Federal Judge Blocks NYC Uber, Lyft Driver Deactivation Law

By Linda Chiem

A New York federal judge has blocked New York City from enforcing a new ordinance prohibiting Uber and Lyft from "deactivating" drivers without formal notice and investigation, saying the ride-hailing companies have made a strong showing that the regulation unconstitutionally interferes with their contractual rights.

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Spirit Can Sell NYC Gate Slots To JetBlue For $58.5M In Ch. 11

By Clara Geoghegan

A New York bankruptcy judge Wednesday approved the sale of 22 gate slots at LaGuardia Airport to JetBlue for $58.5 million following a 14-hour auction as defunct Spirit Airlines liquidates in Chapter 11.

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Cars.com Sabotaged $88M Earnout, Chancery Suit Says

By Jarek Rutz

Cars.com is facing a lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court accusing the online marketplace of deliberately undermining the growth of automotive wholesale auction platform DealerClub after acquiring it in a deal that left most of the purchase price contingent on future performance.

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Cessna Maker Wants Cockpit Recording For Fatal Crash Case

By Aaron Keller

Textron Aviation Inc. wants a Connecticut state judge to order the National Transportation Safety Board to release a two-hour-long cockpit voice recording from a Cessna airplane that crashed into an industrial campus shortly after takeoff, saying the full recording is necessary for fair trials in wrongful death and insurance disputes.

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Lockheed Guard Wants Video In Gun Handling Dispute

By Corey Rothauser

A former Sikorsky Aircraft security officer has asked a Connecticut state court to order Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. and parent company Lockheed Martin Corp. to turn over surveillance footage that he says is critical to determining whether he can bring legal claims over his termination after his union declined to take his grievance to arbitration.

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Tesla Trims 1 Intellectual Ventures Patent But Not 2nd At PTAB

By Adam Lidgett

Intellectual Ventures was able to hold onto a patent covering a way to identify targets in an image and most claims in another patent on digital camera technology that were challenged by Tesla at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

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Ex-DHL Workers Ask Court To Keep Discrimination Suit Intact

By Spencer Brewer

Two former DHL Supply Chain employees have urged a Texas federal judge to preserve their lawsuit alleging the company has a pervasive culture of racial discrimination against Black workers, saying summary judgment in favor of the company would be improper.

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States Seek Win Over Trump Admin In DEI Contracts Dispute

By Madeline Lyskawa

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia are urging a Maryland federal judge to vacate federal agencies' implementation of President Donald Trump's executive order requiring government contractors to agree that they won't engage in "racially discriminatory" diversity, equity and inclusion activities.

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EPA 'Defying' Order Reviving $2.8B Grant Program, Judge Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

A South Carolina federal judge Wednesday told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency it must comply with the court's prior order and continue administering a $2.8 billion environmental and climate justice grant funding program that was authorized by Congress in 2022.

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Judge Blocks Exxon's Due Process Claims In Records Suit

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts state court judge on Wednesday rejected Exxon Mobil's bid to revive constitutional claims in what he called an already "over-litigated" public records lawsuit against state environmental regulators.

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RI Guardrail Builder Sued Over Conn. Woman's Fatal Crash

By Kia Fatahi

A Rhode Island construction contractor installed defective and "unreasonably dangerous" guardrails on Interstate 95 in Connecticut, which caused a 34-year-old woman to die in a collision and car fire, her estate said in a wrongful death lawsuit filed in Connecticut state court Monday.

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Software Co. Freed From Insurer's $2.5M Indemnity Dispute

By Hope Patti

A maker of vehicle valuation software needn't cover the $2.5 million that an insurer paid in connection with a class action alleging that its former affiliate underpaid claims for totaled vehicles, a New York federal court ruled, finding that the insurer has no enforceable subrogation rights.

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Justices' Review Of Atty Fees Could Reshape Pipeline Takings

With the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to review Hoffmann v. WBI Energy Transmission, property owners' right to recover attorney fees for appropriations under the Natural Gas Act is at stake, potentially leading to a choice between a depressed land valuation or court costs that could exceed any rewards, says attorney Sophia Holley.

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Holland & Knight Hit With $1.2B Malpractice Suit

By Madison Arnold

A real estate firm is accusing Holland & Knight LLP and three attorneys of malpractice in a new complaint filed in Florida state court and is seeking up to $1.2 billion in damages after more than 30 states opened investigations into the company's practices.

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Co. Turned Away Simpson Thacher's Deal Meeting, Jury Told

By Cara Salvatore

A retired Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP partner who handled the fundraising round alleged to have destroyed Patriot National Inc. testified in a Florida state malpractice trial Wednesday that the insurance services company waved off his attempt to present details to the board.

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Brief

Pillsbury Data Breach Suit Voluntarily Dismissed

By Matt Perez

A proposed class action against Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP over a data breach last year has been voluntarily dismissed by the named plaintiffs, following a granted motion to stay in April to discuss mediation.

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DLA Piper Says Deception, Not Bias, Cost Palestinian Atty Job

By Grace Elletson

DLA Piper urged an Illinois federal judge to toss a Palestinian attorney's suit claiming the firm revoked a job offer out of discrimination, arguing it rescinded the offer because she concealed allegations that she assaulted someone at a protest.

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DC Bar Leaders Say DOJ Ethics Suit Encourages Misconduct

By Emily Sawicki

Washington, D.C., attorney regulators continue to garner support in their effort to toss a Justice Department lawsuit over alleged "weaponizing" of executive branch lawyer discipline, with D.C. bar organizations, scores of legal scholars and more than 500 former DOJ attorneys backing the disciplinary authorities.

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Mich. Gets Judge With Blue Slips In 1st For Trump Admin

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate voted 62-36 on Wednesday to confirm Michael Martin, a longtime federal prosecutor, to the Eastern District of Michigan and Benjamin Flowers, former solicitor general of Ohio, to the Sixth Circuit.

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DOL IG Says Info-Sharing Pacts Lacked Safeguards

By Irene Spezzamonte

U.S. Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony P. D'Esposito testified Wednesday before a U.S. House subcommittee that during the Biden administration, the department shared confidential information with plaintiffs' attorneys without notifying the Wage and Hour Division or the Employee Benefits Security Administration.

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Gov't Attys May Face Broader Duty To Report Misconduct

By Alison Knezevich

Attorneys representing the government could face "more demanding" obligations to disclose misconduct by people within their client organizations than attorneys representing private entities, according to an ethics opinion issued Wednesday by the American Bar Association.

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Retired Judges Rip Bid To Ban Foreign-Born Federal Judges

By Courtney Bublé

A group of 58 retired federal judges, appointed by presidents of both parties, on Wednesday came out strongly against recent proposals from Republican lawmakers that would require federal judges to be natural-born U.S. citizens and relinquish any citizenship that is not of the United States.

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US Marshals Can't Make Immigration Arrests In DC Court

By Rae Ann Varona

A D.C. federal judge Wednesday refused to toss a lawsuit from a certified class of immigrants challenging immigration arrests by U.S. marshals in D.C. Superior Court, declaring that the marshals lack authority and necessary training for the arrests.

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Securities Class Action Deals On Target To Hit 6-Year High

By Katryna Perera

The value of class action settlements is on track to reach a six-year high of $4.4 billion, fueled in part by a handful of "mega settlements" and other high-dollar deals, a Cornerstone Research report released Wednesday said. 

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