EV-Maker Rivian Will Pay $250M To End Investors' Fraud Suit

By Lauren Berg

Rivian Automotive Inc. investors asked a California federal judge Thursday to greenlight a $250 million settlement resolving their claims that the company underpriced its electric vehicles and misrepresented its profitability ahead of a blockbuster 2021 initial public offering, just one day before a summary judgment hearing.

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Derailment Counsel Fee Provision 'Troubles' 6th Circ. Judge

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A three-judge Sixth Circuit panel on Thursday seemed skeptical that counsel representing victims of the fiery 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, was blindsided by a "quick-pay" provision in the attorney fee agreement that saw class lawyers get paid before their clients.

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Judge Orders State Farm To Restart Paying PIP Claims To Co.

By Carolina Bolado

A Florida state judge has ordered State Farm to pay out benefits for its insureds to an automobile-crash-focused healthcare company, ruling that the insurer cannot unilaterally stop paying all of its policyholders' crash medical benefits to a provider unless it convinces a court that the provider is ineligible.

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Shipbuilder Can't Ax Md. Bridge Collapse Suit, Court Told

By Linda Chiem

The Singaporean owner and manager of the container ship that slammed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge and triggered its collapse maintained that South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. Ltd. should be held accountable in Pennsylvania federal court for designing and building a "fatally flawed" ship.

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Ex-Copyright Leaders, Media Groups Back Cox Piracy Liability

By Ivan Moreno

Media industry groups, former lawmakers and copyright officials are among the parties supporting music companies fighting an appeal from Cox Communications in the U.S. Supreme Court and urging the justices in nearly a dozen amicus briefs to hold internet service providers accountable for their customers' online piracy.

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Wash. Judge Halts Feds From Pulling $9M In Climate Funds

By Tom Lotshaw

A Washington federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from scrapping more than $9 million of climate resiliency agreements with Washington state, finding state officials likely to prevail on claims the administration acted unlawfully when it abruptly ended them.

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Fed. Circ. Affirms No Tax Refunds For Retired United Pilots

By Asha Glover

United Airlines pilots who said they overpaid payroll taxes because of the early termination of their retirement plan in the company's bankruptcy can't get partial refunds, the Federal Circuit affirmed Thursday, saying procedural issues doomed their case.

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Electric Co. Says Contractor Owes $5M For Denver Airport Job

By Zach Dupont

An electric infrastructure company accused a contractor in Colorado state court Wednesday of withholding over $5 million in payments for work completed in an expansion project at the Denver International Airport.

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Delta Workers Can't Revive Claim Lands' End Uniforms Toxic

By Rae Ann Varona

The Seventh Circuit refused to revive a suit Thursday against Lands' End brought by hundreds of Delta Air Lines employees who claim their Lands' End-produced Delta uniforms were toxic and made them sick, saying none of the employees' experts offered testimony establishing that the uniforms were defective.

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NC Judge Dubious Of NASCAR's 'Cartel' Counterclaims

By Hayley Fowler

A North Carolina federal judge appeared skeptical Thursday of letting NASCAR bring to trial its antitrust counterclaims against a pair of stock car racing teams, one owned by retired NBA legend Michael Jordan, questioning how the teams could have colluded to force more favorable contract terms when there seems to be evidence NASCAR was able to negotiate with them individually.

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Ga. Justices Question 'Tesla Carveout' In Direct Car Sales Ban

By Chart Riggall

Georgia's Supreme Court justices appeared to harbor reservations Thursday about the viability of a state ban on car manufacturers engaging in direct-to-consumer sales, thanks in part to a "Tesla carveout" that allowed the leading electric vehicle maker to continue operating its own dealerships.

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Calif. Injury Atty Convicted Of Manslaughter Over DUI Crash

By Y. Peter Kang

A Southern California personal injury attorney has been convicted of felony vehicular manslaughter for driving while intoxicated and causing a 2019 freeway collision that resulted in the death of a U.S. Postal Service big rig driver, according to Orange County prosecutors.

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Ga. Panel Says Statute Noncompliance Dooms Crash Deal

By Kelcey Caulder

The Georgia Court of Appeals reversed a trial court order granting a man's motion to enforce a settlement agreement in a personal injury suit where he was accused of hitting someone with his truck, finding the agreement wasn't a "valid offer capable of being accepted."

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Truckers Nab Class Cert. Only Against Trucking Co. President

By Irene Spezzamonte

Contracts signed by proposed class members in a wage suit include arbitration and class-waiver provisions that reach a transportation company but do not extend to its president and founder, an Illinois federal judge found, partially granting two trackers' bid for class certification.

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Shipbuilders' Discovery Demands Go Too Far, Engineer Says

By Jared Foretek

One of the naval engineers suing the nation's largest military shipbuilders over an alleged no-poach agreement said she's already identified 20 witnesses and produced more than 3,000 pages of documents in discovery, but the companies are still asking for attorney work product in their latest demands.

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Geico Avoids Atty Fees In Florida Providers' Suits

By Ganesh Setty

Geico doesn't need to pay attorney fees or costs across two dozen lawsuits from medical providers that accused the insurer of insufficiently reimbursing them for diagnostic services performed, a Florida state appeals court ruled, agreeing with the company that various county judges' awards deprived it of due process.

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State Farm, Auto Shop End Customer Interference Row

By Ganesh Setty

State Farm and a Tesla-approved auto repair shop asked a Maryland federal court Thursday to formally dismiss the repair shop's lawsuit accusing the insurer of defamation and interfering with its business by dissuading its insureds from using its services.

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Analysis

Energy Cos. Face Permit, Regulatory Delays Due To Shutdown

By Keith Goldberg

Energy companies are starting to feel the pinch of the federal government shutdown, as scaled-back operations and new furlough announcements at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency threaten the approval of needed permits and the issuance of highly anticipated regulations.

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7 Lessons From The Tractor Supply CCPA Enforcement Action

The California Privacy Protection Agency's recent enforcement action targeting Tractor Supply for alleged violations of the California Consumer Privacy Act provides critical insights into the compliance areas that remain a priority for the California regulator, including businesses with significant consumer interactions, say attorneys at Troutman.

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Key Lessons From Youths' Suit Against Trump Energy Orders

A Montana federal court's recent decision in Lighthiser v. Trump, dismissing a challenge by a group of young plaintiffs to President Donald Trump's executive orders promoting fossil fuels, indicates that future climate litigants must anchor their suits in discrete, final agency actions and statutory text, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

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Series

Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

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Columbia-Based Advocate Sues For Law Firms' DEI Details

By Grace Elletson

A free speech institute at Columbia University told a New York federal court Thursday that President Donald Trump's administration effectively denied its requests for information related to the government's demands that law firms supply details about their diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

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Judges Admit AI Missteps After Grassley's Oversight Push

By Courtney Bublé

Federal judges in New Jersey and Mississippi admitted their staff used artificial intelligence in faulty orders they had to redo over the summer, according to correspondence released Thursday by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who is investigating the matter.

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Sanctions Threats Mount For Atty Who Ignored Citation Order

By Emily Sawicki

An attorney who ignored a show cause order earlier this summer after his co-counsel included a fake case citation in a filing for their then-client, a former in-house attorney for Workday Inc., told a San Francisco federal judge Thursday that his failure to respond was a "mistake," in response to a renewed show cause order.

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5th Circ. Vacates Lewis Brisbois' $1.5M Trademark Award

By Elliot Weld

The Fifth Circuit vacated a $1.5 million damages award Thursday that Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP won against three attorneys who registered a business with the same name, saying the Texas federal judge who granted the award had not explained his reasoning under the relevant statutes.

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Baldwin Opposes 7th Circ. Pick For Her State

By Courtney Bublé

Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., on Thursday officially opposed the nomination to the Seventh Circuit of Rebecca Taibleson, a federal prosecutor in Wisconsin, who would serve in her state.

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Judge Dings Law Profs In Judge-Shopping Sanctions Case

By Ryan Boysen

The federal judge behind a controversial sanctions order accusing three attorneys of judge shopping while challenging an Alabama gender care law is pushing back on claims that he lacked jurisdiction, as the ruling is on appeal in the Eleventh Circuit.

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'Civility' A Concern As IP Atty Asks To Depose Party Suing Her

By Lauren Berg

A Florida federal magistrate judge overseeing discovery in a patent licensing company executive's defamation suit against a Baker Botts LLP intellectual property litigator told the parties Thursday that she's inclined to appoint a special master to oversee depositions in the case to ensure "the appropriate decorum and civility."

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Quinn Emanuel Loses Bid To Get $1.7M Bill From Sheriff Case

By Rae Ann Varona

A California state appeals court Thursday shot down Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP's effort to recover a more than $1.7 million bill for representing a former Los Angeles County sheriff in a suit county supervisors lodged, finding that the sheriff lacked authority to retain the firm.

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Squire Patton Boggs Partner Confirmed To Kentucky Bench

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate voted 48-45, along party lines, on Thursday to confirm former Kentucky Solicitor General and Squire Patton Boggs LLP partner Chad Meredith to the Eastern District of Kentucky.

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McGuireWoods Asks NC Justices To Stay Defamation Case

By Andrea Keckley

McGuireWoods LLP and a former partner are asking North Carolina's highest court to halt a defamation case over statements made in connection with an investigation into the former CEO of a managed care organization, saying they risk permanently losing their immunity defense if the suit is allowed to move forward.

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Ky. Rep. Revives Attempt To Abolish PTAB, Expand Eligibility

By Dani Kass

U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Thursday he's again attempting to overhaul the patent system, including abolishing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, normalizing injunctions and broadening what can be patented.

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