Pennsylvania

  • May 10, 2024

    NJ Attys Settle Malpractice Suit Over Wawa Injury Claim

    Attorneys at a New Jersey law firm have settled a malpractice lawsuit from a former client who claimed they caused him to lose his chance to sue convenience store chain Wawa over an on-the-job injury, according to a letter submitted Thursday to state court.

  • May 10, 2024

    PF Chang's Allowed To Keep 6K-Worker Wage Deal Concealed

    P.F. Chang's can file settlement papers with dollar amounts shielded from public view as the restaurant chain looks to resolve a 5-year-old suit accusing it of cheating more than 6,000 tipped servers out of wages, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled.

  • May 10, 2024

    Eckert Seamans Can Shield Most Docs In Casino Conflict Row

    Gaming-machine maker Pace-O-Matic Inc. cannot access most of the 182 documents competitor Parx Casino hoped to shield amid Pace-O-Matic's breach of contract suit against its former Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC counsel, a Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled after conducting a Third Circuit-ordered, in-camera review of the files.

  • May 10, 2024

    Exxon Hit With $725M Verdict In Benzene Exposure Suit

    A Philadelphia jury has awarded $725.5 million to a New York service station mechanic for his claims that Exxon Mobil Corp. failed to warn consumers about the health risks of benzene in its products, and that his exposure to the chemical was responsible for his leukemia diagnosis.

  • May 09, 2024

    3rd Circ. Rejects Hunter Biden Gun Appeal, Trial Set For June

    The Third Circuit on Thursday refused to consider Hunter Biden's appeal of three Delaware federal court orders declining to dismiss felony firearm charges against him, an order issued the same day the lower court again refused to toss the indictment and scheduled the trial for June.

  • May 09, 2024

    3 Engineering Firms Sued Over Pittsburgh Bridge Collapse

    Three engineering firms share responsibility with the city of Pittsburgh for the collapse of the Fern Hollow Bridge in 2022, a new lawsuit alleges, claiming the engineers failed to flag how dangerous and deteriorated the bridge was for years before it fell.

  • May 09, 2024

    Doc Can't Escape Second Prednisone Overprescribing Suit

    A Pennsylvania federal judge won't strike claims for punitive damages and references to "outrageous" conduct from a complaint alleging that a doctor wrongly overprescribed medications including prednisone, saying the complaint plausibly alleged that he knowingly had a patient on a medication plan that harmed her.

  • May 09, 2024

    3rd Circ. Tears Up Pa. Town's 'Crazy Quilt Of A Sign Ordinance'

    The Third Circuit backed a lower court's decision Thursday holding that a Pennsylvania town's sign ordinance violated the First Amendment by restricting what "personal expression signs" can be posted based on their content — a precedential victory for local Republicans who challenged the rule.

  • May 09, 2024

    GOP Sens. Call Biden's Bluff On US Steel-Nippon

    Three Republican senators urged President Joe Biden on Thursday to block Nippon Steel's planned $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel, calling his prior comments opposing the deal "worthless" while claiming he has the authority to terminate the deal immediately under laws that address "a national emergency." 

  • May 09, 2024

    NFL Player-Turned-Atty Can't Appeal After Contempt Deal

    An appeal of a contempt-of-court order by NFL-player-turned-lawyer Walter Bernard is moot because the underlying dispute over unpaid rent has been settled and Bernard has been released from jail, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has ruled.

  • May 09, 2024

    3rd Circ. Judge Jordan To Retire In January 2025

    Judge Kent A. Jordan will retire from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit next year after serving on that bench for nearly two decades, Law360 has learned.

  • May 09, 2024

    Philly Doctor Loses Bid To Restore $15M Bias Award

    A Philadelphia federal judge on Thursday denied a former Thomas Jefferson University Hospital surgeon's request to reinstate a $15 million jury verdict against his onetime employer, reasoning that the judge would have reached the same conclusion as a previous judge who vacated the award before recusing himself from a new trial.

  • May 09, 2024

    Mobile Carriers Pay $10M To End 50 AGs' Deceptive Ad Claims

    A coalition of nearly all the country's state attorneys general on Thursday announced $10.25 million in settlements that AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have agreed to pay to end a multistate probe into the wireless carriers' allegedly misleading advertising practices.

  • May 08, 2024

    AGs Blast Federal Data Privacy Law's Proposed State Override

    California joined attorneys general from more than a dozen other states and Washington, D.C., on Wednesday to urge Congress to ensure that proposed federal data privacy legislation sets a "floor, not a ceiling" that would preserve more stringent protections states have enacted and allow them to add new laws to address rapid technological developments. 

  • May 08, 2024

    Pa. Panel Scrutinizes Missteps In 2020 Election Machine Fracas

    The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on Wednesday brought up apparent missteps by both sides of a fight stemming from third-party inspections of a conservative county's voting machines, started by the county commissioners falling in with the hunt for fraud in the 2020 election and the state pushing back.

  • May 08, 2024

    Scooter Co.'s Mismanagement Cost ESOP Millions, Suit Says

    A scooter company violated federal benefits law by putting too much of workers' retirement funds into investments that produced meager returns and causing its employee stock ownership plan to lose out on about $3.3 million since 2018, a proposed class action filed in Pennsylvania federal court said.

  • May 08, 2024

    Disbarred Pennsylvania Atty Gets Prison Time For Forgery

    A disbarred Pennsylvania attorney has been sentenced to 30 days to a year in prison after pleading guilty on Friday for having presented fake court documents to clients with forged signatures, including those of judges, and misrepresenting the status of their cases.

  • May 08, 2024

    Ethics Panel Says Philly Judge's Political Posts Flouted Rules

    In a case of first impression, Pennsylvania's Court of Judicial Discipline has ruled that a state court judge violated ethics rules by making political comments online that called into question his impartiality.

  • May 08, 2024

    Fla. Lab Owner Gets 10 Years For Unneeded Medical Tests

    A Florida medical lab owner has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges related to accusations that he billed Medicare for $53 million in unnecessary genetic cancer screening tests.

  • May 08, 2024

    Biden Picks US Magistrate Judge In Fla. For 11th Circ.

    President Joe Biden announced Wednesday his intent to nominate U.S. Magistrate Judge Embry J. Kidd to the Eleventh Circuit.

  • May 07, 2024

    85 Lawmakers Join Chorus Opposing Space Force Transfers

    A bipartisan group of 85 federal lawmakers on Tuesday joined all 50 state governors in opposing a proposal to allow Air National Guard units to be transferred to the U.S. Space Force without gubernatorial approval, arguing the measure would undermine "the integrity and longstanding mission of the National Guard."

  • May 07, 2024

    Canopy Growth Expands In US With Wana, Jetty Buys

    Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth announced Tuesday that its U.S. division has exercised options to acquire two American companies as part of its goal to establish a domestic "brand-focused powerhouse" — acquisitions for which Canopy spent nearly $370 million.

  • May 07, 2024

    Cashless Pay Co., Axis Toss Securities Action Coverage Row

    An electronic payments company and Axis Insurance Co. voluntarily tossed their dispute Tuesday over coverage for a consolidated securities action and other claims alleging that certain company executives breached their fiduciary duties through financial reporting and accounting failures.

  • May 07, 2024

    Venable Trade Co-Chair Shares Hot Takes On US Steel-Nippon

    Back in December, Venable LLP partner Ashley Craig, co-chair of the firm's international trade group, spoke with Law360 just after U.S. Steel disclosed its agreement to be sold to Nippon Steel. Now, he shares his thoughts on the latest developments, including the White House coming out forcefully against the deal and the U.S. Department of Justice launching a probe into it.

  • May 07, 2024

    Tax Software Co. Still Can't Trim Rival's Trade Secrets Suit

    A corporate-focused tax preparation software company still can't pare back a suit alleging that it poached workers from its rival's recently acquired company, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Virginia 'Rocket Docket' Slowdown Is Likely A Blip

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    After being the fastest or second-fastest federal civil trial court for 14 straight years, the Eastern District of Virginia has slid to 18th place, but the rocket docket’s statistical tumble doesn't mean the district no longer maintains a speedy civil docket, says Robert Tata at Hunton.

  • High Court Underscores DOJ's Role In Policing FCA Litigation

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Polansky v. Executive Health Resources reaffirms that the government has final say in False Claims Act cases, allowing for meaningful guardrails that deter private litigators from seeking to regulate industries that Congress has delegated to expert administrative agencies, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • 5 Management Tips To Keep Law Firm Merger Talks Moving

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    Many law firm mergers that make solid business sense still fall apart due to the costs and frustrations of inefficient negotiations, but firm managers can increase the chance of success by effectively planning and executing merger discussions, say Lisa Smith and Kristin Stark at Fairfax Associates.

  • What 3rd Circ. Niaspan Decision Means For Class Cert.

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    The Third Circuit's recent denial of class certification in the Niaspan antitrust case underscores its particularly stringent understanding of the implicit ascertainability requirement, which further fuels confusion in the courts, threatens uneven results and increases the risk of forum shopping, says Michael Lazaroff at Rimon Law.

  • Rebuttal

    2nd Circ. Reinsurance Ruling Correctly Applied English Law

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    Contrary to a recent Law360 guest article's argument, the Second Circuit correctly applied English law when it decided in Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania v. Equitas that concurrent reinsurance certificates required the reinsurer to cover loss in accordance with the law of the policy's governing jurisdiction, say Peter Chaffetz and Andrew Poplinger at Chaffetz Lindsey.

  • The Texas Two-Step May Be Losing Steam

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    The Texas Two-Step is a powerful bankruptcy strategy that has been used in recent high-profile cases, including Johnson & Johnson’s talc unit bankruptcy case, but ongoing debate and legal challenges raise the question of whether this maneuver is losing reliability, say Brendan Best and Justin Allen at Varnum.

  • East Penn Verdict Is An FLSA Cautionary Tale For Employers

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    A Pennsylvania federal jury's recent $22 million verdict against East Penn set a record for the Fair Labor Standards Act and should serve as a reminder to employers that failure to keep complete wage and hour records can exponentially increase liability exposure under the FLSA, say Benjamin Hinks and Danielle Lederman at Bowditch & Dewey.

  • 3 Abortion Enforcement Takeaways 1 Year After Dobbs

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    A year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, confusion continues to abound amid the quagmire of state-level enforcement risks, federal efforts to protect reproductive health care, and fights over geolocation data, say Elena Quattrone and Sarah Hall at Epstein Becker.

  • Rethinking In-Office Attendance For Associate Retention

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    The hybrid office attendance model doesn't work for all employees, but it does for many — and balancing these two groups is important for associate retention and maintaining a BigLaw firm culture that supports all attorneys, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.

  • Opinion

    ALI, Bar Groups Need More Defense Engagement For Balance

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    The American Law Institute and state bar committees have a special role in the development of the law — but if they do not do a better job of including attorneys from the defense bar, they will come to be viewed as special interest advocacy groups, says Mark Behrens at Shook Hardy.

  • Murdaugh Trials Offer Law Firms Fraud Prevention Reminders

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    As the fraud case against Alex Murdaugh continues to play out, the evidence and narrative presented at his murder trial earlier this year may provide lessons for law firms on implementing robust internal controls that can detect and prevent similar kinds of fraud, say Travis Casner and Helga Zauner at Weaver and Tidwell.

  • What Courts Say About Workers' Comp And Medical Marijuana

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    Whether employers and insurance carriers are required or allowed to reimburse employees for out-of-pocket costs for treating work-related injuries with medical marijuana has spawned a debate, and the state courts that have addressed this matter are split on a number of issues, say Alexandra Hassell and Anthony Califano at Seyfarth.

  • How Electric Vehicles Will Affect Land Use And Development

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    The increasing use of electric vehicles will bring significant issues for cities and real estate developers to consider, as cities will require substantially more infrastructure to meet electric vehicles' charging needs, says John Lushis at Norris McLaughlin.

  • Title IX Damages Outlook 1 Year After High Court Ruling

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    Federal courts have been extending the holding of last year's U.S. Supreme Court decision, Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, to disallow emotional distress damages under Title IX, but students and educators suing educational institutions for gender discrimination can still recover monetary damages under alternate theories, say attorneys at Sanford Heisler.

  • 2nd Circ. Reinsurance Ruling Misconstrues English Law

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    The Second Circuit's finding in Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania v. Equitas Insurance, that London-based reinsurer Equitas owed coverage for losses outside the policy period, stems from that court's misinterpretation of English law on reinsurance policy construction, says Christopher Foster at Holman Fenwick.

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