'Gun At My Head': Jury Hears From NASCAR Contract Holdout

By Hayley Fowler

Team owners felt strong-armed into signing their 2025 race agreements with NASCAR despite the "egregious" terms, owner Bob Jenkins told a federal jury in North Carolina Thursday on his second day testifying in the high-profile antitrust case against the league.

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Analysis

Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

By Jeff Overley

Is the False Claims Act constitutional? Will Mark Zuckerberg be deposed in high-profile privacy litigation? Did a major drugmaker's shenanigans cost investors nearly $7 billion? That's a small sample of the intriguing legal questions we're exploring in this preview of December's top appellate action.

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9th Circ. Won't Revive Google Maps Antitrust Suit

By Bryan Koenig

A Ninth Circuit panel gave short shrift Thursday to app-makers trying to revive a proposed antitrust class action accusing Google of locking out rival maps products, rejecting the appeal because Google doesn't actually bar "the use or display of non-Google maps content to a Google Map."

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Improper Trial Evidence Axes Defense Win In Car Crash Case

By Y. Peter Kang

A New Jersey appellate court on Thursday reversed a defense win in an auto collision trial and ordered a retrial, saying the lower court improperly allowed defense counsel to use hearsay evidence to undermine the credibility of the plaintiff and her expert witness.

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Families Hit UPS With Suits After Deadly Kentucky Crash

By Kelcey Caulder

Neglected maintenance was behind a UPS cargo plane crash that killed 14 people and injured at least 23 others, according to two wrongful death lawsuits filed Wednesday on behalf of families of the victims in the November disaster.

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Airline Pushed Colo. Pilot Out Over Depression, Court Told

By Benjamin Morse

A regional carrier for American Airlines put a Colorado-based pilot through a rigorous training process after learning about her depression and anxiety and denied her request to take time off to address her worsening symptoms, forcing her to resign, according to a complaint filed in federal court.

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Brief

$1M AAA Club Settlement Gets Final Nod In COBRA Suit

By Grace Elletson

A Michigan federal judge granted final approval Thursday to a $1 million settlement an American Automobile Association club brokered with a class of workers to resolve their suit claiming they weren't notified on time that they could extend their health insurance after their benefits ended.

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9th Circ. Says Species' Competing Interests Impact ESA Cases

By Juan-Carlos Rodriguez

The Ninth Circuit has ruled that when a court-ordered injunction would protect one animal or plant covered by the Endangered Species Act but harm another, the court must weigh their "competing" interests before taking action.

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Fired Worker Slaps Hertz With Pay Equity And Retaliation Suit

By Kelcey Caulder

A former worker hit the Hertz Corp. with a lawsuit in Georgia federal court, claiming that the car rental company gave male employees better pay and treatment than women, and eventually fired her for complaining about it. 

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Fed. Circ. Mulls If Switching $104M Verdict For $3 Was Fair

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Circuit didn't seem to be buying Versata Software's argument Thursday morning that a Michigan federal judge made a big mistake by clearing a nearly $105 million trade secrets and breach of contract verdict it won against Ford and replacing it with just $3 in damages.

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Traffic Safety Exec Joined Rival After $77K Bonus, Court Told

By George Woolston

A traffic safety company has alleged in North Carolina federal court that the person who was in charge of expanding its business in the Southeast resigned just hours after receiving a $77,000 bonus check and took a trove of trade secrets, a slew of employees and customer lists to his new job for a rival.

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Series

Preaching Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Becoming a Gospel preacher has enhanced my success as a trial lawyer by teaching me the importance of credibility, relatability, persuasiveness and thorough preparation for my congregants, the same skills needed with judges and juries in the courtroom, says Reginald Harris at Stinson.

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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: December Lessons

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses recent rulings and identifies practice tips from cases involving securities, takings, automobile insurance, and wage and hour claims.

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Immigration Lawyers Battle Burnout Amid Deportation Surge

By Daniel Connolly

As the Trump administration carries out a mass deportation campaign across the country, immigration attorneys faced with heavy demand and changing norms are feeling the impact of burnout and stress on their practices and emotions, they told Law360.

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Calif. Agency Hires Ex-DOJ Crypto Enforcement Director

By Sarah Jarvis

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation has brought on a new general counsel who previously served in leadership positions with the U.S. Department of Justice, including director of its cryptocurrency enforcement team.

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Fla. Judge OKs Release Of Epstein Grand Jury Transcripts

By Rae Ann Varona

A Florida federal judge on Friday ordered the release of grand jury transcripts from an investigation of late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, citing a newly enacted law that the government said overrides a prohibition on disclosing the documents to the public.

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Bonus Spotlight

Katten Exceeds Market Bonus Scale, Orrick Matches

By Tracey Read

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP has joined a select few law firms that have gone beyond the BigLaw norm for year-end and special bonuses.

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Brief

Holland & Knight Adds Ex-House Speaker's Adviser In DC

By Tracey Read

Holland & Knight LLP has added the former senior policy adviser and counsel to Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., as a public policy and regulation practice group partner.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

An SEC panel has asked the agency to adopt regulations that could standardize the way publicly traded companies report details about AI use. Meanwhile, the FCC approved AT&T's $1 billion UScellular deal after AT&T became the latest of the big three mobile carriers to agree to do away with diversity, equity and inclusion policies. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Gupta Wessler LLP and Block & Leviton LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Eleventh Circuit revived a proposed class action against NextEra Energy Inc. that seeks to hold the energy company liable for a share price drop that followed political interference allegations involving a subsidiary.

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Mass. IOLTA Panel Says It's Owed Slice Of Residual Funds

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts panel that oversees Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts asked the state's highest court Friday to at least partially unwind a $4 million class action settlement, saying a lower court didn't give it a chance to argue for a portion of what it says are "significant" residual funds.

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Judges Beat Ethics Suits For Dropping Retirement Post-Trump

By Jake Maher

A Fourth Circuit judge and two district court judges have defeated ethics complaints from a conservative legal organization alleging they improperly reversed their decisions to take senior status after President Donald Trump was elected.

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Court Staff Attys Settle Claims Of Undermining Colleague

By Julie Manganis

Six months after Massachusetts' highest court revived some of a former Appeals Court staff attorney's claims in a suit alleging two supervisors intentionally undermined him, the parties have reported reaching a settlement in the case.

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