Justices Rebuff Ohio Freight Broker Case After Montgomery

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday rebuffed Ohio-based freight broker Total Quality Logistics LLC's bid to invoke federal law to shield it from state-based negligence and personal injury claims over a fatal 2019 accident.

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Mass. Uber, Lyft Drivers Form Country's First Ride App Union

By Emily Brill

Massachusetts-based drivers for ride-hailing apps such as Uber and Lyft have won union representation, becoming the first crop of app-based drivers in the country with a certified bargaining representative.

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Justices Deny Fla.'s Bid To Sue Calif., Wash. In Trucking Fight

By Linda Chiem

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday spurned Florida's bid to file suit alleging California and Washington state flouted federal law by allowing unauthorized immigrants to obtain commercial driver's licenses, but dissenting Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito said the high court "cannot refuse to hear suits between states."

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3rd Circ. Disapproves Of Judge's Quips In Fatal Crash Case

By Y. Peter Kang

The Third Circuit on Tuesday scolded a Pennsylvania federal judge for his "inappropriate attempted witticisms" while presiding over a lawsuit in which a parent blamed transportation companies for the deaths of his two children in a highway collision, saying the judge's "ill-conceived attempts at levity" in a fatal injury case could be misinterpreted by the public.

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5th Circ. Won't Rehear DOJ's Dropped Boeing Criminal Case

By Mike Curley

The Fifth Circuit won't rehear appeals from the families of the victims of two fatal Boeing 737 crashes seeking to reverse the U.S. Department of Justice's dismissal of its criminal fraud case against the company, saying it has no jurisdiction to review the dismissal.

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Analysis

Squires' Institution Flips Are Increasing Uncertainty At PTAB

By Dani Kass

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has created a record low institution rate at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and attorneys say it's becoming increasingly clear that even an initial approval from the director may not last.

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Contractor Must Produce Migrant Flight Recruitment Plans

By Carolyn Muyskens

A Massachusetts federal judge ordered an aviation company to hand over documents about an alleged scheme to transport immigrants to the island community of Martha's Vineyard, including records about the scope of migrant recruitment efforts and the role race, ethnicity and country of origin may have played in determining who to recruit.

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Kia Sued Over Defect Causing Dash Screens To Go Blank

By Mike Curley

A proposed class of drivers is suing Kia America Inc. in California federal court, alleging its 2023-2025 Kia Telluride vehicles have a latent defect that causes the digital dashboard screen to go blank, depriving drivers of important information such as speed, safety alerts and gears.

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First Brands' Plan Disclosures Denied Over Creditor Rights

By Vince Sullivan

A Texas bankruptcy judge denied conditional approval of the Chapter 11 plan disclosure statement of car parts maker First Brands Group on Tuesday because the complicated plan proposal would not provide all creditors with their required procedural rights to review and vote on the plan.

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Towing Co. Must Pay $8M More For Motorcyclist's Crash

By Brian Steele

A Connecticut towing company is on the hook for an additional $8 million after a state court judge found that a co-defendant's portion of a $45 million award to a paralyzed motorcyclist is uncollectible.

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Tekion Defends CDK Dealer Software Monopoly Claims

By Matthew Perlman

Tekion Corp. is defending its antitrust claims accusing CDK Global LLC of monopolization, telling a California federal court that the auto dealership management software giant is withholding data that shows its dominant share of the market.

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Mitsubishi Workers' Attys Get $180K From Wage Deal

By Benjamin Morse

Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America Inc. will fund approximately $180,000 in attorney fees and costs as part of a $515,000 settlement resolving claims that it used a time-rounding policy that shorted workers at Ohio and Kentucky facilities, after an Ohio federal judge granted the deal final approval Tuesday.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week handled a broad mix of cross-border corporate control disputes, merger settlements, startup equity fights, advancement claims and board oversight litigation, while also weighing fallout from high-profile deals involving Microsoft Corp., The Boeing Co. and Nikola Corp.

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Cummins Investors' $1.6M Emissions Suit Deal Gets Final OK

By Sydney Price

Engine manufacturer Cummins Inc. and its investors have received final approval of a $1.6 million deal ending claims the company hurt investors by hiding emissions control devices in certain engines, causing it to owe $2 billion in payments to regulators to settle Clean Air Act claims.

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USPTO Spurns Reexam Bid For Reusing Failed IPR Theories

By Theresa Schliep

A pair of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office examiners discretionarily denied a request for reexamination of a Fractus SA patent, saying the effort rehashed arguments from an America Invents Act challenge of the same patent that was denied for so-called settled expectations.

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Sonrai's $59M Trade Theft Verdict Trimmed To $10.4M

By Elliot Weld

An Illinois federal judge has reduced a $59 million jury verdict won by garbage truck maker Sonrai Systems to $10.4 million in a case over a rival company poaching a Sonrai executive, finding that while the evidence showed the rival's behavior was reprehensible, it didn't merit the amount the jury awarded.

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Amazon Shopper's Late Delivery Suit Flops At 9th Circ.

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit panel refused on Tuesday to reinstate a proposed class action accusing Amazon of failing to live up to scheduled delivery promises, echoing a lower court's conclusion that the e-commerce giant's terms and conditions don't entitle customers to automatic shipping fee refunds for late arrivals.  

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Pa. Justices Say Late Asbestos Suits Can't Reach Parent Co.

By Matthew Santoni

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that employees of a former shipbuilding company are too late to bring their asbestos-related lawsuits, so they can't pierce the corporate veil and seek damages against its parent company.

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Judge Nixes $28M DAPL Verdict To Pave Way For Deal

By Cara Salvatore

A North Dakota federal judge agreed Tuesday to overturn the state of North Dakota's $28 million verdict against the U.S. for failure to control Dakota Access pipeline protesters, clearing the way for a settlement the parties have said is ready to go.

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How The High Court Expanded Freight Broker Liability

After the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II that freight brokers may be liable for selecting unsafe motor carriers, the key question will be whether brokers used reasonable care in selecting a given motor carrier, with the concurring opinion offering some clues as to what reasonable care might look like, says Marc Blubaugh at Benesch.

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Wiley Hit With Proposed Class Action Over Data Breach

By Christine DeRosa

Wiley Rein LLP has been hit with a proposed class action accusing the Washington, D.C., firm of negligence after the firm said a group that may be affiliated with the Chinese government accessed emails of firm personnel.

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Quinn Emanuel Sues To Collect $1.5M From Binance's Zhao

By Caroline Simson

Quinn Emanuel has filed suit in Washington, D.C., against former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who was pardoned by President Donald Trump last fall, asking the court to enforce an arbitral award of nearly $1.5 million in unpaid attorney fees and other costs.

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Trump Admin Wants Federal Workers To Sign NDAs, Citing Leaks

By Bonnie Eslinger

President Donald Trump's administration ​on Tuesday announced that it wishes to require federal employees with access to sensitive government information to sign a nondisclosure agreement, citing recent leaks related to immigration enforcement operations and the release of personal information belonging to approximately 4,500 Immigration and Customs Enforcement employees.

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SPLC Says DOJ Indictment Is Baseless 'Retributive Campaign'

By Hailey Konnath

The Southern Poverty Law Center on Tuesday asked an Alabama federal court to throw out the Trump administration's indictment claiming it paid extremist group informants to "stoke racial hatred," arguing that it's a "top-down, retributive campaign" that constitutes vindictive prosecution.

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Justices Order Redo In Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed a Fourth Circuit order that had revived the immigration judges union's challenge to restrictions on their ability to speak publicly, finding the lower court abused its discretion by relying on arguments not raised by either party, and ordered further proceedings.

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Brief

Justices To Consider Taking Judge Newman Case On June 11

By Emily Sawicki

The U.S. Supreme Court is set to decide whether to take up U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's petition seeking to overturn her suspension from the Federal Circuit on June 11, according to a notice posted Tuesday.

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Comey Case Delayed Due To 'Gravity' Of Charges, Discovery

By Phillip Bantz

A North Carolina federal judge on Tuesday granted former FBI Director James Comey's unopposed request to postpone his arraignment and trial on charges he threatened President Donald Trump with a social media post of seashells, finding that ongoing discovery and the "gravity of the charges" favor an extension and "outweigh" any interests in having a speedy trial.

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Copyright Suits Against Jan. 6 Attys Won't Be Tossed

By Jared Foretek

Attorneys who represented Jan. 6 defendants will have to face a consultant's claims that they copied her jury-attitude report without permission after a D.C. federal judge rejected their arguments that their conduct fell under fair use and the public's right to access court records.

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Pirro, Blanche Fight DQ Bid In Attempted Assassination Case

By Christine DeRosa

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro and Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche are fighting a bid from the California man accused of an attempted assassination of President Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner to disqualify them from handling the case.

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Beasley Allen Fails To Overturn J&J Talc Disqualification

By Adrian Cruz

A New Jersey federal judge affirmed the Beasley Allen Law Firm's disqualification from multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder on Tuesday, determining that the firm has failed to provide a valid reason to back its attempt at a stay and temporary reinstatement into the matter.

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DHS Pauses ICE Home Entries Under Administrative Warrants

By Courtney Bublé

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told a Democratic senator earlier this month he's paused immigration agents' use of administrative warrants to enter private property, but has not officially revoked the controversial policy issued last year.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Cohen Milstein's Brent Johnson

By Matthew Perlman

Brent W. Johnson is helping to pioneer the use of antitrust law to tackle collusion in low-wage labor markets with work that includes representing workers from poultry- and meat-processing plants in a pair of cases that led to more than $600 million in settlements last year.

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