Transportation

  • June 26, 2025

    4th Circ. Clears Cab Guard Seller In Trucker's Death Suit

    The Fourth Circuit won't revive a suit by the brother of a deceased truck driver alleging a cab guard intended to protect the truck's driver from its cargo failed, leading to his death, finding there is only speculative evidence that the defendant distributor ever had or sold the guard in question.

  • June 25, 2025

    Ill. Appeals Court Won't Undo Biometric Privacy Class Cert.

    An Illinois state appeals court has refused to disturb a lower court's order certifying a class of employees suing over time clocks that scanned and used their biometric information, ruling that the common claim in the case presents a question that "is suitable for, if not demanding of, class-wide resolution."

  • June 25, 2025

    Full Fed. Circ. Won't Review ITC Marketing Decision

    The full Federal Circuit on Wednesday rejected the U.S. International Trade Commission's call to reconsider a panel's holding that sales, marketing and similar expenditures can satisfy domestic industry requirements.

  • June 25, 2025

    2nd Circ. Blocks Reed Smith Doc Turnover Order In Eletson Row

    The Second Circuit on Wednesday granted Reed Smith LLP's emergency motion to stay a Manhattan federal judge's order to turn over client files amid a conflict over the legitimate ownership of international shipping company Eletson, which is in a dispute with competitor Levona.

  • June 25, 2025

    Company Can Be Sued For Drunk Worker's Crash, Panel Says

    A Florida appeals court on Wednesday revived a suit accusing a construction company's employee of negligently causing an auto collision while drunk, saying it can be held liable despite the worker's contractual obligation not to drink and drive in the company car.

  • June 25, 2025

    Auto Lender's Ex-Exec Gets No Prison For Role In $67M Fraud

    An auto lender's former operations chief was sentenced Wednesday in Illinois federal court to one day of time served alongside a year of supervised release, three months of which served as home detention, for his role in a fraud that caused more than $60 million in losses.

  • June 25, 2025

    Spirit Flags Competition Concerns Over United-JetBlue Pact

    Spirit Airlines LLC has filed a complaint with federal transportation regulators contending that a recently announced partnership between United Airlines and JetBlue raises issues similar to an alliance between American and JetBlue that was blocked over competition concerns.

  • June 25, 2025

    Senate Panel Narrowly Advances FAA Chief Nominee

    The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation voted along party lines Wednesday to advance President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Federal Aviation Administration.

  • June 25, 2025

    4th Circ. Nixes $1M Award In Underinsured Motorist Dispute

    A man injured in a car crash cannot recover underinsured motorist, or UIM, coverage under his employer's commercial auto policy, the Fourth Circuit ruled, vacating his $1 million award based on guidance from West Virginia's top court that insurers aren't required to offer such coverage for all vehicles they insure.

  • June 24, 2025

    Wash. Judge Blocks Trump Admin's EV Charging Funds Freeze

    A Seattle federal judge Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from withholding funds for electric vehicle charging infrastructure projects in 14 states, but stopped short of applying it to two other states and Washington, D.C., and stayed the order to give the administration time to appeal.

  • June 24, 2025

    Cargo Explosion Prompts $32M Va. Suit Amid London Claim

    A freight operator has asked a Virginia federal court to let it seize approximately $32 million in maritime property as it pursues arbitration in London for that same amount of damages after its coal cargo exploded while aboard a vessel headed to China last November.

  • June 24, 2025

    State AGs Sue Trump Admin To Stop Billions In Grant Cuts

    A coalition of 21 states and the District of Columbia filed suit Tuesday in Massachusetts federal court, accusing the Trump administration of unlawfully using a single clause "buried in federal regulations" to nix billions of dollars in federal grant funding to the states.

  • June 24, 2025

    Swiss Shipping Co. Can't Dodge Default In Cargo Dispute

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Tuesday upheld the Federal Maritime Commission's default judgment against MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co. SA stemming from a pandemic-era cargo space dispute with a Pennsylvania-based shipper.

  • June 24, 2025

    Ga. Justices Say Man Properly Served Atlanta In Crash Suit

    The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday reversed a ruling from the state's intermediate appellate court in a case over whether a notice of claim against the city of Atlanta was properly served according to state law, finding that it was.

  • June 24, 2025

    Rail Fuel Surcharge MDL Tossed In Sealed Opinion

    Union Pacific Railroad Co., CSX Transportation Inc., Norfolk Southern Railway Corp. and BNSF Railway Co. scored a decisive win Tuesday against roughly 18 years of price-fixing litigation accusing the country's four largest railroad companies of colluding on freight fuel surcharges, in a sealed opinion issued in D.C. federal court.

  • June 24, 2025

    5th Circ. Says EPA Ignored Cos. To Push Efficiency Testing Rule

    The Fifth Circuit has thrown out part of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule for determining measures for fuel efficiency, finding Tuesday that the agency used a faulty methodology to justify tightening standards and outright ignored comments when creating the rule.

  • June 24, 2025

    NTSB Flags Boeing Failures In 737 Max 9 Door Plug Blowout

    Poor training and persistent quality control lapses on Boeing's manufacturing and assembly lines, along with the Federal Aviation Administration's ineffective oversight of the plane-maker, led to the January 2024 door-plug blowout aboard a 737 Max 9 jet operated by Alaska Airlines, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.

  • June 24, 2025

    Ohio Derailment Deal Admin Wants Explanation For Ouster

    The ex-administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million settlement with the people and businesses of East Palestine, Ohio, is asking a federal court to share why it was terminated, saying in filings Monday that the company had no idea the plaintiffs' counsel were going to ask for a new administrator.

  • June 24, 2025

    German Auto Parts Retailer Autodoc Scraps IPO Plans

    Autodoc SE on Tuesday postponed its initial public offering and related private placement, one week after the German auto parts retailer unveiled plans to raise up to €463.6 million ($535.8 million) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

  • June 24, 2025

    Driver Must Serve Prison Time In DUI Case, Fla. Panel Rules

    A Florida appellate panel ruled that a driver convicted in the drunken driving-related death of a motorcyclist must serve the minimum time of four years in prison, saying the lower court didn't have the authority to suspend the mandatory sentence for a DUI manslaughter charge.

  • June 24, 2025

    Co. Slams 'Overheated' Reed Smith Brief In Shipping Row

    Reed Smith should not be allowed to halt court proceedings amid its effort to hold onto a client file sought by postbankruptcy owners of Eletson Holdings Inc., a reorganized international shipping company, amid its ongoing dispute with Levona Holdings Ltd., according to briefs both sides filed before the Second Circuit.

  • June 24, 2025

    Boeing Says COVID-Era Docs Needed In Suit Over 737 Sales

    Boeing is urging a Washington federal court to compel a defunct South African airline to turn over documents about its financial state and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on its business from 2019 to 2021, as the plane maker fights a suit alleging it hid the flaws of its 737 Max line.

  • June 24, 2025

    Pot Dispatcher Can't Upend Co-Worker's $400K Wage Deal

    A California appeals court has upheld a $400,000 wage-and-hour settlement between a cannabis delivery driver and The Highest Craft LLC, finding that a dispatcher whose claims are also covered under the settlement failed to show the deal was unfair or insufficiently investigated.

  • June 24, 2025

    Mass. Justices Say Key In Ignition Triggers DUI Law

    Massachusetts' highest court on Tuesday found that the act of sitting behind the wheel with the key in the ignition is enough to sustain a drunken driving charge, even if the car is not in motion and the engine is not turned on.

  • June 24, 2025

    Father Sues Truck Manufacturer Over Son's Death From Heat

    The father of a delivery driver is suing truck manufacturer Morgan Olson LLC in Michigan federal court, alleging that its trucks are defectively designed with cargo compartments without any climate control and that the high temperatures in the trucks led to his son's death.

Expert Analysis

  • Aviation Watch: New FAA Chief Will Face Strong Headwinds

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    Once confirmed, Bryan Bedford, President Donald Trump's nominee to head the Federal Aviation Administration, will face steep challenges — including a shortage of air traffic controllers, a recent spate of high-profile crashes, and the difficulty of working within an administration intent on cutting staffing and funding, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Notable Q1 Updates In Insurance Class Actions

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    The first quarter of 2025 was filled with the refinement of old theories in the property and casualty space, including in vehicle valuation, time to seek appraisal and materials depreciation, says Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: The Value Of Unified State Licensing

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    Texas' proposal to become the latest state to license paraprofessional providers of limited legal services could help firms expand their reach and improve access to justice, but consumers, attorneys and allied legal professionals would benefit even more if similar programs across the country become more uniform, says Michael Houlberg at the University of Denver.

  • UK Top Court Charts Limits Of Liability In Ship Explosion Case

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    A recent U.K. Supreme Court ruling, capping a ship charterer's damages for an onboard explosion, casts a clarifying light upon the murky waters of maritime liability, particularly concerning the delicate operation of limitation under the Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray's Inn.

  • 10 Soft Skills Every GC Should Master

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    As businesses face shifting regulatory and technological uncertainty, general counsel will need to strengthen certain soft skills to succeed, from admitting when they make a mistake to maintaining a healthy dose of dispassion, says Douglas Brown at Manatt.

  • Fed Circ.'s PTAB Ruling Highlights Obsolete Rationale

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in In re: Riggs shines a new light on its 2015 decision in Dynamic Drinkware v. National Graphics, and raises questions about why the claim support requirement established by Dynamic Drinkware exists at all, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.

  • End May Be In Sight For Small Biz Set-Aside Programs

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    A Jan. 21 executive order largely disarming the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, along with recent court rulings, suggests that the administration may soon attempt to eliminate set-asides intended to level the award playing field for small business contractors that qualify under socioeconomic programs, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • An Unrestrained, Bright-Eyed View Of Legal AI's Future

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    Todd Itami at Covington offers a bright-eyed, laughing-all-the-way, skydive look at what the legal industry could look like after an artificial intelligence revolution, which he believes may happen much sooner and more dramatically than we expect.

  • Tracking The Evolution In Litigation Finance

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    Despite continued innovation, litigation finance remains an immature market with borrowers recieving significantly different terms as lenders learn to value cases, which firms need a strong handle on to ensure lending terms do not overwhelm collateral value, says Robert Wilkins at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • Series

    Volunteer Firefighting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While practicing corporate law and firefighting may appear incongruous, the latter benefits my legal career by reminding me of the importance of humility, perspective and education, says Nicholas Passaro at Ford.

  • Digesting A 2nd Circ. Ruling On Food Delivery App Arbitration

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    The Second Circuit recently rejected Grubhub's attempt to arbitrate price-fixing claims, while allowing Uber Eats to do so, reinforcing that even broad arbitration clauses must connect to the underlying dispute and suggesting that terms of service litigation may center on websites' design and content, say attorneys at Greenspoon Marder.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: The Perils Of Digital Data Protocols

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    Though stipulated protocols governing the treatment of electronically stored information in litigation are meant to streamline discovery, recent disputes demonstrate that certain missteps in the process can lead to significant inefficiencies, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Defense Strategies After Justices' Personal Injury RICO Ruling

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    In Medical Marijuana v. Horn, the U.S. Supreme Court recently held that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act can be invoked by some plaintiffs with claims arising from personal injuries — but defense counsel can use the limitations on civil RICO claims to seek early dismissal in such cases, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Preparing For Corporate Work

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    Law school often doesn't cover the business strategy, financial fluency and negotiation skills needed for a successful corporate or transactional law practice, but there are practical ways to gain relevant experience and achieve the mindset shifts critical to a thriving career in this space, says Dakota Forsyth at Olshan Frome.

  • Opinion

    Federal Limits On Counter-Drone Options Need Updating

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    As malicious actors swiftly and creatively adapt drone technology for nefarious ends, federal legislation is needed to expand the authority of state and local governments, as well as private businesses and individuals, to take steps against such threats, says Carter Lee at Woods Rogers.

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