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July 16, 2024
The 2024 Diversity Snapshot: What You Need To Know
Law firms' ongoing initiatives to address diversity challenges have driven another year of progress, with the representation of minority attorneys continuing to improve across the board, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. Here's our data dive into minority representation at law firms in 2023.
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July 16, 2024
These Firms Have The Most Diverse Equity Partnerships
Law360’s law firm survey shows that firms' efforts to diversify their equity partner ranks are lagging. But some have embraced a broader talent pool at the equity partner level. Here are the ones that stood out.
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July 15, 2024
Biggest Transportation Decisions: Midyear 2024 Review
The U.S. Supreme Court's upending of a legal doctrine applying to federal agencies' regulatory powers, the dismantling of JetBlue's proposed acquisition of Spirit Airlines and the preservation of California's authority to set its vehicle emissions standards are among the biggest court decisions so far in 2024 affecting the transportation industry.
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July 15, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Revive Challenge Of US Military Aid To Israel
Palestinian human rights activists cannot revive their lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's support for Israel's military efforts in Gaza, the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday, saying the decision to provide military or other aid to a foreign nation is a political arrangement that does not belong in the courts.
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July 15, 2024
Fed. Circ. Rejects FEMA Contractor's Water Restocking Fees
The Federal Circuit on Monday upheld the rejection of an embattled government contractor's claim for $13.5 million in restocking fees after the Federal Emergency Management Agency sharply reduced the amount of bottled water the agency ordered in response to Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico.
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July 15, 2024
Green Groups, Industry Spar Over Feds' Offshore Leasing Plan
Conservation groups and the American Petroleum Institute are weighing in with starkly contrasting opening briefs for D.C. Circuit challenges of a 2024-2029 offshore oil and gas leasing program and arguments for why it should be scaled back or expanded.
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July 15, 2024
JetBlue-Spirit Flyers Seek $20M Atty Fees Following DOJ Win
The private plaintiffs who challenged the failed JetBlue-Spirit merger asked a Massachusetts federal judge to award their counsel at least $20 million in fees, saying they "substantially contributed" to the U.S. Department of Justice successfully squashing the deal and are the prevailing party in their case.
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July 15, 2024
Bannon Wants Full DC Circ. To Revisit Contempt Conviction
Ex-Trump White House aide Steve Bannon asked the D.C. Circuit on Monday for an en banc rehearing as he seeks to overturn his contempt of Congress conviction, saying a three-judge panel's determination that he "willfully" flouted a subpoena from the Jan. 6 House select committee ignored U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
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July 15, 2024
9th Circ. Says Filmmaker's Son Took Too Long To Probe Fraud
The Ninth Circuit has affirmed a lower court order confirming an $8.7 million arbitral award in a long-running family dispute over a prominent Mexican film producer's film collection, saying the producer's son waited years too long to probe whether his siblings fraudulently tainted the award.
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July 15, 2024
Detroit Must Face Bus Rider's Injury Suit, Mich. Panel Says
The city of Detroit can't escape a lawsuit claiming one of its bus drivers intentionally hit the brakes in an effort to injure a passenger she was arguing with, causing injuries to another commuter, a Michigan appeals court ruled, saying the claims fall squarely with the motor-vehicle exception to governmental immunity.
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July 15, 2024
10th Circ. Rejects Okla. Title X Funding Cut Challenge
A Tenth Circuit panel on Monday rejected Oklahoma's challenge to federal cuts of its Title X funding over the state's refusal to provide referrals for abortions, affirming it was likely the state knowingly and voluntarily accepted the Department of Health and Human Services' requirements for the grant funding.
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July 15, 2024
La., Miss. Utility Regulators Launch FERC Grid Policy Fight
Louisiana and Mississippi utility regulators called on the Fifth Circuit on Monday to review the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's sweeping overhaul of how major electric transmission projects are planned and paid for.
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July 15, 2024
'Hard To Imagine' Logic For Late Injury Evidence, Justice Says
A Dallas County jury will hear a dispute between an apartment complex and a resident who alleges she was injured after a 2015 carbon monoxide leak, despite the late disclosure of evidence, justification for which the Texas Supreme Court said was "hard to imagine."
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July 15, 2024
JD Vance's Wife Leaves Munger Tolles As Campaign Launches
Usha Chilukuri Vance, the wife of vice presidential candidate J. D. Vance, has resigned as a litigator at Munger Tolles & Olson LLP, her now-former law firm told Law360 on Monday afternoon, presumably to trade her Washington, D.C.- and San Francisco-based litigation career for the campaign trail.
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July 15, 2024
Monsanto Doubles Down In Push To Undo $82M PCB Verdict
Monsanto has urged a Washington state appeals court to toss an $82 million jury verdict awarded over polychlorinated biphenyls exposure at a school, saying the findings by the same court in a similar case should apply.
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July 15, 2024
GM Eyes Deal In Design Patent Fight At PTAB
LKQ Corp. and General Motors Co. are looking to come to a deal to settle a legal dispute over GM's design patent covering fenders at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
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July 15, 2024
Calif. Justices Nix 3 Charter Arb. Terms, Remand Severability
The California Supreme Court held Monday that three of four challenged provisions in Charter Communications Inc.'s employee arbitration agreement are "substantively unconscionable" but remanded a worker's discrimination case back to the trial court to determine if those provisions can be severed and the agreement can still be enforced.
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July 15, 2024
Gun Mags Are Not 'Arms' Under Constitution, Wash. AG Says
Washington's attorney general is urging the state Supreme Court to uphold a ban on sales of large-capacity magazines for firearms, arguing on Friday that the ammunition devices are not arms deserving of constitutional protection.
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July 15, 2024
3rd Circ. Wants Higher Bar For Halting Delaware Gun Laws
The Third Circuit held Monday that courts have lowered the bar for issuing preliminary injunctions too much, allowing Delaware to keep its ban on "assault weapons" and extended magazines because the gun rights groups challenging the law hadn't met the burden of showing the harm necessary for "extraordinary relief."
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July 15, 2024
Towers Watson Asks 4th Circ. To Find Merger Dispute Covered
Towers Watson's insurers must pay out $54 million in remaining directors and officers coverage to help fund a $75 million settlement in a shareholder suit over the company's merger with Willis, Towers Watson told the Fourth Circuit, saying a so-called bump-up exclusion does not apply.
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July 15, 2024
9th Circ. Won't Review Toss Of Youths' Climate Case
The Ninth Circuit has rejected youth plaintiffs' request for an en banc rehearing of a May ruling that dismissed their climate change suit against the U.S. government.
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July 15, 2024
4th Circ. Rejects Couple's $5.1M Easement Deduction
The Fourth Circuit rejected Monday a married couple's bid to revive a claimed $5.1 million conservation easement deduction, saying it represented a "remarkable" attempt to inflate the value of a 41-acre property that was worth just $652,000 the year before they donated it.
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July 15, 2024
Mogul's Co. Drops Bid To Stop Insurer's Liquidation
A company owned by convicted insurance mogul Greg Lindberg wants to end a fight against North Carolina's liquidation of an insurer, saying that it desires to withdraw its case in the state Court of Appeals.
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July 15, 2024
NHTSA Fuel Economy Suits Consolidated In 6th Circ.
Eight separate legal challenges to the U.S. Department of Transportation's newly finalized fuel economy standards for passenger cars and light trucks have been consolidated in the Sixth Circuit, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said Friday.
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July 15, 2024
4th Circ. OKs No Hardship Finding In Mexican Man's Removal
A Fourth Circuit panel on Monday rejected a petition from a Mexican citizen seeking to halt his removal from the United States, ruling that the Board of Immigration Appeals was right to find that his petition fell short of the extreme hardship standard necessary to prevent removal.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.
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TTAB Ruling Raises Foreign-Language Mark Questions
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's recent decision to cancel the Veuve Olivier registration due to its similarity to Veuve Clicquot brings new focus to the treatment of foreign terms and the doctrine of foreign equivalents, say attorneys at Finnegan.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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What A Louisiana Ruling Means For Pipeline Crossings
After a Louisiana appeals court's recent ruling on a conflict between two pipeline projects, operators and developers should review pipeline crossings to ensure that they occur at safe distances — and keep in mind the value of crossing agreements for protecting both sides in case of a dispute, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.
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Examining Illinois Genetic Privacy Law Amid Deluge Of Claims
After a federal court certified an Illinois Genetic Information Privacy Act class action in August, claims under the law have skyrocketed, so employers, insurers and others that collect health and genetic information should ensure compliance with the act to limit litigation risk, say attorneys at Squire Patton.
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Opinion
Climate Change Shouldn't Be Litigated Under State Laws
The U.S. Supreme Court should reverse the Hawaii Supreme Court's October decision in Honolulu v. Sunoco that Hawaii could apply state law to emissions generated outside the state, because it would lead to a barrage of cases seeking to resolve a worldwide problem according to 50 different variations of state law, says Andrew Ketterer at Ketterer & Ketterer.
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Del. Ruling Highlights M&A Deal Adviser Conflict Disclosures
The Delaware Supreme Court recently reversed the Court of Chancery's dismissal of challenges to Nordic Capital's acquisition of Inovalon, demonstrating the importance of full disclosure of financial adviser conflicts when a going-private merger seeks business judgment rule review, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Key Antitrust Class Certification Questions Remain Unclear
The U.S. Supreme Court, by recently rejecting certiorari in Visa v. National ATM, turned down the opportunity to clarify how to analyze disputed evidence bearing on the certification of antitrust class actions, leaving the applicable standards unclear instead of resolving this split of authority, says Jonathan Berman at Jones Day.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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What's Notable In JAMS' New Mass Arbitration Rules
The Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services’ recently released guidelines, coming on the heels of similar American Arbitration Association amendments, suggests that mass arbitrations will remain an efficient means for consumers to vindicate their rights against companies, say Jonathan Waisnor and Brandon Heitmann at Labaton Keller.
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Fostering Employee Retention Amid Shaky DEI Landscape
Ongoing challenges to the legality of corporate diversity, equity and inclusion programs are complicating efforts to use DEI as an employee retention tool, but with the right strategic approach employers can continue to recruit and retain diverse talent — even after the FTC’s ban on noncompetes, says Ally Coll at the Purple Method.
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'Fat Leonard' Case Shows High Bar For Rescinding Guilty Plea
Prosecutors’ recent move in the “Fat Leonard” bribery case, supporting several defendants’ motions to withdraw their guilty pleas, is extremely unusual – and its contrast with other prosecutions demonstrates that the procedural safeguards at plea hearings are far from enough, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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Justices Clarify FAA But Leave Behind Important Questions
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Bissonnette v. LePage firmly shuts the door on any argument that the Federal Arbitration Act's Section 1 exemption is limited to transportation workers whose employers transport goods on behalf of others, but two major issues remain unresolved, say Joshua Wesneski and Crystal Weeks at Weil.
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Is The Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?
Though private businesses have faced a decadelong deluge of digital accessibility complaints in the absence of clear regulations or uniformity among the courts, attorneys at Epstein Becker address how recent federal courts’ pushback against serial Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiffs and the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed government accessibility standards may presage a break in the downpour.
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Rebuttal
Double-Patenting Ruling Shows Terminal Disclaimers' Value
While a recent Law360 guest article seems to argue that the Federal Circuit’s Cellect decision last year robs patent owners of lawful patent term, the ruling actually identifies how terminal disclaimers are the solution to the problem of obviousness-type double patenting, say Jane Love and Robert Trenchard at Gibson Dunn.