Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Class Action
-
May 24, 2024
ERISA Arbitration Backers See Hope In 2nd Circ. Dissent
A split Second Circuit panel backed workers — and joined three other circuits — when it rejected an attempt to force a proposed class action Employee Retirement Income Security Act lawsuit into individual arbitration, but employers are seizing on a dissent from the recent ruling to try to turn the tide.
-
May 24, 2024
2nd Circ. Wary Of Deloitte Workers' 401(k) Suit Revival Bid
The Second Circuit appeared reluctant Friday to revive a proposed class action against Deloitte alleging workers' employee 401(k) plans were weighed down by excessive recordkeeping fees, with multiple judges on a panel pointing to a lack of specific cost comparisons to other plans in an amended complaint.
-
May 24, 2024
Applicants Lack Fed. Standing For Wash. Pay Range Lawsuit
A Washington federal judge sent back to state court a lawsuit alleging an employer violated a new state requirement to include pay ranges in job advertisements, finding that a job listing without pay information does not harm job applicants enough to justify a federal lawsuit.
-
May 24, 2024
Alabama Judge Says Attys Subverted Plumbing Defect Deal
In an effort to safeguard the due process rights of hundreds of homeowners, an Alabama federal judge has tossed out more than 300 settlement class "opt-outs" and partially reopened the objection period in a product liability suit, determining that outside attorneys repeatedly misled clients regarding the pending settlement, leading to the numerous exclusion requests.
-
May 24, 2024
Medical Courier Service Settles Drivers' Overtime Suit
A Georgia-based medical courier service accused of failing to pay its drivers their proper overtime wages has agreed to settle the case, according to an unopposed bid for settlement approval that calls the deal "approximately equal to plaintiffs' best possible day at trial."
-
May 23, 2024
TikTok, YouTube Must Produce European Privacy Data In MDL
A California federal magistrate judge overseeing discovery in multidistrict litigation over whether social media platforms' design is addictive ordered TikTok and YouTube on Thursday to give American personal injury plaintiffs certain technical documents regarding the companies' safety features implemented in Europe and Australia, which have tougher consumer privacy laws.
-
May 23, 2024
NC Top Court Finds Credit Union's Arbitration Add-On Is Valid
The North Carolina Supreme Court on Thursday said a credit union can enforce an arbitration clause tacked on to a customer's contract at a later date, confirming a ruling by a lower appellate panel and requiring the customer suing the nonprofit over allegedly illegal overdraft fees to arbitrate her claims.
-
May 23, 2024
AdTech Co. Faces Suit As Google's Cookie Support Crumbles
Advertising company Direct Digital Holdings Inc. faces a proposed investor class action alleging it mismanaged its response to an impending major technological change affecting how digital advertisers can target consumers.
-
May 23, 2024
House Money: The Path To A Landmark NCAA NIL Settlement
The NCAA is expected to pay more than $2.7 billion to settle a yearslong antitrust class action lawsuit featuring hundreds of thousands of former college athletes who alleged the organization owed them for years of unpaid name, image and likeness compensation. Here, Law360 walks you down the winding path that led to the massive reported settlement.
-
May 23, 2024
'I Just Don't Buy It': Judge Rips Google's Injunction Argument
A California federal judge considering the scope of a potential injunction against Google following Epic Games' antitrust jury trial win told Google's economist Thursday that the tech giant keeps arguing that more app store options for consumers will create a "terrifying world of chaos and anarchy," but "I just don't buy it."
-
May 23, 2024
PNC, Loan Officers Ink $12M Deal In Rest Break Suit
PNC Bank has agreed to pay nearly $12 million to end a class action alleging the bank didn't pay mortgage loan officers for time spent on breaks and failed to issue accurate wage statements, according to a joint motion filed Wednesday in California federal court.
-
May 23, 2024
NCAA, Athletes Settle NIL Class Action Over Billions In Pay
The NCAA said Thursday it has reached a settlement with the former college athletes who had filed an antitrust class action demanding billions in potential compensation allegedly denied to them for decades before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the NCAA's compensation ban.
-
May 23, 2024
7th Circ. Unsure VIX-Fix Claims Were Wrongly Tossed
The Seventh Circuit seemed unsure Thursday that two investment companies should be allowed to pursue volatility index manipulation claims against Barclays, Morgan & Stanley Co. and other financial institutions after a lower court found that one lacked standing and the other missed a statutory deadline.
-
May 23, 2024
2nd Circ. Revives Insurer's $2.5M Suit Over Valuation Software
The Second Circuit on Thursday revived an insurer's indemnification bid against software company Audatex for $2.5 million in costs from a suit alleging its use of Audatex's valuation software resulted in underpayment for totaled cars, concluding the lower court erred in finding the suit didn't result from the insurer's use of Audatex's software.
-
May 23, 2024
'New' Facts Don't Permit Do-Over, Kraft-Heinz Tells Chancery
An institutional shareholder of The Kraft-Heinz Co. is not entitled to a "do-over" on an insider trading lawsuit that Delaware's Court of Chancery dismissed in 2021 because the supposed "new evidence" it offers isn't actually new and wouldn't have made any difference in the case, the company said Thursday.
-
May 23, 2024
Resignation Letter Bylaws Targeted In Five Del. Class Actions
General Motors Co. is among the latest targets of new bylaw-focused litigation from Abbott Cooper PLLC and Block & Leviton LLP, one of five companies in a series of lawsuits in Delaware's Chancery Court that seek to invalidate an "irrevocable resignation requirement" in company bylaws.
-
May 23, 2024
Apple Investor Again Seeks Green Light For $490M Settlement
An Apple Inc. investor has asked a California federal judge to revisit a $490 million settlement deal that would end claims the tech giant misled investors about iPhone sales in China, telling the court that it had addressed the judge's critique that parts of the relevant filings were "convoluted."
-
May 23, 2024
FirstKey Sanctioned For Trying To Coerce Workers In OT Suit
A Texas federal judge sanctioned FirstKey Homes LLC for issuing coercive communications to employees in an apparent effort to steer them from joining a proposed wage and hour class action, finding Wednesday the only purpose the company had was "attempting to undermine the collective action in this case."
-
May 23, 2024
Irma Power Outage Claims Must Be Brought To Fla. Regulator
A Florida state appellate court reversed the class certification in a multibillion-dollar lawsuit brought against Florida Power & Light Co. over extended electricity outages during Hurricane Irma, citing a new law requiring ratepayers to bring their claims before the state's Public Service Commission.
-
May 23, 2024
FirstEnergy Wants 6th Circ. To Shield Bribe-Probe Docs
FirstEnergy Corp. is pursuing the Sixth Circuit's input into its request to shield internal investigative documents from a class of investors and from two of its indicted former executives, saying the documents contain privileged legal advice given in the wake of a $1 billion bribery scandal.
-
May 23, 2024
Humana Defeats ERISA Challenge To Retirement Plan Fees
Humana Inc. defeated a class action claiming it failed to make sure its $6.5 billion employee retirement plan was paying reasonable administrative and recordkeeping fees, with a Kentucky federal judge ruling Thursday there was nothing wrong with how the insurance company oversaw the plan.
-
May 23, 2024
DOL Says 11th Circ. 'Alone' In ERISA Internal Remedy Stance
The U.S. Department of Labor urged the Eleventh Circuit to reinstate a lawsuit from former seafood company workers who claimed their employee stock ownership plan was overcharged in a $92 million deal, saying they didn't jump the gun by suing instead of pursuing claims internally.
-
May 23, 2024
Amazon Workers' $5.5M COVID Screening Deal Gets Initial OK
A California federal magistrate judge on Wednesday gave her preliminary blessing to a $5.5 million settlement Amazon agreed to pay to a class of 250,000 employees who accused the digital retail behemoth of failing to pay for time spent undergoing mandatory COVID-19 screenings before their shifts.
-
May 23, 2024
NCAA Can't Move Colo. Athlete Pay Case
A Colorado federal judge on Thursday rejected a bid by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and collegiate athletic conferences to move athletes' compensation allegations to California, where two similar cases are being heard, highlighting the choice by named plaintiffs to have their claims heard in Colorado.
-
May 23, 2024
UBH Urges 9th Circ. To Take Up Petition In Health Claim Fight
United Behavioral Health implored the Ninth Circuit to grant the insurance company's petition for appellate court intervention in a consolidated action alleging mismanagement of mental health and substance use disorder treatment claims, arguing a California federal court clearly erred by allowing further pleadings on a denial of benefits claim.
Expert Analysis
-
Handling Neurodivergence As The Basis Of Disability Claims
Three recent discrimination claims in Rhode Island and New Jersey show how allegations of adverse treatment of neurodivergent individuals will continue to be tested in court, so employers should create an environment that welcomes the disclosure of such conditions, says Ting Cheung at Sanford Heisler.
-
Preempting Bottled Water Microplastics Fraud Claims
Food products like bottled water are increasingly likely to be targets of consumer fraud complaints due to alleged microplastics contamination — but depending on the labeling or advertising at issue, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act can provide a powerful preemption defense, say Tariq Naeem and Brenda Sweet at Tucker Ellis.
-
Wildfire Challenges For Utility Investors: Regs And Financing
For investors in public utilities, wildfire liability considerations include not only regulatory complexities, but also bankruptcy claims resolution, financing judgments and settlements, and how to leverage organizational structures to maximize investment protections, say David Botter and Lisa Schweitzer at Cleary.
-
Del. Dispatch: How Moelis Upends Stockholder Agreements
The Delaware Court of Chancery's Moelis decision last month upended the standard corporate practice of providing governance rights in stockholder agreements and adds to a recent line of surprising decisions holding that long-standing, common market practices violate Delaware law, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
-
Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.
-
Wildfire Challenges For Utility Investors: Liability Theories
The greater frequency and scale of wildfires in the last several years have created operational and fiscal challenges for electric utility companies, including new theories of liability and unique operational and risk management considerations — all of which must be carefully considered by utility investors, say David Botter and Lisa Schweitzer at Cleary.
-
The Challenges Of Measuring Harm In Slack-Fill Cases
A recent California federal court partial class certification ruling was a rare victory for plaintiffs in a case over slack-fill empty space in packaged products, indicating that damages arguments may be important at the certification stage, say Sushrut Jain and Valentina Bernasconi at Edgeworth Economics.
-
Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
-
Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
-
Employer Pointers As Wage And Hour AI Risks Emerge
Following the Biden administration's executive order on artificial intelligence, employers using or considering artificial intelligence tools should carefully assess whether such use could increase their exposure to liability under federal and state wage and hour laws, and be wary of algorithmic discrimination, bias and inaccurate or incomplete reporting, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.
-
Strategies For Single-Member Special Litigation Committees
The Delaware Supreme Court's recent order in the Baker Hughes derivative litigation allowing testimony from a single-member special litigation committee highlights the fact that, while single-member SLCs are subject to heightened scrutiny, they can also provide unique opportunities, says Josh Bloom at MoloLamken.
-
Opinion
Suits Against Insulin Pricing Are Driven By Rebate Addiction
A growing wave of lawsuits filed by states, cities and counties against insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers improperly allocate the blame for rising insulin costs, when in actuality the plaintiffs are partially responsible, says Dan Leonard at Granite Capitol Consulting.
-
How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
-
7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves
As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.
-
2 Emerging Defenses For Website Tracking Class Actions
Putative class actions premised on state wiretapping statutes that bar website activity tracking continue to be on the rise, but they are increasingly being dismissed on two procedural grounds, says Sheri Pan at ZwillGen.