Analysis

How The Iran War Has Snarled Global Oil & Gas Shipping

By Keith Goldberg

The Iran war has effectively closed a key global shipping lane for oil and gas, and the resulting logjam is causing major headaches for companies responsible for transporting oil and gas from the Middle East to global markets.

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Trump Orders Restart Of Calif. Coast Oil Operations

By Lauren Berg

The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday invoked the Cold War-era Defense Production Act directing Sable Offshore Corp. to restart a pipeline in Southern California that was shuttered in 2015 following a massive oil spill, drawing the ire of environmental groups that say the "defective" pipeline is too dangerous.

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Tort Report: Uber Won't OK Bigger Jury At 2nd Bellwether

By Y. Peter Kang

Trial strategy by Uber ahead of a second bellwether trial in sexual assault multidistrict litigation and a $4 million injury verdict against Publix in Florida 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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Union Sues Feds For Revoking Immigrant Worker Access

By Britain Eakin

The Service Employees International Union and four Boston airport workers accused the Trump administration in a lawsuit on Friday of upending immigrant workers' livelihoods by unlawfully revoking security credentials that allowed them to work inside international airport terminals.

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Tesla Asks 9th Circ. To Decertify Self-Driving False Ad Class

By Linda Chiem

Tesla has asked the Ninth Circuit to decertify a class action alleging it deceived consumers into believing that its cars could fully drive themselves, saying there's no proof that all class members saw the same purportedly false statement on Tesla's website about its cars' hardware.

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Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Paul Hastings, Duane Morris

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, uniform maker Cintas Corp. acquires workwear company UniFirst Corp., Controlled Thermal Resources Holdings Inc. plans to go public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company, and a Shell USA Inc. subsidiary sells Jiffy Lube International Inc. to Monomoy Capital Partners.

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Roundup

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

By Laura Stewart Liberty

In London, Estée Lauder accused Jo Malone's founder of intellectual property infringement, the wife of an Iranian businessman linked to a £75 million fraud sued several Iranian oil companies, HSBC sued U.S. property tycoon Michael Fuchs, and Charles Russell Speechlys brought a claim against a United Arab Emirates company it once represented in an international arbitration.

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Alaska Airlines Pilot's Military Leave Benefits Suit Trimmed

By Rachel Riley

A Seattle federal judge has narrowed a pilot's class action accusing Alaska Airlines of denying employees sick leave and vacation accrual during military leave, while recognizing in the same Thursday order that a "reasonable jury" could find service members are entitled to certain benefits during absences spanning one to two months.

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First Brands OK'd For Walbro Unit $50M Going Concern Sale

By Clara Geoghegan

A Texas bankruptcy judge Friday approved the sale of First Brands' small engine part group Walbro as the car parts giant continues stakeholder talks in hopes of charting a consensual course out of Chapter 11.

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Roundup

Conn. Statehouse Catch-Up: AI, Social Media, Private Equity

By Aaron Keller

Connecticut lawmakers are one-third of the way through the state's three-month legislative session, and already, bills targeting social media, artificial intelligence, prediction markets, private equity and hospital ownership are stacking up at the statehouse.

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Shipping Co. To Reclassify Drivers In $7M Settlement With NJ

By Benjamin Morse

A shipping company agreed to pay $7 million and reclassify its delivery drivers as employees to resolve findings that it improperly treated more than 1,000 drivers as independent contractors, the New Jersey attorney general's office said.

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BMW Keeps Eye On Texas As Onesta Drops German IP Suits

By Adam Lidgett

Onesta IP says its withdrawal of its controversial German lawsuits accusing BMW of patent infringement means the automaker's own legal challenge in Texas federal court over the suits should be dismissed, though counsel for BMW didn't see it that way.

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Driver Seeks Contempt Order For Trucking Co. In Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A trucking company has refused to provide an updated class list or confirm a proposed notice in a driver misclassification lawsuit, a former employee said in his bid to hold the company in contempt filed in Illinois federal court. 

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Brief

Auto Co. Reaches $395K Health Fee, 401(k) Forfeiture Suit Deal

By Patrick Hoff

An automotive lighting company will pay $395,000 to resolve a proposed class action claiming it mismanaged forfeited 401(k) funds and failed to tell employees who used tobacco how to avoid paying an extra fee for health insurance, according to a Friday filing in Illinois federal court.

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Judge Tosses Ga. Firm's Insurance Fight With State Farm

By Chart Riggall

A Georgia federal judge has tossed an auto insurance dispute between a personal injury law firm and State Farm, agreeing with the insurer's defense that the suit "simply was filed almost three years too late."

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GM Seeks Toss Of Fla. EV Charger Defect Class Action

By Melanie Dorsey

General Motors has asked a Florida federal court to dismiss a proposed class action over its electric vehicle charger, insisting the buyers who brought the case are trying to sidestep the product's limited warranty and have not adequately asserted a deceptive practices claim.

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Brief

CTA, Ex-Worker Settle Vaccine Bias Dispute Before Retrial

By Lauraann Wood

The Chicago Transit Authority and a former employee who beat the public transit agency in a COVID-19 vaccine bias trial have reached a settlement in principle they expect will call off a redo an Illinois federal judge ordered last year, according to court records.

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Cruise Co. Denied Early Win In Fla. Drowning Death Suit

By David Minsky

A Florida federal judge has denied a bid by Norwegian Cruise Lines to avoid trial in a lawsuit alleging negligence after a Pennsylvania man drowned in Bermuda, finding the company had a duty to warn passengers about the risks of swimming at a nearby beach. 

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American Cruise Lines Sues To Block Duty In Worker Crash

By Ben Adlin

American Cruise Lines sued an ex-deckhand involved in an alcohol-related car crash that occurred on shore just after her five-and-half-week stint on the ship was complete, arguing that it's not obligated to cover her costs under maritime law because she violated the company's zero-tolerance drug and alcohol policy.

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6th Circ.: Mich. Island Can Regulate Ferry Fares, Not Parking

By Melanie Dorsey

The Sixth Circuit has partly lifted a lower court order blocking a northern Michigan island from enforcing a new ferry ordinance, ruling the city can regulate ferry rates while the case proceeds but likely cannot control parking prices at mainland parking lots.

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Iroquois Pipeline Expansion Fight Is Too Early, Judge Says

By Brian Steele

The town of Brookfield, Connecticut, and an environmental nonprofit cannot yet challenge the state agency process that preliminarily approved the expansion of an Iroquois natural gas compressor station even though it allegedly fails to meet pollution standards, a state court judge ruled in dismissing a midstream appeal.

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Section 122 Tariffs Show Shift In Strategy, Not Trade Policy

By imposing temporary tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act as a stopgap measure while it pivots to less transitory statutory authorities, the Trump administration sent a clear message that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Learning Resources v. Trump, invalidating duties imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, will not precipitate a change in policy direction, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

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Trump To Get 5th North Carolina Federal Court Vacancy

By Courtney Bublé

President Donald Trump will get another judicial vacancy to fill in North Carolina with U.S. District Judge William L. Osteen Jr. of the Middle District of North Carolina recently announcing he will take senior status.

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Mass. Justices Won't Boost Pay For Court-Appointed Attys

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts' highest court on Monday declined a request to let state judges offer higher hourly rates to induce attorneys to accept court-appointed cases, a proposal meant to alleviate a shortage of appointed counsel in two of the state's busiest counties.

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SEC Enforcement Head Resigns After 7 Months

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Monday that its enforcement director, Judge Margaret "Meg" Ryan, has resigned from the agency after nearly seven months on the job. 

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Conservative Groups Back DOJ As Amici In Law Firm EO Suits

By Emily Sawicki

Conservative groups are backing the Trump administration's attempts to revive executive orders targeting BigLaw firms, arguing in an amicus brief to the D.C. Circuit that Perkins Coie LLP had "unclean hands" for its part in what they called the "Russiagate hoax."

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Ga. Panel Says Minister Can't Rep His Church In Tax Case

By Chart Riggall

The Georgia Court of Appeals said Monday that nonattorneys can't be allowed to represent unincorporated associations in court, backing a trial court's dismissal of a minister's bid to represent his church in a property tax dispute with his home county.

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