Roundup

Transpo Tracker: Boeing 737 Max, John Deere Deal

By Linda Chiem

In our latest Law360 Transportation Tracker, Boeing is still contending with litigation associated with the 737 Max 8 jets, while a proposed $99 million class settlement could end farmers' right-to-repair claims against agricultural equipment maker John Deere and an appeals court decertified a class of 90,000 State Farm policyholders accusing the insurer of systematically undervaluing totaled vehicles.

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Tort Report: Tesla's Legal Exposure Seen As High As $14.5B

By Y. Peter Kang

A new report stating that Tesla faces billions in legal liabilities and a $140 million football brain injury verdict against the NCAA lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

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Levin Simes Atty Sidelined For 'Outrageous' Uber Remarks

By Hailey Konnath

A Levin Simes LLP attorney has agreed to take on a more limited role in multidistrict litigation over Uber driver sexual assaults after he made "outrageous" remarks during a meeting with Uber's lawyers, calling one a "pedophile," "rapist" and "scumbag," among other vulgar insults, according to a stipulation.

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Calif. Hits GM With Record $12.75M Data Privacy Penalty

By Allison Grande

General Motors has agreed to pay $12.75 million — the largest penalty imposed to date under California's data privacy law — and halt its sale of geolocation and driver behavior data to consumer reporting agencies to resolve claims that it illegally kept and handed off this information to a pair of data brokers, California's attorney general and several other state enforcers announced Friday.

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Boeing Can Appeal Class Cert. In 737 Max Investor Suit

By Hailey Konnath

The Seventh Circuit is permitting Boeing to immediately challenge an Illinois federal judge's certification of a class of investors accusing it of misrepresenting the 737 Max 8 jets' safety after a pair of deadly crashes, according to an order filed Thursday.

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Union Says Southwest Manufactured Deposition 'Emergency'

By Benjamin Morse

The Southwest Airlines Pilots Association urged a Texas federal judge to reject Southwest Airlines' emergency bid to reconsider an order postponing depositions of union-affiliated pilots facing internal investigations, arguing the airline manufactured the time squeeze through its own delays.

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Regulators Probe Avride Crashes Over Self-Driving Concerns

By Jonathan Capriel

Federal safety regulators have opened an investigation into Avride Inc., an autonomous driving technology developer, after its self-driving vehicles in Texas allegedly crashed into other cars and other nonmoving objects, causing property damage and at least one minor injury.

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Former Exec Says Herb Chambers Reneged On $10M Bonus

By Julie Manganis

A former vice president of a New England auto dealership group that sold for $1.34 billion last year says former owner Herb Chambers broke a promise to pay him a $10 million "closing bonus" upon the sale of the company, according to a complaint filed Friday in Massachusetts state court.

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Cop Testimony In Pot Case Wasn't 'Harmless,' Fla. Panel Says

By Elizabeth Daley

A man sentenced to four years for drug possession with an intent to sell after an officer testified that the intent was shown by the amount of marijuana he possessed, along with baggies and a scale, must have his conviction connected to selling reversed, a Florida appeals court said on Friday.

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Amtrak Wins Arbitration Bid In Passenger Injury Suit

By Y. Peter Kang

A Pennsylvania federal judge has sent to arbitration a personal injury suit accusing Amtrak of causing a passenger's injuries, saying the passenger agreed to arbitrate her claims by accepting Amtrak's online ticket terms.

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Progressive Ducks $1M Crash Liability After Policy Reversal

By Gianna Ferrarin

A Progressive unit had no duty to cover a $1 million default judgment stemming from a 2019 tractor-trailer crash because the truck involved had been retroactively removed from the insurer's commercial auto policy before the accident occurred, a South Carolina federal court ruled.

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V2X Cites Lack Of Conn. Ties In Contract Suit Dismissal Bid

By Ganesh Setty

Defense company V2X Inc. told a Connecticut state court it shouldn't face a consulting firm's third-party lawsuit alleging that V2X conspired with RTX Corp. and the firm's subcontractor to remove it from an information technology contract, saying there is no connection to Connecticut.

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Roundup

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Morrisons sued by a former logistics partner, EDF and Cripps LLP face a claim brought by a family estate near Hinkley Point C and a former BBC broadcaster file a defamation claim against a Welsh news site over articles linking her to Russian state media and conspiracy theories. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Don't Miss It: Paul Hastings, V&E Steer Latest Hot Deals

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

A lot can happen in the world of mergers and acquisitions and equity fundraising over the course of a couple weeks, and it's difficult to keep up with all the deals.

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Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

Notable insurance class action decisions from the first quarter of the year included reminders about the statute of limitations as a key defense for claims relating to allegedly deficient forms, the importance of focus on the specific contract at issue and further guidance on the contours of Rule 23, says Kevin Zimmerman at BakerHostetler.

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The Ethics And Practicalities Of Representing AI Agents

With autonomous artificial intelligence agents now able to take action without explicit instructions from — or the awareness of — their human owners, the bar must confront whether existing frameworks like informed consent and client privilege will be sufficient on the day an AI agent calls seeking counsel, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

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Analysis

Trading Scheme Is A 'Wake-Up Call' For BigLaw Compliance

By Chris Villani

The breadth of a decade-long insider trading scheme prosecutors say was fueled by stolen BigLaw merger information should jolt firms to reexamine their practices to close gaps in internal security, experts told Law360, even if totally eliminating bad actors is nearly impossible.

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Quinn Emanuel Founder Exiting Executive Chair Role

By Tracey Read

Four decades after high-stakes litigation firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan first opened in Los Angeles, founding partner John B. Quinn is stepping down as executive chairman of the firm effective immediately.

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NY Ethics Panel Finds US Attorney Committed Misconduct

By Courtney Bublé

The New York Attorney Grievance Committee has found that President Donald Trump's pick leading the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York engaged in "professional misconduct" last summer, according to a letter released on Monday.

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Trump Taps 6 Judges, Including Picks Needing Blue Slips

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump announced six judicial nominees on Monday, including picks for the Eighth and Tenth Circuits and two district court picks that needed support from Democrats.

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ChatGPT Suit Points To Ups And Downs Of Pro Se AI Use

By Cara Bayles

A recent lawsuit against OpenAI highlights many of the hopes and anxieties about pro se litigants using generative artificial intelligence to churn out legal arguments. The technology raises concerns about confidentiality, hallucinations and ethical issues, but some access-to-justice advocates worry the lawsuit may hinder technology that might democratize legal services.

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Plaintiffs' Attys Sanctioned In Tylenol MDL, Sparking Appeal

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New York federal court sanctioned a plaintiffs' firm and its co-founder in federal multidistrict litigation by families alleging that prenatal exposure to acetaminophen can cause autism, saying they improperly shared confidential information from the case in related state court actions.

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Senate Confirms 13 US Attorneys In En Bloc Vote

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 46-45, along party lines, to confirm 13 U.S. attorneys on Monday as part of a larger nominations package.

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Pa. Law Firm, Doctors Can't Shake Uber, FedEx RICO Suit

By Linda Chiem

A Pennsylvania federal judge said Monday that Uber and FedEx offered extensive and detailed allegations to press ahead with their racketeering lawsuit accusing a Philadelphia personal injury firm and local healthcare providers of scheming to fabricate medical records to inflate accident claims.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled a varied mix of settlement approvals, political office disputes, transaction fights, emergency injunction bids and questions over how far the court can go to preserve records for litigation outside Delaware.

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