NHTSA Floats Rule Nixing Brake Pedals In Autonomous Vehicles

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Department of Transportation on Thursday proposed eliminating brake pedal requirements for cars equipped with higher levels of automated driving systems as the Trump administration presses ahead with efforts to ease regulations and accelerate U.S. development of self-driving vehicles.

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Monitor Says UAW Prez Retaliated Against VP For Favor Snub

By Emily Brill

The United Auto Workers president ended a union official's oversight of UAW's Stellantis department in retaliation for the official's refusal to do favors for him, the monitor appointed to oversee the union in the wake of a corruption scandal said Thursday in his latest status report, filed in Michigan federal court.

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Logistics Co. Inks $1.7M Deal To End Driver OT Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A logistics provider that helps manage trailers on company grounds agreed to pay up to $1.7 million to resolve a collective action alleging it misclassified drivers as overtime-exempt, according to an unopposed approval motion filed Thursday in Georgia federal court.

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Delta Retirees Want Benefits Class Cleared For Takeoff

By Kelcey Caulder

Married retirees of Delta Air Lines Inc. asked a Nevada federal court to grant them class certification in a lawsuit alleging the airline shorted them on retirement benefits by miscalculating lump-sum payouts, arguing the proposed class shared enough common ground to warrant the court's sign-off.

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Ark. Farmers Say Crop Dusting Drones Crash And Burn

By Mike Curley

A proposed class of farmers is suing the makers of the EAVision J100 agricultural spray drones in Arkansas federal court, saying despite being advertised as having lidar and collision-avoidance technology, the drones have been known to crash and catch fire, endangering farmworkers, crops and livestock.

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Hyundai Motor Says Jury Had It Right With $2.5M TM Verdict

By Elliot Weld

Hyundai Motor Co. has asked a California federal judge to reject a request from a computer company called Hyundai Technology for a new trial after a jury awarded the automaker $2.5 million for trademark infringement, saying the technology company was willfully ignoring the many examples of consumer confusion.

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Mich. Justices Revive BAC Proof In Fatal Crash Prosecution

By Susan Smiley

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled that a jury should be allowed to hear evidence that a motorcyclist killed in a traffic collision may have been intoxicated at the time of the crash, reversing lower court decisions that excluded the evidence from a criminal prosecution against the driver of the other vehicle.

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Tesla Autopilot Crash Killed Grandmother, Lawsuit Claims

By Jonathan Capriel

A crash where a Tesla Model 3 plowed through a Texas family's home, fatally wounding a 76-year-old grandmother, is currently the subject of a federal probe and a wrongful death lawsuit, the latter of which claims the automaker knowingly sold dangerously defective self-driving systems.

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7th Circ. Won't Reinstate Trans Bus Driver's Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

The Seventh Circuit declined to revive a transgender bus driver's suit claiming the Chicago Transit Authority fired him due to his gender identity, ruling he failed to show the decision was driven by prejudice rather than claims that he took medical leave that wasn't approved.

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Trucking Co. Can't Nix $2.8M Crash Judgment, 5th Circ. Says

By Jonathan Capriel

A trucking company accused of triggering a pileup on Interstate 20 in Mississippi cannot evade a $2.8 million default judgment, the Fifth Circuit ruled in a published opinion, saying "equity and justice do not compel giving" the company "a do-over now."

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Universal Trucker Gets Class OK In Ill. Biometric Privacy Row

By Allison Grande

An Illinois federal judge granted class status to a former Universal Intermodal Services employee in his suit accusing the company and affiliates of illegally collecting workers' biometric data, finding the potential inclusion in the certified classes of temporary workers or those who might have signed consent forms didn't foreclose the move.

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NYC Seeks To Shut Down Delivery App Over Wage Violations

By MJ Koo

New York City has moved to bar a food delivery app from operating in the city unless it begins paying its workers the legally required minimum wage, after the company's own reports showed it paid workers as little as $1.82 per hour.

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Brief

Wash. Resident Gets 18 Months For Russia Export Conspiracy

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Department of Justice said a Washington state resident has received a prison sentence of 18 months on Wednesday over a scheme to flout U.S. export restrictions on Russia, after pleading guilty in New York federal court in October.

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Chinese Container-Makers Facing Another Price-Fixing Suit

By Jack McLoone

A small group of Chinese companies said to control 95% of worldwide shipping container manufacturing colluded to keep prices high during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a proposed class action brought by a container purchaser in California federal court.

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Feds Immune To Cross-Claims In Caltech Pollution Suit

By Mike Curley

A California federal judge has dismissed with prejudice cross-claims from the city of Pasadena against the U.S. government in a suit by the California Institute of Technology over groundwater contamination from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, finding the federal government has immunity.

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Lack Of Evidence Sinks Insurance Fraud Case, Atty Says

By Emily Sawicki

A Louisiana law firm and lawyer found guilty of criminal conspiracy and wire fraud for staging vehicle crashes as part of a scheme to defraud insurance carriers and trucking companies are seeking acquittal or a new trial, arguing that federal prosecutors failed to support their claims with evidence.

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Wash. Justices Back Climate Act Farm Fuel Exemption Regs

By Rachel Riley

The Washington Supreme Court unanimously rejected the Washington Farm Bureau's challenge to regulations surrounding a farm fuel exemption in a landmark 2021 law establishing the state's cap-and-invest program, finding Thursday the rule aligns with lawmakers' ultimate goal of curbing top greenhouse gas emitters.

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Brief Iran Sanctions Pause Will Most Benefit Non-US Cos.

Due to its short duration, the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s recently issued general license easing Iran sanctions will mostly benefit companies with preexisting commercial relationships involving Iranian petroleum, and is unlikely to mitigate overcompliance and de-risking behavior by U.S. and foreign financial institutions, says Michelle Roberts at Berliner Corcoran.

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Series

Moshing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Entering a mosh pit is much like entering the practice of law — it is difficult, you have to know both the written and unwritten rules, and conduct yourself according to the expectations of each community, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

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Groombridge Wu Tops Milbank Pay Scale For Associates

By Kevin Penton

Groombridge Wu Baughman & Stone LLP is the latest firm to top the pay scale for associates announced earlier this month by Milbank LLP, with attorneys set to earn as much as $470,000.

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Senate Confirming Judges Faster Than In Trump's 1st Term

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate has confirmed 45 judges in the second Trump term, outpacing the rate of his first administration, Senate Republicans announced on Thursday.

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Attys Urged To Challenge Clients Who Demand AI Research

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut federal judge urged attorneys during a Thursday sanctions hearing to push back against clients who demand lawyers use generative artificial intelligence tools to conduct legal research, saying the technology is no substitute for professional judgment and discretion because it "aims to please" and can misstate the law.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Blasts 'Inflated' DOJ Tax Math

By Jared Foretek

Convicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein and federal prosecutors are clashing again over their dramatically divergent sentencing recommendations, with the defense accusing the government of presenting a "one-dimensional caricature" of the famed lawyer in seeking an eight-year sentence, and prosecutors accusing him of potentially deleting "secret chats" with his gambling backers.

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Feds Say Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Was Let Off Easy

By Nadia Dreid

Both federal prosecutors and a Stephen Miller-founded public interest group believe that a Maryland federal judge let a woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh off too easy because of her gender identity and want the Fourth Circuit to order resentencing.

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Quinn Emanuel Says 3M Fee Proposal Undervalues Its Work

By Carolina Bolado

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has objected to a special master's recommendation on the allocation of common benefit fees in the $6 billion settlement that ended multidistrict litigation against 3M over allegedly faulty combat earplugs, saying the amount doesn't value the "length, extent and impact" of the firm's work.

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