'I've Looked At Your Billing Records,' Rivian Judge Jokes

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge said Friday that she intends to grant final approval to Rivian's $250 million investor settlement, and drew laughs when she cut off a plaintiffs' attorney arguing that counsel worked hard for their requested fees, quipping, "I've looked at your billing records, I know."

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American Airlines Must Face Suit Over Teen's In-Flight Death

By Gina Kim

The Fifth Circuit partially revived a lawsuit claiming American Airlines caused a teen's death when an on-flight defibrillator used to shock his heart allegedly malfunctioned, ruling that a genuine dispute remains whether the airline equipped the flight with a working defibrillator as required by the Federal Aviation Administration.

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Hertz Inks $10M Deal To End Investor Suit Over EV Demands

By Gina Kim

A Hertz investor asked a Florida federal judge Friday to preliminarily approve a $10 million settlement to resolve claims the car rental company overhyped the demand for electric cars, only later to announce a $200 million earnings hit as it sought to offload the vehicles, causing stock prices to fall.

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Texas Justices Say Home Depot Owes No Duty In Fatal Crash

By Linda Chiem

The Texas Supreme Court said Friday that Home Depot cannot be held liable for a deadly 2024 collision involving a Werner Enterprises Inc. truck hired to transport the retail giant's goods, saying state law doesn't impose a duty of care on passive shippers under the alleged circumstances.

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Resident Says Toxins' Presence Enough For Union Pacific Suit

By Mike Curley

A Wichita homeowner is pushing back against a new bid to dismiss her proposed class action alleging Union Pacific Railroad Co. contaminated the groundwater by mishandling hazardous chemicals, saying the presence of those chemicals on her property is enough to allege an injury and standing.

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Rosen Law Owes $286K After Failed Aviation Co. Investor Suit

By Emilie Ruscoe

The Rosen Law Firm will pay over $286,000 to partially cover the litigation fees and costs of an aerospace company it unsuccessfully targeted with a purportedly "abusive" proposed investor class action, though a Wisconsin federal judge declined to grant the company's entire fee request after holding that it reflected "excessive billing."

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Auto Dealer Accused Of Cooking Books Before Sale

By Chart Riggall

The buyer of a Georgia Ford dealership hit its former owners with a federal fraud lawsuit alleging that it was hoodwinked into overpaying for the business thanks to the seller inflating his on-paper profits by including revenue from a side business selling homes.

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Brief

DOL Wants English Standard In Labor Certs For Drivers

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Department of Labor said new guidance clarifies that employers must include an English proficiency standard in job orders and labor certification applications for positions that would have foreign workers operate commercial motor vehicles.

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Burford Tells Justices 3rd Circ. Botched Arbitration Question

By Caroline Simson

Litigation funder Burford Capital is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Third Circuit decision dismissing on jurisdictional grounds its bid to arbitrate a dispute relating to German antitrust litigation, arguing that the appeals court committed a "fundamental error."

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6th Circ. Won't Rehear Kellogg, FedEx Mortality Table Suits

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Sixth Circuit on Friday refused to rethink a panel's earlier decision that revived two proposed class actions against cereal giant Kellogg and transportation company FedEx in which retirees allege that their pension payments were lowballed due to outdated mortality tables used in conversions.

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Genco Issues Fresh Rejection Of Diana Shipping Offer

By Al Barbarino

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. said Friday it rejected an unsolicited tender offer from Diana Shipping Inc. to acquire all outstanding shares for $23.50 per share in cash, stating that the proposal undervalues the dry bulk shipowner and lacks a control premium.

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Lawmakers Decry USDA Plan To End Roadless Forest Rule

By Crystal Owens

Federal Democratic lawmakers are backing environmental and tribal advocacy groups' opposition to the Trump administration's plan to rescind the long-standing Roadless Area Conservation Rule, arguing the rollback will cause widespread harm to public lands, wildlife, frontline communities and regional economies.

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'Mobile' Sources For On-Site Generation May Be A Risky Bet

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is considering treating large on-site generators used at data centers as mobile rather than stationary sources under the Clean Air Act, a significant policy change that would leave developers that adopt this solution at risk of regulatory reversals, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

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3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

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ABA Section Votes To Scrap Law School DEI Standards

By Emma Cueto

The American Bar Association's legal education section on Friday voted to eliminate its requirements that law schools show a commitment to diversity in their student body in order to remain accredited, a policy that has been under fire since a 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down affirmative action in higher education.

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Fed. Circ. Drops A Theme Song, Talks Guest Judges

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit's full lineup came together Friday to provide practitioners with insight about their experience sitting on other courts, in a conference where the chief judge dropped the court's first (and only) single.

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Alston & Bird, Banks Sued Again Over $328M Goliath Scam

By Jack Karp

Another proposed class of investors sued Alston & Bird LLP and a trio of financial institutions Friday over their alleged roles in a $328 million cryptocurrency scam orchestrated by Goliath Ventures Inc.

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Fed. Circ. Urges Justices To Reject Newman Suspension Case

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit has urged the U.S. Supreme Court not to hear Judge Pauline Newman's appeal targeting a suspension imposed on her by the court's other judges, arguing that a lower court correctly held that her challenges to the order are not subject to judicial review.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and Haynes Boone lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that federal courts that have sent disputes to arbitration have jurisdiction to confirm or vacate subsequent awards.

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Brief

Colorado Passes Bill Banning Fee Sharing With Nonlawyers

By Emily Sawicki

The Colorado Legislature has approved a bill to bar attorneys and law firms operating in the state from sharing fees and revenue with non-attorney-owned firms, known as alternative business structure firms, making Colorado the latest state to tamp down the practice.

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Girardi Trial Judge Josephine Staton To Take Senior Status

By Ryan Boysen

The California federal judge who sentenced disgraced trial attorney Tom Girardi to prison for wire fraud last year has announced that she'll be taking senior status in the fall, allowing President Donald Trump to appoint her successor.

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Roundup

Balancing The Scales: Justices To Revisit Sentencing Rules

By Orlando Lorenzo

The U.S. Supreme Court will take a closer look at a circuit split over the deference that should be allotted to U.S. Sentencing Commission commentary, and a man convicted in the killing of an infant has been released after 27 years served over evidence that points to pneumonia as the likely cause of death.

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Atty Tied To Trump Pardon Headed For August Extortion Trial

By Stewart Bishop

A New York federal judge on Friday set an August trial date for a South Carolina attorney and lobbyist on extortion charges tied to his work as a purported go-between for people with serious legal troubles seeking clemency from President Donald Trump.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Megan Norcott

The past week in London has seen singer Rita Ora be sued by her management company, the billionaire Gertner brothers file a part 8 claim and Stephenson Harwood lodge a debt claim against a member of the Bulgari jewelry dynasty. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

PayPal settled with the DOJ to end a probe into what the government agency said was a discriminatory investment program for Black- and minority-owned businesses. Meanwhile, Meta's global head of legal operations during a panel discussion predicted that the billable hour will be the exception — not the rule — in five years. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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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.

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