Analysis

Bayer Sees 'Light At The End Of The Tunnel' In Roundup Suits

By Chris Villani

After more than a decade and tens of thousands of cases, a recent settlement announcement and a high-stakes high court hearing may finally give the makers of the weedkiller Roundup an off-ramp in seemingly never-ending litigation.

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4th Circ. Expands Online Data Privacy Rules In CSAM Appeal

By Parker Quinlan

The Fourth Circuit has ruled that law enforcement officers are barred under the Fourth Amendment from opening and viewing private files stored on an online cloud database without a warrant, applying existing case law from physical files to electronically stored documents.

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10th Circ. Reverses Colo. Court's Visa Reclassification Ruling

By Ganesh Setty

The foreign-born son of a lawful permanent resident who later became a naturalized citizen can keep his minor status for visa purposes even though he's now over 21 years old, the Tenth Circuit ruled, reversing a Colorado federal court's decision.

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2nd Circ. Spurns DOT Bid To Re-Freeze Hudson Tunnel Funds

By Linda Chiem

The Second Circuit on Wednesday rejected the Trump administration's bid to again freeze federal payments to New York and New Jersey for the ongoing $16 billion rehabilitation of aging commuter train tunnels under the Hudson River.

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9th Circ. Reviews Stay Policy Amid Trump Appointees' Attack

By Lauren Berg

The Ninth Circuit's chief judge said the court is reviewing how to manage its "enormous immigration docket" after several judges appointed by President Donald Trump "unilaterally disrupted" the court's policymaking with a ruling questioning the legality of the court's practice to automatically stay deportations pending a review of the merits.

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Judges, Lawmakers Urge 4th Circ. To Affirm Halligan Ruling

By Ryan Boysen

Members of Congress and former federal judges have urged the Fourth Circuit to affirm that Lindsey Halligan was not properly appointed as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, saying the episode exemplifies why there are guardrails against installing political loyalists as federal prosecutors.

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Tax Fraudster Asks 4th Circ. To Undo 20-Year Prison Term

By Anna Scott Farrell

The head of an investment firm who was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison after admitting to tax fraud in connection with a $20 million Ponzi scheme asked the Fourth Circuit to vacate his sentence, saying it was unreasonable and far longer than average.

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Feds Ask Justices To Let Haiti TPS Termination Move Forward

By Ganesh Setty

The Trump administration urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday to again block courts from postponing its revocation of foreign nationals' temporary protected status, this time for 350,000 Haitians, saying its prior Venezuelan TPS decisions aren't holding sway.

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Insulin Makers Ask Justices To Review Collusion Case

By Matthew Perlman

Sanofi-Aventis US, Eli Lilly & Co., Novo Nordisk Inc. and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP have told the U.S. Supreme Court that a ruling reviving a case over insulin drug costs undermines key rules meant to weed out improper antitrust claims.

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NHK Wants Seagate Antitrust Case Paused For High Court Bid

By Matthew Perlman

NHK Spring is asking the Ninth Circuit to pause an antitrust case from Seagate Technologies over the alleged fixing of hard drive component prices while the Japanese manufacturer petitions the U.S. Supreme Court for review.

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Justices Shouldn't Touch $15.6M Pension Ruling, Fund Says

By Emily Brill

The U.S. Supreme Court shouldn't disturb the Eleventh Circuit's finding that a wholesale bakery company owes a union pension fund up to $15.6 million, the fund said, asking the justices not to accept a writ of certiorari petition from the company.

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Alaska Fights Tribes' $2M Legal Fees In Fishing Rights Row

By Crystal Owens

Alaska is asking a federal court to deny a bid for attorney fees by a Native organization in a dispute over rules regulating subsistence fishing in the Kuskokwim River, arguing it could collectively cost $2.2 million for the case that ultimately ended in the U.S. Supreme Court.

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$600M IP Award, Quinn Emanuel Contempt Faulted On Appeal

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday vacated a verdict against the maker of Norton antivirus software for infringing Columbia University patents and reversed a contempt ruling against Norton's former law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP that had caused the judgment to grow to just over $600 million.

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Fed. Circ. Revives Long-Running IP Suit Against John Deere

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday reinstated a lawsuit accusing John Deere of infringing a patent on a way to keep a crop harvester's header at the right height, saying an Iowa federal judge wrongly found claims in the patent were invalid.

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Fed. Circ. OKs Dropbox, Box Inc. Wins In Patent Challenges

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday declined to breathe new life into a pair of data management patents Dropbox and Box Inc. challenged at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board after being sued in federal district court for infringement.

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Fed. Circ. Lets Stand ZSPEC's Auto Hardware TM

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's denial of a bid from an automotive hardware and fastener company to cancel a competitor's trademark registration on the term "Dress Up Bolts."

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Tether, Bitfinex Appeal Class Cert. In Bitcoin Rigging Suit

By Katryna Perera

Digital asset companies Tether and Bitfinex have petitioned the Second Circuit to review a New York federal judge's recent decision granting class certification to two classes of investors in a suit accusing the companies of rigging the cryptocurrency market and costing investors hundreds of billions of dollars.

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4th Circ. Revives Defense Dept. Worker's Retaliation Lawsuit

By Patrick Hoff

A U.S. Department of Defense agency specializing in satellite imagery must face a Black former employee's lawsuit alleging he was fired for objecting to harassment, as the Fourth Circuit ruled Wednesday that a jury should get to weigh his assertion that he was warned not to lodge complaints.

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DOL Won't Oppose Vacating ERISA Fiduciary Rule In Texas

By Kellie Mejdrich

An insurance trade group challenging the U.S. Department of Labor's regulations expanding the definition of an investment advice fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act asked a Texas judge Wednesday to vacate the policies and said the DOL didn't oppose the request.

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6th Circ. Upholds Ax Of Hospital Security Guard's Wage Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A former security guard for a Tennessee hospital did not plausibly allege that lunch periods were compensable work time under federal wage law, the Sixth Circuit ruled, affirming the dismissal of his proposed class action claiming that automatic deductions for meal breaks cost him overtime pay.

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8th Circ. Hears Gov't Can't Support Gun Ban Tied To Cannabis

By Mike Curley

A man convicted of owning a firearm as an unlawful drug user is urging the Eighth Circuit to find that the law is unconstitutional as it applies to him, saying the government has failed to show that his drug use caused any alleged violent or terrorizing actions.

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Dems Float Bill To Ban Death-Tied Event Contracts

By Aislinn Keely

Two Democrats from California are proposing to outlaw event contracts that reference or relate to terrorism, war or an individual's death amid the rise of certain prediction markets involving political shake-ups.

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Florida Man Can Proceed With $13M Home Straw Buyer Suit

By Carolina Bolado

A home seller can pursue claims he would not have sold his Miami Beach property for $13 million had he known it was going to a straw buyer planning to flip the property a year later, a Florida appeals court ruled Wednesday, reviving part of the resident's lawsuit. 

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Pa. Justices Hint 3rd Jury Should Decide Misdiagnosis Case 

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared skeptical of an oncologist's argument that she should not have to face a third trial in a suit accusing her of treating a now-deceased woman for the wrong type of cancer, suggesting that disputed facts about the patient's care make the case suitable for a jury.

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Pa. High Court To Determine If Miranda Waiver Wavered

By Elizabeth Daley

A murder-for-hire defendant urged the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday to uphold an order tossing his conviction, saying during oral arguments that an appellate court rightfully found a detective violated his Miranda rights by telling him during an interview, "Nobody's using anything in court."

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Pa. Justices Doubtful Law Unclear In AG-DA Opioid Deal Row

By Matthew Santoni

Multiple Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices on Wednesday doubted a state law was ambiguous about whether the attorney general could step in and settle claims brought by county-level district attorneys, as he had in a multistate settlement with opioid companies.

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NJ Justices Say Schools Can Be Liable For Sexual Abuse

By George Woolston

The New Jersey Supreme Court said Wednesday that schools can be held liable for alleged acts of child sexual abuse committed outside the scope of a teacher's employment, and outlined the standard for establishing such a claim.

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Firm Doesn't Owe Ex-Managing Atty Fees In Client Luring Suit

By Mike Curley

A New Jersey state appeals court rejected a request Wednesday for sanctions and attorney fees by an attorney formerly with the Law Offices of Gary S. Park PC, saying the firm's amended complaint alleging she lured away clients was not filed to harass her.

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Del. High Court Upholds Pioneer Win In $60B Exxon Deal Fight

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday affirmed a lower court ruling denying a union pension fund's request for additional internal communications related to the roughly $60 billion merger between Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and ExxonMobil Corp., concluding that the Delaware Chancery Court correctly rejected the stockholder's bid to obtain more emails and text messages from the company's former chief executive.

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Investor Urges Revival Of Armistice Insider Trading Claims

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Supreme Court has heard arguments over whether a hedge fund that traded tens of millions of dollars' worth of stock can face insider trading liability under state law after its board designee allegedly received confidential company information, with an Aytu BioPharma shareholder urging the court to revive claims against healthcare investor Armistice Capital.

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Roundup

Incumbent Ga. Judges Face Fresh Challengers In May

By Chart Riggall

With candidates for Georgia statewide offices qualifying for their races last week, a high-profile fight for two spots on the state's highest court and a wide-open race for attorney general are expected to be among the most prominent contests in the state's legal world this spring. Here, Law360 looks at who qualified.

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Industrial Machinery Co. Gets Contempt Finding Overturned

By Kelcey Caulder

A Georgia trial judge went too far by holding a crushing and screening equipment maker in contempt for breaching a court order and ordering it to pay attorney fees in a distribution agreement dispute, a state appeals court ruled.

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Mich. Justices Weigh Public Trust Duties in Enbridge Case

By Melanie Dorsey

The Michigan Supreme Court, in the second of two Enbridge Energy LP disputes heard Wednesday, questioned if the Michigan Public Service Commission properly handled public trust issues when it approved the company's proposed oil tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac.

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Mich. Justices Consider Standard In Enbridge Tunnel Fight

By Melanie Dorsey

The Michigan Supreme Court, in one of two Enbridge Energy LP disputes, examined Wednesday how closely courts must scrutinize state regulators' environmental review of the proposed oil pipeline tunnel beneath the Straits of Mackinac, in a case that could decide if project review needs additional evidence and analysis.

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Bayer AG's Monsanto Pays $1M For Misclassified PCB Docs

By Rachel Riley

Bayer AG-owned Monsanto shelled out $1 million in sanctions on Tuesday based on a Washington state court's findings that the agro-chemical giant improperly marked thousands of documents as privileged when battling PCB poisoning claims tied to an Evergreen State school in a series of cases that have since been settled.

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Mass. High Court Orders School To Comply With Records Law

By Julie Manganis

A publicly funded charter school is required to follow Massachusetts' public records laws, the state's highest court said Wednesday, affirming a series of orders to comply with requests for information about legal bills and other expenditures.

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Minn. Justices Reject Homeowner's Valuation Claims

By Jaqueline McCool

The Minnesota Tax Court had full jurisdiction over a homeowner's property tax case and properly dismissed his challenge to the county's valuation, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

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High Court's Recess Talks Ruling Raises Practical Challenges

While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Villarreal v. Texas decision, permitting some limits on attorney-client discussions during overnight midtestimony recesses, resolves certain ambiguities, it also implicitly exposes the structural impracticalities of attempting to police narrower consultation limits, says Ryan Magee at McCarter & English.

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Justices' GEO Ruling Sets Gov't Contractor Immunity Limits

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in GEO Group v. Menocal will affect virtually every case in which a government contractor faces liability because they can no longer routinely assert their immunity under the government contract and must instead make a showing on the merits, says Terry Collingsworth at International Rights Advocates.

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Job Shift Accommodation Ruling Clarifies 'Essential Function'

In Siebrecht v. Mercy Health-Iowa, the Eighth Circuit's recent denial of a disabled worker's shift exemption request shows that the essential function of a job can encompass more than core job requirements and include things like scheduling flexibility, says Kim Kirn at Miles Mediation & Arbitration.

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Takeaways From Calif. High Court's Public Records Decision

The California Supreme Court’s recent City of Gilroy v. Superior Court decision — clarifying the relief available under, and the duties imposed by, the California Public Records Act — expands the strategic significance of CPRA actions and demands greater foresight in public records practice, say attorneys at Hanson Bridgett.

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Ex-DOJ Atty Who Said 'This Job Sucks' Running For Congress

By Courtney Bublé

The former federal government lawyer detailed to Minnesota to help with immigration cases who last month told a federal judge "this job sucks" says she is running for Congress in the state.

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Feature

Exxon Cements Texas As Delaware's Emerging Rival

By Spencer Brewer

Last year, Vinson & Elkins partner Katherine Frank fielded about one call a week from companies thinking about redomiciling in Texas. Speaking to Law360 the day after ExxonMobil announced its plan to reincorporate in the Lone Star State due to its business-forward courts and policies, Frank said the callers fell into three categories.

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Firm Probed In $4B LA Sex Abuse Deal Hit With UPL Charges

By Rachel Rippetoe

A co-founder of the Los Angeles personal injury firm facing investigation for its involvement in a record $4 billion sex abuse settlement against Los Angeles County was hit with disciplinary charges by the California State Bar, alleging the firm illegally practiced law outside the state.

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Analysis

Trump Cybercrime Order Creates New Compliance To-Do List

By Phillip Bantz

President Donald Trump's recent executive order calling for a coalition of government agencies to combat cybercrime is far more forceful than efforts under prior administrations, according to white collar lawyers, who tentatively applaud the proposal while warning it could raise new compliance risks.

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3 Attys Escape Ford's 'Retaliatory' Lemon Law RICO Suit

By Linda Chiem

A California federal judge has shut down Ford Motor Co.'s revised racketeering lawsuit accusing three attorneys affiliated with Knight Law Group LLP of orchestrating a massive fraudulent legal billing scheme, saying the attorneys' underlying conduct in pursuing lemon law litigation is shielded by First Amendment protections.

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VA, DOJ Cut Deal To Make Attys Mental Health Guardians

By Mark Payne

Under a new initiative, attorneys at the U.S. Department of Justice will serve as legal guardians for some homeless veterans, the Trump administration announced on Wednesday, though some veterans advocates expressed concern that the new program could involuntarily coerce veterans experiencing mental health issues into institutional care.

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