9th Circ. Says DOJ Can Withhold VW Grand Jury Records

By Emily Field

The Ninth Circuit on Friday held that the U.S. Department of Justice couldn't be forced to hand over about 6 million Volkswagen documents that were part of a Jones Day investigation into the automaker's 2015 emissions-cheating scandal, as the government obtained them through a grand jury subpoena.

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Trump Orders Open Tariff Threat Over Oil Sales To Cuba

By Dylan Moroses

President Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on imports from countries that sell oil to Cuba, according to an executive order published Thursday evening.

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9th Circ. Bars Coast Guard Suit Over Conception Boat Fire

By Tom Lotshaw

A split panel of the Ninth Circuit Friday affirmed a California federal judge's decision to dismiss wrongful death litigation that the families of 34 people killed by a fire on the dive boat MV Conception had brought against the government.

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Tesla Gets Del. Justices To Cut $100M From Investor Atty Fees

By Lauren Berg

The Delaware Supreme Court on Friday handed Tesla a win, reducing by roughly $100 million the attorney fees awarded to shareholder counsel as part of an excessive director compensation suit settlement, rejecting the lower court's fee calculation.

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Uber Eats, Others To Pay Workers $5M In Wage Deal With NYC

By Rae Ann Varona

Uber Eats and two other food delivery platforms will pay more than $5 million in total to nearly 50,000 workers in New York City for violating the city's minimum wage requirements for delivery workers, Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced Friday.

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Roundup

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

By Max Austin

This past week in London saw collapsed solar bonds company Rockfire Capital sue the Royal Bank of Scotland, e-ticket platform Eventbrite target the owners of Salford Red Devils rugby club over an alleged contract breach, and Scottish distiller William Grant & Sons square off against a former MP in a trademark tussle tied to its Glenfiddich whisky. 

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UP, Norfolk Southern Rip Rival BNSF's Merger Docs Demands

By Linda Chiem

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have accused rival railroad BNSF Railway of trying to delay the regulatory review for their proposed $85 billion mega-merger by demanding that they share thousands more documents, emails and other operational details in what they called a "fishing expedition."

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DOL Adds More H-2B Visas For Imperiled Employers

By Britain Eakin

The U.S. Department of Labor issued a temporary rule Friday making another 64,716 H-2B visas for seasonal, non-agricultural workers available for fiscal year 2026, but only to employers facing severe financial hardship.

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Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2026 Editorial Boards

Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2026 editorial advisory boards.

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DOE-Created Climate Panel Was Unlawful, Judge Rules

By Rae Ann Varona

A Massachusetts federal judge ruled Friday that the U.S. Department of Energy violated the law when it formed a climate change science advisory panel that environmental groups alleged was created to undermine findings on the harmful impact of greenhouse gas emissions.

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Court Backs Southwest's Interpretation Of Loss In Outage Suit

By Hope Patti

A Texas federal court handed Southwest Airlines Co. a win in its suit seeking $10 million in coverage for a 2016 computer outage under its excess cyber risk policy, agreeing that the term "but for" within the policy's definition of loss means "except for."

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DOJ Requires Divestitures For Reddy Ice-Arctic Glacier Tie-Up

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division is forcing Reddy Ice to divest assets in five geographic areas in order to win approval for a $126 million acquisition of competitor Arctic Glacier.

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Fla. Panel Tosses Punitive Damages From Turo Car Crash Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A Florida appeals court on Friday tossed a punitive damages claim in a suit accusing car-sharing platform Turo Inc. of allowing a negligently maintained truck to be rented, resulting in a fatal crash, saying there were insufficient allegations of intentional misconduct.

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Commerce Outlines USMCA Truck Tariff Discount Reporting

By Jack McLoone

The federal government Friday outlined criteria to meet and information that importers must provide on imported medium- and heavy-duty trucks to qualify for preferential tariff treatment under the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement.

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Insurer Says No Coverage For $105M Fatal Crash Judgment

By Hope Patti

An insurer for a trucking company told a Texas federal court Friday that it owes no coverage for a $105 million judgment over a fatal collision, saying the policyholder does not qualify as an insured since the crash did not involve a vehicle listed under the policy.

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Texas Appeals Court Upholds $14M Truck Crash Verdict

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas appellate court kept largely intact a $14 million verdict against a cellular phone tower construction company and an employee, saying the company knew the employee had a history of alcoholism before he caused a crash that left a couple with debilitating injuries.

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Prosecutors Can't Revive RICO Case Against NJ Powerbroker

By Jake Maher

The New Jersey Appellate Division on Friday rejected a bid from state prosecutors to revive the criminal racketeering case against South Jersey powerbroker George Norcross and several others, finding that the allegations either did not amount to crimes or were brought too late.

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Reed Smith Brings On Gibson Dunn In $102M Award Feud

By Yun Park

Reed Smith LLP has told a New York federal court that it has retained Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP to represent it in connection with a motion for sanctions, stemming from a dispute tied to a joint venture involving international shipping company Eletson Holdings.

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1st Circ. Says Worker's Cold Feet Can't Halt Wage Deal

By Irene Spezzamonte

A former Siemens Industry union electrician's change of heart on an $84,000 settlement to end her suit seeking unpaid wages cannot undo the deal, the First Circuit ruled, calling the former employee a "disgruntled" litigant.

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Aviation Watch: Busy Skies, Tough Market For Airlines In 2026

After a turbulent year in the U.S. commercial aviation sector, demand for air travel and premium service shows no signs of slackening in 2026, with airlines facing the need to compete in a saturated market, while seeking opportunities for consolidation and pursuing other avenues to profitability, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

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Aerospace And Defense Law: Trends To Follow In 2026

Some of the key 2026 developments to watch in aerospace and defense contracting law stem from provisions of this year's National Defense Authorization Act, a push to reform procurement, executive orders that announced Trump administration priorities, the upcoming Artemis space mission and continuing efforts to deploy artificial intelligence, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

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4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

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Paul Weiss Chair's Emails To Epstein Include Apollo Info

By Aebra Coe

Files released by the Department of Justice over the weekend belonging to the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein show a yearslong relationship between Epstein and Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp, which included dinners, phone calls and meetings, as well as communication related to Paul Weiss client Apollo Global Management.

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Ex-Goldstein Employee Claims Accountants Made Mistakes

By Jared Foretek

Defense attorneys for SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein presented evidence Monday that his firm's tax accountants made serious mistakes in tax filings for Goldstein's wife, Amy Howe, in 2021.

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6th Circ. Clears Judge Boasberg In DOJ Ethics Complaint

By Courtney Bublé

The complaint the U.S. Department of Justice filed against Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg of the District of Columbia has been dismissed.

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Analysis

Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

By Jeff Overley

What happened to a GOP donor's $250,000 Swiss watch? Can cigarette warnings show jarring medical images? Will a circuit split of "far-reaching importance" for arbitration get even wider? That's a taste of the oral argument menu we'll help you digest in this preview of February's top appellate action.

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Fenwick Reaches Deal In FTX Crypto Scam Suit

By Madison Arnold

Fenwick & West LLP and victims of the infamous FTX Trading Ltd. cryptocurrency scam are working toward a settlement in a case over the firm's alleged role in the trading platform's collapse.

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NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

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Watchdog Renews Halligan Bar Complaint After Court Rulings

By Emily Sawicki

The nonprofit Campaign for Accountability on Monday once again launched a bar complaint against former interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan in Virginia, after the Virginia State Bar declined to pursue an ethics investigation against the attorney last year, calling it a matter for the courts to determine.

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Brief

Judiciary Open As Usual Until Thursday Despite Shutdown

By Courtney Bublé

The federal judiciary has enough funding to sustain normal operations until Thursday, following the partial government shutdown that started at midnight on Saturday.

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DOJ Defends NJ US Atty Office Funding Amid Scrutiny

By Matthew Santoni

Defending the three-person leadership structure of New Jersey's federal prosecution operations since the departure of Alina Habba, an administrator told a federal court that two of the attorneys running the office are paid through the office's budget and the third is funded through the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Matthew Perlman

U.S. enforcers reached three new merger settlements, while the Federal Trade Commission successfully blocked a $945 million heart valve deal and lodged an appeal for its case targeting Meta's past acquisitions.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jeff Montgomery

A pair of new high-dollar suits in Delaware's Court of Chancery showed last week that post-deal stock appraisal suits still have legs, despite some efforts to reduce potential from deal-price gains challenges. The week ended with Delaware's justices nipping $100 million from the attorney fees owed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk from $176.2 million to roughly $70.9 million, rejecting part of a Court of Chancery fee calculation.

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The Top In-House Hires Of January

By Sue Reisinger

Legal department hires over the first month of 2026 included high-profile appointments at SiriusXM, at a host of West Coast tech companies including Microsoft and Meta, and at Black & Decker. Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from January.

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