Analysis

USPTO Plan To Limit AIA Reviews Is In White House's Hands

By Ryan Davis

Rules proposed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to place new limits on patent challenges are being scrutinized by a White House agency, which has held dozens of meetings with groups advocating for and against the plan in recent weeks.

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DOT Tells 2nd Circ. Congestion Pricing Fight In Wrong Court

By Linda Chiem

The Trump administration doubled down on its efforts to eliminate New York's congestion pricing, telling the Second Circuit that the underlying contract dispute was heard in the wrong court and that it shouldn't be handcuffed to now-disfavored policies of earlier administrations anyway.

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CIT Unconvinced By Commerce's Landing Gear Scope Finding

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. Department of Commerce's finding that certain imported landing gear subassemblies are in the scope of duty orders on Chinese chassis doesn't mesh with the plain language of the orders, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled.

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Justices Told Award Moots Burford's 3rd Circ. Challenge

By Caroline Simson

A German claims aggregator is citing an award it received in ongoing arbitration involving Burford Capital as reason for the U.S. Supreme Court to pass on the litigation funder's certiorari petition seeking review of an unfavorable Third Circuit decision.

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Pa. Co. Pulled Job Offer After Failed Pot Test, Suit Says

By Jonathan Capriel

A former employee is suing a trucking and logistics company in Pennsylvania federal court, claiming it illegally rescinded a job offer after he tested positive for marijuana, despite him telling the company about his state-issued medical cannabis card.

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Boeing Plaintiffs Seek Board, Exec Records In Door-Plug Suit

By Ben Adlin

Passengers suing The Boeing Co. over the 2024 blowout of an aircraft door panel urged a Washington state judge to force the aerospace giant to hand over documents that allegedly tie the incident to decisions made at the company's former headquarters in Illinois.

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Lawmakers Push For Protections In $10M Spirit Data Sale

By Kelcey Caulder

More than 120 mostly Democratic lawmakers raised concerns Thursday about the proposed $10 million sale of Spirit Airlines' internal data to Google for artificial intelligence training, saying the sale would involve an "extraordinary volume" of internal records containing individuals' sensitive information.

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Brief

Airlines, Colo. Propose Trial Dates In Sick Leave Law Case

By MJ Koo

An airline industry trade group and a Colorado labor official told a federal judge they see virtually no chance of settling the group's lawsuit over whether a state paid sick leave law applies to airline workers, proposing trial dates for early 2027 and offering competing lengths for the proceeding.

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Zoox Investors, Directors Clash Over Amazon Deal Class

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court on Thursday took under advisement a bid to certify a class of former Zoox Inc. common stockholders challenging Amazon.com Inc.'s $1.3 billion acquisition of the autonomous vehicle company, after hearing arguments over whether releases signed by most proposed class members prevent the case from proceeding on a classwide basis.

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Bolt Refused Chance To Appeal £190M VAT Ruling

By Josh White

Ride-hailing giant Bolt said Thursday it was disappointed in the U.K. Supreme Court's refusal of the company's appeal over its claim to a value-added tax margin scheme to reduce an estimated liability of £190 million ($251.6 million).

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Trade Court Remands Commerce's Freight Coupler Duties

By Dylan Moroses

The U.S. Department of Commerce failed to sufficiently explain how attached freight couplers are within the scope of countervailing and antidumping duties placed on freight rail couplers imported from China, the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled Thursday, remanding the matter back to Commerce for further explanation.

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2 More Sentenced In $11M Amtrak Health Fraud Scheme

By George Woolston

A former Amtrak employee and a New York podiatrist have been sentenced to prison for their roles in a scheme that prosecutors claim defrauded the rail carrier out of $11 million in health benefits, the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey said.

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Trucking Co. Owner Gets 2 Years For $3.5M Amazon Fraud

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut man who admitted to swindling $3.5 million from Amazon.com Inc. by tricking the online retailer into believing he had completed transportation jobs must serve two years in prison, a federal judge has ruled.

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FedEx Inks $30M Deal In Wash. Breaks, Noncompete Suit

By MJ Koo

FedEx has agreed to pay up to nearly $31 million to settle claims in a Washington federal court that it failed to provide required meal and rest breaks, manipulated employee time records and barred lower-earning workers from holding outside jobs.

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Enviro Group, Feds End Suit Over Alaska Refuge Road Work

By Crystal Owens

The state of Alaska, the federal government and an environmental nonprofit have agreed to dismiss a dispute over a 500-acre land exchange that will allow road construction on Izembek National Wildlife Refuge lands.

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11th Circ. Voids Fla. Septic Permit Ban Over New FWS Rule

By David Aaro

The Eleventh Circuit issued a win Thursday for Florida environmental regulators who had been ordered to temporarily stop issuing new septic tank permits over concerns for the well-being of manatees, saying the lower court relied on a federal rule that was no longer valid.

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DOJ Clears Mobile Parking Payment Merger

By Nadia Dreid

The Justice Department is waving through a merger between two mobile parking payment companies after finding that their union wouldn't pose a problem for competition within the United States.

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Pa. Legislators Want More Time To Regulate 'Skill Games'

By Matthew Santoni

Three Pennsylvania lawmakers and a coalition of "skill games" operators want the state Supreme Court to extend a deadline before police start seizing the game terminals, hoping to give the state Legislature more time to pass a law governing the games after the court found them to be illegal slot machines.

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IP Rights Group Urges Against Litigation Funding Disclosure

By Elliot Weld

An inventor rights advocacy group has told a federal courts rules committee that requiring the disclosure of who is funding civil litigation would put independent inventors at a disadvantage when trying to enforce patents against a larger company.

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Goodyear Narrows But Can't End Nicotine Fee Suit

By Patrick Hoff

Goodyear failed to snuff out a proposed class action alleging employees who used nicotine were unlawfully charged more to obtain health benefits, with an Ohio federal judge ruling Thursday that workers had plausibly alleged plan documents omitted key information about avoiding the surcharge.

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Energy Companies' Win In NYC Greenwashing Suit Affirmed

By Tom Lotshaw

A New York appeals court on Thursday affirmed the dismissal of a New York City suit accusing BP, Exxon and Shell of deceiving consumers about the environmental effects of their gasoline products and alternative energy investments.

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Series

Mentalism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Convincing strangers I can read their minds may seem like an unusual second career for a legal practitioner, but both disciplines share several important requirements, including trust and preparation, says Warren Biro at Manatt.

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Sheppard Mullin Hit With Class Action Over Data Breach

By Jake Maher

A former Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP paralegal launched a proposed class action against the firm in California federal court on Wednesday over a cyberattack it had in August, in which she says at least 1,000 people's names and Social Security numbers were stolen.

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Analysis

New Fraud Division Flexes Might In Latest Enforcement Policy

By Phillip Bantz

The National Fraud Enforcement Division's new corporate enforcement policy emphasizes the quick pursuit of certain types of fraud through data analysis and staff resources, expands the target list beyond traditional healthcare providers and highlights the division's growing dominance within the U.S. Department of Justice, experts say.

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Cornell Defendant Seeks To Nix James As Special Prosecutor

By Andrea Keckley

One of the seven men accused of drugging and raping a fellow Cornell University student at a fraternity home has asked a New York state court to void Gov. Kathy Hochul's appointment of New York Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor in the case.

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Gov't Attys Could Face Sanctions Over AI Use Omissions

By Madeline Lyskawa

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge has ordered four government attorneys to explain why they shouldn't be sanctioned for making factual misrepresentations about the U.S. Army's use of artificial intelligence to evaluate contract proposals.

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Split Congress Could Spur Competing Probes, Cleary Finds

By Courtney Bublé

If the new year brings an era of divided Congress, then "dueling investigations" into the same topics should be expected, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP said in a report it released Thursday.

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Fla. Judge Says Oct. 7 Attack Was 'Inflection Point' For U.S.

By David Minsky

U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman addressed a small group of attorneys in a Florida law office to speak on his book about the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel, saying public debate over facts surrounding the event and underlying feud has reached an "inflection point" in America.

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Buzbee Faces $970K Fee Bid In Dismissed Conspiracy Cases

By Lynn LaRowe

A Mississippi lawyer is asking a Texas state court to award her more than $970,000 in fees after defeating claims that she and her law firm conspired with rapper Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP to retaliate against prominent Houston plaintiffs attorney Tony Buzbee and two of his former clients.

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Dems Says GOP Broke Senate Rules In Jack Smith Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have accused Republicans of violating committee rules during a hearing last week with former special counsel Jack Smith.

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