Jury Awards $175M In Real Estate Trade Secrets Retrial

By José Luis Martínez

A San Antonio jury awarded $175 million to real estate analytics firm HouseCanary Inc. in its claims accusing title company Amrock LLC of misappropriating proprietary appraisal technology and data, nearly eight years after the case culminated in a $706 million verdict that was later overturned.

Verdict attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Texas AG Gets Temporary Ban On Chest Binder Sales

By Emily Field

A Texas state judge has issued a temporary restraining order against a New York-based online retailer of undergarments and chest binders for young women and teens from selling its clothing in the Lone Star State.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Roblox Must Face Texas' Child Safety Suit, Judge Rules

By Emily Field

A Texas state judge on Friday said that Roblox can't escape claims brought by the state of Texas that it misled parents about the safety of their children using its popular online game platform.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fed. Circ. Wary Of Reviving Patent In $81M Samsung Case

By Ryan Davis

The owner of a standard-essential 5G wireless network patent that a Texas jury said Samsung owes $81 million for infringing got pushback from the Federal Circuit on Monday when it argued the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation of the patent should be overturned.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Official Calls Live Nation Deal Win-Win As AGs Press On

By Bryan Koenig

The Justice Department's midtrial settlement with Live Nation on Monday created an instant rift with more than two dozen state attorneys general who vowed to press forward instead of accepting a deal that requires online ticketing technology to be open-sourced and forces the company to divest control over at least 13 amphitheaters.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Deal With Live Nation Throws Antitrust Trial Into Disarray

By Pete Brush

U.S. Department of Justice lawyers told a Manhattan federal judge Monday that the government is settling its claims that Live Nation engaged in unlawful monopolization by tying ticket sales to the use of its venues, throwing an ongoing trial involving dozens of states into an uncertain posture.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

5th Circ. Won't Unwind Class In United Airlines Vax Bias Suit

By Grace Elletson

The Fifth Circuit said Monday that United Airlines can't roll back class certification for workers who brought religious bias claims after opposing the air carrier's COVID-19 vaccine mandate and getting placed on unpaid leave, rejecting concerns that the courts would have to probe the sincerity of each worker's convictions.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

5th Circ. Revives Fraud Case Against Lockheed Martin

By Spencer Brewer

A split Fifth Circuit panel gave a former auditor at Lockheed Martin Corp. another shot at pursuing claims alleging that her erstwhile employer defrauded the government, with the majority ruling Monday that her lawsuit had enough differences from an earlier suit to go forward.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

5th Circ. Says Atty's Flaky Handling Justifies Axing Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A trial court was right to toss a suit from a former correctional facility employee who said he was passed over for promotion because he's Black and was fired when he complained, the Fifth Circuit ruled Monday, faulting his lawyer for ignoring her duty to pursue his case.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Viridis Chemical Files Ch. 11 Amid Relocation Woes

By Ben Zigterman

Bio-based chemical technology company Viridis has filed for Chapter 11 relief in Texas with more than $17 million in debt, citing cost overruns related to moving its manufacturing plant from Nebraska to Illinois.

3 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Texas Jury Finds Lyft Owes $1M In Ride-Hailing Patent Case

By Elliot Weld

A Texas federal jury said Lyft owes $1 million to Quartz Auto Technologies, finding the ride-hailing giant was liable for infringing an automobile technology patent.

Verdict attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Shell Sells Jiffy Lube To Monomoy Capital For $1.3B

By Spencer Brewer

A Shell USA Inc. subsidiary announced Monday that it will sell Jiffy Lube International Inc. to Kirkland & Ellis LLP-led Monomoy Capital Partners in a $1.3 billion deal.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Bracewell Adds Holland & Knight RE Duo In Dallas

By Lynn LaRowe

Bracewell LLP announced Monday that it has launched a new real estate special situations practice with a pair of partners in Dallas who came aboard from Holland & Knight LLP.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Baker Botts Adds King & Spalding M&A Whiz In Silicon Valley

By James Mills

Baker Botts LLP continues its California expansion, announcing Tuesday it is adding a King & Spalding LLP corporate attorney as a partner in its Silicon Valley office and as its West Coast mergers and acquisitions chair.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

When MDLs Drag, State Courts Can Speed Mass Tort Results

Understanding the structural dynamics that can delay resolution in multidistrict litigation is essential to understanding why a state court strategy is sometimes not merely attractive, but necessary for plaintiffs seeking timely and just outcomes, say attorneys at DiCello Levitt.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Proposed DOL Rule Could Simplify Contractor Classification

If the U.S. Department of Labor's recently proposed rule governing employee versus independent contractor classification is finalized, it would permit energy sector employers to evaluate the nature of the working relationship with a more straightforward and predictable analysis than the 2024 rule's unweighted test, say attorneys at Bracewell.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Military Attys In DOJ 'Erodes Democratic Norms,' Ex-JAGs Say

By Lauren Berg

Nearly a dozen former military lawyers raised the alarm about the Trump administration appointing judge advocate officers to U.S. attorneys' offices, urging a Minnesota federal judge Tuesday to bar an Army lawyer from prosecuting a case that accuses a civilian of assaulting federal immigration enforcement agents.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Official Faces Ethics Case Over Georgetown DEI Letters

By Alison Knezevich

U.S. Pardon Attorney Ed Martin has been hit with disciplinary charges in the nation's capital over threatening letters he sent to Georgetown University Law Center last year while he was interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dems Confront Roberts At Wide-Ranging Judiciary Gathering

By Jeff Overley

The federal judiciary's top administrator voiced "serious and urgent concerns" Tuesday regarding threats of retribution against judges, a warning that coincided with a judicial gathering where Democrats discussed security fears and controversial U.S. Supreme Court rulings.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Prosecutor Resigns, Judge Shows Slide Deck On AI Errors

By Abigail Harrison

A federal prosecutor told a North Carolina federal court Tuesday that he was separating from the office after admitting in open court to using artificial intelligence to help draft a response brief, what he called "the worst decision I've ever made in my 30-year career."

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Calif. Atty Gets Over 11 Years For Solar $1B Ponzi Scheme

By Dorothy Atkins

A California federal judge has sentenced a corporate attorney to 11 years and five months behind bars after he pled guilty to nearly two dozen charges for his role in DC Solar's $912 million Ponzi scheme, which duped major investors including Berkshire Hathaway, Progressive and SunTrust Equipment Finance & Leasing.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ex-Moses & Singer Partner Admits Tax Crimes, Will Pay $2.8M

By Aaron Keller

A former Moses & Singer LLP partner admitted to practice in New York and North Carolina courts has pled guilty to three counts of failing to file personal income tax returns and will pay $2.8 million in restitution, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut announced Monday.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judiciary Approves Supreme Court Public Defender Office

By Katie Buehler

The federal judiciary approved a new office Tuesday aimed at improving the quality of representation for indigent defendants with cases in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Fumes As Live Nation Antitrust Trial Remains In Limbo

By Stewart Bishop

The status of Live Nation Entertainment's antitrust trial and proposed settlement over federal and state government claims of anticompetitive conduct remained up in the air Tuesday amid pushback by several states, while the Manhattan federal judge overseeing the case upbraided the parties for keeping him out of the loop about negotiations.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Unveils Superseding Policy For Corporate Criminal Cases

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday released its first-ever, department-wide, corporate enforcement policy for criminal matters, outlining how it will decline to prosecute companies that voluntarily disclose misconduct, cooperate with investigators and remediate wrongdoing.

Policy attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DLA Piper Can't Rep Itself At Bias Trial, Fired Atty Says

By Pete Brush

DLA Piper should not be permitted to represent itself at trial in a pregnancy discrimination case brought by a senior associate who was fired in 2022, lawyers for the plaintiff told a Manhattan federal judge.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Nixed Over MAGA Op-Ed Seeks Reinstatement

By Emily Sawicki

A retired Illinois state trial court judge pursuing First Amendment claims against the state Supreme Court after his right-wing opinion column resulted in his removal from a temporary judgeship has moved for immediate reinstatement to the Cook County Circuit Court.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wisconsin Judges Decline To Extend Interim US Atty's Term

By Courtney Bublé

A majority of judges in the Eastern District of Wisconsin have declined to extend the tenure of interim U.S. Attorney Brad Schimel, according to an announcement Tuesday.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

J&J Opposes Beasley Allen Reinstatement Bid In NJ Talc Fight

By Emily Sawicki

Johnson & Johnson is urging the New Jersey Supreme Court to not take the "extraordinary step" of intervening in an appellate panel ruling that disqualified Beasley Allen from representing hundreds of women in product liability litigation against the pharmaceutical giant after the Georgia-based firm "knowingly collaborated" with a former Johnson & Johnson outside counsel.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »