Trials

  • October 11, 2024

    Boston Bomber Says Judge's Praise For Jury DQs Him

    A Massachusetts federal judge's public comments praising the jury that delivered a conviction and death sentence for Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev disqualify him from reviewing alleged juror misconduct, the defendant's lawyers said in a filing unsealed Friday.

  • October 11, 2024

    J&J Should Pay $30M For Developer's Cancer, Conn. Jury Told

    Attorneys for a western Massachusetts real estate developer on Friday urged a Connecticut jury to award $30 million for past and future suffering to a lifelong Johnson & Johnson baby powder user diagnosed with mesothelioma, but the company's attorneys suggested $4 million was a more reasonable figure while contesting liability whatsoever.

  • October 11, 2024

    Judge Doubts FTX Alum Needs Further Dog Bite Recovery

    A Manhattan federal judge has denied a bid from former FTX executive Ryan Salame to further postpone the start of his 7½-year prison sentence, saying he had already benefited from "extremely generous" delays, and agreeing with prosecutors that Salame appeared to have largely recovered from a dog bite that he said he suffered in June.

  • October 11, 2024

    DC's Amazon Antitrust Suit Gets January 2027 Trial Date

    The District of Columbia attorney general's newly revived antitrust lawsuit against Amazon will go to trial in January 2027, a D.C. judge decided Friday.

  • October 11, 2024

    Stellantis Defeats Utah Class Cert Bid In Gearshift MDL

    A Michigan federal judge declined to certify a class of Utah drivers seeking to hold Stellantis North America liable for defective gearshifts in certain Dodges, Chryslers and Jeeps, reasoning that each of the claims would have to be evaluated to determine if drivers noticed issues in the vehicles but purchased or leased them nonetheless.

  • October 11, 2024

    Michigan Tech Wants New Trial In Prof's Pregnancy Bias Case

    Michigan Technological University has asked a judge to toss a jury verdict in favor of a former professor in a pregnancy discrimination case, saying evidence related to the professor's theory that the college was planning to deny her tenure should have been kept out of trial.

  • October 11, 2024

    Subcontractor Owes Travelers $325K For Hotel Work Deal

    A Travelers unit is entitled to recover $325,000 for payments made against its surety bonds to settle a general contractor's claims that a subcontractor abandoned work on an Idaho hotel, a Washington federal court ruled, finding the subcontractor liable under an indemnity agreement with Travelers.

  • October 11, 2024

    Weinstein Charges Should Be Combined For Retrial, DA Says

    Prosecutors asked a New York state court judge to consolidate Harvey Weinstein's 2018 rape indictment with newly filed sexual assault charges ahead of his retrial, panning the former Hollywood producer's "creative" arguments for separate trials.

  • October 11, 2024

    Xcel, Colo. Co-Op Reach Deal To End Power Plant Appeal

    Xcel Energy and a Colorado electric cooperative have told an intermediate state appellate court that they've reached a settlement in principle to avoid further appeals of a $26 million jury verdict against Xcel in a fight over the closure of a power plant.

  • October 11, 2024

    Lin Wood Slams Ga. Atty Fee Statute As Unconstitutional

    Retired Georgia attorney L. Lin Wood has doubled down on his argument that a state law violates the state and U.S. constitutions by favoring plaintiffs in awarding attorney fees, urging a Georgia federal judge to let him escape paying his former law partners' fees after they won a $3.75 million defamation verdict.

  • October 11, 2024

    RTX Warned By Judge Over 'Troubling' Settlement Delay

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday chided RTX for slow-walking the finalization of a settlement the defense contractor struck with a Connecticut company just before trial in a trade secrets dispute.

  • October 11, 2024

    'Bloodsport' Poaching Case To Mediate After Disputed Verdict

    An exasperated Boston federal judge on Friday talked two rival medical aesthetic device companies into a round of mediation with a magistrate judge to see if they could wrap up the fiercely litigated poaching case that's already resulted in a contested eight-figure verdict.

  • October 10, 2024

    Chutkan OKs Redacted Immunity Evidence In Trump Case

    The D.C. federal judge overseeing the case that charges Donald Trump with scheming to subvert the 2020 election results will allow the public disclosure of some evidence related to the issue of his potential immunity, but will give the former president time to challenge the disclosure.

  • October 10, 2024

    Western Digital Lifted Spex's Data Security IP, Expert Says

    Western Digital's My Book and Ultrastar storage devices infringe features in Spex Technologies' data security patent, including hardware encryption and a means of allowing a host computer to request and receive information from the device once it's plugged in, an expert witness testified during the infringement trial Thursday in California federal court.

  • October 10, 2024

    Wash. Judge Condemns Monsanto's Bid To Delay PCB Trial

    A Washington state judge grew frustrated on Thursday with Monsanto's eleventh-hour attempt to shelve a PCB poisoning tort headed to trial next week until the state Supreme Court weighs in on a similar case, calling out the chemical giant for taking stances on "both sides of the fence" about the stakes on appeal.

  • October 10, 2024

    IP Forecast: 5G Patent Case Spells Deja Vu For EDTX

    A patent suit against a Chinese phone company will go before a new federal jury in the Eastern District of Texas after the judge scrapped the original $10.6 million verdict against it as excessive. Here's a spotlight on that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

  • October 10, 2024

    Chef Hit With $4.5M Award For Defaming, Harassing Worker

    A Cook County, Illinois, jury has awarded a former employee of the now-shuttered Chicago restaurant Acadia $4.5 million in damages after he accused his ex-boss of targeting him through a systematic internet harassment campaign.

  • October 10, 2024

    Most Appian Claims Survive In Pegasystems Defamation Fight

    A Massachusetts federal judge has allowed most counterclaims from business software company Appian Corp. to proceed against rival Pegasystems Inc., which accused its competitor in a lawsuit of making deliberately malicious statements and representations regarding a trade secret case the parties are litigating in Virginia.

  • October 10, 2024

    Tobacco Cos. Push To Move Dozens Of Cases Out Of Boston

    Several tobacco companies asked a Massachusetts judge Thursday to send more than 30 pending liability cases to other venues in the state, arguing that the plaintiffs have no ties to Suffolk County and that the volume of cases is burdening judges in the Boston courthouse.

  • October 10, 2024

    5th Circ. Says ISP Liable For Piracy But Orders Damages Redo

    The Fifth Circuit has concluded that a Texas federal court correctly upheld a jury verdict finding internet service provider Grande Communications Networks LLC is liable for the willful contributory copyright infringement of 1,403 songs from several record labels but ordered that the nearly $47 million in damages be recalculated.

  • October 10, 2024

    Teva To Pay $450M To Settle Kickback Cases

    Pharmaceutical giant Teva will pay $450 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by fixing the prices of several generic drugs and by raising the price of a multiple sclerosis treatment while covering Medicare recipients' copays, civil prosecutors said Thursday.

  • October 10, 2024

    Nike Rips Report In TM Suit, Rival Wants $6.75M In Fees

    Nike has pushed back on a report finding that its behavior toward a Pennsylvania apparel company during a trademark dispute was severe enough to support ordering Nike to pay attorney fees, with the smaller company saying it is owed about $6.75 million in fees.

  • October 10, 2024

    Monsanto Hit With $78M Verdict In Philly's 6th Roundup Trial

    Bayer AG unit Monsanto was hit with a $78 million verdict on Thursday by a Philadelphia jury in the sixth trial in the city's Roundup weedkiller mass tort.

  • October 10, 2024

    Alaska Judge's Misconduct Prompts Bid To Pause Appeal

    A former Alaska nurse practitioner convicted of illegally prescribing millions of opioids, wants a stay of her appeal while she seeks a new trial in wake of Judge Joshua Kindred's resignation after he was found to have had an inappropriate relationship with an attorney in the office prosecuting her case.

  • October 10, 2024

    Ex-Mayor Can't Reduce 6-Year Term In Fraud, Graft Case

    A former Massachusetts mayor serving six years in prison for fraud and corruption has failed to raise a compelling argument to cut short the "already generous sentence" imposed, according to a Boston federal judge.

Expert Analysis

  • Recruitment Trends In Emerging Law Firm Frontiers

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    BigLaw firms are facing local recruitment challenges as they increasingly establish offices in cities outside of the major legal hubs, requiring them to weigh various strategies for attracting talent that present different risks and benefits, says Tom Hanlon at Buchanan Law.

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • 3 Surprising Deposition Dangers Attorneys Must Heed

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    Attorneys often do not think of discovery as a particularly risky phase of litigation, but counsel must closely heed some surprisingly strict and frequently overlooked requirements before, during and after depositions that can lead to draconian consequences, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • Money, Money, Money: Limiting White Collar Wealth Evidence

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    As courts increasingly recognize that allowing unfettered evidence of wealth could prejudice a jury against a defendant, white collar defense counsel should consider several avenues for excluding visual evidence of a lavish lifestyle at trial, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Updated Federal Rules Can Improve Product Liability MDLs

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    The recent amendment of a federal evidence rule regarding expert testimony and the proposal of a civil rule on managing early discovery in multidistrict legislation hold great promise for promoting the uniform and efficient processes that high-stakes product liability cases particularly need, say Alan Klein and William Heaston at Duane Morris.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • 9th Circ. Ruling Shows Lies Must Go To Nature Of Bargain

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    The Ninth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Milheiser decision, vacating six mail fraud convictions, clarifies that the key question in federal fraud cases is not whether lies were told, but what they were told about — thus requiring defense counsel to rethink their strategies, say Charles Kreindler and Krista Landis at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Opinion

    New Guidance On Guilty Plea Withdrawals Is Long Past Due

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    In light of the Sentencing Reform Act's 40th anniversary, adding a new section to the accompanying guidelines on the withdrawal of guilty pleas could remedy the lack of direction in this area and improve the regulation's effectiveness in promoting sentencing uniformity, say Mark H. Allenbaugh at SentencingStats.com and Alan Ellis at the Law Offices of Alan Ellis.

  • Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond

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    Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.

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