China Aims For Early Rollout Of $30B US Tariff Cut Package

By Dylan Moroses

China and the U.S. are working toward implementing a package of tariff reductions for $30 billion worth of goods that cross the countries' borders, a Chinese official for the Ministry of Commerce said during a press briefing Thursday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Feds' Cut To NY Funding In CDL Fight Justified, 2nd Circ. Told

By Linda Chiem

The Trump administration has told the Second Circuit that it's well within its rights to penalize New York by withholding $74 million in highway funds over the state's failure to revoke commercial driver's licenses that were issued to ineligible foreign drivers.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Clears Boeing Of Liability In Police Helicopter Crash

By Dorothy Atkins

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a ruling Wednesday tossing product liability litigation over a 2022 Huntington Beach Police Department helicopter crash that killed an officer and injured another, finding the victims' claims against Boeing and other aircraft-makers are time-barred under the General Aviation Revitalization Act's 18-year statute of repose.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

DOT Launches Task Force To Advance US Space Transport

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Department of Transportation has launched a Space Policy Administration, Coordination, and Execution task force intended to coordinate space policy activities on behalf of the agency.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EU Beats Challenge To Block €1.6B Booking.com Buy

By Bryan Koenig

A European Union court refused to upend an EU decision blocking Booking.com's €1.63 billion ($1.89 billion) purchase of Swedish flight booking service eTraveli, rejecting Booking's assertions that the European Commission went against its own merger review guidelines.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

EY Says E-Scooter Co. Must Arbitrate Ch. 11 Clawback Suit

By David Minsky

Ernst & Young asked a Florida federal bankruptcy court on Thursday to stay an adversary lawsuit brought by an e-scooter company's liquidating trustee seeking to claw back $7 million for alleged malpractice that contributed to a Chapter 11 filing, arguing that the parties agreed to arbitrate claims in auditing contracts. 

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Expedia Must Face Copyright Claims Over Car Photos

By Elliot Weld

A Washington federal judge on Thursday denied a request from Expedia to exit a copyright infringement suit brought by EVOX Productions LLC claiming the travel booking website made unauthorized use of hundreds of car images.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

States Press Court To Block DOT's CDL Data Request

By Jared Foretek

A Virginia federal judge on Thursday questioned the Trump administration's claim that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's chief counsel wasn't speaking for the agency itself when she told a nationwide commercial driver database operator to either hand over millions of driver files or see its federal funding slashed.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

TransX, Georgia Driver End Personal Injury Suit Over Crash

By David Aaro

A Georgia resident reached an agreement Thursday to end his personal injury lawsuit accusing TransX Ltd. of negligence for allowing an unsafe driver to use the truck that crashed into his vehicle.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Yellow Corp.'s Ch. 11 Agreements With Pension Funds Approved

By Yun Park

A Delaware bankruptcy judge has approved agreements between former trucking giant Yellow Corp.'s liquidating trust and certain pension funds totaling $525.9 million, resolving withdrawal liability claims and adding to an earlier batch of settlements approved in the company's Chapter 11 case.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Calif. Certifies Gig Union To Represent Ride-Share Drivers

By Katherine Smith

A state agency has certified the California Gig Workers Union as the representative for hundreds of thousands of ride-share drivers working in California, according to a recent announcement posted by the agency.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Gig Cos.' Suit Over NYC Tip Law Paused For 2nd Circ. Review

By Benjamin Morse

A New York federal judge has paused a suit by DoorDash and Uber challenging New York City's delivery tipping laws, putting the case on hold while the Second Circuit considers the companies' First Amendment appeal.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Lima Seeks Vacatur Of Toll Road Award In Long-Running Feud

By Caroline Simson

The capital of Peru asked a D.C. federal court Thursday to vacate an arbitral award favoring an embattled contractor in a bitter dispute over a toll highway project, saying the tribunal ignored relevant domestic law and improperly maintained its own jurisdiction.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

9th Circ. Seeks Calif. Justices' Input On USAA Rate Bias Row

By Hope Patti

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday sought the California Supreme Court's input on a class action claiming that USAA discriminated against service members, certifying a question about whether the state insurance code prohibits insurers from charging lower-ranking military members who qualify as good drivers more than higher-ranking members who also qualify.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Hess Corp. Says Insurers Must Cover Cancer Suits

By Danielle Ferguson

Hess Corp. has told a New Jersey federal court that insurers must defend and indemnify it against personal injury suits brought by employees of a transportation company who allege their exposure to benzene in Hess gasoline contributed to their cancer diagnoses.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FERC Chair Maintains Push To Fast-Track Gas Pipeline Work

By Keith Goldberg

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Laura Swett on Thursday lauded the agency's efforts to speed up permitting of gas infrastructure, and emphasized that projects that won't have major impacts on pipeline operations or ratepayers shouldn't be subject to unnecessary additional scrutiny.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wash. High Court Takes Up Yakama Nation Fuel Tax Dispute

By Joyce Hanson

The Washington State Supreme Court has granted a Yakama Nation fuel distributor's bid for direct review in a case challenging the state Department of Licensing's attempt to collect on a state fuel tax assessment.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Juggling And Unicycling Make Me A Better Lawyer

Because I juggle (sometimes with fire) and ride the unicycle, friends and family used to joke that I should join the circus, but I pursued the practice of law instead and learned that my hobbies benefit my profession in several important ways, says Morgan Eddy at Smith Currie.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Senior Lawyers Survey: Tell Us About Your Career

How are senior lawyers adapting to evolving career paths and emerging technologies? Share your perspective in this five-minute survey.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Engineering Co. Calls Atty-Ouster Bid Retaliatory In Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

An engineering company urged a Pennsylvania federal judge to reject a bid to remove its lawyer from a wage case, arguing the worker is retaliating because the company tried to disqualify one of his attorneys from a separate case.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Elias Law Group LLP and Stinson LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Missouri cannot use a newly drawn congressional map that favors Republicans in the midterms.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In-House Atty Org. Says Rival Ripped Off Data For AI Tool

By Andrea Keckley

The Association of Corporate Counsel alleges in Delaware federal court that its competitor used the nonprofit's proprietary materials to train its artificial intelligence tool Lloyd and "brazenly promoted its Lloyd product by showing the public that ACC materials could be accessed via Lloyd."

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Greenberg Traurig, Eckert Seamans Hit By Data Breaches

By Ryan Boysen

Greenberg Traurig LLP and Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC have publicly revealed that they've been hit by data breaches, adding to the dozens of cybersecurity incidents U.S. law firms have suffered this year.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Legal Ops Duo Sees AI Driving Department Redesign

By Anna Scott Farrell

Connie Brenton and Jeff Franke consider themselves, and others in the field of legal operations, to be, fundamentally, entrepreneurs. Here, the pair sat down with Law360 Pulse to talk about the state of their field, why legal ops is still misunderstood, and their annual conference, Running Legal Like a Business, which took place this week in Las Vegas.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

AI is driving a significant gap between in-house legal departments' budgets and the cost of their workloads, according to a new study. Speaking of gaps, a new Law360 Pulse report on women in law found that men still make up 71% of law firm equity partners and 63% of nonequity partners. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.​

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Midterm Wins Could Help Dems Probe Trump's BigLaw Deals

By Courtney Bublé

If the Democrats take back one or both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections, a big item on their oversight agenda will be to step up ongoing investigations of the deals that nine major law firms cut with the Trump administration last year.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Personal Injury Firm Beats Atty's Bid For 'Birth Justice' TM

By Adam Lidgett

A former associate at a personal injury and medical malpractice law firm can't register in her own name a trademark for birth-injury legal services that she helped develop before and during her employment with the firm, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has ruled.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trial Errors 'Crippled Goldstein's Defense,' 4th Circ. Hears

By Jeff Overley

Appellate luminary Tom Goldstein unveiled a sweeping and forceful critique aimed at erasing his felony fraud convictions, telling the Fourth Circuit that prosecutors were hell-bent on convicting him "no matter the facts or law," disregarded a star witness's "incompetence" and benefited from a trial judge's "inexplicable" rulings.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Interview

ABA Cyber Task Force Co-Chair Eyes AI Education Boost

By Allison Grande

With the legal industry presenting a more and more enticing target for cyberattacks, it's becoming increasingly important for practitioners to know how to best protect clients' data and most effectively use emerging artificial intelligence tools — a task that the American Bar Association's Cybersecurity Legal Task Force is well positioned to assist with, its incoming co-chair recently told Law360.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Afghan Woman Deported in 1st 'Alien Terrorist' Case

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Trump administration deported an Afghan woman accused of plotting an ISIS-inspired mass shooting in the first case before the previously dormant Alien Terrorist Removal Court.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Attys Must Arbitrate $8 Oil To Fight $625K Sanction: 9th Circ.

By Jeff Overley

Class action lawyers slapped with six-figure sanctions for suing Walmart Inc. based on erroneous purchase information can't yet challenge the discipline, the Ninth Circuit ruled, suggesting they may first need to arbitrate grievances over an $8 bottle of avocado oil.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Wash. Bench Officer Censured Over Explicit Texts, Emails

By Ben Adlin

The Washington State Commission on Judicial Conduct censured a former Okanogan County Superior Court commissioner Friday, finding that Robert Colbert violated the Code of Judicial Conduct by engaging in what a stipulated agreement describes as "unprofessional, inappropriate communications" with a court employee that involved "sexually explicit language."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Colo. Governor Appoints Atty To Denver Court

By Rachel Konieczny

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis appointed Friday an attorney to the Denver District Court, filling the vacancy that will be created by a retirement on the bench.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »