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July 11, 2024
FERC 'Waiting For Me To Die' With Late Order, Utility Atty Says
Counsel for the Louisiana Public Service Commission told the Fifth Circuit on Thursday the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is "waiting for me to die" as it delays issuing a compliance order to System Energy Resources Inc., saying the agency was doing irreparable harm to consumers.
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July 11, 2024
Media Matters Fights Texas AG's Bid To Revive X Probe
Media Matters for America is urging the D.C. Circuit to keep intact a court order prohibiting Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from investigating the media watchdog over its reporting about the social media platform X, asserting that the D.C. courts are the correct place to litigate the "retaliatory" probe.
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July 11, 2024
Chancery Orders Invictus Fund Sides To Provide Case Update
Pointing to hints of clarity in a distressed credit and special-situations fund's murky, 9-month-old battle for documents and cash held by its general partner and investment manager, a Delaware vice chancellor on Thursday ordered the two sides to produce a case update by Tuesday.
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July 11, 2024
DOL Wants ERISA Investment Advice Regs Kept Afloat
The U.S. Department of Labor is urging a Texas federal court to reject a bid from insurance industry groups to block its new regulations that broaden who qualifies as a fiduciary under federal benefits law, saying the groups are "grasping for a reason" to evade the law.
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July 11, 2024
Fiat Chrysler Says Exploding Minivan MDL Still Lacks Detail
A Stellantis unit has asked a federal judge in Michigan to significantly pare back multidistrict litigation over a risk of spontaneous explosion in certain Chrysler plug-in hybrid minivans, arguing that many drivers' state claims are stale or are otherwise legally flawed.
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July 11, 2024
Bally Sports Parent Axes TV Deal With NHL's Dallas Stars
A Texas bankruptcy judge on Thursday approved a request by Bally Sports parent company Diamond Sports Group to reject a broadcast agreement with the NHL's Dallas Stars, the latest professional team to part ways with DSG.
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July 11, 2024
Ex-Bankruptcy Judge Says Immunity Bars Atty Romance Suit
A former U.S. bankruptcy judge being sued over a secret romantic relationship he had with a former Jackson Walker LLP lawyer who practiced in his court urged a Texas federal court on Thursday to toss the case, arguing that he enjoys "absolute immunity" from civil lawsuits over "judicial acts" even if he engaged in misconduct.
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July 11, 2024
GM's $50M Faulty Fuel Pump Deal Gets Early OK
A Michigan federal judge on Thursday indicated he would give the initial approval to a $50 million settlement to end class claims that General Motors LLC sold trucks with faulty fuel pumps, clearing the way for GM to drop a Sixth Circuit appeal.
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July 11, 2024
Ex-BP Legal Head Joins HF Sinclair As General Counsel
HF Sinclair Corp. this week named the former head of legal at BP PLC its new general counsel, about four months after the energy company's most recent top law department leader resigned to pursue another opportunity.
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July 11, 2024
BP Deadline Denial Could Impact Mass Torts, 5th Circ. Told
A man suffering from a chronic health condition stemming from his work cleaning up Mississippi beaches after the Deepwater Horizon spill told the Fifth Circuit that a Louisiana judge's failure to yield to third-party discovery agreements could potentially impact a litany of mass litigation if upheld.
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July 11, 2024
Communications Co. Says Death Suit Skirted Probate Court
Frontier Communications of America Inc. told a Connecticut state court that it must dismiss a wrongful death case brought against it after an elderly woman fell in her basement and could not call 911 because her phone lines were down, arguing her estate skipped a vital step before filing suit.
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July 10, 2024
Texas Panel Tosses Electrocution Suit Against Oil Well Owner
A Texas state appeals court found that an oil field station owner wasn't responsible for a contractor's electrocution at the station, ruling Tuesday that the owner didn't owe any duty to the contractor under any negligence theory because it didn't direct the contractor's work.
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July 10, 2024
Roku Wins Transfer Of Patent Suit From WDTX To Calif.
A Texas federal judge sent to California a case accusing Roku of infringing patents related to automatic content recognition technology for commercial advertising, finding on Wednesday that the ease of access to evidence, location of Roku's witnesses and Roku's headquarters in San Jose weigh in favor of a transfer.
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July 10, 2024
Houston Attys Escape Defamation Suit Over Sex Assault Case
A Texas appeals court said a group of Houston attorneys could escape a defamation suit brought by a man accused of sexual assault by one of their clients, writing that he did "not even raise a scintilla of evidence" that the attorneys knew statements they made to the media about their client's case were false.
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July 10, 2024
Top Banks Accused Of Infringing Authentication IP With Zelle
Intellectual property licensing outfit Factor2 Multimedia Systems has sued Bank of America, Capital One and others in Texas federal court for allegedly infringing authentication patents with Zelle and other money-transfer apparatuses.
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July 10, 2024
Energy Cos., States Seek Review Of Calif. Emissions Decision
Industry groups and a coalition of states led by Ohio are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a D.C. Circuit ruling upholding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of a waiver letting California set greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles and run a zero-emission vehicles program.
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July 10, 2024
SpaceX Anti-NLRB Crusade Advances As Judge Grants Block
A Texas federal judge on Wednesday blocked a National Labor Relations Board suit accusing SpaceX of suppressing workers' rights while he weighs the rocket maker's claims that the prosecution is unconstitutional, according to a docket notice.
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July 10, 2024
Fla. Judge Will Issue Sanctions For Delay In Tesla Crash Suit
A Florida state judge said Wednesday he will issue sanctions over a failure by a biomechanics expert to timely produce data requested by Tesla in a suit over a Model S crash that killed two teenagers.
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July 10, 2024
Vidal Directs PTAB To Review Nerf 'GelFire' Toy Gun Patents
The director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has overturned Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions not to institute reviews of three patents covering Hasbro Inc.'s Nerf "GelFire" toy gun.
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July 10, 2024
Engineer Who Faced Export Charges Cops To Tax Counts
A Chinese-born engineer has pled guilty to two counts of filing a false tax return related to allegations that he and his wife omitted gross income from their tax returns between 2015 and 2019, after Texas federal prosecutors initially charged the couple with export violations and fraud.
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July 10, 2024
Texas Court Severs Constable Workers From OT Collective
A Texas federal court granted Harris County Sheriff's Department deputies' request to cut several employees from the constable's office from their proposed collective action accusing the department of shorting them on overtime pay, and rejected the county's argument that the case should largely be thrown out.
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July 10, 2024
Intel Asks Del. Court To Affirm It Has License To VLSI Patents
Intel has launched a suit in Delaware federal court asking for an order that it already has a license to various VLSI patents, the latest in a sprawling legal fight between the two parties over microchips.
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July 10, 2024
Pa. Judge Skeptical Of Pausing FTC's Noncompete Ban
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday seemed hesitant to grant a tree services company's request to halt the Federal Trade Commission's recent ban on noncompete agreements, as attorneys for the company struggled to point to concrete harms it would suffer if the ban were to take effect as scheduled.
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July 10, 2024
NLRB Outburst Order Violated Due Process, 5th Circ. Says
The National Labor Relations Board must reconsider its decision changing the analysis of whether worker outbursts are protected under federal labor law, the Fifth Circuit ruled, finding the board violated a company's due process rights by not hearing its arguments prior to the precedent shift.
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July 10, 2024
Sheppard Mullin Adds Winston & Strawn Real Estate Duo
Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP has strengthened its real estate, energy, land use and environmental practice with two partners in Houston who joined from Winston & Strawn LLP.
Expert Analysis
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GSA's Carbon-Free Power Plan: Tips For Electricity Suppliers
The U.S. General Services Administration's recent request for information concerning its intent to acquire a large amount of carbon pollution-free electricity over the next decade in the PJM Interconnection region offers key insights for companies interested in becoming electric power suppliers to federal government agencies, say Shaunna Bailey and Nicholas Dugdale at Sheppard Mullin.
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This Earth Day, Consider How Your Firm Can Go Greener
As Earth Day approaches, law firms and attorneys should consider adopting more sustainable practices to reduce their carbon footprint — from minimizing single-use plastics to purchasing carbon offsets for air travel — which ultimately can also reduce costs for clients, say M’Lynn Phillips and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.
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Discord Stock Case Toss Means Little For Fraud Defendants
A Texas federal court’s recent dismissal of fraud charges related to a "pump and dump" scheme on Discord is an outlier after the U.S. Supreme Court scrapped the right-to-control theory of fraud last year, and ultimately won't deter the government from pursuing routine securities prosecutions, says William Johnston at Bird Marella.
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How DEI Programs Are Being Challenged In Court And Beyond
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's affirmative action decision last year declaring the consideration of race in university admissions unconstitutional, employers should keep abreast of recent litigation challenging diversity, equity and inclusion training programs, as well as legislation both supporting and opposing DEI initiatives in the workplace, say attorneys at Skadden.
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Comparing Corporate Law In Delaware, Texas And Nevada
With Elon Musk's recent decision to reincorporate his companies outside of Delaware, and with more businesses increasingly considering Nevada and Texas as corporate homes, attorneys at Baker Botts look at each jurisdiction's foundation of corporate law, and how the differences can make each more or less appealing based on a corporation's needs.
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What Minority Biz Law Ruling Could Mean For Private DEI
A Texas federal court’s recent decision to strike down key provisions of the Minority Business Development Act illustrates the wide-reaching effects of the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard decision across legal contexts, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.
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Why Fed. Circ. Should Resolve District Split On Patent Statute
A split exists among district courts in their analysis of when marking cannot be done on a patented article due to its character, and the Federal Circuit should consider clarifying the analysis of Section 287(a), a consequential statute with important implications for patent damages, say Nicholas Nowak and Jamie Dohopolski at Sterne Kessler.
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Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease
This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.
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Texas Hair Bias Ruling Does Not Give Employers A Pass
A Texas state court’s recent decision, holding that a school could discipline a student with locs for refusing to cut his hair, should not be interpreted by employers as a license to implement potentially discriminatory grooming policies, says Dawn Holiday at Jackson Walker.
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Why Incorporating By Reference Is Rarely Good Practice
The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Promptu Systems v. Comcast serves as a reminder that while incorporating by reference may seem efficient, it is generally prohibited by courts and can lead to sanctions when used to bypass a word count limit, says Cullen Seltzer at Sands Anderson.
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Series
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
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ESG Challenges In Focus After Sierra Club Opposes SEC Rule
The Sierra Club's recent objection to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's climate-related disclosures for investors presents an unusual — pro-disclosure — legal challenge and an opportunity to take a close look at the varying critiques of ESG regulations, say Colin Pohlman, and Jane Luxton and Paul Kisslinger at Lewis Brisbois.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.
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5th Circ. Clarifies What Is And Isn't A 'New Use' Of PFAS
The Fifth Circuit's March 21 decision in Inhance Technologies v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, preventing the EPA from regulating existing uses of PFAS under "significant new use" provisions of the Toxic Substances Control Act, provides industry with much-needed clarity, say Joseph Schaeffer and Sloane Wildman at Babst Calland.
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Timing Is Key For Noninfringing Alternatives In Patent Cases
A Texas district court’s recent ruling in Smart Path Connections v. Nokia may affect the timing of expert disclosures and opinion regarding noninfringing alternatives in patent infringement litigation, for both defendants and plaintiffs, says Alexander Clemons at Ocean Tomo.