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Class Action
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July 15, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Chancery Court news was full of fees and settlements last week, with three multimillion-dollar deals getting a court OK, and a daylong discussion over a potentially multibillion-dollar fee award for attorneys who got Tesla CEO Elon Musk's astronomical pay package thrown out. The court also banged the gavel in cases involving e-payment venture SwervePay and managed care company Centene Corp., and heard arguments from software company SAP SE and biotech Renmatix Inc.
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July 15, 2024
No Sanctions For Milberg In Visa, Mastercard MDL
A New York federal judge on Friday declined to order sanctions against Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman LLC after the firm admitted to mistakenly registering fraudulent clients in long-running multidistrict litigation that accused Visa and Mastercard of charging improper merchant fees.
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July 15, 2024
Veteran Employment Litigator Jumps From Kasowitz To Akin
A veteran employment litigator has joined Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in New York after nearly 16 years at Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP.
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July 15, 2024
BMW, Customer Agree To Drop Motorcycle Gear Display Fight
BMW of North America and a customer who brought a proposed class action against the company, alleging it sold motorcycles with defective gear indicators, have agreed to drop their dispute from New Jersey federal court, according to a joint stipulation.
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July 15, 2024
Workday AI Hiring Bias Suit Cleared To Move Ahead
A job candidate's discrimination case over Workday's artificial intelligence-powered hiring tools got the go-ahead to move into the fact-finding stage, as a California federal judge said it's plausible that employment bias laws could stretch to reach the software vendor.
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July 12, 2024
Law360 Names 2024's Top Attorneys Under 40
Law360 is pleased to announce the Rising Stars of 2024, our list of 158 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.
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July 12, 2024
Engineering Firms Ink $26.5M Deals To End 'No-Poach' Claims
Four engineering firms have agreed to shell out a total of $26.5 million, while a fifth has pledged to cooperate, to settle a proposed class action alleging they conspired to restrict hiring through "no-poach" agreements, leaving RTX Corp. unit Pratt & Whitney as the sole defendant, plaintiffs told a Connecticut federal judge on Friday.
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July 12, 2024
AI Drugmaker BioXcel Beats Investor Fraud Suit, For Now
A Connecticut federal judge has tossed a proposed securities fraud class action against BioXcel Therapeutics Inc., saying that while shareholders sufficiently alleged the AI-driven drugmaker made misleading statements concerning a dementia drug study's compliance issues, they failed to adequately plead the company intended to deceive or defraud investors.
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July 12, 2024
DHS Says Recent High Court Rulings Doom CBP App Claims
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Friday that a pair of recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings addressing the issue of standing mean that two organizations lack the standing to challenge its requirement that migrants use a smartphone app to submit applications.
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July 12, 2024
FirstEnergy Denied 6th Circ. Appeal In Doc Dispute
Scandal-plagued utility company FirstEnergy Corp. lost another attempt to shield internal investigation documents from a class of investors as well as its former CEO on Friday when an Ohio federal judge denied the company's request to appeal the dispute to the Sixth Circuit on a "logically fallacious" premise.
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July 12, 2024
Opioid MDL Plaintiffs Atty Fee Awards Upheld
The Ohio federal judge overseeing the multidistrict litigation over the opioid epidemic denied several law firms' requests to amend the share of legal fees they received in the case, except an appeal from Spangenberg Shibley & Liber, reasoning that one of its attorneys' work has been "invaluable."
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July 12, 2024
Judge Swipes Left On Match Group Investors' Suit
A Delaware federal judge has dismissed, for now, investor allegations that dating website operator Match Group Inc. misled the market about an integration process.
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July 12, 2024
2nd Circ. Revives 'Whole Wheat Flour' Cracker Label Suit
Advertising which emphasized "organic whole wheat flour" in a box of crackers when white flour was the primary ingredient was misleading and "arguably false," according to the Second Circuit, which revived a lawsuit accusing Back to Nature Foods Co. of tricking its customers.
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July 12, 2024
Ex-Thermo Fisher Worker Fights For 401(k) Forfeiture Suit
A Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. retirement plan participant told a California federal judge Friday she has standing to claim the company violated federal benefits law by using forfeited plan money to aid its own contributions instead of slimming expenses, arguments aimed at fending off the company's dismissal bid.
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July 12, 2024
Vicor Hit With Short Sellers' Suit Over Partnership Disclosure
Several short sellers have sued power systems manufacturer Vicor Corp. claiming the company misled the market when it announced it would enter a significant partnership with one of its major customers, but later told investors the partnership would never come to fruition, damaging short sellers.
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July 12, 2024
Plaintiffs Want Opioid MDL Bellwethers Cut For Lost Emails
Plaintiffs in the multidistrict litigation arising from the opioid epidemic again asked an Ohio federal court on Friday to sever two of four bellwethers, accusing pharmacy benefit managers of preferring to "foster a sideshow" to further draw out litigation after learning of deficiencies in evidence preservation by some of the cities and counties that initiated cases.
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July 12, 2024
Colo. Prisoners Seek Class Cert. In Slave Labor Suit
A pair of Colorado prisoners have asked a state judge to grant class certification for their suit alleging the state is illegally using them for slave labor, detailing their experiences of punishment like extensive isolation for refusing to work.
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July 12, 2024
Valve Says Too Much Game Publisher Variety For Class Cert.
Online gaming giant Valve is fighting certification of a class of some 32,000 gaming publishers that distributed their titles through the company's Steam platform, arguing those publishers have nothing in common to assert any commonality in the alleged creation of a pricing floor that helped sustain Valve's 30% commissions.
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July 12, 2024
Off The Bench: NCAA Loses, Favre Wobbles, NFL Fights Back
In this week's Off The Bench, the Third Circuit enlivens the debate over whether college athletes can be considered employees, the Fifth Circuit is skeptical of Brett Favre's defamation suit and the NFL disputes claims of racism.
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July 12, 2024
Citigroup Wants Racial-Bias Lawsuit Over ATM Fees Tossed
Citigroup has asked a Florida federal judge to dismiss a racial discrimination lawsuit that claims the bank violated federal civil rights laws by waiving ATM fees for customers of minority-owned banks, saying the plaintiffs have failed to plead an injury that is traceable to the alleged misconduct.
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July 12, 2024
Apollo Seeks Chancery Toss Of Stockholder Pact Challenge
Pointing in part to a pending Delaware law that would allow corporate directors to cede some board powers to big stockholders, Apollo Global Management Inc. has asked a Delaware vice chancellor to dismiss a suit challenging its own stockholder pact.
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July 12, 2024
Delta Slams Flyers' Facebook Data Sharing Class Action
Delta Air Lines has asked a California federal judge to dump a proposed class action alleging it unlawfully shared customers' sensitive personal data with Meta's Facebook through online tracking tools embedded in its website, saying its contract of carriage clearly discloses its digital advertising practices.
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July 12, 2024
Staffing Agency Accused Of Misclassifying Workers
A staffing agency misclassified customer service agents as independent contractors and failed to pay them for all the hours they worked, according to a proposed class and collective action filed in Colorado federal court.
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July 12, 2024
Judge Questions Zuckerberg's Bid To Dodge Liability In MDL
A California federal judge voiced doubt Friday about Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's arguments for axing corporate-officer liability claims from multidistrict litigation over the allegedly addictive designs of social media, saying that while many CEOs are hands-off, "it's not clear to me that Mr. Zuckerberg is one of them."
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July 12, 2024
No Injury In Suit Targeting J&J Asset Shuffles, Talc Unit Says
Johnson & Johnson wants a New Jersey federal judge to toss a proposed class action alleging that the company has tried to intentionally prevent talc claimants from getting their day in court through a scheme of fraudulent corporate transactions, arguing that the cancer patients failed to show how any of the challenged transactions left it unable to pay its talc claims.
Expert Analysis
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Oracle Ruling Underscores Trend Of Mootness Fee Denials
The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent refusal to make tech giant Oracle shoulder $5 million of plaintiff shareholders' attorney fees illustrates a trend of courts raising the standard for granting the mootness fee awards once ubiquitous in post-merger derivative disputes, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
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Cos. Should Mind Website Tech As CIPA Suits Keep Piling Up
Businesses should continue evaluating their use of website technologies and other data-gathering software and review the disclosures in their privacy policies, amid an increase so far in 2024 of class actions alleging violations of the California Invasion of Privacy Act's pen register and trap-and-trace provisions, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Questions Persist After Ruling Skirts $925M TCPA Award Issue
After an Oregon federal court's recent Wakefield v. ViSalus ruling that the doctrine of constitutional avoidance precluded it from deciding whether a $925 million Telephone Consumer Protection Act damages award was constitutionally sound, further guidance is needed on when statutory damages violate due process, says Michael Klotz at O'Melveny.
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Benzene Contamination Concerns: Drugmakers' Next Steps
After a citizen petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a flurry of class actions over benzene contamination in benzoyl peroxide acne products, affected manufacturers should consider a thoughtful approach that includes assembling internal data and possibly contacting the FDA for product-specific discussions, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Opinion
States Should Follow Federal Lead On Expert Evidence Rules
The recently amended Federal Rule of Evidence 702 will help ensure expert testimony in federal courts reflects adequate data and reliable methods properly applied to a given case, and state courts — home to the overwhelming majority of U.S. litigation — should adopt similar changes, says retired attorney Michael Harrington.
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Opinion
Post-Moelis Del. Corp. Law Proposal Would Hurt Stockholders
The proposed Delaware General Corporation Law amendment in response to the Court of Chancery's recent opinion in West Palm Beach Firefighters' Pension Fund v. Moelis would upend the foundational principle of corporate law holding that directors govern corporations in the interest of stockholders — and the potential harm would be substantial, say attorneys at Block & Leviton.
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Back Labels In False Ad Cases Get Some Clarity In 9th Circ.
Courts in the Ninth Circuit have recently delivered a series of wins to advertisers, making clear that any ambiguity on the front of a product's package can be resolved by reference to the back label — which guarantees defendants a powerful tool to combat deceptive labeling claims, say attorneys at Patterson Belknap.
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Opinion
Federal MDL Rule Benefits From Public Comments
The new Federal Rule of Civil Procedure concerning multidistrict litigation that was approved this week by the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules incorporates ideas from public comments that will aid both plaintiffs and defense attorneys — and if ultimately adopted, the rule should promote efficient, merits-driven MDL case management, say Robert Johnston and Gary Feldon at Hollingsworth.
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Tips For Orgs Defending Against Daniel's Law Claims
With Daniel's Law recently amended to require courts to award statutorily defined damages to aggrieved parties, organizations should identify whether they are subject to the law and ensure they have implemented a comprehensive compliance program to better avoid litigation costs and reputational harm, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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Series
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
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Opinion
High Court Should Settle Circuit Split On Risk Disclosures
The U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition for writ of certiorari in the Facebook case to resolve a growing circuit split concerning when risk disclosures can be misleading under federal securities laws, and its decision should align with the intent of Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, says Richard Zelichov at DLA Piper.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.
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Intent-Based Theory Of Liability In Hwang Creates Ambiguity
A case against Archegos Capital founder Bill Hwang alleging that he participated in a securities manipulation scheme, which goes to trial next month in New York federal court, highlights the need for courts to clarify the legal standard defining "market manipulation," says Edward Imperatore at MoFo.
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What NAR Settlement Means For Agent Commission Rates
If approved, a joint settlement agreement between the National Association of Realtors and a class of home sellers will likely take the onus off home sellers to compensate buyers' agents, affecting considerations for all parties to real estate transactions, say attorneys at Jones Foster.