11th Circ. Accuses CSX Of 'Semantics Games' In Fla. Trail Spat

By Chart Riggall

CSX's bid to throw out a Surface Transportation Board ruling that revoked approval for a purported rails-to-trails project in St. Petersburg, Florida, was met with skepticism from an Eleventh Circuit panel Thursday that seemed to doubt the railway's claimed limits on the board's authority.

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Toyota Nears OK On $436M Class Deal Over Forklift Emissions

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated Thursday she'll give preliminary approval to Toyota Industries Corp.'s $436 million class action settlement to resolve claims the auto giant and its subsidiaries misled tens of thousands of business buyers into thinking the emissions of its forklift and construction engines were "the cleanest" in the industry.

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TikTok, Meta Get Hot Bench In 'Subway Surfing' Death Appeal

By Frank G. Runyeon

Social media giants TikTok and Meta Thursday faced a barrage of questions by New York state appellate court judges as the companies seek dismissal of a lawsuit over the death of a boy who climbed atop a moving subway car, which his parent alleged was due to a "challenge" video pushed to minors.

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Mich. Court Affirms 911 Caller's DUI Claim Lacked Solid Detail

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan appeals court has ruled a 911 caller's claim that two motorcyclists were drunk after drinking several beers at a county fair did not give police reasonable suspicion to stop one of them, tightening the standard for when citizen tips can justify DUI traffic stops.

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Airline Group Cites High Court To Block Mich. Sick Leave Law

By Melanie Dorsey

Airlines for America urged a Michigan federal judge to reject the state's bid to dismiss its challenge to the Michigan Earned Sick Time Act, contending that U.S. Supreme Court and Sixth Circuit precedent interpreting the Airline Deregulation Act make clear the case should proceed.

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Demoted BMW Worker Wins $5M In Citizenship Bias Trial

By Grace Elletson

A South Carolina federal jury said a BMW manufacturing unit owes a former human resources manager $5.1 million after finding the business discriminated against her as an American citizen when it demoted her to make room for a German national.

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Pair 'Cannot Complain' About Slashed Verdict, Ga. Panel Says

By Chart Riggall

The Georgia Court of Appeals affirmed Wednesday a state judge's decision to effectively wipe out a couple's crash verdict of $311,000 by deducting prior insurance payments from the judgment, ruling that the plaintiffs got "precisely what they requested" before trial.

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Squires Grants 3 IPRs, Denies 10, Marks RPI Order Informative

By Dani Kass

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has issued guidance on when real-parties-in-interest errors won't lead to denied petitions, and then instituted three inter partes reviews in his latest bare-bones mass decision.

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Self-Driving Truck Startup Raises $113M Before SPAC Merger

By Hailey Konnath

Swedish self-driving truck company Einride said Thursday that it has secured roughly $113 million in capital via a private investment in public equity, or PIPE, financing round ahead of its planned $1.8 billion merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

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Delaware Judge Won't Reconsider Burford Arbitration Ruling

By Rose Krebs

A Delaware federal judge has denied German entity Financialright Claims GmbH's bid to reconsider his decision ordering arbitration of a dispute with a Burford Capital affiliate over an allegedly fraudulent arbitration pact, rejecting claims that the ruling was "premised on a clear error of law."

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Boat Subcontractor Will Pay $648K In OT Settlement

By Benjamin Morse

A government subcontractor that deploys boats to support bridge construction projects will pay approximately $648,000 to end a collective action alleging it stiffed boat captains and deckhands on overtime pay, according to a filing in Connecticut federal court.

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What's Next After NLRB Dismissal Of SpaceX Suit

Though the National Labor Relations Board’s recent decision to dismiss its long-running unfair labor practice complaint against SpaceX on jurisdictional grounds temporarily resolves a circuit split over injunctions, constitutional and employee-classification questions remain, say attorneys at Proskauer.

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Series

Playing Piano Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing piano and practicing law share many parallels relating to managing complexity: Just as hearing an entire musical passage in my head allows me to reliably deliver the message, thinking about the audience's impression helps me create a legal narrative that keeps the reader engaged, says Michael Shepherd at Fish & Richardson.

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Hub Hires: Seyfarth, Greenberg Traurig, Outside GC

By Chris Villani

Massachusetts may be buried under a blanket of snow, but the Boston legal market was anything but frozen in February. Seyfarth bolstered its depth in mergers and acquisitions, Greenberg Traurig snagged a benefits attorney, and Outside General Counsel hired a new managing partner.

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Elevate Expands Legal Reach With Mestel & Co. Acquisition

By Tracey Read

Legal software and services company Elevate has acquired legal recruitment firm Mestel & Co. to bolster its abilities to deliver top legal talent, Elevate said Thursday.

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Up Next At High Court: Drug User Gun Possession

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court will close out its February oral argument session by hearing its newest Second Amendment case over a federal law that prohibits drug users from possessing firearms, as well as a dispute over whether motor carrier brokers can be held liable for truck crashes under state law.

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Roundup

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen Linklaters sue a shipping company, high-street clothing giant Urban Outfitters hit with an intellectual property claim, Ithaca Energy sue rival Chrysaor, and cabaret club magnate Alex Proud face legal action with his nightclubs in financial turmoil.

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Del. Supreme Court OKs Disputed Corporate Law Rework

By Jeff Montgomery

Delaware's Supreme Court upheld Friday hotly contested legislation approved by state lawmakers in 2025 that expanded liability shields for some corporate acts involving controlling stockholders or potentially conflicted officers or directors, and narrowed public access to some corporate books and records.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Milbank LLP, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

A proxy season preview report showed that nearly three-quarters of shareholder proposals for annual corporate meetings among Russell 3000 companies this year have gone to a vote. The U.S. Department of Labor unveiled the details of a long-awaited proposed rule to replace a previous administration's regulation outlining how to decide if a worker is an employee or independent contractor. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Calif. Mass Tort Firm Drops Suit Against ABS Fee-Sharing Ban

By James Mills

A California mass torts firm seeking to overturn the state's law banning alternative business structure fee sharing with out-of-state law firms owned by nonattorneys dropped its suit Thursday, three months after filing it.

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Pro Bono Spotlight

NY Prisoner Gets Rare $600K Deal With Gibson Dunn's Help

By Parker Quinlan

A man incarcerated in a New York state prison who was placed in solitary confinement for over six years has obtained a $600,000 settlement after filing a pro se lawsuit that drew the aid of pro bono counsel from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

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Optimum Says Apollo, BlackRock Bullied Kirkland Withdrawal

By Bryan Koenig

Optimum Communications is escalating its fight accusing Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other financial giants of an illegal joint campaign constricting its ability to refinance debt, amending its New York federal court complaint to also accuse the companies of "bullying" Kirkland & Ellis LLP into withdrawing as its transaction counsel.

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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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