Pennsylvania

September 24, 2024
DuPont Employee Defends Mass Email In ERISA Trial

A DuPont employee was scrutinized on the witness stand Tuesday for the way a worker learned about how the chemical company's merger with Dow would impact their benefits, with a judge calling a heavily redacted trial exhibit useless and a plaintiffs' attorney quizzing her on basic email functions.
September 24, 2024
Tractor Supply Co. Tobacco Fee Violates ERISA, Suit Says

Tractor Supply Co. illegally charged workers who used tobacco an extra fee through their health insurance plan without explaining they could dodge the charge if they participated in a smoking cessation program, according to a proposed class action filed in Pennsylvania federal court.
September 24, 2024
Norfolk Southern Says Stock Drop Suit Based On 'Hindsight'

Norfolk Southern Corp. is urging a Georgia federal court to throw out a proposed class action alleging it duped stockholders by misleading them about the safety of its operations, leading to a stock drop after last year's derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, saying the claims are a bid to capitalize in hindsight on the crash.
September 24, 2024
Pa. Panel Says County Must Tell Voters If Votes Are Tossed

A Pennsylvania county violated voters' rights with a policy that prevented them from finding out if their mail-in ballots had been set aside as uncountable, a split state appellate panel ruled Tuesday.
September 23, 2024
3rd Circ. Probes SEC's 'Close To Vacuous' Reply To Coinbase

Members of a Third Circuit panel on Monday pressed the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on its brief denial of crypto exchange Coinbase's request for rulemaking around digital assets, digging into how much of an explanation the agency owes the industry about its decision to forego setting rules for now.
September 23, 2024
3rd Circ. Revives $60M Moroccan Hotel Award Fight

The Third Circuit has sent a decision over a $60 million arbitral award favoring the Royal Mansour Hotel's current owner back to a lower court for further consideration, saying the company has plausibly argued that it didn't cause the Moroccan establishment to fall into financial ruin.
September 23, 2024
States, Enviros Urge USPS Vehicle Plan Challenge To Proceed

States and environmentalists have pushed back against the U.S. Postal Service and Oshkosh Defense's efforts to end a lawsuit alleging the USPS' multibillion-dollar delivery vehicle acquisition plan violates environmental law, saying the plan was inadequate and would harm them.
September 23, 2024
PNC, Plaid End Legal Battle With Customer Data-Sharing Deal

PNC Financial Services Group and Plaid have reached an agreement to end nearly four years of trademark litigation that allows PNC customers to use Plaid to share their financial data with fintech companies like Venmo and Cash App.
September 23, 2024
Vanguard Agrees To Settle Investors' Tax Liability Suit

Vanguard agreed to settle a proposed class action by investors who accused the company of violating its fiduciary duties when it triggered a sell-off of assets that left them with massive tax bills, according to a Pennsylvania federal court order Monday.
September 23, 2024
Profs, Retired Judges Ask Justices To Uphold Return Of Taxes

Two former bankruptcy judges and a group of law professors threw their support behind the bankruptcy trustee of a Utah transportation company seeking to convince the U.S. Supreme Court that the IRS, like any other creditor, should have to return payments deemed fraudulent under state law.
September 23, 2024
3rd Circ. Vexed By Time-Tracking Role In $22M Wage Case

The Third Circuit contemplated on Monday whether a Pennsylvania battery manufacturer shorted workers $22 million for time they spent putting on and taking off protective gear, with one judge questioning the employer's stance that it was the workers' responsibility to track their donning and doffing time.
September 23, 2024
Penn Law Professor Sanctioned For Discriminatory Remarks

A professor at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School will be sanctioned for making "sweeping and derogatory generalizations about groups by race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status," according to university documents made available Monday.
September 23, 2024
NC Man Gets 100 Mos. For Fleecing Attys In 'Collection' Scam

A North Carolina man has been sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison after a Pennsylvania jury found him guilty on charges of mail, bank and wire fraud stemming from an international scheme to bilk attorneys out of millions of dollars.
September 23, 2024
Pa. Judge Commended For Admitting Error In Med Mal Case

A Pennsylvania appeals court on Thursday signed off on a Philadelphia trial court judge's opinion acknowledging that his dismissal of two defendants from a medical malpractice suit used the wrong precedent. The appeals court also reversed the dismissal and praised the judge for recognizing his error.
September 23, 2024
Labor Attorney Who Leveled MLB Playing Field Dies At 93

Richard M. Moss, an attorney-turned-sports-agent who won free agency for baseball players and made star pitcher Nolan Ryan the first-ever professional athlete to score a $1 million contract for a single season, died over the weekend at age 93.
September 20, 2024
Real Estate Recap: Infrastructure Rally, Insurance Reckoning

Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including revived interest in infrastructure-focused funds and the next installment in a new series exploring the effects of extreme weather on the property insurance market.
September 20, 2024
3rd Circ. CFPB Ruling Threatens Securitization, Justices Told

Two major trade groups for the securities industry have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Third Circuit decision allowing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to exercise enforcement authority over a collection of student loan securitization trusts, slamming the ruling as wrong and dangerous.
September 20, 2024
States Tell 10th Circ. To Back Colo. Interest Rate Opt-Out Law

Attorneys general for 13 states and Washington, D.C., asked the Tenth Circuit on Friday to uphold a Colorado law imposing more restrictive interest rate caps on loans made to its residents by out-of-state banks, arguing that a federal judge's injunction "nullifies the authority granted to states by Congress" to protect consumers from abusive lending practices.
September 20, 2024
3rd Circ. Rejects 'Close' Case For Preemption In Fosamax MDL

A U.S. Food and Drug Administration letter denying changes to the label of Merck's osteoporosis drug Fosamax does not count as a final agency action triggering federal preemption of state law "failure to warn" claims, the Third Circuit ruled Friday in a precedential decision.
September 20, 2024
Getting Around ITC Was 'Sneaky,' Judge Tells Caterpillar

A Delaware court has held that Caterpillar owes about $19.5 million in a patent case, citing in part the company's "sneaky" decision to domesticate manufacturing after a setback in a related infringement case at the U.S. International Trade Commission, while also finding that Caterpillar is subject to a rare injunction blocking the sale of some of its road construction machines.
September 20, 2024
Del. Justices Uphold Toss Of AmerisourceBergen Syringe Suit

Delaware's Supreme Court upheld with little comment Friday a lower court dismissal of a nearly 5-year-old shareholder derivative suit accusing AmerisourceBergen Corp. directors of failing to investigate and stop illegal repackaging of cancer drugs.
September 20, 2024
Insurer Settles Conn. Suit Over Theft From Theater Group

Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co. has settled a dispute with a Florida couple who the insurer says bilked its policyholder, a theater education group, out of nearly $588,000 for their own personal use.
September 20, 2024
Doctor Can't Secure Disability Coverage, 3rd Circ. Affirms

An ophthalmologist cannot secure total-disability benefits from his occupational disability insurer after he was diagnosed with a nerve condition preventing him from performing surgeries, the Third Circuit ruled, noting he still maintained his practice even after he stopped performing the surgeries.
September 20, 2024
Entrepreneur Says Partners Stiffed Him On Testing Site Deal

A Pittsburgh entrepreneur says he had a deal with three Omaha, Nebraska-based businessmen to help them open COVID-19 testing labs in Ohio and Pennsylvania in the early days of the pandemic, but is still owed $2 million, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Pennsylvania state court.
September 20, 2024
Panera Can't Delay Trial Over Shook Hardy Attys' Schedule

A Pennsylvania federal judge denied Panera Bread's repeated requests to delay a wrongful death trial, finding the restaurant chain will not be prejudiced if its desired Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP counsel cannot attend, as "plenty" of Shook Hardy lawyers can stand in, the judge said.

Expert Analysis

Justice O'Connor Was Architect of ERISA's Lasting Success

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor laid the foundations of Employee Retirement Income Security Act jurisprudence, defining a default standard of review, preemption rules and the act's interplay with employment law, through opinions that are still instructive as ERISA approaches its 50th anniversary, says José Jara at Fox Rothschild.
A Closer Look At The Federal Criminal Enforcement Slump

Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, now at King & Spalding, explains that the U.S. Department of Justice’s statistical reports reveal that federal authorities are considerably less productive today than in the past, as criminal prosecutions fell in 2022 in every major category, for reasons that are not entirely clear.
5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024

Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
Key Issues When Navigating A Tenant's Bankruptcy

In light of recent Chapter 11 filings by Rite Aid and WeWork — companies with thousands of commercial leases — practitioners should review issues that can arise when bankruptcy is used to exit a lease, including the consequences of lease rejection and the statutory cap on landlord damage claims for a rejected lease, say attorneys at Proskauer.
3 Power Rulings Change Outlook For Transmission Cos.

The cumulative effect of three December power cases that halted state actions that gave preference to incumbent transmission providers could level the playing field for independent developers, say Harvey Reiter and John McCaffrey at Stinson.
4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.
What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.
After Headwinds, 2024 May See Offshore Wind Momentum

Despite skyrocketing raw material costs, conflicting state and federal policies, and other setbacks for the offshore wind sector in 2023, the industry appears poised for growth in the coming year, with improving economics, more flexible procurement procedures and increasing legislative support, say Emily Huggins Jones and Ben Cowan at Locke Lord.
Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.
Inside Higher Education's New FCA Liability Challenges

As the educational sector expands its use of government funding, schools are at increased risk under the False Claims Act, but recent settlements offer valuable lessons about new theories of liability they may face and specific procedures to reduce their exposure, say James Zelenay and Jeremy Ochsenbein at Gibson Dunn.
Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities

Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.
In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023

Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.
How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season

Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.