NY Court Affirms $3.1M Verdict Over ER Patient's Stroke

By Y. Peter Kang

A New York appellate panel has upheld a jury's $3.16 million verdict in a suit accusing an emergency room doctor and a Long Island hospital of failing to prevent a man's debilitating stroke, saying the jury's verdict was not excessive and was supported by sufficient evidence.

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5th Circ. Finds No 230 Immunity In Salesforce Trafficking Suit

By Mike Curley

The Fifth Circuit on Thursday shut down Salesforce Inc.'s arguments that it was immune under the Communications Decency Act to claims that it benefited from sex trafficking that took place on Backpage.com, saying the plaintiffs' claims do not treat Salesforce as a publisher or speaker of third-party content.

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Monsanto PCB Trial Groups Can Grow, Wash. Judge Says

By Rachel Riley

A Washington state judge laid out a plan on Wednesday to consolidate a series of alleged chemical poisoning cases pending against Monsanto in connection to an Evergreen State school, largely rejecting the company's arguments that it would be prejudiced if plaintiffs merged into larger trial groups.

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Judge Says Some Paraquat Plaintiffs Being Left In Dark

By Cara Salvatore

Amid a hearing targeting fall 2025 for a first bellwether trial over the alleged link between the pesticide paraquat and Parkinson's disease, an Illinois federal judge told plaintiffs' lawyers to keep in better touch with their clients after her chambers received calls from plaintiffs wondering what's happening with their cases.

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Texas Firm Beats Arnold & Itkin DQ Bid In Hurricane Zeta MDL

By Lauren Berg

A Texas state judge Thursday denied Arnold & Itkin LLP's bid to disqualify the law firm defending a drilling rig owner in litigation stemming from Hurricane Zeta, finding that Arnold & Itkin hasn't established that a defense lawyer who had worked for the firm was involved in anything substantially related to the current litigation.

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Atty Loses Bid To Exit Suits Over Unpaid Abuse Case Awards

By James Boyle

A personal injury attorney cannot have an early exit from negligence suits filed by three former clients over settlement payments, a Connecticut state judge ruled Wednesday, finding that a decision in a related case initiated by one of the plaintiffs did not resolve the complaints against the attorney.

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Philips CPAP Suits Against SoClean Tossed From MDLs

By Mike Curley

A Pennsylvania federal judge has tossed two complaints from Philips RS North America against SoClean Inc. from multidistrict litigation stemming from a CPAP machine recall, saying one would disrupt the wrap-up of the MDL surrounding Philips' products, while the other should not have been filed directly into the SoClean MDL.

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Michigan's Biggest Decisions Of 2024

By Carolyn Muyskens

This year, the Michigan Supreme Court instituted sweeping changes to the state's wage and paid leave laws, took some damages off the table for wrongful death plaintiffs, and recognized third-party retaliation claims.

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Girardi's Allies See Fallen Champion; Victims See Deceiver

By Brandon Lowrey

As Tom Girardi's sentencing loomed, his friends and relatives wrote letters to the judge envisioning a grim and undeserved death in prison for the 85-year-old former legal luminary. But former clients who accused him of steailng from them told the court that he deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

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3rd Circ. Says Loan Shark, Robbery Not Enough For Asylum

By Madeline Lyskawa

The Third Circuit ruled against a Brazilian family seeking asylum following threats from a loan shark and a home invasion, saying that their status as crime victims and debtors does not constitute a particular social group eligible for asylum.

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American Airlines Settles Black Passengers' Race Bias Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

American Airlines has settled a race discrimination lawsuit filed in New York federal court that alleged eight Black men were ejected from a flight after a white flight attendant complained of an unknown passenger's body order, attorneys for three of the men announced on Thursday.

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Kia Telluride Owners Allege Brake Defect In Proposed Action

By Corey Rothauser

Telluride SUV owners told a California federal judge Tuesday Kia America Inc. knowingly sold 2020-2024 models of the vehicles with faulty brakes, putting them at significant risk.

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Ex-Knick Oakley Denies Scrapping Evidence In MSG Feud

By Pete Brush

Former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley testified to a federal judge Thursday that he never intentionally deleted text messages about his 2017 altercation with Madison Square Garden security, as the damages litigation in its eighth year meandered toward trial.

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Why Letters Of Protection Are Discoverable In Texas PI Suits

Recent Texas Supreme Court opinions and key provisions of the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure make letters of protection, in which plaintiff attorneys promise payment to healthcare providers based on jury awards, discoverable — good news for defendants fighting exorbitant damage claims in personal injury cases, says Nathan Vrazel at Munsch Hardt.

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Opinion

1 Year After Rule 702 Changes, Courts Have Made Progress

In the year since amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence went into effect, many federal judges have applied the new expert witness standard correctly, excluding unreliable testimony from their courts — but now state courts need to update their own rules accordingly, says Lee Mickus at Evans Fears.

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2024's Most Notable FTC Actions Against Dark Patterns And AI

In 2024 the Federal Trade Commission ramped up enforcement actions related to dark patterns, loudly signaling its concern that advertisers will use AI to manipulate consumer habits and its intention to curb businesses' use and marketing of AI to prevent alleged consumer deception, say attorneys at Goodwin.

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Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

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MoFo, Irell Latest Firms To Unveil Competitive Bonuses

By Aebra Coe & Hailey Konnath

Morrison Foerster LLP and litigation boutique Irell & Manella LLP have joined a chorus of firms announcing associate bonuses that meet or exceed the BigLaw standard for associate bonuses this year, with MoFo offering up to $218,200 and Irell handing its lawyers as much as $175,000.

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Podcast

Approach The Bench: What Judges Had To Say This Year

By Cara Bayles

Jurists weighed the benefits of partisan elections, praised innovations in telehearings and worried about the future of the profession in nearly a dozen interviews with Law360 this year.

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Gunster $8.5M Data Breach Deal Needs More Info, Judge Says

By Matt Perez

A Florida federal judge this week denied preliminary approval of an $8.5 million settlement in a data breach class action against Gunster and demanded more information on payouts, the plaintiffs' standing in the case and a historical breakdown of settlement rates.

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NJ Bar's Diversity Plan Isn't Biased, Panel Says

By Tracey Read

A New Jersey state appeals court reversed and remanded on Friday a lower court's ruling that found the state bar association's diversity practices to be an unlawful, discriminatory quota system.

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If Gov't Shuts Down, Judiciary Will Be Funded Until Jan. 10

By Courtney Bublé

If there is a government shutdown, the federal judiciary would be funded at least until Jan. 10, the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts said Friday.

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Analysis

How Lawyers May Sue The Trump Administration … Again

By Cara Bayles

During the last Trump administration, BigLaw firms challenged White House policies, focusing on immigration, environmental regulations and healthcare. This time around, attorneys could rely on old tools, and some new tactics, to stall the executive branch.

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Biden Exceeds Trump's Record On Judges By One

By Courtney Bublé

The U.S. Senate confirmed on Friday the last two judicial nominations from President Joe Biden, making his total of lifetime judicial appointments 235, just one over President Donald Trump's 234.

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High Court Bar's Future: Williams & Connolly's Sarah Harris

By Katie Buehler

Sarah M. Harris of Williams & Connolly LLP never planned on being a U.S. Supreme Court advocate, or even an appellate one. She stumbled upon that career path after realizing her initial goal of becoming a national security or government lawyer wasn't the right fit.

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No, Microsoft Isn't Driving DOJ's Google Antitrust Suit: Judge

By Bryan Koenig

A D.C. federal judge pushed back Friday on Google's efforts to paint Microsoft as the true plaintiff in the Justice Department's search monopolization lawsuit, casting doubt during a hearing that Google should get even more information about Microsoft's relationship with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI.

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Feature

Litigator On The Roof: The Acting, Singing Mass. Solicitor

By Chris Villani

The top appellate lawyer in the Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General will be ringing in the new year by performing a comical cantata by Johann Sebastian Bach, the latest show in a lengthy side career in music.

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Hagens Berman Settles Suit Over Effexor Deal Atty Fees

By Bryan Koenig

A pharmaceutical reseller's in-house counsel and founder moved Friday to drop a Mississippi federal court breach of contract suit accusing Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP of stiffing him on his share of a $13 million attorney fees award from an antitrust class settlement, citing a resolution to the dispute.

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Q&A

A Judge Reflects: West Wing Call, 'Alford Plea?' Early Exit

By Hayley Fowler

When Chief Judge Louis A. Bledsoe III of the North Carolina Business Court hangs up his robes for the last time on Dec. 31, he'll leave behind a white-hot docket of high-profile cases and a profusion of opinions that helped mold the court into a tribunal fit to rival Delaware's Court of Chancery.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Andrea Keckley

This week's Legal Lions leader comes from the public sector, as federal prosecutors secured a $650 million settlement from McKinsey & Co. to resolve a lawsuit over the consulting giant's role in Purdue Pharma's promotion of OxyContin.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Max Austin

This past week in London has seen the University of Southampton sue a drone-maker over the rights to an uncrewed aircraft patent, Importers Service Corp. and its subsidiary ISC Europe take action against a former director who allegedly owes the company over £1.1 million ($1.4 million), and DAC Beachcroft face a fraud claim by a "prolific litigant." 

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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