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SUNDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2025

By Emily Field

The Fourth Circuit's decision to unravel an early landmark ruling in litigation over the opioid crisis in a suit brought by West Virginia counties against drug distributors tops Law360's list of product liability cases of the past year, as well as a loss for Tesla in a newsworthy trial over the automaker's Autopilot feature. Here's what other cases garnered attorneys' attention in 2025.

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Uber Injury Claims Barred By Release, Ill. Panel Says

By Celeste Bott

An Illinois state appeals court has refused to revive a lawsuit seeking to hold Uber liable for the injuries a bicyclist suffered when he was struck by an Uber driver, finding he cannot bring his suit because of a release agreement he signed when he received a payout from Liberty Mutual.

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UAW Leaders Deleted Retaliation Plot Texts, Monitor Finds

By Dorothy Atkins

A watchdog overseeing United Auto Workers' kickback-scandal reforms told a Michigan judge Thursday that UAW President Shawn Fain and top officials obstructed his investigation into their plot to oust the secretary-treasurer by deleting more than 100 text messages, including one message comparing their plot's success to "epically [dunking] on another player in basketball."

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Feature

The Biggest Rulings From A Busy Year At The 1st Circ.

By Chris Villani

The nation's smallest federal appellate panel punched above its weight in 2025, grappling with numerous suits against the Trump administration, high-profile criminal appeals, a $34 million legal fee bid and a hotly contested kickback law.

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Analysis

Top Trade Secrets Decisions Of 2025

By Ivan Moreno

The Ninth Circuit clarified the rules of engagement in trade secrets disputes with guidance on when confidential information must be precisely detailed during litigation, and jurors delivered a $200 million verdict against Walmart over product freshness technology. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trade secrets decisions of 2025.

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AVIATION

Feds Admit Role In DC Air Crash; Judge Reiterates Gag Order

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. government admitted partial liability in court for the deadly midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane, and subsequent comments to the media from one of the victims' attorneys prompted a sanctions threat from the judge.

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Deals Rumor Mill

Apollo Could Fetch $12B For Atlas Air, And More Rumors

By Al Barbarino

The past week saw no lack of chatter about potential sales, backdoor discussions, fundraises, initial public offerings and activist investor power moves.

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SF, Oakland Near Settlement In Airport Name Trademark Fight

By Dorothy Atkins

The Port of Oakland has cut a tentative deal with the city and county of San Francisco to resolve a trademark infringement suit over Oakland renaming its international airport to include "San Francisco Bay," according to a joint stipulation filed in California federal court Wednesday.

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AUTOMOTIVE

Tricolor Can Sell 10,000 Cars In Ch. 7, Judge Says

By Emily Lever

A Texas bankruptcy judge agreed Thursday to approve bankrupt subprime car loan lender Tricolor's procedures for a quick sale of about 10,000 cars in its inventory, saying the debtor appeared to have earned its speedy timeline.

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Car Dealer Credit Check Co. Sued Over Breach Affecting 5.8M

By Emilie Ruscoe

A company that handles credit inquiries for car dealerships is facing a proposed class action accusing it of negligence, following a cyberattack on its systems in October that compromised the personal information of more than 5.8 million people.

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Chancery Keeps Alive Electric Vehicle Co. SPAC Suit

By Jeff Montgomery

Most counts have gone forward in a Delaware Court of Chancery suit alleging an unfair "blank check" company take-public merger with a since-reorganized electric vehicle company that faced allegedly undisclosed supply chain problems.

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RAIL

Ringleader Of Beer Train Robbery Crew Gets 63 Months

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday handed down a 63-month prison sentence to a Bronx man who led a crew that stole nearly half-a-million dollars' worth of beer from trains, saying the defendant is fortunate nobody was harmed.

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TRUCKING

Judge Nixes Yellow Corp. Committee's Extra Banker Fees Bid

By Clara Geoghegan

A Delaware bankruptcy judge Thursday denied a request from Yellow Corp.'s creditors committee to pay its investment banker an additional $3.75 million, finding the adviser knew the former trucking company's Chapter 11 would be complicated when it agreed to a fixed payment structure.

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Trucking Co. Must Face Suit Over Deaf Job-Seeker's Rejection

By Grace Elletson

A trucking company can't escape a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming it turned away a job seeker because he's deaf, a North Carolina federal judge ruled, pointing to evidence that a recruiter said the business wouldn't accept an employee who used sign language.

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Monarch Overhyped 'Driver-Optional' Tractors, Ex-Dealer Says

By Ben Adlin

A Washington farm supply store sued California-based Monarch Tractor — which bills itself as the maker of "the world's first autonomous tractor" — in Seattle federal court Thursday, claiming the company's MK-V vehicles "did not perform as represented and were unable to operate in the autonomous manner represented."

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INFRASTRUCTURE

Dems Urge Scrutiny Of AT&T, SpaceX Spectrum Deals

By Courtney Bublé

Congressional Democrats are pushing Trump administration officials to further scrutinize AT&T and SpaceX's plans to obtain wireless spectrum licenses from the telecommunications company EchoStar.

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9th Circ. Revives National Forest Road Injury Claim

By Jonathan Capriel

A timber worker who suffered injuries when his excavator slid off a Washington road under the control of the U.S. Forest Service will get the opportunity to take his claims to trial, the Ninth Circuit ruled Wednesday, saying a jury needs to decide whether the worker's employer or the federal government was responsible for the road's upkeep.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

What 2025 Transpo And Logistics Legal Trends Mean For 2026

2025 was challenging for the transportation and logistics sector, with emergent trends including dramatic federal policy shifts, developments in tort risk, and a host of mergers and acquisitions — but a review of these themes offers a useful playbook for where the industry is headed in 2026, says Jonathan Todd at Benesch.

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3 Notable Developments In Ch. 15 Bankruptcy This Year

Several notable Bankruptcy Code Chapter 15 decisions from 2025 warrant review, including rulings that clarified the framework of Chapter 15 surrounding nonparty releases, reinforced the principles of a debtor's center of main interest in the face of extensive mass tort litigation, and reviewed synthetic cross-border proceedings, say attorneys at Troutman.

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Series

Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

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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Health, Legal Employers Face Unique Online Speech Hurdles

Employers in the legal and healthcare industries must consider distinctive ethical obligations and professional requirements when disciplining employees for social media posts, while anticipating an area of the law in flux as courts seek to balance speech rights and the workplace function, say attorneys at FordHarrison.

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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 the designer of an 88-facet diamond bring a copyright claim against a luxury watch retailer, collapsed firm Axiom Ince bring legal action against the solicitors' watchdog, and the Post Office hit with compensation claims from two former branch managers over their wrongful convictions during the Horizon information technology scandal.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Five firms lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the D.C. Circuit reinstated an order that blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from freezing grants for climate change projects.

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Florida Supreme Court Approves Limits For Non-Lawyer Roles

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court has signed off on a rule change to spell out that nonlawyers at a law firm cannot supervise the work of attorneys or perform policymaking duties that affect the practice of law.

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Sidley Adds Williams & Connolly Mass Torts Trial Atty In DC

By Alison Knezevich

A trial attorney who spent more than two decades at Williams & Connolly LLP has moved to Sidley Austin LLP to help lead its product liability and mass torts practice.

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Yale Law School Appoints Deputy Dean To Top Spot

By Brian Steele

The deputy dean of Yale Law School, a career academic and public servant who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, will take over the top deanship position next year, the school announced Friday.

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Federal Courts Not Subject To FOIA, DC Judge Rules

By Jake Maher

The conservative litigation group America First Legal Foundation cannot demand documents from the federal Judicial Conference of the U.S. and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Freedom of Information Act because they are not executive agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.

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Analysis

More Pardon Seekers Going 'Straight To The White House'

By Phillip Bantz

A nonprofit's unusual plan to make a mass pardon request directly to the Trump administration highlights burgeoning optimism among white collar defendants about their chances of securing relief, and a recognition that the clearest path to clemency no longer runs through the traditional channels.

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Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader's Divergent Paths Led To Deal

By Aebra Coe

The blockbuster combination between Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP announced this past week involves two law firms that have charted very different paths in recent years. Here, a look at what events led up to the firms joining together at the deal table.

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DC Firm Hiring From Government Skyrocketed In 2025

By Alison Knezevich

As federal lawyers left in droves this year amid President Donald Trump's return to the White House, the number of attorneys who moved from government jobs to BigLaw firms in Washington, D.C., doubled in 2025 compared to the last post-presidential election year.

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Keesal Young Drops Part Of Stradley Ronon Poaching Suit

By Madison Arnold

Keesal Young & Logan wants to drop part of its California state court lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP unlawfully recruited 10 of its attorneys.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

In one of the stories in corporate legal news from the past week, almost half of the in-house legal professionals in a recent survey said they were either actively or passively seeking new jobs, citing stress, a struggle to build multidisciplinary teams and anxiety around artificial intelligence.

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Gambling Tech Co. Loses Sanction Bid In NJ Defamation Case

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state judge rejected a gambling technology company's bid for sanctions in its defamation suit against investigative firm Black Cube and law firm Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP on Thursday, ruling that Black Cube did not willfully disobey a court discovery order.

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Colo. Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart Retires

By Zach Dupont

After an extended leave of absence this year, Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart announced her retirement from the state's high court Friday.

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Justices Let Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit Continue

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration has failed to show it will be irreparably harmed by a Fourth Circuit decision that revived immigration judges' lawsuit challenging restrictions on their ability to speak publicly.

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