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Pennsylvania
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June 24, 2024
PNC Beats ERISA Suit After Class Expert Found Unreliable
PNC escaped a certified class action alleging it let employee retirement fund participants pay excessive fees after a Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday ruled that an expert witness who calculated $25 million in damages for the class of current and former employees wasn't reliable.
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June 24, 2024
Pa. Court OKs $3.65M Deal On Student Loan 'Pay-To-Pay' Fees
A Pennsylvania federal judge said Monday that she would give her final approval to a $3.65 million settlement of claims that loan servicer Educational Computer Systems Inc. had improperly charged payment fees on hundreds of thousands of federally-backed student loans.
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June 24, 2024
US DOT Final Rule Ups Freight Rail Hazmat Disclosures
Freight railroads must provide more detailed, real-time information on trains transporting hazardous materials to state and local first responders, under a new U.S. Department of Transportation final rule announced Monday that was largely spurred by last year's fiery derailment in East Palestine, Ohio.
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June 24, 2024
Justices' Removal Notice Decision Unwinds 3 Migrants' Wins
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent endorsement of multipart removal notices resulted in the Monday vacatur of three circuit court decisions offering migrants another chance at fighting deportation after receiving notices that initially omitted important information about their removal hearings.
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June 24, 2024
3rd Circ. Seems Ready To Send Experian Row To Arbitration
A Third Circuit panel on Monday appeared poised to send a Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit against Experian to arbitration, questioning whether a plaintiff's dispute over applying an arbitration agreement with an Experian-related credit-monitoring service fell under the "scope" disputes that would also get decided by an arbitrator.
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June 24, 2024
Justices Pass On Rutgers COVID-19 Vax Mandate Case
The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a split Third Circuit ruling that Rutgers University students cannot challenge the school's COVID-19 vaccine policy because, under the high court's 1905 precedent in Jacobson v. Massachusetts, there is no fundamental right to refuse vaccinations.
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June 21, 2024
Real Estate Recap: Distressed Deals, Housing Hurdles, Infill
Catch up on this week's key state developments from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including tips for guiding distressed office deals, the latest intel from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, and how one U.S. city has been a magnet for federal funding of brownfield projects.
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June 21, 2024
Estate Of Alzheimer's Patient Awarded $600K In NJ Death Case
A New Jersey jury awarded $600,000 to the family of a psychiatric hospital patient with Alzheimer's who died after sustaining several fractures and a traumatic brain injury at the facility, a Philadelphia law firm announced Friday.
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June 21, 2024
Aramark Sued In Wash. For Alleged Pay Transparency Lapses
Aramark has been accused of violating Washington state's pay transparency law by failing to give full pay ranges in job postings, according to a proposed class action the food services giant removed to Washington federal court on Thursday.
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June 21, 2024
Pa. Justices Will Weigh If 'Skill Games' Are Slot Machines
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania will take up a case and decide whether the "Pennsylvania Skill Games" that combine a chance-based game mode with a secondary memory game fall under the state's definition of "slot machines," potentially affecting many storefronts and bars where the game machines have proliferated.
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June 21, 2024
Justices Strengthen Jury Trial Rights For Stiffer Sentences
The constitutional rights to due process and trial by jury extend to a pivotal prong of a prominent sentencing enhancement for recidivism, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a Friday decision that casts doubt on many incarcerations and promises to reshape future trials.
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June 20, 2024
Worker Says Co. Inflated Deductions To Duck Prevailing Wage
An electrical contracting firm overdeducted fringe benefits from the pay of employees who worked on publicly funded projects, dragging down their prevailing wages, a former electrician said in a proposed class action in Pennsylvania state court.
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June 20, 2024
Theravance, Mylan Say Chinese Co. Copied COPD Drug
Theravance Biopharma and Mylan Specialty have sued a Chinese drugmaker, alleging it copied Yupelri, one of its chronic obstructive pulmonary disease drugs, and infringed several patents in the process.
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June 20, 2024
Insurer Hit With Coverage Suit Over Ohio Grocery Shooting
Pittsburgh-based Giant Eagle Inc. is claiming that a security contractor's insurer, Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co., has refused to cover its defense costs in a lawsuit over a shooting at a Cleveland, Ohio, store, and was trying to get the grocer to drop its third-party claims against the contractor.
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June 20, 2024
PPG Sues Westlake In Delaware Over $707M Brazil Liability
Pittsburgh global paint supplier PPG Industries Inc. has sued chemical supplier Westlake Corp. in Delaware's Court of Chancery, accusing Westlake of breaching a 2012 agreement to accept liabilities related to a cargo ship fire that happened off the coast of Brazil in 1998.
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June 20, 2024
Pa. Justices Rule 'Client Exception' Can't Save Med Mal Case
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a law firm violated state discovery rules by simultaneously representing a physician and a nondefendant witness, saying a law firm representing a defendant treating physician cannot obtain information from a non-party treating physician without written consent or through discovery.
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June 20, 2024
First Amendment Bars Models' Likeness Suit, Strip Clubs Say
Three Philadelphia-area strip clubs facing a suit by Carmen Electra and other models over using their likeness without permission told a federal judge the plaintiffs' complaint is barred by the First Amendment because they are public figures "or limited purpose public figures."
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June 20, 2024
GOP Sens. Get Tough On 6th Circ. Nominee's History
Republican senators hammered Sixth Circuit nominee Karla M. Campbell, of counsel at Stranch Jennings & Garvey PLLC, during a hearing on Thursday about her political donations, past advisory roles and the process by which she was nominated.
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June 18, 2024
Failure To Return Remains Violates Human Rights, Court Told
A nonprofit tribal organization and a South Carolina tribe are backing a challenge to the U.S. Army that seeks to repatriate the remains of two Native American children from an Indian boarding school cemetery in Pennsylvania, arguing that failure to do so constitutes a continuing human rights violation.
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June 18, 2024
DuPont, Corteva Must Face Pension Benefits Class Action
Chemical companies DuPont and Corteva can't escape a class action claiming they illegally stripped retirement benefits from hundreds of workers following a merger and subsequent spinoff, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled, finding factual disputes that need to be sorted out at trial.
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June 18, 2024
2nd Pa. Jury Can't Agree On Uber Black Drivers' Status
A second Pennsylvania federal jury was unable to determine whether Uber Black drivers are the company's employees or independent contractors, telling the trial judge on Tuesday that the eight members were hopelessly deadlocked.
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June 18, 2024
Home Builders Sued For Non-FHA-Compliant Apartments
A group of home building and financing companies including the Toll Brothers were sued by Manhattan federal prosecutors Tuesday for allegedly violating the Fair Housing Act by building residential units that weren't accessible to people with physical disabilities.
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June 18, 2024
Split Pa. High Court Finds Rental Registry Suit Moot
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court tossed out landlords' appeal of Pittsburgh's 2015 ordinance requiring them to list their rental units in a public registry, because it had been replaced by a newer, narrower law, but two justices said they should have ruled on the case anyway to settle whether other governments could pass similar measures.
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June 18, 2024
4th Circ. Says Filmmaker Has Right To Sealed Court Docs
The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday revived a documentary filmmaker's bid to access sealed documents from a False Claims Act suit against student loan providers, finding he has a First Amendment right to the material and the parties must prove if the seal is warranted.
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June 18, 2024
J&J Fights Law Firm's Bid To Nix Subpoenas In Talc Brawl
Information about the Beasley Allen Law Firm's litigation funding and settlement communications is relevant and necessary to resolving long-running multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talcum powder products and so should be turned over, the pharmaceutical giant has told a New Jersey federal court.
Expert Analysis
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Industry Must Elevate Native American Women Attys' Stories
The American Bar Association's recent research study into Native American women attorneys' experiences in the legal industry reveals the glacial pace of progress, and should inform efforts to amplify Native voices in the field, says Mary Smith, president of the ABA.
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And Now A Word From The Panel: Tracking MDL Geography
In recent years, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation has predominantly selected states east of the Mississippi River as venues for new MDLs — but with half of the proceedings it has created in recent months venued in Arizona and California, the panel is not neglecting the western part of the country, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.
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Pa. Ruling Shows Why Term Sheet Can Be Worth The Wait
A Pennsylvania bankruptcy court’s recent In re: Legarde ruling, holding that a settlement term sheet was enforceable, reminds litigants that it’s crucial to draft a written agreement before leaving mediation in order to resolve potential evidentiary issues and protect against buyer’s remorse, says Brian Shaw at Cozen O'Connor.
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Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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An Overview Of Circuit Courts' Interlocutory Motion Standards
The Federal Arbitration Act allows litigants to file an immediate appeal from an order declining to enforce an arbitration agreement, but the circuit courts differ on the specific requirements for the underlying order as well as which motion must be filed, as demonstrated in several 2023 decisions, says Kristen Mueller at Mueller Law.
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The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms
In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.
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Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary
The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
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What Cos. Should Know About FTC's Proposed Junk Fee Rule
The Federal Trade Commission recently announced a notice of proposed rulemaking targeting junk fees and how businesses may advertise prices to consumers — and since it would give the agency powers to seek monetary penalties against businesses that do not comply, companies should look to get ahead now, say Phyllis Marcus and Nicole Johnson at Hunton Andrews.
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AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier
Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.
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Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World
As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.
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General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI
With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.
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Rite Aid's Reasons For Ch. 11 Go Beyond Opioid Suits
Despite opioid-related lawsuits being the perceived reason that pushed Rite Aid into bankruptcy, the company's recent Chapter 11 filing reveals its tenuous position in the pharmaceutical retail market, and only time will tell whether bankruptcy will right-size the company, says Daniel Gielchinsky at DGIM Law.
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Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information
As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.
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Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD
Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.
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Employers Should Review Training Repayment Tactics
State and federal examination of employee training repayment agreements has intensified, and with the potential for this tool to soon be severely limited, employers should review their options, including pivoting to other retention strategies, says Aaron Vance at Barnes & Thornburg.