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Class Action
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May 02, 2024
Chancery Ruling Plays Role In Tesla's S&P Governance Grade
Business rating agency Standard & Poor's has revised downward to "moderately negative" electric vehicle company Tesla Inc.'s grade for management and governance, pointing in part to CEO Elon Musk's dominant role, and the company's "uncommonly high" risk from lawsuits, including the Delaware Chancery Court's recent scuttling of his $56 billion pay plan.
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May 02, 2024
ADM Investor Says Brass Misled About Growth, SEC Probe
The current and former top brass of food processing company Archer-Daniels-Midland were hit with a derivative suit in Delaware federal court alleging they provided false information to investors about the company's growth and failed to disclose a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation into its nutrition business.
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May 02, 2024
6th Circ. Appears Reluctant To Kick 401(k) Suit To Arbitration
A Sixth Circuit panel seemed likely Thursday to deny two auto part companies' bid to compel arbitration of a lawsuit from workers who say their retirement savings were mismanaged, though the judges appeared divided on the broader question of whether retirement plans may force planwide claims into individual arbitration.
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May 02, 2024
Investors Not Entitled To Info, Sequel Youth Tells Chancery
A once-thriving chain of youth treatment facilities that came under scrutiny after a private equity firm bought it in 2017 urged Delaware's Court of Chancery on Thursday to toss a lawsuit from two former executives who demanded financial information about their "eviscerated" investments, arguing that the company didn't have to provide it.
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May 02, 2024
Calif. Justices To Review Gilead's HIV Drug Negligence Fight
The California Supreme Court has granted Gilead Sciences Inc.'s request to review an appellate court's holding that the drugmaker must face claims it held back a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on an older medication.
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May 02, 2024
Split 10th Circ. Spikes $17.3M Atty Fee Over Class Notice
A split Tenth Circuit panel has vacated for a second time a $17.3 million attorney fee award for reaching a $52 million class action settlement over gas well royalty payments, with the majority writing that the lower court erred by not requiring a new class notice regarding the revised fee bid.
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May 02, 2024
Moses & Singer, Ex-Partner Settle Pregnancy Bias Suit
A New York federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed against litigation firm Moses & Singer LLP by a former partner who accused it of wrongfully firing her after she requested workplace accommodations for her pregnancy, saying the parties have reached "a settlement in principle."
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May 02, 2024
Chicago Transit Sued Again Over Medical History Probes
Chicago's public transit system has been hit again with a genetic information privacy lawsuit by an employee who says the agency illegally probes applicants' medical histories as part of its hiring considerations.
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May 01, 2024
NJ, NY Law Firms Dominate Class Action Filings Since 2021
Class actions have been steadily increasing over the past decade, with two firms from New Jersey and New York filing the most suits over the past three years, according to a new Lex Machina report surveying the class action field.
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May 01, 2024
Dental Supply Co. Must Face Suit Over COVID-Era Woes
Dental health products supplier Dentsply Sirona Inc. failed to get a suit dismissed accusing it of misleading investors about the extent of its pandemic-era woes, with a New York federal judge finding the suit identifies dozens of actionable misleading statements and plausibly pleads knowledge of wrongdoing by Dentsply's former executives.
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May 01, 2024
Sony, PlayStation Users Spar Over Early Antitrust Cert. Denial
Sony and PlayStation Store users fought before a California federal judge Wednesday over the company's bid to deny class certification to users who claim it overcharged them through a monopoly on downloadable game cards, with the users arguing that Sony waived its arbitration arguments under the Ninth Circuit's recent Hill ruling.
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May 01, 2024
5 Benefits Appellate Arguments To Watch In May
The Second Circuit will be asked to revive a 401(k) mismanagement suit against Deloitte, the Sixth Circuit will consider whether to force arbitration of a 401(k) fee suit against two automotive companies, and the Seventh Circuit will review the U.S. Department of Labor's court-ordered takeover of a multiemployer benefit fund. Here, Law360 looks at five appellate arguments benefits attorneys will want to keep an eye on this month.
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May 01, 2024
Judge Mulls New Trial For Uber Drivers' Misclassification Suit
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday seemed poised to start a second trial to determine whether drivers of Uber's high-end ride-share option are independent contractors or employees after a jury deadlocked on the issue in March.
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May 01, 2024
Split 2nd Circ. Backs Arbitration Denial In ERISA Suit
A divided Second Circuit panel ruled Wednesday that a group of financial services companies can't compel individual arbitration of a proposed class action accusing them of overcharging an employee stock ownership plan, saying that doing so would prevent a plan participant from seeking planwide remedies authorized by federal benefits law.
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May 01, 2024
Hotel Chains Hit With Algorithmic Pricing Collusion Suit
A group of hotel-goers has hit six major hotel chains with a proposed class action, alleging that the companies used a shared pricing algorithm to fix and raise hotel prices nationwide.
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May 01, 2024
Chipotle Granted Win in Customer Change-Shorting Row
A Pennsylvania federal judge gave Chipotle Mexican Grill an early win Wednesday in a lawsuit by customers alleging they were stiffed out of change during a coin shortage, finding that because the customers agreed to not receive coin change during their transactions, they can't reasonably argue the fast food giant did anything wrong.
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May 01, 2024
Apple Users Defend Web Apps Antitrust Case
Consumers urged a California federal court not to toss their case accusing Apple of violating antitrust law by preventing iPhones from running web-based apps that don't need to be downloaded, saying Apple used deals with Google and others to protect its dominance.
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May 01, 2024
3rd Circ. Flags Bayer's Knowledge Of Tainted Fungal Spray
A proposed class of consumers who bought tainted Bayer antifungal sprays said they should have standing to sue because they didn't get the "benefit of the bargain" — and a Third Circuit panel questioned Wednesday if Bayer's separate suit blaming a supplier made the consumers' case for them.
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May 01, 2024
'Foul' BioVentrix Cash-Out Gets Extra Scrutiny, Chancery Says
A medical device company's decision to suddenly and without explanation cash out its common stockholders for less than a penny just two months before the company raised $48.5 million in new capital creates such a "foul flavor" that it deserves extra scrutiny, a Delaware Chancery Court judge said Wednesday.
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May 01, 2024
Del. Justices Reverse Toss Of $7.3B Inovalon Deal Challenge
Delaware's top court on Wednesday reversed a Chancery Court dismissal of stockholder challenges to the $7.3 billion go-private sale of Inovalon Holdings Inc. to Nordic Capital, saying that the lower court wrongly concluded that minority investors were adequately informed about the deal and special committee conflicts of interest.
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May 01, 2024
Globe Life Hid Toxic Culture And Policy Fraud, Investors Say
Life insurance company Globe Life Inc. has been hit with a proposed class action alleging investors were damaged when a short-seller report revealed that the company had been ignoring rampant sexual harassment among its employees and participating in fraudulent underwriting practices.
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May 01, 2024
Dish Agrees To Class Cert. In 401(k) Mismanagement Suit
Dish Network and a group of former workers told a Colorado federal judge they've agreed that class treatment is the best fit for a lawsuit claiming the company failed to trim an underperforming Fidelity Freedom Fund target date suite from its retirement plan that cost workers millions in savings.
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May 01, 2024
Attys Seek $95M In Fees For Elite Schools' Aid-Fixing Deals
Class counsel representing students who accused 17 top universities of colluding to fix student aid packages have asked an Illinois federal judge to award them $94.7 million in fees plus $3.5 million in expenses for securing $284 million in settlements with 10 schools.
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May 01, 2024
Insulin Pump Maker Wins Toss of Investor Suit For Now
A California federal judge has sided with an insulin pump maker and tossed a suit alleging it misled investors about the potential growth of the company amid inflation and an uptick in competition, saying the suing investors have failed to plead any false or misleading statements or knowledge of wrongdoing by the defendants.
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May 01, 2024
Teachers Say Pa. Can't Nix Equal Pay Suit
A Pennsylvania school district can't snag a win on claims that it paid women teachers less than their male colleagues because it is clear that while the teachers performed comparable work, the pay was different, the women told a federal court.
Expert Analysis
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Del.'s Tesla Pay Takedown Tells Boards What Not To Do
The Delaware Chancery Court’s ruthless dissection of the Tesla board’s extreme departures from standard corporate governance in its January opinion striking down CEO Elon Musk’s $55 billion pay package offers a blow-by-blow guide to mistakes Delaware public companies can avoid when negotiating executive compensation, say attorneys at Cleary.
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What Brands Must Know For Calif. Recycle Label Compliance
A brand that stamps nonrecyclable packaging with the chasing arrows symbol could face liability under California's new law on labeling recyclable material, so brand owners should keep an eye on the state's pending survey process to identify which materials meet the criteria before requirements go into effect, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
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Opinion
3rd-Party Financiers Have Power To Drive Mass Tort Cases
The abnormal recovery premium presented by modern mass tort cases coupled with their deemphasized role for attorneys creates an opportunity for third-party financiers to both create and control these cases, says Samir Parikh at Lewis & Clark Law School.
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Del. Dispatch: Clarification On Fiduciary Duties Of Controllers
The Delaware Chancery Court’s January opinion in a Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores' stockholder dispute — holding that a controlling stockholder owes the company and minority shareholders some fiduciary duties when selling shares or voting to change the status quo — suggests instances where investors opposing board decisions should tread carefully, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout
While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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Series
Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.
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What Retailers Should Note In Calif. Web Tracking Suits
As retailers face a deluge of class actions alleging the use of conventional web analytic tools violate wiretapping and eavesdropping provisions of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, uncovering the path toward a narrow interpretation of the law will largely depend on how these cases proceed, say Matthew Pearson and Kareem Salem at BakerHostetler.
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Musk Pay Package Ruling Offers Detailed Lesson On Del. Law
Anat Alon-Beck and John Livingstone at Case Western Reserve University discuss the specifics that led Delaware's chancellor to rescind Elon Musk's $55.8 billion Tesla pay package on Jan. 30, how the state’s entire fairness doctrine played into the ruling, and its bigger-picture impact on the executive compensation landscape.
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Chancery's Sears Ruling Clarifies Stockholder Duties
In a recent landmark decision involving stockholders of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, the Delaware Chancery Court addressed for the first time what precise duties a controlling stockholder owes, highlighting that controller interference with board action is not per se invalid and that enhanced scrutiny is a reasonableness test, say Christopher Chuff and Taylor Bartholomew at Troutman Pepper.
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Del. Ruling Adds Momentum For Caremark Plaintiffs
The Delaware Supreme Court's recent opinion in Lebanon County Employees' Retirement Fund v. Collis could be viewed as expanding plaintiffs' ability to viably plead a Caremark claim against directors, so Delaware companies should be on heightened alert and focus on creating a record of board oversight, say attorneys at V&E.
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The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift
As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.
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Best Practices For Untangling Mass Tort Claimants' Liens
Recent litigation over faulty earplugs produced by 3M is just one example of a mass tort where settlement payouts to claimants will likely be complicated by the number of liens and lienholders involved — but claimants' attorneys can speed up the lien resolution process by keeping a few key strategies in mind, says Mark Eveland at Verus.
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5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money
As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.
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Series
Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.