4th Circ. Revives Freight Broker Suit After High Court Ruling

By Linda Chiem

The Fourth Circuit on Monday revived a South Carolina widow's lawsuit alleging that freight broker Echo Global Logistics negligently selected the trucking company involved in the 2022 accident that killed her husband, days after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling established that freight brokers can face state-based tort claims.

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Ill. Justices Wary Of Uber's Push To Arbitrate Fatal Crash Suit

By Celeste Bott

Illinois Supreme Court justices on Tuesday pressed an attorney for Uber to explain how a widow's arbitration agreement through her own ride-sharing account is applicable to the wrongful death claims she has filed on behalf of her husband, who died as a passenger on a ride booked through his own Uber app. 

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GM Can't Take Arbitration 'Exit Ramp' In Faulty Brakes Suit

By Mike Curley

A Pennsylvania federal judge won't let GM escape a proposed class action accusing the automaker of knowingly selling vehicles with defective brakes, finding the plaintiffs have sufficiently alleged their defect claims and cannot be pulled into arbitration.

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Split 8th Circ. Revives Challenge To NHTSA Brake Light View

By Jonathan Capriel

A split Eighth Circuit panel revived a lawsuit Monday by two Arkansas-based distributors of pulsing brake lights, ruling the companies can challenge the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's letters declaring the products illegal and laying out plans to "threaten" customers with fines.

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$32M Awarded To Michigan School Bus Crash Victim

By Susan Smiley

A Michigan man who suffered traumatic brain injury when his pickup truck was T-boned by a school bus was awarded over $32 million in damages by an Oakland County jury on Monday.

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DOJ Says Container Makers Fixed Prices During Pandemic

By Bryan Koenig

Four of the world's largest shipping container manufacturers and seven of their current and former executives conspired to restrict production to drive up prices, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday in criminally charging them, although most may be beyond the reach of American courts.

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Ride-Hail App Bolt Can't Get £190M VAT Break, HMRC Argues

By Josh White

Ride-hailing company Bolt shouldn't be able to claim a £190 million ($254.3 million) value-added tax exemption for travel agents and tour operators because its drivers provide transportation and don't lead tours or book vacations, the U.K.'s tax authority argued before a London court on Tuesday.

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Audi Sued By Drivers Over Alleged Water Pump Defect

By Gina Kim

Audi drivers hit the automotive giant with a proposed class action in New Jersey federal court Tuesday over what they describe as a defectively designed water pump in some vehicles that causes coolant loss and possible engine failure, which the company refuses to cover repairs by denying warranty coverage. 

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Feds Seek To Drop Emissions Case For 2 Ex-Fiat Managers

By Gina Kim

Federal prosecutors moved to dismiss a superseding indictment charging former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles managers with deceiving regulators about the emissions controls and fuel efficiency for more than 100,000 cars sold in the U.S., according to a brief filed Tuesday in Michigan federal court.

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Auto Repair Co. Strikes Deal In 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

By Grace Elletson

An auto repair chain has agreed to settle a Texas federal court suit claiming it cost workers millions of dollars in retirement savings by using forfeited funds from the plan to pay down its own contribution bills rather than plan management costs, according to a court filing Tuesday.

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Pa. Justices Debate State's Immunity In Roadway Death Suit

By Matthew Santoni

Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices seemed torn Tuesday between the idea that the state's Department of Transportation doesn't "own" everything above and below its roadways and the concept that the agency could duck liability for obvious risks like falling branches or crumbling bridges.

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KBR Argues CEO Said Nothing False Before DOD Program Ax

By Madeline Lyskawa

Engineering firm KBR Inc. has urged a Texas federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging the company misled investors about a government partnership to help relocate military personnel, saying its CEO made no false statements before the deal's termination.

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West Marine To Get Interim Cash Use OK In Ch. 11

By Emlyn Cameron

A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday said she would grant boating supply business West Marine Inc. a range of first day relief on an interim basis as it gets underway in its voyage through Chapter 11, including permission to use its cash collateral and to pay employees and vendors.

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Concrete Co. Loses Challenge To Worker Wage Classification

By Emily Brill

A concrete services company lost its challenge Tuesday to the way the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries classified its employees, with a state appeals court holding that L&I properly classified the workers as construction site surveyors who were owed higher wages.

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PTAB Ends Repetitive Challenges To Mercury Removal IP

By Adam Lidgett

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has tossed a pair of challenges to mercury removal patents owned by Birchtech Corp., saying the challengers were prioritizing separate bids to invalidate the same patents.

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Becoming The Biz-Savvy GC That Portfolio Companies Need

Candidates for general counsel roles at private equity-backed portfolio companies should prioritize proving their sector-specific experience, commercial judgment and ease with uncertainty — and attorneys hoping to be candidates in five to 10 years should start working on those skills now, says Dimitri Mastrocola at Major Lindsey.

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OpenAI Says ChatGPT Misuse Is Users' Responsibility

By Emily Sawicki

OpenAI has asked a federal judge in Chicago to end an insurance company's suit alleging it practices law without a license, arguing the complaint should be directed toward individuals who misuse the company's ChatGPT bot to file faulty motions, and not the generative AI platform itself.

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2 Fla. County Courts Requiring AI Disclosure In Court Filings

By Sarah Martinson

Two Florida circuit courts in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are requiring attorneys and self-represented litigants to disclose when they use generative text tools to prepare their court filings and to certify they checked the generated content for accuracy.

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2nd Circ. Pick Questioned At Hearing On Role As Trump Lawyer

By Courtney Bublé

Matthew Schwartz, a nominee for the Second Circuit, was questioned by Democratic senators Wednesday about whether his current job as the president's personal attorney while his nomination process is underway poses a conflict of interest.

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Atty Withdrawals Not Limited To Fee Conflicts, ABA Says

By Emily Sawicki

Lawyers whose clients fail to hold up their end of valid engagement agreements are clear to cease their representation, so long as certain criteria are met, according to the American Bar Association's ethics committee's latest guidance, published Wednesday.

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Comey Wants Arraignment Pushed For Dismissal Bid

By Phillip Bantz

Former FBI Director James Comey asked a North Carolina federal court Wednesday to postpone his arraignment on charges alleging he threatened President Donald Trump, telling a judge that he is preparing to seek to have the case thrown out on constitutional grounds.

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Mich. Supreme Court Mulls Remote Court Access Rules

By Susan Smiley

The Michigan Supreme Court held administrative hearings on Wednesday concerning several proposed amendments to Michigan court rules, including adding more specific guidelines for remote hearings, making language services free for civil cases, and allowing law students and recent law graduates to appear on behalf of indigent people in all Michigan courts.

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Hagens Berman Says Apple Smear Job Can't Stop Withdrawal

By Bonnie Eslinger

Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP urged a California federal judge to allow one of its named plaintiffs to withdraw from an Apple iCloud antitrust case, saying Apple Inc.'s filed opposition is rife with "misdirection and ad hominem" attacks and not about the merits of the dispute but "smearing opposing counsel."

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Blank Rome Adds 2 Infrastructure Pros To LA Office

By Isaac Monterose

Blank Rome LLP has hired two attorneys from Norton Rose Fulbright and Nossaman LLP as partners for its real estate team in Los Angeles, the firm announced Tuesday.

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