury unanimously found fully liable for the deaths.
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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

Texas Tank Explosion Leads To $1.6B Wrongful Death Verdict

By Rae Ann Varona

A Texas jury has awarded more than $1.6 billion in damages to family members of two workers who died after a fatal explosion threw them off a tank at a hazardous chemicals facility owned by Upton Assets LLC, which the jury unanimously found fully liable for the deaths.

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Tesla Settles With Parents Of Fla. Teen Who Died In Car Crash

By David Minsky

The parents of a teenager who died in a fiery Tesla vehicle crash have resolved their claims against the automaker shortly before a trial was to begin on Monday, according to an order issued in Florida state court. 

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Jury Finds Uber Driver Committed Battery During NC Ride

By Hayley Fowler

A federal jury in Charlotte, North Carolina, found Monday an Uber driver committed battery against a passenger who accused him of grabbing her leg in 2019, and it awarded her $5,000 in damages, capping off a four-day bellwether trial against the ride-hailing giant.

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Frontier Owes $5M In TSA Security Fees, 10th Circ. Says

By Hailey Konnath

A split Tenth Circuit panel on Monday refused to undo a Transportation and Security Administration determination that Frontier Airlines owes the agency nearly $5.4 million in unpaid security fees, agreeing with TSA that Frontier still owes fees on passengers who eventually canceled their flights.

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Insurer Rips Hyundai's Early Exit Bid In Theft Bellwether Trial

By Linda Chiem

State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co. has told a California federal judge that a jury must hear all its claims in a bellwether trial next month as it seeks to hold Hyundai Motor America liable for allegedly selling theft-prone vehicles that heightened the risk of insurance claims.

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AVIATION

Brief

SpaceX, Calif. Agency Strike Sealed Deal To End Launch Suit

By Elaine Briseño

SpaceX and the California Coastal Commission have said they reached an agreement that would settle a lawsuit that accused board members of trying to stifle the company's effort to launch more rockets from a military base in Santa Barbara County.

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Frontier Sues American Over Planes Clipping Wings In Boston

By Carolyn Muyskens

Frontier Airlines has brought a lawsuit against American Airlines in Massachusetts federal court over a plane collision on the tarmac at Boston's Logan International Airport, alleging the incident caused more than half a million dollars of damage to a Frontier aircraft. 

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American Airlines Asks Court To Keep EEOC Out Of Systems

By Spencer Brewer

American Airlines asked a Texas federal judge to issue an order blocking the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from accessing its software in a discrimination suit, saying that the company has updated its software since the relevant time period.

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AUTOMOTIVE

11th Circ. Revives RV Defect Claims, Clarifies Fla. Lemon Law

By Jonathan Capriel

Florida's Lemon Law does not require drivers to prove a specific number of repair attempts or days in the shop to seek a refund for an allegedly faulty vehicle, the Eleventh Circuit ruled in a published opinion, requiring recreational vehicle manufacturer Forest River Inc. to face a buyer's lawsuit.

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Uber Flouted Prop 22 With Lack Of Appeals Process, Suit Says

By Max Kutner

Uber failed to provide drivers with a process for challenging deactivations under California's Proposition 22, which provided certain benefits for app-based drivers and exempted them from an independent contractor classification law, a ride-hailing driver advocacy group alleged Monday in state court.

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Fed. Circ. Ends Anti-Suit Injunction Appeal In BMW Case

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Monday granted BMW's motion to dismiss Onesta IP's appeal of an anti-suit injunction barring the company's lawsuit against BMW in Germany on U.S. patents, a ruling the automaker's counsel called "a complete and unambiguous victory."

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TRUCKING

W.Va. Trucking Co.'s Facility Counts As A 'Mine,' DC Circ. Says

By Jared Foretek

A split D.C. Circuit panel ruled that a trucking company's West Virginia facility counted as a "mine" under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act because it's within a mile of a coal plant owned by one of the trucking company's clients and is used to support the client's operations.

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Delivery Drivers Seek Collective Notice Over Wage Deductions

By MJ Koo

Delivery drivers who say a freight company's deductions left them with no pay and sometimes owing money, asked an Illinois federal judge Monday to authorize notice to a nationwide collective of their right to join a federal wage suit.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

Calif. Truck Regs Now Require Multiple Compliance Strategies

California's various vehicle and truck emissions programs now move on different legal tracks, impose different obligations and create different business risks on different timelines — so companies that treat them as one package subject to a federal Clean Air Act waiver risk missing deadlines and mispricing contracts, says Thierry Montoya at FBT Gibbons.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Some Firms Break Lobbying Revenue Records Again

By Alison Knezevich

After raking in record-breaking federal lobbying revenue last year, several firms reported this week that they had their strongest quarter ever in the first three months of 2026, with practice leaders predicting another busy period ahead as midterms approach.

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Breyer Says 'Shadow Docket' Not A Top Court Power Grab

By Carolyn Muyskens

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer said Tuesday that the rise of the so-called shadow docket is a consequence of the post-COVID era and not a bid to usurp influence by the high court. 

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Sullivan & Cromwell Alerts SDNY To AI Errors In Ch. 15 Case

By Andrea Keckley

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP told a New York bankruptcy judge Saturday that an emergency motion it filed in Prince Global Holdings Ltd.'s Chapter 15 case contained several inaccurate citations and other errors, including what the firm described as artificial intelligence "hallucinations."

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Pillsbury Unlawfully Fired Pregnant Recruiter, Bias Suit Says

By Lauren Berg

The former Black female director for associate recruiting at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP says she was unlawfully fired just weeks after disclosing her high-risk pregnancy to her supervisor, according to her discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed Tuesday in Tennessee federal court.

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WDTX Judge Albright Stepping Down At End Of Summer

By Dani Kass

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright is resigning after nearly eight years presiding over cases in the Western District of Texas, Law360 confirmed Tuesday.

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Ex-Wis. Judge Argues ICE Case Reversal Backs Her Acquittal

By Craig Clough

Former state Judge Hannah Dugan asked a Wisconsin federal judge Tuesday to reconsider an order not to overturn her felony obstruction conviction for directing a defendant in her courtroom away from immigration agents, arguing the Fourth Circuit recently reversed a decision the trial court repeatedly relied upon.

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Warsh Rejects Claim He'd Be Trump's 'Sock Puppet' At Fed

By Jon Hill

Federal Reserve chair nominee Kevin Warsh sought at his Tuesday confirmation hearing to rebut Democratic accusations that he would be a White House "sock puppet," distancing himself from President Donald Trump's calls for rate cuts and downplaying their significance.

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Copyright Head Touts 6,000 Registrations Of Human-AI Works

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Copyright Office has issued more than 6,000 registrations for works that incorporate artificial intelligence-generated materials and follow the agency's guidance for combined human-made and AI-created works, U.S. Copyright Office leader Shira Perlmutter said Tuesday.

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Promo that reads Law360 Pulse 2026 AI Survey

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Amazon.com Inc.

American Airlines Group Inc.

BGR Government Affairs LLC

Ballard Partners Inc.

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG

Cox Communications Inc.

Enterprise Holdings Inc.

Forest River Inc.

Frontier Airlines Inc.

Harvard University

Hyundai Motor Co.

Pacific Legal Foundation

QUALCOMM Inc.

Ramaco Resources Inc.

Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

State Automobile Mutual Insurance Co.

Tesla Inc.

TikTok Inc.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Uber Technologies Inc.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Akin Gump

Ammons Law Firm

Anapol Weiss

Baron & Budd

Berger Kahn

Boies Schiller

Bowman & Brooke

Bracewell LLP

Brownstein Hyatt

Burlington & Rockenbach

Caldwell Cassady

Callahan & Blaine

Chaffin Luhana LLP

Chartwell Law

Corboy & Demetrio

Cousins Law

Cozen O'Connor

DLA Piper

Escobar Law Firm

Eversheds Sutherland

FBT Gibbons

FeganScott

Finnegan

Fish & Richardson

Gimbel Reilly

Girard Sharp

Gray Cary

Grotefeld Hoffmann

Hagens Berman

Hill Ward Henderson

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Humphrey Farrington

Jenner & Block

Just Food Law PLLC

K&L Gates

Keller Rohrback

Kelly Hart

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Kobre & Kim

Lichten & Liss Riordan

Martinez Reilly

McGuireWoods

MehaffyWeber

Miller & Chevalier

Morgan Lewis

Nelson Mullins

O'Melveny & Myers

Peiffer Wolf

Pence Law Firm

Perkins Coie

Pillsbury Winthrop

Quinn Emanuel

Schlesinger Law Offices

Sellars Marion

Shutts & Bowen

Simmons Hanly

Squire Patton

Strang Bradley

Stutman Law

Sullivan & Cromwell

Tabet DiVito

Venable LLP

Verrill Dana

Williams Hart

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Air Resources Board

California Attorney General's Office

California Natural Resources Agency

California Supreme Court

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Executive Office of the President

Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission

Federal Reserve System

Judicial Conference of the United States

Miami International Airport

Mine Safety and Health Administration

National Labor Relations Board

Texas Attorney General's Office

U.S. Air Force

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Wisconsin

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. Copyright Office

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Department of Transportation

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin